iQuest Studios

It’s nearing the end of the school holidays, and I have not even touched my notes in preparation for block tests (which last the first week of the holidays). Yet this holiday really has been hell for me. Let’s list my accomplishments.

• Inspire Run 2008 Website - The single website that has been causing me headaches all the while. Any idea how tedious creating that registration form is? (note: tedious, not difficult). And the site design has already been completely revamped once (i.e. start from scratch) and my committee head is complaining about how ugly it is again. (that’s why I never do web design jobs)
• Planet In Peril - I have just moved the project website from the old subdomain to the new domain. Of course, the project website is basically powered by Wordpress - nothing challenging about that, but the competition portal was an original script done by me. (Of course the registration and login systems were from the latest version of ALS - or else how did I find out about the bugs and release an update - while the contact system is from ICF)
• Watching WWDC 2008 - not really an accomplishment I suppose. But at least I know the iPhone is probably still going to take a while to come to Singapore.
• City Duathlon 2008 - Spent the first 2 weeks of the holidays training for my first official multi-sports event. Turns out that the organisation was so crap that I wonder if the organisers put in as much time in organising the event as me training for it. Too bad it’s one of the two duathlon events in Singapore, and as reluctant as I am to say it, the truth was that I enjoyed it.

Tasks that yet to be completed:

• Exterminating ants in my room
• XSite competition (even though it’s due this sunday)
• Project Work Draft EOM Paper. (Project Work is totally a wastage of precious time)
• Presentations for economics and physics
• Studying for block tests

In lieu of the effect that block tests might have on me (my parents are threatening to ban me from cycling and running), I am probably going to spend the next 4 mornings and afternoons holed up in the library. And maybe working on the other things at night. Damn, I hate this kind of lifestyle.

Till next time,
cheers

Tags: busy

I have learnt something today.

It’s never about the blunders you make, but how you deal with them.

Making mistakes is part and parcel of being human. But what really makes one stand out from the rest is how he deal with it and make himself seem like a better person. People tend to forget your mistakes as time go by, but how you deal with the mistake will leave a lasting impression of you on other people. Case in point: Steve Jobs during his presentations. The way he deals with mistakes such as the presentation remote not working, trouble with flickr is simply amazing, and the impression that people have of the presentation is not that “oh, they didn’t bother to test out the technical stuff thoroughly.” but rather “Steve Jobs is an excellent speaker that blows my mind away”.

Till next time,
cheers

Tags: lesson

Instead of having to email me when you wish to purchase the source code, you can now do it online at http://www.iqueststudios.com/cart - courtesy of Maian Script World. As you can see, I am still working on integrating the layout with my current website layout, but it is ready for use now!

For limited time only (until 30th June 2008), use the discount code “IQSSTROPEN” to enjoy $5.00 off your purchase of ALS Source Code. The version is the latest version, including all fixes and updates up till today. (fresh from my hard drive)

Till next time,
cheers!

Tags: ALS, discount, online store, purchase, source code

Woo, the photos are finally out. But due to the commercializing nature of race organizers now days, I can only get them in small resolutions.

Till next time,
cheers

Tags: City duathlon, photos

Today’s WWDC keynote was largely disappointing in my opinion, though you can watch it yourself and pass your own judgement. Basically, it was largely taken up by iPhone Developers from various companies showing off whatever Applications they have developed for the iPhone using the iPhone SDK. Yes, it would be interesting if not for the fact that the iPhone SDK was already introduced in March 2008 and we have seen the ease of use of the SDK. Lots of repeated stuff from the March 2008 presentation such as the Enterprise features and AppStore taking up a great half of the entire Keynote.

Then was the introduction of MobileMe, Apple’s second take on cloud based applications, replacing .Mac. It does have some cool features, however, not unlike Google Apps, but one thing it has the advantage of is a beautiful AJAX based web interface - making Google Apps’ seem immature at best - and of course excellent syncing with Macs. Yes, there might be plugins and workarounds to get all my Mail/iCal/Address Book data synced to Google Apps and across my 2 Macs, but frankly speaking, they do not sync that well. Wheras, on the other hand, from the demonstration at least, MobileMe syncs the devices and the server nicely. I would love to get a MobileMe plan seriously when it rolls out.

Then of course the iPhone 3G - which many called a 2nd Generation iPhone, though personally I would disagree. What’s really new over the 1st Generation iPhone is just a slight change in design, an option for a larger flash drive, longer battery life, a GPS unit and a HUGE drop in price. Now, the huge drop in price is really something I must protest about. Starting at USD$199 - meaning roughly a maximum price of S$400 when it comes out in Singapore - the iPhone will become one of the cheapest (if not the cheapest) smartphone on the market. What happened to Apple product’s exclusivity? Not to sound like a prick, but I buy Apple products knowing that it will be a premium product (not in terms of quality though) that many others would not be willing to pay for. (of course also mainly because they are great) But recently, it would seem Apple products are losing its status as a premium product, especially with the falling US dollar. It is not an uncommon sight to see people lugging around MacBooks or having iPod Nanos - both of which are the cut down versions of the other Apple products. Now with the iPhone at such a ridiculously cheap price, people would be mad to not buy one. I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least 5 iPhones in a crowded MRT carriage after its launch here in Singapore. That’s why I am going to buy the white edition - however much I prefer black over white - because the white version only comes in 16GB flavors, which are slightly more expensive over the 8GB model. At least a white iPhone will stand out amongst all the black iPhones that I foresee many people carrying in the future.

Anyway, let me get back to explaining why I wouldn’t really call this new iPhone a second generation iPhone. Yes, it might have 3G, it might have GPS, it might have Handwriting recognition for chinese (and Japanese) characters - a huge plus point for me - , it might have a longer battery life, but otherwise everything remains almost the same. Not much innovation, not even a video taking option nor a camera upgrade. This is very unlike Apple tradition. Look at the Leopard OS X - over 300 new features over Tiger, many of which can be seen from the user end. (eg. Time Machine, Spaces etc.) However, the new iPhone, to me, only offers a few minor updates over the first generation of iPhones. (I still don’t think they support Bluetooth file transfer) Look at the new OS planned as well - 10.6 (Snow Leopard) - emphasis is on quality and security of the OS. Is it because Apple is losing steam in terms of innovation? I rather hope not.

In short, as I mentioned at the start of the post, WWDC 2008 Keynote has largely disappointed me in terms of the innovation that Apple can come up with.

Tags: 2008, 3G, Apple, disappointing, iphone, keynote, Mac/iPod/iPhone, mobileme, SDK, WWDC