"War of the Worlds"

Just came back from watching this latest production by Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg and I only have a three-letter word to sum it up: B-A-D. The story didn’t represent the original version whereby humans exploited the flaw in that the aliens could not breathe our air. Hence there was no war between the two worlds. The movie simply concentrated on Tom’s character hiding and running with his children. The ending was so crappy that it left me with a disgusted feel when the credits rolled. I at first thought that it was a joke on the audience by the director but hell no. It was a waste of my money as the movie is definitely a Tom Cruise showcase rather than a story-telling. And he didn’t even act! In all, I will say the the movie is worth at most two stars, one for Dakota Fanning and one for the special effects.

Fortunately I was able to reach home in time to catch the TV telecast of A.I. to restore some of my faith in Steven Spielberg;

Off-site meeting

I have just reached home about two hours ago, having been in my company's off-site meeting held in Sofitel Palm Resort, Johore Bahru, Malaysia. We arrived there the day before to stay overnight in order to start the meeting early the following day.

The meeting was an annual affair for employees, especially 'blur' ones like me, to listen to the management talk about the company's current status, future expectations, and strengths and weaknesses. There was also a session on motivation of individuals in a team.

Though the off-site meeting was held on a weekend and was exhausting, it was nonetheless necessary for the company to communicate important information to the employees. Besides, we were rewarded with an environment away from the office that was conducive for the employees to bond.

"Safe In A Crazy World"

Corrinne May's newest album is excellent, worthy of 5 stars from not just me but from everyone who listens to it. The songs are soothing, giving the listener a peace of mind. The lyrics gives you a glimpse of how Corrinne views this world; a little crazy world with all its eccentricities. It also talks about how life can be saved with a little prayer and help from HIM. The music flows from one song to another, carrying along the same feel throughout the album. You will be equally at rest closing your eyes to let the music fill your ears or humming along. I urge you to go to Corrinne's website to read about her works and sample her albums. This album definitely will be on my playlist for weeks to come.

The biggest technology news of this decade is...

undoubtably the one on Apple switching from being IBM-based to Intel-based. Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, announced on Monday (Tuesday, SGT) that Apple are transitioning from PowerPC to Intel processors. Jobs' vision for the switch is that an Apple-Intel tie-up will allow Apple to break into the mainstream market with better and cheaper Macs. The Mac OS X will run on a next generation of Intel processors (not sure at this point in time whether this new class of processors is exclusive for Apply or that Mac OS X will run exclusively on them) and Intel has promised to supply Apple with a greater volume of processors.

The main reason for Apple's switch has been IBM's failure to cater to Apple's demand for more processors. IBM is unable to deliver more of its PowerPC to Apple, which is important for Apple to price their computers more competitively and create a greater presence in the market. Another important reason is that Intel's processors are far ahead of IBM's when it comes to delivering performance without consuming a lot of power, "a quality that is very important to Apple's future products," said Steve Jobs. [link]

So one may feel compulsed to ask "What the h*** is IBM thinking?" Is it worthwhile for IBM to lose the apple in hand over the chasing of oranges (Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo game consoles)? Besides, who knows Apple may or may not venture into the console market, with the Mac-mini already looking like one. IMHO, an Apple-Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo tie-up is not entirely impossible. Now Intel will just get bigger and bigger. Poor AMD...

Well, the users seem to have mixed feelings about the switch, with most adopting a wait-and-see stance before they are willing to comment. To me, the switch will cause developers and fans a sense of disillusion now but in the long run, this is good news for the average user who simply wants a cheaper and more widely-used system that runs out-of-the-box and is user-friendly (read idiot-proof). So should I wait or go get myself a Mac-mini anytime soon?