Surface Computing

Check out this new technology involving multi-touch surface computing incorporated into a coffee table to facilitate discussions and presentations on pictures and maps. Things are easily moved around like they are physical objects and easily resized by touch.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid271552687?bctid=933742930

This may take awhile for buffer to download but worth the wait!

Look out for how seamlessly the sharing of photos happen between physical devices by contact or drag-and-drop. A photo just taken by the camera gets almost instantaneously transferred onto the table top by just placing the camera on the table.

On a separate note, Brightcove is an alternative to Youtube.

Press Display

The Straits Times announced recently that they are opening up more of their content (breaking news) on their website. I took a look. The design is better, yes, but the amount of accessible content is still very limited, in my opinion.

Fed-up.

Actually, there are better alternatives such as this excellent site called "Press Display" (http://www.PressDisplay.com) which gives full-colour digital replications of hundreds of newspapers from around the globe.

This is fabulous if you are studying/working/travelling abroad but still want to keep in touch with the local news. You get full content and interactive access to newspapers from over 60 countries in over 30 languages.

A subscription is needed to see the full digitised copies (US$10 per
month vs ST's rate S$9.95 per month) BUT, wait!,
if you are a member of our Singapore National library, you will be able to access PressDisplay via the NLB website for FREE.

So how..?
---------------
First, register for a digital library account (free) on http://www.nlb.gov.sg

After logging in with your id/pwd, on the blue menu bar, select
eRESOURCES> eDATABASES

Under SUBJECT, select NEWS > LIBRARY PRESSDISPLAY.

Click on LIBRARY PRESSDISPLAY which will take you to the pressdisplay website.

Example: for Straits Times - on the search bar section, look for the
blue button and click [SELECT TITLE]>
[BY COUNTRY]> [SINGAPORE].

The page will display the following scanned singapore papers of the day:
* Lianhe Zaobao
* The Straits Times
* The Wall Street Journal Asia
* Today
Archives are also available, accessible via the calendar icon.

[note: You still need to have a library membership for physical book loans, otherwise the digital account will not grant you access]

Have fun!

One night only

I don't usually pay attention to news about Paris Hilton. When I first heard on the radio that she was allowed to leave the jail because of a medical condition, barely 24 hours after being admitted, I was flabbergasted. My first thought was her family must have bribed someone big time.

Then I read the Y.K.Tay column in ST today who, in his usual nonsensical style of writing, described Paris "suffering, Tinkerbell-less, breakfast bell-less and bellhop-less, in that cold, dank cell she was briefly residing in with, I read, only three thin blankets, no pillow and the s**t bowl presumably at five bowls' length away from her."

Suddenly I got the picture, visions of Paris going totally beserk, induced by the culture shock in jail, came into my mind. Her going hysterical and possible indication of hurting herself might have been what was described as "medical condition". Yes, could have sent her to the asylum or the hospital but that didn't happen. So, yes, yes, it is back to this..definitely many palms were oiled.

Dolphins in the wild

I went on the cruise to spot for dolphins. The hotel staff are quite experienced to know whereabouts to look for them. Even so, some amount of luck is needed to be able to see much of them. The cruise took two hours of searching but most of the time, fins were all we saw. OUr crowd on the boat waited with such great anticipation and excitement that even a small flick of their fins brought on a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs".

As you can see, a couple with a generous cash broadband hired a pleasure speed craft all for themselves..(lao nua, wish I can strike 4D)

It was only towards the end of our cruise that the dolphins rewarded us with jumps and back flips. Especially after we clapped and cheered them loudly, with the help of the neighbouring boat beating their drums. It was such a prize. Unfortunately, my video clip of that is over 100mb and cannot get it up on youtube.

The life beneath

The men are cutting up fish and preparing the bait for the guests' fishing trip. More sand sharks and other marine species.

Jaws not

Sand sharks are common in the waters near the beach. They look menacing but are actually quite shy and will move away when you try to approach them. The other fishes started to follow me after I fed them with bread squirrelled from the breakfast table.

Waters so clear

Here's a closeup of how clear the waters are. The fishes are so friendly too, they swim close to the shore.

I was in Maldives

...and got very dark.

It is a pity some of the glamour and exclusivity associated with Maldives is chipped away with the invasion of PRCs tourists - whether honeymooners or families. The tranquility of the place is often rudely ruined by their loud talking and any romanticism that could be evoked by such a beautiful place is dissipated by these peasants' constant craving for attention to make their presence known.

On the sunset fishing trip, every PRC couple is whining away when they don't catch any fish and when they do, they are squealing loudly to the whole boat and the next to announce their catch. The couple next to us made comments endlessly. On the beach, a PRC family could barely control their 9-10 years old daughter. The girl didn't talk so much as shriek literally. The air was pierced by her continuous screaming dialogue, I had to check several times to be convinced the mother had brought a child and not a banshee

Maldives it is

Took the flight out after work on Wed to spend three full days in Maldives over this Vesak weekend. What is special about the hotels in Maldives is that every "island" is occupied by only one hotel because each island is so small, that I think they may actually be called Islets. Maldives have over thousand of these islets grouped into atolls and spread over 6 degrees of latitude, we are told it takes several hours to fly from one end of Maldives to the furthest islet. 90% of Maldives is under water.

The pictures of Maldives are always so stunning, which it owes very much to amazing clarity of its waters. The air and water are very clean and the abundance of fish around is incredible. You can stand on the shore where the tide is and without even getting your feet wet, see a great variety of fishes swimming near the edge of the waters. They are mostly near white in colour, perhaps due to its camouflage adapting to the environment. Out near the reefs, the same types of fish display much more vibrant colours.

Wish I had taken an underwater camera along. I did not or was unable to take as many picture as I thought I would. Unlike Bali, the areas around the hotel is not specially landscaped. I have seen more exciting and far more beautiful hotels in Langkawi and Bali (see my May 2006 blog), for the same/lower price. So if you don't like to get into the sea and just want to enjoy great hotel scenery, don't go Maldives. Malaysia and Indonesia offer much better value. If you are willing to spend some time enjoying what the sea has to offer, then this is definitely a place to be.

You can say the hotel is fairly rustic, as it allows a great range of plants to grow to maturity. I have only ever seen morning glories as creepers but in Maldives, they are grown to a shrub. There is also lots of hibiscus everywhere and in all sorts of colours. I don't remember ever seen that much hibiscus in Malaysia where hibiscus is a national flower.