Launched Project #645 yesterday.

Let’s hope it takes off…

And no, this is not compensated for so it’s based on my personal experience with the gadget.

The Unboxing  & Form Factor

When I first unwrapped the gadget, I expected the Samsung Galaxy Note to be rather heavy given it’s huge 5.3-inch screen but was pleasantly surprised to find that the smartphone was really light (178g) and packed a beautifully slim design.

+1.

However, I do feel that there was a slight letdown for the back cover. It seems like the plastic material was flimsy and would not stand up too well to rough handling. -1

Display

There are no words to aptly describe the awesome display. Boasting a HD SUPER AMOLED Display, this is no doubt the best smartphone touchscreen display that I’ve seen. Colours were wildly vibrant and vivid, images and text were highly defined and crystal clear. Reading emails, texts, and watching videos suddenly became a luxury on the Galaxy Note. It was beautiful.

Major plus. +5

Battery Life, Software

While I was reveling in the brilliant display, a small nagging thought popped up. Will the awesome display compromise the device’s battery life? There’s no point having a great gadget/phone if it’s going to run out of juice quickly, leaving me stranded without connectivity.

Fortunately, it seems like the 2,500mAh battery is more than capable of powering through at least 1.5 days per charge (based on my usage and that’s pretty heavy given my love for all things social + emails on the go). +1

The Galaxy Note operates on the Android™ 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) Platform. This was actually abit of a drawback for me given that I’ve been using the iOS for a long, long time. However, Android does provide a little more freedom for users to customise their phones, and buyers would already know about this prior purchase – hence, no issue here.

Another thing worth highlighting here: The 1.4GHz Dual Core Application Processor also made multi-tasking on the smartphone alot less painful with minimum lagging.

S Pen, S Memo

Another unique feature of the Galaxy Note is that it came with a stylus. My god, how long was it when we were using one of those things? And they don’t even work well half the time.

The S-Pen, however, gave me a run for money. I was rather impressed with the sensitivity of the S-Pen stylus and it proved to be a great productivity feature when jotting down notes during a meeting.

What’s more (and even better) is that users can use the S-Pen to select and outline an object in a picture to crop it directly!

No additional photo editing software required. This was easily one of my favourite feature. Photo-editing made easy. +1

I’m not going to go into technical specs – you can easily google that if you need those details.

All in all, I felt that the Galaxy Note performed well in all aspects and the display, in particular, was outstanding. Users, however, will need to consider if the size is something that they can get used to and fit into their lifestyle. If it’s yes on both counts, I say the Galaxy Note would be an attractive option to consider in your next smartphone purchase.

*All pictures from www.samsung.com/sg.

Sinful Indulgence

I ain’t a sweet tooth and, considering that these sort of indulgences are bursting with calories, I’m pretty picky about my desserts. Many of the brownies out there are overly sweet with weak chocolate flavour – so I’ve taken to making my own.

Dark chocolate goodness.

And this is the way my brownie crumbles.

Sometimes, we find ourselves at a cross-road in this process, especially when the decision is a particularly hard one – do we do what we think is right (according to our personal values/logic)? But what if that option’s fraught with challenges and hence, so much more difficult to execute? Or do we do what’s the easiest or most efficient (which may not be necessarily wrong – depending on perspective)? Or do we do what will benefit us the most?

Very often, there’s no clear-cut, ten-year-series answers to such difficult questions and it’s really more of a judgment call. How then do you make the decision?

I came across this two-part YouTube video about a boy, Ben Breedlove, who died on Christmas Day after fighting a serious heart condition for most of his life. Shortly before his death, he posted a two-part video on YouTube, in which he silently describes his life and several near-death experiences through cue cards.

After watching the video, one thing stayed with me. When he was near the verge of death, he thought about the way he led his life and he was proud of how he did it.

Sometimes, some of us tend to over-analyse our problems, but ultimately, perhaps the litmus test should be… would this be a decision that we would be proud of when we look back five, ten or even twenty years down the road.

I thought this video was worth sharing and I hope you’ll gain some perspective from it as well.

Nurse reveals the top 5 regrets people make on their deathbed | Arise India Forum

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.
I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life.

Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end.
That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what  others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness.

Source: Arise India Forum

Reading the article, it seems like I can already identify with a few. As a reminder to myself to try to live life to the fullest on my terms instead of getting all caught up in the humdrum and rat-race, I’m posting this here and sharing it with you.

It isn’t easy to have no regrets, but we can try to minimise them as much as possible.

Madness

This just might be true. In a nice way.

easy money

Photos courtesy of and copyright Free Range Stock, www.freerangestock.com and Chance Agrella

Flipping through the papers, it’s common to see ads offering low interest loans which promise that borrowers will get the cash in hand easily and quickly. It seems like all interested parties need to do, according to the copy in the ad, is to call the number stated.

Not just that, I realised that I’ve been getting telemarketing calls from banks quite frequently. Instead of pushing yet-another-damn-awesome-credit-card-with-unbelievable benefits, their focus seemed to have diverted to promoting easy money loans at “extremely favourable interest rates”. Even when turned down, they continue to persist and suggest that their audience can take up this “irresistible offer” to repay some other loans that he/she may be currently servicing.

Honestly, I’m quite appalled at this. For the wiser crowd, this may just prove to be merely abit of a nuisance to have to constantly refuse and turn down these “great deals”.

But what kind of message are we sending to the younger, more impressionable people?

That money’s easy to come by?

That it’s acceptable to enjoy and spend frivolously now by using borrowed money?

That all they need to do is to just dial that number in the ad and, viola, cash in hand!

This is a worrying trend.

Already more kids are now growing up in increasingly privileged environments, even becoming dubbed as the strawberry generation. Would they be able to withstand the pressure and stress, should we face turbulent economic times?

I’m not all that old, and sometimes, I do question myself – for me and my generation, are we really much better as compared to this “strawberry generation”? It’s really time to do a little soul-searching and reflection.

Going back to the easy money topic, it would be easy to try and address this problem by culling such open money loan ads or cold calls. This, however, would be a really superficial solution. Getting to the root of the problem, it may just be worthwhile to try to educate kids about the value of money right from the start – maybe in school or at home, and impart relevant knowledge and skills in helping them learn to manage their money wisely. Sometimes, I really wished that we had that incorporated into our education early on. It’s an essential skill, ain’t it?

Earlier this year, I was fortunate enough to be at the Formula Drift 2011 – pictures from the event for today’s Wordless Wednesday.

Drifting in action

Top 3 @ Formula Drift 2011

Racing track by Singapore Flyer

Skyline from Formula Drift 2011

With the sun, the sea and that gentle breeze.

This is Phuket several years ago.

Although many say it’s over commercialized with endless tourist traps, but I still think it’s a beautiful place that’s worth visiting. After spending almost a month immersed in the many charming but cold cities of Europe, something in my soul is yearning to spend some time with the big ocean, cheery sunshine and inviting pool.

Dream dream dream.

These are by no means professionally taken and they’re more like memory triggers, reminding me of a particular moment in time or event.

Here’s the first of the series:

Pretty night scene at China Square.

Sometimes, all we need to do is to stop in our tracks, take a moment and look around us to discover beautiful sights surrounding us.