For the past two months, I have been actively looking for a notebook computer. I found one that seemed to be a bargain. It was the Lenovo X200 Tablet. I was supposed to wait for its delivery for a month, because I ordered it before it was officially launched. To my disappointment, I found out that the model that I ordered did not include a touch screen that can be used with bare hands. It required a digitizer pen. This is a reverse in technology on lenovo's part. So after a bit of persuasion, I finally got a refund arranged. Yes, in Hong Kong, where refunds are not common. Anyhow, this brings me to my current dilemma: to mac or not to mac.
The timing has actually got me thinking of the possibility of getting a MacBook. Previously, I didn't choose it because it was outdated for the price, but now that it has just been updated on Oct 14, it got me thinking.
Looking at the specs, whether I should pay the premium of 40% for the aluminum chassis, glass multitouch touchpad and cleaner design.
Performance wise, I would still lack the power of a dedicated display card.
If I were to spend the same amount of money, I would be running a notebook that seems better in performance:
Bigger screen at 15.4" with better resolution, 1920 x 1200
Quicker CPU at 2.53ghz vs 2.4ghz at double the Level 2 Cache
Extra Card Reader, Express Card expansion and Firewire (IEEE1394a) port
I can even get HDMI and Blu-ray disc player.
Of course, there is also the trade off of an extra 0.5kg and 1 hour less battery life.
The Mac OS is also a mixed bag. Surely it may be user friendly and looks nice, but it requires it own set of software. Running both OS X and Vista on a Mac is an option, but should I bother?
Will the experience grow on me? Is there more to it for using Mac?
Should I trade performance for style? Or should I go further to save my $$$ by getting a PC with Macbook's specs?
To Mac of not to Mac, that is the question.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
More Chinese than ever
These days with the Olympics in full action, I found myself cheering for the Chinese National Team and Hong Kong SAR Team more than the Canadian Team. Perhaps it's because I have been watching the coverage of these teams by the local stations instead of the Canadian team. Frankly, I would cheer for all of them.
There is a sense of national pride in the air. Hong Kong people has never been a patriotic bunch. We are brainwashed to be so by the British to avoid riots against colonization . The Chinese are now very careful not to do too much of national unity education, since we are not that receptive to it.
The Olympics brings the whole country and all of Chinese around the world together in a positive way. National pride is high. Despite so called "insider reports" of the training of the athletes by the western media, the support for them doesn't change. Really, how else can you achieve great and consistent results without plain ol' hard work? It's not much of a secret within the athlete community.
Another interesting note from a Globalization perspective: A significant amount of the athletes and coaches are from similar origin, but representing different countries. The best athletes from one country would because citizen of another. With no limits on the switching of citizenships, are we still keeping with Olympic spirits?
There is a sense of national pride in the air. Hong Kong people has never been a patriotic bunch. We are brainwashed to be so by the British to avoid riots against colonization . The Chinese are now very careful not to do too much of national unity education, since we are not that receptive to it.
The Olympics brings the whole country and all of Chinese around the world together in a positive way. National pride is high. Despite so called "insider reports" of the training of the athletes by the western media, the support for them doesn't change. Really, how else can you achieve great and consistent results without plain ol' hard work? It's not much of a secret within the athlete community.
Another interesting note from a Globalization perspective: A significant amount of the athletes and coaches are from similar origin, but representing different countries. The best athletes from one country would because citizen of another. With no limits on the switching of citizenships, are we still keeping with Olympic spirits?
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Batman - Dark Knight
Watched it. It was okay. The performance of the actor/actress were great. The story was sad, but true to Batman's theme.
An observation: Bruce Wayne / Batman in Hong Kong.
As far as I recall, this is the first Hollywood movie featuring Hong Kong that does NOT have a sail driven fishing boat in it.
I used to laugh at the sight of it, but now, I wonder whether Hong Kong's heritage should be preserved this way?
An observation: Bruce Wayne / Batman in Hong Kong.
As far as I recall, this is the first Hollywood movie featuring Hong Kong that does NOT have a sail driven fishing boat in it.
I used to laugh at the sight of it, but now, I wonder whether Hong Kong's heritage should be preserved this way?
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Monitor for my life
Last week, my pal for 5 years decided that it is time to retire. My trusty ViewSonic simply refused to stay on. After some serious research, shopping and haggling, I got myself a Philips today. This one is a bit wider, which comes handy for back and forth referencing for my work. Yes, work. Yes, at home. Now I have this wide bad on both sides when viewing web pages.
I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice if we can get ourselves a bigger monitor for our lives?" My screen resolution is simply not enough lately. I guess I could use an upgrade too.
I thought to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice if we can get ourselves a bigger monitor for our lives?" My screen resolution is simply not enough lately. I guess I could use an upgrade too.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Time management
This is a skill which I know I am not brilliant at. However, I still want to vent some of my frustration about what comes with my job.
You see, technically, if I only work during my "normal" working hours, I have only an average of 2.75 hours desk time per day. Those 2.75 hours are not consecutive. It's usually a half hour, then an hour, then another hour separately.
I have all sorts of errants and ad-hoc duties to do. Not to mention the ongoing projects. I was told the even the most experience workers need the same amount of desk time as their "presentations" time. Those "presentations" take up about 3 to 3.5 hours a day. So where on earth do I get that extra hour or so? I am certainly not those more experienced workers, so I need even more time than that.
Some may say that I must have wasted that extra hour during my 7.5 hours (lunch not included) of work. The answer is, not really, I have a mandatory waiting time of 30 mins and about 30 mins for all the walking around and answering endless questions.
How do you think I can manage all that work that I am supposed to do? Well, like most others, I take work home. In fact, I do all my projects at home. It takes an average of 3 hours per day to do it. I also extend my working hours for about 1.5 hours per day voluntarily. My 5-day work week is really a 6-day one. I put in about 66-70 hours per week.
Some say that's not unusual, but many actually still think that I get off work early, and that's clearly not the case. For those who knew me from another country, guys, I get a salary here, just like most people. I get no overtime pay.
The next time you think that I am better off for having more holidays, please think again, I don't get to choose when I like my holidays. They are always during the peak seasons. I also work during a significant portion of my "holidays". My "sick-days" actually requires a doctor's note. I can't be late, at all.
Many of you get to office at 9 am, but you may only start working efficiently after your first coffee at 9:30. By then I already did 3 of my "presentations". I start at 8:15, sharp, everyday.
Some say I got a slightly better pay than others with career progression. I won't argue you on that, but please look at what kind of work I have to deal with.
As for my time management, I don't seem to have too much time for my "life". It used to be that I didn't have a "life". I just survived. Now, I am not doing too much better. I still routinely sleep 6-7 hours a day, pull a late-nighter (sleep at 04:30 and wake up at 07:30) about twice a month. Obviously, my health suffers, but with the challenge that I am dealing with, I doubt if I can do better soon enough.
You see, technically, if I only work during my "normal" working hours, I have only an average of 2.75 hours desk time per day. Those 2.75 hours are not consecutive. It's usually a half hour, then an hour, then another hour separately.
I have all sorts of errants and ad-hoc duties to do. Not to mention the ongoing projects. I was told the even the most experience workers need the same amount of desk time as their "presentations" time. Those "presentations" take up about 3 to 3.5 hours a day. So where on earth do I get that extra hour or so? I am certainly not those more experienced workers, so I need even more time than that.
Some may say that I must have wasted that extra hour during my 7.5 hours (lunch not included) of work. The answer is, not really, I have a mandatory waiting time of 30 mins and about 30 mins for all the walking around and answering endless questions.
How do you think I can manage all that work that I am supposed to do? Well, like most others, I take work home. In fact, I do all my projects at home. It takes an average of 3 hours per day to do it. I also extend my working hours for about 1.5 hours per day voluntarily. My 5-day work week is really a 6-day one. I put in about 66-70 hours per week.
Some say that's not unusual, but many actually still think that I get off work early, and that's clearly not the case. For those who knew me from another country, guys, I get a salary here, just like most people. I get no overtime pay.
The next time you think that I am better off for having more holidays, please think again, I don't get to choose when I like my holidays. They are always during the peak seasons. I also work during a significant portion of my "holidays". My "sick-days" actually requires a doctor's note. I can't be late, at all.
Many of you get to office at 9 am, but you may only start working efficiently after your first coffee at 9:30. By then I already did 3 of my "presentations". I start at 8:15, sharp, everyday.
Some say I got a slightly better pay than others with career progression. I won't argue you on that, but please look at what kind of work I have to deal with.
As for my time management, I don't seem to have too much time for my "life". It used to be that I didn't have a "life". I just survived. Now, I am not doing too much better. I still routinely sleep 6-7 hours a day, pull a late-nighter (sleep at 04:30 and wake up at 07:30) about twice a month. Obviously, my health suffers, but with the challenge that I am dealing with, I doubt if I can do better soon enough.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Snail Mail
WARSAW (Reuters) - It's official. Postal delivery is as slow as snails, at least in Poland.
An IT worker, after receiving a letter on January 3 that was sent on December 20 as priority mail, calculated that a snail would have made it even faster to his home than the letter.
Daily Gazeta Wyborcza said Michal Szybalski calculated that it took 294 hours for the letter to arrive at his home. He also said the distance between his home and the sender was 11.1 kilometers.
Given the distance and the time, the speed of the letter was 0.03775 kilometers per hour. Szybalski calculated that a garden snail travels at around 0.048 kilometers per hour.
(Writing by Karolina Slowikowska; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)
Retrieved from Reuters Website on January 29, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2423750920080124
An IT worker, after receiving a letter on January 3 that was sent on December 20 as priority mail, calculated that a snail would have made it even faster to his home than the letter.
Daily Gazeta Wyborcza said Michal Szybalski calculated that it took 294 hours for the letter to arrive at his home. He also said the distance between his home and the sender was 11.1 kilometers.
Given the distance and the time, the speed of the letter was 0.03775 kilometers per hour. Szybalski calculated that a garden snail travels at around 0.048 kilometers per hour.
(Writing by Karolina Slowikowska; Editing by Ibon Villelabeitia)
Retrieved from Reuters Website on January 29, 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2423750920080124
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