"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"!)

Play iPod/iPhone Games Handsfree! [iOS]

I saw this at miyagi.sg a while ago and found it so ridiculously hilarious.



I understand well that this is an marketing effort, but, this really tempts to me add the following caption to the video:

If you paid for this, you were scammed!

Mayorant: Benchmarks, Benchmarks, Benchmarks...

Source: Phandroid

(Image from cloggedgears)

Samsung Galaxy S II scores an amazing score of 3,500 in Quadrant, a popular Benchmarking app.

So?

In case there are still people still obsessed about benchmarking, I want to make this clear: Benchmarks DO NOT translate to real world performance, and is easily tweaked by developers. Go do a search in XDA-Developers Forums if you still have doubts.

That said, congratulations to Samsung for being able to please the ignorant crowd, and let's see how it transfers to real-life performance with your wonderful tweaks that irritated quite a number of Samsung Galaxy S developers and owners.

It's still not OVER 9000!

Japanese Mobile Phone Ad: A Work Of Art [Mobile]

I've always admired the physical designs of Japanese phones. They're unlike the phones that are sold in Singapore (usually 'forwarded' from the US), holding the same boring look:
- Black/Dark brown/Silver/(rarely)White
- Rectangular design with rounded corners
- One odd looking button at the bottom that probably serves as a stress(making) ball

The brands that our market provides can be counted with both of my hands: Apple, HTC, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Nokia. There may be more, but I usually filter them out of my vision because their physical designs just don't catch my eye!

I wish phones had more variety like this and promoted artistically like what you're seeing below:



Cue the Touch Wood SH-08C, a concept model available at NTT Docomo, sold at a limited amount of 15,000 sets. It's made with the Shimantou Hinoki carved into the shape of a bean. The website even has a disclaimer indicating that the colors of each phone may vary by a little, showing that the phones are made of actual wood with little human interferance to the natural 'waves' of the wood.

It is wear and tear durable, water resistant, worm resistant and fungal resistant. Here's a quick list of the features available:
- "Feel the Forest" theme by moretrees
- Easy to use design where you can customise your buttons
- QWERTY soft keyboard
- Calling buttons and the lock button
- 5.3MP camera
- 3.4" AQUOS AVS screen
- Eco mode to save battery life
- Pedometer
- Noise cancellation

The first thought I had when I saw this phone was "Why did they design it like a kidney? Did some Yakuza sponsor for it?" Still, it'd be a fresh experience if it were to appear in Singapore, even though it probably would be stuffed into one corner of the store.

Really, it wouldn't be too much to ask for phones in more colors, would it?

Drooling at the thought of LG ice cream and Google Ice Cream, from the Biased blog, peace out.

Motorola Announced Unlockable Bootloaders. Nobody Believes. [Android]

Source: AndroidPolice

(Image from XDA-Developers)

The above was a photo taken from prison cell #1203, the latest offender in the house. Nicknamed Atrix.

As you might or might not know, Motorola's Android phones are ALL locked down at bootloader level, except for the Droid. Which resulted in many dissatisfied customers. Mainly because of their shoddy programming and slow updates.

They released a statement just today:

"It is our intention to enable the unlockable/relockable bootloader currently found on Motorola XOOM across our portfolio of devices starting in late 2011, where carriers and operators will allow it.”

LIES, here's a few reasons why:
- Tethering: In the US, tethering costs money, and the carriers earn from it

= MONEY

- Carrier and partners' app bloatware: Money-making schemes for the carriers and their partners

= MONEY

- Bootanimation: Instead of awesome bootanimations that can be changed in the kernel, they force you to stare at the carriers' or the Big M logo and make you a walking advertisement

= MONEY

In short, it all amounts to one reason: MONEY.

Prove me wrong then, release devices as fun as the Nexus series, or continue to have your PR department tortured by us Facebook users.

Stop Hiding Your Love For Steve Jobs, iPhone Users [Idolism]

Source: Gizmodo

(Image from Wired.com)

Well well, iPhone users. As much as you all would like to deny, many of you know Steve Jobs, or even love him. In your little closet, you might have googled images of him from all angles, holding magical devices on stage, imagining if you were the devices instead, held by his magical fingers.

That probably will not happen, but you can now do the reverse: imagine Steve Jobs lives in your iPhone and hold him in your hands instead. You always knew he's looking after you from your phone, don't you?

You probably would gather all your believer friends in a small room, put your iPhone with that magical casing on a table with Steve Jobs facing all of you, kneel down and bow to him for his magic.

Update: It seems that the product has been taken off the planes of reality, but we have provided two alternatives for you to drool at. Enjoy!

(Image from Geeky-Gadgets.com)

(Image and details at Gizmodo)