sangsara.net

Month: August 2006

  • Workplace GoogleTalking

    3:40 PM Stuart: yo

    me: yo
    you like heinlein?
    i’ve just read that he had an uncompleted novel
    called variable star
    3:41 PM that has now been completed with the blessings of his family, by some other scifi dude named spider robinson
    the first 8 chapters are being released free online over the next few weeks
    if they’re good i may buy it
    Stuart: spider robinson was born to be a niche writer, was he not
    <!– D(["mb"," me: with a name like that he sure wasn\’t born to be mainstream
    3:42 PM in ANYTHING
    Stuart: even in the forums of http://www.animalnames.com he was considered just to extreme and was perma-banned
    3:43 PM *too
    damn monkey fingers
    me: you funny motherfucker
    how\’s life treating you
    i bought an issue of Retro Gamer last night
    and saw that birmingham recently hosted a convention called…
    3:44 PM Reminisce? or something?
    “,1] ); //–> me: with a name like that he sure wasn’t born to be mainstream
    3:42 PM in ANYTHING
    Stuart: even in the forums of www.animalnames.com he was considered just too extreme and was perma-banned


    3:47 PM me: have you heard the wu-tang mashup album that was on boingboing yesterday?

    called Wu Orleans
    some dj mixed dixieland jazz with wu raps
    louis armstrong vs RZA
    not bloody bad
    3:48 PM Stuart: that sounds like a good mix. Still haven’t got the net at home.
    me: also… if you have time somehow, check out the trailer for The Protector on apple
    it’s a thai movie
    called Tom Yum Goong here<!– D(["mb","
    i\’m sure you know it
    featuring the guy from ong-bak
    i\’ve raved about it for ages, best damn action movie all year
    Stuart: does his new movie feature a storyline this time?
    me: well the americans have changed the story completely
    no
    3:49 PM well
    he now beats people up while looking for his lost elephant
    instead of a religious icon
    but by god what beating up it is
    Stuart: how do you lose an elephant?
    “,1] ); //–>
    i’m sure you know it
    featuring the guy from ong-bak
    i’ve raved about it for ages, best damn action movie all year
    Stuart: does his new movie feature a storyline this time?
    me: well the americans have changed the story completely
    no
    3:49 PM well
    he now beats people up while looking for his lost elephant
    instead of a religious icon
    but by god what beating up it is
    Stuart: how do you lose an elephant?
    <!– D(["mb"," me: it was stolen…
    I KNOW I KNOW
    but trust me it was stolen, and he loved it very much
    3:50 PM Stuart: yeah, but… just look for someone walking out of your house with an elephant
    "excuse me, is that yours?"
    me: it was… a drug cartel
    that somehow wanted it
    vietnamese mafia based out of australia, came to thailand to steal his elephant
    Stuart: they had to crowbar a drug cartel into it didn\’t they
    me: the mafia bunch are led by a chinese transvestite
    “,1] ); //–> me: it was stolen…
    I KNOW I KNOW
    but trust me it was stolen, and he loved it very much
    3:50 PM Stuart: yeah, but… just look for someone walking out of your house with an elephant
    “excuse me, is that yours?”
    me: it was… a drug cartel
    that somehow wanted it
    vietnamese mafia based out of australia, came to thailand to steal his elephant
    Stuart: they had to crowbar a drug cartel into it didn’t they
    me: the mafia bunch are led by a chinese transvestite
    <!– D(["mb","3:51 PM Stuart: you\’re just making this up now
    me: oh no i\’m not
    Stuart: :O
    me: don\’t worry, the weinstein brothers have cleaned it up for your western mind to comprehend
    i bet he\’s now a cop
    avenging the death of his partner
    Stuart: yeah, I bet forums up and down the land are saying it\’s been "dumbed down" for a western audience
    3:52 PM me: when will you appreciate our art!?
    so like… if you get a chance later, since you\’re going off
    email me what i\’m supposed to be hearing in the muse song”,1] ); //–>3:51 PM Stuart: you’re just making this up now
    me: oh no i’m not
    Stuart: :O
    me: don’t worry, the weinstein brothers have cleaned it up for your western mind to comprehend
    i bet he’s now a cop
    avenging the death of his partner
    Stuart: yeah, I bet forums up and down the land are saying it’s been “dumbed down” for a western audience
    3:52 PM me: when will you appreciate our art!?


    and then he sent me this awesome picture:

  • Utada Hikaru pwnz you

    Utada Hikaru, the only Japanese singer I can recall properly liking, is apparently a kickass Tetris player. Nintendo recently held a contest where winners (30) could challenge her to a live game of the new Tetris DS on stage. Only 4 managed to win against her, and apparently 3 of them were just lucky. There’s a video of her playing in an unbearably cute fashion in glasses here.

    From ds.qj.net

  • Zoe Tay ad

    Zoe Tay is appearing in a rather unlikely ad for a beauty product, the final version of which she could not possibly have known about at the time her photo was being taken. I think MediaCorp is going to tighten the reins on their artists from here on out. Everything they appear in or endorse will probably have to be triple-checked.

    See it here.

  • Sonic Wii trailer

    Fresh from the Leipzig Game Convention is this new trailer for Sonic Wii, which is sporting a new working title something awful (Sonic and the Secret of the Rings??). The gameplay footage looks amazing though, all the speed and chaos of Sonic in 3D. The Wii looks plenty powerful to me at this point.

  • Squid risotto


    Squid risotto
    Originally uploaded by sangsara.

    At the Edgecombe Brothers winery in Perth’s Swan Valley. The most exquisitely fresh and well-prepared squid I’ve ever had. Exsquidsite.

  • #1 reason not to sell my Sony T30


    #1 reason not to sell my Sony T30
    Originally uploaded by sangsara.

    Awesome macro mode.

  • Lost the battle and won a lot more

    I bought the Fujifilm F30 afterall. I’m gonna come out and say it’s the best digital camera I’ve ever owned (out of 6). It’s slightly bigger than my old Canon IXUS 400, which prior to the Sony T30 I would not have found acceptable at all, but the photos it takes are spectacular. Noise reduction hardware aside, it just kills at color reproduction. Where most consumer digital cameras over-warmify or cool, the F30 seems to never need more than the auto white balance, keeping everything neutral. Every shot I’ve taken this weekend hasn’t needed more post-processing than a little exposure bump. Most shots are ready to use straight out of the camera, which is a first in my experience.

    Anyway, I found the money to buy it by giving up smoking until at least Christmas’ Eve. It will be paid off by then. My other friend could afford to buy a Macbook in 6 months if she gave it up too, but she won’t. There’s seldom a real tangible reward for someone to quit, health reasons aside because we never really think about it that way, but I think this could do it for me. After Christmas, I’ll buy myself some other enjoyable gadget (one suspects it may be another camera), and postpone smoking by another few months. Everybody wins.

  • fidgeting

    HaikuLog is back and taking names.

    For the last two days, I’ve been battling an irrational urge to buy a 3rd digital camera, the Fujifilm F30. It looks fantastic, and I blame Peishan for this, because she asked my advice for a cheap digital that takes good night shots. In this regard, the F30 is unparalleled in the pocket point & shoot category. Some of the sample pictures I’ve seen are unbelievable; results are exposed so well that they look post-processed straight out of the camera. It can be had for about SGD$590 with a 1GB XD memory card. Unless someone wants to take my 2-month old Sony T30 off me, I hope to win this battle. Nobody needs 3 similar cameras, right? Yet every morning and free minute I think about it.

    The truth is that I’m just in constant need of new things to fiddle with. I felt a little unfulfilled today upon realizing that beyond my DS Lite, GBM, and PSP, there wasn’t much left to buy as far as portable game consoles go. I considered getting a white DS Lite to take turns travelling in my bag with the current blue one. Jesus if that’s not a cry for help, I don’t know what is.

    I always thought it was a need to keep spending money, but it isn’t. It’s a need to have new buttons to push or things to click. After I decided to restart with a new HaikuLog site, and went about setting up Pixelpost and configuring it, the urge to buy that new camera faded. Maybe if you have this problem too, my handy cycle below will be of some use.

    1. Buy “cool” domains
    2. Wonder what to do with them -> set up new sites.
    3. Don’t actually finish/launch them.
    4. Install new software to organize your life with.
    5. Wonder why that new software hasn’t organized the development of above projects.
    6. Try more new software.
    7. Give up. Buy expensive electronic items in lieu of, but in the hopes of promoting, productivity/creativity.
    8. Grow disgusted. Repeat.