Jun 29 2008
I really wish I could be blogging more than I have been, but work has been hectic. I’m often pulling 10-11 hour days on a regular basis, and that’s not counting freelance projects that are keeping me up at night and taking over my weekends. I’m also trying to go home more often over weekends to see my family. My dad was telling me the other day that I have many more years of work ahead of me, and there is no need to take on so much now. He said I should really strive for a balanced life and enjoy it while I’m still young, which I took to heart dearly.
Anyway, after months of developing and fine-tuning, we have finally launched the updated shelf pages on aNobii. I’m really proud of the new look and interactions. Personally I think they are far more user-friendly and intuitive than the previous version. However, the increase use of AJAX in various spots has me worried about its impact on page-views and Alexa ranking. I guess we’ll let things play out and see how it goes.
I finally got my MacBook Pro fixed. That poor thing’s built-in keyboard and trackpad have been broken since the beginning of this year, but the geek in me couldn’t go for a day without a computer so I waited until after I bought my iMac before bringing it in to get it fixed. The service I got from the Apple authorized service center in Hong Kong was not as bad as I thought it would be. I got the baby back spotting a brand new keyboard and top panel a little under 2 weeks. I sure hope nothing else is ever going to happen to it as its Apple Care will be up in a month’s time or so.
Jun 8 2008
I have been looking forward to seeing Prince Caspian as soon as I heard about its release date. I went to Shatin with my little sister and brother yesterday afternoon hoping to watch the movie but it was sold out, so we bought tickets for today’s showing instead. I still remember how much I’ve liked The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe despite its many symbolism and analogies to the bible. This one is pretty much the same in terms of biblical inspirations in its story. However, I think it’s a lot more powerful and entertaining.
Ben Barnes disappointed me as Prince Caspian though. He’s not quite up to the role I must say, especially with his lack of expressions and emotions. For me, the magic of the Narnia series still lies in the four Pevensies, Edmund in particular. Skandar Keynes did an amazing job given his limited screen time in this movie. His character certainly doesn’t have a big part in the story but he is very likable and charming with the few key scenes he has, not to mention Skandar Keynes has certainly grown up nicely *grin*. William Moseley is still gorgeous but his character, Peter, annoys me sometimes. I think to some extent his role and Edmund’s have somewhat switched in this second installment.
Prince Caspian is quite a bit darker than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, perhaps because the children have grown and Narnia has lost many of its magical elements as the Telmarine invaded the world. However, I guess director Andrew Adamson tried to balance it out with more witty dialogues, which bring the story to a lighter note every once in a while. It certainly did feel like a roller coaster ride. Now I am really looking forward to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Perhaps I should get started on the books while enduring the long wait to 2010.
May 22 2008
Learning to say no is quite an essential skill, and certainly one I haven’t quite mastered yet. Otherwise I wouldn’t have landed myself in this situation of having 4 freelance projects on hand on top of my full-time day job. When I was young I always dreamed to be a freelance designer. But dreaming to be one and actually being one are two different stories, especially when you’re doing it part-time in addition to a full-time position. I certainly wouldn’t have imagined it to be this hectic with little time to sleep, let alone time for myself.
Talking about work, we have been working on some rather big improvements on a few sections. I can’t really discuss many of them since they are still in progress, but we have recently launched the new Translate aNobii section, which I’m quite proud of. I don’t think anyone has done localization/translation quite as engaging as we have.
A lot have happened since my last entry — getting a new iMac (also my first desktop Mac ever), a 4-day family trip to Shantou, which was a lot more fun than I expected. Maybe I will put up some pictures once I get over this couple weeks of hectic works.
« First < 1 2 3 4 >
