Just another short blurb before I crash real bad...
Was one of the photographers for a friend's wedding and I was generally happy with what I got but also a bit frustrated that I think my flash unit is very wonky. They don't fire even when it's ready (even after waiting for a minute) and occasionally when it does fire, the output is soooo much more intense than normal that it burns the picture even though the flash is pointing in the opposite direction and am not near a wall. So many shots wasted because of that. My shooting as usual has been pretty minimalistic (only kept 300+ RAW shots) as compared to the other photographers. The two lenses that I end up using the most is my 16-50mm DA* f2.8 and the DFA 100mm f2.8 macro. I haven't used the zoom for a very long time and was thinking of selling it but it has proven its usefulness today. Really hard to do shots on a manual 24mm.
I thank Fernando and Onna for giving me the privilege of witnessing their wedding and the extra privilege of being one of the photographers for this joyous occasion. Takes a lot of faith for enlisting a super noob (aka first-time-using-flash boy) friend of theirs to help out in this area. I'm grateful for the opportunity given and have had fun.
Photos after handing in 4 assignments in 10 days...and they WILL come out otherwise they might be breathing down my neck.
Time to burn...
Deep Thinking
Saturday, September 19, 2009
at
3:10 PM
WARNING: Long and intellectual post ahead. Proceed at own risk. I will not be held responsible for headaches, migraines and what nots. And that means I'm not buying you Panadol or Advil.
It is going to be a very good day (well, night actually). I can feel it.
Tonight is going to be D-Day for a super excited but also super nervous friend. Tonight is the night where Juwita Suwito is performing in Melbourne with Orchestra Nouveau conducted by none other than Yee Meng. A performance blending with a band with an orchestral accompaniment is something that is rarely seen even till today. And fearless Yee Meng decide to spearhead this one straight on. I can't wait to see what is installed for tonight.
OCF last night was interesting, even though I wasn't there for the main event of the panel of mission workers for a question and answer session. Helped the people preparing supper and in the midst of that, I got into the a very interesting problem in game theory courtesy of Daniel (no, not the Hobart one). That was a brain stimulating question involving a bunch of kids and their mother and mud. After arguing and reasoning it out every aspect of it, we finally got to the right answer. But we know that this would never happen to a real bunch of kids and mother and mud. The kids would have to be super smart in order to figure that out and they'd have to be completely ignorant about their own stuff. Yeah, very idealistic but fun question. Maybe I should have been more hardcore during my undergrad days to attend game theory subjects in the Economics department. I would probably need a slightly more realistic problems to jog my brain a bit more. Crap, now with so many things that I can learn, I'm stumped for choice. Physics has always been at the back of my mind and want to pursue that (and want to complete my grand evil scheme), Chemistry is also something I liked though it's the experiments that make all look science-y but cost a lot in materials and certain aspects of Biology (no plant/animal or ecological biology) are also interesting. And that's just the learning side of things only. Medicine, Economics especially game theory and a few other areas are good for overall problem solving, just what I like. So many things to love, study and learn but so little time. Maybe I should not get married and just devote to learning all these things =P Anyone care to donate to the Help-Juwen-Learn-Everything Fund?
After that, had a long session of pool again. This time however, games weren't as economical as we could have been. And not to mention a great source of frustration. We played on a different table than what we normally played and it turned out to be a really bad table. The pockets were so unforgiving that if a ball hit the inside pocket cushion with a fair amount of speed, it will just bounce out. I had about 10 of those shots and that really made my blood boil. Worse still was that the cue ball was in the right position for the next ball all the time but the stupid ball wouldn't go down the pocket. Normally, a standard pool table is that if a ball hits the inside pocket cushion the ball would go in regardless of the speed it came in. Only really fast shots may have a chance of bouncing out of the pocket. The table we were at only allowed balls that were on a gentle roll before it goes it, anything faster it will just bounce out. Grrr. I'm boycotting that table.
Java and C. They never end. Time to crank up the workload. Enough said.
And now, the news of the week:
Please, oh please implement this on the iPhones...
Wow, a cheap point and shoot camera used to take pictures of Earth from a helium balloon. And it was done with US$150. Did I mention that it was also done by 2 students from MIT?
Pink grasshopper. Huh.
I'm sure by now that everyone has heard of that outrageous stunt that Kanye did on the MTV awards on Taylor Swift. I find it interesting that it is so outrageous, that internet memes have sprung up all over the place so fast. Just within hours of the incident a website has come up where people send in Photoshop-ed pictures of Kanye and various other subjects/people and roughly using the same lines he used on Taylor when he did it there. Some of that are hilarious, others were like "?". It is a very interesting thing to think about. We all have seen viral videos of some sort whether it was the Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa video, some videos of cats but what makes them viral? It might be argued that due to the celebrity status of Kanye and doing a stunt like that in front of millions around the world makes it easier to go viral but the question remains, what makes something viral? There have been many outrageous stunts performed by many celebrities and some of them are equally funny or downright stupid like Kanye yet they are not as viral. Even more interesting, is that how does a viral video turn into an internet meme? Not all viral vids morphed into an internet meme. For example LOLspeak. It came from people taking pictures of cats doing or looking funny and decide to spell wrong and have atrocious grammar. It went viral through e-mails, IMs etc until it has got to a point where it is almost a language of sorts. No standardized rules of LOLspeak but everyone knows that it is LOLspeak. It has evolved to the point where they have translated the entire Bible into LOLspeak (very funny but some is a bit much) and a programming language based on LOLspeak. And now, looking at the things they are now, Kanye's response to Taylor award winning speech has become an internet meme. Interesting how social groups on a global scale to work these things out.
Speaking of viral videos, there is one which is particularly used. One scene from the film Downfall detailing the last remaining days of Nazi Germany where Hitler bursts into anger among his high-ranking officers about his defeat. This one scene has been taken and subtitles have been replaced to rant about various topics such as the ridiculously high price of the Nikon D3X, Xbox and others. Even current Malaysian political events and Kanye's outburst is not spared from this scene. Although I must say that in terms of realism of the subtitles to the German dialogue in the scene, the rant about the Nikon D3X is the most believable but in terms of context, the Malaysian political scandal of a murder is the most appropriate. Some people either have no life or boundless creativity.
Some thing to think about colleges in university before actually taking the plunge to go there. Not as straight forward as one might think, especially us Christians.
Some people really have no common sense in naming their children. I'm sure we've all heard "horror" stories about these things.
Coming back to economics, trade is very important to any country. It is interesting how some items up for trade may seem insignificant, like chicken feet, can have such a huge impact on their own country and the countries trading with them.
This may bring me one step closer to actually achieving my learn-everything-goal. And right in the comfort of my own home in front of my iTunes.
Sex with robots, says a guy who did his PhD thesis on. In the future. Something that has been long talked about but never had the technology nor the AI advancement to actually do it. But he says it's very much possible. The Japanese are at the forefront of robotics and AI and some are going down this area. As if having sex outside marriage wasn't enough, now we are talking about sex with inanimate objects that simulate a real person's sexual behaviour. What is it about sex that drives these things? I suspect it's from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Right at the bottom of the needs triangle is the one where we as humans need the most. According to common sense, it's food, water, shelter and, surprise surprise, sex. And interestingly enough, it is before intimacy which is the middle rung of the triangle. That means that we need to satisfy our need for sex before we can even start to satisfy intimacy. Don't you think this is a bit topsy-turvy? From the Bible, humans (aka Adam and Eve) satisfied their need for intimacy before sex and that seems the way that God ordained it to be good. So why this reversal? Textbook answer is sin, but let's extrapolate that to something a bit more concrete (not that sin is not concrete...oh you know what I mean). Maslow seems to have taken on an evolutionary stance of things. In an evolutionary view, we grow from a basic functional level to a higher functional level. At the lowest part, animals require food, water, some shelter and the need to procreate ie. sex to ensure survival of the species. Assuming we humans are also "animals" we need these things before we can move on to something more since we are capable of such transitions. So it sort of works like this: create, protect, feel, belong and "nirvana". While this hierarchy of needs "may" work on an animalistic creature, but we humans are different from the word go. We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1), something unlike any other creature in existence. So I don't think we should strictly follow the hierarchy since we follow a different set of need hierarchy because we are different from animals. In a way, our structure is the other way round, replacing "nirvana" with God. So back to the topic and the textbook example of sin, Maslow or some may even point the finger at Darwin, just say we are no different to animals. We just happen to be better of than them. So we need to satisfy one of our most basic needs. Sex. We need sex! Sin has twisted the needs of a human being.
OK, I'll shut up now and will compensate for it next time with pretty pictures. Hopefully.
It is going to be a very good day (well, night actually). I can feel it.
Tonight is going to be D-Day for a super excited but also super nervous friend. Tonight is the night where Juwita Suwito is performing in Melbourne with Orchestra Nouveau conducted by none other than Yee Meng. A performance blending with a band with an orchestral accompaniment is something that is rarely seen even till today. And fearless Yee Meng decide to spearhead this one straight on. I can't wait to see what is installed for tonight.
OCF last night was interesting, even though I wasn't there for the main event of the panel of mission workers for a question and answer session. Helped the people preparing supper and in the midst of that, I got into the a very interesting problem in game theory courtesy of Daniel (no, not the Hobart one). That was a brain stimulating question involving a bunch of kids and their mother and mud. After arguing and reasoning it out every aspect of it, we finally got to the right answer. But we know that this would never happen to a real bunch of kids and mother and mud. The kids would have to be super smart in order to figure that out and they'd have to be completely ignorant about their own stuff. Yeah, very idealistic but fun question. Maybe I should have been more hardcore during my undergrad days to attend game theory subjects in the Economics department. I would probably need a slightly more realistic problems to jog my brain a bit more. Crap, now with so many things that I can learn, I'm stumped for choice. Physics has always been at the back of my mind and want to pursue that (and want to complete my grand evil scheme), Chemistry is also something I liked though it's the experiments that make all look science-y but cost a lot in materials and certain aspects of Biology (no plant/animal or ecological biology) are also interesting. And that's just the learning side of things only. Medicine, Economics especially game theory and a few other areas are good for overall problem solving, just what I like. So many things to love, study and learn but so little time. Maybe I should not get married and just devote to learning all these things =P Anyone care to donate to the Help-Juwen-Learn-Everything Fund?
After that, had a long session of pool again. This time however, games weren't as economical as we could have been. And not to mention a great source of frustration. We played on a different table than what we normally played and it turned out to be a really bad table. The pockets were so unforgiving that if a ball hit the inside pocket cushion with a fair amount of speed, it will just bounce out. I had about 10 of those shots and that really made my blood boil. Worse still was that the cue ball was in the right position for the next ball all the time but the stupid ball wouldn't go down the pocket. Normally, a standard pool table is that if a ball hits the inside pocket cushion the ball would go in regardless of the speed it came in. Only really fast shots may have a chance of bouncing out of the pocket. The table we were at only allowed balls that were on a gentle roll before it goes it, anything faster it will just bounce out. Grrr. I'm boycotting that table.
Java and C. They never end. Time to crank up the workload. Enough said.
And now, the news of the week:
Please, oh please implement this on the iPhones...
Wow, a cheap point and shoot camera used to take pictures of Earth from a helium balloon. And it was done with US$150. Did I mention that it was also done by 2 students from MIT?
Pink grasshopper. Huh.
I'm sure by now that everyone has heard of that outrageous stunt that Kanye did on the MTV awards on Taylor Swift. I find it interesting that it is so outrageous, that internet memes have sprung up all over the place so fast. Just within hours of the incident a website has come up where people send in Photoshop-ed pictures of Kanye and various other subjects/people and roughly using the same lines he used on Taylor when he did it there. Some of that are hilarious, others were like "?". It is a very interesting thing to think about. We all have seen viral videos of some sort whether it was the Star Wars Kid, the Numa Numa video, some videos of cats but what makes them viral? It might be argued that due to the celebrity status of Kanye and doing a stunt like that in front of millions around the world makes it easier to go viral but the question remains, what makes something viral? There have been many outrageous stunts performed by many celebrities and some of them are equally funny or downright stupid like Kanye yet they are not as viral. Even more interesting, is that how does a viral video turn into an internet meme? Not all viral vids morphed into an internet meme. For example LOLspeak. It came from people taking pictures of cats doing or looking funny and decide to spell wrong and have atrocious grammar. It went viral through e-mails, IMs etc until it has got to a point where it is almost a language of sorts. No standardized rules of LOLspeak but everyone knows that it is LOLspeak. It has evolved to the point where they have translated the entire Bible into LOLspeak (very funny but some is a bit much) and a programming language based on LOLspeak. And now, looking at the things they are now, Kanye's response to Taylor award winning speech has become an internet meme. Interesting how social groups on a global scale to work these things out.
Speaking of viral videos, there is one which is particularly used. One scene from the film Downfall detailing the last remaining days of Nazi Germany where Hitler bursts into anger among his high-ranking officers about his defeat. This one scene has been taken and subtitles have been replaced to rant about various topics such as the ridiculously high price of the Nikon D3X, Xbox and others. Even current Malaysian political events and Kanye's outburst is not spared from this scene. Although I must say that in terms of realism of the subtitles to the German dialogue in the scene, the rant about the Nikon D3X is the most believable but in terms of context, the Malaysian political scandal of a murder is the most appropriate. Some people either have no life or boundless creativity.
Some thing to think about colleges in university before actually taking the plunge to go there. Not as straight forward as one might think, especially us Christians.
Some people really have no common sense in naming their children. I'm sure we've all heard "horror" stories about these things.
Coming back to economics, trade is very important to any country. It is interesting how some items up for trade may seem insignificant, like chicken feet, can have such a huge impact on their own country and the countries trading with them.
This may bring me one step closer to actually achieving my learn-everything-goal. And right in the comfort of my own home in front of my iTunes.
Sex with robots, says a guy who did his PhD thesis on. In the future. Something that has been long talked about but never had the technology nor the AI advancement to actually do it. But he says it's very much possible. The Japanese are at the forefront of robotics and AI and some are going down this area. As if having sex outside marriage wasn't enough, now we are talking about sex with inanimate objects that simulate a real person's sexual behaviour. What is it about sex that drives these things? I suspect it's from Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Right at the bottom of the needs triangle is the one where we as humans need the most. According to common sense, it's food, water, shelter and, surprise surprise, sex. And interestingly enough, it is before intimacy which is the middle rung of the triangle. That means that we need to satisfy our need for sex before we can even start to satisfy intimacy. Don't you think this is a bit topsy-turvy? From the Bible, humans (aka Adam and Eve) satisfied their need for intimacy before sex and that seems the way that God ordained it to be good. So why this reversal? Textbook answer is sin, but let's extrapolate that to something a bit more concrete (not that sin is not concrete...oh you know what I mean). Maslow seems to have taken on an evolutionary stance of things. In an evolutionary view, we grow from a basic functional level to a higher functional level. At the lowest part, animals require food, water, some shelter and the need to procreate ie. sex to ensure survival of the species. Assuming we humans are also "animals" we need these things before we can move on to something more since we are capable of such transitions. So it sort of works like this: create, protect, feel, belong and "nirvana". While this hierarchy of needs "may" work on an animalistic creature, but we humans are different from the word go. We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1), something unlike any other creature in existence. So I don't think we should strictly follow the hierarchy since we follow a different set of need hierarchy because we are different from animals. In a way, our structure is the other way round, replacing "nirvana" with God. So back to the topic and the textbook example of sin, Maslow or some may even point the finger at Darwin, just say we are no different to animals. We just happen to be better of than them. So we need to satisfy one of our most basic needs. Sex. We need sex! Sin has twisted the needs of a human being.
OK, I'll shut up now and will compensate for it next time with pretty pictures. Hopefully.
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Flashy
Monday, September 14, 2009
at
3:34 PM
Well, it turns out that the Java design assignment was a dud. The purpose of the assignment was just to get us started on the assignment according to the lecturer. Meh.
Went to have a site visit of the venues that are going to be used for Fernando and Onna's wedding on St. Kilda and in Docklands. It was a beautiful day with a freakishly warm (for most, hot) weather compared to the days before and after with a top of 29 degrees. So for the first time in several months, I broke out into shorts, shirt and sandals. That Saturday was an eventful day. Site visit at The Willows for the cocktail reception and then at Gold Leaf Restaurant in Docklands. Soon after, a second screening of Pixar's Up with a big bunch of friends and then an economical pool session with a few of them, Korean dinner and then gelati in the park at night. Wonderful day indeed.
However, there were a few things that were bugging me (and as well as a few more friends) that day. I've always had something that was poking me about this one person but never really enough for me to criticize about it. Until that day. While I know that this person can have a (very) competitive spirit, sometimes I feel that it crosses the line a bit. Now we all know that trash talking in any sport is part-and-parcel of any sport but only if done appropriately. The occasional line here and there is ok, if you know that person can take a few more you can push a few more. But not all the time with relatively strong tone. While I sorta know the person's personality after some observations, this is a bit much. Also, while everyone agrees on the rules of the game of pool and certain usages of equipment, like the bridge, it is a bit much to call everyone who uses the bridge cheaters. The reasoning was ok but please don't go around calling people cheaters when they use the bridge especially when the rules say that it is ok to use it. It is funny that at an unrelated event, this person claimed and I quote "...am a multi-cultural person. So I accept everything you do..." Now I find this rather hypocritical for the person to say this. Which suggest that if no one sees the view or opinion of this person, it is highly recommended, if not, strongly "forces" you to take that view. This is bad on any account. When we were having gelati, the group that went for dinner started sharing stories or talk about stuff as inevitably any group of friends would do. One section went into the history of this person before coming to Melbourne and went into great details of the wild days of high school. You know the lot; alcohol, halucinogens, smoking, racing. I, certainly the rest of us, don't judge anyone by their past especially one from such a wild history. But we were certainly uncomfortable about it due to one reason. Again, after reading this person's personality, this is one that has the mottos "Live for the now" and "Try everything at least once". That's not the reason, but given all this new information about the wild past, it has been said that this person wouldn't mind trying again some of the things that have happened and would recommend us to try as well. This is where we OCFers have a problem. There is no remorseful tone at all about what had happened in the past despite this person saying that is a Christian. This person feels very strongly about the opinions and suggestions given which I foresee that is going to be very difficult to talk the person out of such things.
This is tough. It is not easy to break stuff up like that and even more pressing, the person has very limited time before going back home. While I am glad that this person is coming to OCF, church and our usual sports sessions, but if this person is to live a life a Christian is supposed to live, this strong-headed person doesn't seem interested or does not understand the meaning of living a Christian life. How now?
Anyway, on a more lighter tone, had a meeting for Fernando and Onna's wedding on what is going to happen on that day and room for scrutinizing and suggestions. Frankly speaking, I was kinda lost most of the time but I think I roughly know what is going on. While I do realize that I am sort of the third wheel as far as photography department goes in this event, I don't quite care. Even though I know I have to be extra observant and extra fast to capture pictures, I know this is something for me to greatly improve my photographic skills. Theoretically, of course. To make it even more challenging, I'm mostly going to shoot with primes since that is pretty much what I have at the moment. So, the current lineup, given the site visit on Saturday, would be my manual 24mm f2.8, FA 50mm f1.4 and my DFA 100mm f2.8. If I had my way, I would have liked to replace the 100mm with Khai's FA 77mm f1.8. I think the 100mm is a bit on the long side. To make things even more complex, for the dinner I will be playing around with my flash unit which has been collecting dust for a long time now. Not only that, I'm also going to use bounce cards which currently I have zero experience using it. So for the next 2 weeks, the flash unit is going to be my best friend. I wish, though, that I can learn using flash and Java and C at the same time. Meh.
And now, the news of the week:
I thought Melvin and Swee Yue were the only ones doing such things. Guess I was wrong. Great idea though.
Another aspect of the breakdown in marriages.
The Japanese can turn any subject into a manga or anime series. Here is one Australian wine maker that has greatly benefited by the Japanese's (sometimes bizarre and over-the-top) creativity.
Is it simply a case of kiasu-ism plus better-equipment-will-make-your-craft-better? Whatever it is, no wonder there are sooo many wedding photography companies out there back home but only an astronomically small number of them have substance. Kudos to Brandon for the link.
Homing pigeon delivered data faster than the broadband available. Talk about pwnage.
So sad. Now the drummer behind the gorilla drummer in the Cadbury ad can't play any more. =(
To those who have opposite sex siblings, how true are these things?
I want a Class 1 sky now!! Wonder if there is any (accessible) place in Australia that has one. But I also want to go to the States. Maybe the Arizona desert.
Seriously, why? And it is a valid question, what happens to his wife's name if he marries?
Went to have a site visit of the venues that are going to be used for Fernando and Onna's wedding on St. Kilda and in Docklands. It was a beautiful day with a freakishly warm (for most, hot) weather compared to the days before and after with a top of 29 degrees. So for the first time in several months, I broke out into shorts, shirt and sandals. That Saturday was an eventful day. Site visit at The Willows for the cocktail reception and then at Gold Leaf Restaurant in Docklands. Soon after, a second screening of Pixar's Up with a big bunch of friends and then an economical pool session with a few of them, Korean dinner and then gelati in the park at night. Wonderful day indeed.
However, there were a few things that were bugging me (and as well as a few more friends) that day. I've always had something that was poking me about this one person but never really enough for me to criticize about it. Until that day. While I know that this person can have a (very) competitive spirit, sometimes I feel that it crosses the line a bit. Now we all know that trash talking in any sport is part-and-parcel of any sport but only if done appropriately. The occasional line here and there is ok, if you know that person can take a few more you can push a few more. But not all the time with relatively strong tone. While I sorta know the person's personality after some observations, this is a bit much. Also, while everyone agrees on the rules of the game of pool and certain usages of equipment, like the bridge, it is a bit much to call everyone who uses the bridge cheaters. The reasoning was ok but please don't go around calling people cheaters when they use the bridge especially when the rules say that it is ok to use it. It is funny that at an unrelated event, this person claimed and I quote "...am a multi-cultural person. So I accept everything you do..." Now I find this rather hypocritical for the person to say this. Which suggest that if no one sees the view or opinion of this person, it is highly recommended, if not, strongly "forces" you to take that view. This is bad on any account. When we were having gelati, the group that went for dinner started sharing stories or talk about stuff as inevitably any group of friends would do. One section went into the history of this person before coming to Melbourne and went into great details of the wild days of high school. You know the lot; alcohol, halucinogens, smoking, racing. I, certainly the rest of us, don't judge anyone by their past especially one from such a wild history. But we were certainly uncomfortable about it due to one reason. Again, after reading this person's personality, this is one that has the mottos "Live for the now" and "Try everything at least once". That's not the reason, but given all this new information about the wild past, it has been said that this person wouldn't mind trying again some of the things that have happened and would recommend us to try as well. This is where we OCFers have a problem. There is no remorseful tone at all about what had happened in the past despite this person saying that is a Christian. This person feels very strongly about the opinions and suggestions given which I foresee that is going to be very difficult to talk the person out of such things.
This is tough. It is not easy to break stuff up like that and even more pressing, the person has very limited time before going back home. While I am glad that this person is coming to OCF, church and our usual sports sessions, but if this person is to live a life a Christian is supposed to live, this strong-headed person doesn't seem interested or does not understand the meaning of living a Christian life. How now?
Anyway, on a more lighter tone, had a meeting for Fernando and Onna's wedding on what is going to happen on that day and room for scrutinizing and suggestions. Frankly speaking, I was kinda lost most of the time but I think I roughly know what is going on. While I do realize that I am sort of the third wheel as far as photography department goes in this event, I don't quite care. Even though I know I have to be extra observant and extra fast to capture pictures, I know this is something for me to greatly improve my photographic skills. Theoretically, of course. To make it even more challenging, I'm mostly going to shoot with primes since that is pretty much what I have at the moment. So, the current lineup, given the site visit on Saturday, would be my manual 24mm f2.8, FA 50mm f1.4 and my DFA 100mm f2.8. If I had my way, I would have liked to replace the 100mm with Khai's FA 77mm f1.8. I think the 100mm is a bit on the long side. To make things even more complex, for the dinner I will be playing around with my flash unit which has been collecting dust for a long time now. Not only that, I'm also going to use bounce cards which currently I have zero experience using it. So for the next 2 weeks, the flash unit is going to be my best friend. I wish, though, that I can learn using flash and Java and C at the same time. Meh.
And now, the news of the week:
I thought Melvin and Swee Yue were the only ones doing such things. Guess I was wrong. Great idea though.
Another aspect of the breakdown in marriages.
The Japanese can turn any subject into a manga or anime series. Here is one Australian wine maker that has greatly benefited by the Japanese's (sometimes bizarre and over-the-top) creativity.
Is it simply a case of kiasu-ism plus better-equipment-will-make-your-craft-better? Whatever it is, no wonder there are sooo many wedding photography companies out there back home but only an astronomically small number of them have substance. Kudos to Brandon for the link.
Homing pigeon delivered data faster than the broadband available. Talk about pwnage.
So sad. Now the drummer behind the gorilla drummer in the Cadbury ad can't play any more. =(
To those who have opposite sex siblings, how true are these things?
I want a Class 1 sky now!! Wonder if there is any (accessible) place in Australia that has one. But I also want to go to the States. Maybe the Arizona desert.
Seriously, why? And it is a valid question, what happens to his wife's name if he marries?
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Video Tabbing
Monday, September 7, 2009
at
12:30 AM
The past Friday was one of the most stressful and adrenaline filled day I've ever experience and something that really comes down to the wire. I had an assignment due during the mid-semester break on Friday and had a lot of things to do, in particular a lot of drawing diagrams. About 5 hours before submission, a call for help to play drums for OCF since the scheduled drummer was sick. Looking at the amount of things to do, I thought to myself "It ain't so bad. Worse come for worse, I'll just head home after music and then finish it. Half an hour tops". Wrong! More than two thirds of into the huge diagram that I have to draw, a number of things I noticed were wrong about the diagram and more importantly, it doesn't export the diagram into the correct file extension. And right at that time, I had to go to play drums. After music, I ran home and quickly fixed the problems. The submission is meant to be done online and it closes at 9:31pm (I'm guessing it's because there might be an overload around the last time of submission so give an extra minute. I submitted it at 9:30pm and I am pretty sure that I have waaaaay less than one minute left to spare. That was intense man.
Loads of videos on tabs right now so let's do the news and videos of the week:
Anyone who remembers the Power Rangers should surely vaguely remember the Green Ranger (or for the more hardcore fans, the White Ranger in the later episodes). He's going to fight in the UFC. Srsly.
Some of the stranger theme parks in the world. My personal favourite, Stalin's World. Lol.
There might be an upside to the whole losing connections thing I spoke about last time. At least I don't lose my mind talking to some attractive girl, I think...
I dare anyone to ask their grandparents about if they are still "doing" it, if you know what I mean...
If I knew about this guy earlier when thinking on where to do my PhD, I would have certainly gone to this guy instead of my honours supervisor. His PhD supervisor is like the pioneer of the research area that my supervisor is in. *jaw drop* kudos to Daniel for this (and no, not Daniel in Carlton)
According to Khai and self-evaluation, I am not that far off from a hopeless romantic that I thought I was...
Can you believe a 31 second heist in a Mac store? They got away with 23 Macbook Pros, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod Touches. They even have the video from the security camera.
An egg inside an egg. Khai, this puts your double yolked eggs to shame =P
One of the most creative use of the webcam in a music video.
Michael Jackson medley by just one guy. Pretty good but after awhile, you'll be oversaturated with pop voices. The rest of the videos from the same user are also pretty good, like Don't Stop Believing from Glee.
And now the feature presentation, Ukraine's Got Talent 2009 winner Kseniya Simonova with a mix of sand art and contemporary-style-type-story-telling-presentation. The vids are long but keep watching, they are worth it.
A story of World War 2 in Ukraine
A story of fame and family
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Anyway, I'm starting to feel the gravity of what I've been talking about for the last two posts. With each an every week passing by, I'm starting to really lose out on connections in OCF. I actually feel more confused now than the last time I spoke with "conviction" two posts ago. On the one hand, I really think that I am no longer in a position to be in OCF because I don't feel apart of the people that make up OCF. Many times I've lead Bible studies and talking to people after the Bible studies and all I get is nothing outside "business". Gone are the days where I hang out with the OCFers on a fairly regular basis and is now reduced to zilch. More friendships are starting to look a lot like acquaintances where we are now talking on an uneven playing field. But on the other, I am also thinking on whether or not this is all due to me. This mess that I am in is ultimately caused by me. Maybe I am not giving out a full effort in keeping the friendship. Maybe it is because I am always "apparently" buried in stuff to do. Maybe who I am now ticks people off more. Regardless of what it actually is, bottom line is that something is happening and I drew the short straw. And not liking it.
Don't get me wrong about not being in a position to be in OCF. I would love to continue serving where I am now but my previous statement still stands. How can I serve in a body of Christians when I cannot connect with them? That would mean that leading Bible studies would be no more confronting than a lecture or a workshop. Talk is no further than skin deep. Play is no further than the sake of the game. What went wrong? Issues like these prove to be a evaluation ground where I need to consider what has been going on, the implications and the response which obviously in the worst case scenario, leave OCF and serve in a group elsewhere.
To those reading this in whichever medium, I am open to thoughts, criticisms on my line of thought, slaps to the face if you think that there is something wrong or fishy (mmm...fish). Because while I would love to tackle this myself, this is a pretty serious matter whether or not you think of it that way. I need some outside perspective, possibly something to shake me up. When it comes to God and/or his people, it has to be dealt with seriously and this is no different. What to do?
You tell me...
Loads of videos on tabs right now so let's do the news and videos of the week:
Anyone who remembers the Power Rangers should surely vaguely remember the Green Ranger (or for the more hardcore fans, the White Ranger in the later episodes). He's going to fight in the UFC. Srsly.
Some of the stranger theme parks in the world. My personal favourite, Stalin's World. Lol.
There might be an upside to the whole losing connections thing I spoke about last time. At least I don't lose my mind talking to some attractive girl, I think...
I dare anyone to ask their grandparents about if they are still "doing" it, if you know what I mean...
If I knew about this guy earlier when thinking on where to do my PhD, I would have certainly gone to this guy instead of my honours supervisor. His PhD supervisor is like the pioneer of the research area that my supervisor is in. *jaw drop* kudos to Daniel for this (and no, not Daniel in Carlton)
According to Khai and self-evaluation, I am not that far off from a hopeless romantic that I thought I was...
Can you believe a 31 second heist in a Mac store? They got away with 23 Macbook Pros, 14 iPhones and 9 iPod Touches. They even have the video from the security camera.
An egg inside an egg. Khai, this puts your double yolked eggs to shame =P
One of the most creative use of the webcam in a music video.
Michael Jackson medley by just one guy. Pretty good but after awhile, you'll be oversaturated with pop voices. The rest of the videos from the same user are also pretty good, like Don't Stop Believing from Glee.
And now the feature presentation, Ukraine's Got Talent 2009 winner Kseniya Simonova with a mix of sand art and contemporary-style-type-story-telling-presentation. The vids are long but keep watching, they are worth it.
A story of World War 2 in Ukraine
A story of fame and family
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Anyway, I'm starting to feel the gravity of what I've been talking about for the last two posts. With each an every week passing by, I'm starting to really lose out on connections in OCF. I actually feel more confused now than the last time I spoke with "conviction" two posts ago. On the one hand, I really think that I am no longer in a position to be in OCF because I don't feel apart of the people that make up OCF. Many times I've lead Bible studies and talking to people after the Bible studies and all I get is nothing outside "business". Gone are the days where I hang out with the OCFers on a fairly regular basis and is now reduced to zilch. More friendships are starting to look a lot like acquaintances where we are now talking on an uneven playing field. But on the other, I am also thinking on whether or not this is all due to me. This mess that I am in is ultimately caused by me. Maybe I am not giving out a full effort in keeping the friendship. Maybe it is because I am always "apparently" buried in stuff to do. Maybe who I am now ticks people off more. Regardless of what it actually is, bottom line is that something is happening and I drew the short straw. And not liking it.
Don't get me wrong about not being in a position to be in OCF. I would love to continue serving where I am now but my previous statement still stands. How can I serve in a body of Christians when I cannot connect with them? That would mean that leading Bible studies would be no more confronting than a lecture or a workshop. Talk is no further than skin deep. Play is no further than the sake of the game. What went wrong? Issues like these prove to be a evaluation ground where I need to consider what has been going on, the implications and the response which obviously in the worst case scenario, leave OCF and serve in a group elsewhere.
To those reading this in whichever medium, I am open to thoughts, criticisms on my line of thought, slaps to the face if you think that there is something wrong or fishy (mmm...fish). Because while I would love to tackle this myself, this is a pretty serious matter whether or not you think of it that way. I need some outside perspective, possibly something to shake me up. When it comes to God and/or his people, it has to be dealt with seriously and this is no different. What to do?
You tell me...
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15
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What now, Sole-o?
Thursday, September 3, 2009
at
1:06 AM
.jpg)
Just a means of wasting time from doing my Java assignment. Went out to tutor a starting-to-get-desperate Year 12 student for his Maths. Stayed longer than intended but his mother was gracious enough to offer me lunch. Walked around and tried taking photos before crashing. It was such a waste since the weather today was quite nice and warm-ish but heavy lunch plus warm-ish day will always make me sleepy. Added with the fact that I slept pretty late last night gave more temptation than I can bargain for. This time I shot in RAW and see how is it like editing on it. Call me a n00b but I noticed the difference that everyone has been talking about between JPEG and RAW. Even bigger the difference when I upload pictures on Facebook *shake fist at Facebook*.
The more I use Aperture, the more cumbersome I think the interface is. While it is a pretty nifty piece of software, their file management system is non-intuitive and I think can also benefit from a history window like on Lightroom. Maybe it is a sign to move to Lightroom...
Was talking briefly with the friend that just got engaged and I had this very funny thought which I think will come across any just-minutes-old engaged couple, especially the guys. At least, that's what I think. And I might be the kind of person that will also be in this position as well, so who knows. I'll put it in a dialogue...
*long elaborately prepared speech...blah blah...yada yada...and finally*
Guy: ...Will you marry me?
Girl: YES!!! OF COURSE I'LL MARRY YOU!!!
*both smile, hugs, kisses etc...*
*short pause*
Guy: So...now what?
--------------------------------------------------
News of the day:
Who says blogging can't get you a job? *crosses fingers*
A $4,000 gaming machine? That's fine and all but it's not used for high graphics games. Just stuff like poker type games, "Bejeweled" etc. Why? Why the waste of good computing resources??
Mosquitoes loving you? Get more stressed to avoid the problem according to research.
People never learn, more importantly the world never learns what money can do.
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1 comments
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Dropping like flies...
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
at
1:30 AM
Mid-sem break has been a good time to laze around for awhile, to unwind after that long hectic 6 weeks of work, to not think about that Java assignment due at the end of the mid-sem break...It's been great *twitch*
Trying to make use of my time test-driving Aperture on some of the other photos that I've taken and I would probably say a few more things from a personal perspective of using it. Aperture is a really good program to use, to those know are comfortable using it. As for me, I prefer to use Lightroom's interface better than Aperture. Specifically, when adjusting tones in the photo. Lightroom has a tone curve that let's you adjust the tones of different sections of the curve and that to me is more intuitive (aka. more visual). Aperture on the other hand still uses sliders to adjusts for tones and I think it is a bit more complex than it should be. While I am still a n00b at post-processing tones, I don't quite fancy this way of doing things. On the bright side, I like the way they implement the dodge and burn function along with many other settings when using stuff like that. Haven't personally seen it on Lightroom but it would be hard to beat that but I do hope it comes on par with Aperture. Maybe I should download Lightroom's trial and compare it side-by-side. But with not much time on my hands, I wonder if I will ever get things done. If I wasn't a student, I'd probably get Aperture as it is much cheaper than Lightroom and just adjust myself to their way of doing things. But since I still am, with Lightroom cheaper than Aperture even after student discounts, I'm leaning towards Lightroom. The only other major thing is to test out handling RAW files which I can now finally do.
Here are some more pictures done up in Aperture...
Guard House
.jpg)
Empty
Kat in a signature Toyota ad
Nothing like MJ on a roadtrip
Yee Meng, just being his gross self
Charles
Had another breaking story of another bunch of friends getting engaged. Seriously, this year is really really really strange. Single people are getting attached or heading towards that direction, in-a-relationship-pairs are getting engaged and engaged people are getting married. And all even before the year is up! They are all dropping like flies! But I've got to say that this does wonders to my currently slightly-depressed state, not that I'm "jealous" of not jumping on the bandwagon. Here I am wondering if what I am to friends now is a sovereign island and lo and behold I suddenly hear news of these sorts of things happening. From experience, friends tend to get further apart from me once they get attached or somewhat-getting-close-to. You know, this adds to the depressive state I'm in and it shows no signs of slowing down. While I am happy that these people are together, some till death, I can't help but feel that I'm like Chuck Noland and Wilson in Cast Away except that Wilson has internet connection strapped to itself...somehow. They say that no man is an island, but why is it that I feel like I am? Coupled with the fact that I'm quite a bit behind in the "rat race" (read: still a student in my quarter life stage) means that I am stuck between the new generation and my peers who have long left the scene. I have absolutely no connection between the both of them and oh how hard must that be.
This notion of being an island is also starting to affect me in my position in OCF. I'm still serving as a Bible Study leader, although not in the music team anymore due to a clash with class. Here I am trying to establish a good relationship with my group members while leading Bible studies and what has been presented to me is a double edged sword. On one hand, I have the best group I ever had in terms of group dynamics. I don't have to do much to get my members talking, which any Bible study leader should know the difficulties in getting your members to say something. On the other hand, it is so hard to relate to them other than the level of a Bible study leader or just some mature-age guy who has an opinion about stuff due to the new generation makeup of the group. While we have all fun and games, it barely breaks any grounds. Whether or not I'm not doing enough or not, I don't know. I'd like to think I'm doing enough. Assuming I did, I feel that I may start to question my effectiveness in OCF. If my relationship in OCF is to just lead Bible studies with the occasional small talk and games, is there a point to it? And why stop there? In fact, in OCF in general, I can't connect with majority of the people outside of small talk and fun and games. I've tried. Most end up in this awkward silence and that's the last thing I will hear until next Friday. How can I serve in a body that I can't or find it difficult to connect with people?
It seems that the futility or the viscous cycle of my PhD work has applied for a transfer to my OCF work. And it started right away. Because of this, I was having thoughts that maybe I should go back home instead of studying here. It would have solved many of my problems I face now. I would be working (hopefully) which gives me an avenue to connect with some peers, serving in a church and/or cell group that also relates to my peers and all the big financial fiasco wouldn't exist. Why did God put me here? Time will tell. No, wait, cancel that. God will reveal. I pray that with all these doubts in my mind about serving God's people will not make me drop like a fly on my Christian walk.
Trying to make use of my time test-driving Aperture on some of the other photos that I've taken and I would probably say a few more things from a personal perspective of using it. Aperture is a really good program to use, to those know are comfortable using it. As for me, I prefer to use Lightroom's interface better than Aperture. Specifically, when adjusting tones in the photo. Lightroom has a tone curve that let's you adjust the tones of different sections of the curve and that to me is more intuitive (aka. more visual). Aperture on the other hand still uses sliders to adjusts for tones and I think it is a bit more complex than it should be. While I am still a n00b at post-processing tones, I don't quite fancy this way of doing things. On the bright side, I like the way they implement the dodge and burn function along with many other settings when using stuff like that. Haven't personally seen it on Lightroom but it would be hard to beat that but I do hope it comes on par with Aperture. Maybe I should download Lightroom's trial and compare it side-by-side. But with not much time on my hands, I wonder if I will ever get things done. If I wasn't a student, I'd probably get Aperture as it is much cheaper than Lightroom and just adjust myself to their way of doing things. But since I still am, with Lightroom cheaper than Aperture even after student discounts, I'm leaning towards Lightroom. The only other major thing is to test out handling RAW files which I can now finally do.
Here are some more pictures done up in Aperture...
Guard HouseEmpty
Kat in a signature Toyota adNothing like MJ on a roadtripYee Meng, just being his gross self
CharlesHad another breaking story of another bunch of friends getting engaged. Seriously, this year is really really really strange. Single people are getting attached or heading towards that direction, in-a-relationship-pairs are getting engaged and engaged people are getting married. And all even before the year is up! They are all dropping like flies! But I've got to say that this does wonders to my currently slightly-depressed state, not that I'm "jealous" of not jumping on the bandwagon. Here I am wondering if what I am to friends now is a sovereign island and lo and behold I suddenly hear news of these sorts of things happening. From experience, friends tend to get further apart from me once they get attached or somewhat-getting-close-to. You know, this adds to the depressive state I'm in and it shows no signs of slowing down. While I am happy that these people are together, some till death, I can't help but feel that I'm like Chuck Noland and Wilson in Cast Away except that Wilson has internet connection strapped to itself...somehow. They say that no man is an island, but why is it that I feel like I am? Coupled with the fact that I'm quite a bit behind in the "rat race" (read: still a student in my quarter life stage) means that I am stuck between the new generation and my peers who have long left the scene. I have absolutely no connection between the both of them and oh how hard must that be.
This notion of being an island is also starting to affect me in my position in OCF. I'm still serving as a Bible Study leader, although not in the music team anymore due to a clash with class. Here I am trying to establish a good relationship with my group members while leading Bible studies and what has been presented to me is a double edged sword. On one hand, I have the best group I ever had in terms of group dynamics. I don't have to do much to get my members talking, which any Bible study leader should know the difficulties in getting your members to say something. On the other hand, it is so hard to relate to them other than the level of a Bible study leader or just some mature-age guy who has an opinion about stuff due to the new generation makeup of the group. While we have all fun and games, it barely breaks any grounds. Whether or not I'm not doing enough or not, I don't know. I'd like to think I'm doing enough. Assuming I did, I feel that I may start to question my effectiveness in OCF. If my relationship in OCF is to just lead Bible studies with the occasional small talk and games, is there a point to it? And why stop there? In fact, in OCF in general, I can't connect with majority of the people outside of small talk and fun and games. I've tried. Most end up in this awkward silence and that's the last thing I will hear until next Friday. How can I serve in a body that I can't or find it difficult to connect with people?
It seems that the futility or the viscous cycle of my PhD work has applied for a transfer to my OCF work. And it started right away. Because of this, I was having thoughts that maybe I should go back home instead of studying here. It would have solved many of my problems I face now. I would be working (hopefully) which gives me an avenue to connect with some peers, serving in a church and/or cell group that also relates to my peers and all the big financial fiasco wouldn't exist. Why did God put me here? Time will tell. No, wait, cancel that. God will reveal. I pray that with all these doubts in my mind about serving God's people will not make me drop like a fly on my Christian walk.
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