2008 December | Chatter Of The Squirrel

SMS Idiocy

December 31, 2008 on 11:34 pm | In Rants | 2 Comments

Racked up a phone bill of MYR87 last month. And I wonder how. I don’t make a lot of phone calls. But I guess those cross network SMSes really add up.

I particularly cringe when communicating with people who don’t understand how expensive it is to SMS.

Example of an SMS communique:

Me: You got Ryan’s number?

3hrs pass. So I called. No answer. But an SMS replies.

Jef: Yes boss?

Me: Ryan’s number. Still waiting.

Jef: I didn’t give meh? I gave the number earlier just now….

**SPUTTER**

Now why would I ask for it again if I already got it? Isn’t that obvious enough if you let two or three brain cells flex themselves a little? Why are these pointless SMSes borned and slain in vain? What should’ve costed me 20cts suddenly costed 3x more cos those cells didn’t flex.

I called back to get my answer to end the insanity.

Another one:

Noticed someone selling a pair of Ikea cabinets. Wolf had been saying he wants to buy several sets of those same cabinets for the last 1-2 years. So I immediately messaged him the news, giving him as much info as needed for him to make a decision.

Me: 2x Ikea cabinets for sale. Rm100 each. 2nd hand. Collect near kota kemuning.

Wolf: Which ones?

Now what other piece of Ikea furniture does he even own? There’s only one piece of furniture we have EVER talked about. Why would he need any clarification??

Me: The ones you use in the shop

Wolf: The glass ones? When collect?

When collect?? What? Why would he ask that? Why did I need to explain this ??

Me: You collect when you show up at his house with the cash to pay for it. That’s generally how it’s done. If you want it, say so and I try to get his number.

Wolf: Get his number

Game: Puzzle Quest Warlord

December 31, 2008 on 12:08 pm | In Games | No Comments

Downloaded a ton of little games after I started using my Nokia 6120. Never found the time to install the games before, but I had a bunch of time while waiting for my Barium follow through. Installed Puzzle Quest, and didn’t stop playing till several days later.

This is basically a Bejewelled clone, with an RPG element where the player can learn and cast spells.

Felt compelled to finish the game using all 4 character classes.

And strained my eyes no end, from peering at the tiny phone screen to look for combos. Retrospectively, this was not a worthwhile sacrifice…

With any character, after level 15-ish, you’ll have found some runes that can get you mana quickly and spells that can manipulate the board thus leading to combos that keep generating extra turns and direct damage until even the 100+ HP dragon is a pile of smoldering ashes.

But the game is over all too quickly. The Nintendo DS incarnation of the game probably lasts a lot longer.

Movie: Ghost Town

December 28, 2008 on 8:49 am | In Movies | No Comments

Romantic comedy. A walking, giant prick starts seeing dead people after a colonoscopy complication.

Dead guy wants walking prick to help his widow. Prick didn’t want to. Then he does. Dead guy sees the light.

Happy ending.

The same story has been told tons of times. Like Ghost. Sixth Sense. Just Like Heaven. Ghost Dad. This one isn’t as good as the first two, but probably better than that last one. There’s always an odd sort of appeal about these ghost stories, so it always gets told over and over again. They’re never anything to go crazy about. But always a refreshing change of pace every once in a while.

The nice thing is, that such projects never have anything to prove. They’ve no hype to live up to. They’re not trying to out do anybody. Nor bust any blocks. So any able and likeable actor can deliver a reasonably entertaining performance.

This one has the clueless boss from The Office. Not the American one, from the funny one. Also the lightning bolt trader in Stardust. Ben Stiller’s boss from Night At The Museum. Quite a fun guy to see sometimes.

Macro Stuff

December 23, 2008 on 5:22 pm | In Photography | 1 Comment

Just got this in the mail.

Put them together, and you get this:

Got it for cheap via eBay. Less than MYR40 with delivery from HK.

Put this between the SLR and the lens, and use your normal camera lenses to take macro photos. One of the pieces is a reversing ring too.

My first attempt:

Random SO-DIMM RAM. From Macro Tools

This isn’t a very sophisticated piece of equipment. The instructions that came with it is as below.

All it does is put a little distance between the lens and the camera, and you’ll be able to focus closer to your subject. Put the 3 middle rings in different combination to get different tube length. With this cheapo thing, everything’s manual. No auto-focus. No aperture control.

In fact, with the newer DA lenses which don’t come with an aperture ring, you can’t even open up the lens aperture. I had to use a piece of tape to hold the aperture open when taking this shot.

My best lens only has an aperture size of f3.5. I think it’ll be better if I can get hold of a cheap 50mm f1.4 lens.

The material is light but sturdy enough. The black anodized paint is sure to give at some point. The most important thing, is that care must be taken when installing the lens to the cheap adapter unit. It’s possible to turn the adapter ring too far and jam it onto the lens.

Still, it’s good for the money.