NAVY SEALS!

Well, I've moved again. Not houses, although something quite similar in a symbolic sort of way. I've moved blogs. To kind of commemorate this, I thought I'd give a brief timeline of my blogging.

( Timeline )

So, all of those who read this blog and link to it, I suggest you update your bookmarks to:

http://yuiichi.wordpress.com

You won't be disappointed.

Wow, it's time for an update that doesn't involve a gift and/or pictures. Amazing.

You may or may not know that I've started up a sister blog, titled The Macversity over at Blogger. The Macversity is really my baby - it involves a thing that I love working on (my Mac) and a place where I do work (university) in a way that lets my experience shine. So, like any proud parent, I want the best for my child. Blogger is great for what it does, but I want a more sophisticated, elegant, and customizable space for my child.

I've looked at Wordpress for a while, looked with longing eyes. I don't really remember when I first saw it, but I've always liked the look of the basic "Kubrick" theme that it had. I figured that I could style it the way that I want, be happy with my design, and have an excellent looking blog. Unfortunately, it hasn't always been that easy. I don't have that much disposable income, so I always was looking for free solutions, most of which don't have SQL database options (which Wordpress uses to function). It was just recently that a fellow Mac Blogger and Switcher pointed me to Awardspace, a free hosting solution with SQL database support. I was really excited to try out Wordpress!

Last night, I finally got down to installing it. This isn't as easy as it sounds - at least not to me at first. It was asking for a lot of database things - stuff that I wasn't really familiar at all with (never having worked with Databases before), and Awardspace didn't use cPanel or phpMyAdmin for Databases which the Docs for Wordpress covered. That being said, I really had to hunt for the kind of information it wanted, and I figured that I actually had setup a database with all of my info before, and just didn't realize that's what I needed. Silly me.

To make a long story short, I figured it out, and Wordpress is now up and running on my own (free) host! Check it out here. I plan to play around with my theme and just tinker for a while. If I figure I really like it, I might just move both of my blogs over to there, with a purchased domain name! How do you like them apples?

One More Thing.

I am also looking for an original title for my personal blog. Navy Seals is getting a tad dated, and it was never my idea in the first place. If anyone who reads this can think up anything that might inspire me or maybe make my head start working on naming, that would be excellent! Leave that info in the comments, and I will pay you back with undying gratitude!

Today, another package came in the mail (it seems I only update this when a surprise does come). And boy, this was a surprise!

I had checked the mail, earlier in the day, and nothing came for me. I knew I had at least 1 letter coming, so I was a little disappointed. Marching disappointedly up to my room, I settled down on my bed for some good reading in Political Science. All of a sudden, my mother burst into the room, holding a package wrapped in brown paper. A quick glance told me that it was from a Mr. TJ Lau. This was the day! The surprise that I had been waiting for for over a month had arrived!

I quickly got out some scissors, carefully inserted them into the paper, and tore away. In seconds, I revealed a box that contained some incredible. Something awesome. Something that I had never thought about getting, ever. And it single-handedly brought me back into anime.

A BELLDANDY 1/8 Scale PVC model!



To view the rest of my Flickr photoset, click here.

I also must apologize for my horrible photography. It's definitely not worthy of the awesomeness of this figurine!

A big, big thank you goes out to my brother T-dawg-J. He's definitely an awesome dude. And, get this, we now have matching figurines! HAHA, thats too rad!

A while back, I was promised a Christmas present from my good buddy Tak Jeng over there in the UK. He said it was a little thanks for all of the proofreading work I do for him during the year (some of which, I admit, wasn't as good as it should have been). So, he finally sent it around a week or so ago, and I got it yesterday.

So, as is my custom, I will show photos with descriptions of all of the l33t sw4g I happened upon, for you to drool and say "I wish I had friends this rad". So 'here goes!

First item: Blood + DVDs



I actually asked for these, so it isn't a surprise. Why did I ask for more anime when I have so much to watch (* see more later)? Well, TJ said that this was really good, so I told him to send it. In other words, I was too lazy to download it by myself.

Second item: Guang Liang - Tong Hua + Yueding



I've listened to maybe 1 or 2 Guang Liang songs in my time, and although it's in Chinese, I really like his voice. The slow ballads are really relaxing and pretty good for studying. Why would that be? I don't have to listen to the words!

Surprise gift: Bench Wallet



This was the surprise that he mentioned a while ago. Unfortunately for the surprise's sake, his cousin let the cat out of the bag a few days before I got it. Luckily, the surprise was better than just knowing about it - I was thoroughly surprised and well happy about it. Here's one more pic of the inside:



It's made of high grade dead cats (as TJ tells me) and feels soft to the touch. The Bench logo is not just a sticker or printed on - it's actually sewn in. Nice!

That was it for the gifts! Pretty good, if you ask me! THANK YOU SO MUCH TJ! YOU ARE A RAD, RAD MAN!

And just for the record, here are all my anime DVDs (yet to be seen):

Many, many people in the blogosphere have been noticing the piles of PS3s just sitting around at Best Buy, going unsold, where the Nintendo Wii is fresh out everywhere. Some have claimed that the initial rush was just due to limited supply, and only had people who wanted to make a quick buck. Others claim that the PS3 is selling quite well, but the increased supply has come due to more production on Sony's part. Still, others claim that the increased supply comes from Scalpers returning their unsold PS3s.

I happen to be one of those who believes in option A, considering the fact that Sony hasn't created enough demand for their behemoth product. Blu-ray, 1080p, and Cell just don't cut it in my books if there is nothing to show what any of those things can do (read: good games). My opinion is this: most gamers aren't willing to spend $600 on a gaming console without a significant 'killer app' to back it up. To them, the PS3 hasn't delivered yet, and hasn't shown any signs of delivering (with big honchos like Kojima he is more interested in Wii than in HD).

What this all boils down to is an excuse for me to post pictures of unsold Best Buyian PS3s that I saw on January 3rd:





This also leads me to one last point: the poor construction of the SIXAXIS. Since it was released to journalists, they've been all over it, saying it feels cheap and light. I know I could find a whole bunch of articles that talk about this, but I'd like to give my own take on it.

That is, with another little bit of photographic evidence. But first, a story. I was at a friends house on wednesday - specifically the friend with the PS3. We sat down to some good old Resistance, and since I was getting my ass handed to me, I decided to take it easy and just lie down. There was a window in front of me, and I was holding the SIXAXIS above me, with my arms extended, so that it was catching the light filtering in. And what do you know - I could see through it! See for yourself:



I know this might not be complete proof of the SIXAXIS' cheap construction, but if this doesn't point to it, I'll eat my hat. Or a hat, considering I don't really own one.

I hope you enjoyed this little journey into the Corporate Contraption that is the SCEA. Oh boy do I love rhymes.

A new year is coming rather quickly; out with the old and in with the new, as some like to put it. I like to think of New Years as a time not only for looking back on what happened the past year, but looking forward to what is to come; a clean slate, if you will, and the sky is the limit.

Many people illustrate this exact principal by setting New Years resolutions. Those little reminders or goals we set aside to try and better ourself, our lives, or our situations. Some could be trivial, others rather important. And there is no denying it - we all set them in one form or another: no more late assignments; cut back the junk food; go to bed earlier. All of these are possible resolutions we can make but, strangely, rarely keep. These things seem like admirable qualities that would improve ones life, and even appear desirable in some cases. Yet, even though we go through all of the trouble of thinking of these things, we have an even harder time remembering them in the future. Why is this?

I think that this comes from a simple problem: our goals are either far too broad or too tightly set. We'd like to lose that extra 25 pounds we gained over the holiday season, but really, losing it in 2 months is going to take quite the effort. Or how about starting to use that To-Do list application you recently purchased, but couldn't find a way to work it into your schedule - that probably isn't going to change just by flipping the pages of a calendar. Asking too much of ones self isn't going to help you, nor is restricting yourself to rigid plans. Neither of these things are going to get things done. The resolution will be forgotten the moment that it's made, due to poor choices in actually selecting their resolutions. In extreme cases, one might make the same resolution every year, and get the same results every year. Nothing changes. So, what might this be telling this sort of person? One needs to really change how they look at organization and planning, and focus on getting things done.

Over the holidays, I've had a little bit of time to just sit back and read. I've gotten into a lot of tech/mac blogs and forums, and just have sopped up the knowledge like a dry sponge. One thing I was introduced to was the concept of GTD - Getting Things Done. The concept is simple: recognize what needs to be done by you, organize it into projects, organize the projects into smaller activities (making it more manageable), and then do them. This is a very simple outline of the concept - for more information, visit the wiki. The core of this concept is really realizing what is your responsibility or desire, and then figuring out how to fulfill this responsibility in the most efficient and productive manner possible - exactly what one wants with resolutions.

Breaking tasks up to make things more manageable, or setting tactics to get through to your strategies is a really important part of GTD, as well as life in general. If I sat down and tried to write a research paper from scratch right now, I'd be entirely overwhelmed. I'd probably be so overwhelmed that I wouldn't know where to start, and I probably wouldn't start. What would be ideal would be to first do some preliminary research on topics, find resources, make an outline of the paper, make a draft, and then do final revision. One wouldn't try to do a paper from scratch, so why try to bite off more than you can chew with something like a New Years resolution?

My suggestion to everyone who does read this blog: make resolutions that you can keep, yet don't be restricted to just following what you put down on paper the day the year changed. Just as the date changes every day, life is variable. A goal that I set today might not be applicable tomorrow, so you have to be ready to constantly change those goals to suit your needs. If you're trying to stick to one goal that become either obsolete or not complete-able, it's almost better if the goal were never set at all. But where does this leave me? I've been talking about resolutions for a while, and yet haven't shown you what I've come up with.

My own resolutions are as follows (following GTD):
-Be more efficient in my use of spare time
-->Do smaller tasks, such as replying to email or forum posts first; don't spend more than one hour on MSN at a time, in most situations; online gaming is to take a back seat to other activities (interaction with people)
-Do more efficient university work
-->Set aside time for reading the assigned chapters/pages - do a little at a time, whenever there is time; plan ahead for large assignments (get started early); plan ahead for small assignments (readings, etc)
-Take more efficient notes
-->Don't bother with typing out replicas of slides - type what the professor speaks; prepare for lectures with assigned readings, as well as powerpoint slides (when applicable); listen more attentively, instead of fooling around on the internet

A few of these sound rather broad, but the narrowing will come as I get further into the year. Being broad isn't always a bad thing - it allows for adaptation as new challenges arise - but being too broad can take you off track from what you originally wanted to accomplish. The important thing is to set goals that work for you, and then act upon them. Change them if necessary, but make sure the core of the goal stays intact (what you made the goal to change in the first place).

So, happy New Year to all those that read, and hope that you make good choices with the resolutions that you pick - good choices, with good results!

As is my custom, I will hereby tell all about my Christmas day. If I were to sum it up in a single word, it would be: joyful.

The day started out as every Christmas for me does: getting up at 4:30 AM. The previous night, I had done all that was in my power to tire myself out - namely, watch YouTube videos. I was fortunate enough to come across the MTV Album Launch for Blink 182's Untitled Album, so it wasn't all wasted. I had fun just watching those crazy guys doing what they do. Then, answering a hunger, I listened to the Untitled album. Figuring I had done enough, I tried to get to sleep.

And sleep I did - for 4 hours. 4 AM came fast and unexpected. I tossed and turned for a while, before finally getting back to sleep and sleeping till around 6:20. I then promptly got out of bed, looked at my stocking, and rushed downstairs to gather up my mom to open my stocking.

The rest of the day went as planned - go downstairs, eat breakfast, start to open presents. This was when the fun started. I appeared to have opened all that I was receiving, which was not anything to be scoffed at - I had recieved:

-iPod 5.5G (80GB)
-LEGO Technic set (from a while ago - it's a rad motorcycle)
-The gods Must be Crazy I & 2 (DVD)
-Bath robe thingees
-Chocolate
-A book
-Printer Ink Cartridge
-Deodorant
-Money

I was sufficiently happy up to this point. Then my mother got up, rustled around in my dads den, and came back with 2 more packages saying "Santa forgot some". At this point, I had a feeling what it was. And boy, was I excited. With trembling hands, I grasped the bigger box and proceeded to tear the paper. It came away with ease, to reveal a bright and shiny box. A box that looks like this:



You could see the excitement all over my face.

"WII!" I exclaimed, "THANKYOU, THANKYOU, THANKYOU!"

This was definitely not expected. My iPod was all that was requested - this was way over any of my biggest fantasies!

The smaller package contained Twilight Princess, which is amazing. I just started playing this morning (the 26th), and got around 2 hours in. The attacking takes a little getting used to - I'm still trying to press buttons sometimes; Wolf form is amazing and strong, and the graphics are incredible. So much more than anything I'd ever expected.

But I didn't play that on Christmas day. I was so hooked on Wii Sports. That little pack-in, mini-game collection is really and truly fun for the whole family. My parents, who have exclaimed that they get sick playing video games, immediately took up the controller, and with just a little explanation got really into it. I even made them their own Miis, and they want to go out and buy their own 'Motes. +1 point for Jon! Score!

In any case, I hope that everyone had a marvelous Christmas, got everything they wanted, and realized what the true meaning of Christmas was. Ho ho ho!

View my entire unboxing set (including iPod and Wii) here

Recently, a friend pointed out that there was a new Transformers trailer out, ready for my hungry eyes and intellect to gobble up. Being a die-hard fan as a child, I raced to watch it, hoping for something to sooth the longings I've had since my early years. Not being fully aware of this movie to begin with, I actually watched the old trailer first, and then found the new one, of which I am glad. I can, for certain, say the first trailer was utter trash.

In any case, I'd like to say that the second trailer amused me, yet got me thinking about the whole idea. Transformers, as I remember it, was always cool - a show with cars that turn into giant robots to save the Earth from certain doom. Because of this inherent coolness, you would always beg mom or dad for the toy of your favourite character. Oh, you knew that in no way could you possibly transform it yourself (always going to mom for assistance), but wanted it because Transformers was the most enjoyable show you'd ever seen. Other than those few memories (both good and bad), I don't really remember much else. Well, I do remember one thing. Optimus was 18 wheels of justice, ready to fight those Decepticons to the bitter end. That toy was a thing of my dreams.

With all of those wild and excessive assumptions, partially based on a lack of prior knowledge, I went in expecting something good in terms of story. To think that the one thing I did miss out of the original series was the story. But then again, I was only 7 or 8 years old when I watched it. You can't really fault me. Unfortunately, something about giant mean robots coming to earth for an unknown reason really doesn't cut it with this child, now 10 years older and wiser for it. No longer will I spend frivolous amounts of money on plastic transforming cars that I can't change myself. In all seriousness, I was disappointed. I would have hoped that there would have been enough meat on the bones of what was one of my favourite childhood memories to make an interesting plot that both young and old could enjoy. What I get is a boiled mess of what could have been something good, and yet isn't. I find myself unsatisfied at their theatrical efforts, even before the film is out. I hope that the plot is more together when it does hit the big screen.

But all hope is not lost! Through the art of RSS feeds and blogging, I've found somewhat of a savior for this wreck of a franchise. It's just one simple website, taken from a glimpse of the new trailer that some keen puzzle solver put together. The website is Sector Seven Org, a ficticious corporation that exists in the Transformer's universe. Be sure to have your pop up blocker disabled, and input the password takara83 into the prompt on the website to gain access into what I think is the start of something brilliant. I'll let you see for yourself as to what I mean.

All hope is not lost - I pray that in the coming weeks and months, Transformers will be put together appropriately and do fans all across the globe proud.

Like most Mac users, I have some important choices for having the best web-browsing experience possible. The crux of that choice is which browser do I rely on. Do I choose Safari, the web browser designed by Apple to fit in with the OS, or do I choose Firefox, with it's tried and true extensions, themes, and other benefits. Here, my friends, is where I will outline some of the choices and sacrifices I've had to make.

Currently, as I type this, I'm using Safari. This is kind of odd, since I'm normally an 'all firefox, all the time' kind of guy. What first brought me to Firefox are all present in Safari: the tabbed browsing, the bookmarks toolbar, the build in search function. A few things that I enjoy more about Firefox are the fact that I can move around my tabs, some extensions (specifically, the del.icio.us extensions), and the way it handles asian character sets. Safari chokes, specifically on the last point. But, as I said before, I'm typing this up using Safari. Have I lost my mind?

Allow me to explain what I like about Safari. First of all, the UI is beautiful; no one can deny that. The buttons are all simple and compact - there is only one 'toolbar' really, the rest is for pure browsing space. And Safari is much quicker (with cookies loaded), as well as less processor intensive than Firefox (it does use more RAM though). I love how the refresh and stop button are converged into one (to save space), as well as Inquisitor - an extra search function I added to Safari. If you've ever used OS X, it's a lot like Spotlight for the web. The whole experience is very 'mac like'. The key difference (and deal maker/breaker) would be in text handling.

I was recently pointed to an article by Jeffery Zeldman, a man who is greatly revered and respected among the Mac community. This article starts off with a title that's pretty close ended - 'Safari better than Firefox?' He goes on to explain why: superior text handling, which is something that OS X users are very accustomed to. I suggest you read the article, that is linked up there. It's eye opening, as well as quite interesting.

Where does this leave me though? I've previously noted that I normally use Firefox all the time (I use an OS X optimized version called Bon Echo), but have basically shown you that Safari appears to be superior in a lot of interesting and optimal ways. If this is so, why was I using Firefox all the time? Two words: spell checking. Anyone knows that although I do write fairly well, I can't spell well enough to save my life. This is one reason I really loved Firefox 2.0 when it first came out - built in spell checking is incredible for me. Safari has this feature, but I was under the impression (before right now) that you had to enable it for every text box that you encounter. If that was the case, it's usability is moot and I don't want to even try. I'd rather get the spelling wrong than have to do something so monotonus. Thankfully, this does not seem to be the case any more. As I type, it's telling me that I'm spelling Firefox wrong. There's the little red line again. A simple control + click tells me that I should either be typing Firebox or Fire-Fox. Apple has been known to be a little elitist. In any case, Safari remembered my settings, and I'm happy about it.

So, wrapping up: I choose Safari, for the following reasons:

-Aqua looks nice with Safari - clunky with Firefox (I had an optimized build of Firefox remember - I chose the Aqua build)
-Safari supports superior text handling
-Most of the features I enjoy in Firefox are present in Safari (including some ones I like more)
-Safari is faster (by most estimations - I find it does hang when a cookie isn't available. Pretty fast otherwise)
-This dialogue is a lot nicer in Safari; the text is a lot easier to read as well

In any case, I hope that this has been somewhat interesting, as well as thought provoking. Here's my chance to ask you questions: why do you use the browser you use?

You knew it was coming sooner or later. Another entry on how I love my Mac.

Well, it's been around 4 months since it was brand new, still on the FedEx truck being rushed to my home with all haste in mind. Being greeted by the shaking and excited hands of an 18 year old, like it was Christmas or something. I proceeded to take pictures of the box being defiled, and then started it up for the first time.

At this time, I didn't know what would befall me later this year. I like to call it Apple-syndrome.

Don't worry, it's not fatal, and has been seen in quite a few people since 1985, when Apple released Macintosh I (and subsequently, pretty much every year after that as well). People just fall in love with the computer that they use for work and play. And, in my reality, there is no better choice. Refreshed is the soul that was distraught from the world of ugly text rendering and millions of applications, ready to be stolen via bittorrent.

But it is not my job or vocation to speak on such philosophical matters. What concerns me most is.. well, me. At least at this time. So, I'm going to give 2 (more) reasons why I like Macintosh, but also why everybody should get one.

My first reason should be, in the minds of my readers, one of the most basic things when thinking of computing. Text. As of now, my Mac is really my main machine. I do turn on my PC for music sharing, as well as when I want to play games. But most of the time, I'm on my Mac. But when I do use the PC, I get extremely sore eyes. At first, I didn't know what was causing this. But now I do. My eyes have adjusted to the excellent text rendering that OS X provides it's users, and does not like the sharp, glaring text that Windows XP seems to grace it's users with. And unfortunately, it isn't too pleasant. Something this basic, and Windows users don't even see it till they've tried the 'other guys' stuff. But boy, what a difference text smoothing makes!

My second reasont: the absence of Quicksilver on the Windows platform. I'm pleased to say that a single app has changed computing for me, forever. No longer does one have to search their harddisk for applications, or even open up an email client to be able to send off those pictures you just took of the fam. Quicksilver is the be-all, do-all application, and it's only for the OS X platform. I pity those who don't have the chance to at least try it out. Fortunately, I'll be posting a screencast later, showing some basic functionality, and how it has changed my computing life. The possibilities, as they say, are endless.

Don't get me wrong, I am in need of Windows XP. In fact, I can say that I couldn't live without it. My desires to play games are far too strong. I can't just create simple movies and picture books all day. I need to come home from a long day at university and just blow something up. Or, at the very least, get a new trophy in Barbie Horse Adventures 4000 (joking there). But I can assure anyone that wants to know, that my next desktop upgrade will be to the equivalent of the Mac Pro... in around 4 years.

Anyways, check back later for the promised screencast. Need to find an app, and learn how to use it before I start using it. Grr.. the difficulties of life!