Canon and Nikon, finally happily useful
Image from dslr-deal
After a few weeks of absence from the photography chat, it is time to get back to the hype. If you remember in one article, Technology: HOLY SMOKE!!! Galaxy SIII As A PC???!!!, you saw the power of the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note with a USB On-The-Go cable. I have something more for you if you have an Android smartphone or tablet. This time, you can control your Canon and Nikon DSLR using that USB On-The-Go cable and a few apps.
If you have a Canon DSLR like my Canon EOS 7D or other models, I must say you must get this one, the best app on the market now!
Developed by XDA Elite Recognized Developer Chainfire, DSLR Controller is the must-get app for all photographers who want to do long-exposure photography such as firework, lightning, silky flowing water with ND Filter or welding glass, self-portrait etc. That's because with this app, you don't need to spend extra money to buy a remote camera cable or a wireless remote control, and you will get to see exactly what you are taking from the Android device which is excellent for self-portrait!
If you are using Nikon, don't be sad, you can also try out this Helicon Remote (beta) is it less responsive, less user-friendly, but less cost too, because it is free!
Image from Google Play
You can still do all those zoom in and out, changing ISO and shutter speed, all basic requirements are fulfilled! I've tried it on my camera, it works alright, Nikon fans can give it a whirl!
Image from Google Play
As for other Canon camera, other than the firmware upgrade for the EOS 7D, there will be more good news coming very soon! Will update you hopefully in the near future!
A final word, Canon EOS 6D is Canon's latest release, Full-Frame!!! But is it really an upgrade?
Do leave a comment and tell me what you think.
Vocabulary:
hype -- (n) [U]informal when something is advertised and discussed in newspapers, on television, etc. all the time in order to attract everyone's interest flawlessly -- (adv) from flawless (adj) perfect or without mistakes give it a whirl -- informal to attempt to do something, often for the first time Resources:
Technology: HOLY SMOKE!!! Galaxy SIII As A PC???!!! @ Locky's English Playground http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/06/technology-holy-smoke-galaxy-siii-as-pc.html
Hainan Shaoye @ Causeway Bay
Image from hong-kong.cityseekr.com
Well, once in awhile, I really crave for Singaporean and Malaysian food, the famed chicken rice, the legendary spicy fried prawn noodles... Yum yum!!!! The Hainan Chicken Rice of Food Republic in Cityplaza is great, but I can't always take my friends there and expect a full South-east Asian Chinese cuisine. I need somewhere I can sit and chat, and eat comfortably without moving around buying food in a food court, and so I found this restaurant, Hainan Shaoye at Causeway Bay.
Hainan Chicken Rice Set (Taken with Galaxy S2)
Image from Locky's English Playground
Hainan Chicken Rice set: Now I'd love to say that the portion of this tasty and juicy chicken is generous, the rice tastes great too, but due to the costly price tag, I better just say, you kind of get the bang for your buck for this set.
Mee Goreng
Image from Locky's English Playground
Mee Goreng: And this is my favourite! I love spicy food, and this one is spiciness of a high level. The noodles are saucy yet not too wet, the prawns are really prawns -- crunchy and BIG! Definitely should try this out if you like spicy food!
Strawberry Ribs
Image from Locky's English Playground
Strawberry Ribs: Okay, I don't have time to retouch this picture, but the ribs didn't look this pink, it's the auto-white balance on my Galaxy S2... seems like I have to tweak this otherwise the iPhone fans will go, "Haha!!! See! Galaxy sucks!" Well, I actually have a much much much less extreme perspective towards Apple now, so I will talk about that in another post.
Anyway, the ribs tasted a little too syrupy, a little too fake with the strawberry flavour, but the meat was easy to eat and maybe you should try out the coffee ribs instead. Should taste great.
The second time in visited this restaurant, I ordered...
Fried Morning Glory
Image from Locky's English Playground
Fried Morning Glory: Nice vege, not too oily, crunchy too, not like it is the best ever but somewhere up there near the top.
Chicken Chop Laksa Set
Image from Locky's English Playground
Chicken Chop Laksa set: I love the laksa soup, very rich, very creamy, with a tint of spiciness, suitable for anyone. The chicken chop was crispy-skinned and juicy-meated, but the soup really did steal the limelight entirely. Definitely a must-try.
Nasi Goreng
Image from Locky's English Playground
Nasi Goreng: Compared with noodles, I'm more of a rice person. This Nasi Goreng is a little disappointing in a sense that the portion was not big enough for the price I paid, still it was a nice dish, give it a go if you aren't too hungry.
Deep-fried prawn balls stuffed with Kaya
Image from Locky's English Playground
Deep-fried prawn balls stuffed with Kaya: Oh!!! This is a fabulous dish! Crispy and elastic, full and filling texture in the first bite,
Hot, runny, explosive!!!
Image from Locky's English Playground
burst of hot runny Kaya followed by an emptiness after the eruption, then supported by more crunchiness of a shrimp, a true enjoyment of multi-layered sensation! Definitely must have!!!
Oh! And the Bak Kut Teh was really good too, not too herbal and lots of ingredients!
Overall, the quality of the food is excellent but the price is slightly expensive, still, for a restaurant in World Trade Mall, Causeway Bay, a prime location yet zero waiting time, I think it is definitely a food source to pay a visit.
So, there you have it! My recommendation to you, try it! I'm sure you will like it too! Vocabulary: famed -- (adj) known or familiar to many people legendary -- (adj) very famous and admired or spoken about steal the limelight --
to get more attention than anyone or anything else in a situation sensation -- (n) [C or U]the ability to feel something physically, especially by touching, or a physical feeling that results from this ability Resources:
Food & Restaurant: Hainanese Chicken Rice -- Food Republic @ CityPlaza @ Locky's English Playground http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/08/food-restaurant-hainanese-chicken-rice.html
Dr. Wesch's work is really intriguing and he got me spending hours and hours watching hundreds of videos on the internet over many weekends. The subject is addictive!
I'm not going to go too deep into the core of the subject, if you are interested, do read the links below. As for now, here's a very brief introduction.
According to Dr.Wesch, it all began with Gary Brolsma's dramatic Numa Numa, the first biggest internet viral video success.
And then it was the world dancing together with Gary,
Image from YouTube
Basically, Gary has triggered the want, the need and the emotion of celebration of humanity, that people are not framed by countries or separated by colours, distance or boundaries, that can be united as one and be free to share joy and other feelings to anyone who are willing to listen and respond, that there is no ranking, no grading in people, and anyone has the freedom to join in as long as someone wishes to.
We can call this The Numa Numa Effect.
And in September 2012, we have The Gangnam Style Effect,
A hip, beating song with a weird MTV sung and oddly danced by a not-so-attractive South Korean singer, PSY. When I come to think of it, he and Gary Brolsma resemble each other a lot.
The effect is also pretty similar, people put their own version of dance on the internet for sharing.
Image from LA Times
The difference in terms of production style is that Gangnam Style Effect require more dancers, a lot of pre-production planning and rehearsal, a mix of camera angles and post-editing, whereas the Numa Numa Effect drew netizens to simply switch on their webcams and record their own version of dance of freedom.
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, center left, joins Korean pop star PSY as he
performs his super hit 'Gangnam Style' during a taping of 'The Ellen DeGeneres
Show' on September 18, 2012. (AP Photo).
Image and Caption from Jakata Globe
Ken Jeong in The Hangover Part I
And many might agree that South Korean rapper PSY, aka Park Jae-sang, has not only made his name on the international scale, but also helped to improve the image of South Korea(n) as a whole! Although there are South Koreans everywhere around the world, and a number of them are also well-known, such as Dr. Ken Jeong M.D. from the movie The Hangover Part I and II, people even in Asia knew little about the South Koreans other than their excellent fast-paced dances, their kimchi, their My Sassy Girl(s), their routine "I have cancer!" tragic dramas, their unbelievably skilful plastic surgery and their earth-shaking mobile electronic businesses. How do people live in South Korea? What is the geography like?
And to explore things deeper than just the music and funny dance, what is the meaning of the song? What is Gangnam really? All these are worth finding out.
My Sassy Girl
Image from lovemeet.tistory
Image from Samsung
The Jakata Globe reported Associated Press's article which includes an interview they did with PSY has the answer to our questions and I highly recommend we all read that to learn the details. But here's my summary of that article for your:
1% of Seoul's population lives in Gangnam, literally means "the south of the river", and they are the very rich people -- the upper class.
Gangnam is where all the most luxurious, the best, the tip of the top-notch services and infrastructures are.
"Gangnam inspires both envy and distaste...Gangnam residents are South Korea's upper class, but South Koreans consider them self-interested, with no sense of noblesse oblige." -- Kim Zakka, a Seoul-based pop music critic.
In the song The Gangnam Style, PSY went against these "norms", "I'm not handsome, I'm not tall, I'm not muscular, I'm not skinny," PSY recently said on the American "Today" TV show. "But I'm sitting here."
Girls Generation on The Late Show with David Letterman
Image from cloudfront.net
Unlike the other South Korean boys such as Super Junior and Boyfriend, or girls such as the Girls Generation who also made their names known in the States, PSY's success resembles that of Ken Jeong's, their images are "less-than-polished", said Jae-Ha Kim, a Chicago Tribune pop culture columnist and former music critic.
Park Ji Sung at Man Utd., another South Korean legend
Image from manutdwallpaper
I think the best of the Jakata Globe article goes to this paragraph,
Instead of cavorting in nightclubs, he parties with retirees on a disco-lighted tour bus. Instead of working out in a high-end health club, he lounges in a sauna with two tattooed gangsters. One swaggering rap session is delivered while he sits on a toilet. As he struts along with two beautiful models, they're pelted in the face with massive amounts of wind-blown trash and sticky confetti. The song explores South Koreans' "love-hate relationship with Gangnam," said Baak Eun-seok, a pop music critic... PSY isn't, he said: good-looking because of plastic surgery, stylish because they can splurge on luxury goods, slim thanks to yoga and personal trainers.
In other words, being "strangely" different are the keys to his success, Ken Jeong's success, My Sassy Girl's success, and Samsung's Galaxy Note's success (i.e. smartphone with large screen with a pen).
These successes are worth every dime, but we must face the fact that deep inside people's heart, they demand these "oddity", these unexpectedness and differences. Making a difference in life does not only make one feels good or become successful, but it is also one of the fundamental survival requirements in the human evolution (Kremer & Schermbrucker, 2006).
(Updated 16th Oct 2012) 《HongKong Style ! 》SFJ 720P HD
Wanna see Hong Kong director Wilson Chin and other Hong Kong stars with their version of Gangnam Style? Check this out!
Vocabulary: Digital Ethnography -- (n)[U] explores how humans use media, how media uses us, and how we can use new media to reveal our insights in new ways intriguing -- (adj) very interesting because of being unusual or mysterious addictive -- (adj) describes an activity or food that you cannot stop doing or eating once you have started rehearsal -- (n) [C or U] a time when all the people involved in a play, dance, etc. practise in order to prepare for a performance netizen -- (n)[C]informal a person who uses the Internet sassy -- (adj) mainly US informal rude and showing no respect noblesse oblige -- (n) [U]formal the idea that someone with power and influence should use their social position to help other people norm -- [Cusually plural] an accepted standard or a way of behaving or doing things that most people agree with less than... -- describes behaviour which does not have a stated characteristic that is good or attractive cavort -- (vb)[I] to jump or move around in a playful way, sometimes noisily, and often in a sexual way strut -- (vb)[I] to walk in a proud way trying to look important swagger -- (vb)[I] to walk, especially with a swinging movement, in a way that shows that you are very confident and think that you are important, or to act in that way confetti -- (n)[U] small pieces of coloured paper which you throw at a celebration, especially over two people who have just been married love-hate relationship -- (n) [C] a relationship in which you have feelings of love and hate for someone or something splurge -- (vb) [I or T]informal to spend a lot of money on buying goods, especially expensive goods; splash out worth every dime -- worth every dollar; worthy oddity -- (n) [C] someone or something that is strange and unusual
Wait! There's an Android bee there! Why? Because this is actually the Goo-Phone from China. By now, Goo-Phone should be suing Apple for infringement of copyright in terms of the design of the phone. Yes, Goo-Phone sues Apple, not the other way round! That's because the copyright policy in China is that whichever device is released first get the copyright. Since Goo-Phone released their phone a week before Apple's iPhone 5, Goo-Phone gets the copyright.
Thinking that is a joke? Now, here are the jokes!
Image from elysplanet
Image from plurk.com
Image from elysplanet
Image from xcitefun.net
From thesecondary creativity we are seeing here, it is not difficult to see what people are upset about -- that iPhone is no longer a symbol of world-class creativity. That throne has long gone to Samsung. Is that because Samsung hired all the ex-Apple employees to their company? Or is it because the South Koreans are getting much much smarter than we thought?
It is funny, but don't blame them for being silly, they are just experiencing the Halo Effect.
The halo effect or halo error is a cognitive bias in which our judgments of a person’s character can be influenced by our overall impression of him or her.
Under the influence of a phenomenal figure such as Steve Jobs, Apple has successfully created a Halo Effect in many users' mind, adding to the fact that these interviewees trust the reporter that what they were given was really an iPhone 5, since they knew the iPhone 5 must be better than the earlier versions, their minds naturally reflect what they believe in.
That doesn't mean everyone will fall for this trick. Imagine if they were actually given the Goo-Phone instead, I don't think they will be tricked because the logo is obviously different, but if we change that logo and use an iOS theme on top of the Android system, which I also use on my Samsung to trick my friends, then I won't be so sure if they will notice the difference.
Do read up Halo Effect in the Resources session below if you are interested.
More Effects will be discussed later this week.
Vocabulary: secondary creativity -- (n) results from the use of higher thought processes; it is Apollonian. It takes over the creative process from primary creativity and adds to it analysis, discipline and hard work. Halo Effect -- (n) The halo effect or halo error is a cognitive bias in which our judgments of a person’s character can be influenced by our overall impression of him or her. cognitive -- (adj) [before noun] specialized connected with thinking or conscious mental processes bias -- (n) [Cusually singularU]often supporting or opposing a particular person or thing in an unfair way by allowing personal opinions to influence your judgment Resources:
Who did this to the skinny polar bear?
Image from ginisnaturenews
Today, as I was finding news to read, I found something so shocking that I immediately want to share with you all.
Do you remember the movie An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore? I recommended the movie in March 2009 and it was one horror movie indeed. If you don't remember, here's a recap.
But what you are about to see is even more scary than the Al Gore's movie that you may not want to believe it is real.
Here's the caption of the YouTube video you are about to watch:
The sea ice in the Arctic Ocean dropped below the previous all-time record set in 2007. This year also marks the first time that there has been less than 4 million square kilometers (1.54 million square miles) of sea ice since satellite observations began in 1979. This animation shows the 2012 time-series of ice extent using sea ice concentration data from the DMSP SSMI/S satellite sensor. The black area represents the daily average (median) sea ice extent over the 1979-2000 time period. Layered over top of that are the daily satellite measurements from January 1 -- September 14, 2012. A rapid melt begins in July, whereby the 2012 ice extents fall far below the historical average. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (www.nsidc.org) will confirm the final minimum ice extent data and area once the melt stabilizes, usually in mid-September.
At 0:20 sec point as the animation moves from Jun to Jul, you can see how seriously the ice has melted in just 3 months!! Is this real or is it just a scam?
BBC News Science Editor David Shukman went to Ny-Alesund research base in Svalbard, off the shore of Norway to take a closer look at the situation and posted his article on the 7 Sep 2012. And this is what he saw...
Looking at the images below going back in time and you will see how small the Arctic summer ice is this year compared to the previous years as well as the average back in 1979.
The key message in the article is as follows:
"As a scientist, I know that this is unprecedented in at least as much as 1,500 years. It is truly amazing - it is a huge dramatic change in the system," Dr Hansen said. "This is not some short-lived phenomenon - this is an ongoing trend. You lose more and more ice and it is accelerating - you can just look at the graphs, the observations, and you can see what's happening."
After reading all these, I was overwhelmed by the vast scale of damage that an invisible gas (CO2) can do to our planet. From now on, we should all quickly and critically think about our actions and actively participate in minimising carbon emission.
If everyone plays a part, the world can really be saved.
If you must use air-con at night, keep it at 25 degree Celsius, switch to the best power-saving air-conditioner if yours has aged.
Use less plastic products and recycle them when their mission is accomplished.
Or even, grow more plants at home if space is allowed.
Clockwise from foreground (Osmanthus, Grapefruit, Chinese bamboo, Ginger, Money tree, Longan)
Image from Locky's English Playground
Save Power, Save the World
Vocabulary: scam -- (n)[C] informal an illegal plan for making money unprecedented -- (adj) never having happened or existed in the past phenomenon -- (n)(plural phenomena) something that exists and can be seen, felt, tasted, etc., especially something which is unusual or interesting accelerate -- (vb) [I or T]to happen or make something happen sooner or faster overwhelm -- (vb) [Tusually passive]to cause someone to feel sudden strong emotion mission -- (n)
something that you say when you have finished doing something that you were told to do Resources:
An Inconvenient Truth (4/10) Movie CLIP - Glaciers (2006) HD @ YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hFxG-8I0Go
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