Rescue Dogs: The Future of Mobile Ads

Marware Eco-Vue for iPad

As of this writing, my iPad sports a folio case by Marware called the Eco-Vue.  It's as versatile and as good looking as a case can get. Although at times, I felt envious with people who carry their iPad with the Apple iPad case (which looks more like what Batman would use).  If the Apple iPad case looks so sexy, why did I end up getting a more expensive (yet conservative) case like the Marware Eco-Vue?

On Social Culture ...Asian Style.

Quoting from Tony Hsieh's book Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose (discussing on the social values of Asian culture in general, while talking about his own parents):

"The accomplishments of the children were the trophies that many parents defined their own success and status by.  We were the ultimate scorecard."

Funny how things never changed, only the venue becomes sophisticated.  It used to be that family guests would come to our house and we (among children) would entertain them by song and dance.  Fast forward to the Facebook age, our bragging rights (as parents) are the achievements of our kids through photos and videos posted on the social website (and I myself am guilty of it as well).  Promise to not talk about socials and Facebook again on the next post. :-P

The Power of Social

Disclaimer:  This is not a movie review of The Social Network.  Although I've just watched it, its more entertaining and insightful to read Jeff Jarvis' take on the film (after listening to this week's episode of This Week In Google).

We had our weekly family lunch last Saturday on a restaurant where we always order that same 'ol fried chicken dish (it's Taiwanese fried chicken, not KFC).  I checked in with Foursquare (as I always do) and read what people were talking about the place.  Care for suggestions?  Yes, I've found an entry talking about this spicy beef noodle soup (紅燒牛肉麵).  Turned out my wife had ordered it before I've even asked.  As a foodie herself, she regularly visits this famous local food blog.  After trying the noodle soup, I should say it's good and was glad that she ended up having me finish it.  If I haven't checked the Foursquare recommendation, I wouldn't even dare try it (no, not to that effect though -- I like food and all but emotions would not be amplified to this level).  If it wasn't for the blog post, my wife would not even have ordered it.

Moshi iVisor AG Matte Protector for iPad

At first, I was skeptic on what can a $30 screen protector offer that a sub-$10 can't.  Besides the nice packaging, the quality of the Moshi iVisor AG is evident that this is no ordinary screen protector that you can pickup from any local mall kiosk.  Most better quality protectors utilize static to cling onto the surface of the display.  Problem is it's very hard to install especially on a display as big as the iPad (with the challenges of pursuing a speckle and bubble free right-through-the edge installation).  If you haven't done any previous screen protector installation, you may end up spending the same cost but with a mediocre finish.

Meet JARVIS

It's been a month since I decided to jump into the tablet scene by getting myself an iPad.  The story behind this is even boring than the founding of Facebook, but for the sake of logging the event on my journal, I decided to share it instead.

Where to begin?  January 27, 2010 - Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced iPad - a magical and revolutionary product at an unbelievable price.  After the announcement, I thought do I really need one? An iPad? What a name!  Since the device was unappealing to me at first, I concentrated on getting myself an iPhone instead.  At that time, I was still using my iPod touch (named Potts -- short for Pepper Potts).  Why an iPhone?  I wanted a decent camera phone that could post photos online (while doing some socials on the side).  The thing that kept me from owning one was the dreaded data plan.