Who don’t like popping bubble wrap?   Every time I see a bubble wrap, I can’t resist the temptation to pop a few bubbles.  Pressing hard on the small pocket of air sandwiched between two thin sheet of plastic.  You can feel the bubble pop under your fingers and hear a pop sound.  Somehow popping bubble wrap just gives a sense of satisfaction.  The only problem is once you have popped the bubble, the bubble is gone.  Eventually you will run out of bubble and have to throw away the now bubble-less wrap.

From the making of tamagotchi,  Bandai brings you the mugen puchi puchi (infinite pop pop in English).  It is a small keychain device with 8 bubbles on one side.  You can pop it just like a bubble wrap.  According to the news, it feels like a bubble wrap, it sounds like a bubble wrap and you can pop it infinite times.  So you can have a virtual bubble wrap anywhere, anytime.  I really admire the creativity of the Japanese.  They are able to come up with some totally useless things, yet loved by everyone.  I think it is a perfect stress reliever.  If it is not too expensive, I will probably get one when I go back to HK in X’mas.

I am watching Design Rules made by BBC lately.  I always thought interior design is useless.  Why would someone spent thousands of dollars to create an aesthetic feeling for your home?  I can just do the painting and arrange the furniture by myself.  This show doesn’t talk about home style, fashion, artistic appreciation, none of those non-sense most people don’t understand.  The show return to basic, start from the beginning to educate the audience why a good home design matters.  It give the fundamental design rules and explain why people should follow the rules using science and psychology.  The show demystify the arts of interior design for the science minds.  Now I knowing the criteria of good design in term of space, color, light and pattern usage.  I can appreciate the work of interior designers.  Interior design is not only a matter of taste, it is also a science to improve your living environment in real term.

I also picked up a few insights from the program.  Kinda like trivia knowledge to me but it actually is more like common sense once you have understood the proof.  Personal space is about 1 meter because that is the perfect distance to see visual cue from face expression.  Not too close that you can see the whole face, not too far that you can’t see it clearly.  Color trends in fashion industry actually reflects the mood of the society in general.  Dark color for bad days, bright color for good days.  There are three levels of lighting, general lighting lit up the room, accent lighting creates the atmosphere and task lighting for work.  The reflective index of the material determine how well natural light bounds around inside the room.  To fill the room with natural light, which is good to health, you have to choose material and color carefully.

BBC Design Rules is highly recommend, especially for those who plan to renovate their place and those who scare of art.  I wish BBC can made a similar series on fashion, so I can learn how to buy clothes without feeling uneasy.

Mind map is a way to visualize the ideas inside your mind.  Creating a mind map helps you understand your thought.  Complex concept inside your mind can be broken down into less complex concepts, in return broken down into simpler concepts.  When you are thinking, you are really building a hierarchy of concepts in a radiate structure with  inter-connecting relationships.  Making a mind map is recommended by Toastmaster to help you prepare your speech.

Mind Mapper is a software designs specifically to draw a mind mapper.  Until programs represent data in linear fashion such as Microsoft Word, Mind Mapper let uses plan his work using a brain-friendly method.  You can write down you ideas without worrying the framework or classification of your work.  The graphics or texts representing your ideas can be link and shuffle around easily at will.  Mind Mapper is a very good productivity tool to help you walk thought your thinking process.  The software is very powerful, even too powerful for planning a small mind mapper.  Nothing beats the ease of use and convenience of old fashion pen and paper.  However, if your mind changes a lot, so you end up drawing lines linking up items a lot.  Or if you want to present your concept using a mind map to the audience, so they will understanding of your concept, Mind Mapper is the perfect tool for the jobs.

I wanted a GPS for quite some time.  I have been looking  for one since I bought my Treo.  I installed map software to my Treo, I only need a bluetooth GPS to have a complete GPS navigation system.  I wanted a GPS that looks cool, I don’t want something that is bulky and ugly.  The Holux GPSlim 240 fits my requirement perfectly.  It is just about the size of a pack of gum, you can even wear it like a necklace.  It use the same GPS chip set as its bigger brothers, which I tired with a borrowed unit from my friend, so I know the reception is good.

Holux recently released new generation of GPS devices using a new chipset, so they are cutting the price of their previous generation product.  Although the new GPS tracks more satellites and have longer battery life, it is also more expensive.  I figure the Holux 240 is enough for my needs, so I bid for a cheap one on ebay.  I tried the GPS with my Treo today, it works perfect.  The map keeps track of my position and provides voice navigate telling me when to turn left or turn right.  I just need to find something to hold my Treo in my car, so that I can see the map while driving.  Now with my new GPS, Pat cannot complain I don’t know the way because I will never get lost.