Archive for February, 2013

Valentine’s Day 2013

Thursday, February 14th, 2013

It’s Valentine’s Day today. Here’s wishing all lovers a most romantic day/night.

Just in case you haven't bought that Valentine's Day card yet, here's one you can use as a gift tag. Just print it out :-)

Just in case you haven’t bought that Valentine’s Day card yet, here’s one you can use as a gift tag. Just print it out 🙂

I took this photo in a pottery workshop in this little Japanese shire called Takamori (高森), nestled in the caldera of Mount Aso (阿蘇山) in Kyushu (九州).

Loved the pottery pieces in the workshop. Knew at once it would go into the February 14th post for 2013.

* Taken with a Nikon D800 DSLR with an AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED lens.

Apple updates processors & prices of MacBook Pro with Retina Display

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

Apple is making the MacBook Pro with Retina display faster and more affordable with updated processors and lower starting prices.

Available from today (suggested retail prices indicated include GST).

The MacBook Pro with Retina display features flash storage that is up to four times faster than traditional notebook hard drives, and delivers improved reliability, instant-on responsiveness and up to 30 days of standby time.

The MacBook Pro with Retina display features flash storage that is up to four times faster than traditional notebook hard drives, and delivers improved reliability, instant-on responsiveness and up to 30 days of standby time.

The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now starts at S$1,988 for 128GB of flash, and S$2,288 for a new 2.6 GHz processor and 256GB of flash.

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Bits of Hope, Gifts of Life for kidney patients of the KDF

Monday, February 11th, 2013

The Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF) of Singapore is launching a campaign to raise funds and to collect well-wishes and encouragement from members of the public for kidney patients and the healthcare professional looking after them.

Campaign by the Kidney Dialysis Foundation to raise funds and garner moral support for patients and staff.

Campaign by the Kidney Dialysis Foundation to raise funds and garner moral support for patients and staff.

The “Bits of Hope, Gift of Life” campaign will be held in conjunction with World Kidney Day on 14 March and as part of the celebrations for World Kidney Month in March 2013.

You can help the KDF in two ways.

1. Well-wishes and encouragement

Send your well-wishes and encouragements to KDF here.

Check out how you can support the KDF.

Check out how you can support the KDF.

These will be compiled into an e-Book at the end of the project and be published on KDF’s website.

This collection of well-wishes and encouragements would serve as a symbol of hope and encouragement for KDF’s patients to strive on and not give up.

It would also let them know that there are many others around who care, thus giving recognition to this vital group of healthcare workers for their hard work and dedication towards their profession.

2. Fundraising

You can donate directly to the campaign, to help defray the costs of dialysis for patients and lighten their financial load. For every donation of minimum $2, supporters will receive a specially designed KDF Post-It sticky pad as a token of appreciation.

The Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF) is a non-profit charitable organisation, established in February 1996 by Dr Gordon Ku, a kidney specialist.

Happy Lunar New Year 2013

Sunday, February 10th, 2013

It’s the first day of the Lunar New Year. Happy New Year to all the people from cultures that celebrate this traditional festival! And to all Chinese around the world, Happy Chinese New Year!

财神爷 wishes all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Chinese New Year! Taken with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Text added in Photoshop CS6.

财神爷 wishes all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Chinese New Year! Taken with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 smartphone. Text added in Photoshop CS6.

I was having breakfast at the neighbourhood coffee shop last Sunday morning when I noticed the tiny figurine in the photo sitting in the middle of the table.

Since this is the Chinese New Year period, I suppose it’s Cai Shen Ye – the God of Fortune in the traditional Chinese pantheon.

Was this merely a handphone charm inadvertently left behind by another patron, or is the popular deity paying a visit to the mortal world?

At any rate, I lost no time in snapping a candid shot with my own handphone.

An oasis of peace in the midst of Chinese New Year hullabaloo

Saturday, February 9th, 2013

We were walking through this neighbourhood street mall on Chinese New Year’s Eve morning. Shops were teeming with people doing last minute shopping for the Reunion Dinner that night.

Having a sleep-in past noon on a Saturday. Right in the midst of the hullabaloo of Chinese New Year's Eve shopping all around it. Taken with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

Having a sleep-in past noon on a Saturday. Right in the midst of the hullabaloo of Chinese New Year’s Eve shopping all around it. Taken with an HTC 8X Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

In the midst of all that hullabaloo, this kitty was sleeping most indulgently on the doorstep of one of these shops.

“在午时熙熙攘攘的除夕年货市场当中,这只猫咪却安详地沉睡着。完全淘迷在甜蜜的睡梦中。” – 科技点心(微薄)

Some of the shoppers tip-toed around it, while others looked like they’d have stepped right on it.

The kitty itself, however, was totally oblivious to the buzz of activities surrounding it.

An escapade too many, the night before, perhaps?

HTC Launch event in London and New York – HTC M7 or HTC One?

Friday, February 8th, 2013

The launch event will be held simultaneously in London and New York – and is widely believed to be for the launch of the M7 (also possibly to be named HTC One).

Invitations have been sent out for the HTC launch event in London and New York.

Invitations have been sent out for the HTC launch event in London and New York.

Stay tuned to the webcast URL which I’ll be posting here so you can follow it live.

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Top 10 tips for a safer Internet – for our children and for us

Tuesday, February 5th, 2013

Today is the Safer Internet Day, a global campaign that promotes for everyone a healthier Internet. Started in 2004, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the annual campaign that is held on the second day of the second week of February since 2004.

Effendy Ibrahim, Norton Internet Safety Advocate and Director for Asia, Norton by Symantec, has provided a list of top 10 tips for parents and caregivers for ensuring young people remain protected online. Click to view/download enlarged PDF version.

Effendy Ibrahim, Norton Internet Safety Advocate and Director for Asia, Norton by Symantec, has provided a list of top 10 tips for parents and caregivers for ensuring young people remain protected online. Click to view/download enlarged PDF version.

Safer Internet Day is organised by Insafe and co-founded by the European Union, in order to encourage safer and more responsible use of online technologies and services.

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Cheerful Chinese New Year colours in Chinatown

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

It’s the Lunar New Year period and Chinatowns all over the world are abuzz with decorations and festival sales in anticipation of Chinese New Year.

This couple reads

This couple reads “Welcoming the new spring and happiness” to the right, and “Prosperity through Harmony” to the left. I snapped this picture with the Sony Xperia Ion Android smartphone.

I was walking in Chinatown Singapore and came across this corridor outside the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple that brightly decorated with these floral wreaths and Chinese well-wishing couplets.

Samsung launches “GALAXY S III mini” smartphone in Singapore

Friday, February 1st, 2013

Samsung has launched the compact version of its flagship smartphone GALAXY S III in Singapore.

The 4-inch compact Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean) smartphone will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from tomorrow, 2 February 2013 (Saturday) at S$568 (without contract).

The GALAXY S III mini will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from 2 February 2013 at S$568 (without contract).

The GALAXY S III mini will be available in Pebble Blue and Marble White from 2 February 2013 at S$568 (without contract).

The GALAXY S III mini sports a 4-inch Super AMOLED display (480 x 800), 5-megapixel camera that records movies at 720p@25fps, 8GB internal memory (microSD slot for up to 32GB ext memory), and a 1,500mAh battery.

Running on a 1 GHz Dual-Core processor, the compact smartphone features Samsung’s “Smart Stay” and “S Voice” features.

“Smart Stay” recognizes how the phone is being used – the front camera identifies the eyes and maintains a bright display for continued viewing – as long as the user is eyeballing the screen.

“S Voice” is the natural language user interface, to listen and respond to words, allowing information search and basic device-user communication through voice commands.

Below are the specifications for the GALAXY S III mini I8190N.

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