Night At The Museum Review: The Secret Of The Tomb - The Magic Ended With This 3rd Installation

The Magic Never Ends For Robin Williams, but it did for the movie.

I bought the family to watch the third installation of Night At The Museum and  I could only say that the movie was a fine tribute to Robin Williams, one of his last recorded film. Other than that, the movie offered nothing new and I was glad this was the movie's swansong.
There are spoilers ahead so continue at your own risk.

The movie started off with a little "Indiana Jones Raiders Of the Lost Ark" where we see the Americans, British and Egyptians working together in the desert looking for a lost tomb. By accident, the son of the American archeologist fell through a hole and into a tomb which his father took years to find. He should have bought his son earlier to dig for the tomb.

They found the tomb and ancient tablet, and before moving it, an Egyptian worker panic and warned "The End Will Come". You think after this warning, the Night At The Museum would end in an apocalyptic adventure for humans, but it ended up as just the end of the museum statues.

One other thing I found uninspiring was that this boy, who found a long lost tomb and look to become an archaeologist to find lost worlds, ended up being a night watchman at the museum, played by Dick Van Dyke.  Maybe it is the Asian parent in me, but if your child found a long lost treasure or world, wouldn't you, a parent, want him to go and find more lost treasures and worlds?

Sorry for the digression and back to the movie.

So Larry Daley, played by Ben Stiller, found out that the magical tablet was "dying" and he had to travel to London to find The Secret Of The Tomb. The Secret Of The Tomb was with Ahkmenrah's father who is at this London museum.  Ahkmenrah was the pharaoh prince who was brought to the US museum and appeared in the first movie.

At the London museum, the statues come alive for the first time due to the presence of the tablet. Guess who they meet? Sir Lancelot looking for the Holy Grail for King Arthur. Ironically, Sir Lancelot is a fictional character that is not displayed in the London museum.

If you thought this would be a great 3D tour and shout out for the London museum, it seems the curators are horrified by the movie inaccuracies.

I actually noted one inaccuracy. When the cute Garuda idol came out warning the group not to enter the exhibit with the XiangLiu snake, Larry Daley read the description of the Garuda which stated the origin from the hills of Taiwan. But just looking at it and you can see that the Garuda is of Indonesian origin.

Maybe the script writers were trying to link the Chinese XiangLiu Snake and the Garuda coming from the same area. They should understand that Asia is not all Chinese. 

The British Museum has also set up a site to highlight the inaccuracies of the movie at http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/family_visits/night_at_the_museum/fact_vs_fiction.aspx.

However, the most touching part of the movie have to be from Robin Williams, as Teddy Roosevelt, who bid his farewell to Larry Daley as the statues at the US museum could never come to "live" as the tablet was now at the British museum. I cried when Teddy said goodbye as if Robin was also saying goodbye to us throughout the movie.

If you have to go see the movie, see it for Robin Williams and discover how the magic never ends. Sadly for the movie as a whole, the magic did end for it.

Taxi Taxi App - Why LTA, why?

There should be 20,000 taxis plying the streets of Singapore. Why only 3,533?

LTA, Singapore's Land Transport Authority, announced, in November 2014, they were launching a taxi app and commuters were taken aback to why the authorities would want to this.

Today, LTA's Taxi-Taxi SG app is made available for iOS and Andriod, and  the public was shocked that this taxi app was not what it was perceived to deliver.

The Taxi-Taxi app doesn't allow users to book taxis. It just lets users to identify if there are taxis nearby so that commuters can "can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements".

Even The Straits Times found it hard to phrase its survey.  "Which would be your go-to app if you need a cab?" to give the government endorsed app an edge over commercial counterparts. As of this post, GrabTaxi leads the survey with 44.44% while LTA's Taxi Taxi app is lagging behind in fourth with 6.67%.

Being able to locate a taxi in the vicinity will only just locate and help me get a cab when I need one.

LTA's other argument is that when the surge of users at a location waiting for a taxi and if taxi drivers can identify the location, taxi drivers will swarm to that area.

I can easily think of a scenario where this can happen but the means may not justify the end.

The easiest example would be Vivocity taxi queue where you can see long lines of people queuing for a taxi. In order for the taxi drivers to identify this surge of commuters, there should be a huge number of using the Taxi Taxi app. However to get these commuters to download the Taxi Taxi app would require LTA to spend on offline and online advertising. Such spending on advertising to promote an app should not be done at the expense of taxpayers money.

Even if taxi drivers see this surge, would they respond to this demand?

Probably not, as the taxi driver would have their GrabTaxi app switch on rather than the Taxi Taxi on the front screen. With the GrabTaxi app, taxi drivers can earn additional booking fee minus the GrabTaxi booking charge of $0.30 without GST. As such, there is no incentive for the taxi driver to open up the Taxi Taxi app, let alone the responding to the swarm.

Taxi drivers are also self made business people. and they would want to make the most out of each trip. Responding to a booking gives them more money than responding to LTA's Taxi Taxi app.

Some have supported the app saying that this give them information on whether if taxis are nearby. Really, we need a government funded app for this?

can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/lta-launches-new-taxi-app-show-available-taxis-the-vicinity-20141217#sthash.GfGXejqU.dpuf

can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements. - See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/lta-launches-new-taxi-app-show-available-taxis-the-vicinity-20141217#sthash.GfGXejqU.dpuf

Goal...

Turning a youtube video into gif..

Boys & Girls, This Is Why You Need To Double Check Your Work

Image Source: From A Facebook User

Can you spot the mistake?

From the Party that insist "too many checks will lead to checkmate", this MP shared that error was because that "The contractor made a mistake and the constituency office did not proofread (the banners)".

As the result of this gaffe, they have to take down nine banners and possibly have to reprint the posters. Talk about the lack of the productivity.

I also love how this MP shared that we have to be "gracious" with those who make mistakes.

Wrote The Straits Times,

Mr Lim added: "I think we all can look at it and say that mistakes happen. None of us are perfect. I told my constituency office to be more careful next time.

"I believe we ought to promote graciousness and allow people to learn from their mistakes," he said, adding that he would not refrain from hiring the contractor again.

Yes, we should be gracious to those who make mistakes. MP Mr Lim Biow Chuan should share this with his colleague, Mr Desmond Lee. 

Apparently, PM Lee Doesn't Play Chess Either

Too many checks "will lead to stalemate", not checkmate.

In tradition of his Mee Siam mai hum gaffe, PM Lee attempted a pun on chess but got his terms mixed up.

Wrote The Straits Times,

But for every "checker" in Parliament, there will be one fewer "doer, thinker and leader" in the government, said Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general.
"You will have a lot of checkers, you have no workers... There will be gridlock, like in other countries," he said.
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/too-many-checks-will-lead-checkmate-20141208#sthash.HR8W48gH.dpuf

But for every "checker" in Parliament, there will be one fewer "doer, thinker and leader" in the government, said Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general.
"You will have a lot of checkers, you have no workers... There will be gridlock, like in other countries," he said.
- See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/too-many-checks-will-lead-checkmate-20141208#sthash.HR8W48gH.dpuf

 But for every "checker" in Parliament, there will be one fewer "doer, thinker and leader" in the government, said Mr Lee, who is the PAP's secretary-general."You will have a lot of checkers, you have no workers... There will be gridlock, like in other countries," he said.

"Eventually, there will be no PAP to check... That will be the last check, because it will be checkmate for Singapore."

If there is a gridlock in a chess game, the right term to use is "stalemate" - this is when a side, not in check position, cannot make a move because the next move will lead to a check. As such, the chess game is considered a draw, where no sides win or lose.

I have to agree that too many checks and counter checks can lead to a gridlock, or a stalemate, where no sides can either win or loss.

Given the current disproportion of PAP members in parliament, the PAP has been able to checkmate, by the numbers, their oppositions in policy making.
 
I would prefer a government that checkmates  the opposition and the people by giving the right and argument that these two would have to agree that government's policies are the right one to follow.

If the opposition and the people checkmates the government, then the government should have a relook at the policies to make it better for the people to decide.

I guess nobody on the PAP team decided to check on PM Lee's puns which resulted in the statement ending in a checkmate from "real" chess players. This is what happens when you have no checks and counterchecks.

UberTaxi Singapore Offers "No Booking Fee" Till End 2014

UberTaxi Singapore has extended their "No Booking Fee" till the end of 2014 in their quest to get more Singaporeans to Uber On.

From Uber Taxi Singapore Website,

NO TAXI BOOKING FEE FOR ALL UBERTAXI RIDES EXTENDED FROM MONDAY THE 8TH DECEMBER TO WEDNESDAY THE 31ST OF DECEMBER 2014

From Monday the 8th of December request your uberTAXI and your driver won’t charge you their standard booking fees – saving you between $2.30 and $4.50 on every ride before Wednesday the 31st of December.

UPDATED DETAILS

• No promo code required
• Offer available to existing and new uberTAXI riders
• Only valid with uberTAXI (UberExec and uberX don’t have booking fees)
• ‘No booking fees’ with uberTAXI is valid from 00:00AM Monday the 8Th of December until 11.59PM Wednesday the 31st of December 2014. Rides ending after this time will be charged normal booking fees
• uberTAXI follow normal taxi costs
• The driver will enter the meter amount minus the standard booking fee and we’ll email you your ride receipt. Uber will ensure your taxi driver is not out of pocket
• If you cancel, a $2 fee applies – nobody likes being cancelled on
• Valid promotions you already have on your Uber account will apply with this offer. If you have Uber credit this can be used with the ‘no booking fee’ offer
• Need help? Visit support.uber.com

The "No Booking Fee" will make it more attractive to use the UberTaxi App to book taxis here but the question remains if UberTaxi have enough taxis to meet the demand.

It is a catch22 situation for UberTaxi. In order to get taxi drivers to use their app, they need to get more users. However, UberTaxi can only get users if the users can get a taxi on a single try and the only way UberTaxi  can achieve this is when they have more taxi drivers using their app.

The money used to offset the booking fee could come from its recent raised fund which the CEO plans to make use to make "substantial investment" in Asia Pacific.

The taxi booking app wars could abruptly come to an end in the second quarter of next year when LTA, Singapore's Land Transport Authority, introduces regulatory framework for taxi book apps.

In the meanwhile, may consumers reap the benefits of this war of attrition.

Bumblebee Transform - A Toy Review

My son's exposure to Youtube watching people reviewing toys and games has inspired him to be a Youtube toy reviewer. 

I thought it would be best, as a father, to help him create his first toy review video.

First, he would have to write his script, especially the intro. I helped him to write his firs intro. In the process, it was like a introduction in writing a short composition. This would be useful when he enters Primary 1 next year.

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. Here is my son's first toy review of Bumblebee.

Weirdest Game Ever - I Am Bread

Goat Simulator is a weird game, but this is because you have not heard of "I Am Bread".

In this game, you play a slice of bread. You, the bread, try to move yourself from one spot to another to complete the objective. This is done by pressing the keys corresponding to the corners of the bread and you try to flip yourself from one end to another.

You can even be a bread gone bad and destroy porcelain cups and plates on your quest.

This must have been the best invention since slice bread. (Not really, I found the whole concept ridiculous that I gave up after a few minutes.

You can visit the site at http://www.bossastudios.com/games/i-am-bread/. The game is still in alpha mode though.

Man vs Network - Maxis CTO Put His Life On The Line

If you are a CTO of a Internet Service Provider, how far would you go to prove that you have made real improvements to the network infrastructure.

Morten Bangsgaard, Chief Technology Officer, chose to demonstrate his confidence of the new Maxis network infrastructure by putting his life at risk against it.

Though these are advertisements from Maxis and the CTO may not be at any risk during the stunts, it does raise the question if those at the top are willing to bet their life on the network they push.




To the top management of local providers in Singapore, Singtel, Starhub and M1, are you willing to put your life to prove the worth of your network?

ABC Song Is So Passé To Prepare For Primary One

 

 

My son is entering Primary One next year and it will be exciting times. 

Unfortunately, my son wasn't ready to answers during the school's orientation and ended having to go for to go to preparatory classes immediately at the start of the school holidays in November. 

The preparatory class did introduce some interesting new teaching styles that were different from my generation 30 years ago.

I was taught to sing the ABC song but it seems that is quite passé today. 

Today, primary school kids are taught to sing the Phonics Song. It does have a nice ring to it, though.

Parents, today, have to learn new approaches that primary schools take these days and they should spend time preparing their children for it. In today's Internet age, all it takes is Google to find the right resources to learn together as you children progress in school.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens

Have you felt it?

Everybody is talking about the Crossguard Lightsaber. If J.J. Abrams tilted the crossguard to an acute angle pointing upwards, it wouldn't have caused so much of a hoo ha.



Lightsabers are dangerous stuff as the light itself can cut through human flesh and bone.

There is this cutie soccer ball droid in the 29 seconds and I can only hope that it doesn't become another Jar Jar Binks.

J.J.  Abrams did add some 2010s visuals with the stunning flight of the x-wing fighters across water. The Millennium Falcon also returned and it would be interested if the original Han Solo is flying it now.

There is about 365 days till the movie releases in Dec 2015 and it won't be long before new trailers are released to share more into the movie.