I got myself a new blog

Yes, finally or not. It's at WordPress - ykykyk.wordpress.com. Reason after the jump.

My most meaningful portable music player.

Listening to music on the train today, I suddenly thought about an article by Woz on Gizmodo which he talked about the most meaningful gadgets in his life, one of which was the transistor radio, which gave him portable music that he could listen to all night long when he slept.

Even though it was superseded by the Walkman and iPod, the transistor radio was the one that gave him the real change in his life.

Then I thought to myself, which was mine?

I started listening to CDs when I was young, on my parents' huge roundish boom box. I've never bothered with transistor radios as a child, the reception was too bad. That's why I've always wanted a Discman, but my parents would never buy me one.

One day my dad gave in and got me a.. Walkman. Yes, when CDs were prolific in the market, he got me a walkman. Pathetic as hell, I would bug my mom to buy me empty tapes from the supermarket just so I could record my CDs on them to listen on the go, and even so she wouldn't always buy them for me. I had like 3 or 4 tapes my whole life and I had to reuse them over and over again. Not only that, it was tedious as hell to dub, nearly impossible to change tracks and I could only listen to the same few songs over and over. I grew to hate the music I had.

I finally got a Discman, but that was not what I wanted. I only could buy 1 CD a year. CD-R drives were expensive. I got a portable FM tuner too. Trashy pop on 987. Then an MD player. Glorified Walkman. I was never satisfied with my portable music.

Then, just after I finished secondary school, Apple dropped the big A-bomb. The first fucking iPod. 4GB of space in the size of a deck of cards. And not to mention it was beautiful. I wanted it so fucking badly the only thing that stopped me was the price. It sold for about $950 when it first launched. That was 1 month of my salary when I was working part time. And, it needed a Mac, or the gay Musicmatch Jukebox for windows. I was so sad. I passed.

A while later, I went to poly. I was elated. Having a laptop was compulsory. Finally, a fully portable music player with a shit load of space! I could even choose what software to use! Who the heck needs an iPod? Then reality hit. My so-called 'MP3 Player' only had 1 hour of battery life. Realistically it would only run for about 30 minutes. Not to mention in year 1, power points were as scarce as bikini babes in a desert. So I took 30 minutes to haul my ass to school, and then I couldn't use my laptop anymore until I found a power point. Not to mention it felt like I was carrying a volcano on my back. That did not last long.

About a year and 2 generations of iPods later, an old friend of mine struck me a deal. The first gen iPod. The one I fell in love with but had no damn money to buy. For $160. OMFG BUY. It was scratched as hell, and the battery lasted for no more than 2 minutes. I bought it anyway. My friend told me, "there is still warranty, I think you can still send it in." I was so fucking glad I listened to him. I sent it in to Apple, and 2 weeks later, I got a brand, spanking new 1st gen iPod. BRAND NEW. That's when it all started. Albums, songs, playlists, genres, swapped in and out at any time I wanted, in no time at all, over Firewire. It changed my life. It was exactly the way I wanted to listen to music. The battery lasted forever. And on top of that, it fit nicely in my pocket. For me, this was the most meaningful gadget in my life, EVER.

Needless to say, 7 years and 2 iPods later, I was on the train, today, still listening to an iPod, even though it's just a program, while on MSN with my girlfriend. Much has advanced over the years - colour, video playback, internet capability.. But I'm still listening to music the same way I was 7 years ago on my 1st iPod, while being able to do so much more. If not for the very first iPod, all these would have not been.

Looks like I might just skip the GS..

Why? Cos it's pointless, once I can afford one, half a year later a better one is going to come out. I might as well wait till then. By then my contract should be 7-7-8-8 already, so I should be able to upgrade my phone without worries.

What can happen next WWDC? I don't know, front facing camera, and a xenon flash? iChat? Who knows?

And seriously, besides the speed bump, I really don't find the other features worth the trouble (and the money). I am really paying the extra god knows how much to load peggle that 5-10s faster. Although I seriously wish that my phone was a little (much) faster, I bet iPhone firmware 4.0 will make the 3GS crawl as well, and by then it will be iPhone 4G or 3GSS or some fuckshit, claiming that everything loads in no time at all, boasting PS3 quality graphics at 60FPS. I wish. LOL.

Why the new product line up is trash

I think only 2 of you who read my blog is gonna know what I'm gonna talk about next. Lol.

Anyway, it's about WWDC. Yes the camping on the live blog was exciting for that night, but when day broke and I woke up, I can't help to think, that god damnit, the product line this WWDC is so damn stopgap.

It's like they have something really great in the labs but they couldn't push it out in time and so they just shove 'new' products in our face just because we were expecting something.

I mean, look at it. The product lines are completely messed up now. The only MacBook left is the white one, which they were supposed to phase out early this year. So when it's finally time for it to go, then what? Their notebook line will only consist of MacBook Pros? That does not make sense. They obviously have a product line that had to go somewhere but they flatly missed the mark and just had to make do.

And then the 3GS. What the hell. Again, what is the damn difference between the 3G and the S besides the point that it's faster and has all the extra whatever under the hood? It's really as though they couldn't make the iPhone 2 in time and figured what the heck, let's just take 1/2 of the iPhone 2 and shove it into a 3G case and make do for now.

The only thing I liked about Monday was the new 7 hour batteries for the 'Pros'. That's it. 2 hours of keynote and the only takeaway point was the battery. Nice.

And the 15" MBP without discrete graphics? WTF? MBP gay edition? No longer can you tote a 15" MBP around feeling smug about yourself at StarBucks when you know that there is a shitty version out there that looks exactly like yours. Like a fake LV bag. I really pity the suckers who bought the 1st gen 15" unibodies cos there is no product differentiation anymore.

You see, the 13" was fine you know, small, chic and cute. Didn't matter if it didn't have a lot of horsepower, it was still better than Intel Integrated anyway. But what the hell is a crippled 15" MBP doing there? Bastard child of Apple? It's big, looks fierce, and it has no balls. A Ferarri with a Honda engine. It should have been a 15" MacBook joining the 13" MacBook family and not the other way around. Seriously, the only unique difference between the 2 lines now is the fucking battery. And the aluminium.

And, all the removable HDD and battery nonsense for nothing. All gone in 1 generation. Not that it was a good design, I've always found it clunky. But still, with all the hype back then, wth man.

Jobs, please come back soon. We miss you.

StoneJamz

I think they are going bust. I just received a SMS from them in the afternoon, asking people to sign up for a 'membership', $100 for 10 hours of jamming a month, to be used in 30 days. Just 5 minutes ago, another SMS saying $55 for 5 hours. I think they got not enough to cover for rent and need cash up front. I kinda pity them, they don't seem to have much business, but then again their equipment is so bad.. It's an endless cycle. Nobody goes there because the equipment is bad, and because they have no business they cannot fix their equipment.

なに？！？！

Wtf, BSS just received a C&D for FMA:B. And supposedly everyone else subbing it too. How the fuck am I going to watch it now? Not like the fail remake was a bad enough disappointment already.

massive thoughts

I've been thinking, or maybe have been troubled, for some time now. Some of you might know what predicament I'm in, maybe most. If you don't, it's about this:

I've got myself into this shit by wanting to do too many things at one time. But I can't help it when none of them are moving, I can't just sit and wait. I've been looking for a job, applying for school, looking for a serious band, and starting a business with my friends.

So the thing now is, none of them are moving along. And I'm becoming irritated. Maybe because I haven't been giving my fullest attention on any one of the above, choosing to spread my focus among all 4 and hoping that at least one will be successful. Maybe because I'm greedy. Maybe because I'm undecided. I don't know.

Out of the four, 2 of them are putting up a tough fight now, getting a job, and the business. I can't put my fullest attention into looking for a job because of the business, and I can't put my fullest attention on the business because I'm looking for a job. It's shitty. It's a fucking shitty cycle. And I can't make up my mind to focus on one.

One thing, I've always wanted to do what I'm going to do for my business. It's a good potential source of income, but I definitely won't be making much, or any, till much later. I need to eat, I need to buy things, I need money. That's why I want to get a job. So I can get instant monthly income. It's not what I like, but I do get paid. But if I do this, I will barely have time for the business, not to mention the other 2 things in my life as well, band and music studies.

But I need the money. Or want? I don't know. There's a saying that there must be sacrifice to get what you want. And I believe sacrifice will definitely come with suffering. But you see, I don't mind the suffering, but I just don't want the people around me to suffer with me as well. Leila, for having to pay for my meals all the time. My parents, for having to pay for my living expenditures and having to tell their friends and colleagues that their son is useless and jobless.

And on top of that, to put it in an even more twisted way, I've got to sacrifice getting a job for the business, or sacrifice the business and musical passion, to get a job.

MONEY OR PASSION

That's the question. In life, you can't have both.