Life in Pixels

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  • Why I Choose WordPress for Blogging

    I’ve been blogging for a long time now. One of the things I’m asked often by aspiring bloggers and website owners is “which platform should I choose?”

    We’re certainly spoilt for choice today when it comes to starting a blog. There’s a multitude of platforms to choose from, and it can be quite daunting. So I’m going to attempt to tell you why I swear by WordPress for my blogging adventures.

    1: Platform connectedness. WordPress takes care of optimising my blog for all devices – mobile and desktop. I can just focus on the content, and WordPress will handle the look of Pixelated Thinking  on iPad, iPhone, Android and the plethora of other web browsers out there. And it looks pretty good too.

    2: Blog from anywhere. Whilst I do use Evernote to draft posts sometimes, there’s no denying that the native WordPress app for BlackBerry and iOS is excellent. It allows me to monitor site stats, reply to comments. Oh, and even write entire posts if the inspiration strikes me when I’m out and about. Like all other things WordPress, it looks beautiful too.

    3: Themes. WordPress has some awesome themes. There’s a lot to choose from (which can lead to massive procrastination), and the themes look trés professional. They just convey the feel of a stable, content-rich blog. I find Blogger (Google’s answer to WordPress and the platform I started out with back in 2007) to be a bit less to my taste; they have, however, improved their design and functionality of blogs. But I’ll still stick to WordPress thanks.

    Lastly, Akismet spam protection is one of the best features. It protects my blog from the bombardment of spam comments.

    If you’re considering going out into the blogging world, I truly recommend giving WordPress a try. If it’s good enough for the professionals (GigaOM, TIME), then I’m sure it’ll be perfect for you.

  • So, here’s the problem with doomsdays

    Well, they’re utter bulls**t, of course. But there’s more. Obviously. See, the thing is, the world today is more connected than ever before. And this means that learning has become something that extends beyond the classroom. To survive intellectually in this age, one needs to adopt a sense of skeptical thinking. A scientific way of approaching things. A measured, calm, analytical mindset.

    Unfortunately, this way of thinking critically is only possessed by a select faction of society. And that’s where the mass-hysteria surrounding pseudoscientific beliefs like the 2012 apocalypse proliferate. And we don’t have to look farther than our beloved World Wide Web to note that ideas catch on faster than wildfires.

    Skeptical thinking doesn’t mean the rejection of all ideas. No. It means listening to all ideas (good or bad), and then assessing them critically, considering the validity of them, sometimes testing them scientifically or using logical thinking or accepted theories to determine whether said ideas are plausible.

    It’s a refreshing change from submitting oneself to the hysteria surrounding claims that, for instance, there will be a magnetic shift of the Earth’s poles, or that some (fictional) planet called Nibiru will collide into us.

    It’s very easy to succumb the mind to these claims. After all, it’s a lot more exciting than accepting the scientific approach (advocated by people like NASA, that December 21st will be just as ordinary as any other day). It allows one to feel like they’ll soon be living in some outlandish Hollywood film (I’m looking at you, 2012).

    Technological streams such as Web 2.0 services (Twitter, Facebook, social networks and chat platforms) allow the more paranoid of our species to propagate irrationality. Sometimes I think theses guys thrive on the panic. It’s like some kind of weird mystical energy… jokes.

    For us logical beings, December 21st is probably going to be just as hellish as the Mayans supposedly predicted. The Facebook updates, Tweets and BBM broadcasts are going to reach a frenzy. But when the storm passes over, when the day ends and December 22nd dawns, we shall once again be able to breathe as the tin foiled folk emerge from their bunkers to a world just as unchanged as when they’d retreated. Problem is, though: they’ll be fueled and ready to go for the next bout of doomsday predictions.

    So please, I urge you: adopt the scientific way of thinking, and tell your friends about it too. It doesn’t bite (or cause any apocalypses…). I promise.

  • Oblivion

    Every so often, one comes across a book that is truly worthwhile. That leaves you with a feeling of fulfillment upon completion. There are only a few of these kinds of books that I’ve experienced, and Anthony Horowitz’s finale to the chilling Power of Five series, Oblivion, was part of that select group.

    It is dark. It is depressing. It is horrifying  And at the same time, it is filled with hope: there is no doubt that the entire series is written, in a way, as an allegory of hope for the future, and of the next generation’s responsibility to protect our future.

    Narrative-wise, it is lengthy. At 668 pages, it’s a hefty read, but an enjoyable one. I feel that in places, it could’ve been shorter. There were parts that got agonizingly slow, but they were made up for by the copious edge-of-your-seat action sequences.

    The story is a good continuation from the previous four books, but it is able to stand out as a tale of its own. Horowitz manages to easily integrate retellings of previous events, easing readers into this much-anticipated conclusion.

    The conclusion itself is quite worth it. Without wanting to give away details, it has some unsuspecting surprises, and some obvious takes that were clearly being built-up in the final parts.

    The very final bit, the epilogue (or “Envoi”) was a nice touch. But it is clear that this series is over, and it has been a great ride throughout. If you’re a fan of Anthony Horowitz’s writing, and a long-time investor in the series, this is definitely a must-read for you.

    Horowitz is expected to return to the Alex Rider universe next, with the standalone novel tentatively titled Yassen.

  • James Bond is Not a Spy

    This quote extracted from the introduction to Vintage Classics’ 2012 reprint of Casino Royale, written by Alan Judd:

    That is why Bond is not – contrary to popular imagination – really a spy. As a rule, he doesn’t discover intelligence and report back or recruit agents to ferret out secrets for him. He conducts assassinations (something not done by British intelligence agencies in peacetime), acts as a saboteur or, as in Casino Royale, seeks the downfall and death of an enemy. He is a high-profile operator, a licensed hit-man whose approach may be clandestine but whose operations become very public.

  • Let the Skyfall

    I’ve recently become a big James Bond fan, so this review is going to be biased. Having read Ian Fleming’s From Russia with Love and Casino Royale, I’ve begun to familiarize myself with the shadowy world of espionage that pervaded Fleming’s time during the Cold War, immersing myself in the legendary writer’s world, a time in history when uncertainty shook the world and war was a reality that characters like James Bond were designed to alleviate the ordinary man from.

    So watching Skyfall last night was an experience in evaluation: evaluating the relevance of 007 in today’s world. Bond has always been a staple cultural phenomenon, but as a literary piece it can be debatable as to whether it stands its own in a world where the excitement of spies and exotic locales have been overshadowed by superheroes and extravagant CGI.

    Academy Award® winning director Sam Mendes took charge of the latest Bond film, the 23rd in the franchise, Skyfall. And his prowess behind the camera clearly showed in what is clearly the most beautifully filmed 007 picture yet. Every frame was composed with care. Skyfall’s mise en scène alone makes it a worthwhile watch.

    But it is the story that stands out as the most critical piece of this film. A far more considered plot, the gripping storyline brings Bond full-circle in the so-called “trilogy” of re-boots that returned Bond to the world with Daniel Craig as the eponymous spy/assassin in 2006’s Casino Royale. In Skyfall we see Q and Miss Moneypenny resurface, and the character of M returns to the book depiction (Ralph Fiennes is a superb choice for the replacement). More importantly, though, is the antagonistic force in the guise of Silva, a character that is unashamedly based on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Javier Bardem is even dressed to look the part of the infamous information overlord, and his performance is psychotically good.

    The writers have taken careful aim at positioning this film as a question of the relevance of espionage organizations like MI6 in today’s world: in a time when cyber crime and cyber warfare are becoming increasingly threatening to a country’s security, how does the physical resources of spies and assassins – the “cloak and dagger” world of old school James Bond and his creator, Ian Fleming – match up? This motif is carried throughout the film, touching the character of Bond and M, and inspiring the internal tensions between political forces in the British parliament and the big shots at the office of Military Intelligence, Section Six.

    Some will argue that the film is too long; that it doesn’t match up to the action packed, romantic world of James Bond that previous films have presented. The Bond girl (Sévérine, played by Bérénice Marlohe) is hardly present, and there’s no new, flashy Aston Martin. But I argue that what director Sam Mendes has done is profile a Bond that is gritty, mature and befitting of the world we live in. In essence, Mendes has brought the seriousness out in the franchise, bringing 007 back to his roots (in more ways than one), recreating him as a symbol of struggle in the face of new, deadly forces of attack.

    Let’s talk about the music. Thomas Newman is no David Arnold, but the score was apt and befitting of the action on-screen with beautiful orchestrations. I particularly enjoyed the sequences in Istanbul. The real standout, of course, is Adele’s rendition of the theme song. Yes, she has been given a hard time following her success of 21. Many are tired of her songs (they have been killed on radio, after all). But her voice is undeniably beautiful. It’s haunting, melancholic, the tones brilliantly suitable to the world of James Bond.

    I’ve always considered the title sequence of Casino Royale to be amazing. But with Skyfall I think we have a very serious contender for the most beautiful, atmospheric opening to a Bond film yet. It captures the feel of the film, and accentuated by Adele’s singing and the classic, return-to-roots music powering the song, hails the full-circle that Bond has come in these past three films.

    It’s incredible that Bond has been around in film for 50 years now. It’s the longest-running film franchise in history. And whilst there have been many hit-and-misses, Skyfall is more than a worthy addition to this pedigree. Is James Bond still relevant? In a world where cyber warfare is on the rise, where uncertainty pervades the planet, and where copious CGI and flashy effects are the primary drawcards to the cinema, it’s refreshing to see a film of the James Bond calibre treated with such respect and cinematic integrity.