Windows 8

Obviously Microsoft has lost the soul on post-Wintel world. Windows 8 is another failure even with the advertisement featured with Lenka.

They try to incorporate features of mobile devices to make Win 8 used by both desktop & mobile. But they clearly lose their ground. First Win 8 cannot load everything essential at start even on a device with SSD hard disc. Apple's latest Bootcamp fails to load on time making Trackpad without correct setting. Everyone says it is faster to load but I cannot find it with my latest 13" Macbook Pro with Retina Display.

The most aggressive move they have done is using Metro. Now is a mess making user confuse. Sometimes we look at a stylish screen while often we are back to old Windows desktop. They should either use Metro completely and dump the old world or make two merge instead of something hybrid now. That would be a big risk for general users who do not use much of traditional desktop. Simplified layout provided by Metro especially in system setting makes users fail to control & protect their machine. Computer gurus, on the other hand, feel messy switching between the two different layouts based on distinct concepts.

Windows Market is a nice move compared to traditional complex software installation. But how to close an application? I cannot find shut down button / icon. Only the old way (Alt + F4) works?

Compared Apple has made a bit better on incorporating features from iOS to OS X. That seems Microsoft is lacking some guys good at user experience.

django unchained

the marauding masked group who were leaded by the plantation owner hiring brittle brothers hunted by the dentist were damned idiot. that is the second funny thing after the symbolic teeth above the dentist's cart.

the place, candyland, was just opposite to its name. it's rather a hell for black people. there were many henchmen and also ways of brutally punishments for these poor guys.

should the dentist let django meet his wife before the deal? it's hard to say how they would have behaved if they met each other during the dinner. it's so true that every place has someone like stephen trying to betray their fellows for personal gains. i really didn't know jailing broomhilda was for sex slave until reading plot online. it was funny when quentin was dead in such a stupid way.

django was different from normal slaves. he was so much smarter as an expert sniper and shooter at a short time. he wound play the role quite well even though eq was not good enough to prevent the loss of dentist. stephen was another even he's on another side.

my previous mind on leonardo dicaprio was still the young boy in titanic. this film changes the view a lot. christoph waltz made another good job with quentin again while samuel l jackson remained a key guy in quentin's films.

but anyway i like inglourious basterds more. maybe i knew more on wwii than the slavery in the states. and the way of torturing people was much over than the previous one.

Life of Pi

Sorry, I don't have any feeling about the meaning behind the film.

Spoilers below

The worst thing I can spot is the actors' ascent for the protagonist is different. I don't think people change much for the ascent even we can learn for multiple ascent. Do Pi's family have French nationality? And why don't they go to France instead?

Actually Pi is an extreme clever character as shown he can remember the known numbers of pi after decimal points.

Attitude of Pi is right. every religion is a method the god communicates to us. If everyone knows this, there will have much fewer wars, from crusades to war on terror. But his dad was also right, you can only eat vegan if you believe all religions.

I really didn't figure out the cook in the ship is acted by famous Gérard Depardieu. In 70’s, radars were common and early warnings by observatories were available easily, why did the ship still go into that storm?

I thought the zebra was still drugged when it was being attacked. That's why I cannot connect the second story to the first one. How could Pi get the stuff to build the raft & move all stuff to it when Richard Parker was in the lifeboat? Richard Parker should have a connection long before. It did not kill him when he brought a meat to it.

The floating island looks like a woman, the acidic lake at night is which part of the island? I think the knowledge, not just the religion saved Pi to make him leave the island.

That is normal for Richard Parker to leave him when they finally arrived the coast. Don’t look back when there is future ahead, otherwise you will lose the chance forward. But of course that’s grief to separate especially since we are emotional.

lego city #4431 ambulance

pros:

1. look gorgeous; much better than #6666
2. sewage well is printed!!!
3. torso of paramedic is beautiful
4. many places to access the inside of car
5. interior is much better
6. best of the great vehicles in my mind

cons:

1. stickers!!!!
2. sticker for star of life is smaller than #6666
3. helmet is not stylish
4. why is the patient is a man?
5. hedges are too big
6. no back window
7. too much lighting at the back but not front
8. wheels of stretcher cannot be risen

pix: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hermanwest/tags/4431/

lego city #4201 loader and tipper

pros:

1. many new parts
2. 2 vehicles covering different functions
3. gold colour
4. design simple & brilliant
5. most value packed among five sets sold in this wave

cons:

1. stickers
2. too many plastic bags & books
3. no doors for tipper
4. a bit too simple for mining

way to the end

i would like to complete my view on the remaining last eight episodes of [h]ouse but some are too boring. even worse is there were no emmys nominations no matter how hard hugh laurie & robert sean leonard performed. i give up anyway to make my memory sticking on good stuff.

the farewell is attractive. nearly every important characters have come back & my favourite should be post mortem.

people don't change!

P.S. Who will kill thirteen when her huntington worsens? last time house agreed to kill her but now house has hidden away for last moment of his best friend.

road before last eight

chase: he just blamed everyone for making him stabbed in last episode. but he forgot that's his decision to treat in that way to get himself hurt. his clinic session picked this episode's patient, a postulant. and he then slept with her & then made operation on her.  it's funny too see actions between house & taub. taub got trained to prevent being attacked & house tried to prove that's coward. another episode is without wilson.

man of the house: haha finally administration checked house's so called "marriage". wilson & park tried to help but eventually failed. luckily his "wife" saved their asses. except taub, all team members were stupid to fight for the team leader post. if you don't wannabe getting angry easily, simply follow the patient, kick the crotch.

love is blind: house's mom is cool. her lover is also cool. wilson is also cool. birthmark cannot prove anything, how house can be so stupid. i also like park getting drugged. everybody lies even still loving you. please don't think there is no cheating when you want some private space.

nobody's fault

patient: the diagnosis patient originally had should be shown in the show more than once
chase: stupid when he knew patient becomes aggressive after injected steroid
cofield: hypocritical. patient's wife changed the game
foreman: more to be house. wanna getaway from trouble by using his mentor as hearing judge. but he brought the patient to the team
house: he's still true. but is his method right? steroid made his team dangerous

does anyone find there's no wilson?

runaways

patient: even she's 19, she's still too old to be under 18. she still meets the view the creator thinks, people don't change
b story: another funny story with differential analysis. why to use real bullets in re-simulation?
adams: win house (shooting) & lose (studying people's mind)
wilson: he's right on house to protect patient & on taub to connect the kids by making common ground
taub: work hard to be a dad
foreman: another strange guy, formal outside but silly inside. wants an affair with other's wife in private only?
chase: so damned true about "men love commitment-free sex"
park: just only losing $100 on silly game

last episode was everybody lies, this one is people don't change. to remind us the backbone of the show

better half

patient & family:

• did her wife cheat?
• the "boyfriend" story is a bit too short.
• actually he should be dead after going out into freezing temperature
• the sickness is a bit simple

house & team:

• house knows portuguese? house's wish finally comes truth. winning wilson for n times & taken off the monitor
• chase is so dark, wish to see him more in his episodes later
• no matter what i think park is poor
• foreman finally cracks post-cuddy behaviour after the card game? welcome back to the team

patient b & wilson:

• asexual only priests & buddhist monks can do. all others are illness. that's what his wife shows
• wilson subconsciously asked house to handle patient b as he doesn't trust that too. but his moral behaviour cannot resolve them out & find house to solve. that US$100 is worth to pay.

house

so far we still don't know whether this season will be the last...

twenty vicodin: i like this episode to start this season. that introduced how house lives after crash into cuddy's house. no friends visited him, but he is as smart as always. how he handles twenty vicodin is cool. i even don't know the gang leader is 24's mike. first member of his new team appears who i think she is prettier than jennifer morrison or olivia wilde.

transplant: lung made thing worse. i don't know why there can be a story on a lung for lung transplant. either use it or waste it should be known long before the transplant. it is strange to let it stay in the midway with no fluid surrounding it. and also how house can practice directly back from prison? bring in another team member. new one is as odd as house but i like masters a bit more. it's funny wilson cannot live without house.

charity case: celebrity's episode with prison break lead actor and last appearance of thirteen. house needs money to rebuild the office & his team so to choose this good guy. thirteen is back for guilty and a nice move to leave her guilty free.

risky business: another fund raising case for house. fixed park's mind so to concentrate to work on his team and further understand adams' background. finally house used a bit trick to get enough money to run the whole team and get the office back from disturbing noise by cutting off plaster.

the confession: new series theme with new full team. omg taub is in trouble with two babies from different moms. are both daughters from him? so strange chase didn't need to work for an year. still everybody lies and it does so well! funny to see how house makes the wall between his office & wilson's office removable.

parents: why do people lie? there's a good reason for the case. but the kid is poor for whole life. know why adams behaviour is a bit different from those are wealthy. taub finally fixes his stuff did in last season. wilson is cheated by house & foreman! but conditional release can allow them to go to another town?

dead & buried: i like this story as it focuses on two cases instead of one making the story not so dull. but how can foreman be so rude to house while cheated with house last time? would this the final quote of cuddy until she's back for one more time?

perils of paranoia: can park be with chase? or adams with chase? is that girl the first after foreman with thirteen?  but foreman will be in trouble both in his personal & work if he is still with that girl. another funny house wilson game.

btw good to see the cool clinic cases back

lego kingdoms #7189 mill village raid

pros:

1. new animals
2. another set not purely for military
3. no sticker

cons:

1. windmill design is too weak. the base can rotate?
2. barn cannot hold the horse and the car together...
3. box is too small to hold even half completed stuff inside

some pix taken

torchwood miracle day

1. jack took back the device stolen by his former lover angelo from torchwood institute, but there is no further development in this series?
2. is phicorp collapsed?
3. can doctor explain the blessing?
4. does jack has blood type? so rex does not reject?
5. rex leads another torchwood?
6. what is plan b?

btw how come langham place relocated to shanghai?

mission: impossible – ghost protocol

five years after the last one, i went to see it due to brad bird's brilliant stuff in pixar, the incredibles & ratatouille and the film doesn't break my glasses.

story is reasonable and also shows their gears do not always work! & that's a bit odd for jeremy renner to ask tom cruise how to escape from attacak in order to make tom believe him as an analyst instead of a field agent. ghost protocol... is just barely related to the story.

btw how come tom's female colleague is not beauty even this one is much better than the one in mission: impossible ii. on the other hand the female assassin looks much better and cool who really did the right job. checked she is a french and maybe the reason why to have this feeling in my head.

i like the character portrayed by anil kapoor rather than the one in 24. if there's another mission: impossible film, will jeremy renner be back?

last few months

finally finished assignment so have time to get updates. yup, i go to back to school (the same university i graduated) to study master of science in finance. part is for work while another is for my own.

but my health is not good after big changes in many things and need to regain. but progress is not fast at all. lucky still have some money to spend on stock investments. hope my choice is right and be fruitful later on.

besides study & work, i paid a lot to expand my stocks on lego. sometimes i have luck on getting special designs on minifigures series but more often i'm in bad luck... besides i got another winter set, 10216 winter village bakery, an year after it launched. in hk we can only get winter sets through official channel an year after.

only one cd was brought, speak now world tour live by taylor swift. she rocks for the whole year and that is a good collection of her performance for her tour.

tvb peral finally played shaun the sheep 2 but they played the xmas episode one month earlier to xmas. what a shame. btw home sheep home 2 is cool. wasted me some time to crack the levels. and now trying to finish torchwood miracle day within this year. but don't think have time to watch house...

journey of poirot is still in progress but in slow move. currently being struck at hallowe'en party which i had watched the tv version on sky above middle east (one of the favourite place of agatha christie)

lastly i'm typing in front of a new monitor after facing old one for 7 years...

all of you

summer time we need something simple, fresh, energetic and optimistic. the previous two albums i think the compilation of the songs are not very good, but this time is much better. but this album by colbie caillat can make you feel that. especially you cannot enjoy sunshine while others are staying under the sun & playing around.

apple mac os x lion on mid 2009 13” macbook pro

one of the greatest things for apple inc this month should be launch of latest osx, lion. there is no need to introduce it here as apple’s site does a better job.

today the curiosity has driven me to the app store & bought the latest os x. download was not long for over 2.7gb stuff. before installing, un-mounted boot camp partition and stopped running non-apple default applications to make sure installation going smooth. around half hour later, the installation was complete and it is rebooted.

i love the new login screen, the background is simple & also showing the machine is connected with wireless or not and how much battery is left. first time running was a bit frustrated, speed was a bit too slow. and the new multi-touch gestures make the old geeks unconformable. two-finger scroll does the different way as it was in slow leopard.

the biggest problem i hit was related to boot camp. unlike others, i don’t have problem to get boot camp partition mounted. but since there is no more disc for lion, latest windows drivers for boot camp 4.0 are needed to download instead. but the download does not support wireless lan! i needed to unplug the connection to router and plug it directly to the macbook… anyway windows experience index increases by 0.1 point with update of display driver.

launchpad, the idea from ios, doesn’t impress me much for those new functions i tried. maybe i’m out-dated. the old presentation is enough. but mission control rocks, it’s much better than the old expose. and lion runs smoother later. seems something was fine tuning at first one.

lego city #3661 bank & money transfer

pros:

1. rare – only 3 sets including this one are related to bank. this is the only one with theft & police to have a complete story;
2. nice colouring;
3. design of bank is mixed of modern (glass window) & 60s (sign);
   
4. with safe inside;
5. with ATM in details;
6. with an impressive look of security transport;
7. i love the thief’s motorcycle design. a few more we can have a motocross

cons:

1. why is there no cctv? there is only alarm & staff wait for police car nearby;
2. front top cover of security transport is very loose;
3. police with hat cannot sit straight in his car;
   
   
4. ATM still differs from reality;
   
   
5. interior of the bank is too weak in order to emphasize the safe. and there are too many flowers;
6. design of the safe is not safe enough. there is a big gap between ceiling & the top of the gate;
   
   
7. last but not least, in order to be environmental friendly, the box is made too thin. how can i pack the things up without breaking them completely?

P.S. why the driver of security transport is also a policeman instead of coming from private security firm?

&... am i so lucky or quality is really worse? another faulty part is received.



P.S. replacement is received

last 4 episodes for [h]ouse season 7

changes – i think it’s in quite traditional [h]ouse style except having too few clinic scenes. It had enough cuddy, wilson, the team especially thirteen (their new selling point). and even cg on medical is back.

cuddy’s mom actually loved house to be her daughter’s partner. they obviously had similar personalities.

and the team but not taub who was already miserable with his ex-wife were also miserable. chase wanted to be clean on sex before finding a new true love but failed. foreman wanted to show he is not controlled by house but also failed. thirteen was even more worse after her brother’s dead. she even said, “miserable is miserable, we are who we are, lottery is stupid”.

 

fix – luckily had arranged two patients (actually three) to make the episode at okay level. main one was typically detective drama way but handled badly. second one was from house & wilson gambling to fix huddy break up & it’s ok with that length of story. 3rd one was putting himself in real danger even he’s done a lot of dangerous ways before. but he should be fine or otherwise you cannot see him in the eighth season.

cuddy only made a cameo again…

 

after hours – seems like they need to bring few story lines together in one episode in order to make it attractive. this time the combination is quite nice. thirteen finally broke her own barrier due to murdering on her own sick brother with help from chase. taub faced the truth finally after all these years cheated his ex-wife rachel. he’s finally a man. house was stupid in order to get back his muscles. wilson was right on house but what he needed more is cuddy!

 

moving on – finally watched this over a month after it’s out … medicine for this season finale sucks. even layman can find the problem.

mental problem of the patient is a bit better. it was written that her mind was like house, but that part is not easy for normal audience to understand. both thought themselves miserable, but patient can pass thru it easily while that’s not for house

he told cuddy he was hurt and then said it’s not  your fault. so cuddy moved on and house saw she’s dating. he got mad and finally figured how to move on. that’s cut the connection completely.

so that’s normal for cuddy not to come back in next reason.

i don’t like 13’s hairstyle in this episode… but she will be much hotter in cowboys & aliens.

how will taub handle his babies? which one will be legitimate?

 

P.S. every computer in the show is now mac. but why not cell phones are also from apple inc?

lego city #8403 city house

pros:

1. modular
2. a new way to present civilian home
3. with enough details from outside to inside with limited size, i.e. rubbish bin, post box, bbq stand, tree house etc

cons:

1. stickers as always
2. house is a bit small when compared to the garden. minifig doesn’t have enough room for cooking
3. why is there no rat? raised base of the house is a good place for rats