inbae’s blog | [ i n b a e b a y . c o m ]

One of the reasons why I’ve been slowing down on refreshments on here is… Twitter. Microblogging is so much easier, with lower barrier to (post) entry. I can pull up the Twitterific app on my phone to type few words in, and bam. Of course, provided that Twitter service doesn’t crap out on me, which seems to be the case for 6.1781523804% of the time. (Made-up-number.)

If you’re that much more interested in bits and pieces of my life update, please follow me at Twitter.com. Or download one of the free apps. I use Twitterific on both my phone and computer. My username is inbaelee, of course. And then you can also try following celebrities like I do. (I’ve been following Lance Armstrong. He posts pretty regularly.)

Theremins are antique electronic invention by a smart Russian fella, Leon Theremin, from years ago. You change the pitch by moving your right hand closer to or farther from the vertical antenna, and change the volume by moving your left hand to and from the loop. And you can play music! It’s wacky, makes the sound that you would hear in old movies when aliens appear or try to talk to you.

Some modern adaptations: Super Mario and Claire de Lune. (The latter played by Leon’s very own niece.)

Recent life update:

- Been staying late at work. Well, working hard + free dinner at work = staying late at work. I usually get back home at around 10pm, and get out for work at 8am. I don’t mind it so far. Work hours fly by quite quickly nowadays, which is probably a good sign, that I’m actually doing lots of work and not goofing around.

- Decided to “move out” on my own, into a 1BR place after our lease ends. Well, both of us will be moving out of our place for our respective places. I’ve long thought over this option, and came to the conclusion that it will suit my personality and lifestyle better.

- Rode my lovely bike to work today from Palo Alto. And started to take my health/fitness more seriously. Here’s the 11.9 miles of path I took. It wasn’t too bad. This is sort of in preparation for the SF-Apple trip (~50mi) that’s going to happen either this Friday or sometime soon. I love biking, and the ride in the morning made me feel really good about myself and life. Very refreshing.

-Been reading “The Reader” when I don’t ride my bike to work. Will finish before watching the movie. It’s an easy read, and it made me realize how dense writings get, yet in a very different way, than movies can.

- Kaskade, Mocean Worker, Portishead, and Royksopp. My new found glories.

So I’ve been using Twitter for the past few says now. I always thought that it is kinds useless because it duplicates what Facebook already has (with it’s Status feature) in terms of utility provided. And I still believe it mainly is composed of brain noises of the cloud of Twitter users that are out there. But since it is more of a generic application for anyone or any entity that needs text segments to be broadcasted to pseudo-targeted mass. For example, the Caltrain authorities to the Caltrain commuters. Train delays can be notified to the riders in advance so that people like myself can take alternative transportation to get to work down in the south bay. Or it can be a rant so interesting that you just want people to hear about. The organic/dynamic form of bulletin boards from back in the day. The Twitter service also has placed itself in a different market segment (if any market or potential revenue source exists) than Facebook due to the open nature of the users’ feeds. (Anyone can search or start “following” another’s feed.)

…Come to think of it, how do they monetize?

Hardcore ski boots. Concept design only. Stole from Yanko Design. These just look HOTTTTT. If they’re actually more comfortable and better-looking than conventional ski boots, why not.

I think I saw Meg Whitman in front of Peet’s today, near work. That’s the second Silicon Valley celebrity I saw in person (only after, of course, SJobs).

I also wanted to put up this mundane post to see if Facebook’s app I just added will pick this up and show it on my Facebook profile… Heh.

The trailers for Street Fighter IV are quite artistic. Prretttty cooool.

Haha, get it? This is an actual carpet. The designer decided to have some fun.

Speaking of fails… If you don’t know already, FailBlog is an awesome place to check out if you’re bored from work or whatever you do in front of your computer.

In celebration of their six decades of history, Onitsuka Tiger made a video. It’s about how zodiac anmials had to run around the Onitsuka island (symbolic of Japan, supposedly) to win their places in the twelve months in a year. Classic asian tale, told in Japanese style. (It really has nothing to do with the brand itself. But it’s fun to watch nonetheless.) And here is the making of the video if you’re interested. I personally think the ox is the cutest.

Undercover is a cool app that might just save you your most valuable investment - Macbooks! It silently runs on the background, and the server constantly gets updated with your laptop’s whereabouts. When you report theft, the company starts tracking the location of the laptop, as well as take a snapshot of the thief with the iSight. And they boast 86% recovery rate. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.