Tuesday, April 28, 2009

My favourite Mouse just died

Are we are designed to just get used to things? It may not matter if we did not like it at first, but as we "get used to it", the habit of frequent use makes things comfortable and easy. Well, I liked my TravelPac Viper Laser mouse from the moment I saw it. It had everything I wanted on a mouse including cool looks and 3200dpi laser quality resolution, as well as sleek ergonomics and best of all, two rubber grips at the side. And, it blinks with a cool white light that makes for a perfect child's night light companion... Silly, right. But definitely endearing. Best of all, it worked so well. And then, while blinking normally and still able to scroll and its buttons (all five of them) worked, the laser optics just "died". It hasn't even been two years. And no rough and tumble use which it was designed for, such as gaming. So, what can I say about its demise. I like it so much I want it replaced, but the fact that it was my favourite was because it worked so well, except it did not last nor worked when I needed it, and all without any tell-tale sign. It was just like discovering your pet whimpering and you can't help it, knowing it will slip into some sort of catatonic state and eventually die. But this mouse is in a coma, functional only to scroll and click, but not point. No point.
I guess that says it all. But like all favourite things, it gets consigned eventually to "Hold Heaven" where things are hoarded for a grieving period before it heads into the recycling bin. For now, I have to contend with the Acer laptop's built-in Synaptics touch pad. It all seems nice and I am fine with the re-adjustment to "my life after Mouse". I think I don't want to get a replacement. But just then, I notice that my Synaptics touchpad sometimes like to leap like a frog to odd places onscreen. Did I just substitute my mouse for a frog?

Friday, April 17, 2009

The American Idols - Season 8 Top Bets

I don't know if you ever bother about that popular culture phenomenon known as the World's Greatest Talent show, but it makes for some great entertainment. The reason I enjoy it is that over the past six weeks or so, you would have noticed just how these contestants in the "greatest singing contest on earth" have grown, and besides that, if you range your observations over the past eight seasons, you would also notice that this season's group of eight finalists are particularly close knit. It's almost as if they don't care so much about the competition as they do being with each other and getting a chance to sing and entertain each week. Perhaps the fact that non-finalists of American Idol have already achieved greatness with their own music careers, not to mention that finalists like Jennifer Hudson have since won an Academy Award (for her supporting role in "Dreamgirls") and a Grammy for her first album... their singing careers are likely to be hugely boosted just by being among the Top Ten. Just recently, Alexis Grace performed at Ellen Degeneres' show at the Warner Brothers lot and you know what, she did a great job, sounding even better than when she was competing. There's something about being part of a competition that magically lends contestants both experience and confidence to be even better. This was also true for me when I did my first (leisure) competitive events and I understand fully now what this can do for anyone to develop a healthy self-respect and at the same time appreciate the achievements of other people.
I am prepared to bet that Allison, Adam and Kris will be this season's top three. Adam is incredibly talented vocally; Kris is a genuine self-taught musician who is set for some great work ahead writing and singing. Allison is all set to grow and enjoy the great career looming ahead of her in the life she's decided to be all about music. If you really want to feel something about what this competition means to the contestants, just listen to Kris Allen's heartbraking cover (Studio version) of Falling Slowly from the indie movie "Once".

I am now on Twitter

Just had to try it now where I use "BeironTay" as my user ID. It's good fun, and totally mindless. But if you want to stalk someone like Anderson Cooper, there's really no better way than following his tweets. I mean, you know when he's up and when he's having flashbacks on a small plane... so it's like keeping tap on a best pal. Also, the breaking news from CNN and/versus FOX is fun. Both networks just had a spat over the Tea Parties "anti-government" coverage which was what the CNN reporter labelled it, referring to FOX's conservative coverage making news out of a molehill.