i’m all for product diversification but… Apple battery chargers? come on… this is bordering on those lame fan-mocks that go around the web before a product launch. i mean what the heck were they thinking? Apple is not a battery manufacturer! leave it to energizer and duracell! they don’t even make their own batteries for the laptops, so why the heck are they making AA cells now!?

and at $44 bucks!!! good grief!

this is awesome (for geeks)!

Swedish software engineer Linus Åkesson loves chiptunes so much (don’t we all?) that he felt the urge to convert this old-school instrument into an 8-bit synthesizer. By rewiring the keys, pedals and buttons to a couple of microcontrollers (which isn’t quite our usual weekend project in the garage), the reborn organ — dubbed the Chipophone — can now reproduce classic hits like Super Mario Bros’ theme tune on the fly.

see him rock the chipophone!

I’m getting dreams about work more almost every night about fine-tuning details and changing briefs. not good in my opinion to start having those because it means I’m going to get into sleepwalk phase next.

which I did last night. had this nightmare where some loanshark was terrorising us because a neighbour in the block is in debt (true story). I couldn’t lock my door and suddenly each panel in my window had a lock, which I couldn’t lock either. then there was a sequence where I dreamt I had to shift around my pillows in order to avert the terrorising. then I suddenly woke up realising it was a dream, but I had actually “rearranged” my entire pillow/sleeping layout exactly as I had dreamt.

I think the actual subconscious paranoia was manifesting in my dream. I still have times where I suddenly get up to check out the corridor outside my window because I heard noises. not good especially since my room is right next to the lift landing. that’s why I’ll never buy a flat with windows along the corridor. I’d die of exhaustion.

what’s frustrating is that I start analysing and try to figure out why I’m dreaming that way and then I get all frustrated in the middle of the night about not being able to have restful sleep.

anyone with a copy of “lobotomy for dummies”?

well yes, i went to the garden festival this year. not once, but twice. chengwei and i went to the “exhibition” on tuesday, and then i went again with my family on thursday, because my mum is the family green fingers.

i must say some of the displays were quite stunning, and some are just plain odd (this meditative piece by a singaporean artist was just dumbfounding). as expected, the whole place was swarming with photogs with their DSLRs, bodies contorted into odd angles, trying to get a good shot of some exotic flora. there was an uncle who brought his own LIGHTING.

it was quite enjoyable, being in nature (but in the comfort of airconditioning) but was quite disappointing coz most of the displays were out of bounds, even though there were paths through them which the designers clearly created for visitors to experience their creations.

ah well. anyway, the flower beauty shots are in the previous post http://lenneltan.com/?p=3845

some fantasy display with mirrors in it

very nice room display by japanese artists. rather zen… no?

record attempt for world’s largest bouquet. just another singaporean attempt at something that doesn’t matter…

part deux… with the family