Gadget

Apr 8 2010

A Nostalgic Visit to Santa Cruz

11:52 PM  |  Friends  |  Gadget  |  Travel  |  Life  |  5 comments

I kept up with my effort to focus on my friends and went down to Santa Cruz to visit Shawn last Saturday. I haven’t seen him since he first transferred to UCSC so it was nice hanging out with him again. We drove down to Capitola and stopped by my old apartment and school.  It was really nostalgic seeing the place I lived in for 2 years. It brought back a lot of memories — some good, some bad. I’m generally not one who likes to look back and remember the past, since there were things I would rather forget about during that period of my life.  We were talking about how we would have lived differently if we were to go back in time and relive our past while retaining our current mental state and knowledge. Of course there were certainly things I wish could be changed, but I also try not to regret them since they made me who I am and led me to where I am today.

On a side note, I got an iPad. I wasn’t planning on getting one; I was quite determined to wait for the 2nd generation after getting burnt with buying the first generation iPhone. I reserved one ahead of time for my friend in Hong Kong who asked me to get it for him since it probably won’t be available internationally for another month or two. When I went to pick it up from the Apple Store on Saturday, I started playing with one of the display units. Right then and there I knew I had to get one of my own. Just reading about the specs and actually picking one up in your own hands and using it are two different things.  I know, I am a compulsive shopper. Anyway, I’ve been playing with it all week and I must say I’m quite pleased with this purchase. In fact, I just type this whole entry on the iPad lying in bed. 

Jun 28 2008

New Shelves in Town

9:09 AM  |  Design  |  Gadget  |  Web  |  Life  |  Work  |  3 comments

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.

Clement's Bookshelf on aNobii.comAnyway, 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.