Olle

I aim to lose 10kg by February 2013 so I invested on a Giant Boulder 29er 0 bicycle. I did a 9km trial run yesterday and it was really fun. Hopefully, with the right gear, body sores will go away.

MD515X/A

Crucial M4 SSD 256GB

After 11 months of use, my Crucial M4 64GB SSD which I used as my main drive was choking as it only had 3GB free space remaining. So I migrated to the 256GB version . My OS is Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium. For the migration, I used Acronis True Image Home 2012 (Update 2 Build 7119). Using Acronis' Clone Disk feature, the migration was so painless that I find it so... "disturbing". Anyway, the migration task itself only took around 10 minutes max. Here are the steps for your reading pleasure: In Windows 7, create a Rescue Media (aka Boot CD) inside Acronis True Image; this is inside "Tools and Utilities". Shutdown PC then disconnect all drives except optical drive (where you put the Rescue Media disc) and source SSD. This source SSD is the drive that you want to be replaced. Connect your target SSD. This is your new SSD and normally has a larger capacity. In some cases, migration is used if old SSD is not working 100% and has to be replaced. Go to B

I bought this cheap, simple movie rig from eBay. It's widely available and averages around US$70. Anyway, after spending some time with it, I can say that it's a good buy. It's cheap and makes you mobile (compared to using a tripod). It can be configured in many ways but to minimize shaky videos, it's best to use shoulder mount configuration. Depending on shoot environment, I have now the choice to use a tripod, monopod, or this simple rig. No more handheld shots, D800+lens is way too heavy ;-) For a quick comparison, click HERE .

Youtube LINK .

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 50f1.8D & Rode Videomic Pro fitted with Deadcat wind cover Comments on this external microphone: Lens focus motor operation is inaudible, surprisingly. So for casual shoot with autofocus enabled (& good ambient light), audio is useful. UPDATE: motor operation is audible but lower compared to the onboard mic. Rubber bands indeed look flimsy. Use with care! Pretty light. Well, with camera-lens that weighs around 2.5kg, mic weight is not significant. I'll do a test video soon!

Crucial M4 SSD 64GB Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB Tool used: CrystalDiskMark

Gigabyte GTX 570 (SLI) to Yamaha RV-367 AV Receiver - GTX 570 Card 1 DVI-D port is connected to Dell U2711 27" 2560x1440 Monitor - GTX 570 Card 1 HDMI port is connected to HDMI input of AV Receiver - No connections to GTX 570 Card 2 - AV Receiver HDMI Out is connected to HDMI input of Hisense HL81V68P 32" 1920x1080 HDTV To send HDMI audio to AV Receiver, go to Windows 7 sound properties and enable HDMI audio.

Last Friday the 13th, I finally joined the FX world. Impressions, so far: I need uber-fast CF or SD cards, stat! I'm currently using a Class 4 SD card and it's so slooooowww! It's like 15~20 seconds write time per image, ewww! I need to improve my hand-holding skill. 36MP easily shows blur at pixel level. Thank, God, all my FX & non-FX lenses focus good/sharp with this camera. None of the focus horror stories I've read in forums. However, Tokina 11-16 is not recognized as non-FX. The manual seems lacking so I got Tom Hogan's guide; digesting it now. So far, so good. Highly recommended. Images at ISO 6400 are very usable, insane! Having a USB 3.0 memory card reader is recommended. Looking at eBay now... I'll shoot RAW uncompressed (75MB/image).

Nikkor AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II and Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM II 100% crop comparison at f2.8 Note: on tripod, VR off, and both at same settings (ISO/f/s/l). Also all images are straight out of Nikon D90. No post-processing. Reference images: 70mm 200mm Other reference images: Sigma at 200mm f2.8 Nikkor at 200mm f2.8 (VR Off) Conclusion: Nikkor's image quality justifies its almost 3x price compared to Sigma HSM II (well, 1.5x for build quality and 1.5x for image quality).

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K , $319.00 Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler , $33.00 Motherboard: AsRock z68 Extreme4 , $215.00 Display: Dell U2711 , $764.15 Display Calibrator: Spyder3Pro , $160.00 GPU: 2x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 570 1280MB Overclocked V2 , $738.00 RAM: 2x G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 , $138.00 SSD: Crucial M4 SSD 64GB , $145.00 HDD: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB WD10EALX , $65.00 ODD: LG CH10LS20 10X Blu-ray DVD Combo Drive , $75.00 Card Reader: Scythe Kama Reader 2 , $29.00 HDTV Tuner: Leadtek Winfast PxDVR3200 H PCIe , $64.00 PSU: Silverstone Strider Plus 850W , $169.00 Case: CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer , $99.00 Extra Case Fan: CoolerMaster MegaFlow 200 , $35.00 Keyboard: Logitech Gaming Keyboard G510 , $75.00 Mouse: Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700 , $69.00 OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit with SP1 OEM , $105.00 USB DAC: FiiO E10 , $84.00 Headphone: Sennheiser HD 448 , $149.00 Speaker: Audioengine 2 (A2) , $268.00 Total: $3,7

From CreationWatches.Com Start: Thursday, 16-Feb 6:30pm Delivered: Monday, 20-Feb 4pm

Start: Thursday, 26-January 10pm Delivered: Monday, 30-January 10am Settings: Exposure Time = 1/40 sec F Number = F14 ISO Speed Ratings = 200 Focal Length = 150mm Flash with Softbox at right

For the past few months, I've been listening to my FLAC/320kbps MP3s using iTunes or Winamp (both at EQ flat), onboard mobo audio (Realtek ALC892 Audio Codec), and Audioengine 2 (bought a couple of weeks ago). And I was pretty contented. Then curiosity got hold of me and I bought a FiiO E10 desktop DAC yesterday ( I got bored the other day so I browsed thru various boards ...) People are saying the latest mobos nowadays have pretty decent audio chips that there's no need to add a dedicated soundcard or external DACs (entry-level types). Oh, how pretty wrong those people are! After a brainless FiiO E10 setup, Audioengine 2 and DAC are ready to go within 10 seconds. And the audio output is just awesome!!! It's like I got a brandnew set of ears! Mozarts, Dire Straits, Queen, Radiohead, Acoustic Alchemy, etc seem to come alive in our PC desk. I'm thinking now of taking a day off tomorrow.... too much songs to digest again!!! So if you're just using your mobo's onboa

Amazing discounts offered for Invicta watches & shoes so placed our 4th & 5th orders with Endless.com this evening... Start: Friday, 13-Jan-12 9:30pm Delivery: Monday, 16-Jan-12 4:00pm Start: Saturday, 14-Jan-12 9:15pm Delivery: Thursday, 19-Jan-12 4:30pm

Edifier M1350 is lacking so I moved it to our office and brought Audioengine 2 in at home. A2 is way better that M1350, as expected (well, A2 costs 5x than M1350). A2 output is "full", clear, and more natural especially at EQ flat or off. PC audio is now more enjoyable. Highly recommended!