If you haven't already, go watch Pixar's Wall-e. I can't remember ever being that excited about an animation movie (although Monsters Inc came quite close) but I was really looking forward to this one.

It's a romantic comedy with lots of space action. You can read about the movie here. But I will tell you that Pixar has topped itself. Wall-e is definitely a 'must watch' and a 'must get the DVD' movie. Absolutely loved it!

Labels: TV/Movies

I've had the iPhone for 10 days. It's definitely a larger and heavier phone to carry around but I love it. However there are several things that I wish Apple had paid attention to before releasing version 2.0.

1. A little blinking light for missed calls or received SMSes. This comes in handy especially when your iPhone is in a case, with Auto-Lock turned on.

2. SMS forwarding. Such a basic function in ANY mobile phone.

3. Copy and paste functions. Now how could Apple forget this?

Minor gripes indeed for a phone that I believe will change the UI of mobile phones forever, just you wait. Ok, I'm severely prejudiced here. :-)

Labels: Geek Stuff

Thanks to a YouTube video from mattsiphone, I was able to tweak some of the steps to make it work on a Mac. This works for all songs NOT purchased through iTunes ie. ripped from CDs and downloaded from other sources.

1. Open iTunes. Go to Preferences and click on Advanced Importing. See Import Using? Click to select AAC Encoder, then click OK.

2. Select the song you want to make a ringtone. Now you can choose to make the entire song a ringtone, or select a part of it. Get Info on the song and click on Options. Use the Start Time and Stop Time to select the part of the song you want as a ringtone. I suggest that you listen to the song first and note the start and stop times, before entering it here. This will also create a much smaller file (between 200 to 300K). Click OK when done.

3. With the song still highlighted, go to Advanced in the menu above screen and select Convert Selection to AAC. If you didn't do Step 1, you'll see Convert Selection to XXX (XXX being whatever mode you have left selected for song conversion). A copy of the song will be made as it converts.

4. When done, go to your iTunes Folder in your hard drive and find the folder of that song. Use Finder, it's faster. The song will be a .m4a file. Drag it to your desktop. IMPORTANT: Highlight the extension and change it to .m4r (this is the extension for iPhone ringtones). A window will pop up asking if you want to use.m4r or remain as .m4a. Click Use .m4r.

5. Almost there... I suggest you create a folder iPhone Ringtones and put that in the same folder as your iTune songs. Now when you connect your iPhone to your Mac, go to Ringtones tab in iTunes, and select the iPhone Ringtones folder and click on Synch. Voila! Now you have the chosen song in your iPhone as a ringtone.

Enjoy!

Labels: Geek Stuff, Projects

I got to the Comcentre around 7pm and was #16 in the queue!! I thought there would be hundreds by then but 16!! Wow! My cousin joined me for a bit and a bite which helped to kill about 2 hours. I rejoined the queue at around 10pm, and that was when things got really exciting. They moved us to a spot in front of the 'glass house' - a replica of the Mac Shop in NYC. Only this was wrapped in a big white bow.

There was a band and an MC to get things pumping. The organisers gave out coffee, snacks and water. TV crew from the region's various media were filming and interviewing. By then I was almost dying of thirst (didn't dare drink too much in case I needed to pee cause getting out of there was a pain!).

At the countdown, the bow was unwrapped and fireworks showered golden sparks on the first guy who got to go inside and make his first purchase. After that, the first 50 (including yours truly) entered the glass house to applause and cheers! Haha!!

My friends thought I was crazy to do this. I suppose. I did promise myself last year that when the iPhone comes to Singapore, I would do to be one of the first to get it. I'm glad I did. It was a fun though exhausting experience. There isn't much I'd get into a line for, the iPhone was one of them. Another was the last Harry Potter book (2007). Tickets to a U2 concert if and when they EVER decide to play here would be another.

And my iPhone? Sigh....

Labels: Geek Stuff, General

This gorgeous hunk is finally here. At 12.01am on Friday, 22 August at the ComCentre. You must be registered and have booked this time-slot. If not, visit Singtel's hello shops to add your name to the waiting list.

Excuse me while I calm my racing heart...I have a date with destiny.

Labels: Geek Stuff, News

I've had enough of regular books for a while. Well actually, I want something different but I don't know what that is just yet. So, I've started on the entire graphic novel series of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. I've read book 1 (twice now), almost done with book 2 with book 3 waiting in the wings. I'm off to Kinokuniya tomorrow for more - they have stocked the entire series.

Question: Although these are not my old 'comic books' (remember Archie and Beano?) can I still classify these as serious literature? There are more picture than words. Also, I've been eyeing The Watchmen - any thoughts on this, anyone?

Labels: Books

Beijing promised a spectacular and they delivered...it was breathtaking!

My favourite parts? The fireworks of giant footprints in the very beginning and the lighting of the Olympic flame. Wooaahhh! What were yours?

Photo from AFP

Labels: General, News

The Secret Of Lost Things :: Sheridan Hay
304 pages, Fourth Estate 2007, Hardback

A coming of age tale of a young 18 year-old girl who travels from Tasmania to New York City after her mother's death. There she finds work in the Arcade, a huge second-hand book-store filled with odd characters like Pearl a large, black soon-to-be all woman with operatic dreams and Oscar who is incapable of loving anyone. Along the way, she's besotted with a totally undeserving fuckwit (thanks you Bridget Jones!) who uses her to aid his search for a lost Herman Melville manuscript, and has her first sexual encounter with another who's looking for the same.

I liked Rosemary although her naivete and country-mouse wonder at life and love made me want to shake her after a bit. I enjoyed Sheridan Hay's prose and her ability to create idiosyncratic characters. While the Melville manuscript was a secondary plot, it was an clever way to put Rosemary into situations that tested her, and allowed her to grow.

A good effort but I wish it had a slightly faster pacing. Recommended for serious consideration to any TBR pile.

Now reading: Not sure what's next. Maureen Corrigan's book kinda disappointed me. I need a thriller to yank me from the depths of book purgatory. Suggestions welcome!

Labels: Books, Bookshelf

The Shadow of the Wind :: Carlos Luiz Zafon
478 pages, Penguin 2006, Paperback

Nearly 500 pages of plots within plots within plots; of a parallel coming-of-age tale of two young men and the women they love, a labyrinth, of a sadistic police officer driven by psychopathic lust to hurt and kill, of books that are hunted down and destroyed. Murder, love and mystery rule while quiet moments of regret, loss and longing give pause and a lump in the throat.

This is a delicious Gothic novel in the same vein as Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. It's one of those books that you'd want to savour every page, to prolong its inevitable conclusion yet at the same time, want to rush through to find out what happens next! There are nail-biting scenes which will have you reading well past bedtime on a work night before you get to a spot where you can close the book, however reluctantly. But whatever you do, don't read ahead.

I'll be looking for more of Zafon's novels to add to my library. Highly recommended!

Now reading: Maureen Corrigan's Leave Me Along, I'm Reading, and Sheridan Hay's The Secret of Lost Things.

Labels: Books, Bookshelf

Goodness! This is the end of June with just 6 months left till the end of December. The year has zipped by so fast that I'm reeling from the rush. I have a feeling that the new year will appear before I can blink twice! Anyone feeling this way?

Work, life, work, and more work has consumed my June. Yes there were doses of pleasant moments like high teas, dinners, punnets of sweet US strawberries (eaten as is, or cut up and mixed with Cointreau and OJ), movies and a new international client for my freelance business. Woohoo! But I've had my nail-biting moments too (yes, D...they're all shredded again!).

I'm looking forward to a saner July but you know how these things can change just like that. I'm off on a company trip this coming weekend to Malacca in Malaysia. A chance to relax, enjoy some really good food and do a tiny spot of shopping as I'm saving for my US trip. I've got a shopping list and as of now, it includes 2 handbags, 2 to 3 pairs of shoes, re-stock my Bare Minerals makeup, underwear, and as many clothes as my limited budget allows. All subject to change depending on what I see at the shops.

And this is the 2nd issue of lol, aimed at the students of SIM.

Hope everyone's been well and is having a good summer, wherever you are. What have you been up to? If you're out in the sun, don't forget your sunscreen.

Labels: General, News