D3x, my opinions on it.
Please watch this youtube video first, for those who are Nikon or DSLR experts, you’ll understand the joke in here but for those who aren’t, it’s okay. No worries here. I’ll explain in the following paragraphs
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You know…..
When I announced long ago that I would not help or assist anyone with their Windows PC computer related problem anymore, it seems people did not take heed of my advice.
That if you find the urge to throw your computer outside the real physical windows that let’s in sunlight, then its very well time that you get either a Linux base system or a damn apple computer. But time and time again people still call me up and its very obvious that their frustration with the “Windows OS” is growing with each problem they face.
Do not make me jump through hoops
I don’t mean the actual sense, metamorphically speaking of course. Whether it’s for a Job interview (Photography related assignment or day job). I think I speak for everyone when they have encountered situations like this, “Do not make me jump through hoops”
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Best advice I can give.
To people who want to take up photography as a hobby.
Best scene in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
This I feel is the best scene out of the whole anime Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Given the choice…
I replied in a “As a matter of fact” tone, “I prefer a short good life. In fact, I’ll be more specific then that, I rather have a good life for the next years to live out my dreams and I will be willing accept my imminent death by any methods without fear or regret, hell I would even choose to die by cancer which would result in me dying a horrible death. As I long as I get to live my dreams for ten years which is to see the world. Given the choice I would even sell my soul to the devil as my life is already so miserable thanks to God”.
The expression on my friend’s face was simply priceless, the sheer look of horror on his face. He thought I was joking but I was dead serious. I would even sign the papers right now if it gave such conditions!
I have found that living a long life is not what it’s cracked to be. I have found that having a fun life is more important then “living long”. Hence why I will never settle down, I rather die young right now if someone told me that the rest of my life is boring and always stuck in Malaysia. It’s not worth living if it’s going to be long and boring. But then if someone offer me to live long and happy, I would also reject it. A fun life is always best lived short.
It’s not that I don’t value my life, no wait. I don’t value life that much anymore after what I have been through. I find that for all I have been through I do believe I deserve better, but it seems hard work alone doesn’t get me anywhere. Hence now why I do things so recklessly in my own social circle. I don’t give a rat’s ass how other people value my life, you’re not living it. You don’t know what I have been through and I don’t want to hear your sob story about your own suffering. That belongs to you so keep it to yourself, I want to live a joyous life and if it means it will be a short one then so be it!
I am fed up with all this objectives of saving up for what? the future? Please I do not intend to live more then another decade or 2 if my life is going to be crap. This is how I go about living my life now, I know it is crap hence why I am now living it to maximize all my personal joy and I don’t intend to live long. So until then pleasant dreams!
I have returned (cue Star War’s empire music)
Well I’ve been back since yesterday to the grind of life.
So I have to do this twice for 2008…..
I will be traveling back again to my home town for the second time of the year. I’ll be honest with you, while most people would love to go home but I actually dread the idea. Why? Let me list the many reason why I hate making the perilous journey back.
- It’s about a 3 hour flight and knowing Malaysian airlines there will always try to have you seated next to a screaming baby, the louder the better. Fortunately this time I will punch the parents instead of putting up with it.
- Also my hometown can be considered a wonderful paranormal site where it seems that while time moves on in other places but my hometown seems to stays in the constant of crappiness, never changing as if time had forgotten that this place even existed. Always technologically backward and 50% of the island resident really freaking believe that the earth is flat. (I kid you not, I have relatives who thinks Dinosours are made-belief since they never seen fossils before, although I know a few living fossil on that island).
- While we are on the topic of paranormal activity, I have notice that while everyone on the island is incredibly lousy at math but when they compare the winning lottery numbers and the numbers they bought, they have an astounding ability to dervied from their number to the winning number with an insane ability to do multiplications, divisions, logrithmatic and even quantum physics to an equally insane level of accuracy.
- The minute your relatives know you are back (especially if you are technically inclined) they will call you up to either borrow (the term is to ask for handouts) money which they will never pay back or ask you to help fix their old Intel 486DX4 100mhz computer that has been collecting dust since they broke it after pouring a bucket of water into the CPU casing to cool it down (there are a lot of backward freaks over there).
- The people on the island are willing to spend a month’s worth of food to buy 4D lottery ticket.
- People over there compare how great they are by the number of children/grandchildren they have. Even if they can’t feed them, they just keep making them in hopes of winning some sort of sick tribal contest of how big their manhoods are.
- Books are actually banned on that island since it seems you can’t find any bookstores!!!! Except for newspaper stand where people will check whether they have won the lottery only and use the remaining part of the newspaper to wipe their asses when they use the toilet.
For some reason……I miss
I miss the sights and sounds of the many shop along Penang road.
I miss the weekend mornings where I would be walking along Heritage road and admiring all the shops with their antique architecture.
I miss the fact I could be in my apartment in noon, look out the window and know the sunset would be beautiful where I could then go to Genting Hill for a fantastic sunset along with delicious dinner.
I miss the fact I could drive all the way from Bayan Lepas to Georgetown in under 15 minutes without encountering toll every 3 minutes
I miss the fact I didn’t need a touch and go card.
I miss the fact I could simply go down to Sunshine market in five minutes for breakfast and morning paper.
I miss the fact I don’t encounter traffic lights every ten seconds
I miss the fact I don’t need a map book in Penang
I miss the fact that if I miss a turn I don’t have to worry as I can always find a U-turn not far to correct my mistake.
I miss the feel of the wind against my face when I am at the beach ( 5 minutes from my place).
I miss the joy of hanging out with my friends and going out to TT.
I miss the soothing sounds of the bamboo tree swerving in the wind outside of my apartment complex.
I miss the feel of the cool icy touch of the air on the helicopter pad at the top of Komtar Tower.
I miss the fact I could go to any shopping mall in Penang Island and not worry about what time of the day it is or the condition of traffic as it would only incur a small amount of delay (unlike here which can incur a delay of half a century)
I miss the sight of grass flower as the morning sun shines it’s yellow light through its flower casting a beautiful shadow along the ground.
I miss the touch of beautiful sight from the top of Penang hill as the sun rises over Pulau Jerejak.
I miss the smell of salty air mixed with a hint of fish at the fishing village along the coastel highway in the wee early morning hours of the day.
I miss Penang
Pleasant dreams~~
Please don’t show me baby photos…..
I don’t know why but whenever I say I’m into photography to people at meetings or social outings, grannies or mothers instantly pull out their photos albums from their purse (or in some case, drag me to go see their website at all cost even away from my work and play) to see their photos of babies.
It gets worse, then they will show me their “masterpieces” of babies in sort of of disgusting scenarios, such as drooling over the camera, shitting on the potty or changing their diapers….. What makes it worse are that people will then try (force) to solicitate from me on how “marvelous” their baby photos are and thus justifying their designation of their claim or some sort . The worse ones are the people who know you have a website and try to get you to upload their pics so they can advertise it over the Internet.
Allow me to tell you this politely, NO. Don’t have me trying to confirm what you think to believe. If you like it then so be it. That is your view but don’t force your view upon others, I will politely not comment on it. I have had old people become angry when I didn’t comment how beautiful their “pics” of the baby playing with the shit from their diapers. I will be honest, it’s lousy.
It stinks and reeks of crap. This is why I never tell mothers, old ladies, grannies what are my hobbies, I usually answer that my hobby is collecting roadkill so I can stuff’em to put on my table or dissecting fish and frogs (while alive).
Though if they see you with a DSLR, then they will know you are into photography, and begin their usual routine. They ask if I am a photographer and I would usually answer back “yeah I am, I work as a crime scene investigator photographer”. They will then say “Oh that is so nice, say can you look at some photos…” at that point I would cut in with an enthusiastic look on my face and say “Hey! wanna see my latest picture of a guy’s face that was torn off in a car accident? I took it this morning while working or maybe the photos of victims from today at gruesome murder? Its really cool, oh I’m sorry you were saying something about photos?”
At that point, they will be completely gross out and make and excuse to get away from you. Works every time. Consider this a photographer tip. Till then pleasant dreams~
The "Magic" hour, the gear needed as well as some tips
I think this article has been done to death but there is another angle to this article which few people have ever brought up.
That the magic hour is not really a fixed value of time that is consistent with every country in the world. Each country has it’s own Magic hour as well as it’s own conditions which one must follow in order to make full use of it.
For example I have lived in Penang, and now I am in KL. I can honestly tell you that the magic hour for these places varies so anyone who says its a fixed specific hour is saying it relative to where they usually take their photos.
First let me state this, it is very hard to take sunsets or sunrise in Malaysia why? Because we hardly ever have a clear blue sky unlike countries found in the Northern or Southern hemisphere (there is also an exception to this such as developing countries like China where the skyline is rarely seen anymore caused due to haze and pollution caused by industrial development but for argument’s sake we will say that generally countries found in those regions have a better chance of clear skies). So whenever we do get a blue clear sky, you will see me take the day off from work and go out and just to have fun with my photography.
Why is clear sky important? Isn’t obvious? The reason is so the light from the sun as it rises over the horizon can actually be seen instead of being filtered through cloud or haze turning its golden rays into dull Grey. Which makes everything look like crap. Though there are some possibilities of turning this event to your advantage but I’ll save that topic for another day.
Here is an example of when the sky is just right in Malaysia for a great sunrise.
Another reason to get a less stressful job and a Mac
I used to get such same urges when I was working with PCs and providing tech support to virtually the whole of Labuan (Its a pretty small island).
But joke aside, this is actually a real problem known as Office rage in which the crappy life of working for 8 hours in front of a computer causes people to lose their tempers. Humans are creatures meant to be out and doing some work, not a bunch of cave dwellers originally. But I guess with life we have to adapt, although some do not adapt as well as others.
Pleasant dreams, I know I have.
Bon odori
This weekend at the Panasonic Sports Complex, Shah Alam is where the 32nd Bon odori matsuri will be taking place for 2008.
I rather like this festival as it gives me a glimpse of another culture that I rarely get to see (I’m use to the Malaysian stuff which has really made me bored).
I have been to the ones in Penang (2006/2007)but I’m wondering will the one in KL be as soon as good? The reason is because from what I understand and know it seems Penang has a bigger population of Japanese from KL (if this is incorrect, please let me know and I will make an updates with credits to you).
As I was back in 2007 with my gear. Most of the same stuff is still with me minus the Lowe Pro 300 sling shot.
So until then, pleasant dreams~!
This is what I feel sometimes when I am asked to ….
take photos of people who are delusional about their own self-image. WARNING: blood curdling scream involved
Run you fool!
Run you fool! This was what it was like during the super GT!
hahahahahah thanks ty for the pic!!!! till then, pleasant dreams~~~!
So…….it has finally been confirmed, the d700!
It has finally been confirmed! The D700, the smaller FX format camera, which is the worse kept secret I have ever seen (aside from the obvious blunder of Malaysia’s murder cover up attempts by Malaysian politicians).
- 12 megapixels? wow! I’ve only been shooting 6 megapixel even with the Fujifilm s5 pro.
- Slower frame rate? 5 fps. The s5 pro has 1.5 fps only and I’ve lived nicely with it.
- Slightly bigger viewfinder.
- sensor cleaning feature? Just when I finally got over my sensor dust phobia ?!
In either case, it will be interesting to see how they price this cam. If they want to contend with 5D and it’s probable successor the 5DII.
None of my concern what canon ups with! I just want to take landscape photos!
A comparison of the D700 to the D3.
The new windows
Microsoft demos ‘Touch windows” by BBC
For some strange reason, after watching the video link in that article, I can’t help but remember this
You know you’re in trouble…..
When people took a pict of you like that.
Well well well, this was unexpected…..
So on Friday, I went to the post office to pick up my package and this was the state of the package (note I’ve blurred out the address). It looks like someone had sat on it.
Ho ho, what do we have here?
Last night after coming home from work, I found a notice on my door stating that Pos Malaysia had tried to deliver a package to me but that I wasn’t at home at 3pm.
I read the vague description on the notice about the item, it said “Box”……..WOW! that was so ……informative ¬_¬.
Surprisingly, I’m not expecting any packages. I’ll find out this weekend when I go and get it since by the time I come back from work, the dang place is closed which is pretty different from Penang as they open until 9pm.
This is why I don’t have a printer at home
Cause I leave it to them to get the job done
I kid, these guys are insanely hardcore.
I’ve always wondered why people are willing to spend at least RM320~800 for a printer. When a better service exist at camera shops which uses multi-million bucks worth of equipment and you pay a fraction of the cost of those home printers to have your photos printed by these said machines.
So do you think your dingy little printer can do better? Unless of course it one of those that go for about RM3200~5000 and then it may not be able to match the quality of those machines used by your local camera shops. Why? Because getting a good print is a multi factor process, not only the ink has to be good, the paper needs to be the correct for it so not just any “photocopier” paper can be used to print good photos.
Its also cost effective when you do the math, the ink refill packs are not cheap when you calculate the number of prints you can make per ink pack to the cost it of having it printed at the shop. Personally, I avoid them unless you are:
- On a deadline and it needs to be sent to the client to clinch that multi million dollar contract
- Buy a unit that cost more then RM3200 and then it may not be as good as you hope for.
I’ll explain the second point, just because you buy a really expensive printer doesn’t mean that the colors will be perfect, you need to calibrate the colors to be accurate but getting it done will require additional equipment which in turns requires more funds. While those at camera shops have their printer calibrated by trained personal or they have auto-calibrated features already.
This article is for Malaysians who bleeding always ask me, “what printer do I use at home to print my photos?” I always answer,”I don’t have a printer” and they all do a collective gasp like some Brady bunch rejects like I just said I was an alien from outer space. They would then proceed to ignore me and continue talking about how they new printer prints life-like photos at only rm2.5 per photo.
In any event, if you have any objections to what my article has stated. Drop me a line and tell me what you think. So until then pleasant dreams~!
Like a dream I had awoken from….
Today I drove back to Penang as I needed to check up on the condition of my place as well as handle any matters that could have arisen due to my time away in KL.
Aside from some bills, everything seems to be in order. I’ve called the real estate agent and there still no new updates. The reason being that because my place is a leasehold and not freehold seems to be the main deterrent factor of people not wanting to buy it. Geez, do people really think they are going to stay in a home for more then 97 years?
After checking my apartment, I found myself feeling like I just woke up from a long dream and that all the time I spent in KL up till now had been nothing more then a dream. That everything was now back to normal, I have heartedly thought I was finally back and my life in Penang would resumes as always until I realized I was just daydreaming. I think I just woke up from the dream of finally returning to Penang for good but a last like all good things, its come to an end and now I have return to the reality that unless there is a good job for me in Penang (not likely happening), I will be in KL for a long while.
In any event, I’ve already packed the stuff I need to bring down to KL and I’m all set for tomorrow’s shoot by Toshio. So until then, pleasant dreams~~~!
Do you know what happens when……
You decide to park in someone else’s parking spot? Take a wild guess……
The new setup
I know it has been a while since I made any new entries as well as uploaded any photos but I have been very busy with the “big move” but now I’ve finally managed to have 90% of my stuff setup including my workstation.
So until then pleasant dreams~!
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