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It feels like it was only yesterday when I got all nervous going for my first job interview. Determined to impress, I wore a full set of business attire, complete with a fancy tie and shinny cuff links, only to find that my future boss who was doing the interview wearing a polo shirt and jeans. Nevertheless, I’m pretty sure they hired me because I dressed pretty. I sure the hell ain’t a smooth talker at the time. I was stuttering through most of the interview so I was surprised that two weeks later, I got offered the job.

5 years on, I am still here. Stuck with a job with no challenge and a paycheck that would induce hysterical laughter from my peers. But at least they have the decency to give me a cheap watch to recognize my unwavering loyalty for the company. I wonder why they chose to give out watches though. Maybe they are hinting me to be on time for work for once. Well, message received, loud and clear.

 This inmate has served for “5 YRS @ SSCI”

I still thought I could sell off the watch to earn a few bucks but upon closer inspection, I found that they have gone through the trouble of engraving the darn thing. Very thoughtful. Oh well, I guess I do need this ‘timepiece of loyalty’. I need to stare at it often so to remind me to go home on time, every time.

The nerve center of my home network

My wireless router/modem was fried by a lightning strike a couple of weeks ago, just as I was about to set off for my vacation in Siem Reap. What a bummer that was, it definitely put a downer in my holiday mood . Since I got back from the trip, I had been surviving on a modem/router borrowed from a friend.

The wireless router/modem I had was a all-in-one device. Basically a modem, router, switch and wireless AP combo. I was thinking of replacing it with a similar device. But when I was doing some research through the internet forums, I keep seeing this specific model of wireless router being recommended, the Linksys WRT54GL. Wanting to try something new, I went ahead and got myself a WRT54GL and an ADSL modem to go with it.

What’s so special about the WRT54GL? Well, it is one of a few wireless router out there that is running on open-source firmware. With the firmware being open-source, this also means that there are 3rd party firmwares being developed for it. Most notably DD-WRT and Tomato. I chose to flashed mine with the Tomato firmware. It’s much more user friendly than DD-WRT and besides, Tomato sounds funkier, hehe.

One of the feature of the Tomato firmware is it’s QoS (Quality of Service) capability. It really works as advertised. I have configured the QoS to give priority to web surfing so although I’m doing some heavy downloading in the background (downloading some “good stuff”, of course), I have no lag when surfing the web or watching videos on Youtube.

I’m glad my home network is back to it’s original state. In fact, it’s even better now with the WRT54GL. Maybe the lightning strike is a hidden blessing after all.

OZ Racing Ultraleggera with Yokohama Parada Spec-2

I got a new set of wheels for my car. It’s the OZ Racing Ultraleggera. Definitely a handsome piece of kit. Being a ‘racing’ wheel, it’s quite light as well. It only weighs around 5kg. I coupled the wheels with a set of Yokohama Parada Spec-2 tires.

The Parada has some wild looking S-shaped threads than don’t exactly instill a lot of confidence in its performance. But surprisingly it sticks to the tarmac like glue. My car now handle the corners like a champ. I haven’t tested it under wet condition yet but I sure hope it performs just as well. One thing about the Parada though, it’s not the most quiet tire out there, but what do you expect from a performance tire? You expect road-hugging performance, that’s what. Not low noise and ride comfort. Mmmkay?

Every year close to the Chinese New Year celebration, I find myself going on a spending spree. This year is no different.

Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR DX Zoom

Nikon SB-400 Speedlight

The damage this year comes mainly from the purchase of my ever expanding collection of photographic equipments. I got myself a nice little zoom lens and an external flash to go with my D40. After a few test shots with the new lens and flash, all I can say is that Nikon makes damn fine gears.

But as with all Nikon equipments, they don’t come cheap. As a word of advice to any of you thinking of ditching your point-and-shoot camera for an SLR, be prepared to surrender your wallet to the SLR manufacturer of your choice.

All hail Nikon!

Oops, I did it again. I splurged on a cool electronic device without first consulting my wallet. Bad Simon, BAD!

Like all my cool but ultimately useless toys, this one will probably entertain me for a few months before it inevitably end up gathering dust in the corner of my room.

So am I regretting my seemingly reckless expenditure? Hell no! Sony might have screwed up with the PS3, but the PSP might just have saved them from complete and utter failure in the game console arena.

The PSP is truly a wonderful piece of consumer electronics. I’m impressed by how they managed to squeeze so much into such a small package. It also has one of the best and biggest display on a portable device. So vibrant and detailed, you gotta see it to believe it.

I guess this makes my PSP, the Flavor of the Month. That is, until the iPhone comes out of course.

My Precioussss… So Preciousssss…