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?
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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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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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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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Portraits of Mafia
Sunday, August 30, 2009
at
3:27 AM
First day after the submissions of all my assignments and it is off to a good start for the mid-semester break. Although it is only a week with a short assignment due at the end of this week, it is at least a good time for me to take a breather. But not without it's drama. My last assignment is due on Friday 9:30 pm and I have already uploaded my code to my Unix account in uni and went there for my lab session as well as to have another quick run of my code to check if I have ironed out everything before submission. Running the program, all worked well...except again the stupid matching brackets. After inputting another random line of brackets, it still gave me the wrong answer. Was about to pull my hair out for that one. Good thing I manage to spot the mistake and thankfully that was a small one. Am quite happy that now that assignment is now out of my hands.
To kick start the wonderful mid-semester break, we have our group social in College Square and for the second time we played Mafia. This time however will eventually build up to the climax of the last game where, in one word, was EPIC. There is no way I can describe everything in words, you just have to be there to witness the "awesomeness" of true Mafia gameplay. We wished that someone was there recording the whole game but even then I think it wasn't enough to give the full picture and consequence of the gameplay. That was a Mafia-gasm moment.
Took some pictures and I've decided to give Aperture a go with the 30-day trial thing before deciding on which program I am going to use for my photos. At first glance, I don't like how things are laid out and there is an awful lot of mouse clicks for you to apply presets to your pictures as compared to Lightroom. Presets in Lightroom seems easier to apply and view without having the need to actually apply them to see the results. With Aperture, the apply button is going to be your best friend. But, having said that, there are some usefulness to it. The presets are at the level of the categories that are available for you to tweak, so for example, there is one category for the contrast, definition, saturation and vibrancy. So if you have a particular preset (eg. High Contrast), you can apply that and say that you have a particular preset you use for black and white that normally be used for a not-so-high-contrast photo. You can click that preset for black and white and you have the best of both worlds.
So with Aperture, as far as I know, has the ability to have lots of small building blocks at your creation and disposal at the expense of loads of mouse clicks just to see how it all works out. Lightroom, on the other hand, has much bigger building blocks and so you might have lots of presets because you may one some characteristics from one preset but another characteristic from another at the benefit of speedy previews of the presets. Now I don't know which to use...crap.
Here are some of the Mafia who have been shot by a K20...post-processed with Aperture
To kick start the wonderful mid-semester break, we have our group social in College Square and for the second time we played Mafia. This time however will eventually build up to the climax of the last game where, in one word, was EPIC. There is no way I can describe everything in words, you just have to be there to witness the "awesomeness" of true Mafia gameplay. We wished that someone was there recording the whole game but even then I think it wasn't enough to give the full picture and consequence of the gameplay. That was a Mafia-gasm moment.
Took some pictures and I've decided to give Aperture a go with the 30-day trial thing before deciding on which program I am going to use for my photos. At first glance, I don't like how things are laid out and there is an awful lot of mouse clicks for you to apply presets to your pictures as compared to Lightroom. Presets in Lightroom seems easier to apply and view without having the need to actually apply them to see the results. With Aperture, the apply button is going to be your best friend. But, having said that, there are some usefulness to it. The presets are at the level of the categories that are available for you to tweak, so for example, there is one category for the contrast, definition, saturation and vibrancy. So if you have a particular preset (eg. High Contrast), you can apply that and say that you have a particular preset you use for black and white that normally be used for a not-so-high-contrast photo. You can click that preset for black and white and you have the best of both worlds.
So with Aperture, as far as I know, has the ability to have lots of small building blocks at your creation and disposal at the expense of loads of mouse clicks just to see how it all works out. Lightroom, on the other hand, has much bigger building blocks and so you might have lots of presets because you may one some characteristics from one preset but another characteristic from another at the benefit of speedy previews of the presets. Now I don't know which to use...crap.
Here are some of the Mafia who have been shot by a K20...post-processed with Aperture
Zhi Kai
Sheik
Ivan
Ivan
Pei Shan
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Streets of Ming Dynasty
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
at
4:52 PM
Waaaay overdue backlog of the trip to Bairnsdale with some other friends to visit Ming in Bairnsdale. Took me ages to finish this roll of film but I think it was worth it and I didn't waste any shots this time which is always a big plus.
I've decided to go against what I've always done to my scanned film shots this time by actually trying a hand on post-processing on iPhoto. Normally I would leave it as it is with a tad bit of straightening and cropping but this time I'm playing with contrasts, saturation etc. It's not Photoshop or even Lightroom but it does do some things. And after my very feeble attempt at doing PP, I think I need lessons because I don't really know what to do. Criticisms and all are welcomed here or on Facebook. So here they are. Oh, and not all the pictures are from Bairnsdale but fillers for the film. They should be quite obvious.
I've decided to go against what I've always done to my scanned film shots this time by actually trying a hand on post-processing on iPhoto. Normally I would leave it as it is with a tad bit of straightening and cropping but this time I'm playing with contrasts, saturation etc. It's not Photoshop or even Lightroom but it does do some things. And after my very feeble attempt at doing PP, I think I need lessons because I don't really know what to do. Criticisms and all are welcomed here or on Facebook. So here they are. Oh, and not all the pictures are from Bairnsdale but fillers for the film. They should be quite obvious.
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5 of a Kind
Saturday, August 22, 2009
at
9:51 PM
It's been a week already since the last time I've blogged and there is good reason. I've had 5 assignments due this week with one on Monday, one on Thursday and, by inference, 3 on Friday. That was a crazy week. But now that is over and the coast is clear for now. Happy that all of it is out of the way. Now I hope the marks reflect how much I have put into the assignments. Seriously...
Been sleeping something like 3-4 hours over those days because of programming and stuff. The second last assignment I finished on Friday 4:30pm with about one hour to go. The last one was already done but it is only done when I go to my C lab and demonstrate my code, that it actually works. So, transferred my code to the uni servers and tested to make sure that everything works, and it did. Then I started checking the individual programs. The one that will suddenly give me a heart attack was a program that was supposed to check whether the brackets in a user input matches. For example, "f^34f(fdsd{fdsf}ex)" has the brackets matched. I've tested so many cases and my program has given me the right answers. So I just simply typed in something and then...IT GAVE ME THE WRONG ANSWER!! AND MY LAB IS IN ONE HOUR!! *pressed panic button* Quickly tried to figure out what was wrong until suddenly the debugging program I used decided to go funny on me. And I still haven't figured out what was wrong with the program. There was only one thing left to do and that is to leave the house without showering since I got up and went straight to the computer lab and checked the code there. Lab started already and I am still haven't got my code ready for demonstration.
So the way the demonstration works is that when the lab starts, you go and write your name on the whiteboard and the lab demonstrator will come to you according to the list of names that you have written down. You can choose to write your name later but eventually you still have to. At this moment, I obviously didn't go up and write my name because I was too busy having a heart attack. By God's grace, about half an hour into the lab I got it working. Ran to the board and write my name down and was immediately tested. The funny thing is that when the lab demonstrator tested the matching brackets program, she selected the input and it avoided the pathological case that I was sooo stressed out about. Was relieved but at the same time judging by the people around me who are struggling to even get their code running let alone dealing with pathological cases, I was like "I went through that for nothing??!!" But I guess I have to be thankful about it. Now there is just one program left to complete before the final code submission on Friday and at least I don't have a throng of assignments due on the same day.
I was thinking about going to crash after OCF because of the lack of sleep I have been having. Then I had to jam in church until 5 in the morning. Not smart but was worth it I guess. We've been working on a series of medleys that go into the general keys of C and G with roughly the same chord progression. Either a 1-6-5-4 or 1-5-6-4 or a 1-4-6-5. Nothing terribly fancy but at least it gives me the chance to try filling in more so that I won't get bored. Managed to sleep until about 3 in the afternoon. Need to reset the bio clock man. Tried going to shoot but there was so little time to shoot because of the insufficient light. Meh.
You have got to see this...awesome mob prank. Watch till the very end. 0:41 is funny and 1:35
Anyway, like always, the news of the week:
Facebook the start of growing that little green monster? Interesting
Now where can I find telescope mirrors? I want to try and do this...
Felicia Day is super hot here while the vid is funny yet terribly disturbing. Funny stuff for anyone who knows anything about MMOs.
Revenge of the Nerds man...This only serves to fuel my interest in computer security.
Seriously? Can people learn to ask correct questions...
Oooo...now I'm tempted to make my own tilt-shift lens...and cheaper too
For those who have grown up reading Archie comics, this recently news has caused outrage from quite a lot of people, myself including. Archie proposed to Veronica. I was like "WHATT??!! NO WAY!!". First of all, I much prefer Archie to go for Betty. She is waaay better than the spoilt Veronica. Second, this means that it might signal the end of the Archie comic series after the comics have been fueling people's lives for the past 70 years. That means America loses another iconic comic series of American lifestyle. And that is bad. But after the news has settled a down a bit, I have a feeling that there is something more to this than it seems. The news where Archie proposed to Veronica is in a special comic release and it is said to be Part 1 of 6. Something else has got to happen. It. Has. To. Be.
Been sleeping something like 3-4 hours over those days because of programming and stuff. The second last assignment I finished on Friday 4:30pm with about one hour to go. The last one was already done but it is only done when I go to my C lab and demonstrate my code, that it actually works. So, transferred my code to the uni servers and tested to make sure that everything works, and it did. Then I started checking the individual programs. The one that will suddenly give me a heart attack was a program that was supposed to check whether the brackets in a user input matches. For example, "f^34f(fdsd{fdsf}ex)" has the brackets matched. I've tested so many cases and my program has given me the right answers. So I just simply typed in something and then...IT GAVE ME THE WRONG ANSWER!! AND MY LAB IS IN ONE HOUR!! *pressed panic button* Quickly tried to figure out what was wrong until suddenly the debugging program I used decided to go funny on me. And I still haven't figured out what was wrong with the program. There was only one thing left to do and that is to leave the house without showering since I got up and went straight to the computer lab and checked the code there. Lab started already and I am still haven't got my code ready for demonstration.
So the way the demonstration works is that when the lab starts, you go and write your name on the whiteboard and the lab demonstrator will come to you according to the list of names that you have written down. You can choose to write your name later but eventually you still have to. At this moment, I obviously didn't go up and write my name because I was too busy having a heart attack. By God's grace, about half an hour into the lab I got it working. Ran to the board and write my name down and was immediately tested. The funny thing is that when the lab demonstrator tested the matching brackets program, she selected the input and it avoided the pathological case that I was sooo stressed out about. Was relieved but at the same time judging by the people around me who are struggling to even get their code running let alone dealing with pathological cases, I was like "I went through that for nothing??!!" But I guess I have to be thankful about it. Now there is just one program left to complete before the final code submission on Friday and at least I don't have a throng of assignments due on the same day.
I was thinking about going to crash after OCF because of the lack of sleep I have been having. Then I had to jam in church until 5 in the morning. Not smart but was worth it I guess. We've been working on a series of medleys that go into the general keys of C and G with roughly the same chord progression. Either a 1-6-5-4 or 1-5-6-4 or a 1-4-6-5. Nothing terribly fancy but at least it gives me the chance to try filling in more so that I won't get bored. Managed to sleep until about 3 in the afternoon. Need to reset the bio clock man. Tried going to shoot but there was so little time to shoot because of the insufficient light. Meh.
You have got to see this...awesome mob prank. Watch till the very end. 0:41 is funny and 1:35
Anyway, like always, the news of the week:
Facebook the start of growing that little green monster? Interesting
Now where can I find telescope mirrors? I want to try and do this...
Felicia Day is super hot here while the vid is funny yet terribly disturbing. Funny stuff for anyone who knows anything about MMOs.
Revenge of the Nerds man...This only serves to fuel my interest in computer security.
Seriously? Can people learn to ask correct questions...
Oooo...now I'm tempted to make my own tilt-shift lens...and cheaper too
For those who have grown up reading Archie comics, this recently news has caused outrage from quite a lot of people, myself including. Archie proposed to Veronica. I was like "WHATT??!! NO WAY!!". First of all, I much prefer Archie to go for Betty. She is waaay better than the spoilt Veronica. Second, this means that it might signal the end of the Archie comic series after the comics have been fueling people's lives for the past 70 years. That means America loses another iconic comic series of American lifestyle. And that is bad. But after the news has settled a down a bit, I have a feeling that there is something more to this than it seems. The news where Archie proposed to Veronica is in a special comic release and it is said to be Part 1 of 6. Something else has got to happen. It. Has. To. Be.
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