#i do still have my old 5th gen ipod

[smute]

ive started ripping cds again and i love it. at first it was bc of my recent audiophile hyperfixation and wanting to experiment with different quality levels but theres something about the process of picking and choosing and not having everything available instantly that makes me listen to music much more consciously idk. its like the difference between chugging a cup of drip coffee in the break room vs. like taking 15 minutes out of your day to make a cappuccino for breakfast. (btw the "process" is so much easier today, i rarely (if ever) have to name/rename tracks like. it even finds the right cover art and lyrics? all by itself? insane.) also, something ive been noticing for a while is that despite having access to a huge streaming library i tend to listen to the same 3 playlists and 5 albums over and over and over and over and.... idk i rarely try out new stuff anymore (see the 271 poasts i made about my constant back and forth between apple music and spotify). actually, ive recently been going entire DAYS without listening to music?? which is a) a terrifying development and b) likely another early warning sign of post-30 conservative brainrot, next to the avoidance strategies my subconscious now employs when it comes to trying out new stuff. and anyway, i think curating my music library a little more deliberately instead of relying on an algorithm that only ever sees me listening to 2015 pop songs is a fantastic idea regardless of my motivation. but yeah. carefully picking out a cd and bringing it home and putting it on my puter and finally listening to it without distractions is an experience that a discover weekly playlist simply cannot recreate

[nardonotes]

12 oct '24

8:04pm

my body clock woke me up mad early today but i went back to sleep because i was so fucking tired.. "( - ⌓ - ) then when i got up i had some shin ramyun and it busted my stomach BAD! (*꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)

i went to town and traded in a really old camera (a nikon) for an ipod touch 5th gen because i am obsessed with old tech,, ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ and ipod touch still has apple music workin on it !! but i wont be able to collect it till tomorrow :((,, that's fine whatever- i just want it done by monday so i can use it in class for my double!

i also bought a hoodie in a local thrift shop, some toner, bleach and hair dye!!!! :D i was going to do my roots bc shit.,.. it needs to be DONE! but the second i got home, man,,,, I TOOK AN HOUR NAP!!! i was soooo fucking tired i just could not keep my eyes open. i wasnt even tucked in bed i was ON MY BLANKET AND JUST ZZZZZZZZ bc i was sooooooo drained out. (⸝⸝ᴗ﹏ᴗ⸝⸝) ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

anyways, woke up, ate dinner, did laundry and now im watching the menendez brothers netflix doc.... sick and twisted. i don't even wna get into it but yeah im watching it with my sister.

i realised that i only have 1 assignment to catch up on, so im going to do it tomorrow- gna clean my room tomorrow too, do some more laundry, and sigh,,,, can't believe i got barely a break this weekend again. IM SO FUCKING TIRED!!! lemme push through tho whatever. thug it out.

im gna watch this now and then get into bed after and probably read and schleeeeeepp....... GOODNIGHT!! i hope tomorrow is a good day for my mental health. (っ˕ -｡)

song of the day: Imma Be by Black Eyed Peas ᕙ( •̀ ᗜ •́ )ᕗ

[thesprawlll]

The Curious Case of…

Survivor

I was introduced to Survivor at a pretty young age. It was through the game Poptropica. 

Ask anyone born between 1998 and 2002 if they know what Poptropica is, and they’ll know. According to Wikipedia, “Poptropica is an online role-playing game, developed in 2007 by Pearson Education's Family Education Network, and targeted towards children aged 6 to 15.”The success of the game could be that it has three critical features: (1) it is online, (2) it does not require an email, and (3) it is completely family friendly. The game was universal. It could be played by anyone, anywhere. If you were in the computer labs at school you could pull up Poptropica and the vibes would suddenly be impeccable. If you were at your cousins house and your moms have forced you guys to play together, pull up Poptropica, tension cut like warm butter. If you were at Sunday school and your mom is 2 hours late picking you up so you’re just chilling with one of the secretaries and her kid in the computer room and you two pull up Poptropica. Maybe that’s getting too specific. The point is, because Poptropica was so universal, it became very influential in different parts of my life; one of these parts was Survivor. 

Poptropica goes like this: 

“In the game, players can go to different 'islands' (game quest scenarios), compete in multiplayer games, and communicate with each other. The islands all have various difficulties, but all center on a problem that the player must resolve by going through multiple obstacles or completing goals. All islands, upon finishing, award "Poptropica credits" which are non-negotiable but may be used to buy costumes and special effects in the Poptropica store.”

On March 24, 2010, Poptropica released “Reality TV Island”. The 11th island on Poptropica, “Reality TV Island” placed you to compete against seven other people through seven challenges to win. “Reality TV Island” would become my go to island. It was easy, especially if you knew the cheats. Like, if you lose a challenge, you can restart the page right before you officially lose so the challenge just resets. 

Like all things in life, live moved on, and although I had stopped playing “Reality TV Island”, its core values stuck with me. Coincidentally, the core values are also the slogan of a popular American reality TV show, “Outwit, Outplay, Outlast”: Survivor. 

My siblings first introduced me to the series. When we were all younger, my older brother and sister, who are about a year apart in age, would find a show to watch, Binge it together, talk about it for a few weeks, and then they would find another show to repeat the cycle. They did this with Grey’s Anatomy, Prison Break, and Denzel Washington movies. They also had a Survivor phase. It occurred during the 22 season of Survivor, Survivor: Redemption Island, which released from February to May of 2011. 

Survivor Stans categorize this season under the “Hantzian Age” and right before “The Renaissance”. Many critics of the season argue that it was set up for Rob to win. Very controversial. Anyways, I never watched the show myself at the time. All I knew about it was what my siblings would talk about. 

As I grew up, I didn’t give Survivor any thought: until the seventh grade. In my school district, only students in grades seven and eight were allowed to try out for the basketball and volleyball teams. My sister had been on both teams for both years and I wanted to do the same. Although I only ended up playing volleyball. But this was still important. Because volleyball socialized me. For the first time I had found a community outside of my immediate family. After driving back from a tournament that we very easily lost, me and some of the other girls began talking about TV shows. Although I had never watched Survivor myself, I told them that I did. Because another girl said she watched it. The other girl in the car said she watched America’s Next Top Model. 

I hadn’t watched Survivor because the show is visually liberal. Something my visually conservative parents would not agree with. But at this point in my life I had acquired an “iPod 4th Gen 8GB White Mint Condition”. At least that’s what the Kijiji ad said. After begging, begging, and more begging for an iPod 5th Gen, my mom got me my iPod. To protect it I bought a funky pink penguin case. Point is, I could now watch whatever I wanted in privacy. Including Survivor. 

I fell right into the rabbit hole. Devouring season after season. Of course I didn’t tell any of friends of this. As far as they knew I had already watched this. 

I developed fat crushes for 3 men on the show: Ozzy, Malcolm, and Rob. I even found out that before going on Survivor, he had starred in a show for Playboy. I definitely did not look it up and watch it. I was 12/13 years old: developing my preference in men. 

[apatheticlunae]

Bye 2017. HELLO 2018!

I’m already a week in 2018, but now’s the only time I decided to write my official farewell letter to 2017 (Not that it really matters) and welcome note to 2018. Our 2017 is a hot mess but I know and feel that 2017 gave me a lot of life lessons and memories to keep. How? and Why? Well, I am glad I asked myself. So here is a list of what I could muster from my 2017 life events:

Firstly, I want to thank God that me and my family welcomed 2017 with a very good health. I actually had a good health all throughout 2017. With just a minor hyperthyroidism, it wasn’t that aggressive last year. So YEY for me on that field.

I only had 3 subjects (9 units) on my last semester in Lyceum, but I was still stressed as fuck because of our Exhibit. I was not only an exhibitor but the head of finance, merchandise and runner as well. I kinda hated our president at that time, because most of the time she just nags and commands. We do almost all the works. I’m also not satisfied with my friends’ lack of effort, as always, when it comes to group efforts some of them just really disappoints me. Anyway, I was really happy with the fruits of our labor. Mainly because I contributed a lot and really gave the best I could possibly give. I was not that happy with my artwork, I know I lacked on that part, but I’m happy with our short film. I’m always happy with the films we make, even if some people can’t understand the story. So all-in-all, it was still a success. After that, I’m just glad that I can finally rest; Physically, mentally, and emotionally. 

T-24820 MULTIMEDIA ARTS GRADUATE BATCH 2017!!!!!!! Finally! After 5 years in college, 2 courses in 3 different universities.... I FINALLY GRADUATED FROM COLLEGE! I wanted to thank a lot of people, but sadly I did not do that. I thanked some, but not all. Anyway, I’m forever grateful to all the people that helped me and my family all the way. 

We went out-of-town not just once, and most of our trips are unplanned and rather spontaneous! I’m so happy that I spent such vacation with my family and relatives. First, We went to Batangas out of whim, just because it’s a boring Saturday afternoon and Tito wants to see their balik-bayan  cousin and his family from New Zealand. I must admit, I really enjoyed playing with Cookie and Cloud, I will seriously miss them and Batangas’  full packed Lomi ! The best Lomi  I’ve ever had in my life, and I honestly think that no Lomi could ever top that. Second, we went to Legazpi and Labo for Holy Week, just because the elders have long breaks. I won’t lie, I enjoy road trips with my family and relatives. We play random games just to entertain who ever is in charge of the wheels, but in our case, It’s just our Tito with no substitute. Third, we went to Labo again, for Mama and Tita Mommy’s high school reunion. I kinda felt sad at first and had second thoughts because I really want to go to BTS’ Wings Tour concert that day, but family first. Plus, all we did is eat, eat..... and EAT our hearts out! So it’s a win-lose situation. Lastly, we went to Ilocos-Vigan, in a backpackers tour package. How we availed that? It’s a long story. Anyway, I met this 4 year old kid, Lexi who claims that I’m her best friend. She’s so sweet, and probably one of the best things from that trip. Ilocos and Vigan are 2 equally beautiful cities with their own charms, too bad that my body and head can’t stand the heat. I’m so happy that I had these vacations before I got a work.

Speaking of work, at some point, I almost gave up at finding a job cause my portfolio sucks ballz and I'm bad with interviews, with my stuttering and stuff... BUT HEY!!!! I FOUND A JOB!!! I'M OFFICIALLY EMPLOYED NOW!!! THANKS INTEGREON MANAGED SOLUTIONS!!! THO' i'll have to wait until January to start. BUT STILL! I can now sleep at night knowing that I finally have a job! Yey me

Hello new phone (Oppo F5). After how many years of using my mom's old nokia phone and my beloved iPod touch, i finally bought a new one. Mainly because my brother broke his phone (AGAIN!)! So I have to hand him down my trusted duo. I've had that iPod touch (5th gen) since 2013 (But not really, since I broke the original one from Singapore and have it replaced after a year) so that's very sentimental for me, and I'm so satisfied with it to the point that I've only had keypad phones and low tech ones along its run. And oh, I'm kinda proud since I went to college, I buy my own phones with my own savings. So again, YEY ME

So that's just a very brief summary of my 2017. VERY BRIEF! Lol. A lot of things happened that I can't even put them into words anymore. But I guess you'll get the geist of it. I'm thankful for how my 2017 went. It was not a horrible year, really. I feel like 2017 opened new doors for me. OH WELL. Goodbye, 2017!!! I NOW OFFICIALLY OPEN MY DOOR FOR 2018! PLEASE BE GOOD WITH ME. WITH MY FAMILY. WITH MY FRIENDS. WITH EVERYONE, REALLY. XOXO, LEI

[whilebrowsing-blog]

Apple device

This week all the tech news and blogs are talking about the latest hardware entry from Apple, the HomePod. Apple itself doesn’t really say that the HomePod is a “smart speaker” but it certainly fits the bill with a focus on streaming music and integrating with a smart voice-controlled assistant. I’m going to talk about this new product but first a little trip down my personal Apple memory lane.

My first Apple product was a black 60 GB iPod with video, this would be a 5th gen iPod and it was purchased ca late 2005. At this time I was using a Windows XP laptop as my student workhorse and complete media package and I had been using Windows/Microsoft computers since about 1993 starting with MS DOS 3.1 I think.

This first purchase of a Apple product was filled with excitement and a big dose of scepticism. It was pretty expensive compared to other MP3 players and being from Apple I was afraid of having to deal with quirks and problems related to the fact that I did not own a Mac at the time. This fear was quickly eliminated since  the iPod worked flawlessly with iTunes on Windows and transfering over USB was no problem at all. Also as the iPod was designed to hold a big music collection itself so I could easily go for weeks without syncing it to my desktop. Later I would start listening to podcasts and then the syncing became more of a daily thing.

The iPod itself was a revelation in a device that just worked and did so brilliantly. It became my prized possession when traveling even the smallest distance and it was essential for any longer trips. Scrolling through my library was a cinch and making playlists on the go was perfect for my habit of wanting just that song for just that day. This was my only Apple product and it worked perfectly into my life and made me in complete awe of what Apple could do with hardware and software.

From there I would add an iMac, a MacBook, a iPod shuffle and many more Apple products, each single one would delight me from the moment I unboxed it and I still have not thrown away any of these products, I think the iPod still works if I charge it. Having more than one device be from Apple was certainly a plus, Apple things works better with Apple things, but it was never a requirement to enjoy the devices on their own. But that changed a little while back.

When the iPhone launched I was a huge fanboy of two companies, Apple and Google. The iPhone would seem a perfect combination of the two with amazing hardware powered by amazing Google services. But when the App Store launched and it became clear that only Apple approved software should ever run on the iPhone I suddenly became a little more sceptical. Then Google launched Android and I was suddenly an Android developer that loved using OS X. Then Apple slowly moved away from amazing stand-alone products like the iPod or the MacBook.

My first and currently last Apple TV was a 4th gen puck that I connected to my TV and then tried to use in any fashion. At this time I do not have any iOS devices, but several Macs, and the process is a pain from the start. When it’s finally all setup after prompting in passwords with a terrible remote, it’s borderline useless for me. My Macs are to old for AirPlay streaming and the services on the Apple TV is barebones at best. Then i purchase a Chromecast and suddenly all my Macs can stream anything they want. The Apple TV starts collecting dust underneath the TV whilst the Chromecast becomes the go-to streaming thingy.

New OS X releases where always a highlight as a Mac user, but suddenly the majority of new features where centered around my non-existing iPhone and iPad. I start losing interest in new OS X releases because they are more or less only relevant to iPhone and iPad owners.

This brings me back to the latest hardware launch from Apple, the HomePod. This device is useless without a iOS device because you need one to set it up, having a Mac won’t help. So in essence this is a 350$ iOS speaker for your home. As a result I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to purchase a HomePod because I would not be able to activate the thing even if I wanted to. I have two Sonos speakers and I’m actually itching for a smart speaker, but the HomePod does not care about me. Compare this to the iPod and the differences are startling to me. The iPod was a perfect gateway into the world of Apple, a brilliant stand-alone device that didn’t require a Mac or iPhone to work. The iPod was expensive, but it showed to me that Apple makes wonderful hardware that is reliable, powerful and easy to use. The HomePod could have been this as well, but it’s not, it’s just another appendage to your iPhone and does not exist alone at all.

Sure there are examples of Apple hardware that was more or less accessories to other Apple hardware before the HomePod or the Apple Watch. But where the Apple Watch is a very obvious extension of the iPhone, the HomePod is just a speaker, a damn good one it seems as well, it seems very capable to play awesome tunes without any iPhone nearby, but it can’t. So instead of being something amazing that can bring people into the world of Apple hardware like the iPod was, it’s just another lock-in/lock-out product in what is increasingly becoming the case for any Apple product, if you don’t have an iPhone you can just look away.