Lean and mean.

Aside from aiming to lose a few baby fats, I also started trimming the things I bring daily. Am stationing my out of warranty iBook at home for the moment and converted one of the machines at work as my workstation. Was pleasantly surprised how polished the default GNOME environment is on ubuntu. I still hasn't tried making the dual core work on the Pentium D workstation, cat /proc/cpuinfo only shows one processor. More on this later. I would miss the iBook, but since its out of warranty and we don't have a budget for an upgrade, it would be safer it stays home.

For now, am limiting my gear to my trusted Treo and its gullible infra-red keyboard. Might bring my kid's PSP from time to time since it has wi-fi and the built in web browser is quite usable. Besides am enjoying PQ, quite addicting 3D puzzle game. Other than that, I might also take a stab at street photography and do a photo-a-day sort of thing.

This would also force me to setup system to seamlessly pass/share data around my home and work computer. For now, there is no denying how useful the aging CVS is. I haven't tried Sub-version, since work is piled up and that would mean configuration changes and finding out if Eclipse supports it.

It was weird traveling light on my way to the office this morning. Using the regular keyboard brings nostalgic feelings, likewise using a regular mouse as opposed to a laptop's touch pad.

My journey into digital photography

Tribu in the sand


I had always been fascinated by photography but never had a chance to try it till last year when I got the 350D. I percieved film back then to be costly, unlike today's digital. My goal for now is to be the best photographer there is for my wife and kids (FHM models would also be nice). I think my field would be "home photography", people who loves to errr, take pictures of everyday things found in his home. Still lots to learn tho, much of it is understanding the light, if dancing is making love with the dance floor, photography is also making love with the light.

But still, the process of capturing those priceless moments in time is such a great stress reliever after long hours in front of the computer.



Waiter, got milk?


In a way, am also trying to cultivate the creative part in me (more like trying to discover if I had it). Although I have read somewhere that photography is for people who aren't very good at creating art, and if you can't create art, it might be easier just to capture it. But others will surely disagree, as they say that what would separate a photographer from a snap shooter? the photographer composes/creates, the snap shooter simply takes a picture.



The umbrella pose


At the end of the day, I like photography because it forces me to try to find beauty in everyday things.


shutter nox
-- if a picture paints a thousand words...

Today's musings

In no particular order:
• Just watched a CNN clip early this morning regarding the iPhone's appeal on the asian market. Interesting in a way that the it focused on Japan, where the mobile technology is more advanced than any other country in the world. Thanks to its broadband speed mobile data infrastructure, in Japan, the phone not only plays TV, you can use it literally for a train ride, email, IM, browse the internet, GPS your way into Tokyo, buy something from the fruitstand, remotely control your coffee machine, etc., and last but not the least, make a phone call.
• So how does the iPhone stack up to a market like this? With mobile data infrastructure a generation ahead than its GSM/Edge/Wi-fi/Bluetooth combo? The answer is simple, as one japanese in the interview puts it: "its stylish, and I'm curious." And quite frankly, that is just what the iPhone needs to make a dent in the asian market.
• On the other hand, am continously fascinated how advanced mobile technology is in Japan. The degree it becomes an extension of an individual there. From an architect carrying his digital blueprints there, teenagers watching TV, a father paying for his groceries just by placing the phone on top of conduit point of sale device, an old man using the phone's mapping application to navigate downtown tokyo, to a commuter tapping his phone to an train turns-style entrance (drastically minimizes lines), an so much more!
• What makes it so successfull in Japan? Why isn't it yet that wide spread in a flat world? Can the Philippines, the texting capital of the world, also do it? What would it take?

nox
-- Japan is a MobileIndie's wet dream come true.

My manly hands

My manly hands
Originally uploaded by nocs.

In another futile attemp to have a body of decent shape, am determined to conquer the threadmill. This time, am adding a cheap 18lbs dumb bell to the mix.

The strategy is to walk/run at least 15-30 minutes every other day. Shoot! thats already a conservative estimate. Am also determined to finally get rid of still lingering baby fats around my cute belly. I don't care if I lose a pretty functional stabilizer (prop your elbows on your tummy for added instability when taking a picture, you get the drift).

Lets see again where this goes...

athletic nox
-- by all means, wish me luck...

OS X PostgreSQL binary

Since I reformatted my iBook over the weekend (on a very slow DSL connection, go figure.), am still in the process of getting the apps I NEED one by one. I had always loved PostgreSQL (and it has alwasy loved me back), even back in the day, MySQL just doesn't appeal to me. Anyway, I searched the lazy web for a lean and mean binary installer instead of going thru the usual process of installing the OS X dev kit, installing fink, and manually compiling postgres. Turns out, as expected that somebody has done just that. From somebody with a domain ending in .ch, my oh my, the world is now flat indeed!


dev nox
-- Postgres rocks!

He was selling us the future -- mobile, broadband-connected and ubiquitous.

This wired magazine post nailed it squarely on the head. Am a bit amused why some people whine regarding the lack of 3G, among other things, they just don't get it. Steve is selling us the future of mobility. And damn! I like the direction he is going.

Same goes for the Apple computer, it isn't just the hardware, its the combination of all the technologies that makes your computer a tool, rather than a state of the art computing machine. It allows you to think more of the problems you are trying to solve, rather than the computer be a problem in itself. In short, it makes a pretty good effort to get technology out of your way, and that separates it from the rest.


mac nox
-- i love my mac...