Tech News I'm Excited Lately

You can say I am a techie dude. I follow and is interested in anything related to technology. I am always excited for new technologies that makes news to the general public. Two of these recent buzzes are the possible release of 2 new iPhones and Google+.

First is about the iPhone. I currently use the Iphone 4. What really amazes me about this phone is not the phone itself but the myriad applications that I can use for different purposes. I currently jailbreak my Iphone which means I can install homebrewed applications aside from the almost 425,000+ apps available in the Apps Store either as a free or paid application. That's a lot of apps the choose from. And it is neverending. New and groundbreaking apps keep on being developed and released. So with the upcoming Iphone 5 and Iphone 4S I might be tempted to update my current Iphone 4.

The second tech news that I am excited about is Google+. This is Google's latest attempt in social networking. They have tried before releasing Google Wave and Google Buzz. Have your heard of them? Most likely you have not as these first attempts failed miserably. Now Google+ is on trial stage with selected invite only users. Unfortunately I am not one of those invited to try this latest social networking application from Google. But what I've heard from chatters across the net is that this is much a better attempt by Google than those Wave/Buzz failures. I hope that they can release it sooner than later as I really want to have a social application that falls between Facebook (more personal social app) and LinkedIn (more professional social app). And from what I heard, Google+ falls smack between these two heavyweight social networking sites/apps.

HDR Again

I used to love HDR photos very much that every time I shoot  I always make sure I bracketed the shot into three exposures for HDR processing later. It is not convenient way as you have to make sure that your shot is not shaking, which necessarily means putting your camera in a tripod. And if you're on the go all the time this makes a bracketed shot tedious to make.

Nowadays I usually shot one photo only. Then I just make 3 pictures out of this shot using the curves adjustment function of Photoshop. And with the 3 pictures I have, I will process an HDR photo through Photomatix software.

Now I am also trying to make an HDR photo through the gazillion functions of Photoshop. There are many ways you can do this and different photographers have their own version of doing it. So I have much to learn how to this but I have the time to make this happen.

Below is a sample of one shot photo converted into an HDR image.

I Missed A Day of Posting

Oh my... I missed to post a blog for the past two days I guess since it is past twelve midnight already. Did I ran out of things to talk about? I am sure I have a lot of ideas in my mind right now. It is just that I still don't have the discipline and fortitude to really write something that I like.

Okay, so what should I compose for today? Hmmmm what is in my mind right now? I was thinking that I believe a need a photo that I have taken lately or a picture that I have seen somewhere, post it and then write something about it. Today I am not going to do it. I will just type and type whatever comes to my mind right now. This may not be a coherent article with a focal subject but just a smorgasbord of words put together to make some kind of  feature article. I don't like to repeat key words in my articles but I repeated the word "article" again four times already in this paragraph alone.

Well, let me then jump to another subject that came to my mind just a few paragraphs ago. Yesterday I saw this National Geographic show about the universe, theories abut the universe. It is highly postulized (is there a word postulized? whatever...) that the universe started our of nothing during the big bang. Out from nothing came all the matter that fills the universe right now, which, is still expanding and expanding. It is said that the universe is currently 13 billion years old plus or minus a couple of billion years. Other theories says that there are many universes around, so called, multiverse theory, other than our own observable universe. There were a couple other theories but I seem not to get interested anymore.

You know what I think about this. Well first I don't think that the universe we have is 13 billion years old. I think this is the biggest accurate misconception since people believed that earth is 6000 years old as mentioned in the bible. I believe that there is no beginning or ending of time, space and matter itself. I believe that it is not within our current capability to understand the whole meaning about the universe.

Now this sounds odd but I still have a lot to say about this. It is not easy to explain a complex idea into a few sentences. I guess I might start to write my own theory about. But that will be another story. So yeah, I think I have so many ideas to write about. All I need is the discipline to do it.

Avatar

Just watched Avatar again in my computer. I never get tired re-watching movies that define new heights in film making.  Avatar is one of those films that extend the limits of what could be possible.

Aside from the stunning visual effects, this movie has an environmental message for all of us. We are part of nature and nature is part of us. Destroying the environment will also destroy us. There is nothing wrong with progress as long as we are doing it in a right and sustainable way. We may take and exploit all the resources around us but we cannot just take them wantonly.

I hope we will have more movies like Avatar that has a story and social message in it while providing enjoyment in the wonders of excellent film making.

Hallelujah Mountains, a.k.a Floating mountains of Planet Pandora

Summer is Here

Summer officially came a few days ago. However the temperature today is blisteringly hot. It seems we are on the middle of August already. The Kanto region of Japan recorded the highest temperature so far for a June month : 39 degrees Celsius! That is really hot.

Is it because of global environmental change? Winters also recorded abnormally low temperature on months where we expect warmer weather. If June temperature is already past 30 degrees I wonder what the temperature will be in August.

I like to go out during summer because the sky is so clear and blue; the sun brightly shining all over which makes photographing nice places more enticing. I also would be running and jogging early  mornings and late afternoons just to enjoy the warmth rays of the sun hitting gently my sweaty skin. 

Hopefully it will be a summer to remember.

Running for Good Health

I received the results of my annual check-up recently. There was nothing for be concerned of of the findings except that I need to be active and control intake of non-healthy foods as it seems my weight, fatty content on some body areas, and some other cholesterol sensitive areas are high.

I don't have a body builder's body. I don't have  6-pack abs. Instead I have a growing beer belly which I need to slim down so as not to make some of my jeans obsolete.

The doctor said I need to change my sedimentary lifestyle. Stay away from computer and hit the gym. Or start running frequently to remove excess calories that builds into body fat if you sit in front of the computer right off the bat after eating. Well yeah I do have keyboard itch as I like reading news, updating my network (personal and professional social sites), writing a blog, editing photos and the like.

I need to change, big time. I have to jog every weekend for a start. I have to to the gym and lift weights, do sit-ups and other abs crunching routines.

Food intake has to be controlled also. I need to eat breakfast as I currently miss breakfast frequently. Coffee, by the way, is not considered a breakfast item. My dinner habit has to change too. Sometimes I ate past 9 PM which is not good time for supper. I also have to follow the new "food-plate" initiative. More on fruits and vegetables, if possible half of your plate is filled from this food group. Less on meat products, just enough to sustain the protein requirement.

I believe these are not difficult lifestyle changing habits. For good health is wealth.

But I have to read magazines, of course, health magazines to cover my itch for reading.

IELTS Exam

I will have my IELTS exam next month. Though I come from a country where English is the lingua franca and where I use English as my day to day business communication tongue, I still have to have an IELTS result to officially prove that I can communicate in English fluently. Such requirement is needed when you plan to immigrate or live permanently in an English speaking country such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand or USA.

I am confident that I can pass this test easily. However, I still have to prepare properly and hopefully achieve above average results.

The test is divided into four categories: Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing. Of the four tests, I feel I am weakest on the Writing category. It is not easy to organize your thoughts, write fluidly using the best words and using grammar that artfully conveys the subject/thought you are writing about. Yes, it is easy to write a few sentences or even a few paragraphs. But it is not easy to coherently write a complete article without messing up some words or sentences or ideas. What I mean is you usually repeat words redundantly. Or you keep on writing on a loop until you reach the end of your article. Normally, you edit and edit until you reach the desired results but in IELTS exam you don't have the luxury to edit many times.

So here I am blogging as much as I can to practice and practice and practice until I will be as confident as my reading, speaking and listening skills.

By the way, this article has 4 paragraphs, 15 sentences and about 250 words.

Instagr.am

Instagr.am is is a photo sharing application designed for use on Apple iOS devices. This App allows users to share their photos after applying a variety of effects or filters. Users can share photos through the Instagram app or using a variety of other social networking products such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.


I have been using this for a few days now and yeah it looks cool. It seems to be addictive at times. 

As you can see I just have a few photos yet. Let me just say these are just trial/test photos to get me familiarized with the functions of the App. Later on I will be posting nice photos that will hopefully get some attention and increase my current followers from 1. 


I also like this community because to be honest there are really extremely nice photos posted around. I have been a long user of Flickr but this community seems different.


So I hope I can also post one photo a day on this community.

Why Can't I Blog at Least One Post A Day?

I have always asked this many times myself. And it seems I don't have the answer. It is not that I don't have time to do this. In fact I have  a lot of time to at least update this blog once a day.

It is not that I don't know how to write a 300 word article. In fact I do make a lot of communication, emails, reports that even go beyond 10 paragraphs .

It is not that I don't have a subject to write about or love to write. In fact, I have extremely varied interests ranging from photography, to technology, to sports, to health, to music , to movies, to books. Ohh, my mind is just full of interests and imagination.

What is it then? You know what....I think I have too much interests on such a wide subject that I seem to get lost of what would I blog then. This blog is supposed to be about my love for photography. But I have included subjects about technology. I seem to get lost of what the blog is all about, and then so goes my interest to blog at least once a day.

So from now on, this blog might be about photography but I will just write anything that fascinates me whether it's about the next Iphone or who wins this year's Wimbledon or updates to my PC which I seem to find enjoyment by tweaking and adding new stuff.

So, starting today June 21st, I will be at least posting 1 blog a day.

P.S. Please do remind me if I miss one day.