"I Give Up" From Supermarket [Fail]

This is not an old story; Singaporeans have seen many posts on forums and blogs such as here and here, reports on local newspapers and even stories enacted comically on national TV. Eventually, it was reported on the news when Temasek Polytechnic invented a seemingly punishing shopping cart in an attempt to solve the problem. In the meanwhile, as the supermarket considers its alternatives, I've realised there's an "accommodating" practice that's been happening in my neighbourhood.

One or two 'stolen' shopping carts from a supermarket was abandoned at the void deck and as the days passed on, more joined in the line as if ready to dance around the bon fire. Here are some pictures that I've taken for the past two weeks:

As per tradition (sadly), staff from the supermarket would make a little excursion down the neighbourhood to pick up these shopping cart. Now, if you've realised, there's a pattern in the slideshow. There is never a day where there are no shopping carts parked 'illegally' at the void deck. It's not because I didn't take a photo of the spacious area deliberately. It was because there was never one day where there are no shopping carts at all. It's as if one cart was left at the void deck so that the residents could park their stolen carts conveniently.

"This doesn't constitute to stealing now, isn't it?"

From now on, it's no longer stealing. It's called borrowing.

Planning for the next grocery shopping trip from the Biased blog. Peace out.

Good Designer Phones Stay In Japan, We Continue Living In A Monochrome World [Mobile]

Source: GSMArena


This makes iPhones look like crap.



There have been several designer phones out over the years, as mobile phones become a symbol of identity and status. However good designer phones should not be judged based on unreasonably-high prices.

Several designer brands have tied up with mobile phone manufacturers, but hardly any revolutionise, and simply put their logo on the phone.

Others are plain ugly:

(Image from KateSpadeLoveAffair)

Which probably only a specific group of people will want, like Singaporeans' favourite MP, Tin Pei Ling:

Anyway... The header video's featured phone, the KDDI iida INFOBAR, is what I mean by a good designer phone. Stylish, simple, designed not just plastered all over the exterior, but extends into the software (Android 2.3 with designer custom UI that is actually practical and drool-worthy) and even the live wallpapers too. Not to mention that it's probably cost-efficient too.

It just probably has a forgettable and bad name.

Now here is my question: Why are Japanese manufacturers reluctant to release their amazing-looking devices outside of Japan? Don't they know that many people overseas are destroying their keyboards drooling over them?

Please, Japan, let our money flow into your wallets, let go of your exclusivity and enjoy an even richer life.

Google Music Beta Tastes Sour For iOS Users [Mobile War]

I initially wanted to let this article pass but it kept coming back into my mind ever since the announcement of Music beta at Google I/O 2011. Here are some of the basic highlights of Music beta (we'll have more of it in a later post):

- Upload your music from your sources (including iTunes and media player playlists)

- Ability to stream it online

- Jams playlist (think iTunes Smart playlist)

- Includes data such as play count, ratings, album artwork

- Tagged to your account so that you can play it on any devices...

...Hold up, you'd say. Any devices? That's impossible because Music beta requires a Flash player. And we all know the all-mighty iPhone doesn't support flash. So, iOS users, if you need any consolation, I'd pat my hand on your back and say "The beta's open to US only. I don't get to use it either... yet."

But really, iTunes is just amazing enough, isn't it? Why would we need something on the cloud? Pffft. I'm sure many of us get the reassuring feeling as we watch our precious data transfer in and out devices via the plain old trustworthy cable.

Just make sure your cat doesn't trip over it when it's doing the transferring.

It's not good for your cat and your data.

Eating sour grapes, from the Biased blog. Peace out.

Review of General Elections 2011

It's been about a week after the GE. This is the first time that I'm a voter and I'm actually glad that the results was as what I had wanted. It was a close call just as with any other areas. We definitely learnt a lot from this year's elections. It's a wake up call with a big sharp whip spank to some, a great encouragement for others and definitely lots of 'boos' and cat calls for the rest. Here's a non-political review on the past few weeks that I've enjoyed sadistically.

Tin Pei Ling vs Nicole Seah
Ah, our all time favorite from the beginning of GE and which is still burning strongly now.
Take a look at Mr. Miyagi's blog post. Within a few seconds of looking at the photos of Tin Pei Ling and Nicole Seah, I came up with this:

The Appeals of Tin Pei Ling and Nicole Seah
Tin Pei Ling	Nicole Seah
In PAP	In NSP
28 years old	24 years old
In a group with very experienced seniors	I only focused her and her only
Married	Single
Possess Kate Spade	Possess great looks
Regrets not bringing her mother to USS SG	I have no idea what her regret is after all that talk
Has many facebook pages created just for her	Has many Likes in her facebook page
Ability to tai chi perfectly	Ability to speak persuasively

I'd put up a points system but it'd be too much for fans for either of them. I'm not going to judge them right now, but wouldn't it be impressive if they battled against each other again 5 years later?

Yam Ah Mee

As a certain someone had told me, Singaporeans probably were so traumatized with the results that they shifted focused to the man of the night: Yam Ah Mee. He became a phenomenon over night with people requesting to be friends with him on Facebook and tribute videos of him here and here. Here's a video of how he spoke originally:

Just perfect for auto-tuning.

Mascots and merchandises

In a bid to grab Singaporeans' attention, some parties came out with mascots and merchandises to sell to their supporters. We have:

The Sinpo Ant from SDA meant to represent the ants' qualities of "team effort, Consultative and Cohesive... and more..." The first thought I had when I saw it was "Were they shortchanged by the designer who designed this?" Apparently not. Well, for a non-artist who drew this, I'd say the Sinpo ant definitely requires a certain amount of effort to create... I think. Other than taking pictures with this mascot, people could also get a Sinpo keychain.

Then there's also :

SDP's bear mascot named Danny. I really couldn't resist thinking that it was creepy looking, especially when hoards of innocent kids ran to it happily. Well, this probably applies to people with warped minds like me. Hey, the bear is cute. Let's not think about what's in there or what it does to the kids when no one is looking.

Lastly, there's PAP's merchandises. We've seen it on TV and every year's National Day. Yes, it shouldn't be a mistake because that's what I thought when I saw it. It's a standard set of PAP flags and caps. They probably had the resources to get the right suppliers for churning out these goods. I did my best attempt to get a good picture of these goods but I couldn't find them anywhere. Well, here's a small compensation on what happens when I tried to search for it on Google. Creepy, isn't it?

The results

The most apparent news that reached my ears is the news of George Yeo and Chiam See Tong. It's impressive because I was probably one of those few who only sat down in front of a laptop, surfing through the net doing something else totally unrelated to the elections and only heard brief news feed from friends who posted their disappointment in Facebook. Well, then there's also PAP's less-than-expected victory at Marine Parade.

The leavers

Following George Yeo's indication that he would be leaving politics, this would be the most recent news as MM Lee and SM Goh announces their retirement right after the elections. Most of us would be happy because after all, these two men deserves their break after serving Singapore for so long. Apparently, SDP likes the idea too and... it'd be better if there was something more following their departure.

I'm sure we're not coming to an end to Singaporeans' heat and interest in the elections. As the saying goes, "We'll probably forget about it in one year's time and lament about it five years later. As usual. Sighs~"

Disclaimers: All pictures and sources belong to its respective owners.

PS: I couldn't help comparing Sinpo and Danny to the elephant and donkey mascots in America. They just sound... cooler

Tech-Tsuko Returns! [Editorial]

Sorry for the lack of updates, we have taken a short break without notice, in short Absent Without Official Leave. So sue us, charge us. Come on.

Anyway, just to announce that Tech-tsuko is not dead, and we have not been slacking off! (Please, try to believe.) We have been following the news closely, and have been keeping tabs of some tsukkomi-able news of late.

And of course, Google I/O! Some exciting news will be coming up, outdated but definitely contains tsukkomi not seen elsewhere!

There will also be a super-long post soon, where I will translate the awesome features arriving in Android and ChromeOS devices for laymen/laywomen to understand! In short: Google announced awesome features and how it changes your life!

Stay tuned! Remember, follow us on Twitter (@techtsuko) and Facebook (via the Sidebar on the right, or search for "Techtsuko"!)