No longer in Beta.

Yes, the blog's out of the woods. Just 2 weeks after the redesign, da ron files is back from beta and in its full glory.

A couple of notes I wanted to add:

Firstly, I don't think it's worth the time digging through 1,174 posts. There's just too many posts to go through, I cannot be bothered to do something that will only benefit 1, if any, viewer out there. It's just not worth my effort. So, what I've done is to tag approximately the last 100 posts.

Secondly, I have to admit, I'm not very good at "retrofitting tags", so it's not exactly a brilliant job, if I were honest, but I'm quite happy to see that at least I do have a proper tag cloud, with tags of different sizes representing the number of posts with that given tag. So, I hope that as I blog more often, the cloud would change in different ways.

Thirdly, the load times is around 24s on my iPhone and iPad (on a DSL connection). It's 6-12 seconds on my Mac (cache not cleared). That's in comparison to Mr Stanley Ho's 4-10s (same conditions - cached). So, yes, I admit, my blog is not the most streamlined it can be. I've come to the conclusion that it's due to the way Blogger loads the elements - it tends to load 3rd-party elements (e.g.: the last.fm image in the sidebar) at a slower rate than their main elements - the posts, for example. I think this problem would be solved if I were to switch to a blogskin rather than the stock Blogger template. But since I just changed to a new layout, I thought you wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer to access my blog. I promise you, the next time I make a change to the blog design, I'll make sure it's a speedier experience. But for now, do bear with the slowdown. Or just use Facebook/RSS/Safari Reader.

K. That's all for now!

Plan to fail, fail to plan.

Quote from a poster that I used to see in SAJS there.

I thought I'd share what my diary looks like over the next few weeks/months...

Of course, all these are tentative and subject to changes. That goes without saying, right?

Right, then. [btw, if the spacing between lines and my spelling looks wrong, blame it on the fact that I'm not on my usual keyboard - I'm using my bro's office PC, and it feels a bit weird to type on, plus Firefox on his PC behaves a bit funny - when I press the 'enter' (or 'return') key, the cursor doesn't follow.]

I'm still discussing my Singapore get-away trip with my parents, but if they're are fine with the plan, then I'll be visiting SG 5th to 10th August 2010. My parents will be coming along from 5th to 8th (because they think I'm 6, in spite of the fact that I did book and stay in a hotel alone when I went to Birmingham and Manchester), after which I'll be on my own to do whatever I want to do.

That's assuming I can get my Japanese Visa in time, because apparently, due to timing and availability reasons, our family decided not to go to the States this Lebaran. Instead, we'd be bound for Japan and Hong Kong. I was kinda upset - that means I can't cross anything out from my Bucket List yet. But nevertheless, I'd still try to apply for my US Visa on 25 August - that's when my appointment with the US Consulate staff is due.

Aside from that, I also have to apply for my UK Tier 4 Student Visa. Submitted the online application form, and call me kiasu, but I've even booked an appointment for 30 August. This is in spite of the fact that I am still lacking one crucial document (amongst others) - the Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) letter number. That's not supposed to come out till the University has made their offer to me Unconditional Firm, and that can't happen until my results are out. That'll happen on 19 August. So, between now and then, it's the waiting game.

So, in summary:

5-10 Aug: SG trip (tbc)
19 Aug: A Level Results are out
25 Aug: US Visa Appointment
30 Aug: UK Visa Appointment (tentative, likely to change to an earlier date, since the US embassy does allow us to hold on to our passports while the application is in progress, albeit for emergency reasons only.)

4-15 Sep: Japan/HK trip (rough dates)
25 Sep: Uni Orientation starts.

Here comes the blackout!

Quoting a song from Stornoway there. Did you get that?

Anyway, yes, there's been a major blackout in Jakarta, apparently due to a transformer meltdown. (see Jakarta Post article)

Thank God, my house had its power restored by yesterday night, even though it's in the North. Can't say the same for my bro's family - they live in Muara Karang, which is only ~400m away from where I live (Pantai Indah Kapuk), but they're not getting any power in their house. Well, not till their in-house generator is installed, or the transformer is fixed.

The point is, because of the blackout, my nephews have come to live in the house that I'm in (can't really call this my house - my parents'), which means they have taken over my room, and now I have to bunk in with Ronny, my elder bro.

Yeah, that's what's been going on in my house right now. I lost my room. I so want it back. I want my speakers. I want the TV in my room unplugged (call me weird, but I have this TV in my room that doesn't get plugged in at all, because I don't use it. Reception is terrible.).

Oh, in other news, I've been "working" in my dad's factory. Well, when I say "working", it's more like stoning, since they didn't have much for me to do. But heck, it's work experience - I'm shadowing my bro and my dad while they work.

Anyway, gonna sleep now - getting sleepy.

Oh, btw, to all thee merry Singaporeans, Happy iPad Day in advance!

And one more thing: Bombay Bicycle Club is awesome! Go listen!

Brushing your teeth.

Having a bit of a sore throat today - probably due to the dinner I had
lat night, and the fact that I didn't brush my teeth.

That got me thinking - brushing your teeth - why is it that I choose
not to do it, even though I know from experience what could happen if
I choose not to do so?

Well, I have a theory about this, so strap in, behavioural economists.

As a teenager (whose parents don't really police me anymore on whether
I brush my teeth or not), I can choose for myself whether I'm brushing
my teeth or not. I know that the cost of not brushing my teeth will be
a sore throat the next day.

However, last night, I chose to ignore the cost, because I didn't
really think about it. Furthermore, I didn't really care at that time,
whether I have a sore throat the next day or not. You could say this
is a case of discounting the future - the future cost of not brushing
is just not significant enough at that time to make me drag myself to
the toilet.

And besides, the tap water in my house smells fishy, which just isn't
right. So in my case, the act of not brushing my teeth, which seems
irrational, is actually rational.

Gosh, I love behavioural economics!

Sent from my iPhone

Say goodbye to the old, hello to the new!

Say goodbye to the old format...

and hello to the new!

Now, before I move on, I should point out that I'm reviving the "beta" term because the new blog layout is not finished yet. There's a bunch of things I want to do first before I think this blog is in a state that will remain for a long, indeterminate period of time. If you look to the right of this post (there should be a sidebar, unless I moved it), there's a "Things Still Not Done On This Blog" section. As of posting, I have yet to correct the colour and font consistency. I also haven't checked how this site looks in other browsers, especially mobile browsers - I'm quite keen on testing out iPhone compatibility, since most mobile browsers are based on WebKit, anyway.

And as with any update to this blog, I need to maintain that list of defunct blog links.

After all that, I will take off the beta status.

But there's one more thing that I'm hoping to try, assuming I haven't shot myself from trying to change the blog design. That's to tag my blog entries. All, if not, at least just the recent ones. This has been something I've been staying away from, but now that I'm jumping onto the new blog template, I think it makes sense for me to have tags. So, let's see how far I'll go with that one.

Oh, not in the list, but I'm thinking of changing the background - seems like I can't, but once I can find a way to customise that, I'll jump on it. But for now (I hope), bear with / enjoy the bright and cheery, new look!

--Ronald Liong
      aka ronfiles

A Grand Perspective helps.

Not sure if I talked about this Mac App (Yes, Mac) before, but I really think it deserves more spotlight, especially with the recent ordeal that I've been having recently with my Hard Drive.

Basically, I've ran out of space. With all the photos and videos that I've been taking all these years, and the ever-growing collection of TV shows and music, my hard drive has been filled to the brim.

I don't really want to talk about my night with Finder. It was more like a cage match than a walk in the park. But in the end, I won - I clawed back an astounding 25.7 GB - from a measly 50MB. And on my Seagate drive, I clawed back another 23GB.

Getting back so much space wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for my app pick for the moment. It's called GrandPerspective.

Link: http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/

I'd say this app is a virtual X-Ray of your Hard Drive. What it does is scan your drive, and then put them in a rectangle chart with hundreds, or thousands, or in my case, millions of smaller rectangle, each representing one file according to its file size relative to other files. What this means is that your large HD videos will pop out more than your small, measly Word Documents. For a guy like me, who really needs to get rid of those embarrassing videos of the family at Christmas or that old Top Gear episode, or maybe wants to find what's been eating my HDD space (maybe a recording of a musical?), this is a useful visualisation tool, especially because it drills down to the lowest subfolder and the hidden folders which the average person wouldn't bother to look (e.g.: the iMovie Events Folder).

You might say this app can be used for art. Maybe to make your next disturbing-looking wallpaper. But regardless, it is a very useful tool for visualising the contents of your hard drive. I know the UI is not exactly glamorous, but it's a useful app, and you might not need it now, but some day, when you're crying because you only have 2MB of space when you need 1GB for an important file that you need to work on, this app might just save you from a tear-jerking night.

Download it! Especially since it's FREE!

Half-way point, how am I doing?

Here's a look back at my 2010 New Year's Resolution. Let's see how things are coming along thus far!

Academic

•I will score 3 As for my A Level. [tbc]

•I will get to a University. Either Warwick, or Exeter, if not Manchester. [Highly likely]

Score so far: 1/2

Athletics & Fitness

•I will log 250km of runs in 2010 on Nike+. [35.9 done. Not good. To be fair, there were a few unlogged runs due to sensor issues. Still, I have to admit, I've not been running much due to the peculiar English weather and the exams.]

•I will run a 10K in under 1 hour. [Far from it]

•I will try to run a full marathon in 2010. [Even further from it]

•I will keep my weight under 75kg. [So far, so good]

Score so far: 2/6

Charity & Church

•I will help at least 5 homeless people in Brighton directly [Safehaven!]

•I will work at the charity shop for 100 hours in 2010. (I have to cheat a bit on this one - I didn't think I'd be doing other sorts of volunteer work, such as Safehaven and Production Team, so I've decided to include those in) [~50h in BHF + ~24h at Safehaven + ~26h on Production Team = 100h!]

Score so far: 4/8

Motoring

•I will pass my practical driving test and get a full license. [Ha!]

•I will buy my first car. [Not likely]

Score so far: 4/10

Music

•I will attend at least 2 live events/concerts/gigs in 2010. [Owl City, Brian Eno, that's 2. And later this year, I'm watching Imogen Heap!]

•I will join a music team, be it the church music team, or a choir in Uni. [I'm putting a 0.5 on this for joining the Production Team at St. Peter's. Technically, it's not what I meant, but it is a form of 'music team', so 0.5]

Score so far: 5.5/12

Tech, Art & Social Networking

•I will not buy any more Apple products. No iPods, iPhones, Macs, iSlate, etc. Only provision allowed: An Apple Remote, since mine is a bit wonky. [iPad]

•I will finish my short film project by the end of 2010. [Oh wait, I did that slow-mo thing! That's a short film of sorts!]

•I will get a new Time Machine HDD. [Not yet. Probably will when I'm in SG]

•I will post at least 200 blog posts. [currently 47. Not even 50%, is it?]

•I will post my 2,000th tweet in 2010. [As of posting, it's 1423, so this one's a no-go.]

•I will get my 5,000th view on my Flickr Page. [Yes]

•I will increase the number of uploads I have on Flickr to 400. [Yes]

Score so far: 8.5/19

Travel

•I will visit 6 UK cities in 2010. [Coventry, Birmingham, Manchester, Exeter, Brighton&Hove, London]

•I will go to at least 4 countries [Indonesia, Singapore, UK - yep. TBC: Malaysia, USA (New York), China (Shanghai)]

Score so far: 10.25/21

Well, that's almost 50%, isn't it? And it's only the first half of the year, so who knows! As the Netherlands vs Brazil game has shown, anything can happen after the second half!

Oh wait, that was a football reference. From me - a person who claims to have no interest in football whatsoever. Surely, that deserves another point on my New Year's Resolution Scorecard!

----------------

Oh, speaking of football, erm, may I recommend these 2 links which have been in my address bar, which I thought you may like as well?

First up, if you're interested in predictions and psychic animals, well, have you heard of Paul the Octopus? Well, The Huffington Post has this story which you should read.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/30/paul-the-octopus-world-cu_n_630776.html

My second link is related to this Vuvuzella thingy. Have you heard of it? And are you a Rihanna fan? Well, you'll love this link. It's the Vuvuzella Song. Brilliant lyrics like:

"I think I might call Nelson Mendela,

To see if he can order me a Vuvuzella

(ella ella eh eh ...)"

Now, isn't that just the best rhyme ever? Well, there's more of such stuff, along with some football references, in this link:

http://img.metro.co.uk/i/pix/2010/06/5live_Vuvuzella.mp3

Original Post:

http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/oddballs/831274-vuvuzela-song-makes-light-of-world-cup-instrument-with-umbrella-mock-up

Well, that's all for now.

And yes, this blog is back from hibernation!

yes, it was on hiatus!

(Title says all)

Yes, I'm back to full-time blogging from now on! I'm sure many have missed me!

Or maybe not, if my Google Analytics number are anything to go by.

I don't think I need to explain why I've been inactive when it comes to updating this plot of land on the blog-o-sphere that I call 'da ron files' - exams, studies, Facebook, no reason to blog, you get it.

I thought I'd put up something just to let you know how I've been. I'm fine. Bored, but fine. Seriously, I'm bored from all these exams now, I just want to get home and play around with Objective-C. That's right, I'm planning on making an app for the iPad/iPhone during the holidays! Oh JOY! I, a dude with no coding experience what-so-ever (other than HTML, but arguably, that's just coding for babies), am going to dabble into the world of App-making. Watch out for my app in an app store near you (hopefully, if Apple doesn't think my app is junk)!

Oh yeah, I've been preparing to go back to Jakarta (departing UK this Sunday evening, arriving Monday evening) for the summer break while I wait for my A Level results and Uni. Come to think of it, assuming I don't blog anymore until I'm back in Jakarta, this could be the last posting from Brighton. So maybe I'd spend a bit of time to reflect on my time in Brighton over the past 1 year and 2 months.

Brighton certainly has its bohemian characteristics - in fact, if people were to ask me to describe Brighton in one word, that's the word I'd choose - bohemian. This city is quite alternative - a walk along the Laines is enough to prove my point. It's also a fun city - there's the pier, the beach, the music venues. And I'm glad to have met so many people from different backgrounds; in church, at school, and at the charity shop. My time here hasn't always been pleasant (I shall not say why on this blog). Nonetheless, I'm quite sad that I'm going to leave all these behind in a few days' time, but I guess I have to move on to the next phase in life, wherever that brings me, right?

Anyway, talking about vacation-time, I'm going to be transiting in Singapore for a couple of days, before my Uni Term starts (obviously). My only dilemma is when. My Uni Orientation/Welcome Week starts around 25 September, and I might arrive earlier so I can get my stuff moved over from Brighton to Exeter/Coventry. Aside from that, my parents were also planning on heading to Shanghai for the World Expo, but no dates have been committed for that. Then, I heard Founder's Day in SAS is late August - one month before I should start heading off to the UK. So, what's the plan? At the moment, I have none. But I'm definitely heading to Singapore between now and my Uni term. So, keep watching this space (or my Facebook status updates, or Twitter), as I'll update when I have updates! (redundant redundancy!)

Alright, then. Cheerios, people! I have an Accounting and MacroEcons paper left to study for. See you on the other side of the globe!

On my room...

A lot of you have been asking about my room...

I wished people asked more about my room.
Well, let's pretend you care about it as much as I do, and talk home decor.


Welcome to my room!

From L-R:

•"Swim" 7" (Surfer Blood) on the Toilet door,

•"Contra" Poster (Vampire Weekend) opposite the mirror, so that whenever I look in the mirror for too long, I get reminded by the disgusted girl in the album art that I should get a move on.

•An Installation Work that I'm working on in my room - trying to make a tree-structure using spare / dead earphones. (Yes, I still need more. Do donate them if you have any you can give, and if you're in Brighton).

•"The XX" Poster (The xx) on the right of the mirror. Over it, there's a brochure which I took from the Manchester Art Museum, which says "Welcome".

L-R:

My desk - a bit messy.

My Installation work - Work-in-progress. Pictured with Two Door Cinema Club's latest album.

Mirror - Get the 'disgusted girl' idea now?

Close-up of my desk.

Clockwise from Top-L:

Shelf of books and files - nothing interesting there.

Blackboard - Top Gear Calendar, Bits of paper, lanyards, post-its, my Bose QC15s (an extension of my installation work - the cable merely dangles on other earpieces, so I can grab the headphones and keep the work intact.)

On the desk - cups/bottles, empty tissue box meant for receipts for accounting purposes, Sunjar, notepad with Magic Mouse, my plot of grass, two light sources - one has a tissue roll above it. And of course, my beloved gadgets - MBP, iPhone, JBL speakers.

My bed and cupboard.

L-R:

Never-closed cupboard door for hanging jackets,

"Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust" (Sigur Ros) 12"

An array of photos, including images of my laptop screen (hidden away, but available on Flickr), The donut near Brighton pier, two of Hove beach side-by-side, interrupted by The XX (The xx) 12", then an image of the Spinnaker at Portsmouth, and another of a brick-and-mortar building in Birmingham (all are available in the "UK" set on my Flickr page).

Below the images: a row of CDs that I got from the textbooks that I bought, visually connected by a spoilt cable that used to be for my Bose QC15s (don't worry, I got a free replacement from Bose). The first disc has a post-it note.

Oh, and if you look closely, you might see that the vinyl case has something stuck at the middle of the white "X". It's my pitch-pipe - the one with the overly-sharp High F. These things make good indicators for how I'm leaning, in terms of an array of options. You see, 3 of the 4 CDs had post-it notes written on them, detailing my options for University. Speaking of which...

The Post-it Note.

For weeks, the pitch pipe has been pointing towards this Post-it (or an 'E', if you want to know the note). By process of elimination, it seems like that's how I'm choosing for my UCAS...

Music to wake up with...

I've been using this Alarm Clock App on my Mac (yes, my Mac, not my iPhone. Link: http://www.robbiehanson.com/alarmclock/index.html ) to wake me up recently. Really lightweight, and it lets you choose a playlist, rather than just a 30s clip as it is on the iPhone, to rock you and keep you dancing as you get out of bed. Just remember to turn up the speaker volume and unplug your earphones/plug in your speakers!

Anyway, thanks to this app, I can now have an excuse to blog again - to make a playlist of tunes to get you out of bed!

1. Take That - Greatest Day
What's better than waking up to hear someone sing to you "Today, this could be the greatest day of our lives"?

2. Angels and Airwaves - The Adventure
Set iTunes to start playing 23 seconds in, and you'll be awaken by a build-up, from the softer percussion instruments, to the electric guitars looming in the background, followed by the cymbals clash and at the end of the build-up, the climax. It's all about the build-up.

3. Sigur Ros - Inní mér syngur vitleysingur
If you speak Icelandic, well I hope this option makes sense. To the rest of us, it has colourful, cheerful, and chirpy qualities. What's not to like?

4. The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division
Nothing like a song that wants to make you jump out of bed and just move about energetically, no matter how foul your mood may be.

5. Black Eyed Peas - Rock That Body
Of course, yet another track to get you looking lively in a minute.

6. will.i.am - It's a New Day
Though this song was meant to mark the Obama campaign and eventual election victory, its title can be taken literally, and what you get is an optimistic track to get the day started right.

7. Jonsí - Go Do
The title is apt - urging you to 'Go Do' whatever it is you should be doing, other than lying in bed. But since the lyrics is hard to comprehend, let's go on the merits of the music itself. It's uplifting, and it contrasts the pumping staccatos of the percussions and the flute with the legato of Jonsí's bright falsetto vocals.

8. McFly - Star Girl
I know this seems like a random choice, but Chris Moyles, the morning breakfast show DJ on BBC Radio 1, has been playing this song every Friday, calling it "McFly-day". No idea how or why, but this song feels appropriate for the occasion - it gets you all prepared for the last working day of the week. Do sing along with the 'Oo-oo-oo-oohhh..." bits to warm up your vocal chords in the morning (especially in the shower!).

So there you go. 8 choice tracks to get you out of bed and into your nice clothes!

Using Maths and Logic.

I'm back in Brighton from my trip to Birmingham and Manchester.

Right now, I have 25 days to decide where I want to go for my University studies (due 4 May 2010).

Been thinking real hard, but I'm having problems deciding, especially after visiting the universities. I really like Warwick, and I'm undivided when it comes to Manchester and Exeter. The good thing about this is that I know what one of my option will be - Warwick. Also, I don't want Manchester to be my firm, since their offer is the lowest of the 3. So, that The bad news? Well, there's 3 options in my mind to choose from -

Scenario 1:
Firm Exeter, Insurance Warwick.

Scenario 2:
Firm Warwick, Insurance Exeter.

Scenario 3:
Firm Warwick, Insurance Manchester.

Basically, my dilemma lies with the requirement for Econs, assuming I drop Psychology A2 - Exeter would want an A, while the other two would take B. If I take Psychology A2, Exeter would also accept an A in that.

My concern is that my Econs Jan exam results weren't what I'd call 'bullish' - I thought I did alright after the paper, and the result came out to be B, instead of the A that I needed. And that was just Unit 2. Now that I'll be taking all 4 units, and seeing how Unit 3 is being covered so quickly, I have doubts over my ability to get an A in Econs.

Psychology is not a good fall-back safe harbour either - the essay mark schemes in A2 are vague, and our teacher (bless her, she tries her best, but she) isn't very helpful in terms of being explicit on the requirements of a good, credit-worthy essay in the new syllabus. Come to think of it, the AQA board's marking methods are as specific as the Labour & Tory Parties' description on how they'll cut spending. Efficiency Savings - what does that even mean? And what counts as evaluation? Does a description of a study which contradicts another person's theory = evaluation or description?

E.g.: for a question on describing and evaluating the role of hormones on gender role: Troche et al. (2007) vs Rommsayer & Troche (2007) on the correlation between 2D:4DR ratios and an individual's sex role. The former showed no correlation, but the latter indicated significant results in males by suggesting that masculinity may be linked to pre-natal exposure to androgens and oestrogens. So, does the mention of a contradicting study count as evaluation? After all, of the 25 marks for an essay, only 9 goes to description, and 16 to evaluation.

This brings me to my next question: should I drop Psychology A2 (yes, I know it's late, but better late than never), so that I can take one slab of burden off of me and focus more on Econs? Or should I just keep diving deeper into this 'mess', as I chose (well, sort-of) to do with HCL at O Level?

Don't get me wrong - I really like Psychology as an area of academia, in the same way I like Biology. It's deeply thought-provoking, fascinating, and impressive to learn so much about human behaviour, only to discover there's so much we don't know. But I don't think knowledge in these areas are what I need to be tested on at this stage, nor in this way. Not when there's loads still left to be covered for Econs in just one month!

---too tired to edit/continue with this post. If you read my FB statuses, you'd know why.---

Moved!

Phew! What a day!

Yes, I finally moved all my stuff from the place that I've been living in for the past year to the College Residence. Every single thing in my possession, as far as I can tell. To be honest, I can't quite understand how I managed to squeeze all that in one taxi, but there you go!

Anyway, really, really, big thanks to Holly for helping me load, unload and move my stuff, and to Steffie for letting me leave my stuff in her room while I was keyless. Oh, and helping me with my first go at the washing machine & dryer.

Enough talk about moving - it's quite a nightmare today, thanks to the absence of clear direction as to how I should acquire my room keys and new Student Card / Security Pass (which I still don't have). That's the problem with holidays, I guess.

Seriously, let's move on to a new topic. Music.

No pun intended, but I think my music taste is moving, too.

Not quite sure why, but I'm now hooked on Scottish singer/songwriter Amy Macdonald. I only own one of her tracks (thanks to the iTunes Student Giveaway on Facebook 2 years ago). But after Spotifying (I'll trademark that!) her new album "A Curious Thing", I think she's comparable to KT Tunstall, only darker, less euphemisms, and more emotionally expressive. Maybe it's just me, but I kinda like her stuff now, especially the newer ones.

Oh, if you were surprised by that, hold on. I actually like "Plastic Beach", the Gorillaz album. A bit.

To be honest, when I first heard "Stylo" (the first single off the album, so I used this track as a barometer of how the album will 'peak'), I thought to myself: "This is just cheesy synth mixing. I'm not going to like this album". But when I listened to the rest of the album (again, on Spotify), I had to retract the statement. Well, part of it, anyway.

It is cheesy. Don't tell me it isn't. You hear disco clips here and there across the album, and that is cheesy.

But that hasn't stopped me from getting hooked on a few of the tracks. "Some Kind Of Nature" reminds me of The XX - gentle, hushed sounds with almost whispery vocals. And I guess I loved the song even more because of the whole half-rap-over-a-staccato-background action. I also like Rhinestone Eyes and Empire Ants.

To be honest, I think I don't mind hearing this album at a restaurant or pub, or even a radio station. It feels quite laid back and 'relaxing'. Probably makes good muzak (Check the definition of the word 'muzak' if you think that sentence didn't make sense. You might be thankful.).

I've also been listening to Vampire Weekend.

Oh, and I'm also forcing myself to hear more of Anberlin. Because I keep hearing this band name left and right. Let's see how I get on...

K. off to bed.

Plans.

Plan to fail, fail to plan. So, here's the plan for this Easter Break.

29-31 March: Nothing much, except hang around London, Brighton and Portsmouth. Maybe Chichester? Mostly revision and packing stuff, because...

1 April: Aside from being April Fool's Day, I'm actually moving into the College Residence. So, I'll be quite busy the entire day.

2-4 April: Not really sure, but I know there's Easter Celebrations at St. Peters on Friday and Sunday. Which leaves Saturday open. Maybe work at the BHF shop?

5 April: Off to B'ham! Late afternoon trip.

6 April: Spend a day at the Bullring and the surrounding areas. Eat at the Balti Triangle? Cadbury World, if I feel like going there (I doubt it)?

7 April: Train from B'ham to M'ster.

8 April: Hopefully, walk around Uni of Manchester, and maybe getting lost in the city.

9 April: Blank, but if I can, I'd probably head to Old Trafford (even though I have very little interest when it comes to football), a couple of museums and libraries (as recommended by Lonely Planet). We'll see...

10 April: Back to B'ton

11 April: Church, and then rush ('chiong') through the textbooks before school reopens.

Bizarre...

Been hearing/seeing some bizarre things lately.

Over the past 2 days, I've been heading to London after my lessons to meet Matt Lim (and Jitesh last night) for meals.

Yesterday, apparently, there was a murder incident at Victoria Station at 5.20pm, the station that I have to go through from Brighton to anywhere in London.

Then today, Matt & I were by-standers in two different things.

First, near Liverpool Street Railway Station (Old Broad Street Exit), we saw a lady (along with a few burly guys) chasing another lady who had stolen her handbag. Not sure what the outcome was, but I think she got the handbag back.

Then, at Oxford Street, just outside Urban Outfitters, we saw a crowd gathering around an accident involving a woman and a bus. From the looks of it, the woman was trying to cross the street, and in doing so, hit the front of a double-decker bus. There was ambulance, police, and the front windscreen of the bus showed cracks on the side closer to the door.

Talk about shell-shocked. Times 3...

Oh, and let's not even talk about that drunk girl that went on a bit of a rampage last Saturday and pushed me, some random stranger. Yeah, it's minor, but think of what could have happened had she pushed someone less forgiving and more likely to escalate the situation.

Stay safe, people.

Study aids.

I don't think I've ever given sensible advice for studying. (That James Wee guy who did that whole email interview with me probably found that out when he knew I sleep in the weirdest of times.)

But this time, I'm actually giving sensible tips. Yes, I'm introducing you to 3 web tools that I think will help you in whatever it is that you're studying/working on. You might have heard of some of them, but if you haven't, read on. And if you've heard of the first one, I still want you to read it.

1. Google Docs.
http://docs.google.com

We all know that Google Docs is amazing as a Microsoft Office alternative. It's got most of the features, plus it's online, with more collaboration features, and free.

Well, what you probably didn't know is that it can be used to do forms and surveys! Yes, all you JC students with your project works and Survey Monkey stuff. You can use Google Docs to create surveys, embed some code that it generates on a website/blog, and the responses get tabulated "automagically" in a nice table. Just follow the instructions on this link and collect those quantitative/qualitative data (it's a form tool, so it can collect both.)

I tried using it to collect the study hours from the people in my cell group last time (N422), and it worked quite well, except for the part where some people didn't really key in their details. But the point is, people used it, and they didn't have much problems. So, it should work with your project, too! Give it a shot!


2. del.icio.us
http://del.cico.us (or else, http://www.delicious.com )

I've tried this tool ages ago, and then I stopped using it after 3 log-ins. But recently, I found myself actually using it as a handy go-anywhere bookmarking tool that I can use for saving links to articles that I can share during Psychology class (see my del.icio.us page for an example of a real-life application of this tool - I saved 2 links for my Psychology class, which was doing Gender Behaviours).

The basic idea is that you put links into Del.icio.us in the same way you'd put into your bookmark bar. Then, when you're on a different computer, those bookmarks will be on a handy website, ready for you to access. You can also use it to share links with others, or subscribe to certain tags. The MacBreak Weekly Podcast team used to (and I think still does) use del.icio.us to gather news stories and picks to talk about during their show by asking people to tag "MBWideas". That's one possible application of this web tool.

Go ahead. Try it. See if it meets your needs.

3. Dropbox.
http://www.dropbox.com

Dropbox is to the thumbdrive what Del.icio.us is to the bookmark bar, and what Google Docs is to Microsoft Office. It's an online storage solution. And a generous one, too. 2GB for free! And, if you introduce 4 other friends to Dropbox via a referral programme (click here for my referral!), you could get up to an additional 256MB*4=1GB!

It's really handy if you're too lazy to dangle a thumbdrive wherever you go. Just make sure there's an internet connection on the PC where you intend to access the files!


There you go! I hope that helps!

[p.s.: I'm on the school PC. For some reason, it forces me to type URLs in posts manually, but allows hyperlinks. That's why I only post full links for those which I can remember in my STM/LTM. Sorry if this post looked a bit "phishy".]

Warwick - To Firm or not to Firm?

I promised Daniel Lim that I would write a 'post or something' after I've gone to Warwick. Well, here it is.


The Warwick Report...
What do I think of Warwick? Well, first off, I'd like to start with the negatives.

The Negatives.

It's a campus university. Some say it's the most 'Campusy' of all campus universities in the UK. What does it mean? Well, your social life and whatnots will all occur within the campus. To put it in another way, it's a bubble. That's because you'd hardly have a reason to get out of the Uni premises and into Coventry. There's not a lot in Coventry, as far as I'm aware, and you're quite probably going to live in the accomodation within the Campus in the first year, which further isolates you from the rest of the city.

(Oh, you have to move out of the Campus accomodation in year 2 & 3. But they have various services to help you find accomodation in Coventry, Kennilworth, or Leamington Spa. The Campus Tour Guide that I had, a 2nd year student, lives in Leam, and he said it only takes about half an hour by bus to get to the campus.)

However, there are upsides to living in a bubble.

The upsides.

Yes, you are in a bubble. But that can be good, too. There are banks in the uni, there's lots of places to grab a bite (one cafe in every department, if I saw correctly). There's an Arts Centre, which does play host to some great acts from time to time. There's a sports centre for your sporting needs (membership £100-ish a year, apparently). There's a post office, a few barbers, a bookshop, a library with online services accessible from the web, etc. The uni is quite self-sufficient, I think you'd agree.

And yes, it's in Coventry. But if you zoom out in Google maps, you'd find that Birmingham is just a 15-min train ride away, and London isn't too far, either - 1 hour on Virgin Trains. Compare this with Exeter, which is 2 hours + from London.

The accomodation is relatively cheap by UK Uni standards. £70-120/wk for campus accomodation, and when you move out to Leamington Spa, you're not in London, so rent isn't going to be overly expensive either.

Also, it's the Unbiversity of Warwick. It has good reputation within and outside the UK. Which probably helps explain the diverse mix in the Uni.

The good rep also comes with its own perks. Lots of major employers will come down for career fairs. That's really useful in a competitive job market.

Oh, and they have a really awesome-looking pub (The Dirty Duck).


On Academics...
(You can probably research more about this on your own from the Warwick website and the various Good Uni Guides, so I'll just post what I learnt from the Open Day.)

From what I gathered during the Open Day, the University's research have received high ratings. This is important as it means you are learning from the people involved in the cutting-edge of the latest developments in the subject you're studying.


For Accounting & Finance, they bring in people working in the trade from time to time, e.g.: to teach on Taxation. And the degree is well-received by major accounting bodies - ACCA might allow up to 8 exemptions (out of 14 exams), depending on course choices.

For Economics, I've heard (from Shu-Yee :p) that they've been bringing in other Sciences into the subject, rather than just numbers. Think Psychology, Sociology, Biology, and Maths all combined into Economics. That's the 'in' thing at Warwick.

One thing I should point out though, before you get all excited about studying these things - Exams still form a major part of the Uni system here. They have project works, essays, and other assignments, but there's no escaping from exams. But then again, I think most UK Universities are reliant on exams, so if you choose to come here, you're going to face them eventually.

Did I mention the library? They have a digital catalogue of journals which are accessible from your computer (so you should be able to access them during the holidays), and they're starting to bring in eBooks, so it's good to hear that they're still improving.

Closing Statements...

Warwick is not a perfect university. But I can see myself going there. My only dilemma now is whether to make it my Firm or not.

If Yes, then I have to decide if I want to do the stupid thing of making Exeter my Insurance, or do the sensible thing by making Manchester my Insurance.

If not, then Exeter will be my Firm, and Warwick my Insurance.

(Requirements: Exeter: AAA, Warwick: AAB +C/b, Manchester: AAB)

I'll think about it before May comes. But for now, I really think I should go to Warwick.

(P.s.: When picking accomodation, try and avoid Whitefields - it's really near to the Student Union, which can be nice if you're a party animal, but not during exam time. Can get a bit noisy.)

Stuff I've been hooked on recently.

This is going to be one of my meta posts - I just post a random list of stuff that I've been hooked on, and you get to try some of them.

Yep. It's that simple.

Anyway, Let's start with Music.

Been listening to a few artistes that I've recently been introduced to / come across. Ellie Goulding, Marina and the Diamonds, Stereophonics, Phoenix, The xx. At the same time, I'm getting hooked on stuff that's been in the middle of my commute playlist - in other words, the part that I never really get to on a normal day, beacuse I set my playlist to be so darn long. Florence & The Machine's "Dog Days Are Over" have been ringing in my ears.

Oh, for all the Imogen Heap fans out there, she's jsut uploaded this track called "The Shepherdess", created and recorded 'live' at her recent gig in Shepherd's Bush. Do go over to her website and download it if you have a credit card - the proceeds go to a local hospital in London. Apparently, Immi's trying this out - recording tracks and selling them on her site, giving the proceeds to a local charitable organisation of her choice.

Moving on, let's talk about iPhone Apps.

As many of you know, I've been using TuneIn Radio and Sleep Cycle really really often recently - probably the most used app, along with TweetDeck, Facebook, Engadget and The Guardian apps. Games-wise, I've gone geek again, recently - World Maths Day 2010 is on my phone, people. And if you have never downloaded Toobz-Free, where have you been? It's probably one of my favourite free apps on the App Store.

There's also Riddim Ribbon, which just added... drum roll, please.... .... ... 1 more track! Well, when I say 1, what I really mean is 1 remix of 2 BEP tracks - Imma Bee, and Rock That Body (another one of my 'hooked-onto-recently' tracks). But at least we know Tapulous is working on stuff for Riddim Ribbon. So go get it!

Oh, and if you're in the UK, and you're looking for the best rail guide app, there's no looking elsewhere - National Railway and CrossCountry are both great when used together. One's £4.99, the other's $0.00. Get 'em both when you're planning a train journey/checking train times!


That's all for now. Gotta rush to class!

Ooh, I Think You'll Like This.

I know I keep blabbering on about my blog (ronfiles.blogspot.com), for the uninitiated/new Facebook friends), and how few visitors I get over there because my blog posts get syndicated onto Facebook.

Well, just to keep my blog alive, I'm doing some minor updates to the blog skin.

Well, when I say minor, it's actually quite significant, as you can see, when you get there.

I've 

a) widened the text area, and 

b) really centred the text, rather than just fixing it at a certain number of pixels away from the left, regardless of screen size. Also,

c) this new layout should be more iPhone-friendly, too (I hope). I'm increasing the text size just to make it more readable and touch-able. Oh, and just to haunt myself every time I visit my blog, 

d) I posted my 2010 Resolutions on the 'frontpage' section.

Hope you like the changes!

Maybe I should

pose Ryan Lee by posting really short, 1-sentence blog posts to inflate the number of blog posts that I published this year.

Why do I take these New Year Resolutions so seriously?! Urgh!

What to do...

Right, I need help to decide on something. Me being the indecisive person that I am, I'm having problems planning on what on earth I'll be doing this Easter break.

I have 2 weeks off (26 March - 11 April), but I know certain things are confirmed:
-Moving stuff on 1 April
-Packing stuff prior to 1 April
-Easter Service around Easter

And that's about it.

I'm thinking of visiting a number of places - Manchester, Portsmouth, London, Cardiff, Edinburgh, or maybe even outside the UK (Amsterdam, Switzerland, US?) But the thing is that I have no idea what to do in these places (other than London and Portsmouth, since I've been to these places before).

So, if you can help with suggestions, do comment/tag. If not, pretend I'm thinking out loud here.

So many things I want to do, yet so little time...