APN conflicts Got a new US iPhone, which kept claiming I had no cellular data plan. Which of course turned the iPhone into a glorified iTouch, since I couldn't get data.Finally, on a stroke of inspiration, I figured out that since I also had a non-US iPhone synced to my computer, it must have somehow screwed with the APN of the new iPhone. Apple's online support on this wasn't much help, since while it helped me verify that I might indeed have figured out the source of the problem, "editing the Cellular Data Network settings is only available on authorized unlocked iPhones or with carriers that allow modifying the APN details" i.e. not on a locked AT&T iPhone. But I managed to edit the APN settings anyway. I wonder if Apple/AT&T would consider it wrong that I did so, just in order to get the cellular data service that I was paying for? DC Restaurant Week It's the middle of DC restaurant week, and although I put in late reservations I still managed to get a few good places. Morton's last night. All Morton's steakhouses kind of look the same - that old oak wood clubby feel - but that's all right when all Morton's steaks taste the same - delicious.Looking forward to the rest of the week! Mad Men Season 4, Episode 2 "Mad Men" is the only show I actually have a reminder in my calendar for. I'll leave the excellent Heather Havrilesky to sum up the episode.  Television Without Pity usually has great recaps too.  But here's some thoughts, just on Lee Garner Jr.'s line on receiving his present: "Reminds me of when I was a kid. Remember that, you'd ask for something and you'd get it? Made you happy", and why I love this show. The writers pack so much into this one line: the idea that Lee's a person of privilege who always got what he wanted; the idea that he should be able to find happiness; and the wistfulness for a much simpler chain of causality: you know what will make you happy, you ask for it, you get it, and it makes you happy. Lee at best only has a good idea of what will make him happy. I don't get the sense that, outside of the Sal incident, he's tried to ask for it much. (Although reasonable people might disagree.) And I don't get the sense that he's ever gotten what he wants, let alone have the chance to find out whether that would truly make him happy. Besides which, the scene has already shown (via the Roger-as-Santa thing) that there is something attenuated about the pleasure of getting something you asked for because you have power over the other person rather than the more simple joys of giving.Besides the terrific line itself, the delivery was great. Lee's tone changed when he said the line - all the hint of menace and power games seemed to fall away for a moment.And this is why I love Mad Men. The condensation of so much into succinct lines - not bon mots or quips or pithy statements, but lines that, both in what is said and what is not said, convey an entire world. Been hot so long it looks like cool to me Hot town, summer in the city. The World Cup, or 1710 all over again So I see the Kingdom of Spain has dispatched the Prussians and the Kingdom of Portugal, and will now face the Dutch... it's the War of Spanish Succession redux.Spain has dispatched the Prussians and the Kingdom of Portugal, and now face the Dutch? It's the War of Spanish Succession reduxSpain has dispatched the Prussians and the Kingdom of Portugal, and now face the Dutch? It's the War of Spanish Succession red. The Washington Life I am now living in Washington DC for work. It seems almost surreal to be back here in the US, even if I've been coming back on a fairly regular basis. But at the same time it's nice to get back into the swing of American life - had a Krispy Kreme on my way to work this morning, and have had lots of Southern food since I've arrived. Mmm, shrimp and grits.Those of you who know me, say hi if you're ever in town! STPI's Blockbuster Show I strolled into the Singapore Tyler Print Institute yesterday, on a day off, and caught their 25 Years of Parkett show. Amazing stuff. When do you ever get to see in Singapore works by - and I admit, I'm just naming favourites here - Gerhard Richter, Andreas Gursky, Cindy Sherman, Ellsworth Kelly, Sam Taylor-Wood (and yes, there's a Warhol, a Koons, a Hirst and lots of other names)...  Strange that there wasn't much of a crowd, or in fact, hardly any at all.  A brilliant free exhibition. I'm Awesome I love Spose's "I'm Awesome".  Especially the "I talk to myself on my Facebook wall" line. Speeding up the iPhone So my iPhone 3G was starting to feel very sluggish - I could literally start counting the seconds off between clicking on the Safari or iPod icons and when I could actually do anything in either app. Didn't remember it being this slow, but I thought it might be just me justifying to myself why I needed a 3GS, especially since neither powering off and restarting nor clearing the Safari cache didn't speed it up. But then I tried loading and force-quitting all the apps I use with any regularity, particularly Safari/iPod/Mail, and it has dramatically sped up the loading of each of these apps (based on the time-honoured method of counting off "one-Mississippi" between load times).  I wonder if that means the iPhone apps could be hogging some resources, even if they don't seem to be running? Well, whatever works. View from the Mimolette carpark. There was something about how wild this landscape seemed, right in the middle of Singapore. That, and the dramatic leave-lorn tree. Oscar thoughts I watched The Hurt Locker last night. A deserving Best Picture. Bigelow is a great action director. You always have a sense of space, where all the action is taking place, and where all the known threats could come from. The pendulum of the film's rhythm swings between tension and release, much, one supposes, like the work and life of the protagonists.Kathryn Bigelow, incidentally, turns 59 this year. James Cameron does seem to fall for strong, capable women. Staying with them - not his forte, apparently.Single transferable voting was used for the Best Pic decision. Hendrik Hertzberg over at the New Yorker predicted it would bode well for The Hurt Locker. Probably spot on in his analysis. Was this used for the other categories?Much has been made of the fact that there were 10 Best Picture nominees this year, but I can't get too worked up over that. There are 10 actors nominated, split by gender; 10 supporting actors nominated, again split by gender; and 10 screenplays nominated, split by whether they were original or adapted works.Speaking of adapted works, I've concluded from the mentions of "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" that if I ever write anything that gets adapted into a screenplay, I should negotiate to include my own name in the film's title.Finally, Sandra Bullock's performance may not have been great. (I have no clue - I didn't see The Blind Side.) But she's always good fun at awards ceremonies. A Razzie and an Oscar in the same year, and she showed up for both! Toby and Amber The li'l bunnies. Toby's the shy one on the left. Amber's the impish one on the right. Okay, not that impish in this shot, but the number of wires she's bitten through is a veritable trail of destruction. Blogger removing FTP support All right, this might not be of interest to anyone but fellow Blogger users, but Blogger basically is pulling the plug on FTP support, which this blog has hitherto been publishing with. And asking us to use Google Custom Domains. Which is all fine and dandy, since they made a Migration Tool for it. Except - wonder of wonders - the Migration Tool pretty much is crap if you're publishing on www. Groan.The long and short of it: tell me if any files appear missing! Location-Based Services I love GPS, and I love Google Maps, and I'm the first to think that there could be more done with location-based services in Singapore. (Aside: Some day I'll do my own Google Maps mashup to find out where I can take my recycling. In the meantime, I managed to get the number of the local karang guni man.) I like the idea of using something as non-geographical as the Internet to promote hyperlocal things, such as figuring out restaurants near you and the like, and I like the idea that my phone can help me do that.But even so, I don't get Foursquare or Google Buzz for Mobile, which I played around with for a while. Via sparklette, I found "Please Rob Me", which figures out who's not at home using foursquare. (Technically, since it tells you where people aren't, not where they are, it should be "please burglarise me", but I guess that's not as catchy a name.) It may be facetious, but it helps make a good point - why do you want to broadcast your location? I get that people exchange privacy for services a lot - Gmail etc. - but what exactly is one getting in return for telling people where you are? The odd chance that a friend might be serendipitously nearby and come over and say hi? Salinger remembered Lillian Ross on her friendship with J. D. Salinger in the New Yorker. A lovely portrait of the man as man, not recluse. Also some photos. Chinese New Year In honour of the tradition of not using scissors on Chinese New Year, I will eschew cutting. I will only copy and paste. iPad If the iPad comes to this region, will we see an iPad Thai? iPad If the iPad comes to this region, will we see an iPad Thai? Happy birthday, Mum I pass by the current Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy building once in a while. It's gone through many incarnations in its life, starting as the University of Singapore. But to me it will always be the IE building, i.e. (ha) the Institute of Education Building, because that's what my Mum called it when she worked there, in a branch of the Ministry of Education, working on the "Helping Underachievers Programme".My Mum worked almost all her life, once she got her A-levels and finished Teachers Training College. She taught in Balestier Mixed School, where she met my Dad. She taught in Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), up until her retirement in 2005. And in between there were various schools and stints at MOE. So, occasionally, after Primary School finished, when I wasn't parked at the National Library waiting for her (the family didn't have babysitting), I would go to her office in the IE Building, and get parked in the library there. I discovered the lovely graphic novel style of Raymond Briggs' "When the Wind Blows" there. Plus, while my memory grows fuzzy, I think they had a good collection of Asterix comics.But I would also go up to her office, where to keep me entertained she would give me some paper and an electric typewriter to use, and I would type things out. It was such a revelation, compared to the manual typewriter we had back home, which was exceedingly tough to use for my little-boy-hands. Plus the ability to backspace in a line was astounding. No Tipp-Ex! And so that was where I learnt to type, by my Mum's side, up in that little room in the IE building.She was always proud of me. But in so many ways she helped me become who I am today, and sacrificed so much to give me all these opportunities to learn. And I hope somewhere she remains proud of me. Happy birthday, Mum. Happy birthday, Mum I pass by the current Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy building once in a while. It's gone through many incarnations in its life, starting as the University of Singapore. But to me it will always be the IE building, i.e. (ha) the Institute of Education Building, because that's what my Mum called it when she worked there, in a branch of the Ministry of Education, working on the "Helping Underachievers Programme".My Mum worked almost all her life, once she got her A-levels and finished Teachers Training College. She taught in Balestier Mixed School, where she met my Dad. She taught in Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), up until her retirement in 2005. And in between there were various schools and stints at MOE. So, occasionally, after Primary School finished, when I wasn't parked at the National Library waiting for her (the family didn't have babysitting), I would go to her office in the IE Building, and get parked in the library there. I discovered the lovely graphic novel style of Raymond Briggs' "When the Wind Blows" there. Plus, while my memory grows fuzzy, I think they had a good collection of Asterix comics.But I would also go up to her office, where to keep me entertained she would give me some paper and an electric typewriter to use, and I would type things out. It was such a revelation, compared to the manual typewriter we had back home, which was exceedingly tough to use for my little-boy-hands. Plus the ability to backspace in a line was astounding. No Tipp-Ex! And so that was where I learnt to type, by my Mum's side, up in that little room in the IE building.She was always proud of me. But in so many ways she helped me become who I am today, and sacrificed so much to give me all these opportunities to learn. And I hope somewhere she remains proud of me. Happy birthday, Mum. Movies of the Decade My top 10 movies of the 2000s, inspired by Chris Wisniewski's writeup on Before Sunset on Reverse Shot:Before SunsetEternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindY Tu Mama TambienCity of GodBrokeback MountainIn the Mood for LoveFar From HeavenAlmost FamousHigh FidelityMementoHonourable mentions: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Children of Men; The Wrestler; The Squid and the Whale; Juno; Up; State of Play; The Bourne Ultimatum, Once. Movies of the Decade My top 10 movies of the 2000s, inspired by Chris Wisniewski's writeup on Before Sunset on Reverse Shot:Before SunsetEternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindY Tu Mama TambienCity of GodBrokeback MountainIn the Mood for LoveFar From HeavenAlmost FamousHigh FidelityMementoHonourable mentions: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Children of Men; The Wrestler; The Squid and the Whale; Juno; Up; State of Play; The Bourne Ultimatum, Once. Oh Open House Went to the Oh! Open House on Friday. Great to tour Niven Road shophouses. But to be honest the works that caught my eye were in the companion exhibition at Wilkie Edge - "Blink" by George Wong and a couple of works by Marissa Keller. Oh Open House Went to the Oh! Open House on Friday. Great to tour Niven Road shophouses. But to be honest the works that caught my eye were in the companion exhibition at Wilkie Edge - "Blink" by George Wong and a couple of works by Marissa Keller. On SMSs and spelling Scientific American's 60-Second Psych podcast points out an interesting study from the academic journal Reading and Writing that shows that texting / SMSing does not have any impact on spelling ability. Indeed, apparently those who spell well in standard English spell well in "textese".When I posted this link on Facebook, I got a couple of queries on whether the results worked for those for whom English is not a first language. I don't know, but it seems that the same complaint on "textese" apparently affecting spelling is common in environments where English is the primary language, which is probably why there was even interest in the experiment. So I would certainly not rule out the idea that something other than "textese" is affecting standards of spelling, and that there is some confusion of correlation and causation. Another possible cause, for example, could be a general reduction in the value that society as a whole places on spelling, perhaps because of the existence of easily available spell-checking and the like, causing students growing up in such a society to not care about spelling.Also found this interesting story about another study on SMSs and language. On SMSs and spelling Scientific American's 60-Second Psych podcast points out an interesting study from the academic journal Reading and Writing that shows that texting / SMSing does not have any impact on spelling ability. Indeed, apparently those who spell well in standard English spell well in "textese".When I posted this link on Facebook, I got a couple of queries on whether the results worked for those for whom English is not a first language. I don't know, but it seems that the same complaint on "textese" apparently affecting spelling is common in environments where English is the primary language, which is probably why there was even interest in the experiment. So I would certainly not rule out the idea that something other than "textese" is affecting standards of spelling, and that there is some confusion of correlation and causation. Another possible cause, for example, could be a general reduction in the value that society as a whole places on spelling, perhaps because of the existence of easily available spell-checking and the like, causing students growing up in such a society to not care about spelling.Also found this interesting story about another study on SMSs and language. Same old show Tessa Wong's piece on how every mall in Singapore tends to have the same shops these days is right on the money. Although it leads to questions about whether malls should be the sites of diversity, versus individual shops that extend out onto the street. Even the festival markets of the US - Quincy Market etc. - seem to have lots of chains in my experience.As an aside in this Jane Jacobs vein: I do like that the ground-level shops of Ion and Orchard Central have doors that actually open out onto the street, rather than just a window display that forces you to enter the mall first. I'm not sold on the luxury goods being sold at Ion, but this is a good trend.The most interesting shopping centres in Singapore to me are the old ones - Peninsula Plaza and Shopping Centre, Far East Plaza (and Far East Shopping Centre, come to think of it), Tanglin Shopping Centre. All these old shops, selling niche products and services. Same old show Tessa Wong's piece on how every mall in Singapore tends to have the same shops these days is right on the money. Although it leads to questions about whether malls should be the sites of diversity, versus individual shops that extend out onto the street. Even the festival markets of the US - Quincy Market etc. - seem to have lots of chains in my experience.As an aside in this Jane Jacobs vein: I do like that the ground-level shops of Ion and Orchard Central have doors that actually open out onto the street, rather than just a window display that forces you to enter the mall first. I'm not sold on the luxury goods being sold at Ion, but this is a good trend.The most interesting shopping centres in Singapore to me are the old ones - Peninsula Plaza and Shopping Centre, Far East Plaza (and Far East Shopping Centre, come to think of it), Tanglin Shopping Centre. All these old shops, selling niche products and services. District 10 Saw that District 10, the restaurant, was reviewed in the Sunday Times today. Agree that their ribs could do with a touch less mustard. But my pressing question is: why is it called District 10 when its postal sector is 22 and thus it is very much in District 9? District 10 Saw that District 10, the restaurant, was reviewed in the Sunday Times today. Agree that their ribs could do with a touch less mustard. But my pressing question is: why is it called District 10 when its postal sector is 22 and thus it is very much in District 9?