Two weeks into 2014

Wow. Time flies ridiculously fast. 

Still got a ton of things to do. Liking the steady pace of stuff I had been itching to do but didn't materialize last year. The family settling in the new place is helping a lot to make schedule for some things.

Finished my first book for 2014. Still a lot on my reading list. Not to mention my impossible long Pocket list and the a dozen or so Safari reading list. 

On the personal side of things, managed to run consistently at a 7/kph pace for 30 mins in recent attempts. 

All in all a good start. A good start indeed.

Happy New Year! Welcome 2014!

2013 has been pretty tough. Relocating from one country to another is never easy. The kids had to take a break for 6 months since they came in after the middle of the school year coming from an international school.

Malaysia had been our home for the past 6 years. Lots of fond memories. The laid back way of life specially on the weekends. It was harder for the kids who had already develop long term friends among school mates. But alas, life is a journey. 

Singapore is now our new home. The past 8 months just went by pretty quick. We had to adapt quickly and scramble to gear up the kids for getting into a local school. The first thing my wife did was find a good tuition teacher to adjust the kids level to the intended year (P4 and S1 respectively). We were quite relieved when the results came in! My boy got into a mainstream school and my elder girl managed to get into the express stream. Huge sigh of relief. Official school days start tomorrow. Let the adventure begin.

On a professional level, I have to adapt managing teams remotely and really switch gear from getting things done hands-on style to a more coaching style to spread the technical leadership to varying teams. Pretty challenging no doubt to be thrown far out of your comfort zone. But change is always an opportunity to take things to a different level. So bring it on.

2013 also opened our eyes to the wonders of travel. We realized the kids are in an age where they could really appreciate traveling. Its a way for them to see portions of the world and be exposed to other cultures. This is far better than buying them toys. The memories of traveling with family has more deeper staying power than material things we provide. Those memories will last their lifetimes. Added bonus, each can now carry their own carry on baggage. Gone are the days we have to haul the baby bottles and diapers and have one bag just full of stuff toys. We can travel light and that makes traveling with the family more enjoyable. :)

I have rekindled my love for photography as well. And had taken quite a few images that am pretty proud of. Its a great way to exercise the creative part of the brain and a welcome respite from the hard hitting and fast paced technology world at work. 

All in all, am thankful to God for 2013. While you learn from mistakes, its always important to count your blessing and be grateful. Everyday is a gift. Don't take it for granted. 

So I guess thats it for a new year blog post. Again happy new year! Looking towards 2014 and all the challenges and excitements it may bring! :)

Everyday Photography

Slow-Cooked-Beef-Ribs-3769, a photo by nocs on Flickr.

Recently I had been picking up the camera and again re-trying an old passion of taking photographs of things I like. Mostly taking shots of our kids and surrounding neighbourhoods.

In parallel my wife also is re-kindling her love for cooking. This presents awesome opportunities to photograph the new dishes as she weaves her magic around the kitchen.

iOS 7 bit

NDA embargo is lifted. Among other things, its now rockin' base64 string encoding API. Yep, its the simple things that matter. Enjoy!

NSString *base64EncodedString = [[string dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding] base64EncodedStringWithOptions:0];

Google Cloud Endpoints.

Dabbling with Google's new cloud endpoints. Since am not using Eclipse (Intellij IDEA fanboy). It was a bit of a jar hunting game. To save you the trouble, the downloadable backend code includes dependencies on gson.jar and the gcm server jar which, wait for it... Only comes bundled with the Android SDK tools under Cloud Messaging.

Lets see how this goes.

The Cutest Boy in the whole universe.

_MG_3414
Originally uploaded by nocs

Hands down, my little boy is the cutest. :)

Is this thing still on?

Testing 1, 2, tres...

Windows Live Writer

 

No kidding, this is a slick native desktop blogging client for windows. Able to automatically pick up the blogger CSS styles for a truly WYSIWG experience.

Usually, you get software like this on the Mac, its quite refreshing to have something like this on Windows. Makes for a very nice companion for netbook computers which are ubiquitous nowadays.

And the best part of course is its FREE. Get it now!

Long time no post again.

Its been eons again since I have written a blog post. Even 140 character updates are rarer nowadays.

It could either mean too busy at work or more interested in real life (IRL) activities or both.

For some reason, I do like to write. Its just I find it hard still to write cohesive sentences. Explaining /dev/brain contents that mildly conforms to the rules of proper grammar. I always admired people who have that gift. The gift of writing.

Its not hard to find where the weakness lies. Its the inability to focus on writing one topic from start to end. The mind wanders off too frequently in the blink of an eye. Hyper active mind leads to fractured blog posts 99.999% of the time.

But as always, optimism is always there. Will never get tired of trying. :)

N95 and Garmin Mobile XT

On a quick note, N95 + Garmin Mobile XT loaded with Malaysia and Singapore maps really rocks! Even better than the bundled GPS on our Persona. All searches by default is based on your location. For example searching for a Shell station, you would see it searching within 5km, 10km, 20km... radius. That said it makes a two year old phone an extremely practical all in one mobile device.

When will Google maps make its data available offline? An off-line version would make LBS dreamers/developers extremely happy.

Malaysia is more travel-able with a GPS device. Makes you more confident to drive to places you had never been to. We went to Blue Lagoon in Port Dickson without getting lost. If you are a foreigner in Malaysia, a GPS device is one of those must have gadgets to enjoy travelling the country. Like the Philippines, lots of tourist spots to visits. Its ironic actually that we haven't explored home as much as we have here in Malaysia.

HP Mini and Nasi Kandar

Saturday morning with a mini and maggi goreng.

Surprisingly wifi is available as auto detected by the mini. For the first time am blogging in this indoor Nasi Kandar.

Anyway, its been a while since we have the mini, my daughter uses it regularly at home for school homework and general surfing. It seems to hold up to the task. Was keen on trying it outside and see how long the battery holds up and see how suitable it is for occasional blogging and surfing un-tethered.

Performance is not that bad. The only bummer is the glass covered screen. While it makes pictures pop indoors, it reminds you how impractical it is to use under direct sunlight. Even using it under the shade makes it hard to read things due to the screen reflection.

Planning to test it also for mild Java happy coding sessions. Installed trial version of Idea and Glassfish Prelude v3 and see if the atom processor bundled with 2GB RAM is up to these tasks.

Aside from these, you got to love the keyboard. Its a joy to use. Not too cramped as the other netbook these days. Pretty much comfortable to touch type.

Oh, we also remove the thin plastic film covering the webcam. Now the video sessions with Skype doesn't look too dark and crappy. Bluetooth works without a hitch with our Nokia phones. Audio is better than expected. The weird trackpad takes a bit getting used to, but since am not a mouse person, am not that bothered.

On the Nasi Kandar side of things, the daging goreng is not so good as it once was. New cook perhaps? The one we got today is a bit hard to chew. Hmmnnn... Maybe time to try out other menus.

Note to self, teach the kids to touch type. An invaluable skill when using glass covered screens. :)

Live long and prosper, as Dr. Spock would say. The new Star Trek movie rocks!

Oracle Buys Sun!

WTF???

What is the future of Java and Glassfish?

Interesting times to be a Java aligned technologist...

My love, my life...

_MG_0631
Originally uploaded by nocs

Had a great time this Sunday. Took the lovey and kids to Pantai Morib for a much needed break.

Beach was ok, but food was fresh and delicious! We had grilled fish, fried prawns and calamari cooked kampung style? I could still imagine the taste of the prawn somewhere there in my tastebuds. It was really good and am not even a prawn lover to begin with :).

We also had a blast with kite flying. For RM8, you have a ready made kite to go along with the fresh sea breeze. It got stuck to one of the trees in the end tho. And am afraid we did lost one of Janro's slippers stuck in the sand somewhere.

Planning to go to nearby tourist destinations every once in a while on weekends. Hope it helps lovey recover faster from the recent surgery. Its surprisingly cheaper than going to malls and its just feels great to bond with the family this way.

Diets and dogs

Our dog
Originally uploaded by nocs

Surprised to know there is a free book for dieting... Named as The Hacker's Diet aimed primarily at geeks perhaps.

Overweight and a bulging beer belly (ironically I rarely drink beer or alcohol for that matter), its those odd moments in time when you want to write something about it. In the futile hope to keep that motivation to get fit even for just a while.

Alright, probably just an excuse to blog some nonsense and just let the fingers do the typing.

Anyway, just watched Marley and Me with the lovey and kids. Even our dog was probably touched by the story. The sad reality of life. More sad is the fact that we do have a dog, and I could just imagine the pain it would cost us, especially my daughter when its life span would near its end.

Some great lessons there. Give the dog your love, and it will love you till the end. Nothing fancy, just love, pure love. Something thats becoming rarer nowadays.

Red Guitar

Red Guitar
Originally uploaded by nocs

Cause we were born upside down.

Trying to find beauty amidst daily challenges life throws at you.

Seeking refuge behind the sound of the shutter.

Is this thing on?

Mic test...

1, 2, tres...

Drive, drive, drive, drive with me...

Yesterday night was rather a frightening experience. On an intersection, I signaled going to the right, an I thought the car behind was smart enough to see that as well. But no! the asshole rather decided to also make a right turn in the same two way lane together with me. Worse, he was the one so frackin' irritated and even tried to drive so close to my car while blasting his horns as if it wasn't his fault. Good thing I was able to brake in time. Oh well, assholes will be assholes not matter which place on earth you are in. You really need some patience when you are on the street.

Aside from that, am getting the hang of it. Getting out of the parking lot is the most challenging part of all time. My sense of size needs some practice.

Discovered that I have to get home by 10pm, otherwise I have to go all around the condo to the other gate since the side gates are closed at that time.

As for the GPS, don't have much use for it for daily office travel but it seems decent enough to re-calculate the routing if I go to alternate routes after the software update.

Just look to left and just look to right...

31 years of walking thru the earth and enduring public transport, for the first time ever, I can now go to places on my own set of wheels. Driving really is both terrifying and an exhilarating experience! Just a while ago in the parking lot I forgot to look to the right and thankfully the car on the right was able to break in time. My brain is still uselessly wired with left hand driven instincts. The notion of right hand driven streets is still rather hard to get used to. Driving around KL is really nice, as most of the streets here are wide and well maintained.

For the price of the car, one could get a nice consumer Honda or Toyota back there in the Philippines. Albeit, for a newbie car owner like me the Proton Persona SE is more than enough to satisfy my driving needs. The leather interior is really comfy, and as far as my limited experience can tell, the handling is really top notch. After all, after a hard day at work, a man deserves a nice ride home. :)

As an added bonus, the petrol price in KL is really affordable compared to what we have back home (4-5x less expensive), rumors from my local colleagues that there will be another price rollback coming up. That would be awesome news for every car owner in this region.

Speaking of which, I was able to play around with iTunes latest feature, the Genius playlist. In an attempt to create a morning drive CD, I started with my favorite Eraserhead songs "Ha ha ha" and let Genius figure out what songs in my collection would go well with it. The results are not too shabby at all:

Name / Artist

Ha ha ha / Eraserheads
Shirley / Eraserheads
Yakap sa Dilim / Orange and Lemons
Back to You / John Mayer
Under the Bridge / RHCP
Sexyback / Justin Timberlake
Anything for You / Nina
The Winner Takes it All /ABBA
Mahirap Magmahal ng Syota ng Iba / Hilera
Minsan / Eraserheads
Creep / Radiohead
Cocaine / Eric Clapton
Come as You Are / Nirvana
True Colors / MYMP
Ewan / Imago
Vertigo / U2
Like a Rolling Stone / Bob Dylan
Love Song for No One / John Mayer
Big Girls Don't Cry / Fergie
Basket Case / Greenday


Only Apple can actively innovate on this things. This small small features capture those things makes your digital life a little bit easier.

On another note, I miss my lovey and my kids who are currently enjoying a vacation back in the Philippines. Can't wait to drive them around our new family car.

OS X Running on Lenovo Netbook | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

This thing is really shiny! Saw one for sale in the Cineleisure at 1.6k MYR (around $460).

It looks just as good in person, the availability of a longer lasting battery will make this bugger the king of the netbooks. It can run OS X it seems, and runs open source operating systems like *BSD and Linux a breeze.

Wonder how decent Java runs on this machines. It would make a really nice portable coding machine. No info on the lazy web for the meantime tho.

Rock on IdeaPad S10!

P.S.
To the fine folks of Lenovo, I wouldn't mind if you send me one of these for review and for keeps. :)

IntelliJ IDEA 7.0 Milestone 2 :: New Features

Just gave Intellij IDEA a spin, the last time I tried was around 5 years back I think, it was really slow back then.

Past forward, I was blown away! I can say this is the Apple Mac equivalent of IDE's out there. The handling is just right, you feel this is an IDE made by real developers for real developers. Its really, really nice. Spring junkies will definitely love the tight integration with the framework. And one more thing, the vi plugin comes for free!!!

The downside tho is I can't afford the price, and I'm just using it for my happy coding sessions, a.k.a. personal use. :-(, but I think I won't mind reinstalling every time the trial period expires. Its that good.