psychoric still trying to figure out what this blog is about

Top 10 memories of 2009

48 hours to a new year, so it is time to recall what has happened in 2009!

10. Got a new handphone for birthday, and wife has exactly the same one
9. Purchased external camera flash after 3 years into the hobby
8. I passed the long awaited first .NET paper towards professional certification
7. I finished my personal best cum perfect 10KM marathon in KL
6. I painted my own place, every single ceiling and wall
5. I finished my first half marathon in Singapore, though not a perfect one
4. I struggled and survived out of debt-filled (not mine) life
3. I got my own place (with wife)! Small it is but none can beat the comfy of it
2. I did the lifetime proposal to my 2 years together girlfriend (now wife) on the summit of Mount Kinabalu, 26th April
1. My wife and I registered for our marriage on the auspicious date of 9th September (09092009)

Update time!

So sad to see this blog get put aside for so long. I guess I am not the blog type of person, but let's try to have a go at it for another year Some updates for past 6 months.

June
I joined KL Standard Chartered 10KM marathon and managed to beat my personal best from last run I even ran all the way without stopping, and that's very satisfying

July
I did another 11.5KM night run at Putrajaya. It was not a fun route and the humidity at night made it worst. Anyhow, I love the goodies bag!

September
Bier and I registered for our marriage The Chinese ceremony will be held next June so we are gonna be busy preparing along the months!

December
Went for Singapore Standard Chartered 21KM (half) marathon and I actually managed to finish under personal target of 3 hours! Woohoo! The run wasn't perfect as I couldn't finish the last few KM properly. So the next target is to run non-stop and hopefully can do within 2:15 Plenty of training required!

Still alive and kicking

WTH, last post at end of last year!? Guess can't really kick this procastinating habit out of my life huh!

Just to let anyone-who-cares knows that I am still on planet Earth!

Sense of achievement

It was 11 years ago when I first ran in a marathon (I never like running!), and last weekend I completed the second marathon in my life to date! I didn't finish with a braggable time, but 1 hour 20 minutes is the result that I am personally proud of Somehow i feel that i achieved something in my life. It did give a great feeling for the day, and the whole event was actually fun. The first 6KM was bearable, and the rest of the run was simply killing. I ran non-stop until my legs almost gave way and I just half-run-half-walk for the remaining distance. I did intend to push it over the limit but I gave up the idea on the thought that i have to walk to work the next day!

I still have that sense of achievement with me today, and it is my legs which are still feeling it! Muscle is sore at both thighs and knees don't feel great too Now the target is to do 25KM next, but i better make sure there is ongoing training and I can have next few days off. 10KM already did these to me, and I can't imagine what's it like after 25KM!

New November

Yeah i hope too that I have a new gadget to write about, but nah, it is my new job. Actually i started on it at the end of Oct after a nice vacation at Bali. I do mean it when I say nice. The vacation was relaxing, and everything was just right. I certainly don't mind going back there for second time!

Anyway, about this new job. I am now attached to Asia Media Monitor which is located right in the centre of KL city. So my mode of transport now is by train and 15 minutes walk. I can drive too, but I rather not to. Walking is good exercise and driving in the jam gives me more stress. And hey, I do my tiny part in saving the earth too The job scope is similar to what i previously did, so I will skip that. Overall the environment is good, be it the people or office itself. The better thing is that we all have our own laptop as well as 2 19" LCD! This is certainly very new as I never work with 2 desktops before and i am liking it!

That's all. I just want to brag about the laptop and LCD

Victory 3080 Tripod – Personal View

Finally I landed my hand on a sturdier professional tripod with ballhead. Well, maybe you won't class it under 'Professional' because it is actually an entry level one. But to me, it is good enough. I bought it at cheaper-than-retail price through a photography network. My first impression of it was 'Wow, it looks sturdy... and heavy!' Yeah at 2.5kg, it is not something you like to bring with when you are climbing Mt. KK.

It is a Victory 3080. By looking at the sticker, you can already guess it is China made
It is actually a close mimick of Manfrotto 190XProb (a real professional tripod that costs about 4-5 times the price of this). The price i paid for come with a ballhead which can handle up to 4KG. Not really a big factor for me now as the longest lens I have is only 90-300mm.

Quick release plate is a norm for such ballhead

This is how it looks like at folded length

Where's the center column??

Here it is... dismantled??

One superb point about this tripod is how low it can go. Most of them can go until ~15-20cm low, but this out-do them by able to go as low as this!

Of course, i haven't thought of any useful application at such height. Maybe when you are laying low in a bush to capture some unusual macro shot.

This is how high it can go. I'll say around 157cm.

Conlusion, I like it! I have brought it out twice and the ballhead really speed up the orientation process. My friend mentioned that one bad about ballhead is that straight might not be straight, and now I get his point. Apart from the weight, I have nothing to complain about. You might argue that it is wiser to spend more on a better tripod, but not everyone can afford that and not every cheaper stuff is bad. Until today, it still have my vote and recommendation for budget user.

Stats: alive

c:\>ping psychoric

Pinging psychoric [Malaysia] with 32 tonnes of shit:
Reply from psychoric: shit=32 time=2months+ TTL=240
Reply from psychoric: shit=32 time=2months+ TTL=240
Reply from psychoric: shit=32 time=2months+ TTL=240
Reply from psychoric: shit=32 time=2months+ TTL=240

Ping statistics for psychoric: [breathing]

Woots, it is now close to 3 months since I last posted here. I don't think it is anything unusual as I always believe in procratisnating. There have been up and down. Family crap that I can't do much about unless if I can manage to cough out hundred of thousands, then I guess everyone will be worry free. But hell, I can't so I have to live with it. Yeah you will probably say there are people out there who are even more unfortunate than this. I know that. On the good side, I learnt that problem is not really a problem if everyone sticks together. Otherwise, problem creates problem. It is only partially true that money plays a critical role in a family. The lack of it causes worries, grudges, arguments. But if you think deeper, it is not the real reason. The actual cause is on each member of the family. Shoud everyone understand the situation and adapt to it considerately, the effects of any problem are minimized. Communication is also very important to sustain a marriage, a family, a relationship. Many times we have seen cases of sad ending that are caused by breakdown in communication. When individuals are able to sit down and talk calmly, I believe nothing is impossible. What's the point of bottling matters up and in the end causes an explosion that requires even more effort to clean up?

Anyway, enough of those important-in-life theories. MIFC was on last month and I managed to shoot 2 countries of the many. You can find the pictures here and here.Apart from this, nothing much fancy to share, except that I am stepping my feet into MOSS 2007 (Sharepoint). So far, it is a new and smooth experience. But I guess I can say so before I bang into the limiting walls that many have run into. Any exciting upcoming events to look forward to? That will be visiting Bali at the end of October and a new job

Ciao for now!

Project SsSS

Ha! Been almost a month since the last post. This project is my first into the world of DIY in photography. I love DIY!

So what do you do with a empty box lying around? (actually i got mine from MPH warehouse sales)

Cut off the flaps. You can leave them too as 'extension' or 'box-hood'

Draw the lines on where you wanna cut. Size is up to you

I cut 3 sides. You can cut 4 if you like

Book wrapper isn't just for book! It is used here as a 'diffuser' for the lighting

There you go, a bare box. You can add on by adding white paper as the inner wallpaper

Tested with lighting. Note that the light temperature isn't suitable. Go for one with cool daylight.

Added a near black background paper. Aw, wrong type as you can see reflection on the paper

Test shot without the background

Test shot with the background

Cheap and easy, you have a photo tent for product shot or anything you can fit in there. With 3 openings, you can add on or move the lighting anywhere you like.

Cost
------------------
Paper box : FOC
Book wrapper: RM1.90
Paper background: RM0.60
Tools: I am sure you have it around your household
Total: RM2.50
Result: Priceless
Bonus: You do your part in recycling!

Oh, what's SsSS? My own-made-up-acronym that stands for Small stuff Shooting Studio!

New accessories: Pop-up flash diffuser

Been very long time since i bought any camera stuff and i came across this should-be-useful item while surfing with no aim. I managed to find it at one of the local online store and instantly made an order. The total damage, RM40. The item reached my hand today (prompt shipping, thumbs up!) so immediately ran a test trial with it. Let the results speak themselves

Without	With

So what do you think? Is it worth the purchase? I think it does coz sometimes you wouldn't want a harsh light especially on closer subjects.

Have you made your environment pledge?

Facts, in case you wonder :

1. It takes less than half a second to turn off the water tap while brushing your teeth, and that in turn saves 14,600 litres of water a year!

2. It requires less than 0.1% of your brain power to remember to turn lights out when not required, and that action saves 68kilogram of CO2 a year!

3. It requires less than couple of mouse clicks to print 2 pages a sheet, and that setting saves half a tree every year!

Those are my pledges to prevent the earth from deteriorating. You don't have to be involved in lots of activities to save the earth when you can even start small at your own pace. Make your pledge today here! Together, we can