Awesome! How Can You Not Share These Awesomeness?

How do you define awesomeness? For me, it's very simple, awesomeness is something or someone that touches my senses and made me go "WOW!". Today, I am going to share some of the awesome findings (over the internet) that have successfully earned my "WOW!".

Of course, I must admit that some of these stuffs might not WOW you as they WOW-ed me but no harm for me to share it forward! If you find these stuffs awesome too, do share them forward! ;-)

Enjoy!

"The awesome art pieces of nature"

"The awesome Talent  (Jeffrey Adam Gutt from Project X)" 

"The awesome movie plot (The Looper, forthcoming sci-fi)" 

Do you have any awesomeness to share? Do share the link in the comment section.

Cheers!

My First iOS 6 Panoramic Photo And How To Display It As Adjustable Panorama Photo

Apple has just released it's latest iOS 6 this morning, the upgrade through WIFI is seamless and took me just about 15 minutes to complete the upgrade (I am currently using iPhone 4S). Without wasting much time, my first personal "assignment" is to take a panoramic photo to see how it turn out. 

The panorama feature is logically placed in the "Options" button of the camera. Once you tap on the "Options", you will see the new "Panorama" button (refer to the first photo on the left). Tap on the "Panorama" and you will see a progress bar appearing at the centre of the screen with simple text guide underneath it. Move your phone slowly from left to right in a straight line alignment until the progress bar hit the end (refer to the second photo on the left). You can actually end the shooting earlier by tapping on the camera button at the bottom. By the way, if you move your phone too fast, there will be a message alert you to slow down! I must say that taking panoramic photo via iOS 6 is intuitive and seamless.

Viola! Following is my first panoramic photo that I've taken this afternoon at National Library Of Singapore (static view):

My first panoramic photo (fixed view)

Of course, I didn't just stop here as I remember seeing someone incorporate a true panoramic photo online whereby user can dynamically adjust the view in 360 Degree. Thus, I tasked myself to  convert my first panoramic photo into dynamic view too. Through few clicks and searches, finally I managed to find a site called Dermander do just that i.e. automatically convert a panoramic photo into a dynamic view. 

Here is the outcome of my first true panoramic photo (click and drag to look around the photo or double-click to enlarge the image):

Note: If your browser is not supporting the dynamic photo embedded within the blog, click on the link here to view it at the Dermander site. 

What do you think about my very first panoramic photo? Feel free to leave your feedback in the comment section.

Cheers!

    

The Best Gift Is The One Touches The Heart!

Today, 16th Sep is exactly the 15th year since I first met my wife. As usual, we had a wonderful anniversary lunch at the same hotel that we had our wedding ceremony. Till this date, we still exchange anniversary card on this special date and I must say this small piece of paper still managed to warm my heart every time I read what was written there. To me, it is much more precious than the gift and the meals. The reason is because the best gift in the world is the one that touches the heart!

For a relationship, 15 years is not a short time but it's not that long either. We've been through high and low points of our life together, it is a blessing that so far our happier times is much more than the challenging times. Of course, no one can guarantee anything in the future (I am a realist) but I am committed to live the moment with my wife and hope to spend the next 15, 30, 45 years with her arms in mine.

Following are some photo shots from our anniversary lunch today:

Solo shot 

Solo shot with sorbet 

solo shot... again

couple shot with the complimentary cake from the hotel

Cheers!

iPhone 5 Launch Event Live Coverage - 12 Sep 2012

At this moment, iPhone fans over the world are waiting eagerly for the launch of the new iPhone (let's just name it iPhone 5 for the time being). It is exciting as this will be the first new generation of iPhone to be launched under the helm of new CEO, Tim Cook.

Many rumored concept model has been distributed rigorously and some of the anticipated enhancements like bigger screen, thinner handset and the new earphone (called Earpods) might be the real stuff, just saying.  

In any case, regardless where are you now, as long as you have internet connection, you are able to watch the live coverage here (via Youtube):

Cheers!

The Missing Piece Of Jigsaw in Work-Life Balance is YOU!

Since the National Day Rally 2012 by Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong , the topic of work-life balance has once again stirred up the public interest in a broader scale. In fact, besides trying to achieve a more balanced lifestyle of the workforce in general, the Government is trying to resolve a long standing national issue, which is the declining birth-rate. In short, the Government is hoping that with a more work-life balanced culture, it will encourage more people to at least have more time to think about the offspring.

I personally view that work-life balance policy like flexible work arrangement, longer paid maternity or paternity leaves etc.. is just one piece of the overall picture (jigsaw). Ultimately, it is the individual employee (aka YOU) that need to balance it themselves i.e. not the Government, not the employer and not even the supervisor. Why do I say so? Because only you know what you need in your personal life and what is deemed BALANCED to you. In short, it doesn't means that working lesser hour in the office compound directly translated into work-life balance culture. With the ever increasing mobile and the "always connected" workforce, we are "working" (at least mentally) practically every waking moment. 

Thus, it is really up to the individual to really segregate the "Working hours" vs "Personal Life hours" to strike a balance for themselves. No one else can do the job better than the individual (YOU). Of course, it is still important for the Government to introduce these work-life balance to "officially" facilitate the necessary arrangement that the staff deemed fit in their context.

In short, do not rely solely on the Government to strike a work-life balance for YOU, YOU need to balance it yourself as you are the missing piece of this huge jigsaw puzzle.

Cheers! 

Add Oil

For Chinese, whenever we want to express our encouragement to other whenever they are facing with some challenges like sporting event, exam or during difficult times, we will usually use the words "加油" which literally translated into "Add Oil" in English.

I am sure there was a proper allusion for such words. but I personally like to interpret it as we, human being, are just like any machine or car that require regular maintenance/booster and oil is one of the necessity to lubricate the internal parts of the machine (in the case of human being, our body and mind) so that we are not stuck with the less optimal condition due to the wear and tear. It's a way to reignite our aspiration and push forward! Do you think it make sense? 

Anyway, talking about oil, I will have to mention Schaeffer Oil, which is THE go to brand when come to specialized lubricants (for example Dexos-1 synthetic oil ). It serves across multiple industries like agriculture, manufacturing, trucking and high performance racing. Mind you, it was established since 1839. So, with 173 years of history, I am sure they have done something right!

In summary, whenever you need to express your encouragement to another party, just tell them to "add oil" and if you need the real oil/lubricants, just go to Schaeffer Oil! ;-)

Cheers!