well, i’ve finally gotten down to upgrading my wordpress version from absolutely ancient – nearly two years ago – to the latest 2.9.1. i had to do a manual upgrade since i only have access via ftp, now that sam’s overseas, but it was totally worth it – the new internal interface is really sweet. fixed the bug as well – glad that i’m still on top of things, webtech-wise at least.

oh and not forgetting my freshly redeveloped theme, diamondback, which took the longest time to tweak into place, due to a hugely busy schedule, which led to sluggish inspiration, and a perfectionist attitude.

so now that the site’s internal and external workings are all spanking new, i shall endeavor to post more often – a resolution i always forsake, since i’m pretty lazy, contented and preoccupied most of the time – nevertheless, i shall try, starting with a quick update of life this year:

my sleep cycle’s undergone an even more drastic change, as can be seen from the timestamp of this post. i’ve mostly night classes this semester, probably due to the programme’s efforts to cater a little more to the part-time masters students, which results in me waking up pretty much at noon on most days, getting my errands and miscellaneous stuff done in the afternoon, then going for my starbucks coffee run just before heading to class in the evening. after class, it’s all about work, research, readings and the like, before bed at about five in the morning.

of course, that’s a rather general idea of it, since there’s the time for l., my girlfriends, cell, family, other friends, tuition, my pooch, church, etc. the list goes on, but that’s the basic reason why my biological clock is pretty wonky now. i’m trying to make an effort to adjust it back to some semblance of normality, mostly because of my pooch and his preference for morning walks.. and the fact that i am starting to have extreme difficulty waking up in the morning when i have to.

take today for instance – i was supposed to meet my god-brother for brunch at ten-thirty, but i sank like a stone at five a.m. and ended up being woken by his call at ten-fifty. so, yes, a bit of a change wouldn’t hurt. classes have been great though, i really do love my subjects this term, so as much as the workload has exponentially increased since last term, at least i do enjoy it a fair bit.

God has been very good to me this year, and i really am thankful for both the little and large blessings that make life great. 2010 looks to be an eventful year for both l. and i, so we’re pretty psyched as well. i haven’t quite bothered to make resolutions this year – new years are overrated for me, and i have a tradition of ensuring that i sleep through them, one which i kept again this year by sleeping through fireworks in phuket – and surprisingly for a person who likes making lists in general, i dislike the idea of lists new year’s resolutions.

however, i do have goals, of sort, more of an idea or two which i want to personify within the year. last year’s, if i recall correctly, was to embody the song: let me be a little kinder, which i think i did make progress on, though things like that are really an ongoing work, aren’t they?

i thought of this year’s at the end of 2009, actually, during service and it was more of taking the lessons i’ve learnt this year a step further. this is why i don’t believe in new year’s resolutions – it gives the idea that one should start something new, and not continue a work in progress, which i think is quite silly, since life is generally just that.

so, if i were to sum it up in one phrase, my goal for 2010 is to: walk by faith and not by sight. when i first started making ‘resolutions’, or at least verbalizing goals at the beginning of each year, i decided that they have to all be God-centered. (hence, again, no lists of tasks to achieve for me.) i find that this helps to ground me at the start of every year, and to remind me of my primary purpose and where my focus and priority should lie.

so, i know this is slightly over a month late, but it is only a verbalization of what i’ve endeavored from the start of this year: to walk by faith and not by sight.

this post, is about the marvel that apple, is.

the one thing that apple has, that apple understands, that will always give them the edge, is their extraordinary understanding of human computer interaction.

apple creates an experience – not mindboggling technology per se, not standalone design marvels – but a truly amazing and holistic user experience.

apple specializes in the marrying of form and function to the highest level seen in any technological company, geek or entity. it epitomizes ease of use, exemplifies infinite adaptability, and creates optimal satisfaction in carrying out related tasks.

so, what exactly prompted this effusive praise, especially after such a long period of blogging apathy?

apple’s just-unveiled ipad, of course.

i had a thoroughly jam-packed and busy day today, so much so that i did not even have the chance to view the much-talked-about device – though of course i heard snippets here and there on the radio while driving, from classmates, on twitter via my iphone.. and from what i heard – i wasn’t impressed.

i certaintly am not a blindly devoted apple evangelist that extols every creation of apple as the last word in greatness, and from the little i had gathered, it sounded like a much larger ipod touch, and i thought to myself – what use is this, if it does not at least boast the same functions of a full-fledged laptop and more?

and then i finally reached home.. and watched the keynote.

steve jobs explains it best, of course, and most succinctly – “in order to really create a new category of devices, those devices are going to have to be far better at doing some key tasks [..] otherwise it has no reason for being” – and just like that, he hit the nail straight on the head.

the ipad is not meant to be a replacement of a full-fledged laptop at all, but rather a device, the best device, to do these tasks – browsing, email, organizing photos, videos, music, playing games and reading ebooks – only these tasks, and to do them superbly.

i, was expecting laptop version two, laptop upgraded, or at the very least, apple’s take on the classic tablet. but no, that was not what apple intended in the least bit.

my first impression of the ipad was that it was the apple version of the netbook and ironically, that was just what it wasn’t. as jobs says – “some people have thought, that that’s a netbook. the problem is, netbooks aren’t better at anything [..] they’re just cheaper, they’re just cheap laptops, and we don’t think they’re a third-category device.”

jobs is a genius. i find myself saying this every. single. time. apple introduces a new product, and for an absolutely good reason.

so yes, the ipad is not an actual necessity – not the way a laptop is, nor a smartphone. it does not provide any new functionality that a laptop doesn’t have, so to speak. it’s beauty is not in any ground-breaking functional technology, but in the way it revolutionizes the experience in doing those above-mentioned tasks.

i love it. i love apple’s philosophy. their vision. the way they do things, the way they think things should be done. apple is and has always been my design inspiration.

i love minimalism – simplicity, clean lines and the lack of clutter – in my art, my living space, my dress sense, my style of living; and you can even see it right here in the design of my site. i am abso-tively posi-lutely proud of it and this is one of the reasons why i love apple and their philosophy this much – i identify tremendously with them through my prior-set preferences.

but i digress, and to conclude – as much as i love the idea of and behind the ipad (and trust me, i really do), i wouldn’t lay my hands on it just yet, affordable though it may be. simply because my personal space in the house is limited to mostly my bedroom, and it does not make any sense to get one, just to leave it in, say, my parents’ bedroom or the living room.

so, i will wait till l. and i have our own home to get one, and can sync everything together perfectly – say, ipads in the bedroom, macbooks in the living room or on the go, imacs and customized pcs for gaming in the study room, and so forth.

ah, the geek in me fidgets in sheer anticipation. and apple is and will always be, ftw.