Ben's take on gadgets, technology... life

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iPod Nano... dream or nightmare?

Just a couple of months back Apple announced the tinniest, thinnest, smallest, coolest - and many ...lest Mp3 player in the world - the iPod Nano.

This thing is so incredibly small that you would think something like that would only exist in the years to come. Apple has outdone themselves again and this gadget has been pushed backwards from the future and made available to us today!

Just when the Nano is becoming my next "MUST HAVE" gadget, a flaw has been found :(

Why? Why? Why? Why must something so small have a flaw? (it rhymes!).



Apparently, the screen gets scratched by itself as this article has reported.


Therefore, the question now is : To buy or not to buy?

(pulling hair) Again, WHYYYYYYYY???

Apple, if you see this post, please respond...

Click here for more shots of cracked iPod Nano screens

Welcome to the clan PALM!

Yay! the PDA (personal digital assistant) war is finally over. This is a time everyone has been waiting for - a time when enemies become allies.

For years, there has been a debate among PDA enthusiasts; whose operating system is better? Palm or Microsoft? I have always been a Microsoft supporter. With Palm not going very far with their operating system (common, you've gotta admit it - it's not as cool as Microsoft's :)).

So there, the news is out and Palm has finally decided to roll out their very first Microsoft Pocket PC enabled Palm (sounds strange) but as long as they have decided to join the Microsoft community, WELCOME PALM!

Where did I get the news from? Check this link out :
New Palm to embrace Microsoft

More soon... cheers!

What has been up and what hasn't?

Yeah I know, it's been pretty long since I last updated this blog. As a matter of fact, almost everytime I post a new entry in my blog, I would always have this first liner. Since it's become so much of a tradition, why not just say it again? :)

For those who are interested, here's a little update on what I have been up to.

For the most part, after TechEd 2005 (please read my last entry) life was pretty much all about job hunting. I should spare you the details as if I were to give you a detailed chronological list of events which occured during that period, you'll get extremely bored. The jeez of it? I've got a JOB! Yes! I'm finally employed - my first day of work? 19th September 2005!

The job hunting experience was certainly something which I would say have thought me a number of lessons. During the process, I've learned a number of things. Firstly, the balance between prestige and enjoying one's job; the balance between money and life; the balance between other's expectations of you and your own expectations. At the end of the day, everyone would want everything, fame, money, fortune (all related to $$$), great job etc. Unfortunately, you can't have everything... so choose one must (Yoda style of typing). It was during this job hunting experience; with the help of my dad, that I have learned to evaluate and came to the conclusion of the kind of job I would love to be in. It is important to LOVE one's job. There's no other way to emphasize further.

With my first "post-degree" job just around the corner, it was evident that transportation would be quite a bit of an issue as the office itself is located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur (Gold en Triangle to be exact) while my home, as most of you would already know is that I live in Cyberjaya. That's a good 30-60 minutes drive daily to work. I needed a car.

My criteria for selecting the car was that it has to be extremely fuel efficient, extremely safe and of course must look good-lah. :)

Since I've always had this little car in mind, I took my first test drive, brought my girlfriend for another test drive, took my dad for another test drive and finally, through the power of convincing, the car was purchased! This of course, wouldn't have been possible without the help of my parents who contributed greatly to the downpayment of the car; and with the convocation just around the corner, this would be my graduation gift!

With the car booked, down payment paid, what was next? What was to come was a week of documentation, approval from various transportation departments and my non-stop hasseling of the sales girl to speed up the process so that the car could be released by the day of my convocation.

With all that hasseling plenty of running around with "runners" who basically are the people who would help send your unregistered car for inspection, submission of documents, car registration etc. - the hard work has paid off and so, let's put our hands to welcome, my brand spanking new ride - the Smart fortwo Coupe!

(I promise, I'll upload some of it's pictures soon)

So there, it's been a really exciting & tiring couple of weeks / months for me since completing my degree. With my new car which got released today, graduation ceremony happening tomorrow and my exciting new job on Monday, I'm sure there are many more excitements to come.

Like my dad has always said "things can only get better" - and it's true!

Keep watching my MSN Messenger's Status Message for updates on this blog!