Halloween has been here and gone, a lot quieter this year. Seems like we had fewer kids come by compared to last year. We have a bunch of candy left for those that might want to visit us :)
Anjali looked really cute in her Watermelon costume, don't you think? :)
Thanks to Mike Dubray for the dress from China!
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Flashback: 4 years ago
The blog is now 4 years old! Feels like forever :) It is fun to look back at what I was doing then though.
Anyway, on October 23rd 2003 I wrote in this blog post that I thought AAPL was a good investment. Unfortunately, I did not have *any* money to invest back then.
It turns out that approx. $11.5 invested in Apple stock then would be worth approx. $186 today!
I wish I had found some money to put my opinion to the test; oh well, at least I get to say - I TOLD YOU SO! :)
Anyway, on October 23rd 2003 I wrote in this blog post that I thought AAPL was a good investment. Unfortunately, I did not have *any* money to invest back then.
It turns out that approx. $11.5 invested in Apple stock then would be worth approx. $186 today!
I wish I had found some money to put my opinion to the test; oh well, at least I get to say - I TOLD YOU SO! :)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Whoa, there's a SingStar Bollywood?
SingStar is a series of Karaoke games for the Sony PlayStation 2. I've been curious about some of the SingStar releases before, but this new title just hit me from nowhere - apparently Sony has released a "SingStar Bollywood" and in Europe too.
Someone did their homework too, check the song list -
* Aashiqui - Nazar Ke Samne
* Askar - Jhalak Dikhla Ja
* Chalte Chalte - Chalte Chalte
* Chalte Chalte - Suno Na Suno Na
* Chameli - Sajna Ve Sajna
* Dil Chahta Hai - Koi Kahe Kehta Rahe
* Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin - Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin
* Don - The Chase Begins - Ye Mera Dil
* Dus - Dus Bahane Karlke Le
* Guru - Barso Re
* Guru - Tere Bina
* Ishq Hai Tumse - O Soniya
* Kaal - Tauba Tauba
* Kaal - Kaal Dhamaal
* Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - Where's the Party Tonite
* Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna - Mitwa
* kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - Bole Chudiyan
* kabhi Khushi Kabhie Ghamv - Suraj Hua Maddham
* kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham - Say Shava Shava
* Kal ho na ho - Maahi Ve
* Kal ho na ho - It's the time to disco
* Kal ho na ho - Pretty Woman
* Khakee - Dil Dooba
* Kuch Kuch Hota hai - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
* Kuch Kuch Hota hai - Koi Mil Gaya
* Kya Love Story Hai - It's Rocking
* Main Hoon Na - Main Hoon Na
* Rang De Basanti - Rang De Basanti
* Salaam-E-Ishq - Salaam-E-Ishq
I wonder how I can play this title on my PS3, I'm sure App would dig it :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
10 days to Leopard
Apple confirmed today that the next Mac OS X, Leopard will be released in just 10 days! October 26th, to be precise. In fact, all Macs sold October 1st onwards are eligible for a free upgrade.
I for one am really looking forward to this release. Looking forward to the advances in iChat, installing BootCamp, Quick Look and Time Machine.
There are plenty of new features and although Apple touts 300 new features, you'll have to take that with a grain of salt. It's really more like 100, which is pretty impressive in its own right, I don't know why Apple has to exaggerate at all!
Here's a link to the full list.
Update: AppleInsider says there may be more than 300+ new "features". Maybe Apple should separate the features and the enhancements? To be sure, Leopard appears to be a killer upgrade - a definite must have!
Friday, October 12, 2007
XBox 360 is back, Media Center is awesome!
Alright, finally got my XBox 360 back from the "Repair Center". I've been looking forward to trying a few things.
First, I had some WMV video (Twenty20 cricket) burned to a CD. I tried playing it, works great!
Second, I'd installed Windows XP Media Center 2005 onto my PC and wanted to try it out. It took a little bit of effort to set this up for the XBox. I had to download the Media Center Extender software from Xbox.com. When I tried that, it prompted me to install Media Center Rollup 2 from Microsoft.com. When I downloaded that, it prompted me to install .NET 1.1 and .NET 1.1 SP1!! What's up with this crap MS? Can't make all-in-one updates? I don't mind downloading all those updates in one package to skip the steps!
Anways, the final result after all the installs - stunning! I have a boatload of WMAs on my PC that the Media Center picked up and added Album art to. I also had a compatible TV Tuner card, that let me watch and record Live TV through the 360. The experience was quite compelling - the audio playback even used all the surround speakers, something that music playback from the 360 Dashboard just can't seem to. The Media Center experience on the XBox 360 is one of the standout features and I am amazed it hasn't been pushed more. With Vista, the Home Premium and Ultimate versions have Media Center built-in and with the addition of a compatible TV Tuner, every 360 user with those versions of Windows Vista can partake in the fun. I'm going to spend more time trying the Media Center functionality, watch out for that.
Third, I accumulated a few games when the 360 was gone - Halo 2, Halo 3 and Viva Pinata (for App). We'll have to try those games out. I don't think I'd really play Halo 2 after playing Halo 3 so I've decided to play Halo 2 before opening the Halo 3 game.
For all the trouble I had to go through, Microsoft sent me an anemic 1 month free of XBox Live Gold. It's worth $5 at most - well better than nothing I guess.
First, I had some WMV video (Twenty20 cricket) burned to a CD. I tried playing it, works great!
Second, I'd installed Windows XP Media Center 2005 onto my PC and wanted to try it out. It took a little bit of effort to set this up for the XBox. I had to download the Media Center Extender software from Xbox.com. When I tried that, it prompted me to install Media Center Rollup 2 from Microsoft.com. When I downloaded that, it prompted me to install .NET 1.1 and .NET 1.1 SP1!! What's up with this crap MS? Can't make all-in-one updates? I don't mind downloading all those updates in one package to skip the steps!
Anways, the final result after all the installs - stunning! I have a boatload of WMAs on my PC that the Media Center picked up and added Album art to. I also had a compatible TV Tuner card, that let me watch and record Live TV through the 360. The experience was quite compelling - the audio playback even used all the surround speakers, something that music playback from the 360 Dashboard just can't seem to. The Media Center experience on the XBox 360 is one of the standout features and I am amazed it hasn't been pushed more. With Vista, the Home Premium and Ultimate versions have Media Center built-in and with the addition of a compatible TV Tuner, every 360 user with those versions of Windows Vista can partake in the fun. I'm going to spend more time trying the Media Center functionality, watch out for that.
Third, I accumulated a few games when the 360 was gone - Halo 2, Halo 3 and Viva Pinata (for App). We'll have to try those games out. I don't think I'd really play Halo 2 after playing Halo 3 so I've decided to play Halo 2 before opening the Halo 3 game.
For all the trouble I had to go through, Microsoft sent me an anemic 1 month free of XBox Live Gold. It's worth $5 at most - well better than nothing I guess.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Frets On Fire
It's been a week of gaming! I haven't been really busy at home. In fact, I'm home alone all week. That finally gave me time to start playing "Frets On Fire", an awesome free Guitar Hero clone for the PC/Mac. If you've wanted to try Guitar Hero, you've gotta start with Frets! It's addictive. If you know to search on the right forums, you can get some awesome song packs for it as well. Check it out. I'm off to play GNR's "Welcome to the Jungle". :)
Did I mention that Frets is open-source and free? :)