Afterthought

In the blink of an eye, my first semester in NUS has come and gone. Just like that. Contrary to popular belief, the hype surrounding matriculating is definitely a whole load of bull. In all honesty, I found the company, with the exception of a number of individuals, rather tiresome and the atmosphere rather... stifling. There was little spontaneity involved in day to day interactions and everyone shuffled around the school like clockwork tin soldiers, their focus fixed solely on accomplishing that next objective on that never-ending to-do list. On a more personal level, I do not even enjoy the modules I am reading. Its boring and, in my humble opinion, almost irrelevant to what I want to do later in life. All my life (let's take the age of ten as the lower limit in this definition of life), my greatest fear was grow up and be a nobody. To work long hours for decades only to fade away without leaving an impression on the people and environment around me. Looking at the way things are going thus far, I sure as hell am on the right path to doing just that. My life is a perpetual plan-in-progress. Aiming there, planning for this, yearning for that. I am trapped in a rather viscous and dissatisfactory circle or unfinished business and unaccomplished dreams and I fear as time edges forth, I will be dragged further down into the deep dark abyss of anonymity and eternal regret. If only I can find the strength to start walking the talk. I sure as hell hope the 7.35 km sprint was a sign of good things to come. Till the next entry. 

"Once upon a time,

I dreamt

I was a butterfly...Suddenly

I awoke...Now, I do not

know whether I was then

a man dreaming I was

a butterfly, or whether I

am now a butterfly dreaming

that I am a man."

- Chuang-Tzu

Stuff for Sale!! Triathlon Helmets and Sailing boat

Giro Advantage TT Helmet 2008 (Small Silver/White)

The Giro Advantage 2 Aero Helmet made its debut in the 2006 Tour de France. The Giro Advantage 2 is a CPSC compliant evolution of Giro's famed Advantage model, and was developed with countless wind tunnel hours and the feedback of several elite riders over the last three years.

The Giro Advantage 2 is truly a top-level race product. In wind tunnel sessions with Lance Armstrong and other elite riders, the Advantage 2's performance was benchmarked against rival designs and Giro's own aerodynamic fairings (helmets with no impact absorbing layer). The results show that the Advantage 2's design produced remarkably similar drag numbers to previous designs, and is among the fastest of designs tested.

The Giro Advantage 2 was honed to a razor's steely perfection in the heat of elite competition. If you need a helmet that slices the wind, slashes your time, and is on the cutting edge of aerodynamic performance then the Giro Advantage 2 is the aero helmet for you.

Features:

• In mold construction 
• 5 vents with internal channeling to keep you cool while turning up the heat! 
• Wind tunnel and competition-proven design 
• 11 oz., 310g

Review by a British Rider:  Awesome helmet. bought this back in january and have done about 5 time trials with it since. It's extremely comfortable which makes a change for giro and is well vented. i bought mine in white but now ive seen this colour im jealous. anyway this helmet is pretty ding dong!

Image not to scale :)

Giro Advantage TT Helmet 2006 (Small Silver)

<The Giro Advantage 2 Aero Helmet made its debut in the 2006 Tour de France. The Giro Advantage 2 is a CPSC compliant evolution of Giro's famed Advantage model, and was developed with countless wind tunnel hours and the feedback of several elite riders over the last three years. 

The Giro Advantage 2 is truly a top-level race product. In wind tunnel sessions with Lance Armstrong and other elite riders, the Advantage 2's performance was benchmarked against rival designs and Giro's own aerodynamic fairings (helmets with no impact absorbing layer). The results show that the Advantage 2's design produced remarkably similar drag numbers to previous designs, and is among the fastest of designs tested. 

The Giro Advantage 2 was honed to a razor's steely perfection in the heat of elite competition. If you need a helmet that slices the wind, slashes your time, and is on the cutting edge of aerodynamic performance then the Giro Advantage 2 is the aero helmet for you. 

PS: The review is basically the same because it is actually the same helmet... just an older model... :) 

FEATURES: 

- Roc Loc 4 Fit System 
- In mold construction 
- 5 vents with internal channeling to keep you cool while turning up the heat! 
- Wind tunnel and competition-proven design 
- 11 oz., 310g 

Laser (Radial/ Full Rig) Sailboat 

As I am retiring from Dinghy Sailing (Well technically I stopped sailing approximately 2 years ago), I am looking to sell off my trusty old Laser. I will be able to fit up the sailcraft in either the radial or the standard rig depending on what you're looking for. If you're interested in viewing the craft or would like to find out a bit more about the boat (which I strongly encourage you too!), please feel free to contact me at the following e-mail addresses: jasking@pacific.net.sg OR jasonyip_178099@hotmail.com. Drop me a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible :) 

As for the helmets, lets just leave it as miscommunication and miscalculation. We've (My Buddies and I) have done our home work and as soon as we successfully let these helmets go we're getting another pair for ourselves too, so do rest assured there is absolutely nothing wrong with the helmets :) 

 

Pricing for the Helmet is as follows:

2008: 235

2006: 165

Laser: 7000 (TBC)

As I have mentioned earlier, any queries about any item please do feel free to drop me a message :) 

White Tiger Mauls Man at the Singapore Zoo

I managed to find the video. Its painful but I guess this serves as a reminder just when the boundary between men and nature should be drawn. My condolences to the family. 

Tick Tock

One more week. Then the countdown to the adventure of a lifetime begins. 

Ramblings: Part 2

All Essays Down. Mugging to commence... when it commences. Cook-out in approximately 30 hours time. Training in 4. Yikes... dancing to O-zone now... If only the cursed video-camera works :)

Check this out!

Blissful Driving 

Breather

Deadlines. 

Frenzied typing. 

Fatigue. 

Compulsive.

Subway. 

Gaming. 

Island Creamery. 

Training. 

Rest. 

Cook-Outs. 

Lonely Nights.

Life.

Happiness? 

Perhaps.

Change for the Future

I guess anything is possible if you fight hard enough. Game on. 

Iphone - I-dilemma

The One?

Truth be told, I had fixed my sights on the iphone ever since it was launched here. However, the feedback and reviews the phone has been getting has not been really encouraging. The plans and data limits are terribly restricted and a month's usage may render me penniless upon receiving my phone bills. I am not really good with technology but I did manage to find a rather comprehensive article on why the iphone isn't as marvelous as what it is put up to be. Here's the article that greatly influenced my decision to give the iphone, as much as I am still crazy over it, a miss... [http://practicallife.wordpress.com/... thats the blog address... do browse through this blog, it does provide a rather interesting read. After this article below, he did write a follow up article on the general performance of the iphone after he purchased one... and just so you know... the second article didn't help change my decision much either]

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Apple has been very good at coming up with innovative products from iPod classic, shuffle, Touch, then iPhone.  After a long wait, (legitimate) iPhone finally arrived in Singapore. I gave it a miss on their launch and I gave it another miss last Sunday. Read on why…

Before I start with the ‘why’, I need to establish an impression on where I am or why I am qualified to have an opinion that I have. I travel a lot and I worked in telecommunication industry for almost 10 years now. Mobile phone is a must and I depend on it a lot. I have at least 4 primary phones that I bring around everywhere with spare batteries for each phone. I choose phone based on their performance, stability and versatility and almost of my choices are the popular phones in the market.  Example: Nokia N95, N95 8GB, E90 Communicator, N73, etc. These phones are really popular not because heavy ads or something but due to its design and performance.

Few of the most basic criteria of a mobile phone is stability, usability and coverage. 

1. Phone must be stable so that it is dependable as reliable communication devices.
2. Phone must have a high usability that it is easy to use and intuitive. This includes a good and friendly user interface.
3. Phone must have a good coverage i.e. multiple radios to ensure coverage in different part of the world.

iPhone, despite all it’s features and hype, does not meet all of the above. I was so glad that I didn’t purchase the iPhone during its launch. When I read that Apple has released new software for the phone v2.1 and the fixes includes ‘ less dropped call, improve battery life, etc’ I can only think that previous software must be crappy. A phone can’t be dropping calls due to software!! It is understandable if network coverage is bad but not the phone itself. In my opinion, it has to prove itself as a stable device to be use for a consumer primary device.

iPhone also associated with ‘locking’ customer to an operator. Despite the one sold in Singapore are unlocked but it is not really full unlocked just like any other phones sold in the local market. Why?

1. SingTel always stated ‘Use SingTel SIM card to experience the iPhone’. The staff at SingTel shops always downplay the possibility of using the phone with m1 or starhub cards.
2. It has a limit of 4 SIM card, after which the phone is locked. I’m not sure if that’s a 4x change of SIM card or 4 different unique SIM card. Have you heard any unlocked/normal phones that has a limit of number SIM card it’ll allow to? Well I haven’t.

iPhone has also a unique revenue sharing contract, this lead to higher monthly plan than any other phone. Compare M1’s SunSaver which offer similar talk time to SingTel iPhone’s base Flexi plan but at about S$ 15 more.

Last Friday, I came to Singtel ComCentre to get an iphone also to see the product myself. The staff (even those specialized at iPhone) are not fully competent in answering my questions. The staff unable to explain in details the limitation of 4 SIM cards (unique or number of SIM card change). One staff said it’ll NOT work with M1/Starhub SIM Card which is incorrect.

Other gripes? well plenty:

1. Battery is not removable - Bad design, considering that we need to use the phone extended time at certain occasions and battery needs to be able to be replaced.
2. Can’t cut and paste - Really a showstopper
3. Can’t forward SMS - What.. Missing basic feature?
4. Can’t do video call - hello…… 3G -> Video call!! esp. with that bigsized screen
5. 2Mpix camera without autofocus or flash -> What kind of outdated camera is that?
6. Spend more $$$ to get decent pouch or risk having the iPhone cosmetically damaged very soon.

It may be a beautiful product, but to me it’s a fashion phone rather than a reliable phone. I’d rather get a basic phone that does excellent basic call function rather than a polished and shiny phone with a dropped call.

When I called SingTel customer service, the officer mentioned that plenty of stocks still available. Interesting! What is more interesting is that, Singtel sent an email today:

If you port your mobile number to SingTel and purchase an iPhone, we guarantee your iFlexi plan won’t be beaten by anyone else!*

Our records indicate that you have not purchased your iPhone 3G from SingTel.

I am so confident about our iPhone offer, if and when our competition launches a cheaper iPhone 3G rate plan, we will match it.

This offer is just for you and is not transferable! You must bring this letter to a hello! store before 30 September 2008 to be eligible.

There has never been a better time to experience the iPhone 3G on SingTel’s unrivalled 3G network.

For more details on pricing please visitwww.singtel.com/iphone

What’s stopping you from porting your mobile number to SingTel today and getting your own iPhone 3G?

*SingTel iPhone 3G Price Plan Guarantee: If you come across an advertised post paid mobile iPhone 3G bundled price plan from another service provider in Singapore before 31 December 2008 we make sure you are not worse off for your price plan as follows:If the included bundle of local outgoing voice minutes, local SMS and data bundle is similar and the subscription price lower we will match the bundle for local voice, local SMS, data and subscription price.If the subscription price is similar, but the plan includes more local outgoing voice minutes, local SMS and data bundle we will match the bundle for local outgoing voice minutes, local SMS, data and subscription price.The matching will be for the duration of your fixed term post paid contract with SingTel. This is a special promotion for the person named in this email and is not transferable. You must port your number to SingTel post paid to be eligible for the iPhone 3G Price Plan Guarantee. If you come across a cheaper advertised rate, you must let SingTel know by sending an email to iphone@singtel.com. We will verify your e-mail and change your rates within two months of you letting us know. Cancellation fees and other costs may apply when you switch from your current provider. SingTel’s normal credit policies and terms and conditions apply.

 The way I read this, the sales of Iphone is not that well. Stocks aplenty and it tries to assure customer to get iphone now rather than later by Starhub or M1. I also read that it is quite confident that no rates will be lower than Singtel until end of the year. So does Starhub and M1 will only launch iPhone next year? Let’s see.  

Whatever it is, it’s not a fully matured product, not really cheap initially, expensive running cost and restrictive (SIM limitation), etc. iPhone - good bye for now… Ring me again when you’re better shape and when operator charges better for your services.

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Thats that for the preview/review of the Iphone and the plans and services which come with it... opinions anyone?

Intelligent Posts

A political blog. That dangerous yet altogether interesting idea was raised today in a random class in a random university in a random town in a random island state. Now that's what I call a brave step into the unknown. 

On a more personal agenda, I think I shall rest early today (taken in the context of hall life in that random university). Team NUS Temasekian Biathletes' cook out tomorrow! Something worth waiting for... wait I don't think I was supposed to do that right? Hah. 

New Addition

taxification

taxi.fi.ca.tion [tak-si-fi-key-shuh n]

-noun

1. the science or technique of selecting vehicles to carry passengers for a fare, usually calculated by a taximeter 

taxi.fy [tak-si-fahy]

-verb (used with object)

1. to select vehicle for conversion into taxicab

-verb (used without object)

2. to become taxified : Oh my gosh, the Toyota Cameray has been taxified

[Origin: 2008; used in horrification upon realization that numerous models of cars have been converted into taxis]

Slumber Party

This post was typed with no background music playing, no games blaring and no loud disruptive chattering. Jia Jie, our gracious host, mulls over our potential competitors list for the upcoming season as ZY drifts into lala-land. Prince Ma is currently showering whilst I hack away at my mindless blogging. (This is going to be a mindless post anyway...) Regardless of hard and fast the world shifts and spins, I hope somethings like good sportsmanship, comerade and friendship never change. Ever.