NiVleK

A gift from wifey Hazel. It's here.

The latest Time Capsule with 2TB of storage!!!

Sliding out the inner box "Designed by Apple in California"

Flipping open the inner box reveals the clean white time capsule with a shiny Apple logo. The time capsule is well cushioned on all sides with styrofoam. Again, simple elegant box design.

There is only one power cord + Airport utility CD and the manuals below the time capsule. Nothing else. Not even a Ethernet cable for you to connect the modem to the time capsule. Luckily, I have a spare cable hiding in the store. I also took out the long ethernet cable for direct connection of the time capsule to my iMac for a faster Time Machine backup.

Connection of the Singnet 2Wire modem to the time capsule is a little troublesome. I managed to get some pointers from online forums on the connection. One such advice was to

1) Log in to mdc @ 192.168.1.254/mdc (This is the default ip address if you have not changed it. Password will be 2wire)

2) Under "Broadband Link", click configure

3) Under "Internet Connection Settings", select "Disable" and submit

4) Hook up the Time Capsule to the 2wire's LAN ports and configure PPPoE on the Time Capsule using the AirPort Utility

Finally, the part where I am skeptical...they say that no other settings is required on the 2wire. I am concerned about the Bittorrent applications. Season 2 of Fringe is starting soon and I need to download it!!! I shall investigate after my Time Machine backup has completed.

Now backing up in progress. Currently I have only 63.6GB. A 2TB backup is a little overkill ya? Hehe.

Once again, a big thank you to wifey Hazel!!

I started out having much more keen interest in photography about ten years ago. It was the film era then and I was always eager to take photographs on the old PRIMA film cameras. Then, I finally moved to the digital age. Being a poor student then, I bought my first digital camera. I cannot recall the name but I remembered it as a "Chezzy DigiCam". It was a tiny weenie <1MP camera with no optical zoom, tiny flash,  no external memory slots and only a bare minimum internal storage capacity. However, as it was the first digital camera, I was elated about it and went snapping everywhere. Very soon, my needs grew too much for the camera to handle. Image quality was a joke, colors washed out and I could only take that much photos.

In 2002, I then moved on to the next digital point & shoot (P&S) compact camera. It was a Sony DSC P 71. A 3.2 MP Camera and 3 X Optical Zoom and a 1.5 LCD. Not much manual controls but at least it offers some basic controls such as exposure adjustments and white balance.

I had pretty much loads of fun on it for the short period of time. Again, my needs grew more than what the camera could handle. I search around shops, forums, reviews for the next camera. It should be a prosumer range, offering me more manual controls and better image quality. But it has to be reasonably price. I was still a poor student and could not afford the cool stuff.

In 2003, I got rid of the Sony camera and bought this.

The Olympus C-750 UZ. A 4MP camera with 10X Optical zoom and manual controls ( Aperture priority and shutter priority). I was hooked on the vast increase in the options that I have in framing, composing my shots. I took a keen interest in macro photography, especially on insects and flowers.  I bought an adaptor and a HOYA close up filter +4 and +6. I also bought an achiever slave flash 115A/S using the onboard camera flash to trigger the slave. Tripod was also on my list and I got the Slik U6600. Distortions, purple fringing and bluish halos appear on the photos taken with the close up filters but that was the limit then. Again, I was searching around for the next replacement. I was quite satisfied by the results I had. It is a pity that the online storage which I used closed down without informing and I had no chance of backing up my previous photos taken with the C750UZ.

In 2004, Canon released its prosumer or beginner DSLR range, the 300D.

I had saved quite a bit by then and the price of the body + kit lens (18-55) was reasonable to me. The set was SGD $1999 then and I went ahead and got it. The difference between normal cameras and a DSLR is by leaps and bounds. And that is just scratching the surface since I am only using a normal cheap kit lens with average optics. Imagine the quality of the photos with the L lens. Nonetheless, I did not invest in a L lens as I do not have the dough or the need to get one. I went on to get a Manfrotto tripod with a ballhead, an extremely heavy tripod by today standards but it served me well for that time. I also bought a 50mm F1.8 prime, cheap fast lens and a battery grip. I bought also the SIGMA 75-300mm APO Macro with I loved for its macro capability. Later, I added a Canon 500D close up filter which increases the magnification that I am able to achieve with the SIGMA lens. I also experimented with reverse mounting of manual lens using a adaptor for macro shots. Most certainly, I got another flash for the canon. The 550EX, very big and capable flash. I played with bounce, diffusing, multi flashes,etc. I also went for studio and advanced photography lessons. I took up interest in learning basic photoshop skills. Started photographing events, private events, models, for extra cash. In weekends, I started roaming around in Chinatown, snapping old man, woman, cats, cars, whatever that interested me. I crept into old buildings, sealed off queensway cinemas and what not and attempted eerie shots, creative shots, colored lighting, etc. Street photography caught me. I was tired with camping in Alexandar hospitals, botantical gardens, and some other gardens to wait for the perfect shot of butterflies, blowflies and other insects. I also went to Singapore Zoological Gardens and became a friend there. I was there countless times photographing animals, birds, lions and the keepers. I was trigger happy.

I then ventured back into film photography and bought the canon 300V at a discounted price to curb my "trigger" illness.

With it, I bought a 28-70mm canon lens for general walkabout and of course many rolls of film. I took up black and white processing. Bought processing tank with reels, film wiper, cleaner, dark bag. Was about to go into learning printing in the darkroom too but my final exams for my degree was round the corner and I had my final year project professor chasing my ass and scolding me. I decided that I do not have much time to learn the more intricate details of using film and sold off the film SLR.

It was also during the final year of my university that the interest started to go down due to extreme pressures to do well for my degree.

(It is really sad that I lost so much of my previous macro photos that was stored on the unrealiable local hosting site)

After that, I got into the current company that I am in now before my graduation and was too tied up with the new job and its demands. My interest in photography dropped to null. I simply had no more time in the weekends and just roamed around singapore, taking photographs of everything that I like and wanted. But the tech geek inside me still wants more. I have been always wanting to change my 300D to a newer model. The silver body doesn't look so pro la.

In 2006, I bought a new camera and sold off the 300D together with the 50mm prime, external flash and battery grip.

That's the canon 400D and also the current camera that I am using. With it, I decided that the combo of 18-55 and 75-300 was getting too heavy for my liking and I bought a second hand Tamron 18-200mm. That lens have been on my camera since then and so far, I am quite pleased with it. Of course, the picture quality is not that good but it offers a good range without the excess baggage. And oh, somehow, I bought the 50mm prime lens again. This has pretty much been a walkabout camera for me. The 400D has not been into any macro sessions, paid event photography, etc. It is really a pure, underutilized camera that sits in my dry cabinet for pretty much weeks at times.

And I should also mention this. I bought my wifey a new camera too. No guess, it is a canon. (I am somehow pro canon)

The Canon IXUS 100IS. 12.1 MP with 3X zoom, DIGIC 4 processor, 2.5 LCD Screen, 720p HD Video recording and only 18.4mm thin. It is good. Hop over to Hazel's Blog and look at the photos. They are all taken by her camera and straight out of the camera. I think they look pretty good. The IS in the camera makes quite a difference in lower light situations where it is effective. Most imporantly, it is so slim that she is able to bring it out daily and take snapshots of everyday things.

To end this, a new craze in that retro chic classy camera has poisoned me.

It will be a showdown between Canon 500D and Olympus E-P1 PEN for my next camera. And that is another post for another day.

My desktop is dying. But I think that is a excuse for me to change my desktop to the gorgeous sexy iMac 24".

I am just so attracted to new gadgets and toys. Honestly though, I have been seeing way too much BSOD (Blue Screen of Death) on my Windows 7 RC desktop. I thought it was the GFX card problem. Replaced it with my OLD lousy gfx card and it solved the problem. For like, 2 weeks? Anyway, the old problem came back with a vengence. It always happens when I am running heavy applications or multitasking too many applications.

This morning, after many times reconsidering about getting an iMac, I finally got one! The iMac 24" @ $2288 (Student price la). Plus apple care, plus $199 printer and $388 iPod Touch which will be rebated later, it comes to a bill of about $3.2K. Hefty price to pay for a desktop if you ask me. But, it is a Apple!!! After 20 over years of wanting a Apple computer, I finally got it. Delivery will be on the coming Tuesday or Wednesday. Heh heh heh.

I think the catalyst of getting an apple computer will be my new iPhone 3GS. Although, I think the iPhone is crippled in some ways, it is designed with user friendliness in mind and some how I think that it will be the same for Mac computers.

Waiting.......