iUnspoken.com

MRT Service Disruption 11 Oct 2008

2008-10-11T23:05:00.003+08:00

Yes, once again. SMRT has stopped it's trains because of foreign objects on its tracks.

Nearly 3,000 commuters were affected by a train service disruption between Sembawang and Yio Chu Kang stations earlier today.
An SMRT spokesperson said trains had to turn around at the two stations at around 11.45am.
This was done to maintain service on the unaffected stretches of the North-South line.
Normal train services resumed about half an hour later at 12.16pm.
The disruption occurred after a man was found on the railway track at the Yishun MRT station.
He's now in hospital and police are investigating the incident.
Commuters unable to complete their journeys due to the disruption can claim a full fare refund within the next 3 days.
This can be done at the passenger service centre in any of the 51 SMRT stations.

Yeah. And it so happened that there was MJ Zone Prayer meeting that day.
Thankfully, I left the house like freaking early, reaching Clarke Quay at 10:45am.
So I wasn't affected by the holdup at all.
Imagine what happens if I were there, I'll probably be super late for prayer meeting, or miss it totally.
Or probably taking photos down there. Yeah

Here are some photos that I found online.
Courtesy of tamago, whoever he or she might be.

DISCLAIMER: These photos do not show the quality of images that I shoot. Photos here do NOT belong to iUnspoken.

Apple's Special Media Event, 14th October 2008

2008-10-10T11:53:00.003+08:00

Just a quick one here.

Apple has invited the media to the Apple Campus in Cupertino for a special media event.

The event will take place on the 14th October 2008, 10am PST.

That'll be 15th October 2008, 1am Singapore Time.

Speculated releases there will be a new 13" Aluminium MacBook.

Yeah, 13", instead of the 13.3"

Based on the calculation from the Apple logo on the invite, it doesn't indicate that it's a MacBook Pro.

More updates to follow after the event has ended.

Massive Hard Drive Failure

2008-10-08T16:34:00.002+08:00

Yes, my hard drive crashed. Again.

It's not the same hard drive though, it's a different one, and the one I've been dreading all this time.

For some reason, for the past couple of weeks I keep thinking about buying a new 1TB hard drive, no particular reason.

Ho yea, no particular reason. Not until now that is.

This is the normal way that people deal with external hard drives.

They have their files on a internal hard disk, whether it be laptop or desktop.

Then they have a backup on the external hard drive.

Under the condition that the internal drive fails for some reason, all the guy needs to do is pop out the defective drive from inside the computer, and replace it with the backup copy.

OR, he could just buy a new drive and copy everything back in.

Well, how do you think I did it?

Partially because I have tons of files.

Tons of files, and files that weigh tons.

Which pretty much explains why their existence is on my externals instead of internals.

And plus, I like to keep my internal hard drive with a higher percentage free disk space. Rather than clogging it up.

AND, I don't have backup drives.

Wonderful eh?

DON'T HAVE BACK UP DRIVES

Who the heck does that? Not keeping a back up.

Well, apparently I don't. Except for my images.

Now I need to think up of a new backup plan.

Which will include a new 500GB drive, courtesy of my dad.

I'm still thinking whether I should get another 1TB drive just in case. But I'll probably not get one till the time is right.

And of course, backing up to online locations. Which includes my MobileMe Server (200GB), and probably send archives of small files to my emails. Which pretty much says that I need and will be using a lot of bandwidth.

Thankfully, Google has provided me with 200 email accounts, 7GB each, with the purchase of my domain name iUnspoken.com.

Okay, in plain English, for a certain price a year, I have the name "iUnspoken.com", plus 200 email accounts with 7GB each. PLUS, another 10GB of web storage.

That is a whooping total of 1.4TB, thats 1400GB.

Oh yeah, that's a LOT.

So anyone who want's an email name like *****@iunspoken.com, please email me ya? LOL.

Anyhow, gonna think up of a new plan, but new hard drive casings, and take extra precautions in the future.

Oh wells.

Thankfully, Baby has been accompanying me around to search for new hard drives and hard drive cases as well.

Went out with Baby today actually, went to buy some new... fabrics for her, then went to Sim Lim and Funan to check out the hard drive stuff.

What I've learnt is that, Sim Lim is a mess, Funan's pretty okay. And Mac shops sell accessories at ridiculous prices.

FireWire 800 interface is ridiculously expensive, and eSATA for some reason is 4 times faster, and half the price of the former. Weird eh? Apple technologies. Oh wells.

Got my mind fixed on a particular case already. So should be buying it within the next couple of days. Yeah.

So my Mac is just going to sit at home trying to recover files from the damaged drive for the next few days, which means that I can't use it for church, and there's a possibility that I can't use it for school either.

Which is not that good, and means that I run the high risk of sleeping in class without mint sweets. Need a good supply of those stuff.

Oh, that also means that no pictures anytime soon.

I know I have pictures since the F1 to put up.

But thing is, I'm not going to run any computer intensive programs until the recovery process is done at least, which is going to take 5000 hours according to the program.

Praying like mad that it won't take that bloody long cos the warranty will be over by then.

Gonna just end off with this.

Backup your stuff, even if you don't use your computer that much. Chances are that you have important stuff in your computer too.

Stuff lost in my 500GB hard disk.

1. TV Shows

2. Program Installation Files

3. 2.1GB worth of fonts.

4. Stock Photos, Videos and Vectors

5. Old files from my primary school and secondary school days. (Sad, sad, sad)

6. School files. (I'm not sure whether I should happy about this or not)

7. iPhone Applications

8. Windows Applications and backups.

9. Final Cut Studio projects. (I'm pretty banged up about this, all my previous projects are in there)

10. And a whole lot more that I just can't remember.

Baby has volunteered to help me with the design of my backup process, and to help with the Chorus Board files as well.

Oh, in case you guys didn't know, Baby has been doing Chorus Board for quite a while now, and is quite good at it. So usually, I do praise, she'll do worship. And soon, we'll be going for side board training.

This is why she's helping me with the formatting of the Chorus Board files, whether is it for LED, or Chorus Board, or Level 4 rooms, or BV monitors. Yeah.

Though, need to think what's the proper format for BV monitors, haven't got to that yet though.

Okay, back to work. Stupid hard drive.

And to make it even more stupid, it's a Seagate drive in a Maxtor enclosure. How stupid is that?

300th post

2008-10-06T04:03:00.002+08:00

300 POSTS!

Okay, I know it's not much of a deal here. But thought I might just put it up.

Like, I have definitely blogged more than 300 posts, that is if you counted my previous blog on Diary-x.

That was until the entire blogging server and service crashed in early February 2007. Really stinks at that time. But it was refreshing.

1 year 7 months, and 3 blog template changes later, it's still the same person writing on this blog.

Anyhow, I know it's like 4am SGT, and I'm still awake.

But my biological clock needs retuning.

Just finished watching Survivor Gabon, where, as usual, the plot is predictable.

CBS and the other writers need to think of anyway to twist this show.

I mean, after 17 seasons, it's starting to get predictable.

Got a few magazines off the internet, which I still have yet to read.

Plus I have tons of tutorials that I still have to look though. Mostly about Adobe softwares and Video effects.

Anyhow, thought I might share a few things that happened over the week, in short though.

Was tempted to go and work on wednesday (1 Oct)

But ended up going to serve in Children's Church instead.

And it was much better though, even if I didn't help out with YouYa's concert.

I got to meet God, took pictures with the video crew and Pastor Eileen.

But still waiting for sideboard training.

Patience is a virtue

Yeah, after that, this new Operations Manager of Showmakers called up.

Asked me where I was, and whether I received his sms. I didn't actually.

And after that he just said I don't need to go and work that day. Damn smart move of him

I mean, it gives me a break. Which is fine by me actually.

But the rest of the crew had to work like crazy until the next morning.

With 4 ppl on MC, and not many people left, even the bosses had to help out.

Like, wow. I thought up of a lot of ways that the company could improve with regards to manpower issues. But it still all boils down to a couple of things.

Lack of organization and lack of human welfare.

These two factors, are what has killed the company's employees so far. As much as I see it that is.

In the short 5 months that I was with Showmakers, nearly 10-12 drivers came and left. The longest only lasted a month. The shortest, a day. Amazing right?

But because they are forced to work 16-hour shifts on a almost daily basis where there are shows everyday, no wonder no one want's to work there.

Oh, did I mention. The called me not to work one day, but the next day, they called me up saying that they needed me to work cos another 2 employees has called in sick. Damn smart of them to do that, told them a flat no. Who tell you to tell me not to work?

Orh-bee-good.

Okay, yeah. That was mean, I know. But seriously.

Anyhow, I know a few of the current employees who are thinking and showing signs that they are quitting soon. About time too, its been over 2 months. It's a miracle they lasted so long to begin with.

Oh, today I kinda did a good deed. Not that it need recognition or anything.

But God says that, it's always the small things that count.

Was a Bugis MRT waiting for Carmen.

And observed a lot of interesting things while waiting near the fare gates.

Things like people who like to think their EZ-Link cards are stuck to the reader as they move through the gates, holding everyone up.

Then there are the parents who have their prams and strollers stuck at the gates because the able-bodied people at the other end wouldn't use the other narrow gates.

And of course, this is the best. The entire family went past the gate, leaving their maid behind as her EZ-Link card had no money left.

So the mother passed a $2 note to her and ask her to but a single-trip ticket from the machine.

Which she failed to operate, miserably.

But then again, you can't blame her right? How often do you see a EZ-Link system like that in Philippines?

So, after a long time, I offered to help the maid, which the mother accepted.

So went to help. But the trip was $2.40. So I topped up the $0.40.

I know its not much, I didn't ask it back. It was just $0.40.

But that was also $0.40 of the last $4 I had in my pocket.

I think it was great, doing something like that.

Yeah, like God said.

It's always the small things that count and lead to promotion.

Amen.

Survivor Season 17: Gabon, Earth's Last Eden

2008-09-29T17:05:00.002+08:00

Hey all,

If you guys haven't watched the latest season of Survivor Gabon, you should.

The views are spectacular frankly. Having the set being one of the world's untouched places, with raw landscape and wildlife, the place is just amazing.

And of course, the competitors, as with all Survivor shows, the first couple of episodes shows disorientation and pure stupidity. And also not forgetting, there seem to be a lot more older people in this season as compared to previous ones.

Michelle being the first one booted out, though I too share the opinion that she shouldn't have been. It's just bad luck. Though, she does remind me of myself, the attitude and all.

Gillian being the second booted out, incidentally from the same tribe.

Of course, one might wonder how homie there will see for the rest of his time on the island, that is after he made a fish hook out of his spectacles. If it were me, I'll be blind in no time.

The reality show still continues to wow me. With all the amazing footages that they've taken, which could rival National Geographic's. Showing all the ariel shots, wildlife, time-lapse shots. It's just amazing. In fact, I find the nature a lot more inspiring and entertaining compared to the show itself.

Anyhow, most would have realized after watching the 2-hour premiere of the reality series, ending with the following phrase.

"In Memory of Alton Desiree"

Just who is Alton Desiree?

As with sketchy reports online, Desiree was a crew member of the reality show series Survivor. Was a crew member, that was until he drowned in Brazil about less than a week ago.

Reports state that he had left for Brazil on the 9th September for his assignment on the Survivor set, which was to do something underwater, but he never resurfaced.

My condolences to his wife and family, as well as the production crew of Survivor.

Never go to unknown and dangerous places alone. Always go in pairs.

Why do you think God created us to ultimately live in pairs?

Updates to template

2008-09-28T02:21:00.005+08:00

Finally, after some donkey months.
I've managed to find time to actually update the blog.

EDIT: If you have a dialog box asking you to install Quicktime Player, please install it if you don't already have.
If you do have Quicktime Player installed, but still receiving that error, please ensure that your browser is of the latest update. Firefox 3.0.3 and Safari are recommended browsers. Internet Explorer is strictly NOT recommended.
You should hear a song playing if Quicktime was installed and configured correctly, if not, please do the necessary changes.

In case you don't realize it....

1) Banner changed to image instead of video for now, simply because I can't find a decent enough video to put up.
And since its the Formula 1 Season, I though this would be rather appropriate. Photoshopped using just 3 photos. Nice not? Comments please thank you.

2) Blog links have been FINALLY placed. If yours is missing from the list, feel free to tag me and I'll add it.

3) New Last.fm widget to track the songs that I play in me iTunes. It's not exactly productive, but it's a nice addition.

Yeah, so far, so good. Particularly pleased with the way the image banner actually turned out.
Used 3 images, blending, masking and positioning.
And yes Janyssa, its freaking easy to do.

And all credit goes to.... GOD!.. muaha
Yeah, sound weird right? But listen to this.
I created the banned, found the images and had the finished product in less than 5 mins.

Yeah, wow right?
All the ideas just flowed out, clicked this, clicked that, and pop... done. Bagus...

Praise The Lord.
Just shows, when you have faith, everything is possible, and easy to accomplish.
Amen.

Sound Check for F1

2008-09-26T19:57:00.001+08:00

I'm now at the Asian Civilisation Museum, which is like right beside the F1 track... And the sound of the cars whizzing by is just overwhelming.
It feels good, feels damn good, but its freaking loud too. You can never have a decent conversation near the track thats for sure.
Even at raffles place, you can hear them cars.
It's quite a nice feeling actually, seriously...

though, its hard to sleep in these conditions...

2008-09-21T00:16:00.003+08:00

I should have realised this a long time ago.
That a blog like mine, being read all over the world, would have some consequences.
Such as criticism, sarcasm, assumptions of character.

Of course, there's the positive sides like template design, video banner and photos as well.

Which reminds me, this place needs an update, which is seriously lacking of, majority, links.
Which I I will try my best to do so, if not, get some help doing so as well.
And the video banner needs a new song.
Been trying to think of one, and a suitable video to go along with it, since not all songs actually come with their respective videos.
But I'll try to get it done asap or something like that.

Anyway, back to the blog thing.
It's amazing what people can assume about a blog write just by reading the blog.
And like I said, they're assumptions, which tend to be overly expressed to others without consulting the actual facts of the situation by the blog writer himself.
Which ultimately, turns out to be pretty nasty because everyone will think of the assumption more than the facts.

So from now on, I'll no longer type on this blog as Roger Ng.
I'll type on this blog as iUnspoken.
So, more iUnspoken, less of Roger Ng.
It like political bullshit, filtering the unwanted content to prevent the general public from creating gossip.
Which incidentally I happen to know that certain readers of this blog are capable of doing so.

So this is my last post as Roger Ng.

Btw, have you seen the new ads from Microsoft, promoting the Windows platform and supposedly targeted at the "Get A Mac" campaign from Apple?
It's called "I'm A PC".
The idea is not that bad actually, plastering the whole of Times Square with "I'm a PC" ads, and the videos itself are quite well done I must say.
Though, you realise that it's "I'm a PC", and not "I'm a Windows"?

Because, technically speaking, PC stands for Personal Computer.
Which can also refer to the general Macintosh Desktop machine.
That can also be called a PC.
After all, it's personal.
So if we're taking it that way, then yes, I'm a PC too.

I'm a Mac PC.

Does anyone understand the irony here?

Singapore Flyer [Private Capsule] + Fish Spa (Date with Carmen)

2008-09-18T03:24:00.004+08:00

Hey Hey!!
Haven been updating for nearly a week.
So here's a long post, filled with 40 pictures
And it may take a while to load cos I've upped the quality of the exported images.
Full quality pictures are what is needed hear right? Now its at 75% quality, up from 50%.
Size is larger, so it might take a while to load.

Alexander Road Arch Bridge

Couple of weeks ago, Dad had an off-day on a Friday, so we went "hiking" from Kent Ridge Park all the way to Vivocity.

In case you didn't know, there is something like a park connector thing that stretches that far.

View from the Henderson Waves bridge [UNEDITED]

The view is spectacular. But the climb up wasn't.

It was insane. And me not working for a long time didn't help with the climbing either.

But for some reason, my dad loves to walk and walk.

And didn't show signs of fatigue like I did.

View from the slope up to Mount Faber [UNEDITED]

The view of Telok Blangah estate or something like that.

By this time, I was pretty dead beat already.

Considering that I wore a black T-shirt and jeans that day too, that didn't help either.

Red flowers in the sunlight [UNEDITED]

Of course, there were many beautiful photos to be taken.

Nothing more here though, it's not like it's very interested to continually take green trees and metal bridges.

So I only picked out the selected ones. These shots are really nice.

Moving on, on Monday, 15th September 2008.

Went out for a full day date with Carmen!

HAhax, thought she deserved it as well since she was so kind to accompany me down and help me the day before at the studio.

So this is a treat for her!

At first, we went down to Escape Theme Park

Since we had $7.50 tickets and were damn free

Who knows, when we reached there, only to realize that the theme park had a ridiculous opening hour of 2 days a week!

I mean, wow. That's new. Opening only on Saturday and Sundays, and public holidays.

Does it actually help with business I wonder.

And since Wild Wild Wet is under renovation until 1 Oct, we can't go there either.

So we went off to White Sands, roamed there for a while waiting for the 12pm mark

Where the fantastic McValue offer starts.

Seriously, it's really a good offer. I haven't eat a McDonalds meal with Carmen that didn't cost more than 10 bucks. This is a first.

PTL.

Of course, after that, drinks always come last, and the air-con was freezing in White Sands.

So we decided to go up to Zone X to play some games (we had the Nebo Card, which entitles us to $20 on a $10 top-up.)

Since they had a basketball machine that can possibly warm us up with activities.

And it did actually.

I haven't played basketball for like, 3 years now.

And that day, we set a record on one of the machines!

Machine record [Roger Ng & Carmen Cheng]

Amazing right?

Didn't know we had so much power.

But of course, after that, my right arm was having muscle aches.

Plants outside Singapore Flyer

Anyways, after that, we decided to go over to Bugis to buy Carmen a new bag!

Courtesy from my mum, who owed her a birthday present incidentally.

Though, I don't have a photo of that bag, maybe you guys can ask her for a look at it!

After Bugis, we went over to the Singapore Flyer.

And at the same time, thought about words that Singaporeans would say when they have difficulties pronouncing the "r" and "l". Or would get them mixed up sometimes.

You end up with words like "Laffles Hotel" or "Singapore Fryer"

We were laughing non-stop

But Carmen had to stop my nonsense (it was my idea afterall since I'm so nonsensical), for fear that her English standard might go down the drain fast.

Anyhow, this must be like the 5th time we've been up on the Flyer.

Not that it's boring actually.

It kinda relives stress for the both of us.

And it's really great.

$30 a ticket. mauhhaaaha

You guys must be thinking like I'm freaking rich right? $300 on Singapore Flyer tickets.

Or maybe I'm crazy?

But I don't mind (and can) take more flights in the year to come.

Ain't that feeling great?

Though, this time round, there were more things to see.

The following photos of the Singapore Flyer have been edited to remove the ridiculous blue-green hue of the glass.

Syncro-light to light up the Singapore Flyer

This light is new, never seen it before everytime we went up the Flyer.

Maybe it's for the F1 race? I don't know.

Singapore Flyer Compass Maps

These were new too!

Maps, to show you a 360 degree view around Flyer.

It kinda opens up in a circle, with a hand drawn map of the attractions and icons viewable from the Flyer.

This is me, looking down at the ECP expressway.

And of course, this is Carmen, my dear girl, looking out from the Flyer capsule

Oh, and did I mention?

Carmen in a Singapore Flyer Capsule

We got a whole capsule to ourselves!

Thanks to Singapore Flyer though.

Haha, how cool is that, one entire capsule for only the two of us.

Don't believe right? Consider this,

How to squeeze the rest of the people outside of the frame?

Not only will it inconvenience them, but I don't really think they want to do that either.

So yeah, we got a private capsule to ourselves.

A different experience though, but it was great.

Like very exclusive right? haha.... though we weren't exactly dressed for a private capsule though.

For those who don't know, you can book a private capsule for private functions like weddings, coporate events or for your dear (like me and Carmen).

And it'll cost you about $3000 if you wanted one for yourself. Includes food and decor if I'm not wrong.

hehe, see how much I love Carmen?

Singapore Grand Prix F1 Carpark

Moving on, to other photos of course.

Right now, we could actually see the F1 preparations in progress.

F1 Pit Stop Grandstand

And I thought their grandstand looked great

View to the east of the Flyer, taken by Carmen

Of course, there're many wonderful views all around the flyer for us to absorb as well. Which was wonderful I thought.

Future IR

Carmen liked this shot though, of the construction site.

Singapore Skyline in the dusk light

I took this shot. Though, now that I think of it, I might look great as a black on white motif.

Singapore Flyer Capsule in the dusk light

This shot was nice too. Though, the dirty windows kinda destroyed the shot.

Maybe Singapore Flyer should consider cleaning their windows some time soon.

Carmen and I, Singapore Flyer Private Capsule

This was at the top of the Singapore Flyer

Carmen and Roger

Me looking down at the Marina Bay

Carmen and I, in the evening sunlight

But the sunlight got hard to bear cos it was too bright

Of course, after that we decided to do some weird shots as well.

Me stuck to the door of the SG Flyer

Carmen stuck to the door of SG Flyer

Carmen and I, Singapore Flyer

This shot was taken by Carmen, at the other end of the capsule

Roadroller on F1 track

Carmen took quite some interest in this yellow thing, since it was moving.

LED Screen for F1 race

Though, I was more interested in the LED Screen, naturally, that was somewhere behind that yellow thing

Singapore Flyer bus

And we did manage to catch this bus on the expressway while on our way down as well though.

For some reason, the going down is much faster than the going up, any idea why?

Future of Singapore against Singapore Skyline

After coming down, we decided to go to Kenko Reflexology for a spa, courtesy of Carmen

Yeah, SPA.

FISH SPA.

You know those small little twits that will nibble on your leg? Biting skin off?

Though I had a feeling that given more than enough time, they'll bite your entire leg off.

And they're extremely active when they have blood in their water, as I found out when they bit at one of my wounds.

Depending on which outlet you go to, you have the choice of big fishes or small fishes.

Big fishes tend to bite lesser and harder as well. They aren't as active as smaller ones.

Smaller fishes on the other hand, are more active, less painful, but there're many of them.

Carmen and I decided to go for the smaller ones, which was by the shop window

Photos here are taken with my handphone camera, since it's not really feasible to take a full DSLR camera there.

Before going into the pool of fishes

The first heel inside

You see, there had to be some hesitation right?

Carmen's leg after her's went in

My own legs after mine went in

Can you even see my leg?

I mean, the fishes were like overwhelming it, must be extremely full of dead skin or something

Even the couple who had just finished beside us we shocked, as I was too.

Of course, it attracted a lot of attention in the store, and outside as well. There're were a couple of people taking photos, and a baby, staring at the fishes.

Maybe if I had placed my ear close enough to the water, I could hear them screming "Buffet is here! Faster! Faster!"

I mean, look at my heel, and that whole bunch of fishes there.

This was Carmen's leg after like 15 mins.

But mine were still full of fishes. I have no idea why.

And if I'm not wrong, I could feel my leg hair being sucked out bit by bit.

And I'm quite sure that my leg is slightly hair-less near the knee caps now.

Goodness.

It's good though, relaxing. But ticklish.

Though, after a while, you'll kind of get used to it.

F1 circuit being lit up.

After that, we went off, went home actually.

And passed by sections of the F1 circuit, fully lit up.

It's amazingly though, I've never seen Singapore streets being so brightly lit before.

Gotta stop before this post becomes too long.

But gonna leave you guys with a few more nice photos.

Sundown from Carmen's house

Seriously, I'm always astounded by the sights and colors of the sunset from Carmen's house.

It's really nice.

If I have the time, I'll do a "fast-forward" video of it. (Also known as time-lapse)

Carmen's shot of the sunset

Carmen also decided to try her hands at a shot.

Sunset @ Carmen's house [UNEDITED]

This was taken by me. Beautiful right?

All these photos are available for use, downloadable from my Flickr page.

Remember to credit me in your usage, (part of Copyright Laws)

Till the next post.

Back to Post-Production work

2008-09-15T01:11:00.003+08:00

Wanted to blog about this. Really was wonderful.

Got a call from Gabriel last night, saying he needed help with the editing of a video.
So I said okay.
Initially, I was supposed to go dating with Carmen, but since there was time, and with Carmen's permission as well, we decided to go help.
Anyhow, helping another person is something worth doing right?

So Carmen and I went down.
Turns out that I was supposed to edit a wedding video to be screened that night based on the traditional chinese wedding ceremony just that morning. This was a summary of what I did.

1) View though 1 hour plus of raw footage from the camcorder
2) Choose selected shots from the footage.
3) Edit the footage within the chosen song length of 4 mins. (Which means there was a 15:1 shoot to print ratio, which is a LOT)
4) Export out to DVD.

All these was done in just 2 hours 40mins..

Amazing right? I though it was.
Maybe its not that amazing to others, but editing a video is not just see nice shot then pick out and put in the timeline.
It must match the music and the mood as well.
I didn't use a lot of effect, only 8 cross dissolves and 3 titles.
And there wasn't any image processing done as well, which meant that some parts of the video was overexposed, due to the raw footage captured, nothing that I could have done.

Well, I haven't actually edited anything proper in like 9 months now.
The website banner at the top doesn't count. That's not even considered editing.
But get this.
Not editing for 9 months, your skills are bound to rust a bit here and there.
And low and behold I managed to rush out a 15:1 shoot to print ratio video, with titles, in just less than 3 hours.
I think it's an amazing feat.

And oh, just to add.
The song was in chinese.
Which means that I didn't really have the time to go and listen properly, and decode the chinese words into English words in my head.
So what I did was just to pray, and have faith in what I was doing.
And just cut and edit the video according to the timing.
It turned out amazing.

I mean,
Having not edited for 9 months, half the time I didn't actually really think what I was going to do or how I was actually going to edit the video.
But by faith, I just went to do what I thought should be done, adjusting effects that made me go wow in the first place.
In all, I was doing work in faith, not even thinking that much.

Then end feeling is nice.
And now, looking at the video again, and having time to actually listen to the words.
I was so amazed that most of the video actually fitted the words.
The right words at the right time.
The right shot at the right time as well.
It's really wonderful

I mean, I could easily point out the points where the video was not very good,
where the image quality should have been better, or better effects could have been used.
but hey, this was in 3 hours. I didn't really have a lot of time.
Lets see,
1 and a half hours to view the entire video and select nice shots.
40 mins to trim down the selected shots into the 4min time frame.
And 10 mins to export.
Thats a freaking shot time frame to work with.
But hey, I DID IT! Muahahaha

Just shows, that with God, nothing is impossible.

Oh, and of course.
Credit goes to Carmen as well.
Not only did she accompany me down to the studio
But she also helped out with the selection of shots and praying for me as well.
Wonderful right?
It's just so blessed to have a girlfriend who is so supportive of what you do.
It's what girlfriends are supposed to do,
but having one that is willing to do so willingly as well,
that's an extra blessing.
They say that behind every man is an even greater woman.
Well done dear. heh.
i Love You.

I can't put up the video here.
Cos I don't have permission to do so.
But you guys can go ask Carmen as well.

Praise the Lord.

Weird things people do

2008-09-12T23:15:00.002+08:00

I woke up like 1:30pm today.
Not a good idea really, cos it was quite hot by then and I was sweating onto my bed. Stinks right now actually.

Anyhow, decided to spend the whole day at home since I ain't really got anything that important to attend to as yet.
And for some weird reason I also decided to clean up my bag, which probably collected a lot of rubbish since I started using it.
Here's what I found

1) 45 alcohol swabs
2) 1 mascalax lotion (for my backaches, you see, I'm an old person)
3) iPod Nano
4) A whole bunch of audio converters
5) 2 Speakon connectors
6) $6.18 in change
7) Half a panadol pill, the other half became powder.
8) Strands of hair
9) Lens caps
10) 20 different colored markers
11) 3 pens
12) Friendster merchandise (Fridge magnets, posters, costers, pens)
13) Assorted receipts

Imagine, my bag collect receipts, generates money and preserves medicine.
How cool is that?

MJ Zone CGM

2008-09-12T01:36:00.002+08:00

Just came back from another MJ Zone gathering.
Though, I couldn't exactly remember the last time that I went to one. Must have been eons ago.
Oh anyway, someone Googled "MJ Zone Prayer Meeting", and ended up at my blog.
And didn't tag. Well Done.

But hey, I took a change of tracks.
Instead of being at the console, I decided that it might be a good idea if I were a member of the audience instead.
So that at least I know what I hear and see instead of always being the one doing the work.
Well, yeah. Partially because no one asked me for my help anyway.

It ain't that bad though. Thought I needed it since I've been away from church for a long time now.
Needed that touch from God again, felt so damn good after that.

Of course, I was distracted from time to time. But eventually, God was still there.
Though, the one thing I notice the most, the speakers were constantly "crying".
If they were real human beings, they'll be crying their hearts out. Overload.

I know it's not nice to be critical about everything and all.
I don't really know. I've been like that for a long time now.
I know it ain't a good attitude or what la.
But more often than not, that's how I learn as well.
That's how I've been learning for such a long time, well, yeah.

Probably not many other people look at things the same way I do.
Maybe me being critical has most people thinking that I'm a very proud person.
Maybe, yeah, the last point kind of make sense.
But well, I'm a perfectionist. And I don't settle for second best.
Period.

I don't really know what to do, really.
To be constantly waiting, or risk being a constant irritant.
Which could happen once in a while.
But hey, guess He wanted me to experience Him this time around.

There definitely has to be a outlet of some kind for all my ideas.
It can't just clog up my brain, it'll jam or hang someday.
But by faith, it'll end up somewhere.
Maybe not now, but later.

Haix.

I want to post a question here to all.
But I'm so damned sure that it'll be met with negative remarks.
Cos, its about CGLs and the members. Not inter-related, but close enough.
About responsibility, courtesy and a whole lot more.
Well done.

I'm too lazy to type anymore.
Cos I know the more I type, the more negative remarks people will spout.
Well done folks.

Anyway, God asked me this question out of the blue.

"What will you do if you had a couple of million dollars and could do whatever you want with it?"
What would your answer be?

Apple's "Let's Rock" iPod Event Summary

2008-09-10T12:13:00.006+08:00

As promised, I will write about the Apple's "Let's Rock" Special Event which just ended about a couple of hours ago.

Anyway, updates revolve around the music side of Apple, as with all updates at this time of the year.

MacBook and MacBook Pros received no updates at this time. They'll have to wait till next year's Macworld 2009.

Anyway, in point form...

iTunes 8

- New version of iTunes, downloadable from this LINK

- New function called "Genius". What is does is to generate playlists with songs in the iTunes Library with information from the iTunes Store. iTunes will send anonymous information to iTunes Store regarding playback habits and behaviors, allowing Genius to generate playlists that has better song choice.

- Blind people can now purchase songs on iTunes Store more easily than before with improved Voice-Over commands.

-High Definition TV Shows now available on iTunes Store. Normal TV Shows now at USD1.99, HD TV Shows at USD2.99. When you purchase a HD TV Show, you get a iPod-ready version as well. (SG iTunes Store now only has iPod Touch and iPhone applications. No music, no podcast, no TV Shows. That sucks, but that's it)
- HD TV Shows requires at least 1GB RAM and a Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz and higher processor on Macs.
- Quicktime and Front Row updates available from Software Update to support the new iTunes 8. (Run Software Update now if it hasn't)
- NBC is back with iTunes Store.
- Windows users have updates on firewall settings with regards to iTunes as well.

iPod Touch

The funnest iPod ever, and all English teachers weep openly.

- Lighter, at 4.05ounces compared to the previous 4.2ounces. (Ok ya, whatever. Like that's gonna have a significant help to my back problems)
- Contoured, tapered-at-the-ends design, very similar to the iPhone 3G.
- Volume controls and built-in speaker (Obviously for casual listening, not blasting on MRT trains)
- Support for Nike-iPod, no need for iPod receiver. Just purchase the shoe transmitter and you're ready to go.
- Better battery life, 36 hours of music playback, compared to 22 hours. And 6 hours of video playback, compared to 5 hours.
- More games for iPod Touch available at App Store on your iPod Touch.
- Configurations are 8GB (USD 229), 16GB (USD 299), 32GB (USD 399). All Shipping Now.

iPod Nano

New look and colors for iPod Nano

- 4th-Generation iPod Nano, dimensions at 3.6" x 1.5" x 0.24" compared to 2.75" x 2.06" x 0.26"
- Taller look, but retains video playback, music and photo slideshow functionality.
- Users can now rotate the iPod Nano and view content in both portrait and landscape modes. (Obviously because of a new sensor called the Accelerometer. Same as that on iPod Touch and iPhone.
- Here's a cool feature. Want to shuffle your songs? SHAKE the Nano.
- New Colors, including, purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, red, pink, black and silver. Yes, Jobs have finally included rainbow colors.
- Configurations are 8GB (USD 149) and 16GB (USD 199). Apple has doubled memory capacity on the iPod Nanos at no extra cost.

Other iPods
- iPod Classic.... 160GB version discontinued (not many people are buying). Instead 80GB version upgraded to 120GB version, at no extra cost.
-iPod Shuffle.... No major updates, just more vibrant colors. Colors are the same though, just more vibrant.

Other Updates
- iPhone Software 2.1. Promises fewer dropped calls.
- iPod In-Ear Earphones. Comes with microphone as well. USD79, not shipping yet.

2008-09-09T23:48:00.001+08:00

Following tradition, the Apple Store has gone offline, before the start of the media event in a couple of hours.

I'll probably post updates here, most of which are to follow the iPod line.

Time to sleep for a while.

2008-09-09T00:42:00.002+08:00

I've been dying to update this page.

But have also been caught up with a lot of stuff to do.

Anyhow, went back to church officially starting this weekend.

Went for ministry on saturday, and one thing I must say.

Nothing has changed. Almost everything is exactly the same way it was when I left.

I don't know whether that is a good thing or a bad one.

Anyway, this week's sermon was good.

Set me thinking about a lot of things, much was which was in the past.

But then again, it also gave me a lot of new ideas, which I have still yet to find an avenue to export them out to.

Anyway, been rather busy.

Spent 3 hours today installing Final Cut Studio 2.

Switching between 2 different hard drives at the same time because the templates were so amazingly huge.

Then apparently there's something wrong with my Aperture Vault. which doesn't seem to be able to update for some apparent reason.

Anyhow, I still have yet to get my bunch of stock footages and audio files, including Garageband Jam Packs.

Just received the sampler DVD from ArtBeats.com, straight from the US. Cool eh?

Anyhow, been thinking about this thursday.

Still in a dilemma about what I should be doing.

Because in both aspects, I'll look like a complete asshole.

Do it, and I'm an asshole.

Stand back, and I'm still an asshole.

Maybe....

Is there still anyone who values change?

Because from the time I left in March till now, its been 6 months.

Nothing has changed in my opinion.

I was expecting quite a large amount of changes in the church and the people.

But apparently I was wrong.

So for those who were afraid that I couldn't fit in because I've been away for so long, relax.

I'm fitting in extremely fine.

How could I not, given that nothing has changed.

People hasn't changed either. But they didn't get better either.

Unfortunately, it got worse. I've never seen such attitude from people I don't expect.

It's just the pride.

Amazingly, the people who I feel close to are not from the CG.

Amazingly.

Neither do they come from the zone either.

Ok, not all. But I could count them with just 1 hand.

Goes to show what kind of a family that I'm in.

I mean, it's just plain rude to ignore someone after he said hi to you. That's just rude, no matter who you are.

But oh, maybe that person didn't hear you? Ya sure, it was a lift, and I have a loud voice for one.

Disappointment is what I feel on my first 2 days back in church.

Well done people.

Asia Conference Bus

2008-09-03T22:57:00.002+08:00

Shall blog before I sleep. Think that might be a wonderful thing to do for a change.

Evening sky outside National University Hospital

Have been spending quite a significant amount of time in the hospitals lately.

All of which was to wait for Carmen to finish her work and accompany her home.

Much to the envy of her fellow workers.

Of course, most of it wasn't just spent sitting there doing nothing.

God knows what I'll become if I sat in one spot for 3 hours at a time.

So I roamed, around the whole of National University Hospital, until I became so board I started making calls to pay-phones in the hospital itself.

Kidding.

But instead, I got to watch a elevator break down, and get bitten by mosquitos on a daily basis.

Imagine, mosquitos in a hospital, biting me everytime I went there.

It kinda sucks, literally, since I have O+ blood.

All the mosquitos must be like "Buffet has arrived" everytime I walk through those doors of NUH.

Anyhow, spotted these interesting buses a couple of days back on Monday.

Left side of SBS Single-Decked WAB Buses

Yes, Asia Conference 2008 Ad buses. On SBS Transit though.

As far as I know, they're currently on services 105 and 64.

Right side of SBS Single-Decked WAB Buses

This is the other side.

The above pictures is, in my opinion, the best shot that I have about the buses.

Looks darn amazing.

Back of SBS Single-Decked WAB Bus

This is what the back looks like.

And guess what, I didn't just see one.

But TWO!

At the same location.

That is not counting another one I saw at Dohby Gaught and yet another one later that night.

That's a total of 4 of the same bus designs that I saw that single day itself.

Pretty anointing huh? I thought it was cool.

But can you imagine how much it cost to place an advert on buses?

Production Cost: S$2,300 per bus

Monthly rate: S$2,500 per bus (min of 6 months)

That means one bus is a whopping S$17,300 per bus. And that is only the minimal.

That's 1 bus.

Imagine how many of them are running around Singapore carrying that ad.

It's just awesome.

Anyhow, here's a link to the Asia Conference Trailer on YouTube.

Not going to put it here cos there's already a song above.

Asia Conference Trailer

Yes, I caught the movie.

Cute little robot which required a bit of time to reload his personality when his computer chip smashed up.

And the way the humans were living, it's just, well, revealing.

They're like huge?!

Anyway, it's a great movie, one worth catching in my opinion.

Here's a couple of facts from the movie.

1) The "dong" sound you hear after Wall.e finishes his Solar Charge, is the same sound you hear when you start up your Mac.

2) Eve's designer is the same guy who designed the iPod.

3) The voice of the steering-wheel looking Auto Pilot is also a Mac generated voice, just from an older version of the Operating System.

Sounds cool? I thought so.