A couple of days ago, the Kindle Fire was announced, which means I’ve officially ordered my first tablet! I was really tempted to buy an iPad but I work in front of a computer all day, am on my Blackberry 24/7 and is in love my Macbook Pro… what would I need a tablet for? My only iPad experience (other than the Veggie Samurai wars in Whistler last year) was my parents’ iPad a couple months after they bought it; I went on it for 5 minutes and didn’t know what to do with it. I already checked my Twitter feed on my Blackberry!

So I managed to resist materialistic temptations for an entire year.

I WAS about to get a simple e-book reader for vacations though, so for the $199 price tag of the Fire— Cloud storage, ebooks, color touch-screen… why not?

What’s your favorite tablet and why?

Books. I go through phases where I’m reading every second I’m free and I’m going through one of those now. Last Sunday was spent at Chapters on Robson after a good hearty brunch… and Boyfriend asleep on the giant beanie chair beside me (and snoring loudly… in the store).

I highly recommend this trilogy:

Waterbottle. I’d die if I didn’t have water with me anywhere I go. It has turned into an annoying obsession and not to mention I have to go pee every half-an-hour.

Boots. Four words: FALL IS BOOT SEASON!! Well actually, boot season is every season… even summer.

Poutine. I love poutine so much that Boyfriend and his friends spent 2 hours making this giant pan of poutine for me on my birthday. I almost licked the pan afterwards… until some drunk guy rubbed his nasty hands all over the pan looking for more poutine that I just ate. But yes, another sick but delicious obsession. BEST BIRTHDAY EVER.

According to a spokesperson for Research in Motion, key highlights of BlackBerry 6 include:

• Crisp, more immersive visuals, including new graphics, animations and transitions
• New WebKit browser; it’s high-fidelity and very efficient, for fast, rich browsing with support for multiple sessions (i.e. tabbed browsing)
• Multi-touch support (e.g. pinch to zoom) while browsing, viewing photos, etc.
• Graphical, context-sensitive menu pop-ups
• Redesigned core apps, plus a new media player UI
• New Home Screen experience; multiple views based on content type (All, Favourites, Downloads, Media, etc.), universal search
• New app for integrating RSS and social networking feeds

via 24hrs

I can’t wait for the browser update! I’m using Opera Mini but it still has it’s flaws. RIM was on crack, releasing such an ugly and inefficient default browser (but then it IS a “business” phone after all).

Pros:

• Faster! The web browsing is faster but nothing to “wow” about compared to my old Javelin on a 2G network. Apps like Ubertwitter and receiving files on BBM are a lot faster though.
• Trackpad!! I was playing around with Boyfriend’s Blackberry the other day and the trackball felt so weird… can’t imagine ever using it again.
• My fat fingers are no longer an issue! Better keyboard than the Javelin (but I still like the 8320 Curve‘s better).
• Text messages are linked … BBM style!
• SPEAKERS ARE AMAZING! Well compared to older Blackberry models and even my 3rd generation iPod touch.
• Battery life is a HUGE improvement.
• It’s compatible with the Javelin’s micro-USB ports so I don’t have to replace any accessories since I have a gazillion chargers lying around everywhere (home, work, Boyfriend’s, car, etc.). My biggest fear is a dying Blackberry.
• Awesome resolution and bright screen.
• It’s the perfect size, which is the same as the Javelin but smaller than the chunky [original] Bold.

Cons:

• Leather backing looks tacky.
• Can’t seem to set my right convenience key to show ALL “messages” like I usually do with older Blackberry models. Right now, I can only set it to SMS/MMS OR Messages (BBM/email/etc) and not both. Am I missing something?
• I love how text messages are linked in a chat like BBM but I always forget that I’m texting someone and send them a billion in a row which they probably want to punch me in the face for.
• My calendar alerts can’t seem to be silenced even though it’s set in my profiles.

Rating: 9/10
I only wish there was a bigger screen. I have to admit the numbers are biased because I’ll always give Blackberries a high score.

I know iPhones can do a lot but here 10 Things iPhones Can’t Do, But Blackberries CAN!

Also read: Blackberry Javelin 8900 Review, Blackberry Curve 8320 Review.

Yes, there was a boyband on my home screen.

Pros:

• Nice and upgraded interface.
• Small, compact and light; it’s the perfect size.
• Has Wifi and GPS.
• Vivid display and sharp sound.

Cons:

• Not as fast since it’s on a 2G network.
• Keyboard isn’t as good as the one on the 8320 (which is still the best Blackberry keyboard to date).
• Camera still isn’t anything to rave about but it’s a HUGE improvement from the 8320. I don’t use it for anything other than Twitpics anyway so it doesn’t matter much to me.

Rating: 8/10

I think the 8900 was a great phone although it would’ve been a lot better if it had 3G.

Anyway, I finally switched the the 9700 after it’s been sitting in it’s box in Boyfriend’s closet for the past two weeks and I love it! I’ll do a review after I’ve used it for a couple weeks. I also switched over to Rogers after being on Fido for over 10 years just to save about $15/month on my plan. My new plan is exactly $53/month after taxes with: 500GB of data, 100 daytime minutes, unlimited local and network calling and evenings/weekends, caller display/voicemail/etc. It’s almost the exact same plan I had on Fido excluding unlimited text messaging which I was paying $65-$72/month for but after all my friends got Blackberries, no one text messages anymore. Edit– nevermind I just realized I do get unlimited texting.

Now the question is how I’m going to pimp out my new Bold?! I was about to order another full-white casing for it because I refuse to have the black one just like everyone else but I had second thoughts because I had a white Blackberry for the past 8 months. Should I go for another color? Hrm.

Which Blackberry model are you using and how much are you paying monthly?

It took me months but I finally revamped CAPTURED !! I imported everything into WordPress’ NextGen Gallery Plugin MANUALLY (200+ galleries, 6000+ images). I’ve been meaning to do this since March and it’s finally done. I hope I never have to do it again so if you’re going to start now, start with a solid platform you think you’ll stick to.

Why I’d rather have my own gallery rather than use another web service/upload on Facebook/etc:

• Total control over my gallery and make it look and function how I want it (I’m sooo anal and FB just doesn’t cut it for me).
• Don’t have to deal with uploading problems (culprit: Facebook!!).
• I know it’ll be around forever (…or as long as I keep my web server).
• 8 years of of EMBARRASSING pictures = great memories!! It’s also interesting to see how we grew up and things we did in chronological order.

Advantages of NextGen Gallery Plugin for WordPress:

• Will generate thumbnails and custom original image sizes for you so you don’t need another program to resize them.
• Easy to create multiple albums, galleries and integrating them into blog posts/pages.
• Images can be displayed how you want it (thumbnails, slideshow, etc).
• My album use to be public but I recently made it private because I was uncomfortable with certain people I know creeping my sites looking at my pictures. With WP, you can control who looks at them.

Tips:

• Use any CMS you want. I chose WordPress because I was familiar with it.
• Remember to do regular database back-ups just in case anything happens.
• Keep your galleries organized in separate folders on your computer.

Boyfriend would tell me of this 6-year-old nephew calling his friends for “tech advice” for their Nintendo DS. “You have to take it out and blow into it and then put it back in!!!” (when the games won’t start) or “I’m on Wifi right now… go on so we can battle!!”

The other day, Boyfriend’s 8-year-old niece came up to us and asked us for an IPHONE for Christmas. I was like WTFBBQ… what do you need a cellphone for?!! She quickly corrected herself and said iPod Touch instead but I still wonder. Heh. And she’s probably going to get that iPod for Christmas too. Lucky kids!! *enters jealous glare here* I never even got Christmas presents as a kid. Our tree had empty boxes wrapped up because my parents never believed in giving presents and the tree was just for “decoration.”

Totally not her mom.

Oh and yesterday, I saw a little 6-year-old GOOGLING!!!! OMG. He was actually searching for stuff on Google. I’m. So. Amazed. And proud.

Technology is connecting kids to the world by giving them access to so much information, allowing them to grow up faster BUT is that good or bad?

As in mouse clicks. I surf the web like a bullet train and I want everything right there in front of me and want to do as little as possible (you can call me lazy). If I had it my way, there wouldn’t be anymore “continue reading” links or thumbnails and everything would be laid out right in front of you. And they call me an interface designer. Hah. But of course that can’t happen or imagine the size of websites and not everyone properly saves their images for web!

• Pictures: I prefer seeing pictures resized and laid out nicely in front of me. I HATE clicking on thumbnails— in fact, 95% of the time I don’t. I’d rather wait for big images load which usually isn’t a problem nowadays as long as they were properly exported. Just for the record, my Flickr bar up there is just for aesthetics. I have an online photo album and all the pictures are all laid out vertically (for myviewing pleasure, not yours).
  

  But some thumbnails are okay as long as they are big so I can see what I

  

  Left/Right navigation arrows makes it a little better, although I still think there are too many clicks. It

  

  Perfect. Everything laid out, simple, clean and all I need to do is scroll. Of course, there is the debate about portfolios needing more

• Annoying pagination. Eg: Listing each point of a blog entry on different pages and it’s the worse when the page takes forever to load. WHY? Are you trying to build suspense?! FAIL. AND let’s not forget multiple-paged blog entries.
• Lightbox — It looks good but I can’t stand sites that use it. Is it just me or is it EXTREMELY slow …or the loading icon just makes it seem like it’s taking FOREVER to load?
• Loading Icons. Functional and works aesthetically but I don’t need to be reminded that your page is taking forever to load and it’s ONLY at 19%. I swear, loading bars makes loading seem longer than it actually is.
• STFU I don’t want to “hit the jump.” If a blog has a “continue reading” link, chances are I won’t continue unless it’s an informational post. Sometimes the link is so useless and obnoxious… is your content THAT good for someone to want to see it that bad? And what’s the point of it if there is nothing but one sentence after I “hit the jump?” I applaud you for saving a whole 20px of vertical scrolling though.
• I never use the “back” button on my browser; I’d rather have a billion tabs open. It’s a pretty bad habit because sometimes I’d accidently close a page if I forget to open it in a new tab and I’ll forget which site I was on.

What do you prefer in terms of UI?

“Apple is so successful because it makes beautiful, usable products and interfaces. I am a big fan of Apple for this reason, they know how to design.”

You have no idea how much money I spend trying out different skins for my gadgets… it’s not good being vain but I can’t help it!! I like my things to look hot and sexy like Apple’s products and interfaces. It’s not that I want to jump on the Apple bandwagon because it’s the “cool thing to do” but when you’re a designer, you appreciate these little things that makes using technology and user interfaces so much fun.

iTunes use to be my worst enemy but I’m starting to love it after trying out other programs and looking at their shitty interfaces and realizing how much more complicated they are compared to iTunes. I’m an avid Blackberry user (and touchscreen hater) but once Apple comes out with a phone with a QWERTY keyboard, bye bye RIM! The interface on the Blackberry just can’t compare to iPhone’s.

APPLE IS JUST SEXY. ♥ Perfect for the vain, like me.

• Don’t start a blog solely to make money if it’s your first. Try starting a casual/personal blog first to see how you’ll like it first because it can only be successful if you really enjoy writing and not treat it just as another “job.”
• Write for your readers AND yourself but don’t feel like you have to hold yourself back from what you want to say because it is your blog.
• We all know bloggers are narcissistic to some degree but don’t try to be funny if your not. And please don’t classify yourself as a “humor blogger” because the best humor bloggers are the ones who are natural witty writers and don’t need to tell the world they are funny (eg. Dooce).
• Don’t pretend to be all nice and sweet if your not because that’s boring! We all hate arrogant people but I think it spices up a blog (just don’t overdo it). Some people’s blogs get popular because of their cocky personalities but I shall leave them unnamed (even though I enjoy reading them too). I’m not saying you should be arrogant but don’t be afraid to show your true personality.
• It’s okay to be bi-polar once in a while. It makes things interesting.
• I mentioned this before, but it’s worth another: blog in conversational tone!! It would avoid your entries being skipped through out of hundreds of other blogs we subscribe to because it’s quick and easy to read.
• Reply to your commentators! You don’t have to reply to ALL of them because time is a luxury but if he/she repeatedly comments on your entries, it’s courtesy to say a little thank you.

More blogging related entries?

I will always remember this day.

The day Twitter got fucked up!!! I ‘m so frustrated and am currently experiencing major withdrawal symptoms; I don’t think it’s healthy to get so addicted to a social network like this. Ubertwitter, Twitterberry, Tinytwitter, Tweekdeck and Twitterific isn’t working for me at all right now and the web is being an asshole. Nooo.

I bet it’s all because everyone is trying to login to Twitter to tweet that it’s being hella laggy.

But on the brighter side of things, I did dig up some awesome old school K-Pop songs today!! :blush:

My beloved Blackberry 8900 with SS501 gracing my home screen. ♥ I chipped the top left corner of my keyboard though. =(

Although I have to admit Blackberry apps aren’t as great as the iPhone’s, I still prefer it’s QWERTY keyboard over the iPhone’s annoying touchscreen and laggy UI any day. Here’s a list of some of my favorite apps that I can think of off the top of my head. Will add to the list later.

* = not free

1. Ubertwitter! The whole point of getting a Blackberry in the first place.
2. Blink* – If you’re vain like me, you can customize the colors of your LED lights.
3. Viigo – I use this to read my RSS feeds.
4. Google Maps – If you don’t know already, my life is pretty much dependent on Google (and my Blackberry).
5. gFlashPro Flashcards* – Total geek app but this is sooo useful for my Korean and Vietnamese language adventures. My Korean is doing well but can’t say the same thing for Vietnamese (much to Boyfriend’s dismay). His family will probably go WTF if they find out I’m enthusiastically trying to learn Korean and not really trying in Vietnamese. Hyukhyukhyuk.
6. The Weather Eye – It’s awesome to know that the weather this week is going to be a total drop from last. Rain. Come to me.
7. Oanda Currency Converter – For some reason, I’m ALWAYS needing to convert currency… what better way to do it than straight from the Crackberry?
8. BB Smart Shortcuts* – The one thing the iPhone has that Blackberry doesn’t is the ability to create shortcuts from URLS and stuff on your home screen. This is TOTALLY unheard of. :@
9. FoodTV App – Great for looking up recipes and meal planning.
10. Soft Reset – Battery pulls = most annoying thing in the world = thank god for apps!

And of course there are other apps like the infamous Blackberry Messenger that everyone loves but it doesn’t count because it already comes pre-installed on the phone.

BUT If I could only have one application on my Blackberry, it would definitely be Ubertwitter!
What about you?

What makes me nerdy:

• I’m addicted to Twitter. The only reason I got a data plan on my phone is so I can Twitter 24/7 (and read RSS feeds). Sometimes it’s such a pointless waste of time but I can’t stop. Sometimes I wish the Twitter-craze would blow over soon because it’s taking over my life!!
• Some of my favorite conversation topics: blogging, Twitter and Photoshop (oh, and books).
• I love reading and I collect books even if I don’t intend on reading them. Chapter is my favorite store.
• Coding websites = sooo much fun. I never use site builders like Dreamweaver because once you start out as a hand-coder, I think you’ll always be one.
• Boyfriend knows that if we were to move in together, he’d have to get his own computer because I’m so anal about people using mine. And if we live with someone else, they’ll have to get a separate internet connection… no one is going to slow mine down.
• When I buy my own house, the first room I’m going to decorate is my study. I also can’t wait to buy more bookshelves because I hate seeing my books double-stacked; it looks hideous and unorganized… not to mention that I can’t find certain books when I’m look for them.
• I love documentaries. I can watch them all day.
• When I’m bored online, I read random articles on Wikipedia.
• I love setting up WordPress blogs or help people get started on blogging and social media. If you need help (and I know you), let me know!! I need a new hobby, I know.
• Guilty pleasures: anything related to science-fiction, fantasy, aliens, the paranormal, conspiracy theories, evolution, history, etc. And I think it would be so awesome when the world ends (other than the fact that we all die). Hyukhyukhyuk.
• I’m so down for wasting my life on video games.

What makes you chic and nerdy?

On a side note, it’s funny how we become so dependent on technology. There was a time when Google was down and I needed to look up something and I didn’t know what to do except to sit there all pissed off and frustrated… I know there are thousands of search engines out there but my mind just went blank. My sister was in the other room screaming, “OMFGOMFG GOOGLE IS DOWN!!!“. We ? Google (and can’t live without it).

• You’re not into the social media scene.
• You don’t understand the benefits of Twitter (or just the web in general).
• You don’t know any interesting/helpful people to follow.
• You think Twitter is only about “what you’re doing.”
• You only joined Twitter to follow celebrities.

I think it took me about 2 months to really get into it but once I did, it took over my life!! Why?

• Up to the second news updates … and most importantly: K-Pop updates. Now I’ll know when and where Taeyang is flaunting his smexy abs even when I’m in the washroom.
• Great time-killer when you’re stuck in traffic for 3 hours. ‘Course I put my Blackberry down when it starts moving again… I want to punch people who use their phones while driving (they’re like those people who insists they can drive when they’re obviously wasted).
• Interacting— I’ve met so many cool and funny people on Twitter. We may never meet in real life but at least our 140-word exchanges kept those couple minutes of my life entertained.
• Ask a question, get an answer.
• Shameless plugs to my blogs and other projects (thatIhaventouchedinagazillionyears).
• Interesting articles, funny quotes, inspiring people.

I use Twitter for fun and I don’t take it seriously nor is the number of followers important to me so with that in mind, here are some things that I realized:

• Nobody cares if you’re brushing your teeth at the moment but people will if you can tweet about that and make it funny. Eg. “I’m brushing my teeth and a spider just crawled up my ass.” Okay, that’s not even funny— just plain gross but if I read that, I’ll be laughing my ass off to your misfortune. :blush:
• My confession: Sometimes I only click on Twitter’ers with interesting looking avatars. Image is everything when it comes down to a 24×24 pixel square!
• Don’t think you’re all that because you have tons of followers. I bet 75% of mine are spam and don’t even read my tweets. Same goes for most of you.
• For some reason, we are all attracted to haters… they make the world interesting. I like controversial Twitter’ers.
• I’m sorry, but hash tags are soo annoying because most people don’t use them properly. Plus they’re kind of pointless when you click on the trending topic and it’s filled with people going “WTF is a #monkeyfruit?!” I’m guilty of doing that once.
• If you need more than 5 tweets to complete one thought, just publish it on your blog!!

Other Twittery links:

• The 5 Stages Of Twitter Acceptance
• The 46 stages of Twitter
• How to explain… Twitter is not a waste of time

Anyway, I hate the term “Twitter’er” but have been too lazy to make up my own.
What do you call people who tweet?

You can follow me on Twitter here!

@kisschanel Chanel doesn’t bullshit… well she probably doesn’t know how because she’s all about keeping it real! She’s straight-forwards, speaks her mind and doesn’t care if she pisses people off. I think if I met her in real life, I’d be so intimidated that I’d run and hide in box for a week so it’s a good thing that I can stalk her on Twitter.

Who are you favorite Twitter’ers and WHY?

• Write short entries (something I’m not too good at) or use paragraph breaks if you have to write a lot. Nothing is more intimidating than one long paragraph jumbled all together and unless I’m reading my Terry Brooks books, I don’t want to be reading a novel of your blog.
• Everyone loves looking at pictures but but don’t overwhelm the reader with too many. Show a couple and upload the rest somewhere else like Flickr . Choose pictures that are relevant to your entry but try to avoid using boring stock photography that everyone has seen before or open up Photoshop and compile an original and interesting collage instead. This also helps with breaking up text if you tend to write long ones like I do. Example: Image on the right is totally relevant to this entry.
• List-style blog entries. Everyone loves lists because they are easy to read.
• I’ve said this before but this is one of the reasons why I return to a lot blogs— HUMOR AND A BIT OF SARCASM GOES A LONG WAY.
• If you hardly update or if you just don’t spend a lot of time on you blog, don’t stick a gazillion advertisements and paid posts all over the place because it’s gets obvious when making money is your only objective and not the quality of your blog. Instead use your blog as a vessel to other projects so you can maintain quality and promote yourself at the same time. If you already have an established audience for your blog, use it to spread the word.
• If you care about traffic and statistics (and if you lead a boring life like me), at least write some interesting and engaging entries. You may run a “personal” blog but face it, no one really wants to read about your day-to-day activities in every single post. I remember finding my little sister’s diary when I was little and every entry began with a “today I woke up and brushed my teeth…”and fortunately for her, I stopped reading it because it made me fall asleep. The term “personal” blog is very vague which gives you a chance to write about any topic you want under the sun and you’ll eventually find out what your readers are coming back for; then write more of that. I use to think I didn’t care about traffic but I’ve come to realize that I was in denial all those years. I think that most bloggers are narcissistic; we blog because we want people to read therefore we care about traffic. I don’t want my blog to ever become as big as say, Dooce’s(imagine the pressure!) but I want enough readers because it motivates me to write which I do have now.BUT if you are 100% sure you don’t care, then go ahead and write about what kind of toothpaste you used this morning.

• “Continue reading” or “read more” links are annoying! I only use it from time to time, for example if an entry contains a lot of images but it annoys the hell out of me when blogs use this link for all their entries. I know it’s a matter of personal preference but I like having all content laid out in front of me so I can just scroll rather than click (I’m lazy). Screw the excerpt… give me the whole thing! If you run a popular blog and loading time is an issue for you since you don’t want new visitors to wait, then that’s understandable… *whiny voice* but I still find it extremely annoying and I find that I don’t visit blogs with that horrible link unless it’s super-omfg-awesomeness like Smashing Magazine.
• Blogs with only one entry on the index page. Same comment as above: give it all to me at once! This works for information blogs but definitely not for personal blogs because their latest entry maybe zZzzz; I’d leave right away without checking out the archives if quality entries do exist. Shame.
• Clutter is overwhelming and intimidating. When I visit blogs with 2-3 sidebars filled with content, links, advertisements and everything you can imagine, I tend to get overwhelmed and end up leaving because I don’t have time to dig through that mess! Note, the culprits are usually design/tech/business/etc. blogs. The key is to use keywords, list main/popular categories, the top blogs in your blogroll and then put everything else on a separate page. I know you want the visitor to see all you have to offer [and all the ads you want them to click] but don’t scare them away by showing them too much! Tease them and they’ll come crawling back for more. That sounded dirty, didn’t it? But whatever, when Big Bird says it’s true, then it’s true.
• Tiny fonts and tight line-spacing… WTF are you thinking?! I know I said this a billion times but this is one of my biggest peeves; you need to make your writing legible for your visitors! If I go blind reading your blog, I might just sue you… but then I don’t think I’d be there in the first place. The culprits are usually blogs who still think it’s 2003. Remember that trend when all personal blogs was doing that 8pt Arial + tight line-spacing thing (this is where I look away and hang my head in shame).
• Billions of pictures? Please use thumbnails! Or resize them. Or organize them in a way so they don’t turn the face of your scrollbar into a microscopic grain of sand. Or reduce the number of entries that appear at once. Or this is a case when you should use the annoying “continue reading” link.

I can list a billion more but I’m going to “tease” you guys so you come crawling back for more next time. Kidding. I use to be guilty of some of these but I’m still learning.

What do you guys like in the design of a blog and what annoys you?

Nicely designed blogs are super cool but to me, a “COOL” blog to me is more about the blogger.

Funny, witty, makes me laugh my ass off and accidently bang my head against my keyboard. Tiff, Helga and Jen are THE cool.

Strong, in-your-face personalities that will probably intimidate-the-hell-out-of-you-in-real-life-yet-you-can’t-help-but-admire-them. First person that comes to mind? PINK a.k.a. the Asian-Kendra-Wilkinson (I hope she doesn’t kill me for writing that). But seriously, I love K-Dub (except when she tries to rap).

People who inspires me to look good: beauty/fashion blogs! As an added bonus, these blogs usually come with extremely sexy people and since when was sexy not cool? J, J(es), K(im) and L just to name a few out of a gazillion I read daily.

Design blogs where the writer really interacts with their readers and gives off a “nice” vibe. I lurk a million design blogs, too intimidated to comment but I think John and Jacob‘s are the only ones I ever hesitantly left a comment or two on. I’m not saying the rest of them aren’t nice, I’m just saying that they all intimidate me because they’re so talented! Maybe if I actually had a design blog of my own and not one of these personal blogs with a lot of LOLZ and HAHAHAZ, I would comment on more of them.

Sorry, I know I missed a gazillion cool blogs out there but it’s 4am and I gotta sleep. I guess if you want a list of cool blogs, check out my blogroll (which I still have to update… sorry!).

…Wait, I guess I’m wrong. Cool is apparently in Iowa.

• Good design. Yes I know it should always be content > design but I’m a designer and one of the things I use to judge whether to stay at a blog or not is the design. Besides, you basically have 3 seconds to capture the user’s attention before they click on the X button. It’s a shame because some people have great entries but I CAN’T READ IT because their font is too tiny for my half-blind-self and there is no absolutely contrast anywhere. And I don’t like the fact that the Hanson brothers are glaring at me while I read your blog (wait, are they still alive?). You don’t have to be an awesome designer and create incredibly sexy graphics but some things you should consider:
  

  • White space – The reader will need somewhere to rest their eyes especially on a blog with a lot of text. Clutter isn’t really attractive and unless you can make it work, don’t.
  • Color and contrast – Light text on dark background and/or vice versa. I personally prefer white/black/neutral background colors for blogs because it doesn’t hurt the eyes after staring at it for a long time. Can you imagine reading my incredibly long ramblings on a bright red background? Ah.
  • Line height & text size – Tiny 8pt fonts and tight line-spacing is NOT user-friendly and so 2003.
  • Refrain use of celebrity blends – Again that is SO 2003. I used those at 14 *hangs head in shame* when I was still mall-ratting with my bestfriend at Metrotown and creating layouts for my xKube page (shameless plug for my good old beloved online community).

• Use a common/friendly writing style and tone. I’m inclined to sojourn beyond from blogs accompanying superlatively scholarly chirography peculiarity. I tend to stay away from blogs with over-the-top academic writing style. Good, I get that you are smart but I don’t care because I have a billion other blogs to read and I don’t have time to look up every word you write on Dictionary.com. If your blog is conversational in tone, it will draw in more readers because they can relate to you and people don’t get bored by your super long words most of us won’t even use in real life conversations. Also, a little bit of sarcasm, humor and wit goes a long way. Have some fun, don’t be too serious (life is too short… blah blah blah). Oh and I used Thesaurus.com for every word in the first sentence so obviously I’m not academic at all because it doesn’t even make sense. Muhaha.

• Don’t blog about your break ups. Nobody cares.
• Don’t post lyrics. That’s just lame.
• Pictures. Everybody likes pictures! Just make sure to resize and compress them so they don’t slow down the loading time and if you’re going to have a lot, use thumbnails, pretty please.
• Link others! If another blog/website inspired your entry, it’s common courtesy to link and you might get a link back in the future. It’s all about NETWORKING baby!
• Listen to your readers. If they like something you write, write more about it. It doesn’t mean you have to turn your blog into a niche blog (read next point) but if you balance out your topics, you can keep those readers coming.
• Blog about stuff you actually enjoy. Everyone is telling me I should narrow down my blog topics and cater to a specific niche but I can’t because I HAVE BLOGGING A.D.D! I have way too many interests to concentrate on one specific topic and if I do, it’ll probably bring down the quality of my entries because it’s not something I want to do. Besides, I don’t have time to run multiple blogs and making money off my blog isn’t one of my top priorities. You know how to say once a hobby becomes your main stream of income, it sucks the fun out of it? Totally true. So what do I think? Write about whatever you want and if you’re patient, you’ll find people who will enjoy your blog.
• Ignore last point if your priority is to make money from your blog. Because then you’ll probably want to target a specific niche market.
• Write for yourself first. And then write for your readers. Who cares what others think; what makes you different will make you stand out and people will remember you. Be controversial and stir up some drama if needed (as in controversial topics, not shitting on somebody for no reason). Once you start blogging, you’ll start getting haters but they’ll keep on coming back because they’re intrigued by you and they say that once you start getting them, that means your blog is getting popular. Not that that’s entirely a good thing but at least you’re getting somewhere.
• RSS Feeds. I didn’t start using Google Reader until about a year ago because I preferred going to someone’s actual website but as my blogroll grew, that started getting harder and more tedious to do SO THANK GOD FOR RSS. ? Make sure you have a visible link to your RSS feed somewhere on your blog so people can subscribe.

To be continued (maybe in a year or so if I ever get to it)…

• White Spot’s Monty Mushroom burger. Not the new one though where they have the bigger beef patty… that one is gross but the old one is heaven (and one I can actually finish). *drools



• False eye lashes. Yes I know, I sport fake everything from fake hair, fake nails, fake eyes (just not fake clothing brands) … but it’s not like I care what anyone thinks since we all live in a superficial world. But anyway, I can’t seem to buy enough false eyelashes even though I only wear them about 5-6 times a month!! It’s a bad addiction… and I always think I’ll run out but I probably have enough pairs to last me a good 10 years.



• Watching friends play videogames. I don’t play games myself because I tend to get heart attacks everytime my character is about to die (which is often) so I’d rather watch people play. I’m super weird though, I don’t like videogames for the game-play experience but I like to explore worlds in adventure/RPG-style games so that’s why I don’t mind just watching people and if I do play, I’ll use cheats so I can get into every nook and cranny there is. My favorite are horror games like Silent Hill.
• Black bean chicken feet. Cannot find the words to describe how good this is… and all your haterzzz out there don’t believe me!!
• Chinese herbal teas. I’M A TEA ADDICT!!!! Although I have to admit I’m picky; I only drink green tea and Chinese herbal teas— mostly super strong and bitter black teas. I think English/Western teas taste weird— especially fruity teas… nas-tay! This contributes to the gradual yellow-ing of my teeth which leads me to my next point…
• Crest White Stripes. L* got me addicted to these and now I can’t stop using them since they work wonders even though it makes you feel like you have a gazillion holes in your teeth. *shudder. I have sooo many boxes at home it’s not even funny (free, thanks to ******)… but don’t worry, I don’t use them daily anymore because my life is starting to become a boring routine and I don’t need 30 minutes of these everyday to contribute to it.
• McDonalds’ Filet burger. I haven’t had McD’s in like a year but I can still dream (and wet-sloberry-drool may accompany it)!
• Country music. Most of my friends think I’m weird because I listen to country music (they’re your regular hip hop/ R&B crew) but I don’t care, slow country music is soooo good! I blast it from my iPod in Boyfriend’s car when his friends are in it to embarrass him. LOL. It’s okay though, I think he’s learned to tune it out (or he secretly likes it too).



• Disney shows. This is a little more recent but I”ve been catching a lot of kids’ Disney programs because I’m always up late and there is nothing else to watch. My favorite is Cory in the House; I’m embarassed to admit how many times that show made me laugh until I practically rolled off the bed and banged my head on something. Plus Madison Pettis is the CUTEST LITTLE GIRL EVER!! ♥
• Cheese and crackers. I go out and buy my own havarti/cheddar cheese and whole-wheat crackers but I wish adults eating Lunchables were widely accepted in today’s judgemental society. They’re so convenient.
• Experimenting with hair colors. I have something semi-crazy planned for the end of November if I can get myself to shell out the money do it since I should really be saving for Cali and Asia coming up but once I get my mind set on it like this, I think I’ll have to do it! It’s not too crazy (like dying my hair pink and green) because I’m usually too lazy to maintain it but it will be different than people I usually chill with. Also, I definitely want to go blond again maybe sometime next year but I’m going to wait until my beautiful [Asian] blond friends dye their hair a darker color so we don’t look like a group of clones…. I just tend to get bored faster if I look like everyone else! I’ve also had an urge to dye my hair bright blue for quite some time now but many people have argued with me from doing so (probably because they won’t want to be seen in public with this anime-like character/thing).
• Naps. I don’t power nap. I NAP. For hours. And hours.



• Boyfriend’s mom’s udon. Udon? UDON? Yes, udon. It’s just your typical udon cooked in chicken broth, MSG and some random beef balls, shrimp and whatever is around the house but it’s SOOOOO good and for some reason mine never taste as amazing as this, probably because I don’t have any MSG to sprinkle in mine. I don’t even eat the meat and stuff in it; I ONLY eat the udon. Mmmmm. But seriously, what’s so special about udon? I don’t know… BUT IT’S SO GOOD.



• Dreaming about smashing my boyfriend’s computer. This virus-filled, ancient piece of **** I’m writing this draft out on is sooo slow it’s not even funny!! I can’t even publish this until later on when I get on a computer with Photoshop so I can beautify this entry with pictures because it will die a long agonizing death along with me trying to fix it so I can finish my useless ramblings. He bought it a billion years ago when we first met (well… only about 5 years ago) although it’s my fault I put myself through this since he wants to buy a new one but I tell him not to yet because he’s never home anyway and doesn’t need it … besides he can use my super computer (*wishful thinking) at my place.

I tried to spread out all the food-related pleasures so it looks like there are less but after re-reading this, I think I failed. If I were one of the 7 Deadly Sins, I’d definitely be Gluttony!

Blog about YOUR guilty pleasures!

Anyway, I’ve been using the new Facebook ever since it came out in mid-July because we’ll have to eventually get use to it. I hated it at first because everything was confusing and just DIFFERENT (and you know how we just “can’t stand change”) but now, I love it. It’s a lot cleaner, less clutter, more organized— it’s just more aesthetically pleasing.

Design-wise, the new FB rocks but functionally not as well. But then why would I care? I only go on Facebook to read private messages or to organize events.

Since we’re on the topic of aesthetics, I was reading a group discussion on how this guy was wishing FB was more like Myspace so we could customize our pages (and how he missed animated profile pictures which almost made me gag). If Facebook ever turned into one of those communities, I swear to god I will NEVER go on it again… let’s face it, 80% of the people on there don’t know how what looks good resulting in cluttered pages, thousands of animated gifs (or backgrounds… nasty), giant pictures = horizontal scrolling because they don’t know how to resize their pictures, ugly giant fonts (especially in #FF0000 or #0000FF), tiny and illegible fonts because some retarded girls think it’s cute, I could go on and on. Imagine how horrible the web would be if it was filled with crap like this… oh wait, it already is.

& I still wish they took away all the applications that makes people’s profiles an eyesore like that horrible Super Wall. Yuck! But then they did create a new tab for applications so we don’t have to see the atrocities if we don’t have to.

Let’s just give it a month or so after they permanently switch to the new design and people will stop complaining.

I’m like 1.5 months too late for this post, but shoot me because I just discovered (2 weeks ago) Sims 3 was coming out next February!! Well I knew it was coming out, but haven’t seen the actual demos, screenshots and the developing list of features until now.

I use to be a HUGE Sims freak when I was younger and actually had time playing but I obviously don’t anymore so I love it when I find time to squeeze in a couple hours of gameplay. The first thing I did when I started my current job was buy all the Sims 2 expansion packs! They’re all installed on my computer but I swear, I’ve only played it like 5 times in the last 2 years and haven’t even touched the University, Hot Date and Open For Business expansion packs. I spend most of my time building houses that my Sims will live in (usually the family is just Boyfriend and I… LMAO), and then like 10% of the time playing before I knock down the house, delete the family and start all over again so you can imagine how far I’ve gone in the game. I should also blame my sh!tty computer for not being able to handle my latest enormous mansion. Oh yeah, I use the money cheat so I can build elaborate houses and Boyfriend Sim and Me Sim never have to go to work although I make my second generation go to work (but I’ve only gotten that far once, 3 years ago). Nevertheless, I still love the concept of the game (or maybe I just need to get a life).

Anyway here are some of the features that be will included in TS3:

• Seamless neighborhoods! I think this is the BIGGEST feature because god knows how long I’ve been waiting for this!
• Real-time access; no loading when changing lots or families, as the simulator is running for all Sims, all the time… so Sims you’re not playing will age/marry/etc.
• Sims now have more in-depth personalities including a list of 75 traits that they can develop over their life time (eg. insane, frugal, loner, mean spirited, hot headed, flirty, snob, mooch, etc.).
• Can buy an empty bookcase and buy books in the game. There are lots of books! [Of course I'm going to copy this feature over because I love reading.]
• More in-depth “Create-a-Sim” mode; hair/facial details, shoes, jewelry, accessories, etc.
• Can change voice/pitch of Sims so you can recognize your Sims by their voice.
• Sims can become obese if they don’t get enough exercise.
• Free placement of objects (can turn grid off): 360 degrees rotation/placement of objects, place furniture and hang artwork on diagonal walls, can move whole sets of furniture as one object (eg. dining room table + chairs), etc.

I grabbed these from this article so click on the link to see the rest.

Over at the TS3 forum, I skimmed through a thread that talks about what users want to see in TS3. All the features I wanted originally were listed, and here are some of them, plus a couple more I found pretty funny:

• Weather: came in TS2, should come with the original TS3 game.
• I love having pets but stray pets wandering into your house is annoying.
• Live-in help (butlers, maids, chefs, drivers, nannies— call me a bitch but I hate taking care of my Sim babies and toddlers because they’re boring and are a pain-in-the-ass).
• Create more options available to babies and toddlers so they’re not boring and a pain-in-the-ass.
• Get rid of NPC’s all together and hire other Sims for NPC jobs. They are “useless, ugly Sims that I didn’t want my created ones to socialize with.” Of course, these NPC’s should be uncontrollable while doing their jobs until their shift is over.
• “Better options with affairs and such. For example if a housewife is cheating on her husband with the mail man, the husband should be able to get suspicious… maybe come home early from work one day to try and catch her in the act, or find a love note from the mail man in her sock drawer.”
• Town parades, funeral processions, flea markets, festivals, etc. just to add some randomness and excitement.
• More control over body shape (height, weight, boobs and ass, etc).
• “There should be a court building where your Sims could hire a lawyer and sue the miscreants that kick over their lawn gnomes or steal away their newspapers.”
• Integrate the Boolprop hack into the game and make it more efficient and simplified. I hate having to enter the hack, click on the mailbox or wherever to use it when I really need it, and then disable it again so it doesn’t mess up my game in the long run.
• Arrange marriages since the game is in real-time, my Sims won’t fall in love with and marry ugly Sims I don’t know about. I know I’m vain, but this is just a game.
• “I also have a problem with it taking 4 or 5 Sim minutes for my Simmies to get out of a chair, on the couch or at the dining table. It would be nice to have more real time play. I mean, it doesn’t take me 4 minutes to get out of a chair and on a bad day, I can still use the restroom quicker than they can.”
• This sums it all up: “The Sims has always been a “god game” and that has been its appeal. So, let me be the god of my game, and give me almost unlimited ability to design my world the way I want it, right out of the box.“

I hope EA actually push back their release date by a couple months because it sounds like a lot of players don’t mind holding onto Sims 2 for a bit longer and I think everyone would want a quality game over a rushed one and February maybe too soon to release a STRONG game with everything they promised (and probably more). I won’t be getting it until 6 months to a year after it’s release date when there will be a good variety of custom content and downloads for it online and patches released to fix bugs they missed and shipped.

… Maybe I’m just saying this because I’ve barely touched TS2.

I can see so many possibilities for the Sims like combining the original Sims game to Sim City so you can build entire cities for your Sims to roam. You might need a super computer or a lot of time for that, so maybe the ability to download/import cities into your game will be good enough. A more successful version of Sims online will also work better with seamless neighborhoods (like Secondlife) and better interaction… I wonder will EA attempt to relaunch Sims Online again with better gameplay and features?

This weekend I…

• lost my eyeliner AGAIN
• lost my press powder AGAIN
• lost my favorite lip gloss AGAIN (I was so depressed)
• bought a new camera (Canon SD1100 in pink) and almost lost it too
• almost left my Blackberry in the cab
• got someone’s puke all over my favorite jacket
• got kicked out of ATL and Aubar two nights in a row (well my girlfriend did)

… t’was one hell of a weekend.

I don’t know what’s wrong with me but the last couple of weeks, I’ve been having trouble putting on my fake eyelashes (it use to take only 2 minutes!!) … and I ripped a lot of it out when taking it off so I’m semi-eyelash-less right now. Gross? Yep. I also ruined my last two sets of my favorite Ardell lashes so I had to order more (got 4 new sets). I know I have a billion others but those were my favorite.

I started using this hair treatment that Boyfriend’s sister-in-law got for me from a beauty supplier because my hair was so fried and I’ve used it twice and it’s already made such a HUGE difference! I don’t remember the name of it but I’ll post it when I get home tomorrow evening; I think you need a salon license to actually buy it though. I’m excited because I want to nurse my hair back to health since I don’t plan on getting it professionally done until I go back to Asia [to do it] next year…. I’m thinking of dying it a dark espresso brown and let it grow out (but that also means I’ll need a new set of extensions for those special nights).

Haven’t been shopping in a while (aside from a camera and fake lashes), so next week I’ll be on a look-out for new boots and tunic sweaters.

I’ve been in such a bad mood all weekend (that is, until the drinks started hitting) and it’s funny because my cousins are here and they’re always here when I’m moody. I think it’s the lack of sleep and maybe because I’ve been in TOO good of a mood the last couple of weeks …being the bitter and pessimistic person that I am. It’s tiring man. I don’t know how you guys do it all the time.

GOOGLE CHROME (beta) WILL BE RELEASED TODAY! I’ll be installing it on my computer at work when I get to the office in a couple of hours if the download is released by then. Can’t wait to test it out!

My blog is proudly powered by WordPress. I’ve tried almost all blogging services out there: MovableType, Blogger, Xanga, Vox, Livejournal, etc… but none will ever live up to WordPress. One of the best thing about it is the extensive collection of plugins available and I think most bloggers at one point or another have listed their favorite plugins. My turn…!

Comment Email Responder

Allows you to reply to comments which will appear on the page after you submit and an email notification will be sent to the original commenter to let them know that you’ve replied. Why reply to comments? It shows your reader that you actually read them and will keep them coming back.

cForms II

Create [multiple] forms, customize fields, etc. I love this plugin because there are many custom form templates you can choose for each form and you can even create your own.

FlickrRSS

Display your latest Flickr photos on your blog. Although I always upload all my pictures to my online photo album, this plugin just makes your blog look good and it’s easy to update.

Lighter Menus

Creates dropdown menus for your admin interface so you don’t have to click on the main menu to get to the submenu categories.

Maintenance Mode

Activate Maintenance Mode when doing big updates for your blog so visitors won’t see it until you’re done.

Now Reading

One of my favorite plugins just because I’m a bookworm and it’s a good way to keep track of books that I’ve read and I also love seeing this on other blogs so I know what they’re currently reading.

Post Levels

My #1 plugin… the one that prevented me from upgrading WordPress to the latest versions because it wasn’t supported, hence using 2.3.1 until I finally got the guts to upgrade. This plugin allows you to set different levels to your private posts and only users with the corresponding levels or higher can see that private post, although everyone will be able to see a preview of it if you choose to have one there.

Register Plus

Let’s your users choose their own passwords when registering, allows you enhance your registration and profile pages, create custom fields and choose which fields are required, etc.

Theme Test Driver

Test a theme you’re working on without letting anyone else that’s not an administrator see it.

WP Database Back-Up

One thing I learned the hard way: always back up your database!

WP Super Cache

Speed up your blog with super fast caching!

50 Designers’ Current Favorite Typefaces; found this on John’s blog (ilovetypography.com). The book is limited edition because they were printed for free so unfortunately they are out of stock. But according to James from createreject.com, if you are anywhere near London right now, there are still some copies in Koenig Books in Charing Cross Road and Artwords in Shoreditch. Proceeds of the book sales go to Unicef.

Pantone Expresso Cups; although I quit drinking coffee a year ago (it was a very long and hard withdrawal), maybe I should start again just so I can buy these Pantone cups and drink in style and pretend that I’m a better designer than I actually am. Actually, I’m going to stick with my Chinese herbal teas but I’ll be drinking them out of pantone cups.

Romain Laurent; some very very cool photo manipulations by a very talented designer.

Cable Box (by Blue Lounge); if you know me and have seen my desk at work or at home, you’ll know I need one of these… BAD.

Lovemomiji.com’s Collection; for the lovers of all things CUTE, check out their collection and their shop! *ahem Richelle.

Sonya Gladiator Sandal by Dolce Vita; we all know we love gladiator sandals and can’t get enough of them! So totally sexy. Yummy.

Jean-Michel Cazabat Twister Sandals in Gold; and you thought Gladiator sandals were hot? Check out these snake themed sandals; very very sexy and Cleopatra-like. I like. I like. Now I hope someone gets them for me

Hautelook.com is having a Vix sale. Very very cute bikinis… perfect for this perfect weather we’ve been having. Unfortunately I’ll be saying no to this until I get back to my “regular” weight. Damn office job, and gourmet cafeteria!!