It’s been 3 weeks or so since my baby came home with me. It’s been a wonderful 3 and a bit weeks hahahaha! I know it’s just a “bigger version” of the Iphone to many, but it is a lot more than that to me. Essentially, when it came to basic email, surfing and various other things I do on the Internet, it’s pretty much replaced my laptop. The only reason why I still need my laptop is to 1) sync it with certain things like contacts, 2) mess around with games and 3) there are just some things that don’t work on the IPad.

Even with games though, I haven’t played much in WoW, haven’t touched Aion since like the 3rd month I was playing and the most I played was really short campaigns on RA3. Yeah, I haven’t even bought starcraft II (oh the blasphemy). Time wise, I have just been busy and easily tired from my current lifestyle (physio, doctor, physio, doctor, work work work) which isn’t much, to say the least, but it all adds up. So, the light but addictive games, like Angry Birds more or less satisfy the need to be occupied with something that isn’t reality.

the things that I find don’t work very well on the ipad are some php-based forums. Specifically, the wysiwyg editors on most of them. Maybe it’s just me, but the keyboard won’t even come up because it’s not recognised as a type-in spot. However, I don’t usually need to contribute (except on whirlpool, then I seem to like talking to the wall), so that’s not a big issue in itself.

So! how did I spend the 64gigs? not very well, I’m afraid. The 64gigs was bought with the thought in mind that I will eventually use up the 64gigs on movies and other forms of documents. The Iphone has been relegated to the spot of being mostly music, phone and other small time wasters (such as, yet another form of angry birds session!). It also contains my current schedule, calendar and small bits and pieces that, should I leave my IPad behind (rarely), I still have a piece of my life with me.

on a side note, I would just like to point out since the last update, the Iphone has been slowly, but surely, started spluttering. I have noticed 1 other person mention this, and thought mine was ok. Well, it’s not. It’s starting to lag to the point where the apps themselves sometimes close from (gasp!) too much activity. of course, resetting it to factory settings or the last checkpoint might solve the problem. or a specific update to the 3g model – but I am not holding my breath.

Back to the IPad. I have since bought alot of apps for it, about 3 pages worth (the above image is deceiving for many reasons). I have yet to organise them properly, so they are all over the place. but, as you can see, I did download lots of news apps and other “school related” things (appropriate since I am doing my Diploma in Nursing). I have yet to buy more because, well, there are a lot of them in the store that is really a sub-par effort in making IPad apps. More like placeholders for the developers while they are busy trying to play catch up and watch the market.

There are also enough free content to satisfy what I want, if not, they come at a very nominal fee (under $5). Of course, some of the apps here are more than that and well, I like them enough to fork out the money HAHAHA!

My favourite news related apps so far are: Pulse and Flipboard.

Pulse is essentially a rss-reader. So no, it’s not just for news but I use it as a news aggregator (as well as some journals) more than anything else. It’s not just boring bits and pieces, some even comes with pictures and it’s aesthetically pleasing to look at. For the most part (ugly news papers like SMH and The Age just refuse to have photos on RSS hahahaha). Pulse works really smoothly, looks beautiful, comes with an all right in-app browser (just enough to read the news you want and then some).

Flipboard, on the other hand, is a little harder to explain. It’s not an RSS feeder, but it works like Twitter is an RSS Feed, except it pulls relevant info and bits and pieces of articles right off the site, as per the link that is given on Twitter. This is a point of contention at the moment as people are wondering if there is a copyright infringement then. I am more inclined to say no as, when you retweet and post it on facebook, the links has no reference to flipboard whatsoever – unless you are retweeting from a flipboard twitter then there is, but a small reference.

Looks wise, they have converted everything into a magazine format, with the “cover” of it, a photo from one of your twitter feeds. it is exquisite to touch and as easy as can be. However, it is still, more or less, in Beta form, thus it is likely to encounter problems and bugs. I spent most of the last week after obtaining the app, being faced with a server overload issue (thanks to its popularity, it was reviewed on just about every tech sites) and had to join a “queue” to be invited into using the app.

All in all, I am pretty happy with my IPad. It’s almost a replacement for my laptop for me. It works quick, is lightweight enough to cart around regularly (it goes everywhere with my kindle, iphone, wallet, camera and me!) and provides entertainment, information and more to me. Ultimately, I guess, the IPad is defined by the apps you have got on it – thusly resulting in what you do with it. It’s not a laptop, but it can be (cue logmein ignition) to a certain degree. It’s not a TV although it can be as good as one.

With nursing school underway, I have got a notes App, which is set up differently from my word processor App (Pages), complete with a Gray’s Anatomy App, WebMD app (symptoms checker), Medical Dictionary and Medical Abbreviations app. All these little things add up – and truly, they add value to my IPad than I can imagine!!!

++++ <3 <3 <3

Current Mood:  cheerful

When I first started politics as a course in ANU in 2003, it was amazing. I was completely filled with naivety and the sheer amount of knowledge I have to acquire to stay afloat in the course overwhelmed me. I mean, I thought I was smart – but the amount you need to know in politics is so broad that it’s both cool and scary. To be a minister of a single portfolio also requires you to know bits and pieces from across other subjects and etc etc. That impressed me just a little.

At the same time, I also fully learn the power of the “opposition” and what they are meant to do. I mean, I am from Singapore after all, we really only have a what… 1 man opposition? haha.

anyways. In 2003, my textbooks listed the ALP as a party that hasn’t been in power for a while and even when they did, it wasn’t for long and there weren’t many (2 prime ministers in total if I remember right). as a party that has too much infighting to really support themselves through an election, much less through an empowered term. Indeed, it seemed they have had a number of leadership changes.

Then, Kevin Rudd came along, with his bright smile, ability to converse in mandarin (oh that bit melted my asian heart HAHAHAHA) and just charmed a whole nation into his pockets. I will admit, I absolutely love his charms. At the same time, I adored his confidence, his ideas on education, health reform, climate changes and some other smaller proposals. This is, of course, in consideration that I intend to live here permanently, that this would be my country and I would love to live here according to those proposals.

The Liberals, on the other hand, seemed to have turned into the ALP’s old self. There were many infightings straight after the 2007 election and they went through leaders like toilet paper.

I don’t really know when it happened – or maybe I do. I am not disillusioned by Rudd, since I am more than willing to give him and his party a large inch to get things done. I firmly believe that if his predecessor has left him a certain mess (and indeed, some portfolios were severely neglected and therefore some legislations hasn’t changed despite many changes in technology and etc), that Rudd and his inexperienced party would take time to “fix things”. so to speak.

I think, however, that people got tired of waiting for things to happen. And when things did, such as the home insulation case, and then delaying the CPRS legislation till 2013, the emissions trading scheme till 2011… things hurt him. In every interview that questioned him about his motives, about his lack of popularity in the last couple of months, he was quick to draw attention to other “important issues”.

now… it seems the infighting has grown into something else. In fact, it doesn’t seem like infighting in the papers. It’s just as if, the party refused to toe the line with Rudd anymore.

Julia Gillard is now our first female prime minister.

It feels strange to see those words at the moment. like I said, I really liked Rudd back then. I still do to a certain extent, so this is a feeling of loss for me.

At the same time, I like Julia Gillard and what she was proposing for education changes, how she supported Rudd and how she seems so down to earth and all. It just feels so odd after all.

Of course, this is not definite until the Governor General “accepts” Rudd’s resignation. It is, of course, eminent. I have yet to see the Governor General refusing it lol…

and so, here ends Rudd’s rule, it’s kind of bitter sweet. However, if he’s as temperamental as the papers make him out to be, if he’s everything they say he is in the office towards his own party – well then, he surely deserves the door.

Of course, it is ironic that on such a day as this, the socceroos fail and exited the world cup right in round 1.

p.s this marks a date of firsts of course. Despite Rudd having willingly resigned in the face of a failure of the challenge, it is also the first time a prime minister’s been ousted by his own party. We do have our first female PM!!! that’s quite extraordinary in itself. now textbooks and classes will have to slightly change their tunes (“if you’re not white, male and went to private boy’s schools…” lol)