AEN, Cogito ergo sum

Everybody has a wish list or a list of desirables, unless it is someone in the extreme upper levels of Buddhism, even so he would be wishing for the attainment of enlightenment so he too has a wish list! I have a bunch of stuff that I want to have, either to make my life easier, to make myself happier or it is just plain cool to have.

Apple Cinema HD Display (30″)

A display with optimum brightness, a minimal bezel and ultra-high resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels for my graphic work. This is even higher resolution than HD (1920 x 1080). With so much screen real estate, it will be much less painful to work in Photoshop, Flash and apps with many palettes and where you need a big picture and overview of what you are working on.

A flat panel display runs cooler, uses less power, requires less material to manufacture, requires smaller packaging, therefore is friendlier to the environment.

Shimano XT M770 Hollowtech II Triple Chainset

Top of the line Shimano chainset just below the race-specific XTR group. Forged HollowTech II aluminum cranks for really good strength-to-weight ratio and stiffness. It also has a steel and carbon composite middle chain ring for lightweight and durability.

Overall a light and strong crankset for my mountain bike, to replace the current Deore set which feels flexy and heavy to me. Shimano bicycle components to me, are the best.

CrankBrothers Cobalt XC/Race Wheelset

These disc wheels are pure sex. Air-craft grade 6061-T6 aluminum rims, sealed cartridge-bearing hubs and the best part, cobalt blue color. Each set tickles the scale at an anorexic 688g (front) + 852g (rear), and that’s as heavy as 1 wheel of what I have now. If cycling is porn, this is the star.

Spokes connect at a vertical rib, that means there are no spoke holes needed through the rim wall and rim bed, resulting in ultimate stiffness. The 24 stainless steel twinpair spokes are laced in a low-dish mirror pattern for balanced tension. Truly a work of art.

Apple iPhone 3G White (16 GB)

Singtel recently launch the iPhone 3G in Singapore. I’m sure everyone who reads my blog knows the features of the iPhone so I’ll skip that part.

I have an iPod Nano but Vivi is using it and I don’t think I should buy another iPod since I don’t really listen to portable music that often. But I think I can justify getting an iPhone because of so many reasons. Other than being an Pod, I could use it to get online, check my emails and surf the net (with Safari!) with having to open up my 17 inch MacBook Pro in public transport which sucks when it’s crowded. Another reason is I’m familiar with apple products and their user interfaces. I think an iPhone is perfect for me.

SONY Playstation 3 and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Bundle

I have been a long time MGS fan and it’s one of the best game series I have played, besides Final Fantasy. Unfortunately I lack a Playstation 3 and a big television to play play the game in its full glory. I sworn to myself that if I ever were to play MGS4, i would have to do it on a HD TV of at least 50 inches. There is simply to much details in the game for it to suffer in my current miserable 20 inch TV, which has been been around for at least half a decade.

This bundle is what I really want badly but it also means I have to buy a TV and a big one will cost a lot. Let’s just hope I’ll land a few more good-paying projects so I can afford them.

Vivi and I took a trip to IKEA at Tampines yesterday for some new furniture. We got a new table for the room and some shelving units for the living room.

The shelves are IVAR and have not been installed as we need to get rid of the old sofa currently taking up the space. Someone wants it and she’s picking it up this weekend. More on the shelves when we get to installed them.

As for the new table in the room, we got a combination of white GALANT A-legs and a 120×60mm VIKA FURUSKOG table-top. No more fiberboard table-tops like our old VIKA AMONs as they warp under long-term load. We chose FURUSKOG as it is a good, solid plank of pine wood. The GALANT A-legs does not restrict one’s knees unlike traditional straight legs, a big plus.

What you see in this picture is what Vivi and I call the “Tree”, which is actually a loft bed. The tree top is where we sleep and under the tree is where we work, play and watch Anime and TV.

Vivi and I will be working on this table from now on. Our old VIKA AMON CURRY desks will be stowed away to make way for an upright piano we are buying. I feel that the room is undergoing a nice transition and I like the change for the better.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.

Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.

Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?

Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?

Epicurus

More quotes at 101 Atheist Quotes.

The Germans have won an Olympic gold in Beijing. Sabine Spitz from Germany clinched the gold medal in the women’s cross country race yesterday on a “Ghost” branded bike. The bike she was riding/holding caught my attention and so I Googled the term “ghost bikes”. What I found was not a bicycle maker’s website, but a collection of touching deeds fellow cyclists are doing for one another, that compelled me to write this blog post.

I ended up on ghostbikes.org, a site intended for the worldwide cycling community with stories and galleries of white-painted bicycles set up in memory of cyclists who have been killed in road accidents. These white bikes are called Ghost Bikes and “are dignified and somber memorials for bicyclists killed on the streets of New York
City. A bicycle painted all white is locked near the crash site accompanied by a small plaque
remembering the fallen cyclist.”

“Each installation is meant to be a reminder of a tragedy that occurred on an otherwise anonymous street corner and a quiet statement in support of cyclists’ right to safe travel. The first bike memorials were created in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003, and the idea has since spread to at least 30 cities throughout the world. The first New York City ghost bikes appeared in June 2005.”

History

(Taken from Wikipedia) The first ghost bike memorial project was in St. Louis, Missouri, United States in October 2003. After observing a motorist strike a bicyclist in a bike lane on Holly Hills Boulevard, Patrick Van Der Tuin placed a white-painted bicycle on the spot with a hand-painted sign reading “Cyclist Struck Here”. Noticing the effect that this had on motorists in the area, Van Der Tuin then enlisted the help of friends to place 15 more “ghost bikes” in prominent spots in the St. Louis area where cyclists had recently been hit by automobiles.

Similar projects began in Pittsburgh in 2004, New York City, Seattle in 2005, and Chicago in 2006. London Ghostcycle was active in 2005 and 2006. There have been similar projects in dozens of other cities worldwide.

In New York City alone there has been 69 known fatalities and 45 ghost bikes installed for them. Looking at the map above one can clearly see the risks cyclists have to face in some parts of the world.

I fully support this movement and will definitely try my best to install ghost bikes here in Singapore if there ever are accidents, but I hope I will never have to. I also want to spread the message to the rest who do not know, especially road users, motorist and whoever might unknowingly put people’s lives at risk.

To know more please visit these links.

• Information of ghost bikes around the world: GhostBikes.org
• Ghost bike (Wikipedia)
• Broken bikes, broken lives

The stuff I ordered from ChainReactionCycles came 2 weeks ago but due to SingPost’s delivery times clashing with my work times, I could not see it until I collected it from their main branch a week later.

Here it is with the new Ritchey carbon handle bar and Fizik saddle with titanium rails.

Close-up of the Ritchey carbon bar. This bar is much wider than my previous ABR flat bar. I’m already getting used to the width and it is so much more comfortable. It’s freaking light too!

The Mavic 717 wheelset and ControlTech seat collar are on Vivi’s bike.