At first it was just a “slightly unusual lunch outing” at Turf Club Road. Reason why I said “unusual” was because we brought Milo along to this dog café that serves human foods (to human of course) too.
But what is even unusual was where we went after lunch.
My wife and I were thinking of getting baby cam for monitoring our baby when he sleeps at night. There are many different kinds of baby cam in the market, priced ranging from $300 to $600 SGD. Even Singtel offers baby cam service for remote monitoring via mobile phone on monthly subscription basis.
We have no issue with the cost, but my problem is, those cams aren’t exactly cool and sexy in terms of product design; more over, I am not a big fan of spending money on something that is useful for only a short period. Once Jude starts to walk and talk, the cam is no longer useful per se. Well unless I can find a cam that moves and follows Jude where ever he goes (maybe something like R2D2?)
With this in mind, I began to think I can put the old MacBook into a good use. Why MacBook? Because it has a built-in webcam (iSight). Don’t worry if you don’t have MacBook, any spare computer, be it Mac or PC, as long as you have a webcam connected to it, you are good! The rest of this post will be made into a step-by-step instruction for easy reference. So here we go…
Yes, I’m finally making a new year resolution. It’s not like I have never done this before, but to make it official, no. The success gurus will tell you only by making it official, you have greater chance of actually achieving it! So here I am making it official. Because I mean to achieve it!
First and foremost: Get back in shape.
Shame on me, this was supposed to be in my 2008 resolution (I had actually drafted the blog post titled “Dean Loh 2.0 In The Making” but never published it.)
Considering now that I have a baby boy, this is no longer an optional item but a must! I have about a year (or less) time to rebuild my stamina, so that when Jude starts to run around the shopping mall, I will be able to keep up with him.
Repositioning my brand. I started, and have been stuck as “freelance web designer” since 2006. I’m not complaining, but I have to agree to the setback: being recognized as “freelance web designer” somehow makes me look more like a “will build website for pizza”. After all, this is what most people in this region (particularly SINGAPOREANS) consider “freelance” as.
By repositioning my brand, I mean to move myself out of the “freelance camp”, not saying I will no longer be a freelance, rather, to dissociate it from the negative connotations such as “cheap”, “low quality work”, “unreliable”, etc.
Above all, continue to be a loving husband and father. And that’s about all!
有人说：爱是一个决定。所以我做了这样的一个决定：为了我的太太和孩子，我从此以后，除非不得不说，要不然，我能不说的，就不说。我不会为了讨好身边的人而说一些我不愿意说的话，当一个我不愿意当的人。Say what ever you may, but this is what got me this far, this is what gets me to the end.
Previously, I created this car window sign for parents-to-be, I printed it out, laminated and actually stuck it to my rear windscreen. Maybe it was just me, or it really got the attention of the motorists behind me, there were noticeably fewer tailgating incidents since.
Now that our baby is here, obviously the sign cannot be used. Instead I came up with the updated versions.
Download: Hall A4-size or Full A4-size
Originally blogged on August 25, 2001
“Lima puluh sen…”
That’s what I heard the kid said when I turned and saw him standing right next to my table, when I was taking my lunch at a mamak restaurant in JB today. “Gosh, doesn’t this kid seem too young for this?…”. It’s not that I haven’t seen kids like this one, hanging around coffee shops, asking for money, I always believed it was their parents who taught them to do this. This one is the youngest I’ve seen so far. “4 or 5 years old?” I thought.
I asked if it was his parents who told him to do this. He shook his head, and said something which I could hardly understand. I guessed neither he could understand what I was saying too. I gestured to him that I was not going to give him money, but I would be glad to have him to join me for lunch. He said he wasn’t hungry, I said I’ll buy him a drink, he then asked for lime juice, excitedly. So I got the mamak to bring over a glass of lime juice.
The juice came, the kid gulped it down like he hadn’t been drinking since he was born. I asked where his dad was, he said he’s working, in the factory. Mom also working, in the factory. Then I asked why didn’t he go to school. He said “demam (fever)”. I said kids should go to school, and it’s not good to go around and ask for money like that.
I noticed the ring on his finger, I asked who gave him that.
“kakak“.
“mana kakak?”,
“kerja…“,
“kerja mana?”,
“Burma…“,
That explained everything.
After he finished his lime juice, I took out two dollars, I looked at him, I said he has to promise me that he will go home immediately if I were to give him the money. He noded obsequiously. Before this day, two dollars meant a bowl of mee rebus, or a game of Time Crisis at game arcade, or half an hour at internet cafe. When I saw the joy in the boy’s expression after I gave him the money, I realised the was more of what two dollars can do.
The nasi ayam madu I was having had suddenly become exceptionally delicious.
Drivers who tailgate pisses me off — big time! Especially when my wife, who is 8-month pregnant, is in the car.
There were times when I just couldn’t give way, why? Because there were also cars in the slower lane and I would risk myself by cutting in just to give way to the wanker who thinks his time is more important than mine!
To send a message to those wankers, I came up with this car sign which I’m going to print out, laminate, and stick it under the rear windscreen.
Application example
Click the link below to download the high-res version that fits on standard A4 size paper.
Feel free to share it with all parents-to-be whom you know, who can use a little humor.
Exactly one year ago on this day, I made the promise before God, that I will be true to my wife, love her and honor her all the days of my life, in good times and bad times, in sickness and in health. I have kept my promise so far, and I intend to continue to keep it in the many years to come.
Happy anniversary to Monica – my wife, my best friend, the mother of my child.
Huawei E180
I have always dreaded calling SingTel’s technical support. They would always put me on hold for forever, then after that, came back with less than helpful suggestion.
Since about a month ago, I had not been able to connect to SingTel’s Broadband on Mobile using the Huawei E180 USB modem. Since I was going away for the month-long vacation, I didn’t spend much time persuing the matter. Now that I’m back, I’ve decided to call up SingTel to seek help.
After explaining my problem briefly, the customer support officer seemed to know what had gone wrong, he told me he was going to “reset” my connection, and I should be able to connect again after 5-10 minutes. Although I did not understand what he meant by resetting my connection, it did sound like a promising solution.
So I patiently waited 10 minutes before I plugged in the USB modem and tried to connect again. Same error message showed up, saying the device failed to establish connection.
With the addition of iPad, there is one more iDevice on my desk. I can’t increase my desk space, so I had to look for alternative use the space. I thought the best solution is to get a stand for the iPad, problem was, as an early adopter of iPad in Singapore, most accessories were not made available here yet. Ordering from overseas will not cut it as I would have to pay high shipping fee. With that, I started to explore the option of making my own.
This was how my desk look with iDevices lying around.
Quick research led me to couple of web pages showcasing DIY iPad stands. The more impressive ones were those made with Lego. That reminded me of my Lego Fork Lift that was sitting on the shelve collecting dust. I figure I could finally put that into better use!
My Lego Fork Lift, in it original form
Initially I wanted to make something really simple and minimalist, however, being inspired by the fork lift, I thought I could make something with adjustable tilt angle. Also, making room for the sync cable was also one of the criteria. Most importantly, it should hold my iPad even with the case on.
So, four hours later…
