My boss mentioned that the level of economy is proportional to the level of trust. Thinking about it, it does make sense. For every business transaction, you would add the cost of contracts, lawyers, and the risk premium to cover for the probability of your partner not meeting his obligations. Not only would this cost you money (but definitely enrich those lawyers) but this would also cost you time. Is this why this country lags behind its neighbors? I remember when I went to Thailand, Migs and I encountered this tailor and we decided to have 3 shirts each made. After picking the cloth and style and having our measurements taken, we paid. But he said he doesn’t give a receipt. Just his business card. We were taken aback but we decided to say the heck with it and paid. I wrote it off already but that night, the shirts were actually waiting back at the hotel. Amazing.
The first thing that I saw, as I checked the news this morning, was “Heath Ledger Dead”. I was like WTF! He’s such a promising actor. He shone in roles in movies like Brokeback Mountain, A Knight’s Tale, heck even Ten Things I Hate About You. And I heard he absolutely rocks as The Joker in Dark Knight. Now he’s gone. That’s that for his acting. That’s that for The Joker. Sucks.
So what can I say? She’s gorgeous… drop-dead gorgeous. She’s primarily vinyl with some ABS parts. Definitely, designed for mass-production. Molding and paint job is top-notch though. There is no mistaking her for anyone else.
As expected, she’s eminently poseable being equipped with Kaiyodo‘s Revoltech joints. To aid in more life-like poses, she has four spare hands. There’s also a stand for those unstable poses.
Sadly, she only has The Spear of Longinus as an accessory. But then again, if you’re Rei, do you need anything else? Go see the anime if you don’t know what I mean.
All in all she’s great. There are many like her (including Joy’s). But this one is mine and she’s the best :P
Thanks again Joy-joy!
Check out the photos here.
The Eee is a diminutive device. It is around an inch thick and about the size of A5 paper and quite light. But it seems well-built and quite robust. The screen is small but quite usable especially when applications are in full screen mode. The keyboard is also small but still quite usable. The 900MHz processor is not too powerful and the 512MB RAM not too big but the response of applications is quite snappy. The storage is a (surprise!) small at 4GB, but quite fast since it is solid state (i.e. flash-based). If you need more, you’ll need to use external storage via up to three USB ports. But then again, most everything are stored online these days. Speaking of online it has both wired and wireless network interfaces.
But here’s the killer: It’s Linux-based! I know what you’re thinking. That it would be a complex beast. But no, it is actually seems quite easy to use. It has two mode: simple mode and full mode. In simple mode you’re presented with a very simple tabbed menu with large icons that even a grandma would like. Full mode, on the other hand, is the traditional Linux GUI with access to the applications you expect including my favorite: ssh. Oh yeah!
Do I like it? Hell yeah! But being new to the market, it’s still a bit expensive for my liking. But if someone were to gift me one, I wouldn’t say no. The black one please!
I haven’t had a New Year resolution since forever. But this year, at Cez‘s suggestion, I have these:
- Reach French level B1 by the end of year. This means I actually have to study!
- Read more books. Specifically literary classics but maybe I’ll throw in a contemporary book. Maybe also one in French.
- Take cooking or dance classes.
- Take advanced photography classes.
- Watch F1 in Singapore on September 26 to 28. Shanghai would probably be nice but I heard it will be way crowded. Singapore will hopefully be less so. Besides, I like F1 more than most Olympic sports.
- Go on a road trip. Maybe Pagudpud. You’ll probably be driving more than you actually staying there but in this is a road trip. It is really about the journey! Question is who shares this philosophy? :))
- Go surfing in Zambales or La Union.
- Go hiking and camping in one trip.
- Resume wargaming whether via paintball or airsoft.
- Be less patient with people. You read that right :D
Plans more than resolutions :P