If you are an active follower (of which there probably a handful), you might have been a bit peeved with the silence and lack of updates. That has been because I have been busy preparing for my trip.

What trip you might wonder. Well it was being researched by my brother for months now but I was not planning to join. But suddenly last month, in a fit of inspiration, I decided to join along. What we have planned for is a very very long train journey punctuated with brief stops to stretch the sore back and legs. It is going to be very very cold and I am definitely going to be very very deprived of food (as I cannot figure out how I can get my hands on decent vegetarian food).

Astute readers may already figure out what trip this might be. But I will do my bit in keeping the suspense by revealing a little bit at a time.

Should I bring my NWT along? I don’t think so. The journey is going to be a lot challenging with a backpack alone and I would not want to carry my bike along. So I intend to make this a photo expedition instead – it is good to have alternate strategies

So the least I can expect at the end of the trip is a dozen or so really good pictures along with a good adventure to look back on.

Came across this article in ‘Today’.

Latest estimates put the population to 17 million. I have been to Beijing and I should say it is a pretty congested town. It seems like they go through extreme measures to keep the vehicle count on the road down (similar to our weekend COE idea).

China is probably the largest car market right now and there is obvoiusly lot of money to be made in selling cars (They can have a COE system and an ERP system and I suppose the demand for car would not go down. It will be a good revenue stream for the Beijing Municipality. They can build better roads and better Public transportation with that money.

But it seems like they are doing neither. Instead, they plan to inconvenience car drivers by bringing back bike lanes.

Makes me wonder. If China (who are fighting for their right to develop at a rapid pace) can think of solving their traffic and pollution woes by introducing bike lanes, why does Singapore think the other way around?

I am not saying bring us bike lanes. I am just saying divert your attention from cyclists (and educating them) to Drivers (and how they can be made responsible for their actions on the road).

It is how one views things. I saw this on one of my favorite blogs (ogle at hot, stylish girls on bikes – whats not to like).

I do not expect this to happen all over the world. However, it is a measure of how much the notion of cycling as a means of transport has seeped into the public conscience.

The problem as I see it in Singapore is that the authorities and public view cycling as either a sport or recreational activity or at the very most, a mode of transport for the extremely poor and dare I say it, foreign workers. The second part of the equation is the notion that the people who ride are unwilling to learn the local traffic rules and will flout the rules even if taught.

Now seen from such clouded perspective it is easy to understand why the authorities are trying to ‘fix’ the cyclist instead of the drivers and more importantly the infrastructure. The typical cyclist is viewed as one with low economical value and hence there is very little need to provide for them. This idea also spreads in other areas. A colleague commented on how someone from LTA was quoted as saying that providing amenities for handicapped people was cost prohibitive (I quote without basis here). The notion of economic value add is at play here again.

The same is true in the rest of the world too. I suppose Copenhagen city council is willing to invest in infrastructure since the ones cycling are teachers, lawyers, doctors and tradesmen, all contributing to the economy and it is ‘worth it’ to keep these lives safe.

I sound morose but I guess that is how things are.

Getting back, I am not expecting very fancy railings or segregated lanes (it will be great to have them and will encourage more cyclists). But I can live without some middle manager quoting to the media and media misquoting to rest of the world that cyclists are endangering their lives and others.

This is a real pity.

I quote from the Channel News Asia Article:

More often than not, cyclists are at fault when it comes to fatal or serious road traffic accidents involving them.

This has been the case in more than 50 per cent of such accidents between January and September of the last two years, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary of Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli in Parliament on Tuesday.

Common causes for the accidents include changing lanes without due care, failing to keep a lookout, and failing to give way to traffic with right of way.

The rationale is akin to saying (for lack of a better comparison) that women with short skirts are at fault for being molested.

Oh Please this is an amateurish argument. If you cannot provide proper infrastructure, you might be better off keeping the mouth shut.

It is totally possible that this is simply bad journalism (from what I see being published on local news papers, I will not be surprised). It is also possible that the parliamentary Secretary is quoted verbatim. Either way, it is a step in the wrong direction.

I am not absolving cyclists of faults but any argument that blames the victims is a weak mechanism to shrug off ones responsibility and avoid a sensible debate.

Another one involving a cyclist, near my work place. This time the cyclist seems to have been luckier than this one.

Any accident is not pretty. Accidents will happen, thats why they are called accidents. No one plans for it nor does any one want to be involved. But they do happen. And when it does, it is sad and makes one wonder how to make things better.

Education is one.

Respect for another persons life (over your time) is one.

Better infrastructure is another.

I don’t know what was the cause of this accident. Was the cyclist at fault? Or was it the truck? All I know is that the cyclist is in the hospital and the truck driver is no where to be seen.

The problem in this case I think is a combination of bad design and bad driving combined. The ramp up ahead leads to an expressway and as a consequence the left lane is ironically the fastest. Secondly, Drivers do not seem to realize which lane they should be taking and since this is an exit that can save a few additional minutes by avoiding a detour, most people seem to decide to switch lanes in the last minute (The white car revved past to jump lanes as I was taking this picture). With disastrous consequences again.

There is a lot of evidence of impatient driving at this crossing. I work around here but I have no need to ride on this road. Even if I have to, I guess I will have to spend time understanding the traffic conditions or find a way to avoid this route.

There are many a times when drivers do not bother checking the traffic signals. I can count 4 instances of trying to cross this road under Signal when Somebody decides to jump the red and scare you to the bone.

I guess nothing can be done given the ramp cannot be moved out. However, cyclists and pedestrians should exert caution, given that none of the drivers along here seems to care. As a matter of fact, the LTA does not seem to care either. Many serious accidents have happened here and no one wants to re-look at the design of the lanes

Most know I am a mac convert and I have been impressed with their line of products. As is known in the mac rumor community, 3 or 4 times a year, lots of rumors start spreading on the next product that apple will release. It heats up a few weeks before their scheduled product launch timeline and the persistent rumors are currently in relation to Apple working on a touch enabled handheld (a la tablet) that is being called the iSlate.

Well that speculation is for professional rumor generators. I am interested instead on the directions that Apple might take on convergence via software.

Here is one.

Apple has a couple of product lines that do not get very much air time. The Mac Mini which is a compact desktop computer that runs Mac OSX and the other mysterious product being Apple TV.For all the amount pur on developing and marketing the AppleTV, it is intriguing that the box is simply a console to stream content (from your iTunes or Audio / Video streamed through the internet. You can also watch You Tube content, but really, who the hell wants to watch silly YouTube videos on their living room TV. The idea of Integrating YouTube is simply a way of saying, “there, we can do it too”. So I am thinking, what is possible to do with AppleTV, something that will turn into a straightforward revenue stream for Apple instead of a protracted negotiation with Broadcasters on TV rights and a piecemeal bite into the home entertainment pie.

Firstly, AppleTV is a console. A console that has a capable CPU, memory, storage and GPU that can push HD content to your TV. It is a sizable box that, with the help of hardware engineers can be easily upgraded to a mid-high end computing machine. Note, the software is ready to access your iTunes account and make purchases (even without using a PC or Mac). It works wirelessly (adding bluetooth is a matter of 5$ hardware upgrade). Now the controller for this console is a simplistic Apple Remote that is (almost too simplistic). However the Apple TV can also be controlled via your iPhone or iPod Touch.

That is the second part of the puzzle. The iPhone (and iPodTouch) can control your AppleTV. The iPhone is an absolutely stunning device that has brilliant controls with its neat touch screen and accelerometers. Tons of extremely innovative games and control schemes have been developed in the last couple of years that has shown the ingenuity of game developers and the platform.

It seems logical in my mind that it is time for AppleTV to take centre stage. Not as a movie streaming box but, you heard it first here, as a Gaming console. Imagine the possibilities. The apple TV takes centre stage in the Living room plugged to a large screen TV with tons of CPU resources. Now, if game developers start developing games that can play on the AppleTV, all we need is good game controllers. There is the iPhone in your pocket. Whip it out, connect with the AppleTV, start the specific game ‘map’ and the controls magically appear on the phone, joysticks, tilt controls, multi touch controls, all in the palm of your hand. It gets better, sync 2 or more iPhones and you have multi player gaming in your living room. Even better, the in thing in gaming is online games and Apple need not be left out of this either. The AppleTV is always online. Hah, I might have cracked a long standing enigma that is AppleTV and potentially, cracked open a new revenue stream and industry for Apple to butt their nose into and make billions in revenue (remember iTunes music sales crossed a Billion $ mark in its first year).

It gets even better, you need not have to purchase the controller ‘map’, AppleTV can stream the game controls to your iPhone when you are connected and the controls disappear when you log out. Just run over to your friends house to play a game you do not own but the controls are beamed by the Local console and you need not be left out of the gaming fun during the next party.

Sell the games via iTunes / app store and the circle is complete. Apple being Apple, will keep the games playable on AppleTV alone and not on all macs (including Mini). Well that means Mini has a different product strategy planned out. And that is ok in my book.

Now, whip out your wallets and be ready for picking up the Next Gen souped up AppleTV when it comes out.

Well if anyone in apple wants more ideas, there is lots more where this comes from, I would gladly be an advisor for product development

Now, that is fresh speculation! he heh.

A nice way to round up a long weekend. A bunch of travel plans went down the drain but in the end, the weekend turned out to be much fun.

Myself and my brother decided to do a quick loop around the island and though it could have been longer, we stopped short to avoid some night riding. Me on my NWT and my brother on his Tikit. 85 Km of very pleasant weather punctuated with muted sunshine and light showers.

It all started with a quickly decided ride to the Zoo via Mandai Road. We looped in through the Upper Seletar, a nice winding, traffic free route that by passes the more congested Upp Thomson Road. Once at Mandai, we decided to continue on to Sungei Buloh and down to Jurong east. The Kranji Road was not much fun with too many trucks kicking up dust and sand but that lasted just for a few Km’s.

A pitstop at Sungei Buloh and we continued on to Jurong to head towards Clementi. Well, after about 40 km we decided to get something to eat and we found a good place in Jurong East, under the MRT line (with the noise of trains screaming past at regular intervals). Post Clementi, we took Pasir Panjang Rd to town (bypassing West Coast Highway) and from town it is my regular commute home.

We debated on whether we should continue on along east coast, head to changi village and return via Lornie rd. In the end, we decided to take it easy and headed home to clock 85Km. A very easy ride to top up a relaxing weekend.

If it is not the movie, it is the theater that screws the experience.

As I have mentioned, I am cautious about the local ‘film festivals’ as the movie experience is usually a gamble but when I read about Cathay screening some Ghibli classics, I jumped in on the opportunity to see some good shows on the big screen. I also coaxed some of my friends to join in.

I managed to get tickets only for ‘Laputa’ and I was pleased as it fit my schedule.

My expectations were very high, I was expecting to see the animation in high res, beautiful colors and great details. The show is from the late 80’s but given Cathay promoted it as a Ghibli festial and a one screen only event, I was pretty much looking forward to a well remastered show.

My enthusiasm was crushed when the show started. Booming audio and pretty low res video is what was shown. Damn, I felt like watching my DVD on mega screen. When the end credits rolled, the cast mentioned ‘Anna Paquain’. I thought, when did she start speaking Japanese…

A quick search later I realized Anna Paquain voiced over in the Disney dub of the film. So essentially what I paid money to watch was a japanese soundtracked Disney dub of the film.

Not that I care, but when I Cathay promotes one screen only shows I expect better control over the quality of the audience experience. The so called festival seems like a schedule filler and a pretence to make a quick buck.

I am saddened by the lack of quality cinema experience and needless to say, the next time I checkout picturehouse it will be with a due sense of caution.

I am pretty neutral in this. I wear helmets when I want to and I dont when I dont want to. There are people on both camps who argue passionately about what is right and wrong and a ton of pseudo science going around fueled by marketing campaigns.

Anyhow, I found this and it has a dark sense of humor to it.

If you do like dark humor (mostly with violent or sexual connotations), you might enjoy the regular strips too.

If you followed my twitter updates (on the right sidebar here), you might realize, I picked up a Tikit for my brother by availing the Black Friday deal. And since it was here this weekend, we decided to take it out on a foldie shakedown. So 4 of us, 2 Tikits, a Buzz and myself on the NWT, decided to go around on a little jaunt looking for good food in the neighborhood.

Based on hearsay, we decided to make a nice little Nepalese restaurant called Everest kitchen serving excellent momo’s our first stop. A short 6 km from home, we were at the restaurant and sneaked in the bikes (actually, the restaurant was nice to let us keep the folded bikes indoors).

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A hearty lunch and some really good momo’s later, we wanted to head to Serangoon Gardens to check out the place. Regulars may know the place but it was totally new to me. Though I have lived in the vicinity for more than 2 years, I have never been to this place. I should say the foldies were helping me to explore the neighborhood and am glad I did go there. I visited a cozy little italian restaurant called Ristorante De Parma with some very friendly people and binged on a bunch of desserts. The menu is a bit on the pricy side but it is worth every penny.

Again finding space for the foldies in the cramped sidewalk was easy enough and I look forward to getting back frequently.

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I am also looking forward to exploring more cozy corners. If anyone knows of any hidden secrets, do drop a note.