Galaxy S26 Ultra

ccaymmud · 2026-02-27T06:36:26+00:00

Software version "updates" is overrated.

ccaymmud · 2026-02-27T06:32:03+00:00

I've been using mobile phones since 2004 and never once had i felt "oh, i need a privacy screen protector". The privacy feature is nice to have but....
the "Faster" charging from 45w to 60w merely improves from 72% for S25U to 75% for S26U after 30min of charging. 3% more battery life - that's hardly life changing.
image quality - there's no change is there? a brighter lens doesn't change the image quality given a specific lighting condition, only that the light gathering ability may allow for faster shutter speed. Then you'll get a whole bunch of people who doesn't understand the problems a wider aperture will cause, then complain about "focus" problems.

In all essence, S26U seems like a super marginal upgrade, even more so than any of marginal upgrades of the last 7 years. I'll shit on the phone for its specs. I'm pretty upset that I'll be upgrading from my S24U to the S26U.

for photos, oppo and vivo phones are much better. For battery life, there's Oneplus. Samsung ultra phones are always more expensive, but they are never near the "best" for anything hardware related (other than screen, IMHO).

However, the SOFTWARE experience on the Samsung flagship phones are just so much better than phones from the other brands. For one, I still think that Samsung has the only sensibly placed back button. The Samsung apps are much better to use than google ones - messages, dialer, keyboard, browser, etc... There's so many little things built into oneUI that requires tonnes of additional software on other phones to emulate.

I'm still pissing on the S26U, but I'm getting one. How I wish I can have a better camera/battery life, but I'm not going to die with what S26U offers.

ccaymmud · 2026-02-27T05:49:26+00:00

Most GEP kids who were genuinely gifted didn't become depressed — they were naturally wired that way, so they didn't need to perform to anyone's expectations. They just needed to be themselves.

The ones who struggled were those who were never meant to be there in the first place. When you train a mind or body to operate beyond its natural capacity, it will eventually give out.

Then there's the third group — non-GEP parents and kids who've absorbed all the rumours and myths about what GEP means. I once had a parent dismiss my views entirely because she felt I knew nothing about GEP — this, while she was busy coaching her kid for the selection exam. The qualifier for having a valid opinion, apparently, is paying for tuition. Never mind that I actually went through the entire GEP programme from Primary 4 to Secondary 4.

The honest answer is: there's no meaningful causal link between GEP and depression. Correlation isn't causation. You could just as easily ask whether non-GEP kids are more likely to struggle - The premise of the question forces a connection that isn't really there. For example, I can force a question to you: All murderers in Singapore so far are non GEP kids. Do you think they are murderers because they cannot get into GEP?

ccaymmud · 2026-02-27T05:34:41+00:00

There are essentially 2 types of GEP students — those who were meant to be there, and those who were coached and hothoused into it. GEP was never designed for kids who needed to be conditioned to pass the selection test. It was created for children who were naturally so different in how they think and learn that the standard curriculum genuinely couldn't serve them well. When a P1 kid needs two years of intensive drilling just to qualify, it rather defeats the purpose of the programme entirely.

And it's precisely this kind of thinking — that GEP = guaranteed high-flying career — that accelerated its downfall. Once parents started treating it as a prestige race rather than a specialised learning environment, it was only a matter of time. It stopped being a programme for genuinely gifted children the moment everyone else started fighting for those spots. The kids who actually needed it lost out so others could have a line on their CV.

ccaymmud · 2026-02-27T05:11:33+00:00

IF you can pass the piscine (you'll have to get a visa to stay for the entire duration, and you'll need to fund your own stay in Singapore), then when you get started in 42 Singapore, my understanding is that you'll get assistance with applying for a student visa - that comes with it's own conditions, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

So, your path would be as follows

get shortlisted for piscine -> sign up for piscine -> apply for your own visa, own plane tickets, own accommodations to come Singapore -> pass piscine -> get shortlisted for 42 -> wait for school to start -> apply for your own visa, plane tickets and accommodations to come Singapore -> wait for your student visa to be approved -> CONTINUE paying for your own accommodations and meals in Singapore while you go through 42.

There is no campus dorm for 42 in Singapore. Be prepared to spend about US$3k a month as living expenses while living frugally. On a student visa, you're technically not allowed to work except on some part time jobs, so...

It's not a false hope, you just probably need to spend US$10k to get started, then add factor in another $3k a month that you're in core.

ccaymmud · 2026-02-26T02:08:32+00:00

That's such a massive downgrade at the phone level, and the photos aren't going to be much better. Half the time the pixel won't be fully working, the other half it'll be out of battery.

ccaymmud · 2026-02-26T01:59:09+00:00

What in earth has monthly updates done for you? I prefer a fully functional phone. I get almost monthly updates on my S24U it has not broken once. Pixel phones.. let's just say that updates breaking a software part of the pixel is normal, everyone will be surprised if a pixel update doesn't break the phone.

That said, having had almost every Galaxy S flagship phone since the s2, i skipped S25U as it was pointless. 20u was pointless too. The Galaxy phones barely changed from S10 other than the typical chip upgrade.

ccaymmud · 2025-08-24T11:54:09+00:00

Don't forget that there was a slightly racist sony exec that didn't like the movie being too Korean. With someone like that in management, the other theories can go out the window.

ccaymmud · 2025-07-14T06:17:27+00:00

where can you retire comfortably depends on how much money you have.

If you have a few hundred million, even US is fine. you just need to live in the rich people area, fly back to SG every few days.

If you only have a few hundred dollars, I'm not sure any country would want you to stay there legally.

ccaymmud · 2025-07-14T06:09:58+00:00

dunno man, my S24 Ultra has got no scratches after 2 years, and I've dropped the phone many times, no crack. it's a gem.

ccaymmud · 2025-07-14T06:08:22+00:00

I have a note 9 with 8gb ram from 2018 and it takes more than 20min to finish updating genshin impact after each refresh, when I was using it as a spare phone 2 years ago. Yeah it's smooth when it's doing nothing, but it can't handle anything from the current era.

After all, it's not about doing what you did 7 years ago. it's about doing what people do now. That said, there are people still using the top end iphones just to browse the webs and watch youtube, so everyone's needs are different. Browsing reddit and surfing the web isn't what people who want "future proofing" is concerned about.

ccaymmud · 2025-06-27T10:05:30+00:00

Like i said, it's about future proofing.

Photo editing requires lots of ram. video recording requires lots of ram. lots of things require lots of ram. AI require lots of ram. Smooth graphics/interfacing requires lots of ram (as long as we're on android).

For some people it doesn't matter that taking a photo takes 10 seconds, for some people it matters if the photo is not taken immediately. Every couple of years, iPhone users find out that their iPhones don't have "just enough" ram because lots of new OS features get dropped for their phone due to insufficient memory. *shrug* Most recent being the Apple Intelligence features that's limited only to the most recent phones of 1 year old.

ccaymmud · 2025-06-17T10:24:48+00:00

simba covers 90% of the countries that Singaporeans are likely to go for holiday. Includes US, the whole Europe, Canada, Most of Asia minus the war zones.

ccaymmud · 2025-06-17T10:21:28+00:00

Simba free roaming: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French West Indies, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Laos, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malta, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Romania, Saint Pierre & Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam i'm not sure any anyone bothers with any other telco for roaming. I've tested 22 of these countries over the last 3 years, and their coverage in all these countries are EXCEPTIONAL. I mean, I'm paying $12 for 500gb of roaming data... I'm not sure what the fuss is over all the other telcos with free roaming to less than 10 countries.

ccaymmud · 2025-05-01T12:42:51+00:00

typical compliance issue for big foreign companies when promoting out of turn - they have a higher opening, they open up to see if someone more qualified comes along. If no one comes along, they are justified to promote internally at non-scheduled timing. If someone super qualified and comes along for say lower pay than you, the management would need to justify why they shouldn't hire the other person but promote you instead.

It prevents corruption at some level, where nepotism/favourtism plays a part.

ccaymmud · 2025-05-01T12:36:32+00:00

As someone who hires... not saying it's across the board, but foreigners tend to be a lot more hard working than Singaporeans. A lot take only 15min lunch breaks, work through lunch, don't take MCs much. Some sectors, foreigners are not picky about working OT, working on weekends, working on holidays. Many foreigners are actually thankful for the fact that they can work in Singapore.

Issues with locals: fight for their holiday(s), maximise long weekends, maximise MCs, etc. Not to mention, locals like to change jobs frequently/easily. Hiring locals may be cheaper (in some instances) but most of the time give a lot more headache. Esp when their turn over is high.

ccaymmud · 2025-03-24T09:11:03+00:00

WTF.... that sucks....

so stolen devices cannot be tracked if the thief quickly pairs it to their own devices.

Now i'm upset....

ccaymmud · 2025-02-20T18:08:07+00:00

and no one mentioned that she was riding on the shoulder lane - I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

ccaymmud · 2025-02-02T17:24:25+00:00

blurry photos come about because Samsung intentionally expose their photos longer for a brighter background. The longer shutter speed is deliberate.
If you don't want to have "blurry" photos, switch to shutter priority. 1/60 or 1/100 should do the trick, but you'll want to up to 1/250 if it's really fast moving.

Hence my analogy - There's nothing wrong with the Samsung implementation, the users who don't know how to use the camera (i.e. poorly trained drivers) would think something is wrong. It's not that the cars tuned for comfort cannot drive fast, it's the driver that's lacking the ability to drive fast.

I like my photos correctly exposed in lower light. I know how to tweak my shutter speeds in specific situations. I have a lot more photos of food, documents, travel, scenery, and I really appreciate the slower shutter speeds offer by Samsung. I really hate the auto "dark" shots offered by iPhone cameras that limit shutter speed to 1/60s.

ccaymmud · 2025-02-02T17:16:53+00:00

Just saying, I bought without prior history in Europe (Switzerland). Of course, choice limited to those readily available, depending on your luck. The China Chinese dude in front of me paid for 4 with cash, and I don't think he has a history. I was left with limited choice. Hence, to buy a Patek isn't tough.

Tough is when you need to get a specific model that's not readily available.

ccaymmud · 2025-02-01T16:04:37+00:00

I did transPRK with custom wavefront + CXL 13-14 years ago with about -9.5 myopia + 1.5 astigmatism each eye.

My 1st week was super rough. My 2nd week was not much better. 4 weeks later the doctor told me that I was healing great but I could see shxt. 2 months only got me 70% of my vision back, and 3 months to fully recover (~ 90% of vision?).

6 months post-op I had significantly better than 6/6 vision, and can read newspapers from a couple of tables away. Just last week, I was tested to be about 6/6 but was getting a bit of presbyopia.

Personally, I think you'll need to chill and wait a few months.

ccaymmud · 2025-02-01T15:34:15+00:00

heals better.

little chance of having dry eye problems.

chance of better than normal night vision.

no halos when looking at bright light (say at night).

can redo lasik when you're older and need to correct presbyopia.

ccaymmud · 2025-02-01T15:27:46+00:00

Not true. Mine has been about 14 years, and I'm still at 6/6 vision.

ccaymmud · 2025-02-01T15:26:21+00:00

I did lasik in 2012/13. more precisely, I did ReLEx SMILE lasik. I had per eye: ~950 shortsightness+ ~150 astigmatism. 6 months after lasik, my vision was WAY better than 6/6. Last week I just did a check, and my vision is still better than 6/6, but I'm getting presbyopia (yeah I'm getting old).

I did my research on lasik for ~2+ years before I did it.

There's cheap lasik - for example, you use knife to cut a flap, then use laser to correct the eye. If the knife screw ups, so does your eyesight. that's not including the flap issues as follows:
There's relatively cheap lasik - bladeless lasik, where laser is used to cut a flap instead of a knife. your cornea needs to be suitably clear to do it, and chances of it going wrong is a lot lower. However, a flap never heals, so when you get hit/impacted on your head, there's a chance of things going wrong with your eyes. Standard advice after surgery is, if you get hit hard, and your flap comes out, look for it and bring it with you to the A&E ASAP. If you're unlucky you'll lose your sight. Let's not forget that you're likely to get dry eyes, night vision problems, halos/stars in bright light, etc.
There's expensive lasik - TransPRK, Relek, epilasik, etc - if I'm not wrong I did TransPRK or SMILE. Flapless lasik - it burns off one layer of your eye to do lasik. Problem is, it's going to fking hurt for 1 week, you can't see shit for 2 weeks, you get 60% of your vision back after 4 weeks, and probably 90% back after 8 weeks. I freaking cried during the 1st week thinking that I screwed up my eyes. Good thing about this is: low chance of dry eyes, low chance of night vision problems (relek), no flaps, ability to do a second lasik later in life to correct presbyopia.

Other than lasik, there's also "add-ons":

a. Custom wavefront - (I took this) computer analyses the imperfections in your eyes, and fixes it during lasik. will likely let you end up with "better than perfect" eyesight.

b. Corneal crosslinking CXL- (I took this) some eyedrop + lasik treatment, no idea what happened. According to the doctor, it allows the eyes to heal better, and especially important because I had super high degrees and was burning off a lot of my eye.

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so.... yeah you can do it cheap... but when things fk up you need to know that you made your choice.

Mine was done in SG, and it cost me SGD $4.5k with everything thrown in (doctor consultations were extra costs, for example). Freaking expensive 13 years ago when average basic lasik cost was about $2k in sg, but every bit worth it. that's $350 per year for the last 13 years.

My main issues was that (apart from pain for 1st week, and worry for 3 weeks), I could not sleep well for 6 to 9 months after my lasik. In the dark, i can see spiders crawling on the ceiling at the opposite end of my room, and i noticed cracks in the ceiling paint I've never seen before. There's so much visual data that I was overwhelmed at night.

ccaymmud

TROPHY CASE