Working with what I have

jQuery, HTML5, Ajax, Webfonts, CSS3.....etc. JAYZUS.

There appears to be a million new methods and techniques for us to present web content, but oh god there are just too many things to learn. I don't even know where the heck to start.

Everytime I surf the net, I see something new and exciting, and it always made me think: "Oh how the heck do they do that?"

But there is only so much I know. Sure, I've attempted installing the very popular jQuery lightBox plugin , and tried writing a few lines of jQuery, but because I'm not a big fan of javascript in the first place, it turned out to be quite a pain in the arse.

At work, whenever I'm thrown a new assignment, I'll be far too ambitious with it. I'll be like "OH I WANT TO USE AJAX FOR THIS SO IT CAN AUTO-LOAD ITSELF" while not even knowing how to write AJAX. And then, I'll attempt to read up a little on it, realized it's too hard to learn within a few days, and abandon the project for awhile. When I'm closer to the deadline, I'll be in like "OH MY GOD PANIC MODE" and put together the project with whatever knowledge I have. And still, I end up still not knowing how to write AJAX.

I'm not surrounded by colleagues who are excited about these new technologies, because , good and bad, our work environment just requires the forms and applications we build to work. Never mind if the usability police arrests us. Never mind if the colors used is damn salah . Never mind if the fonts used makes me want to scream. It just needs to work. And so, I don't really learn anything new.

This catching up game is exhausting.

Ah, my own domain.

Just registered for a webhost once again, over at Singapore Host. Pretty cheap: I paid $54.00 for 1000 MB (after a 10% discount. Promotion code: winter). Domain Name Registration was thrown in free, so all is good. :)

Now to get that portfolio out...watch this space.

Youtube Link: Mean Little Kitty

When a You-Tube video attracts 6 million views it has to mean something: either its something nipple-bearing scandalous, or something phenomenally cute (just like the pair of hand-holding Otters). And now Sparta, the Mean Little Kitty is an Internet superstar, just because his owner Cory Williams wrote and video-ed a catchy tune about him and his biting habits.

Video Still from "Mean Little Kitty": Cory Williams with Sparta the cat

Cory Williams belongs to this new breed of celebrities - the Youtube Celebrities that have created following for themselves for the self-made videos they post on Youtube. He's also one of them in Youtube's Partnership Program, which also means that he gets a percentage of the revenue Youtube gets.

Wow, let's embrace the power of YouTube: for anyone with a video-camera or a webcam, a PC and video-editing program can become known through the world.

Video-still from Mean Kitty Guy

It really helps that Cory Williams is one good-looking guy that have a face that he xeroxed from the head-slicing evil man Sylar from Heroes. I've went through quite a few of the videos in his Youtube Channel, smpfilms, and it looks like he really devoted his life into creating content for his channel, investing in the necessary equipment, and responding to his fans by making videos to answer their queries. Plus, he's real eloquent. You've got to applaud him: according to his bio, he was struggling, jobless while trying to achieve his dreams as a film maker before he found fame via MySpace and Youtube.

I haven't followed the other Youtube Celebrities, but I quite enjoy watching Cory Williams videos - a fascinating documentation of his life as an ordinary American. It's cool because the only Americans I know are like Jerry Seinfeld or Cosmo Kramer! Okay, okay. They aren't the only ones, but you know what I mean lah.

Now it'll be cool to have more Singaporeans documenting their life through Youtube or video-channels. The better-known ones: Kevin Lim has his TheoryCast (Tech talk), Xiaxue has got her Guide to Life (which is surprisingly good). Of course Xiaxue seems to have the privilege of a proper production team backing her up.

And let's not forget self-declared hunk, sghunk1976 Steven Lim...


... half the time preferring to be shirtless.

Not very appealing lah, uncle.

Now you can request to ignore all the stupid Facebook applications!

There is a God afterall, Hallelujah! Or simply, very good sympathetic programmers in Facebook.

Sound Gear!

Thrilling! I was over at Funan IT Mall with Hanafy, the saturday that just past: we were pretending to be loaded (pretending to have a budget of $4000 for a laptop!), but I guess we were pretty unconvincing, dressed like poor students that day. No salesperson bothered to serve us properly, except one guy that was selling MacBooks and Fujitsus. Now that guy was pretty nice: I guessed he is a poor student himself.

The both of us were particularly interested in looking at audio speakers: the built-in speakers on my Acer AL1917 19" monitor is not good: not that it doesn't serve well as a monitor :P The cool part about Challenger (last storey of the mall) is that they have stations allowing you to press button test test their speakers. We were having a frenzy pressing those buttons, listening out for speakers that have the best bass - perfect for Flea's bass-intensive Red Hot Chili Peppers tunes; try Trascending from One Hot Minute.



Found a gem of a brand: Sonic Gear - based in Singapore, stock up some pretty neat speakers that have qualities comparable with Altec Lansing, at surprisingly half the price. A good set from Altec Lansing sets you back around SGD$250. Something similar from Sonic Gear comes up to around SGD$60-$80. Now that's a pretty good deal.

I checked out Sonic Gear's website, and found the one I'm arrowing on: the Evo (wah, like car like that!).

Sonic Gear speakers series also have this act cool, ah beng sounding names like Tatoo (my brother has that!), Blue Thunder & Apocalypx. You got to give them some points for not getting into the iName frenzy (iRiver, iPod, iLikeCheeBei)

The only qualms I have is that the plastic surface speakers look like it's being overdosed with lacquer.

Of course, if you're feeling generous, BOSE sounds fantastic as well.