Encouragements

I have been getting some positive feedbacks on my recent photos. Colleagues who have visited my site have stopped me in my track, round the corner and even just call me up to chat up about photography and sometimes asking for opinions on some cameras, mainly the compacts!

These actually started when I took photos of our Christmas Dinner on 30 Nov 2007 albeit with a workmate snapping some shots away with my camera. They were also comparing to shots taken with compacts during the dinner. I don't mean to be...urm...mean but I guess there sure are some limitations a compact can do (try flash or low light). Definitely, this is an opportunity to sell myself.

Did I mention that my Managing Director came up to me during lunch and said my pictures are so very beautiful and nice? Oh, he called out my name which means a lot to me.

Also today over the Finance dept's Xmas lunch, my Finance Director, Kristin, noted the same thing - very nice photos on my website. She even asked whether I do it professionally! I don't think I have reached that level yet thought. Even more so, she mentioned that I should not turn pro as the Company needs me! LoL......

This really made my day, though a tiring day....!! Had my first interview as the interviewer too! That's after the heavy but sumptuous lunch with dessert.......


Other than comments from colleagues, there have been some positive feedbacks from fellow artists including photographers (or togs for short). Coming from them is definitely very encouraging and will spur to go to the next level.......

What an Experience

A few of us were invited to a private dinner with opportunities for photo taking on Sat night. The subject was kept secret from all of us. All we knew was get a mask and wear it there for dinner.

It's definitely a surprise, at least to me! A surprise experience, that is.....!

Nikon D3

Oh my gaaaaawd...D3 really is revolutionary in almost all areas! Available/Low-light capability, High ISO (25600!!!), Low Noise, near-instant AF at low light, 9 (11) frames per second, Full Frame (FF or FX in Nikon's term), Wider Dynamic Range, etc.....!!!

I'm loving it.....!!

Here are some high ISO shots (min ISO3200) taken without flash, indoor at night and straight out from the camera:
Aren't they amazing (not the composition as they are just snaps out of excitement)! More on whoALSE website. More pics to come (lucky me, perhaps!)...... ;P

Taking Chances

Well, I bit the bullet and paid for the ticket to attend Celine Dion's Taking Chances Concert in April 2008 here in Melbourne. So very excited I am though I missed out on cheaper tickets as most of them were sold out within 3 hours. My seats will be quite in front as it's of the platinum category! Will it be a worthwhile concert and to pay so much for it? I guess the experience to be in a concert will be priceless and yet she's one of my fav singers. I have never been to one since most stars wouldn't drop by in my country, let alone my hometown. MJ had a tour before in early 90s but it's too far away and too expensive to spend with parents' finances!

At least Celine has lasted so very long and never been really into any serious trouble like some of the current stars (I don't have to mention the names).

Can't wait for 1 April to come (and pray it's not an April Fool attempt)! Bring on Celine.....

Sunset

Life is very much like the sun. There are ups and downs while the sun rises and sets. The recent passing of my beloved grandpa signifies a journey of life from the hardship he had gone through with his sheer determination to the success he attained. The hopes he had given to many without expecting anything in return will live in our memories, or at least mine.

The setting of the sun depicts his hard-fought journey came to an end and sadness we have from his passing. Very much like the brightness of the sunlight, his glows grew, peaked and finally faded. I took these photos on the evening after his funeral with him in my mind and it's a way for me to bid him farewell.
The light may have faded but there is always hope, a glimmer of hope for a new beginning.
Some of us who are true to him will certainly cherish those happy moments we shared with him. His journey may have ended but it's also the start of many more life journeys. Hopefully, these journeys will turn out positive.
As the saying goes, the sun always rises..........

A New Toy

After pondering for some time, I have finally gotten myself another toy to play with, a portable GPS Navman S30. It not only gives directions but has heaps of other useful features like fixed camera warning (light and speed cameras), speeding reminder, distance log, points of interest (POIs). I may not make any more wrong turns or miss turnings. Additionally, if it ever get stolen it may not be able to be accessed by others as PIN has been set after registering it with Navman through its website and Navdesk program.

However, it went bonkers after about 8hours of playing with it. It happened after I tried to get into the Demo feature and it just keeps rebooting without even getting to the main menu. Restarting Loop. Certainly, it pissed me off.....

So, I got it replaced the next day without much buzz as I was advised by the Tech Support in the morning to do so.

As usual being myself, I tried the same thing again after reaching home. Guess what......it bloody happened again!!!! So, I told myself since I will be able to get a replacement anyway, why not try looking for the script files and perhaps edit the startup scripts. Obviously, it's a worthwhile attempt as I learnt something from it.

Having the success, I might just try something else to either change the default graphics/images.

Anyway, here is what I have done.
1) Connect the GPS to PC
2) Go to \Program Files\Navman\SmartST_CE\UserData\ and look for user_settings.xml (most likely the last file in the folder)
3) Open the file with Notepad and look for the following script (exclude the "()" due to html tags):
(property
name="smartst demonstration" value="true" /)
Amend the value to "false" to deactivate the Demo feature and prevent it from looping.
4) Remove/delete the following script:
(property
name="smartst demonstration country" value="xxxxxxxxxx" /)
5) Save the file as xml document.

Voila....it starts up as normal!

I'll try something else next time for sure.