Drooling for a compact?

This is arguably a very stylish compact camera. The IXUS 850IS from Canon may be half a year old already; but is true wide angle lens (28mm equivalent), coupled with high ISO and Image Stabilizer capabilities make it a great party camera. It's currently retailing for around RM1400 with 1GB SD card, so it's still quite expensive for a point-and-shoot. This is not surprising, given the 850IS is actually a lifestyle product that happens to make good pictures. Design and branding are paramount, while image quality and usability are 2nd priority.

There is a replacement already announced (IXUS 950IS) that has higher resolution, but drops the wide angle lens (which is really a shame). Wide angle is so much more useful than telephoto, unless of course you plan to snoop around and be a pseudo peeping tom/private investigator.

Congratulations Suky & Yap!

My ex university friends Suky and Yap were wedded yesterday.

Congratulations to both of you and may you enjoy each other's company for the rest of your lives together!

Thanks for the "entertainment" during lunch too ;)

Congratulations Jsun & Joy!

My ex colleague Jsun (Tho-San a.k.a Jsun-chai) and my ex university mate Joy Teoh were wedded last last Saturday.

Congratulations and may you have a wonderful future together!

I know what I want next

After intensive photography in Europe last month, I realize what I'm missing in my arsenal... a super wide angle lens!

Yes... those buildings were so huge, those landscapes were so breathtaking... I definitely need a super wide angle!

EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, price around RM2.5K...

Start saving!

Canon oh Canon...

Nikon has already in market the 18-200mm VR lens which is high in demand and low in supply.

Sigma has already in market the 18-200mm and recently announced the 18-200mm OS.

Tamron has already in market the 18-200mm and even an 18-250mm lens.

The question to Canon is.... when are you gonna release a super zoom lens for digital SLR's ??!

Kadar Pembayaran Tol Terowong Bijak

Mr. Arrogant has been in the news lately, proclaiming that the toll rates for the terowong bijak will be very high. Guesstimates from the public has placed the rates at as high as RM4 for the 4km stretch, making it the most expensive tolled road in Malaysia.

Here's what we should expect instead.

Tempoh	Tol (RM)
2007 - 2009	2.00
2010 - 2014	3.00
2015 - 2019	4.00
2020 - 2024	5.00
2025 - 2029	6.00
2030 - tamat	7.00

When the toll rate is announced, we will anticipate Mr. Arrogant spewing his nonsense about how the government managed to negotiate a lower toll rate and how caring and understanding the government is to reduce the burden on the public, bla bla bla.

How to convince the unconvinced?

I had a brief moment of realization recently, when a friend mentioned that he will continue to vote for the BN because there is no viable opposition that can handle being in the government position.

It was then that it struck me, I'm really unprepared to "evangelize" those around me who are either:
1) genuinely satisfied with the present administration
2) complacent and going where the wind blows
3) hoodwinked by government propaganda
4) ignorant and maintaining status quo

I can't do much about those in the 1st category, but I can definitely do my part to convince those in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th categories that with a better opposition representation in Parliament, we will have better access to our wishes as citizens of this nation.

Recently I've been doing a lot of reading. It doesn't matter if it's pro government (all mainstream media and some websites), pro opposition (mostly blogs) or neutral standing. With more information, I am able to see more than what the government feeds me via UMNO/MCA controlled newspapers.

Nonetheless, I wonder now what is the best way to "evangelize" the non-believers. I don't want to convert them into blind believers of the opposition. In this respect, I choose to use the Buddhist concept of Ehipassiko (come and see). I wish to instil Right Understanding and not blind faith. The question is, how?!

Metta...

There's a situation that I need to face together with elsf... it's a situation that nobody expected and yet it is happening... we have to be strong to face the troubles that lie ahead... nobody wished for it to happen and yet it is happening... what can we do... pray?

Now have to think about all the different possibilities to make it better... it will take commitment... resource... time... sacrifice... but all in the name of love...

An experience with robbery...

Update:

Active discussion going on here (still no news on mainstream media) and

explicit photos here (PG strongly advised).

Original post:

This post by Kit is so relevant to what I'm about to relate now.

There we were, shopping in Subang Parade at approximately 8.30pm. We were walking around LG floor, near The Chicken Rice Shop, when suddenly I heard a loud boom. My initial thought was that there was some renovation work and someone dropped something. Then the second boom came, and I saw around me people ducking and running away. I knew then that there was something wrong happening, possibly gun shots, possibly a robbery in progress. I ducked and told my wife to do the same. Moments later, we ran as fast as we could and hid the World of Sports shop.

Overall, more than 10 shots were fired. The Poh Kong (I think...) jewelry shop was robbed. According to hearsay, 2 security guards and 1 robber were shot dead.

It's despicable, isn't it? Violent crimes happening in such public places as a shopping complex!

I truly hope that the perpetrators will be caught and punished to death.

Monster 18x Optical Zoom camera from Olympus!

Typical compact cameras have 3x optical zoom lenses.

More sophisticated compacts have slightly more, such as the 3.8x offered by the Canon IXUS 850IS.

Mid sized zooms will offer 4x to 6x optical zoom, such as the Canon Powershot A710IS.

Bridge cameras typically top the zoom range with 10x to 12x zooms, such as the Canon Powershot S3 IS.

Now, a new monster from Olympus, the SP-550 UZ, offers an 18x optical zoom lens together with CCD-Shift image stabilizing mechanism!

While image quality is yet to be seen and proven, the mere thought of holding such a powerful tool will be too much to resist! Imagine, having the full convenience of anything from a moderately wide angle lens to a full telephoto, all in compact body! The 28mm-504mm equivalent lens will please any photographer, from wide landscape and architectural perspectives, to normal view, to mild telephoto for portraiture work, to telephoto for landscape and creative composition, to super telephoto for sports and wildlife application! All this without the fuss to change between lenses or bodies.

I eagerly await similar contraptions from established makers Canon, Nikon, Fuji, Panasonic, Sony, et al...