Android TV Box In The House

The time has finally come for my Lioness and me to unsubscribe from our Smart TV and switch over to the Android TV box after weighing all the pros and cons. I've also combed the internet to find out whether Android TV boxes are legal here before this.

In a nutshell: they are still considered legal at the time of this writing, though they remain in a somewhat grey area of limbo to be reassessed down the road. If such TV boxes had been deemed 100% illegal already at the time of this blog post, then all the vendors selling them openly in high traffic shopping centres (and they seem to be all over the place) would have been busted by now, no?

So we both went to buy one today without worrying that we were doing something shady and not legit. The brand we ended up selecting is Mele, and we bought a 50 bucks 'Air Mouse' bluetooth controller to go along with it, since I've anticipated that it would be a pain in the butt trying to navigate the menus and such without one.

For me personally, I never cared for conventional TV since the 90's. Since then, I only watched TV like once or twice per year, believe it or not. I got the news I needed mostly via print media and after the internet hit us, the news I've needed was just a click or two away.

As far as I'm concerned, my 'TV' has been YouTube ever since 2007 when I first got broadband connection for my house. Then when I got my first smartphone in 2010 which allows me to be online wherever I happen to be from thereon, that was the final nail in the coffin for conventional TV for me. I'd rather be able to search for what I want to watch right now and right here, then wait for the TV to broadcast my targeted subject matter at goodness knows when.

And no, I'm not the usual TV drama series person. I am very selective when it comes to those since they mean a huge chunk of time investments, and the drama series that really had my attention, I can count with the fingers of one hand. Almost all of them were Japanese with English subtitles that I can still watch online if I wanted to. So no big loss for me when it comes to drama series that I hardly even touch.

I'd go so far as to say that I'd never have subscribed to our smart TV years back if it wasn't for the fact that my Lioness still likes to watch TV. But like me now, she agrees with me that going online is still the best way to go, so out went our Smart TV subscription (and its associated monthly fees) and in comes the Android TV box with no monthly subscription fees - that's just the reality of it, make of it what you will.

Note that this blog post is not to discourage anyone from zapping their smart TV subscription, no. We are all different and there's still something charming about going old school, laying comfortably on the couch and randomly surfing TV programmes instead of having an aim of what to watch. There are times when you stumble upon something that interests you while randomly switching TV channels, yeah? It's like a sudden pleasant surprise.

Also, depending on where you stream your programmes from, you might find that smart TVs (and even the old dodo non-smart ones) gives you a clearer picture.

Even though I personally wouldn't care if I owned no TV in the house (as long as I can go online) if I were living alone (which I'm not), what my Lioness told me is something I agree with: "家里没有电视机会不像家." (A house without a TV will not feel like home).

Our TV at home will be here to stay for a long while, it's just that we have decided to stream online instead of continuing with the conventional way. And I approve of the fact that YouTube comes with our new TV box and I can load apps on it.

Looking back, for better or for worse, the magnitude of changes that the internet brought about when it comes to watching programmes and such, in comparison to conventional broadcasted ways, are certainly nothing short of 'revolutionary'.

(Update from the future: we changed out our Mele TV box for Unblock Technology's which cater to our viewing needs better.)

A New Job

I got myself a new job that starts today, which job scope is something I've never experienced before. Because it's something new for me, I'm looking forward to this new learning adventure. Yup, I view every new job as an adventure.

An adventure is a venture that involves risks, which even if you've done as much calculated risks as you could about it all and asked as many prior questions before you decide to dive headlong into it, there will still be uncertainties you'll never be certain about until you get your hands dirty by actually experiencing the venture first-hand, which is how every new job is. The interviewer can only help you with this much, the rest will be up to you to discover for yourself.

Thus, going into a new job or a new company also requires a fair amount of courage to face that which is unfamiliar and unknown in the initial stages, just like in embarking on an adventure.

I can't reveal what my job entails because I'm a man who keeps the deal of my employment terms & conditions on my end. Every job that I've left, I've never revealed any of their confidential information or trade secrets that I've promised not to on black & white. I once had a colleague who said something way back in 2005 that I still remember till this day and always will:

"Even if your company has developed a rotten reputation in the industry, never allow your own reputation to go bad."

And that, ranks as the best advice I've ever heard in all my years of working. To make this work, my philosophy is: always respect your clients and customers and never promise anything that you know you and your company cannot deliver. Trust is not a given, it's something you have to earn. Honesty builds trust and empty promises break trust. That's how it goes.

Regarding my new job, all I can reveal is that my new company is doing a joint project with the government, which accounts for things being classified. After the initial on-the-job training, I will be going lone wolf all by myself to do my job, and mondays to fridays will see me travelling about the south-western part of the country as I go to my different daily allocated areas in said sector to get to my work sites. The job ad did mention "work near home", which is why I got assigned to the south-western team.

I've always gone for jobs that require me to travel about alone, which is something I've grown to love and already grown accustomed to for years. Besides helping me to keep fit since I'm not stuck on a chair in a cubicle for the whole day but have to be on the move constantly (with all due respect to you cubicle warriors out there), such jobs also teach me to be self-reliant and independent. Since you are going at it alone, you are also your own on-the-spot problem-solver. My only nemesis is heavy rain, which impedes movement speed.

As you can imagine, one has lots of freedom doing such travelling lone wolf jobs and I love that freedom and not having to deal much with the politics back in the office I don't care about, since as far as I'm concerned, I've been hired to work instead of being paid to play games.

In my opinion, some office politics are unavoidable sometimes, but any company that allows their office politics to go seriously out of hand has lost focus and not worth working for, since an out-of-focus company won't last for too long with all the nasty internal power struggles that are detrimental to the united growth of the company as a whole in the long run.

Back to lone wolf travelling jobs: such jobs also mean the need for self-discipline, since when you go about your job alone, you are the only one who can make sure that you are doing your job properly and that you are not abusing your freedom.

Throughout my working life, I've seen people getting fired because they abused their freedom: they got caught skipping work secretly for multiple days and such. Why ruin something good for yourself and have your freedom taken away from you just because of complacent laziness?

Even if you go for multiple coffee breaks and make pit-stops at shops in the mall to check out some goods in-between visiting your clients, customers or work sites, just make sure you deliver what you are being paid to do for the day and go home with peace of mind, even if you go home earlier than usual because you happen to complete your work for the day at a faster rate and you don't have to report back to the office at the end of the day. This is what I mean by 'self-discipline'.

Speaking of going home earlier once you've completed your job for the day, my new job officially allows me to do just that and my pay will not be affected in any way. So I have to make sure that I do my job properly to the best of my abilities and not have this privilege taken away. Since my work time is entirely in my own hands and I can go home once done, I won't complain at all should it happen that I be required to work till later than usual occasionally. Give & take.

In actual fact, based on what I've been taught and shown so far, the tasks required of me is nothing too difficult at all, so it would be stupid to turn complacent and ruin the privileges that come with the job. I'm hoping that the colleagues in my team, who have their own assigned work areas, have the same line of thought - the worst thing that can happen to any team is to have black sheeps that ruin everything for everybody else.. but I'm not holding my breath on this just yet even though I'm hoping for the best; as I've said, trust is something to be earned and we don't know one another well enough yet.

However, I already know that there is just one particular aspect of the job that I hate while everything else seem ok, but you gotta take the good along with the bad and there's no such thing as a 100% perfect job without flaws that rub you the wrong way, yes? So far, it's just this one thing that I don't like, but I can live with just one single bad issue if everything else holds up to be continuously ok. We shall see.

But ugh, me having to deal with a slight fever and cough is not helping me much during my first day on the job. Still, I shall survive.

Lim's New LG V20

Setting up
Lim's LG V20

At my suggestion, my friend Lim bought his LG V20 on contract subsidy price from his telco. Prior to this, he's been using his Tab S tablet to take over his smartphone needs from his old Note 2 he gave away which had this long, ugly crack running down the screen - something which I told him won't cut it for him after seeing how he had to go around with a bluetooth earpiece stuck in his ear all the time for his phonecalls, which he admitted was a hassle he has grown tired of. Some folks are ok with that but it wasn't for Lim.

Lim actually had his eye on the Galaxy Note 7 but unfortunately, that phone turned out to be too hot to handle. I told him that a non-Sammy phone could be a breath of fresh air for a change if he's so inclined. I made it clear though, as I always do when people ask me to recommend them anything; that the risk is theirs to take and I'm just weighing the pros and cons for them in line with their needs and wants - if they should end up with buyer's remorse, it's not on me. I think that is fair enough.

So yeah, I've been reading a lot on the LG V20 and following its progress ever since the V10 piqued my interest on the V series which I actually liked, and the best thing about LG's phones is their wide-angle camera lenses, in my opinion. Also, I like how the V phones allow you to customise the navigation bar and add stuff to it on their default launcher (especially adding a button that lets you pull down the notification panel without minimizing your onscreen app with just a click; such a simple thing that actually goes a long way to making it so much easier to use a big screen phone where notifications are concerned), as well as the ability to theme the phone on a system-wide level.

And oh, there's also their DAC which supposedly gives you a better music listening experience if you use a good enough pair of headphones.

However, what has kept me away from LG phones are 2 things: their LCD screens and their battery capacities. My eyes just prefer AMOLED screens and when it comes to smartphones, my philosophy is: what good are all the bells and whistles if the battery can't last the distance before you need to reach for the charger.

Yes, the V10 and V20 do come with removable batteries and that's all well and good but in my book, there's no such thing as having enough battery juice - the more the merrier and if I can cut down on the number of times I need to swap batteries or charge up, the better.

As a power user, I can't help but feel that LG has always been stingy about battery mAH capacities. I'm saying this as a lopsided praise for the V series though, since I consider them to be powerful phones in their own right for what they can do, but when it comes to power, you can't skimp on battery capacities.

These are the main things I've highlighted to Lim before he bought the phone, and I sent him links to reviews of the phone. Finally, I told him to just go to the stores to play around with the display sets first to help him formulate his own purchase decision, which to me, is the most important step since nothing beats hands-on personal experience (and I reminded him to close out all active apps running in the background FIRST before playing with the display sets). I left it at that, the final decision was his to make and I considered my job done.

As you could already tell from the pic up top, Lim ended up buying the phone after all is said and done. So I helped him to update and set up his phone, his apps and theme according to his preferences, as well as helping him connect his phone to WiFi networks he uses.

But it didn't stop there - I also helped him to sideload apps like TubeMate which he loves, and disabling stuff like opting out of Google's ads personalisation (which you should be able to hunt down under Settings ==>> Google ==> Ads, or something similar depending on your Android phone), among other nitty gritty things.

After all these, I went into his phone's recovery and cleared up the cache before doing a reboot.

TL;DR: I helped him to optimise his phone.

One may think I've performed an overkill, but when you have to do a job only once for the best optimisation down the road, you may as well do the job properly from the get-go. I consider skimping on the initial hassle just to have an unoptimised user experience with hiccups frequently down the road to be a much bigger hassle.

Besides, taking the time to help out a childhood friend or a loved one is what I will always consider as time well spent. I do the same for my Lioness and for myself too whenever we get new phones. One has to be willing and happy to contribute one's time and effort to people who have stuck with you through life's thick and thin.

Does LG even know their own product?

You know what baffles me about what LG bundled with their V20? When the V10 was launched back in 2015 last year, LG bundled with it an external battery charger (different from a powerbank) and a spare battery with it, which was not just appropriate but also well and good. I couldn't believe my eyes when Lim showed me what LG bundled with his V20:

A Samsung power bank - no external battery charger, no spare battery. A Samsung power bank. Let that sink in. Sure, the B&O earphones are there alright, but the LG V20 has a removable battery. And for that, they are giving out a competitor's power bank instead? Does LG even know that their V20 has a swappable battery?

I'm not sure if this is just a local thing or a global bundle across the international board and I don't care to find out after expending my effort to set up Lim's phone, but this makes me question LG Mobile's product knowledge about their own product, be it localized or international. This is just weird. Imagine buying Dove's shower cream that comes bundled with a Lux refill.. And no, Dove and Lux don't do such a thing.

But whatever, the important thing is that Lim told me he really likes his V20 thus far. We shall see whether the same holds up after his honeymoon period with the phone.

(Update from the future: It's been more than a year since and Lim tells me he still enjoys using his V20. Good on the lad.)

Google Assistant vs Siri

The battle of our imaginary friends:


Boy, that was some contest. Arguably, I think Siri has the prettier UI screen while Google's assistant wins out in other areas. Pros and cons for both sides.

When I taught my sister how to utilize Google's assistant, she was beaming from ear-to-ear, which inevitably led to her hammering on the assistant with.. well, weird questions - something which I was guilty as charged too when I first had a go at it as well. #CheapThrills

Throughout the years, I've tried other third party assistants, one on my jailbroken once-upon-a-time iPhone and a few on Android thereafter. The Android ones eventually got as good as being all completely wiped out by Big G's, though some of them actually turned out to be pretty good and functional for what they could do in their time, albeit being slower in response speed. But that was then and this is now.

Oh well, our imaginary friends have come a long way and I wonder if anyone still asks Siri where they can hide a dead body in jest now in 2016, which was the trend during 2011, remember?

What if, based on the rate that things will be going on both fronts, Siri eventually finds itself turning out to actually be that dead body everyone's been pestering her about way back in 2011? That would be tragic but morbidly funny at the same time. Maybe I'll fire up Big G's assistant and ask it just that, since I've never seen a virtual assistant rolling its virtual eyes at me before.

Introducing The New iHole

Introducing the new iHole (aka: taking the 'smart' out of smartphone users).

I've seen many things on the net that had me baffled, as I'm sure you have too as well. "The human experience" has morphed into the Internet experience for the most part anyway, considering how being online consistently has become an integral part of our lives and heck, that's how we're letting it run our lives.

Funny thing is, some of us are fully conscious of that while others aren't - as exemplified by those who post things about themselves online that made them regret it or which landed them in hot soup as an aftermath. If you can't have the foresight or common sense to tell that what you are posting online will end up an attraction for unnecessary trouble, then that runs parallel with you not being conscious of the power of the Internet, of which privacy is just an illusion or fallacy.

Actually, that's a common mistake we all have the potential of forgetting sometimes, since it can be human nature to take for granted that which has become an integrated part of our daily living. We humans have been programmed with full of complacent bugs.

But you know what? In regards to this blog post's subject matter which highlights how some iFans have apparently been drilling holes into their new iPhones in an attempt to bring back the headphone jack, part of me refused to believe it. I mean, how could anyone be this dumb naive? You don't even need to be an expert techie to realise that that in itself, is an impossibility without perhaps some pro circuitry wizardry that will boggle the mind of a layman who knows next to nothing about hardware modding and such.

An open mind says that almost nothing is impossible when it comes to tech, but just drilling a hole and expecting it to power your earphones to blast music is akin to having sex and expecting a baby immediately right after. That was a really crude analogy, I know and I apologise for that, but it serves to accentuate the ludicrousness of it all. Sometimes, you just have to give a stupid reaction in response to a stupid question or subject matter.

For me personally, I prefer not having to deal with cords and cables, but if you know you will be inconvenienced by the lack of a headphone jack, then why give Apple your money by buying their new iPhone in the first place and then complain about it? That's what baffles me. Can people really be that oblivious to their own actual needs and wants and plonk down their wads of cash at the cashier without any thought?

The only explanation I can think of to explain this is that perhaps, some people buy the iPhone thinking that it will elate their social status by flashing it around to show off (how very 2010 stale). For such people, I have trouble mustering up the sympathy for them when they realise that their new flashy gadget actually inconveniences them by having a feature they've needed all along removed. They are just crippled show-offs that's all flash and no substance as far as I'm concerned.

And yes, Apple wants your money by you buying their new wireless Airpods. It's not that hard to put 2 and 2 together and see through the reality distortion field. Apple's abuse usage of the word "courage" to justify their removal of the headphone jack is just a gimmick that covers up the fact that it's all about their sales and money for their new Airpods as the denominator.

Again, I support tech going wireless, but their hypocrisy and treating their customers as naive cash cows easily swayed by some word-smithing simply stinks. I guess actually having the "courage" to be honest, upfront and transparent can be a tough call for some companies.

If you want me to part with my cash to buy something, just say so straight to my face and tell me the facts upfront instead of trying to serenade me with tired, flashy gimmicky wordplay; at least your transparency about it can still earn my grudging respect - and I'll salute you for not treating me as a gullible fool.

At the end of it all, despite the jokes made about sheepish iFans that bring into question their capacity for rational thinking (which I always try to take with grains of sodium chloride because my best friend loves his iDevices and he happens to be freaking intelligent), I will give the side of me that doubts the authenticity of this whole 'iHole' incident some breathing space. Why?

Because if it actually turns out to be true, then my hope for humanity will take a huge plunge towards the direction that gravity likes to go.

Apple's Airpod Tickles

Tampons in the ears

Original, unedited photo from Cnet

(I had to censor this photo like this because it is my policy to never embarrass any innocent individual by revealing their identity in my blog posts.

I can't speak for this guy of course, but if it was me posing for the pic, I personally would be embarrassed with those tampon-lookalike thingies in my ears.)

Trying hard to look ridiculous? You don't have to put in so much effort to achieve that nowadays, since it's 2016 afterall. Just get yourself a pair of Apple's new airpods and you're good to go.

How does it work? Well, just pop those suckers in your ears and have people around you wonder why you'd walk around with tampons stuck in your ears. Easy. Just don't mind them asking whether you're suffering some rare and new medical condition that causes you to menstruate from the ears. Watch them widen their eyes in awe as you tell them that those tampons have the capability to blast music. Neat.

I'm always looking forward to the Apple keynotes because the best thing about them is the inevitable humour that follows. You just have to put up with cringeworthy marketing bullshit like "it's magical!" done to death over and over again ad nauseam - akin to puking out fruit juice you drank, swallowing the puke and then puking it all out again to be reused onstage every single time. Don't rinse, don't wash, repeat.

Just keep hammering the same marketing one-trick-pony into their heads and they will eventually believe it and kachink, in rolls the cold hard ca$h, eh? Marketing is essential, yes, but discerning consumers ought to find too much of the same wordplay gimmicks to be a tiresome earache by now, cringe?

And there's this thinking that since the airpods are truly wireless (which is a feature I really like), one can lose them too easily. If I were to go off my nerdish rocker and get mean, I'd say:

"So apparently, Apple's new wireless AirPods are like tampons missing their strings. So I'm gonna look down at the ground more during the coming months, expecting to find dropped AirPods so that I can sell them to iFans so that they will lose them again, after which I can find them again and re$ell them back to the same iFans. Kachink. Sounds unapologetically lucrative."

But I won't say such a thing even though I just did. That's because I do not like dealing with pesky cables myself if I can help it.

While it may be true that you could lose the airpods easily because they are small and separate from each other without wires connecting them together, when it comes to safeguarding one's possessions without losing them, it all boils down to user responsibility and some prudent common sense. Hell, you even run the risk of losing your phone, your relationship with someone or anything else for that matter if you're careless and not mindful and sensitive enough. Such a thing comes down to the individual.

Compare using wired earphones while watching a movie in bed and you will value a truly wireless set when you toss around in bed. A crowded bus is also a good place to realize that, as yours truly have lost count of the number of times I've muttered curses under my breath whenever my wires got snagged on somebody's bag or whatever and watched my earphones go kaplunk onto the dirty floor.

Credit where credit is due

As much as I don't like Apple as a company because of their holier-than-thou arrogant attitude towards their own customers and their hypocrisy towards their competitors, along with their trigger-happy litigation fingers which to me as a fan of mobile tech, impedes the progress of the industry, I would be adopting the dreaded and myopic ostrich strategy if I were to ignore the actually beneficial implementations of Apple that truly benefit the consumer.

What Apple nailed right with the new Airpods is just how easy and hassle-free it is to pair them up with an iDevice, along with how the airpods can tell when you pull them out of your ears (just pulling one out will do), at which point they will automatically pause the music. Now these are nifty and useful features in my non-fiction book, I'll give Apple that.

So in conclusion, despite their fugliness, the airpods certainly have their usefulness. If you happen to buy them and you really really end up liking them, don't let anyone or anything including this blog post tell you differently. If you find them truly a joy to use, just enjoy them and I'll be happy for you, really..

..even though I still think you have tampons in your ears.

The Rattata I Encountered Today

How.. befitting.

Besides having a quirky name that sounds like machine-gun chatter, PoGo's rodents sure have the knack to know just where to spawn, eh? But nah, it's more like these things are every freaking where in the game, just like the Pidgeys.

If only the Rattatas ate the Pidgeys on the map, I'd have had less of the same Pokémon I keep coming across ad nauseam.

Me - The Rookie Pokémon Go Trainer

Niantic Lab's augmented reality game Pokémon Go hit the shores of the region I'm living in yesterday and I got my mitts on it. Before this, I've been keeping tabs of the actual gameplay on YouTube by overseas folks who already got the game earlier and I'm seriously liking the AR (augmented reality) mechanics of the game.

I find it really intriguing that Pokémon (yes, the plural for Pokémon is "Pokémon") and game supplies can appear around your immediate surroundings virtually as you walk around in real life, as opposed to just doing things in a virtual world with you just sitting in front of your phone in a static, unmoving location. It adds another dimension to the one we are living in, so to speak - Kinda loosely parallel to seeing ghosts but through the display of your phone, for lack of a better description. Ha.

It's already technically the next day after the game's launch here, since the time now is 1am plus in the morning - the time I'm deciding right here and right now to launch the game for the very first time to experience the intrigue I've been feeling about the game's mechanics. I planned to go for my pre-dawn run later anyway at 5am, so I may as well launch the game now and set things up.

Upon launching the game, the GPS nails my location and the game presents a choice of 3 starter Pokémon for me to choose one from - Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur. I've never played any Pokémon game prior to this and I chose Charmander as my starter Pokémon based on advice I came across somewhere online. You can also get Pikachu as your starter Pokémon instead if you wish to do so.

Actually, it doesn't really matter which Pokémon you choose from the get-go since their CPs and stats will be too low to do anything significant anyway, and upgrading them will be a waste of resources. You want to hunt for stronger Pokémon out in the wild with stronger stats that better justify you spending your upgrade resources on.

I threw the red and white ball and netted Charmander right within my hall. My very first virgin experience of augmented reality is intriguing, to say the least. I'm actually finding myself smiling. Looking at the map and clicking on gyms and Pokéstops which are actual landmarks in my neighbourhood, complete with accurate photos depicting how they look like in real life is making me excited enough to get all prepped up to get out there and play the game. But since I'm going for my run in just a few short hours' time, I gotta hold myself back for awhile.

PoGo in the great outdoors

It's now coming to 5am in the morning and reaching the ground floor of my block, a Bellsprout pops out on my map and I proceed to net it. I know it's much easier to net catches in non-AR mode but I don't care, I like better gaming 'realism', so it's AR mode for me all the way. To me, playing in non-AR mode is playing the game on 'easy' setting while AR mode is 'normal' setting. Pick your cherry.

Walking past the playground near my block on my way to my jogging route, I'm pleasantly surprised to see that a crowd has already gathered there playing the game this early in the pre-dawn hours. The feeling akin to game-camaraderie is definitely in the air before the sun even comes up. What a great start.

It is at this playground that I'm coming across my very first Pokéstop and the photo of the Pokéstop showing in the game nails the depiction of the actual thing in real life, which adds major plus points in my book for AR. Heady. Spin, collect my supplies and find myself smiling again. I even netted a 2km egg. Boy, this game can get pregnant and give birth to things.

Reaching the start point of my running route in the next neighbouring estate, I left the game in the foreground and locked my phone's screen as I begin my run, thinking that by doing so, I'll conserve battery while clocking the kilometres for the egg I just found.

In hindsight, you are supposed to leave the game running without locking your screen or minimising the game to the background in order for it to clock the distance. That's a boo-boo on my part which I didn't know then.


Now that I'm done with my run, I'm walking towards the playground (different one from the one earlier) in the middle of my running area where I always do my statics, post-run cooldown and stretching exercises. The time now is just about 5:30am and there's already this dude scooting about on his battery-powered standing scooter hunting for Pokémon, amongst other players slugging it out on foot. Smart guy. For a game like PoGo, PMDs (personal mobility devices) and bicycles are the best practical tools to use for the hunt.

Walking around the playground and coming across a Ponyta for the very first time, I'm feeling thrilled while trying to figure out if it's actually a flaming unicorn as I throw Pokéballs at it. Too bad your game character can't ride it after you net it.

There's another Pokéstop at the playground here where I collected additional supplies. I'm now wandering about the area before making my way home, checking the map on my phone whenever it's safe to do so for more Pokémon to net. I don't wanna trip or crash into someone and vice-versa just because of a game. If it wasn't for this game, I would have just gone home straight after a cup of coffee at the nearby coffeeshop.

Looks like I'm already off to a good start with this game, considering how I'm really liking even more now the AR mechanics: There's something amazing about a software that blends the reality around you with things from the virtual realm that you can interact with. However, the game still begs a question:

Will the novelty wear off in time?

I see folks of all ages playing the game, inclusive of school kids, working adults and elderly retirees. In short, the game demography spans across a truly wide spectrum. But people can be fickle or get tired towards anything, especially when things become too repetitive over time. If the gameplay doesn't evolve but remains the same for too long, I won't be surprised if the near future sees only hardcore players sticking with the game.

Also, considering how the game seems to make people's eyes get stuck on the screens of their phones as they move about, I wonder if accidents and nuisances to the public and even traffic can occur. There's gotta be some too engrossed idiot who trips into a drain or trespass into some area denied to the public or something worse coming soon to a news publication near you.

For me myself, I think if I should hit the point where I no longer see any gameplay replay value in the game but the same-old same-old rinse, wash and repeat, the novelty of this AR game, as intriguing as I find it to be, will certainly wear itself out on me. By then, I'll either stop playing or take a really loooong break, especially if another good AR game gets released. Heck, I'll jump straight to a survival horror AR game in a heartbeat if one should ever get released to please the horror fan that I am. So far in Pokémon Go, the scariest prospect for me is having no Pokéballs left when a Pokémon you don't have in your PokéDex spawns on the map. But that's not even scary according to my scare meter, that's just an annoyance.

Time will tell if Pokémon Go can last the test of time. It all depends on what Niantic does with it, that's for sure. But for now, I'm loving it.

Happy gaming and remember, folks: it's not worth getting yourself or anyone else hurt over a game, so stay safe while you catch 'em all.

爱心 Pizza

Today, my Lioness made her first home-made 10 minutes DIY pizza for the both of us. She took slices of bread, spread Prego pasta sauce over them, put slices of ham on the bread and sprinkled grated mozzarella cheese over the ham (in that order) before putting everything into the oven.

Oh my goodness, her quick home-made pizza (that I sprinkled tobasco sauce all over my share as soon as they came out of the oven) tasted really yummylicious! Pizza purist snobs might scoff at the simple ingredients used but like I said, these are quick 10 minutes barebones 'pizzas'. Everything may have been minimally barebones, yes, but how good indeed these barebones tasted, Slurp!!

My Lioness likes to experiment with improvised dishes and just in case anyone thinks I'm just curry flavouring her here, I'm not. That's because I do give her honest constructive criticism during the handful rare number of times when I felt that the cooking wasn't that ok. The best way to help your mate improve her cooking is to be honest with her while being sensitive to her feelings at the same time. There's always a right and wrong angle(s) of approach to everything.

The point is: My Lioness is actually a great cook and there were only just 2 or 3 occasions when I had to tell her honestly that her cooking weren't that ok. Nobody is perfect and just 2 or 3 misses out of a hundred or so is already darn near perfect in my non-fiction book already.

At the end of it all after the dust settles, whether you like the food or not, always let your mate know how appreciative and fortunate you are that she cares to put in the effort to cook for you in the first place. That, my friends, is truly what matters the most. Cherish that and let your mate know it.

"Hey Siri, When Will You Catch Up On Actually Being Useful?"

Happen to have an iPhone?

After you have read this article, you can try launching Siri to tell her the following:

"Hey Siri, launch Google Assistant and then go take a hike."

Time Table Café

Whenever anyone mentions Taiwan or Taipei to me and my Lioness, the first things that pop into our minds are: the lovely cold weather there during the winter months, the amicable and friendly people and their cosy roadside cafés that we like to chill out at whenever we are there. So we were both pleasantly surprised when we bumped into Time Table café at Jurong West.

Pleasantly surprised because the moment we laid our eyes on it, it immediately hit us with the Taiwanese vibe. More accurately speaking, the café is more like the offspring of a SG café and a Taiwanese café if they should copulate with each other; with the Taiwanese DNA holding more dominance within the offspring. Actually, we came across the place earlier before the date of this blog post, but since we've decided to come here again for dinner again tonight and we like the café, I figured I should start blogging about the place.

As you should probably be able to tell by the salon just next to Time Table if you haven't come here before, the café is situated on the ground floor of a HDB flat. Free WiFi without the need for password input is available courtesy of the café and I can't help but comment to my Lioness how the folks staying on the 2nd floor within range of the free WiFi could enjoy some free web-surfing riding on the unsecured network. Surfing speed is adequate after testing it out both within and just outside the café.

The interior

I wish my phone had a wide-angle camera lens so that I could show you more of the café's rather small interior, so I suppose this shot of the counter area will have to do (I'm too lazy to utilize my phone's panorama camera mode for this). Besides, it's crowded here tonight, so I do not have the liberty to position myself just anywhere I wish to for a more encompassing shot without earning for myself the title of 'public enemy' or 'café menance'. We consider ourselves lucky this evening that we could even find an unoccupied table for ourselves (outdoor seats are available outside too). Come here outside of peak dinner hour though, and you find yourself with a peaceful and quiet sense of better spaciousness.

All in all, in terms of seating space scale observed from the main entrance, Time Table has more breadth than length - it's oblong shaped and the small kitchen and counter is situated just right next to the handful of smaller tables placed along a narrow corridor that extends towards the small washroom at the back. The space in front of the counter is where the main bigger tables are.

One can't expect that much space in a HDB café but as a small café, the overall seating space and area available is still adequate and functional. I would say that they've made good utilization of every inch available. I've actually found the place to be rather cozy when there wasn't any crowd during our previous visits outside of the peak hours.

Smell test

Upon entering the café, a familiar smell permeates the air within - it's the exact same smell our nostrils detected from our previous visits. It's definitely not a foul or off-putting smell by any means, because otherwise, we wouldn't have come back here again, would we? On the contrary, it's kinda like how the smell of cooking something still lingers on some time after it's been cooked. The question is, what kind of food gives off that aroma? I have no idea, but it's the exact same smell each and every time we enter the premise.

So I guess Time Table is unique too in the area of having its own distinct aroma; It leaves its identity in your nostrils and your memory. It's the "Time Table aroma", as I like to describe it to my Lioness.

The food and beverages

You know how it goes when it comes to viewing the nitty gritty details in a photo if you are reading this on a mobile phone, so click on the menu's photo above to bloat it up to a crisper resolution and scroll along to properly see what's cooking and brewing here.

It's marinated boneless chicken thigh grill for me (the menu got it wrong as it says 'marinate', which made me wonder initially if I had to marinate the chicken thigh myself in their kitchen) and Vongole spaghetti for my Lioness tonight.

I find my meal to be nice while her spaghetti tastes rather bland to me, but your mileage may vary since we all have different taste buds with their own juries. The spaghetti is not terrible at all by any means, I'm just finding it to not rock my tastebuds enough but that's just me, since I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't like having my spaghetti swimming in soup. Gravy or sauce is what I always rock my spaghetti with instead, but my Lioness enjoys the Vongole and that's all that truly matters with the Vongole.

The service crew here are nice, friendly, accomodating and polite in our experiences here so far, so plus points for that. As for food and beverages waiting time, we didn't have to wait too long to the point of having to twiddle our thumbs uncomfortably and running out of patience while our stomachs growl angrily. If this was a Diner Dash game, the crew would reasonably pass the customer satisfaction challenges.

Now that we are done with our meals, a nice hot cup of chocolate cookies latte follows for my Lioness. I admit I'm not that well acquainted with the intricasies of all things coffee, but just where the heck are the chocolate cookies for her chocolate cookies latte? Nada. Despite either the missing cookies that should have been there, or my own ignorance of the art of coffee-making in all styles and forms, I'm finding the latte to be quite nice when my Lioness shares it with me.

Both of us chatted until we see now that we have just finished the cup of latte, so it's time to leave the café. But before we leave, I'll show you our receipt in the following closing section of this blog post. And oh, by the way, speaking of the receipt: First, you tick your orders on the order slips placed on the tables. Then, you submit your order slip to the counter and make your payment there first before being served with your food and/or beverages after they are prepared. Alternatively, you can just go straight to the counter and place your order there directly and make your payment if you already know what you want beforehand.

Conclusive thought in one word: Taipei

Ah, the Taiwanese vibe evidently carries over to their printed receipts as well, which brings forth smiles of sweet remembrance from the two of us. Man, we gotta go back to Taipei again during the cold winter months, which are the best times to enjoy a hot cup of coffee - whether with chocolate cookies or without.

For the meantime though, I'm glad we could enjoy a small mini slice of make-pretend imagination that we were back in Taipei again, made easy by just being at Time Table and enjoying its food, beverage and hybrid Taiwanese vibe.

Hands-On With The Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge

It's like the wayward son finding his way back on course again, thank goodness.

Previously, I dissed the S6 series for having taken away the staple features the Galaxy series have always been celebrated for. Now, the S7 series is finally here and like an S Apologist, finally makes things right again - for the most part. And hot damn, that edged screen..

Fondling the S7 series in the store

Right off the bat, I'll just let it be known that I'm not interested in the smaller S7 with its 5.1 inches display and 3000 mAh capacity battery. I'm a phablet guy who enjoys a bigger screen and a bigger battery, so the bigger S7 Edge with its 5.5 incher and 3600 mAh battery (yum) is where it's at for me. I like it bigger and juicier, that's what she said.

The first thing that captures the attention when I approach the display sets at the Samsung store is the screen. And oh my, what a beautiful screen the S7 Edge is sporting. Even though the screen is 5.5 inches across, it does seem smaller than it actually is because of the edged display and thin bezels. It's almost like a visual trick to my eyes, at least. That screen is not only looking beautifully sharp, I love the way the contents flow off the edged parts, making them pop outwards and towards you. It's stunning, to say the least. But wait, you will have to deal with some occasional mistaps as well as some glare on the edged parts under certain lighting conditions and angles.

In the S7 Edge's case, beauty does come with small prices here and there. I guess the Edge is a phone that you will have to train yourself in how you hold the phone while using it; it certainly feels more delicate than your typical flat-screened phone. I can imagine that using a good case ought to alleviate the problem to a more manageable degree though, as well as lessening accidental mistaps on those edges, with the sides of the case also functioning as bezels of sorts.

Turning the phone over to its back disgusts me as expected, what with all the eewy fingerprints and grime stuck on the glass surface. I don't know about you, but I don't like glass backs because of this very reason but I use cases on my phones anyway, rendering supposedly premium glass builds moot for me. Since it's glass and glass is more fragile, you better protect your expensive investment for the long haul anyway. So much for glass.

OEMs will always tempt you to buy their phones by making you fall for the first visual impression, causing you not to ponder about the potential problems that might come with the physical look and build in the long run, so look beyond the physical beauty and think long term in real-life practical day-to-day usage as a discerning consumer before you plunk down that credit card at the cashier. As for screen protectors that works well for those edged surfaces, the jury's still out. See? Think a few paces ahead of what the OEMs want you to think feel on impulse.

All in all, the S7 Edge not only looks good, it feels good too in the hand with its thin bezels and width.

Software

The first thing I'll always do before I dive into the software of any display phone set is to hit the multitasking button and close out all running apps in the background. People have the tendency to leave their crap behind for the next person to clean up after them, you see. If the crap is too much, the phone might choke since RAM and running resources are not infinite.

With all the junk zapped, the S7 Edge sure feels zippy. Whether it can remain zippy for the long haul will depend on user habit and periodic management of the device, especially when all the apps the user needs have all been installed and used for some time - which is something​ to bear in mind when it comes to new phones. But from what I'm observing here, the apps and the launcher are running smoothly.

The white interface of the system UI is ok, but I prefer it dark instead. Well, there's the theme store to take care of that, but I wonder if the colour schemes of themes will stick if I install another launcher after that though. Firing up the gallery to look at the photos and videos is a treat, as the contents pop and flow off the edged screens beautifully. I'm​ liking that quite a bit. I'm not sure about glare at the edges under sunlight though, since I can't untether the display sets from their stands and bring them outside under the sun to see.

As I've mentioned, how long the running software and apps can remain smooth would be something which only long term usage can really tell, so I can't attest to that yet even though things seem smooth at the moment. But that's a mileage that varies among different users in terms of usage habits and user prudence, so you can't nail such a thing down and apply the same experience across the board.

Finally, I'm not sure why Samsung has removed the IR blaster which has proven quite convenient and rather fun for me on my Note 4 (the coffeeshops will never know it was me who switched their TV programmes whenever what I was seeing was boring as heck). But oh well, at least the SD card slot is back - something much more important to me than an IR blaster when all is said and done. It's nice having an IR blaster, definitely, but it's more of a want rather than a need for me.

Conclusion

I like the S7 Edge. I've mentioned in my other blog post that if I should switch over to another phone with a non-removable battery, then it has to have at least a 3500 mAh battery. In this area, the S7 Edge hits the mark.

Will I buy the S7 Edge? No I won't, even though I like the phone. I'm more of a Note person and if the S series has bloated to a bigger and more beautiful 5.5 inches screen and a bigger battery, perhaps the next Note might surpass 5.7 inches with reduced bezels and come packing more juice - A bigger curved screen with reduced overall physical size and being able to go a longer distance. Slurp.

But yeah, it's hard to pass up on the S7 Edge. It has turned my head to give it a second look, unlike the previous iterations before it. That's a good thing in my non-fiction book. From the handicapped S6 series, which to me personally, was a failed experiment, I think Samsung has redeemed themselves with the S7 series this time.

Family's House Moving: From West To East

Mum has been staying with my elder sister, her hubby and their 3 children for many years now ever since the late 90's, after my nephew (my elder sister's first child) was born and mum took on the task to provide an extra pair of hands to help take care of my nephew when his parents go to work during the day and at the same time, be a coach and guide to their maid.

As the subsequent long years rolled by, my 2 nieces were born 5 years apart from each other and multiple maids have come and gone when their employment contracts ended. Currently, mum is still helping to take care of my youngest niece who is going through primary education as well as providing guidance to their present maid. My elder sister is indeed blessed with the ideal family setup and wonderful children.

They have been staying in the western part of the country just like I am (me and my Lioness in our own den) and my second sister as well (her own house). Since we all stay in the west, visiting one another at our own respective places of residence during the family gatherings has always been convenient.

Today, my elder sister and her family, along with mum and their maid Zo, are moving over to the newly bought condominium apartment in the east my elder sis and her hubby purchased - which is at the extreme opposite end of the country. Elder sis and her hubby fell in love with the apartment with its handsome sea view.

As family, me, my Lioness, my second sister and her boyfriend all came to help with the house moving. I'm actually going through a bout of coughs and phlegm buildup and therefore, I'm feeling a bit under the weather; but I knew I could still manage it and help my family out. We made trips back and forth from west to east and back again (picking up my Lioness halfway after she finished her alternate Saturday half-day work), shifting labelled cartons and furniture over to the new place.



Halfway through the chores, prolonged exposure to the dust associated with house moving intensified my phlegm buildup which made me more uncomfortable, resulting in my nasal passage feeling like it's choked up like a clogged-up rusty old pipe while at the same time, I had to deal with my coughs. To alleviate my condition, I drank as much water as I could.

Towards early evening, we finally managed to shift the last of everything over from the old house. Phew. Now that the dust has settled and I can breathe easier again, my Lioness and me both went downstairs to have a little stroll to check out the condominium compound.

To conclude this house moving day, elder sis and my bro-in-law took all of us out for a sumptuous dinner a stone's throw away from Kembangan MRT station before we all went home. When my Lioness and me got back to our block, she went up to our house while I go get my coffee fix at the neighbourhood basketball court and at the same time, deal with something welling up inside me and subtly gnawing at me from within. I guess it's another Emo moment.

The impact of distance punches in

For so many years since the late 90's, family always felt like just a short bus ride or a short train ride away. That feeling ended today. From now on, I will have to travel from one end of the country to the extreme opposite end to visit my family at their new home.

Today almost felt like sending off people dear to you who were migrating. That's an exaggeration of the situation, I know, but at the same time, the parallelism was there; albeit a similarity that's of a less severe magnitude in comparison. Even so, I'm beginning to miss my family already and I'll go as far as to admit here that I'm wondering why I'm feeling strangely.. 'abandoned', for lack of a better word. I wonder if second sis, who is left behind in the west as well, is feeling the same.

You are probably rolling your eyes already at this point but like I've said, 'tis an Emo moment. Emo moments are usually not very aligned with, and skewed a little from actual reality and they are usually exaggerated and overblown perceptions of said reality; but the fact remains that I'm finding myself to be really missing my family a lot now as I take sips of my coffee. It's not the coffee though.

Before today, it had always been comforting knowing that family was so close by. But now, they've moved far away. That won't stop me from seeing them of course, but I guess the comfort of anytime-close-accessibility has been replaced by a huge chasm called 'distance'. Distance makes the heart grow fonder and creates an Emo out of you.

On top of it all, I'm worried about mum. She told me that it was rather hard for her to leave her friends behind in the west. You see, my mum is elderly and her legs are giving her some problems, so it won't be an easy matter for her to travel the long distance to go visit her friends back in the west. Mum told me she is really gonna miss her morning coffee sessions with her friends. As it happens, she doesn't know anyone living in the eastern part where she has just moved to.

I'm making a mental note to call mum even more often now to chat with her and to remind her to come stay over at my place whenever her granny-caretaker duties can be put on temporary hold. Before I left just now, I made sure that her portable radio was right next to her bed. At night, she listens to her favourite radio station. I hope her humble little radio companion will take her mind off her losses during the night when the mind tends to wander more.

From where I'm sitting at the dark basketball court, I can see the road off in the distance where the bus that took me to my family's former house always travelled along. What used to be a comfortably short 25 minutes bus ride has now been replaced by coming to 2 hour's total of grinding train and feeder bus rides. The same transportation grinding will of course, have to be repeated going in the opposite direction when I make my way back to my house at the end of the day. I better look into exercises that strengthen butt endurance and fitness.

Despite the out-of-place and weird sense of 'abandonment' I'm feeling that really shouldn't even be there at all, I am happy for my family for having moved to a really pleasant new home with a much more prettier and lovelier view; I actually find the view at the balcony to be rather therapeutic. I suppose the balcony will be the favourite spot where my family will be chilling out at the most. I would myself. The only minus factor though, is that the hall is much smaller than their former house's. The bedrooms are smaller in comparison too, but not by too much.

Well, I'll have some major travelling distance adjustments to adapt to from hereon in the family gathering department of things. Why can't they start inventing wormholes already?

Thoughts On The Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

Is the S7 series resultant of consumer common sense demand snatching the reins back from counter-productive manufacturer deviations gone wayward? This blog post reflects my thoughts on the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge Samsung just officially unveiled to the world.


The atrocity that was the S6 series

The latest S7 Edge is sure as heck damn fine looking with those sexy curved edges that make screen content seem to pop out visually, while the normal S7 with its normal flat screen looks just.. well, normal.

The sales figures of the previous S6 series had been a costly flop. My sympathy goes out to the rank-and-file Samsung employees who lost their jobs but I can't say the same for the top suits who had direct control over the decision to nerf the S6 series to its atrociously underwhelming state. It served them right for having removed useful features all in one fell swoop which the Galaxies had all along been famous for: the removal of expandable storage and removable battery; which in its place, substituting it with a pathetically small in mAH capacity inbuilt one. Talk about adding salt to the wound.

If they wanted to take away removable batteries, then they should have made up for it by giving us inbuilt ones with capacious mAH capacities. But the S6 came with only 2550 mAH, which is fucking pathetic. The S6 Edge packs a 2600 mAH and that's fucking lame too. The big kick in the balls here is the fact that the S5's removable battery is 2800mAH. Sigh.

Look, I can understand the rationale for an inbuilt battery given all the new glass chassis material and all, but a sexy looking phone becomes a brick quickly if it doesn't have the stamina to last long enough for the daily mile. Wireless-charging and fast-charging are well and good, but wouldn't a battery that could last longer and thus, having to charge it less frequently be more ideally practical instead? Not everyone is a cubicle warrior with chargers within arm's reach any time of the day, and even cubicle warriors will go outdoors away from the wall plugs during their off-work hours and days.

Power banks, you say? I don't know about you, but I hate having to tether my phone via a cable to a charging brick when I'm moving about; It restricts arm movement - forget your phone is tethered via a cable, swing your arm too wide in the wrong place and angle and watch your power bank and/or expensive phone do somersaults in the air. Ka-plunk. Either that or a weakened charging port. Smart folks go for charging cases instead. Smarter folks go for capacious batteries. Cubicle warriors and folks who spend the majority of their lives next to a wall plug can enjoy munching on their popcorn while shrugging off the whole battery soap opera drama here.

Lithium ion batteries deteriorate with charging cycles over time and you are screwed when it does and you can't replace the battery DIY-style easily and cheaply like before with the previous Galaxy phones. The wall-hugging irony is strong with this one, Luke. Now go hug a wall and try not to trip on the cable on your way to said wall.

If I were a mobile phone, I'd hate to be a storage space-deprived and battery-handicapped member of the S6 range now: like a failed experiment. That's right, I've just used the words 'failed experiment' to describe the S6 series unapologetically and unabashedly. I'll morbidly admit to the fact that it made me glad Samsung's mobile earnings for the S6 series sucked hard, which was the wake-up call slap that Samsung needed for having pulled an Apple on the market. Dismal sales is indicative of the fact that the general market doesn't like your product or/and the direction you're going.

If changes bring about handicapped inconveniences that weren't there before, then not all changes are for the betterment of the status quo. Suckers soak up everything thrown at them without resistance and with complying, unquestioning acceptance, even if it makes things worse for them. Well, that's why we call them 'suckers'. And people won't have to go through the misfortune of losing their jobs if their higher-ups don't try to shortchange the market. Blind worshipping fanboys take note.

If you've bought the S6 or the S6 Edge and are experiencing buyer's remorse already because of storage and battery woes, my condolences. But I admit I'm trying to contain my laughter at the same time, though. Cubicle warriors, you can continue to enjoy this fiasco and your popcorn right next to your wall charger. Lucky you. But try not to stay outdoors for too long when you go out with a dimunitive battery, unless you enjoy playing some mobile tie-me-up BDSM with your power bank and its cable and your phone at the receiving end of all that tethered sadomasochism.


Saving Grace: Enter the S7 series

So it's good to see that Samsung finally wised up by putting a decent capacity sized battery in the S7 Edge, albeit a non-removable one. We are looking at 3600mAh here. A decent compensation. My Note 4's 3220 mAH battery gets me just past 6 hours of screen on time on a typical day (unless I happen to game heavily) and I'm using that as a yardstick here, which I think is decent enough.

All in all, I guess I'll be able to accomodate myself with an inbuilt non-removable battery if it comes with at least a 3500 mAH battery to be on the safer and reassuring side; which is a condition that the S7 Edge meets, and which is the reason why I don't care about the normal S7 because it doesn't. That being said, I'd certainly need to get over the best conveniences that removable batteries (which are going the way of the Dodo) provide me if I should make the switch over to an inbuilt one. All that wireless and fast-charging, while good, can't compare to getting back to 100% capacity in just a minute or two.

Inbuilt batteries are actually not that bad if they can last the distance throughout the day and you babysit and time your charging rituals properly before heading out.. until they start to deteriorate in stamina over time, that is. However, if you change your phone every 2 years or earlier, then chances are, you might escape bad battery deterioration before it starts to happen, or just when it has just started happening and you don't have to put up with it for too long before you start going over the edge over it. Seriously, being stuck with a croaking battery is a major pain in the butt.

For the smaller vanilla S7, another reason why I don't care about it is because its 5.2 inches screen is not big enough for my taste when it comes to smartphones. I'm a phablet guy, so my minimum requirement for mobile multimedia enjoyment is a screen display that's at least 5.5 inches. You see, my previous Galaxy Note 2, which was my first 5.5 incher, spoiled me and I absolutely love the 5.7 inches screen of my Note 4. It also helps that the 2K screen display resolution on my Note 4 is still stunning and gorgeous. The eye candy is still very much kicking butt in 2016.

Now that expandable storage is back on the Galaxy phones, which I think will make the S7 series well-received by the market, I can hear my gigabytes worth of on-the-go movies and videos (including the space-hungry self-taken 4K ones), eBooks, photos, APK files collection, my Playstation and PSP games BIOs (long live emulators), music collection, etc, all saying in unison: "Welcome back, SD card. It's finally getting roomy and capacious again." You can have your breathing space again, beloved data.

And Samsung can go suck on the nerfed Galaxy Note 5, which for all intent and purposes as far as I'm concerned, is on the same level as the S6 series in terms of the degree of getting nerfed. Pulling a closed garden Apple stunt on the Note series renders not a Note a true Note. Oops, I forgot for a moment there that this blog post is about the S7 series rather than the Note. #AttackOfOpportunity

On the surface of things, the S7 Edge is looking really really good, very handsome and very promising; and I don't mean just its physical looks but also, its capacious enough battery and the expandable storage making a comeback on it. We shall see how it performs in real life usage once it gets released for sale in the market, shall we? I'm looking forward to the reviews as well as having a first-hand hands-on with it in the store. I think the S7 Edge especially ought to do well in the market.

As it should always be the case, continue to speak with your wallet as a discerning consumer and reward the manufacturer that gives you more, instead of the manufacturer that takes away from you. Manufacturers should pay attention to what their customers demand, not the other way around.

It looks like you and me are back on talking terms again, Uncle Sammy. I'm relieved this time around and can once again, look forward to the next Galaxy Note - given how the S7 series indicate your corrected course in direction for the Galaxy flagships. Gosh, this is like the palpable relief you feel after getting rid of a bad taste in the mouth.

Tim Cook's 'Shot On iPhone' Photo

Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, posted on Twitter an awfully shot photo taken on his iPhone that you can see and read about here. Man, what an eyesore in 2016 that makes you question if what you are seeing was actually produced from a cheapo handheld shooter from the early 80's that's about to croak.

Yup, Tim got ridiculed for it in a parallel vein as how certain ridiculous things ought to be ridiculed; things like, say, trying to patent the mobile tech industry's standard norms like 'rectangles with rounded corners' while keeping it under the dirty carpet the plain and simple fact that that's actually a petty attempt at monopoly in order to slow down, or stop competitors altogether who innovate at a faster surpassing rate. It's like: if you are starting to lag behind and are having trouble keeping pace with them, stretch your leg out and trip them over.

For those of you who claim that you love tech, what do you think will happen to the industry as a whole in the long run if Apple succeeds in their petty litigations? The patent war may be contained mostly in a certain specific territory but the victor can experience spurred bloodlust that can come with victory to conquer even more territories - akin to a spreading disease, especially if the victor is unapologetically arrogant, feels entitled and happens to have enough moolah ammo because they also happen to be one of the world's most valuable companies. I think that's something those who care about the mobile tech industry ought to give a thought about.

To be fair though, even a really great mobile camera like the one you find on the Galaxy S6 and Note 5, can generate blurry photos too with the wrong photo-taking technique (like moving your arms and hands around too much under low light conditions when taking shots). But this eyesore from Apple's High Priest CEO, even though he's human too and can sometimes take lousy photos like anybody else, but who has the option not to upload a poorly taken shot on the Internet for the whole world to see and cause everybody's eyes to get tortured?

Perhaps Tim Cook got carried away with adrenaline rushes in the heat of the moment and couldn't keep his hands steady, but those of us who are prudent enough know enough to preview and QC-check our photos first before posting them online, right? This ought to be especially so for the head honcho of a company that keeps boasting about how industry-leading the cameras of their products can perform and even has a dedicated 'Shot On iPhone' photos category on their official website that showcases such.

A Tweeter user responded straight to Tim Cook by suggesting that Tim use a Samsung phone instead to nail down a good photo. Ouch. If I happened to be in the process of drinking something during the moment I was reading that, my phone's screen would end up soaking wet before I realized it. This Tweeter user deserves the 'most in-your-face sound advice that punches hard right in the gut' crowning award. It would be funnier if he or she happens to be a lawyer.

It's just another blurry photo and it doesn't affect me except tickle my funny bone unapologetically, honestly. You see, Apple no longer gets my money ever since they started their litigation spree and the iPhone's camera is no longer at the apex's most sharpest top end spot of the food chain anyway. Shrugs.

"It just works."

The X-Files: The Hunt For The Bogeyman Continues In 2016

The real truth is like a diamond - buried beneath a mountain pile of dirt you have to dig through just to get at it. Sturgeon's Law applies. And since 90% of everything is supposedly crap, it's hard to trust any supposedly full-of-crap person given the circumstances, right?

I love the poster on the left there.

Oh uh, where was I? Yeah, the new season 10 of the new X-Files has rolled out, picking up after season 9 from way back in 2002. Darn, it's been 14 years and Gillian Anderson, the woman playing the sceptic FBI agent Dana Scully, is still looking good (better from most angles, actually, now that she has shed her facial baby fats and that's a compliment).

And whaddya know, it looks like Mulder and Scully are probably into custom ROMs. I'm sure glad they are using Nexus Android phones - when you need serious work done like hunting down ghosts and aliens, you won't go far by using iPhones running restrictive iOS. Not only that, but hunting down the Bogeyman requires a very open mind and creative thinking processes, so using an open source OS is so very conducive for that, as opposed to an OS that tries to unapologetically box you in instead.

Actually, I wouldn't blame them at all if Scully ended up with an iPhone instead, considering that she's playing the role of the sceptic. Ha. So I'm finding it odd that she's rocking with a Nexus 6 while Mulder has an older Nexus 5. Maybe he's waiting for his mobile contract to run out before getting the new Nexus 6P, shrugs. They should do one spooky mini spinoff along the lines of 'What's on my Nexus' so that we can catch a glimpse of what ghosts and aliens-hunting apps our 2 endearing agents are rocking with.

But seriously, be it Android or iOS, it's great seeing Mulder and Scully now using modern mobile tech. Even though the latest iteration of iOS is still rather limiting and it's not enough to make me switch back to using an iPhone as a daily, it has become more fun to use as compared to the past and that's a good thing. Besides, since smartphones have also evolved into multimedia consumption devices and the modern phone is no longer used solely for just making phone calls and messaging, it's nice to see the iPhone 6 Plus with a big enough screen (finally, though Apple needs to catch up with Android's yummylicious higher screen resolutions), nevermind what the late Steve Jobs said about big screens. He might have been right during his time but that no longer applies across the entire industry's board today.

There were a few incidents in the older X-Files series where I thought to myself just how Mulder and Scully's work would have been made easier if they had smartphones and the right apps installed. Yup, I've been watching the older mini series recently to 'get back in the mood'. I certainly hope I won't ever see our 2 agents taking photos of their food to post on their Facebook pages as if anyone will truly care in the new mini series though, or I'll have to look away from the screen in utter disgust. I have faith that they won't do that in the series though, since they've always been occupying their time with much better things to do and mysteries to solve.

It's good to see our 2 favourite FBI agents back on the screen after all these long years to continue living with the bumps in the night and chasing the mysteries.