My cheeky nephew

f/5.0 :: 1/15s :: ISO800 :: 43m

My nephew, cheekily laughing while I was taking his photo. He knows how to pose for the camera and make all sorts of funny faces. This was taken with the flash bounced to the ceiling and bounce card. Levels and color balance adjusted with Photoshop, and noise reduced with Noise Ninja.

Note: I've decided to stop posting my photographs in my other blog. I realized that it's difficult to maintain so many blogs. The old photos will still be there for archive, but no more new updates there.

Check out my DIY flash diffuser!

Lookie lookie... EOS350D + 430EX + DIY Flash Diffuser


Check out the largish light source!

Problems: it's too flimsy, difficult to attach/detach. How, how?

Stupid driver

This morning, on the way out from Subang Jaya into Federal Highway, the traffic was quite heavy. Long queues formed on all lanes. There I was on the right lane, and there was a red Saga in front of me. There was a considerably adequate gap between the Saga and the car in front. There was then this Myvi that signaled and started to cut in front of the Saga from the left lane.

The stupid Saga driver immediately sped up and blocked the Myvi from cutting in! The Myvi was surprised and tried to pull back into the left lane to continue on. The stupid red Saga driver then cut to the left in front of the Myvi thus preventing the Myvi from proceeding forward. The Myvi then started to sound the horn loudly and repeatedly. The Saga responded with the horn as well. The Myvi, frustrated by the Saga driver's stupidity, cut out to the furthest left lane and sped off, cut back in later in front. The red Saga driver started waving his fist like a mad dog, scolding and gesturing violently. Later on, the Saga passed by the Myvi again, and the Saga driver slowed down, looked at the Myvi driver, and started scolding and gesturing before driving off.

Ironically, the Saga then signaled to cut left in order to go towards Glenmarie. It's too bad that he did not do so in front of the Myvi, otherwise I'm sure we would have seen full blown road rage escalation!

Friends, please drive with patience and please be careful on the road. You'll never know when there will be this type of stupid drivers on the road.

Recent Events

Yesterday, Lina Joy was denied freedom to change her religion.

Yesterday, I sent 450 pictures to be printed in Fotokem Sunway Pyramid.

Today, my newly joined colleague expressed his wish to resign from the company.

Today, the 27th INCOVAR Dhamma Camp officially begins in SJBA.

Today, is the 31st of the month, i.e. 31% discount for Baskin Robbins ice cream.

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.