MacRyu – The Worst Mac Blog in Singapore, and Some Say the World

M1 and Starhub Price Plans

Posted December 7th, 2009 by Ryu at 2:16 pm in iPhone. 1 Comment

iPhone is coming to M1 and Starhub from this coming Wednesday, 9th Dec 2009!

Prices are way better than Singtel’s, so those of you still waiting for a good deal it’s finally here! M1 stands out with better pricing for both the phones and the plans, plus a generous 10GB data bundle as compared to Starhub’s 1GB bundle. Both telcos also have data caps at $36 dollars and $48 dollars respectively.

M1 is definitely the better deal here, unless you already have an existing contract with Starhub (like poor me).

Here are the respectively links to the price plans: M1 and Starhub.

Edit: Someone posted a link to a Google Spreadsheet comparing all price plans of 3 telcos. Here’s it.

Edit Again: RT @mrbrown: iPhone Wars: Starhub just upped their data plans from 1GB to 12GB to beat M1’s 10GB.

P.S. MacRyu.com is not dead. I’m just busy. ^_^ Will be back with new posts in early 2010.

Macworld “What’s ’64-bit’ in Snow Leopard?”

Posted August 20th, 2009 by Ryu at 10:09 am in Snow Leopard. 2 Comments

Finally, an article that makes sense and addresses the nonsensical complaints from freaking idiots that “Snow Leopard isn’t 64-bit because it doesn’t run the 64-bit kernel”.

http://www.macworld.com/article/142379/2009/08/snow_leopard_64_bit.html?lsrc=rss_weblogs_macuser

Product Review: Targus USB Hub for Mac “(Why I think) Targus believes that Mac users are suckers for anything made from White Plastic”

Posted August 19th, 2009 by Ryu at 1:16 pm in Product Reviews. 2 Comments

Let me say this once and for all – USB hubs are generic devices. There are only two different types of USB Hubs, powered and unpowered. And the only difference between them is the inclusion of a power adapter, resulting in a higher price for the powered ones. The Targus USB Hub is obviously a portable type unpowered USB hub, so I’m not going to talk about the more-than-four-ports-and-powered hubs.

Let’s start with the price. On their official site it’s listed as 29.99USD, which translates to about 45SGD.

It looks like this.

It’s slightly bulky, is white. Looks portable. Sort of. Relatively simple design. Angles slightly the 4 ports so that bigger connectors MIGHT fit.

Now for my review.

Targus has on their website this following line;

“Stylish â€“ This USB hub is designed explicitly for Mac users, with form and function to meet your needs and match your lifestyle.”

Really? How does the white plastic and the wraparound cable reflect a Mac user’s lifestyle? I don’t ever remember Mac users being the only people who will like all their accessories to be white, or require a wraparound cable in their USB hub?

What Targus seems to be saying here is this; “Mac users are suckers who will buy anything that’s made from white plastic, even if it’s priced way higher than everything else.” and thus charges a premium for something that does not offer additional value.

I could at least understand if Targus’ other non-Mac specific USB hubs are similarly priced, but no. They have a much smaller and portable USB hub that’s priced around 16SGD(price in Challenger). Better portability, same number of ports. What reason do they have to charge 3 times that amount for their USB Hub for Mac? FUCKING WHITE PLASTIC.

Maybe I can play devil’s advocate for a while. Maybe Targus truly believes that all Mac users should have a unique style, and should only be seen outside working on a MacBook Pro ladled with white accessories. Maybe Targus believes that Mac users will look cool doing that. Maybe Targus thinks that a Starbucks filled with humans wearing black turtlenecks and typing on a MacBook connected to dozens of white plastic accessories will be a superb scene. Maybe Targus thinks that Mac users are lemmings.

What do you think?

Even if they were going for the Apple white look, what many macs have white parts on them in the current Apple lineup? 2. Since last december only the old MacBook and the Mac Mini. And I believe their whole Targus for Mac range came out late last year or early this year. Maybe they should redesign their products to have the aluminum look.

Even then, no pass.

I won’t cough up the cash for one.

Verdict? Buy it if you are a sucker for white plastic accessories.

P.S. I don’t feel the same way about some of the other Targus for Mac accessories though. Will review some of them soon.

MacNUS App Reviews Series No. 1 – iGV

Posted August 18th, 2009 by Ryu at 2:59 pm in iPhone App Reviews. 0 Comments

I will be starting a iPhone/iPod Touch app review series with this post. Thought of doing this since a very very long time ago, but never really managed to kick myself in the back enough for me to actually sit up and type something.

So there are way too many iPhone/iPod Touch app review sites out there. How will mine be different?

Simple. My reviews for apps will be short, and hopefully, straight to the point. They will also be mostly about local(Singapore-based) apps. If the app is good it’s good. If it sucks I will say so and not try to be “political” like other sites where they come up with a “pros” and “cons” thingy when it’s freaking obvious that the app sucks and has no “pros” at all.

So here goes.

FIrst app of the series is iGV. I’ve been keeping this on my iPhone for a very long time, and finally decided to delete it totally recently.

This app sucks big time. It might have gathered quite a bit of response and popularity at its launch for being one of the first apps to service the local cinema goers, but it’s far from being useful.

Bad Points?

1. The online ticket reservation feature doesn’t work the 10 times I’ve tried it. (crashes)

2. The app itself is slow, requires way too much ram to work. 8 out of 10 times I tried launching it it quits because there’s not enough ram.

This is nonsensical coming from an app that serves nothing much more than as a short movie review/cinema showtimes app.

Golden Village should either hire someone else, or stop bothering. FlickTouch Gold is a much better app for my local movie needs.

Verdict? Avoid crap.

“We never used PCs” School throws out working Macs

Posted August 11th, 2009 by Ryu at 1:21 am in Institutions and Jackassery. 0 Comments

This is exactly the kind of website that a school who proclaims that they never use Macs is only capable of. I won’t expect much of the kids who study there.

Read the original story here.

Pictures of the Macs destined for trash are available here.

Why school-based Mac User Groups are a terrible idea

Posted July 30th, 2009 by Ryu at 1:28 am in Institutions and Jackassery. 3 Comments

This is a tale of something good going horribly bad when it falls into the wrong hands.

I was probably the first person who really injected life into the establishment known as MacNUS, despite not being the founder. Lots of events, lots of ideas for improvement, lots of pushing the establishment and improving the status quo for Mac users in NUS. My EXC0 members, whom I have termed “The Original Team MacNUS” were superb, and despite me putting in nonsensical requests for their attention at times, they delivered and we were successful in turning MacNUS into the best tertiary Mac User Group in Singapore.

Time passed and I had to move on, retiring as President of the group when I graduated and passed the baton on to a dear friend and fellow EXCO member. Another member of the Original Team MacNUS was supposed to succeed him, but that member has to give up on the position because of school work.

Here’s where the problem came in. Unfortunately, a A Rank person(my dear friend) chose a B Rank person as his successor. Then the B Rank person got C and D Rank people to be his EXCO members. And it all went into a downhill spiral from then on.

For example, the current EXCO. Of whom some of them are working at the current NUS Matriculation Fair Mac sales booth, due to Apple SG pushing for their participation.

The following information is taken from extremely reliable sources.

For almost all the major events, including the recent/ongoing Mac sales at the NUS Matriculation Fair 2009, the EXCO did not do any work at all. They made the reseller come up with the ideas for the events, make them do all the work, and all the EXCO really did was to put their logo on everything the reseller has planned and produced and claim all the credit for themselves.

Can any other Mac User Group be more shameless than this?

The reseller themselves do not want to work with this group of people but they were apparently forced into cooperating with MacNUS by the very people who supply them with everything they sell – the same department in Apple SG whom I have wrote an email to a week or so ago (whom, if you can read the article two posts down, has not replied at all).

What kind of Mac User Group EXCO demand money from the resellers they work with for giving seminars to their users? I will understand if a third party/external vendor was involved, but there wasn’t one.

There is no decent dedication and drive from them at all. One wonders if they have any other motives for being in the EXCO other than the so-called “fame” it brings them.

Two of my Original Team MacNUS and myself were so disgusted that it totally dampened our spirits for the remainder of the fair. Of course, as usual, I was the most vocal and decided to quit after the first day of the fair. Another decided just not to turn up. And the last one, unfortunately, needed money and so had to stay through everything.

A friend and ex-customer asked, “why dun u tell them off? u have the right to. i feel that u built this club for a purpose, no? so if that purpose is not fulfilled, i feel that despite u nt being a member of nux, u still have the right to say it”. But no, I don’t really want to complicate matters. In that university, rank/position is everything and I have learnt that so long you no longer pay tuition fees, the university is never your friend.

Needless to say, I was totally disappointed and saddened by the whole state of things. Yes, sales of Macs might be at a all-time high in NUS, but it has absolutely nothing to do with the Mac User Group in that university.

Then I realized.

This is an ongoing problem with all clubs/societies in all universities and schools – the need to change management every year causes extreme instability in the functioning of the clubs and societies themselves. MacNUS is exactly such a victim.

It seems like the only way to solve this problem is to create a inter-tertiary Mac User Group – one where the management does not change every year, one where your school does not matter, and one where serious Mac users will be able to enjoy being part of.

And so begins the process of brainstorming and creation of such an entity.

P.S. Everything in the article reflects only my official stance and NOT the official stance of any other entity, institution or company.

P.S. and P.S. In case you are wondering, everyone knows that the best tertiary Mac User Group in the land now is SMU’s.

Words of idiocy from idiots

Posted July 30th, 2009 by Ryu at 12:45 am in Events, Humor and Jackassery. 2 Comments

idiots

28th July 2009

Girl working at Apple booth, sent from Apple SG:

“The current Mini Displayport adapters totally don’t work for doing presentations. My old MacBook and MacBook Air adapters do, but the new ones don’t. Apple probably got something wrong in the design”.

29th July 2009

Guy working at Apple booth, sent from Apple SG:

“You can install on multiple computers, your Adobe CS4 Web Premium and Microsoft Office 2008, even though you only have one serial. They will work so long the computers are on different networks”.

To clarify those who don’t understand why the above examples were words of idiocy, the current Mini Displayport adapters do work for presentations. I personally tested them. It’s now July so I think everyone should have installed the Mini Displayport to VGA adapter firmware update by now. There have only been some prior reports that DRM-ed videos do not play on the connected screen, but they work perfectly for normal Keynote/Powerpoint presentations.

As for the Adobe CS4 comment, the Adobe apps phones home regularly regardless what network you are on, so long you are connected to the net. There’s a high chance that the apps installed on multiple Macs will deactivate and return to trial status if Adobe realizes that the same SN has been used more than once. As for Office 2008, you can use the same SN on multiple Macs, so long you do not update the apps. The “different network” comment probably came from Office 2004, where a “feature” was built in by Microsoft to shut down running copies of Office 2004 once a certain SN has been detected to be in use in more than one Mac in a certain network. Apparently the “feature” has been removed in 2008. How outdated can someone professing to know lots about Macs be?

If you are buying from the NUS fair, it helps to do your homework before you purchase. Don’t expect the staff there to be giving you correct information. Ask someone who knows better.

Letter to Apple Singapore Educational Sales Dept

Posted July 17th, 2009 by Ryu at 6:08 pm in Events, Projects and Resellers. 0 Comments

“Dear N,

I am sending this email on behalf of Team MacNUS (MacNUS EXCO 2006/07).

We are very disappointed that the sales team at Apple Singapore has decided that the Mac sales at the NUS Matriculation Fair should be just like a PC sales affair, with lots of sales people fighting over potential sales and pressuring customers in groups, instead of the comfortable environment it has always used to be all these years, with 3 to 5 main Mac addicts slowly explaining and trying to convert freshmen into Mac users.

We understand that a large proportion of employees at Apple Singapore used to be from IBM, but we think that is no reason to treat Macs as dull black boxes that are sold to customers through bazaar “lelong” sales techniques – through sheer cut prices and employee numbers.

The one thing that I and many other Mac users (from the Mac User Group of Singapore, which I am part of, for example), hate most about PC shows and related sales event is the sense that we are being overwhelmed by too many sales people and being pressured into buying a product.

I wonder, if you are going to buy a Porsche, and you turn up at the showroom and it looks like a Kia sales bazaar, how will you feel?

Despite the fact that I have already graduated, I have repeatedly decided to take part in the annual Matriculation sales and help convert more people into Mac users(despite of the meagre payment one gets as a part timer sales person). This is because I love the annual sales event at NUS, and I love working with J and her people.

However, since the decision has been made to turn the NUS Mac sales into a regular PC sales bazaar booth, this will be the last year that I will be working in the NUS Mac sales.

I have decided to drop out of all of the sales event after the main one-week NUS Matriculation Fair.

For the Matriculation Fair itself, while I will love to drop out, I have personally persuaded two of my converts into working since late May. They have rescheduled their appointments, work and even holidays because I have told them that the event itself will be a great experience and will not be like a I.T.Fair kind of affair. And since things have came to such a situation, it will be extremely unloyal and despicable for me to drop out of the main event and let them fend for themselves during the event.

My two other experienced peeps, Y and I, are closed to dropping out of all events. They will make their decision soon.

It is sad that everything has to come to this. My love affair with Apple, Inc, will obviously continue, but, just not in this way anymore.

Yours Sincerely,

Ren Jinshen Ryu

on behalf of

the Original Team MacNUS”

P.S. N did not reply. On the first day of the fair she saw me and pretended that nothing happened.

In the end, I got so fed up of working with the other people that Apple SG sent that I quit after the first day.

Monday was only the second day of the fair, and there were only 5 sales person from the original 10. And another one will be quitting on Tuesday.

Singtel iPhone 3GS prices for iOne plan (the best choice for heavy data users)

Posted July 6th, 2009 by Ryu at 5:00 pm in iPhone. 9 Comments

Singtel iPhone 3GS Prices (iOne plan) 16GB – $698 32GB – $848 iPhone 3G 8GB – $548

Straight from the oven!!!!

iShop is dead

Posted June 1st, 2009 by Ryu at 10:49 pm in Resellers. 49 Comments

So it finally came.

For the past few months, rumors have been floating around that iShop was going to shut its doors and leave the Apple business forever. There are people who doubt the rumors, saying that there is no way in hell that someone as famous as the person who made F1 in Singapore possible was going to close down his Apple business(technically iShop, together with Club21, belonged to Christina Ong, not Ong Beng Seng, but let’s not bother with the details).

However, since about a year or so ago, iShop’s performance has been going down the drain.
Continue reading ‘iShop is dead’