All-In One Desktop

My Compaq Presario F700 is already two years old and getting inefficient dealing with heavy photo editing tasks, and HP's stupidity in designing this laptop so it works perfectly on Windows Vista and disabling the mic function on XP... until today I couldn't find a software update from HP to fix the problem!

I planned to get an all-in-one desktop when I went back to Malaysia last week. I find myself not really needing a laptop coz the current one always sitting at home which I use mainly to get online, edit photos and watch movies. An all-in-one desktop is more powerful without having to move around with a bulky CPU, for nomads like me who move around once in a while. Went to PC fair with my mind stick to either Dell or HP.

Dell Inspiron One 19 - the cheapest all-in-one desktop available in the market selling at RM 2,399

• Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 2.93 GHz
• Windows 7 Home Premium
  
• 18.5" screen (no touch screen function)
• 4GB DDR2 SDRAM
• 500GB hard drive
• Single drive 8x DVD RW
• Intel GMA x4500 graphics

HP Touchsmart 300 - my original choice, better spec overall selling at RM 3,588

• AMD Athlon II Dual Core 2.70 GHz
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• 20" TFT screen with touch capabilities
  
• 4GB DDR3
• 500GB hard drive
• SuperMulti drive
  
• NVDIA GeForce G210 512MB

I went straight to HP booth at PC fair with cash ready in my pocket. Too bad the sales person was busy selling to a richer looking guy and turned his back on me. Therefore I decided to walk around and give myself more options.

Acer was never in my mind until I saw this in brochure - Z5610 at RM 3,388

• Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33 GHz
  
• Windows 7 Home Premium
• 23" Full HD screen with touch capabilities
  
• 4GB DDR3 SDRam
  
• 1,000GB hard drive
• SuperMulti drive
  
• ATI Radeon HD 4670 1GB DDR3 memory graphic
  

At that competitive price with the specs that outdone the HP, this is the obvious choice. Unfortunately Acer got the brochure ready at PC fair but failed to deliver the model to Malaysia on time... arrrgghh...

Now I'm back in Doha and I doubt I will be able to find the latest Acer model here until after couple of months... I will definitely get this when back in CNY!

My Happiest Day of The Decade

Today, 12 Nov 2009 is a special day, I passed my Master of Science in Construction Cost Management with merit from University of Reading. I am so happy that I've done it finally...

Study abroad was something I dare not even think about when I was younger... and I still remember a decade ago I was so jealous when the stupid University Teknologi Malaysia sent a much less qualified person to University of Reading to further for the master degree, because of my skin colour...

Life has been on a roller coaster for the past decade, few years of hard work in JB and KL with low wages and I had a rare opportunity to move to the UK... thanks to the stupid UTM again, because the degree was not accredited by RICS I had to take a master degree in order to sit for the APC... with the support from my ex company regardless of my skin colour... and I've made it after two years...


For my mum who worked so hard when I was small... who sent me to tuition with her Yamaha 80... who moved to the old hut to save money for my first degree fees in local U... who sacrificed more than half of her life for me...

Thanks mum.

PVD Music Discovery Project 2009

Six month ago before I left London I enjoyed the best gig ever - Paul Van Dyk at O2 Matter.



I stayed at the music console right in front of PVD for more than 2 hours continuously, even passed him my phone requesting to play my favourite 'Adrenaline', priceless experience indeed.



PVD Music Discovery Project 2009 - a phenomenal show with his band and the symphony orchestra of Hessischer Rundfunk. How could I missed that... it's brilliant!

New Life

Life has changed since I moved to Doha 3 months ago. Although I'm still unwilling to accept the fact that I've left London, a place I like much.

I've got a comfortable pad, with cable TV and internet connection which allow me to connect to the 'outside' world. It's actually better than what I imagined before.

New life is quite routine though...

Sunday - it's 'Sunday blue' now instead of Monday coz weekday begins here. I still don't feel like working coz most friends in the outside world don't have to.

Monday - stock trading day begins which give me a bit of excitement apart from work. The best thing after work is to download the latest HK drama from here and watch it while having dinner.

Tuesday - yeah... it's Heroes day!

Wednesday - yeah... another day before end of the week! Cleaners will clean my mess in my apartment today.

Thursday - yeah... last day at work! Sometimes I'll follow the old folks to do grocery shopping at Family Food Center after work.

Friday - the day when I don't have to work while the my friends in the rest of the world have to. Sometimes will follow the younger people to have roti canai and nasi lemak at Taste of Asia. The stuff here can speak Malay, feels like home. Anyway it's not as bad as the review says. Grocery shopping again at the Carrefours... at Villagio, Landmark or City Center... I only hope there's Tesco or Sainsbury here... Carrefour sux!

Saturday - mostly relax at home... catch some English Premier League actions, watch some movies...

In short, I'm glad and thankful to the people who make their efforts uploading the dramas, movies, live stream sports. Without u, I wouldn't survive here...

Liverpool - The 'Luckiest' Team in EPL

Manchester United beat Portsmouth 2-0 tonight and lead the Premier League table with 4 points ahead of Liverpool with one game in hand, 6 games remaining.

Liverpool drew 4-4 with Arsenal at Anfield the night before and again, another goal at extra time to earn them another precious point. Liverpool is indeed truly blessed with so many extra time goals scored to win or draw last minute in my memory to bring them to where they are.

I'm interested to find out if take away the goals scored at extra time, where will Liverpool be on the table this season today (71 points). Finding as below (EPL only) and does not take into account extra time goals which does not affect the standing:

23.08.08 Liverpool 2-1 Middlesbrough - Mido (70), Pogatetz (og 85), Gerrard (94) -2
05.10.08 Man City 2-3 Liverpool - Kuyt (92) -2
07.02.08 Portsmouth 2-3 Liverpool - Torres (90) -2
04.04.09 Fulham 0-1 Liverpool - Benayoun (91) -2
21.04.09 Liverpool 4-4 Arsenal - Benayoun (93) -1

Minus 9 points that'll be 62 points and today they'll be on 4th place, same points with Arsenal, which is not as bad as I thought it might be.

How about Liverpool's late goals in UEFA Champions League 2008/2009?

27.08.08 Liverpool 1-0 Standard Liege (Qualifying 2nd Leg) - Kuyt (118)
04.11.08 Liverpool 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Group Stage) - Gerard (pen 94)

The fans should be glad that they made it to quarter final before the journey was ended by Chelsea.

Anyway I salute the team for its fighting spirit and perhaps that's the reason why the fans love it so much.

Road To Wembley

Went to watch England played Ukraine for the World Cup 2010 Qualifier on 31 March 2009. England is on a good run under manager Fabio Capello and hopefully will do well next year in South Africa.

It's amazing to be at Wembley, where all the major football matches I watched on TV since like two decades ago were played.

Inside the stadium the atmosphere was great.

England was dominating the game and Peter Crouch scored England's first goal.

Beckham wearing number 17 jersey came on the second half to replace the new number 7 Aaron Lennon. He was the man best remembered wearing the number 7 for both England and Manchester United. It's arguable that who's the best replacement right winger for England, either Aaron Lennon or Theo Walcott, both are lightning fast but maybe not yet have the 'touches' Beckham has.

I must say Beckham still delivers the ball brilliantly, especially at the set piece. And he's the different one, when he gets the ball you hope things will happen. The £40 ticket was well worth it watching him alone.

Andriv Shevchenko, the number 7 for Ukraine came on the second half as well. He's the only two players who I recognised in Ukraine squad, others than Andriv Voronin, the Liverpool striker who is now on loan with Hertha Berlin. The European footballer of the year 2004 was a different class and he had brought changes to the game and scored the equaliser.

Just when everyone thought the game will be ended up a 1-1 draw... Beckham on the set piece...

and John Terry sealed the winner with a header! Beckham is still relevant and should continue to play. My wishful thinking is Beckham to divorce with Victoria and return to Manchester United and end his career there.

It was a good game and I was one of the 87,548 fans there to witness England on the path to win the World Cup 2010 (another wishful thinking?).

Few things that I want to do this year...

2009 started off a little troubled. Things are slowing down now and finger crossed will get back to normal soon. One will always become stronger when gets over the obstacles and then will probably appreciates more of the surroundings.

It'll soon be 3 years since I first arrived in England, ya 3 years and I still have not done enough yet. There are a few things on top of my list that I must do this year or I'll regret it if I were have to move if circumstances change.

1. Watch England plays at Wembley - and YES I'm going next week for the World Cup qualifier to watch England v Ukraine!
2. Visit Old Trafford and watch a match, even Kenny Sia managed that and why I have not? Hopefully will be able to get tickets for one of the Champions League match.
3. Get a bike and organise a road trip to Scotland - the ultimate location for landscape photographers! Well.... bike is unrealistic, especially I'm not looking at others now except the Ducatis... and unless I make some fortune unexpectably i.e Lloyds' share price shoots up more than 100% like Barclay did last few weeks... but I'll definitely visit Scotland this spring / summer.
   

I bought the wc qualifier tickets online yesterday from the FA and it reached the doorstep today, that's very efficient. I was worried that I might not get it on time before the match day :)

Will have more plans (well I don't usually plan, things just pop up in my mind, once in a while) when things get settled and dusted, gotta keep reminding myself to live life to the fullest during the stay.

Bermondsey Tank

There is a WWII Soviet T-34 tank near my place which I always wanted to shoot some photos. Finally brought my gears there after I watched a clip on Youtube recently about its story.



The privately owned tank is located at the junction of Page Walk and Mandela Way, near Old Kent Road, a highly unlikely place to find such thing.

The story behind: originally the land owner submitted a building plan but it was disapproved by the authority. He was pissed and submitted another plan for a tank to be placed there. The authority thought it was a septic tank and approved it... and next thing you see is a real tank there.

On the wall is "we all fall down" by graffiti artist Mantis.

I'd stayed there for quite a long time taking multiple shots of myself around the tank, for another 'self-cloning project', until...

two policemen came and questioned what was I doing there. I was not surprised as this is not the first time. Two years ago when I was shooting at Canary Wharf for buildings and kids playing I was stopped and demanded to delete the kids photos. This is not a very photographers friendly country. If you take photos of high profile buildings you are a suspect terrorist, if you take photos of kids you are a suspect pedophile.

Anyway, they are both very friendly and just took my details and asked me to be careful of the area. And now I regretted not to ask them to pose with me to include them in my self-cloning project!

Wireless MU

Finally bought myself a Man U jersey at Sports World Piccadilly Circus. It's ashamed that as a self-proclaimed Man U since early 90's I have never bought an original MU jersey. All jerseys are selling for £25 now, or £30 with player's name and number. This is also for the preparation to visit Old Trafford, one of the things that I must complete while I am still in the UK.

Photo taken using wireless flash - Sony A700 + Tamron 17-50mm/2.8 on tripod with built-in flash as trigger; HVL-56AM flash set on another tripod on the right, approximately 1.5m from the object and power set to 1/32; black side of my 110cm 5-in-1 reflector as back drop; focal length 45mm and exposure setting ISO 200, F8 at 1/60 sec.

Wireless flash with another flash Minolta 3600HSD hold in hand, bit harsh though even with the smallest power.

Another wireless flash attempt, this time HVL56AM on the right and 3600HSD on the left. The power control on the 3600HSD is not as good as HVL56AM as it can only on focal length distance (24 to 85mm / guide number 20 to 36), quite difficult to control. Whereas HVL56AM's power can be set from 1/1 to 1/32 (guide number 17 to 56). Not that well-verse on the flash terms but it's very interesting to try out wireless flash with my low budget studio set up. Will definitely do more experiment when I find time.

Joanna Wang 王若琳

Have not been following new Chinese singers for years until I heard about Joanna Wang 王若琳, Taiwanese version of Norah Jones. She has got impressive voice and talent.


"Let's Start From Here" - it's not new but I wonder how I could I missed on this one.

Am listening to her two albums now "Start From Here" and "Joanna & 王若琳". Just after a few plays I know I will like her songs. Highly recommended!

Streetfighter

Had a chat with a friend who just sold his Honda CBR 600RR and bought a new Kawasaki Z750, that's over RM50k in Malaysia, what a hobby... He changed for the reason that he doesn't has the balls to handle a super bike and prefer a street bike instead.

I will enjoy as much on a bike compared to a fast car, if money is not an issue. Been browsing on used Ducati Monster recently, that's about £4-5k for a 3-4 years old S2R or S4R, kinda realistic for a potential first time buyer like me... still, it's a dream, especially at the current economy condition which it's better to keep some cash for the tough time.

Ducati is launching its new street bike this spring, the streetfighter, which is a real beauty!

Love the matt finish twin exhaust pipes!

Starting price £10k and £12k for Streetfighter S with additional traction control and data analysis technology.


The official video.

Well, what I will do is to spend £1 weekly on lottery to buy a dream.

F*** The Credit Crunch

Talk about credit crunch... read this news on Friday...

The banker in his early 30's who spent £43,000 in a single bill at Maya in Soho. 2 bottles of Dom Perignon Methuselam, I don't know how good is it to be priced at £9,000 per bottle, that sounds pure insane to a working class. Service charge was £5,600 plus a £1,000 tip for his waitress on top of that.

He was heard to toast the PM: "Gordon Brown, you a**hole" and declared: "f*** the credit crunch, there isn't one."

I hope he doesn't work with one of the banks the government just bailed out with billions of taxpayer's money. Some of these top bankers who still taking million pounds bonuses despite the bank's failure are to be blame for screwing the world's economy!

Credit Crunch vs Sales

Credit crunch has affected life style of most Londoners, more or less and that's something noticeable on a day to day basis. In the office itself, after first round of redundancy and an expected 12.5% pay cut at all levels coming May, the business at the canteen has become poorer as most colleagues are now bringing lunch box to work. Retail shops are closing down one after another, a Slug and Lettuce nearby my office had just closed down.

On the other hand, it's a good time for shoppers to grab some bargains, the sales have been non-stopping since before Christmas, this is unusual. For foreign tourists who are not affected directly by credit crunch this is the best time to travel and shop in the UK as pound sterling has dropped to the lowest point in many years. Good for people like me who rarely buy things at original price.

Bought this back in December at WHSmith for £10 (RRP £30). I used to hate history back in old school days but nowadays I find it interesting after traveling a bit around the historical cities in Europe. Malaysia's history never interested me as you don't know what's true what's not. I heard Hang Tuah who used to be the Malay hero was taken out from the text book because he was later found out to be Chinese origin. What a joke.

Bought 3 books by Jeremy Clarkson from WHSmith as well for £10 (RRP £7.99 each). He is one of the very few British others than footballers whom I admired, for his great sense of humour.

Zavvi is one of the high profiled retail chain who became the casualty of the economy downturn. I had grabbed "The Magnificient Seven" (my all time greats! read here) for £2 (RRP £7.99), "Future Proof" for £2 (RRP £10.99) and few button badges for 25p each from the megastore located at Tottenham Court Road. The music albums were selling cheap as well but I still prefer to download free :p Heard most Zavvi stores were purchased by HMV to be merged into their chain. I doubt HMV will survive as they have already got so many stores along Oxford Street, with market shrinking.

I have stop traveling on Oyster monthly and change to Oyster pre paid as this could save me around £40-50 per month by taking bus instead of underground. In London one has to learn to walk as it's often faster and cheaper to do so. Wearing leather shoes is something torturing so I decided to get a pair of decent trainers to wear to work. Bought the Nike Reax Run III from Sports World Oxford Street for £35 (RRP £49.99), really lightweight and comfortable.

Perhaps we should all listen to Gordon Brown to spend out of credit crunch.

My First Wiki Entry

My first entry on wikipedia, small images contribution for:

• Casa Batllo
• Casa Mila
• Gary Fong
  

Tiffen DFX

Installed Tiffen DFX v2 Digital Filter software as Photoshop CS3 plug-in recently. There are hundreds of filters and special infects with layer and mask controls. It turns complex Photoshop edits into simple filters that you can apply easily in seconds!

The filters are grouped as below:

1. Film lab
2. Gels
3. HFX Diffusion
4. HFX Grads/Tint
5. Image
6. Lens
7. Light
8. Photographic
9. Special Effects

Some quick test of the software:

The original photo.

Bleach Bypass 3

Faux Film 1

Shadow 8 Yellow + 5247 200ASA

Enhancing Blue 8

Gold Reflector 3

Vignette Rectangular Black

Halo 1

Ultra Contrast

Tint Orange

Aged

Light Cyan

Classic

Lots of fun, highly recommended!

International Construction

Attending the sixth module in Reading this week on International Construction, the third last module, two more to go in March and May and finger crossed I'll pass the exam and dissertation by September.

This is an interesting module coordinated by Professor Roger Flanagan who is very practical and made it less boring compared to some previous modules.

There are about 130 post graduate students who are attending this module, from 29 different nationalities, which makes it very 'international' indeed.

Malaysia was mentioned several times by Professor, who talked about its involvement in Middle East projects from Islamic / political connections. Also, Professor mentioned that in some countries, the governments apply policies to protect minority interests. I wished that I had raised my hand and told him that Malaysia is going the other way, applying policies to protect the majority and bully the minority...

Bike

Too many things happened even before year 2009 kick start. Fortunately it did not went the worst case and I'm still able to hang on for at least another while. Hopefully it'll get better.

Like most men, I love fast cars and bikes. However to me it's kind of luxury, I have other things which I should spend money on and until I got that 'extra' money I'll keep my head cool.

If, if I'm able to make £5k from the volatile FTSE market by July this year, I will get a used black Yamaha 998cc YZF R1 2008 version to pamper myself, which I seldom do.

It's a beauty.

My Photo

Posted a blog on SWPP Convention 2009 last week. Joanne added Gary Fong on Facebook and tagged him on one of my photo. It was a surprise that Gary used the photo on his blog and my name was mentioned. What an honour from the well-known professional photographer in the industry :)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button movie is one of its kind, unlike any I've seen. What will happen when one grows reversely against the age and the effects on the people around him? The script writer Eric Roth's story is absolutely brilliant and the director David Fincher's direction in the film is almost flawless.

Some of the quotes in the movie did touched me:

Benjamin Button: "Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance."

Benjamin Button: "... But life being what it is - a series of intersecting lives and incidents, out of anyone's control..."



Another good movie not to be missed.

SWPP Convention 2009

Went to The Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers (SWPP) Convention 2009 with Joanne last Friday.

There are many wedding related business in the convention, especially those wedding album printing business. I'm now compiling some of my travel photos, trying to publish my own photo book using blurb, the pricing is very competitive and the quality looks good. This can be an extra service for my photography business in near future :)

Of course, all the major DSLR makers demonstrate their latest products in the convention, including the latest Nikon D3X, Canon 5D Mark II and Sony A900. Canon 5D Mark II's HD video impressed me a lot, and that's something I would like to have in my next DSLR.


A sample video using different lens.

Sony booth was a bit quiet hence I had the opportunity to play with A900 and all the top notch Sony / Carl-Zeiss lens.

Some of the Sony glass, including the AF 70-400 F4-5.6 G SSM, however, the grey colour is not my cup of tea and it feels a bit too plastic.

Shooting Sony AF 70-300 F4.5-5.6 G SSM using Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T 16-35/2.8 ZA SSM at 35mm focal length F2.8 - solid, sharp, nice bokeh, and of course, expensive.

Another shot at 35mm focal length F2.8

Taken using Sony AF 16 F2.8 fisheye, wide angle lens with large aperture, very nice effect compared to the Sigma 10-20mm which I owned.

Sony also set up a studio and invited a professional photographer Michael Wayne Plant to demonstrate A900's excellent low ISO performance. Michael was very kind indeed to share his professional studio lighting experience and let me try it with my A700. Photo above was taken with 2 soft light boxes and a silver reflector in front of the model.

These were taken using my cheapo Tamron 17-50/2.8.

This was taken using Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135 F1.8 at F14 1/250s, an exceptional lens, who says Sony can't compete with Canon / Nikon?

Michael had convinced me that I made a right decision to stay with Sony. He also taught me to learn how to shoot with prime lens, to try to capture image at different perspective using same focal length.

When I came across the long speakers list, guess what, Gary Fong was there! He's also the creator of the famous Lightsphere and WhaleTail flash diffusers.

His talk on wedding photography business was very inspiring indeed. He had a star price of $150 per day with no limit. According to Wikipedia, by the last shoot of his career, his fee to shoot a wedding was published at a minimum fee of $120,000. What I learnt from him is to be successful in wedding photography, one has to be with the right attitude, learn how to do marketing without advertising and how to do the pricing strategy.

A very fruitful session indeed.