Bisdak Babbles

Even without reading gps reviews, I have seen how helpful navigation systems are. Many taxis here have GPS navigators which prove to be very helpful both to the drivers and the passengers. These devices might now be as common as portable media players but they still never fail to amaze me. Well, for one I like hearing those voice instructions. It’s so convenient and cool. Just recall those days when one had to carry a map and a compass! If only I have a car, I would want to take advantage of GPS, too. But I suppose it is only suitable for places with “well-defined” streets such as Singapore. Definitely not that useful in my native land, eh?

I received a flyer months ago about ITalkBB. It caught my attention because it was stated there that I only have to pay 14.99SGD a month for unlimited calls to the Philippines! I do admit I spend a lot for my long distance calls and I desperately wanted to cut it down. We do have internet connection at home but then it’s quite inconvenient for my family to use that overly slow Pentium III computer. Shaynna talks to me longer when on the phone. If we were to chat, she has to stay right in front of computer and she doesn’t like that.

Two weeks ago, I have finally decided to sign up. I was really lucky to do it recently because they are having a promo: no sign-up fee, free BB Box leasing, and free delivery of the BB Box to the Philippines! Without the promo, I would have paid 20SGD for signing up and 15SGD for delivery.

Last Saturday, my family received the BB Box, I played the role of a CSR guiding them how to set it up, and now, I no longer make long distance calls home! VoIP makes it possible for my home in the Philippines to have a Singapore number. Only S$0.019 is charged for calls from that phone to any number here in Singapore.

Because it is so convenient, Shaynna is the one making the calls now. Thank you, VoIP!

My father loved buying electronics stuff. Most of the appliances at home were bought by my father when he left the last company he worked for in Saudi Arabia. He bought some flat-panel CRT TVs and all are still working fine. That was more than 3 years ago. In a way, I’m really glad that those TVs are still in good condition. They so remind me of my father that I also don’t want to get rid of them. I don’t want to replace them yet with LCD TV. 3D-capable TVs are already out and we’re still so retro back at home.

Before I came to Singapore, I thought electronic stuff are cheaper in Japan. Surprisingly, after visiting some electronics stores here in Singapore, I was proven wrong. Famous LCD TV brands are often sold at half the original price that it is so tempting to indulge in one. That is why many Filipinos buy LCD TV as a gift to their families in the Philippines. Come the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) or just the usual IT or Electronics fair, these LCD TVs are sold at even lower prices. If not, many freebies go with it. By the way, I came across this rackmount lcd. I think LCD TVs mounted on walls look call but rackmount lcd looks cool, too! I really wish to buy one of those LCD TVs in the future…

A few weeks ago, our team leader approached a teammate and me and asked what physical “features” of a work laptop we prefer. I tried using one of the company’s 12-inch notebooks. It was very light but it gave me a headache because of the small screen. So I said I prefer a notebook with a wider screen - 15-inch, perhaps? Last week, the company admin handed over a laptop to me. Yes, it has a 15-inch screen but it is very heavy! I tried taking it home with me over the weekend and the short trip from the office to my apartment wore me out. Good luck to me having to tag that laptop along for the next few months. Now I’m more convinced of getting one of those netbooks when I gather enough funds to replace my current personal laptop. Do you know that every time I use my 3-year old Dell Inspiron, I don’t move a muscle? If I do that, I would have a hard time turning it on again… *-*

The photos I post here are mostly taken using my mobile phone, some I got from friends. I still love my mobile phone when I was still in Japan but I could no longer use it even its camera, because I need to buy a transformer to be able to charge it! The one I am using right now doesn’t give me pictures that are as good as my previous phone. Fortunately, I found Photofiltre and I guess I’d have to use it more frequently until I could afford to buy a DSLR in say, 5 years?
The following photo was taken at VivoCity (I’ll post more pictures soon). I enhanced its color using Photofiltre’s “revive colors” option.

Here’s the same photo using Photofiltre’s “night effect”:

You can still do a lot about your photos with Photofiltre, including a very good “sepia effect”. The best thing about it? It is free!

Three years have already passed since my manager in the previous company offered us a laptop computer, payable in 3 installments, interest-free. She (my laptop) is Dell Inspiron 1300. Although I have heard bad comments about her, I had no choice because she was the cheapest option. I was told her lifespan should be around 3 years. I chose not to believe but now, maybe my friends were right. Her battery is completely useless. If I pull her power cord off, it would only take about 3 seconds until she dies. What’s worse, I think her power supply socket is already defective. Sometimes she works, most of the time, she doesn’t. Slight movement and she’s out. Fortunately, she’s OK today, so I’ve posted this one using her. I really look forward to going home to the Philippines to have her fixed.

I don’t want to expose Shaynna to kid-unfriendly TV shows and computer games. But I guess she also needs to be exposed to such things. I am just so glad that she has learned self-discipline on her own.

I visited XBox website and found some family-friendly games like Ice Age! I still have no plans yet of buying her a game console. She’s still 4 years old, after all. For now, I’m glad there’s this Purple Place, a Windows Vista-packaged game. It is girlie and educational game. Basically, it improves color recognition and other artsy aspect of a child. Here are some screen shots of the game. It is very colorful, probably the reason why my Shaynna loves it.