Friday, November 30, 2012

OMG - PopSlate!

I can't help to share this with anyone with an iPhone5. It is so excited!

Friday, November 23, 2012

Apple World


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Window 8

Oh boy, I was tempted to upgrade my 'non-touch' PC to Window 8 given the $ cost of upgrade is not much. However, after a bit of thinking, considering that my wife will hate it, and the effort that would need to be put in learning something new, I just held off such idea of upgrade. In fact, Window 7 is working perfectly fine for me so far. If I really wanna upgrade or doing something different, I should get a iMac-mini for fun.

On top of the above, I think this article that I came across today really give a very good analysis of user experience of Window 8 at the moment. After reading this, I would most likely bypass Window 8 for foreseeable future.


Thursday, November 15, 2012

What I learn today

Saw the following from here today.

....
世界是不完美,世事總是甩甩漏漏,我們習慣了在甩漏中尋找滿足。完美人活在一個不完美的世界,感覺應該是辛苦,因為太多事情看不過眼。在控制到的範圍,完 美人做到最好,但世事包括很多控制範圍以外的事,在完美人眼中,自己控制以外的世界充滿平庸。小野二郎的供應商便是例子,他們未必能達到小野二郎的要求, 因此小野二郎須做很多本應是供應商份內的工序。完美人忙到癲,因為處處看不過眼,唯有做埋別人的工作。
我們讚美完美人的成就,但這種讚美其實帶點盲目,甚至虛偽,因為我們為保存心裡的完美形象,不想知道完美的背後。完美當然是好,不好的是追求完美的過程。....

 .....
完美人專注,專注沒有不好,但過分專注可能扭曲真相。專注的人咬實一件事不放,全神投入,做到最好。然而,更合適的方法,可能是嘗試不同方法,貪新忘舊不 是罪,而是不停提醒自己有可能出錯。專注的人不大接受事情有其他可能性,不願質疑自己有可能犯錯,因為他們已投資這麼豐富的感情。完美人的價值觀,外間未 必能理解。
我要不完美,因為我相信 Good Enough, Good Enough夠了。 Good Enough不代表馬虎,在要求愈來愈高的工作環境,馬虎沒法達到可接受水平。 Good Enough同樣需要計劃,需要下苦功。 Good Enough不是接受次貨,而是定下一個顧及參與者能力的計劃,然後在符合成本效益的前提下盡力做好。
Good Enough不是完美的反義詞,因為我們對 Good Enough的要求,也會隨着時間和環境而改變。例如香港人對政治人物操守的期望,過去十多二十年,有很大變化,今日的 Good Enough,差不多等於過去的完美。以 Good Enough為目標的好處,是接受世事好難,做到 Good Enough已經是了不起,再做好一點,一是不可能,一是不划算。做任何事也要考慮成本,當成本高至不合理水平,當事人要懂得叫停,可惜叫停在完美人詞彙 中不存在。 Good Enough容許我們接受自己不完美的一面,而這一面並不醜陋。.....

Very meaningful!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Few Thoughts (Obama, i***, MS, and NBA)

I've not blogged for a while. Busy at work is one thing, but it has more to do with that fact that I've not felt like I've one particular topic that I really can spend time to think and write, so I just stay put.

Well, today finally I got few minutes, so why don't I just write something, it's not gonna be very organized, just some random thoughts on few topics that came to my mind....

Obama is re-elected
I don't have much affection on him as a leader. I think he is good communicator, not as good as Bill Clinton, but surely better than George W. Bush. He also has a more convincing persona than Mitt Romney. Four more years for him to cover the eight-years old dug by Bush. I wish Obama the best. Hopefully he can get something done.

To be honest, I don't really see a whole lot of deep-down differences of either person won in the presidential election. Yes, there are superficial differences, but those are not big enough to swing the future of the country. For example, accept gay marriage or abortion are matters that matter to individuals, it is not gonna turn the country's strength or fate one way or the other. Cuz, what really matter is the fact that either Democrats or Republicans are supported by the same group of people from behind. They support both and just manipulate the results from behind. Who are they? Just follow the money!

iPad Mini, iPad 4 and iPhone 5
I own iPad 3, so it sucked to learn that a new one came out merely 7 months after mine was released. However, come to think of it, the difference is kinda incremental and I'm so far still happy with mine. So, just beat it.

iPad Mini is tempting, the weight itself is unbeatable! However, since I don't really have the use of carrying a tablet around on the go all the time. I will stay put for now. The weight is nice, but the size of a bigger screen is more important. Even if the next gen of iPad Mini has retina display, it still may not be able to make me shelf out $ to get one. I guess I won't get one until I see the need.


I was pretty sure I would get one to replace my 3years old 3GS. However, come to think of my needs vs cost vs my desire. I decide to stay put as well, given the fact that iOS6 still support 3GS. Also, I don't think iPhone 5 is 'buff - up' enough to make me wanna have it at the current price. So, iPhone 6 for me then.

Window 8 and MS Surface
As a PC owner whose PC has no touchscreen function, I don't see the point of getting Win8. Why pick up the hazzle of finding the 'Start' button? I can imagine that my wife will freak out if I upgrade to Win8. Also, I opine that the tiles on the Metro interface may be nice on mobile, but will be kinda useless on PC. So, it doesn't appeal to me. If Win8 came after Vista, I think many people would be tempted to jump on the Win8 bandwagon, but Win7 has been good enough to right the Vista deeds, and Win8 is just not much better than Win7, given the experience of WinXP to Vista fiasco, I would think many consumers would probably stay put for the time being, unless they are going after MS Surface or have to buy a new PC.

Speaking of Surface, I think its thunder was kinda partially stolen by iPad Mini, but the real problem is the price, it is not cheap. I still haven't been convinced why any existing tablet users would buy a Surface. If it came out 3 years ago, it would be great, and it would win both IT people in corporate sector as well as consumers. But, given iPad's foothold in corporate sector has been well-established in last 2 years, and consumers including me just find iPad's appealing usage as a entertainment gadget, I doubt Surface will be a great hit with the current selling price.

NBA 2012-13
New season has just begun. I still root for Celtics. But I can't help but paying attention to few other teams: Lakers with 4 all stars, Heat with Ray Allen, Houston with Hardy & Lin, and Knicks with bunch of old talents that try to mash up to win. I want Celtics to win, but I also want Steve Nash to have a ring before he retires. It would be an interesting season to watch and follow.