design sans frontieres®

An old monk and his pets in Luang Prabang, Laos.

View over ‘Ban Noun-savath’ Village, a.k.a. The Elephant Village that lies on the bank of Khan River, near Luang Prabang, Laos.

Zip-lining across the jungle up high in the mountain in Northern Laos. Only suitable for adrenaline junkie and definitely ain’t for the faint of heart!

View from the tree house where I stayed in the jungle in Northern Laos.

Fantastic Panoramic Photography by Oliver Mauder

German photographer, Oliver Mauder, created his own version of the world through sets of panoramic photography. Furthermore, by using Quick Time VR Works, we can also delve deeper into his striking panoramic shots for closer look.

Check out more here.

Embracing 2011…

I must say that I barely recalled how I manage to survive 2010 with flair and zest relatively intact; oh yeah it wasn’t all rainbow, mind ye! Some good and not so good things happened, even to (ahem) someone like moi*.

Now, good things about last year? Well, let’s see… I had a (bionic**) knee surgery, went to South America for the first time, speaking Spanish after only learning via podcast (and actually being understood), sailing and dilly-dallying in the Mediterranean (after 36+ hours flight), and plenty other things that I’m sure I should be grateful for.

The not so good things about 2010? Lost a friend who died while running a Goby marathon, found out that I’m bad at reading people***, my folks are getting old and I’m not spending enough time with them, f***in’ drama at work… etc. Hookay, let’s not dwell on it, else we all go touchy feely and sentimental.

So… what’s in store for 2011, you asked? My dog had a surgery worth of USD5700 on the first of January. Yep, this year was definitely started with a bang, at least to my wallet! The pessimist in me would say, “O bloody hell, this can’t be a good omen to start the new year!” But then again, the rather annoying (and usually more persistent) optimist in me would disagree by saying, “Pfff… a li’l setback like that and ye cry like a wee bairn! The year is young, move on, will ye!” — For the record, I think it’d be a good year, maybe not great, but it can’t be worse than the last, no?

On the geeky side, we definitely will see the tablet popularity finally reach wider audience beyond its first adopters. Competition between iPad and Android tablets would be something interesting to witness for sure. On top of that, let’s not forget Shanzai-pad, which probably gain popularity in the lower-end market. Incredible thing about the ‘pad’ phenomenon is the fact that the audience are getting younger and younger. Heck, I spotted handful of toddlers (yes, plural!) playing games on iPad at a health clinic in Shanghai. Clever idea to keep those li’l squirts occupied!

If we’re feeling ambitious, maybe this year we would see the rise of A.I. (that’s Artificial Intelligence, by the way) applied for real daily use? At least more than just a silly robot that can pick up tennis ball. Or perhaps a flying car or anything remotely close in that brilliant Blade Runner flick?

I guess we can go on and on about our wish list for the next year, but maybe we should lower down the expectation a bit? After all, it’s already 2011 and still there ain’t any flying car to be seen!

Well then, how about new year resolution? Okay, here’s where I stand on new year resolution; by quoting F.M. Knowles, “He who breaks a resolution is a weakling. He who makes one is a fool.” So there!

Have a FUN-tastic 2011, folks!

——-
* Yes, someone like me. ;-)

**Oh how I wish! Why did I put it in the good list then? Because it was such a pricey five figures (USD) surgery but I didn’t have to pay a dime for it!

*** Actually, this ain’t new. I’m notoriously bad at recognizing some of the basic human expressions. Bloody android!