March 2012
1 post
April Fooled
Yesterday, I decided to pull off what I thought was my favorite, and not to mention my best, April Fool’s day prank ever — because I didn’t know that many people would believe it and that I thought everybody’d know it was obviously an April Fool’s joke.
See here, the main reason why I wanted to do such a fool-hearty move was because I wanted to do something...
2 tags
Juggling
To be completely honest, I’ve never actually been paying attention lately to what mattered most to me back a few months ago.
I can still remember the hours’ work, late nights and the sheer enthusiasm I’ve put into making The Backlog what I want it be — my own personal, playground of a space on the internet. All that time and effort now seems to have...
January 2012
1 post
3 tags
Mobile Photography
This 2012, one of my new year’s resolutions was that I’d like to take more photos.
Ever since I’ve gotten the iPhone 4S and it’s amazing new camera, I began to realise how much of a trend mobile photography has made. Thanks to services like Instagram, Piictu, Path and more — and their wonderful camera filters, the rise of mobile photographers will soon even out...
December 2011
3 posts
4 tags
365 Days. 1000 Tweets.
Three hundred and sixty-five days ago, I signed up for Twitter because I wanted to experience something totally new. I was never really into social networking, or at least the notion of it, and back then, I still didn’t even get the concept of Facebook.
Luckily for me, Twitter had one of the simplest user experiences, where you just had to post 140 character messages and...
5 tags
The Industry
About a month ago I read a tweet from Drew Wilson looking for people who love to write about design.
“That would be me”, I thought, and I responded back with an email stating how much I like writing. I even included a link to my hiatus post just to prove otherwise.
I wasn’t expecting him to reply back, as I’ve done things like this before with...
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Rainy Days
Ever since I was really little, I’ve always loved the rain.
Whenever I experience a slight drizzle or even a week’s worth of heavy rain, I always seem to enjoy the complexity of how rain clouds travel, and the sound every raindrop makes as it hits the roof of my home. The rattle of the roof, the cold, cold breeze, and of course, the dim, humid atmosphere rainy weather makes,...
November 2011
5 posts
Brand New!
Over the course of 15 months, I’ve redesigned my site’s theme over a dozen times, but for ever major iteration, it’d be a number no higher than six. If you’ve been reading my blog ever since the very inception of it, then you would have at least felt annoyed about why I can’t seem to settle, or choose a design I finally seem to like.
But it is really...
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Trent Walton on Workspaces →
“I like the idea of defining certain spaces or postures for specific activities. The sit and click posture taxes my cognitive and creative faculties after too long. It’s hard for my brain to move from reading to writing, designing, troubleshooting, etc., when my body remains stationary. I need to move.”
True indeed. I find it hard to switch from long hours of reading and studying to creating and...
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The Great Discontent →
If there’s ever a site I love reading on the actual website itself, it’d be this one. The full-scale images, excellent typography and the wonderful use of huge quotes create the effect of reading through a glossy, well-designed print magazine.
The Great Discontent is a collection of interviews of the interweb’s best creatives. In short: They want to know what makes creative...
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The Nest
The Nest is really amazing.
Imagine this: It’s a really cold day, and it’s practically snowing outside. You start to shiver, so you decide to switch on your heater for a little while –and you crank it up to, say, 30 degrees celsius, because you want to feel that heat straight away. Soon, your friend then calls you up, because there’s some special event happening, and your friend...
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The Verge →
Remember when I wrote that post about “This is my next Engadget”? (If you haven’t read that yet, please do. It’s okay. I’ll wait.)
Well, fast forward to today, and here it is. The Verge, Josh Topolsky and his team’s brand new project is up and running. It’s one of the most unique websites I’ve ever visited (frankly, it’s unlike any other) and...
October 2011
9 posts
2 tags
What a Hiatus.
“Am Buck.”
It’s been a while. In fact, I’ve been gone for about 23 days; three of which I suffered a very exhausting flu which actually got me to start writing again.(More on this in a bit). This hiatus of mine, began straight after Steve Jobs’ death. I didn’t know what to write about then for the days that followed–partly because I felt slightly...
3 tags
"Everything else is secondary."
“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there.”
“And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.”
“Right now the new...
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For Steve →
I know I’m kinda late with the eulogies, but I decided to publish it anyway. Just visit it here on my site.
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Remembering Steve →
The world has lost the most remarkable human being in the history of mankind. I wouldn’t even be where I am right now if it wasn’t for him.
Thank you Steve,for everything.
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Predictions, Predictions.
It’s that time of the year again, isn’t it? We just have to wait a few more hours, and soon, millions of people around the entire web-iverse will either be staying at home, watching it, or out there, talking, tweeting, or perhaps blogging about it.
You don’t know what I’m talking about? Take a look at this.
Yeah, now you know. It’s one of those Apple media events....
7 tags
Version 2 →
The most used app on my dock (aside from Safari) is finally out of beta! (In plain English: Espresso 2 is out.)
September 2011
21 posts
2 tags
That's all, Folks!
Writing about food this month was spectacular. Not only did I get to try out new foods, discover great new sites and make great food, I also had an enjoyable time doing so.
But, take a look at the calendar. If you’re reading this on the day I published this, it should say: “October 1”. Oh dear, it’s the end of September already? (We all know what that means…)
I...
1 tag
Recommended Reading: Food
Over the course of the month, I’ve used various websites, books and blogs to do some deep research on the topic of food. Most of them ended up being linked to on my blog, and the rest I have either at home or bookmarked. Now, it’s my turn to share those to you in a nice, tidy list.
I’ve separated the books and the websites so that the next time you go book shopping or your...
4 tags
Desserts
Ah, desserts.
They say we spoil our appetite if we eat dessert first. Sometimes we even fast-eat past the main course just to have a bite of that soft, delicious Macaron, or that delectable Mamon I showed you how to cook earlier.
The term desserts comes from the French word desservir, which means to ‘clear the table’. Also, if you’ve wondered before what the first ever dessert...
5 tags
WatchA few days ago, my brother wanted to make some of those delicious Macarons my aunt used to make. They were extremely delicious, and they were rare, in terms of how often we ate them. We could have just bought some from one of those pastry connoisseur cafés, but they were dang too expensive ($2 a just for a tiny bite-sized Macaron).
So instead of having to suffer losing about $100 for 50 Macarons,...
4 tags
Preparing Perfect Pasta
Pasta is delicious.
Let me rephrase: Perfect pasta is delicious. You see what I did there?
So, what is ‘perfect’ pasta? I know I’m no cook, but if you eat a lot (trust me, I do) then one would be able to know what ‘perfect’ pasta really is. Perfect pasta, if described as a poem, would go like this:
Perfect Pasta, Perfect Pasta,
Less sauce than what’s on...
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Talking About Oatmeal →
Trent Walton:
“Minute oats have the consistency of sawdust, no matter how much syrup you pour onto it.”
Real Oatmeal tastes better. (And it would taste even better if served with cinnamon.)
Via Trent Walton.
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The Perfect Berry Smoothie →
It’s the peanut butter that makes the berry smoothie creamy.
Via My Cooking Diary.
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Le Dîner
It’s the French word for the evening meal.
Dinner is the best thing to come home to after a hard day’s work, and it often works as a get-together meal, giving each of the family members a chance to sit with each other, talking about how their day went.Because of that, Dinner needs to be an enjoyable, special moment, so if you want to sit together with your family longer, you really...
5 tags
Sauces & Dips
I’m no saucier.
I also don’t cook very often, or at all, to be honest. That’s why sauces are delicious. You can dip anything in them, and they will, at most, taste delicious. For example, if I dip a piece of toasted Roti onto a bowl of pesto, that will serve as a quick, healthy and tasty snack for the afternoon.
Sauces and dips can be bought from your local supermarket, but...
4 tags
Happy Birthday, Bro!
There’s a reason why I picked food as the topic for this month. And it’s no coincidence that it’s the same month my brother has his birthday.
My brother likes to cook. There’s no other aspiring chef like my bro. In fact, he’s baked cakes, cremets, fondants, pizzas, churros and even some Dulce de Leches. He likes what he does and he does it well; most of them taste delicious and are like works of...
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Recipe Number 2
Mamon.
No, I didn’t just call you that. Unless you’re an extremely delicious, sweet, soft and tasty Filipino sponge cake, then I might as well call you “Mamon”.
You see, I’m a third-culture kid. I mix things from my past culture and blend them into the new, thus creating some sort of third-culture.That means, I eat things that come from where I was born (I was born...
5 tags
Banana Split →
An awesome classic, but way more healthier.
via The Recipe Renovator.
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Teaser Trailer →
My Cooking Diary (I wrote a post about this, remember?) has one epic teaser trailer. Go and take a look– the video has got that Pixar-feel to it.
via TabQwerty
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What's for Lunch?
After long hours of working in the morning,the midday meal is perfect to appease one’s hunger. If it’s a bowl of healthy salad or a huge tasty hamburger, lunch can be served and prepared depending on what you’re craving for.
Did you know that the word “Lunch” is a shorthand abbreviation of the word “Luncheon” which means ”an extra meal between the...
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My Cooking Diary →
UI Designers can cook too.
The legendary Mike Matas, the major designer of the user interfaces on almost all the Apple Products, the Co-Inventor of most of Apple’s patents and the Co-founder of the Push Pop Press, also has an amazingly designed Food Blog called “My Cooking Diary”.
If you haven’t seen his works of art, I highly recommend you go take a peek at his...
3 tags
Food Sense →
Vegan eating presented at its best.
I’ve linked them a few times on my posts over the past few days, and not only did I link them because the recipes are great, but because their website is great. If you have the time to resize their homepage, almost all of the content responds and adapts to the screen width. I found this out myself after reading the site on my iMac, and then reading it on...
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Cracked-Pepper Crackers →
Impeccable. It’s also a must-make.
Via Fresh365.
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Potatoes, Bacons, Spring Onions and Cheese
I’ve never published one of ’em recipes before, but here’s one based on an inspiring book given to me by my aunt:
It was the eve of a very special occasion, and we served roast chicken as our main. We didn’t know what sidings we were going to have, so we consulted a very helpful book, by the name of “What to Cook and How to Cook It”. The book was written by...
5 tags
Rustic Grape Bread →
There’s nothing like the rustic to your grunge. It’s spring where I live in, and this delicious recipe of genuine rustic bread is perfect for those ‘staring at your garden’ moments. The recipe, from The Yellow House, involves the making of the pastry dough itself, which would obviously taste extremely good. The grape in toppings can also be replaced by almost anything, and...
3 tags
Olive Tapenade →
Experiment-inventing. That’s how this delicious tapenade came together.
via Chef in Disguise.
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No-Bake Orange Pistachio Cookies →
I’ve never heard of ‘no-bake’ cookies before, but this sure sounds like an extremely delicious recipe.
via Sketch-Free Vegan Eating.
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Delicious Breakfast Recipes
Can you smell that? Yeah. That’s right. That’s the smell of hot pancakes, bacon, eggs and orange juice.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It’s called ‘Breakfast’ because if you split the word up, Break-Fast, it means to ‘break’ the fasting (to avoid from all kinds of food) that you had while you were sleeping.
So, while you’re...
5 tags
Food, Glorious Food!
I’m trying to set something new here. If there ever came a time for me to start altering and mixing things around, it’d be the start of a month. So now, here’s what I’m going to do, and it’s what I’m probably going to do for the months that will come: Every month, I will choose a style or genre that has been bugging me for the past few months, and then I will...
August 2011
20 posts
3 tags
Gimme Bar →
It’s one of the favourite websites that I’ve signed up for. Gimme Bar is like your online stash of magnificent things that you may find on the intertubes. If you check out their awesome demo video, it will give you a run-down of what it feels like to use Gimme Bar.
What’s even cooler is that there’s an epic bookmarklet you can install to quickly drag things to your...
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Subscribe if you're new →
I really don’t like shameless self-promotions. But if there’s something I need to do, it’s that I need to introduce some things to my new site readers.
So, without further ado, here goes:
Before I start reading someone else’s writing, I do a little background check first. I read some of their best pieces or, what I would find reliable, is that I would check out their...
4 tags
8-bit
If you’re a fan of chip tunes and such, I’d recommend you hit this link straight away. It’s a link to my colleague’s awesome music album containing fifteen 8-bit tunes, and inside is a compilation of converted tunes like The Black Eyes Peas’ “Where Is The Love”, and Plants Vs. Zombies’ “There’s A Zombie on Your Lawn” theme.
The...
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Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish →
In the midst of Steve’s resignation, here’s a sweet, tangy mix of inspiration, hope and extraordinary wisdom: Steve Job’s 2005 Stanford Commencement Address.
If you have enough time, I do insist you watch the video linked above, as I assure you, it will be one of the most inspirational speeches you will have ever listened to.
Why?
Aside from the fact that it is Steve Jobs,...
4 tags
iCloud Phishing Scam →
No, Apple isn’t doing that. Although apparently, the “Apple store Team” is.
There’s an email circulating around involving a scam to grab your credit details and personal info. If you’ve received an email looking like this:
Dear MobileMe member,
Please sign up for iCloud and click the submit botton [sic], you’ll be able to keep your old email address and...
6 tags
The Fall of Apple
Not Really.
There was a press release earlier today about Steve Jobs resigning from his position, as the CEO of Apple Inc. He also stated that the former Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, will be leading the company as the new head of Apple.
And thus begins the rumors of “Apple’s doom” and such.
Actually, if you had the time to think about it, nothing will change after...
4 tags
Designing The Identity →
Subtle Grunge and Retro galore.
I’m a fan of anything that looks rusty and unique, like old cans of tuna or those creaky metal signs that hang above old gasoline stations. Designers like Trent Walton and Reagan Ray take advantage of such distinct styles, presenting modern-age websites with a splash of retro.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, take a look here.
If...
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The Last Rocket Original Soundtrack →
If you have played Shaun Inman’s “The Last Rocket”, then you would have listened to the amazing chip tune soundtrack that comes with it. If you’d like to listen to that soundtrack on your iPod or iPhone, then the original album by Shaun Inman is available for download.
Via The Last Rocket
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Team Viget - Space Odyssey →
Now that’s cool. (Hit the link if you’ve got Safari or Google Chrome.)
Via Team Vidget
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Birdbook is now free →
BirdBook was an app idea I made for an awesome Twitter app. The metaphor was dead simple: The UI would look book-like, depicting that of a bird-identifying booklet.
Also, what I meant by free, was that the .PSD file is up for grabs on Dribbble.