Expiring Skywards Miles

So Google Calendar tells that I have 7,000 Emirates Skywards miles expiring today. Not really a big deal for me, as 7,000 miles is not much. Either get some crappy stuff, or just let it go.

Much to my surprise when I logged on, I actually have 16,000 miles expiring. And what can I get for that from the Emirates High Street Collection? Mostly A3 photographic prints, no-name watches, perfume, and $50 gift cards. The best match I can find are some small Swarovski earrings or pendant.

The Woven Heart pendant at 15,600 miles we already have. So it's a toss-up between the Bella earrings at 15,888 miles or the Solitaire earrings at 14,200 miles. Either way, I'll have to fork out an extra $19 shipping. You can use the remaining miles to pay for shipping, but 100 miles saves only around around $0.50. Not really worth it.

Kobo Mini

Another day, another gadget. I can have Kindle and Kobo and hundreds of other e-reader apps running on my Android phone and tablets, but I just have to try how a physical e-book reader feels like.

JB Hi-Fi was selling these for $99, but got one for half-price. Smallest Kobo ever at 5". Touchscreen, 2GB memory, 1000mAh built-in battery, 800MHz processor, and WiFi. First off, a bit smaller than I expected. Screen resolution is very good. It's very light, which is a very important factor if you're going to be holding it for extended periods of time. Page-turning is a bit slow, and the WiFi is unstable. Tried to do an OTA firmware upgrade and got stuck at 4%. Had to complete the upgrade and registration process via a PC using kobosetup.com. Not too many free, quality ebooks from the bookstore, but I guess it's not a problem if you know where to get your ebooks.

For some reason, sideloading ebooks via drag-and-drop doesn't work. The epub files are physically on the internal storage, but not showing up on the book list. Had to use Calibre for the job.

iPod Audiobook

What I've noticed is that when I import my audiobook mp3 files into the iPod, they are filed under Songs, instead of Books. To get the iPod/iTunes to recognize the files as audiobooks, you have to select the files, right-click, and select Get Info. Click on the Options tab and under Media Type, select Audiobook.

So why the extra step? The advantage is that audiobooks (and podcasts) are not included in the playlist when you shuffle songs. Also, with audiobooks, you can set the playback speed under iPod Settings.

Movie 2013.04.05 - Life of Pi

As with most movie adaptations, I'm guessing the book is probably better and more in-depth. But with no time to actually sit down and read, I went for the movie option.

Apart from the special effects CGI, the movie is mildly interesting. The Writer meets Pi's mama-ji (honorary uncle), who sent him to Pi's way, as Pi has a wonderful story that will make him believe in God. Pi starts of narrating how he got his interesting name. Nothing to do with math. He continues on as to how he met Richard Parker. Pi's Dad runs a zoo right in the middle of town, and Richard Parket is a Bengal tiger. There's another sub-story as to how a tiger got a human name.

Anyway, the city council is not supporting the zoo anymore, so Pi's Dad decides to relocate the family and the zoo to Canada. The Japanese cargo ship that they're on capsizes during a night of heavy thunderstorm, and all that's left is Pi on a life raft with an injured zebra, an orangutan, an hyena, and Richard Parker. The hyena start the ball rolling by killing the zebra as Pi watches on helplessly. Then, the hyena turns on Pi, but is thwarted by the orangutan. It kills the orangutan instead. Richard Parker steps in and devours the hyena. Over the next few days, the tiger consumes the zebra and the orangutan. Knowing he's next, Pi spends some time conditioning and training the tiger, so that they can co-exist on the raft.

They eventually end up on an inhabited island (by humans) with lots of meerkats and vegetation, but it turns out the island is awash with carnivorous algae that turns the ground acidic at night. The pair moves on and after a total of 227 days out on the sea, they wash up on the shores of Mexico.

So, was that all true, or just Pi's mental imagery to keep him sane? You decide.