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Etymotic Research ER4P

Ok remember when I was rationalizing how getting the EM3s was enough to not get the upper class headphones (e.g. e5c, UE10 pro, ER4P/S)? Well I friggin’ caved! As of tomorrow morning I’m going back to the Norman Audio showroom, to get a pair of Etymotic Research ER4Ps.

These are one of the many “upper class” canalphones I rationalized to be too expensive to invest in (but never did I question their quality), hence settling for the kick-ass FutureSonics EM3s

This has a backstory to it, which of course is a further rationalization of how weak I am when it comes to technolust hahaha. Surprisingly though my mom didn’t question my decision at all… maybe it was because she just bought a digicam for herself without actually knowing what the hell she wanted. We chose for her, and I must say it was a nice Panasonic Lumix (Leica lens) bargain. Anyways, I digress. Read More

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iStickyWiki – skinned by yours truly

With Tiger’s dashboard feature. I mentioned in the past how useful it would be for note-taking. And I was right… if only there was a widget that did it right. Apple’s built-in Stickeys widget (not to be confused with the actual Stickeys application) should’ve been called “suckys.” You can’t paste long lines of code because it dynamically adjusts the font size… and it doesn’t scroll. Pasting long code/text that exceeds the limit will not paste at all. And you can’t type anymore either if you’re at the said limit.

Then I stumbled upon Wikity Widget. A cool wiki-style, database-driven, auto-linking note taking widget, and winner of the Apple dashboard widget competition. Simple and extremely effective implementation – perfect for my note-taking preference. But alas, the interface (if you visited the site) looks horrible.

Since I really wanted to use the app, me being turned-off by its aesthetics on all counts didn’t deter me from using it. First thing I did was check the license to make sure I wasn’t breaking any laws, then started hacking the visual aspects of the widget. I think I did enough tedious work to merit dubbing a new name for it. I decided on iStickyWiki to hit multiple birds with one stone. One is to acknowledge Wikity Widget‘s original concept that it is a wiki-type widget. Another is to emphasize that it has been somewhat “merged” with the Stickeys interface. And the “i” is both a tribute to Apple’s naming convention… plus it makes the widget very Filipino when pronounced as ees-TEE-kee-WEE-kee 🙂

Of course for good measure, I hacked the the scripts to insert a “readme” or “ReleaseNotes” entry to give credit where credit is due. Honestly I think I would’ve modified it regardless of the legalities, since everything was done for personal use. But since the license which governs it stated that it could be modified and re-distributed – so I thought I might as well share it with others. Read More

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iPod photo

Ipod Photo

I finally got my iPod photo a while ago. Initial transfer was a pain even if it was via FireWire.

Some new stuff (aside from photo support of course) that wasn’t present in my 4th-gen. The colored screen is great. It’s like the first time I switched to color with the Nokia phones: at first you don’t think its a big deal, and continue to do so… until you start using a B/W again.

The package was pretty good as it had lots of stuff:

  • Charge/sync dock
  • AC charger
  • FireWire cable
  • USB cable
  • Belt case
  • Case for the belt case (well at least that’s what I call it)
  • iPod sock
  • Video cable
  • Earphones, software CD, etc. Read More
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Banksy

banksy

Graffiti, vandalism, policitcal statement, or Art?

Sometimes, there are people who go do the darndest things… but you end up loving them anyways.

Such is a man called Banksy, who is notoriously known (and wanted) in the UK for his penchant of secretly putting up works of art of “subversive political nature” in public places (Parks, Museums, etc.)

His latest work is a six-meter tall bronze statue which depicts Lady Justice as a prostitute wearing leather boots and a thong, in Clerkenwell Green – as protest to the British Legal System.

This news article was a few weeks back, but I only got to post it now since I wanted to include some cool picture along with this entry… which you now see on the left – It’s a doctored version from what you will find in his website.

My hats off to this guy, he’s talented, and what he does makes sense: His method is radical enough to be noticed… but not radical enough to get people harmed/killed. And quite frankly can be classified as art in its own right. An almost if not perfect form of protest… sure beats the hell out of rallies, etc.

Be sure you get to read his thoughts on his website’s “help page.” Sometimes the simplest, and seemingly most ridiculous answers can make so much sense for the simple reason of them being right.