I have been caught on camera while on duty during one of my company's event a couple of weeks back. Not often that I get to be in front of the camera but this picture was shot by one of my senior managers in the firm.



This picture was taken at Equitorial hotel in KL in front of one of the conference rooms. Tripod behind was initially setup to take some shots of the event's participants but that was changed because there was another professional photographer there who handled that portion.

As a Nikon shooter myself, I have only one thing to say when Canon launched their latest camera on Tuesday, the Canon 5d Mark II, and the one thing I can say is, "Wow!".



Here are the specs below.

• 21 megapixel CMOS sensor (very similar to the sensor in the EOS-1Ds Mark III)


• Sensor dust reduction by vibration of filter


• ISO 100 - 6400 calibrated range, ISO 50 - 25600 expansion (1Ds Mark III & 5D max ISO 3200)


• Auto ISO (100 - 3200) in all modes except manual


• 3.9 frames per second continuous shooting


• DIGIC 4 processor, new menus / interface as per the EOS 50D


• Image processing features:
  
  
  
  • Highlight tone priority
  
  
  • Auto lighting optimizer (4 levels)
  
  
  • High ISO noise reduction (4 levels)
  
  
  • Lens peripheral illumination correction (vignetting correction)
  
  
  
  


• RAW and SRAW1 (10 MP) / SRAW2 (5 MP)


• RAW / JPEG selection made separately


• Permanent display of ISO on both top plate and viewfinder displays


• AF microadjustment (up to 20 lenses individually)


• Three custom modes on command dial, Creative Auto mode


• Image copyright metadata support


• 98% coverage viewfinder (0.71x magnification)


• 3.0" 920,000 dot LCD monitor with 'Clear View' cover / coatings, 170° viewing angle


• Automatic LCD brightness adjustment (ambient light sensor)


• Live view with three mode auto-focus (including face detection)


• No mirror-flip for exposures in Live View if contrast detect AF selected


• Movie recording in live view (1080p H.264 up to 12 minutes, VGA H.264 up to 24 mins per clip)


• Two mode silent shooting (in live view)


• New jump options in play mode


• HDMI and standard composite (AV) video out


• Full audio support: built-in mic and speaker, mic-in socket, audio-out over AV (although not HDMI)


• IrPort (supports IR remote shutter release using optional RC1 / RC5 controllers)


• UDMA CompactFlash support


• New 1800 mAh battery with improved battery information / logging


• New optional WFT-E4 WiFi / LAN / USB vertical grip


• Water resistance: 10 mm rain in 3 minutes

Overview given on Canon's website:

High Performance for High Expectation
Canon's update to the wildly popular full frame EOS 5D is here, and it's better than ever. The EOS 5D Mark II has a stunning 21.1-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor with DIGIC 4 Image Processor, a vast ISO Range of 100-6400 (expandable to ISO L: 50, H1: 12800 and H2: 25600), plus EOS technologies like Auto Lighting Optimizer and Peripheral Illumination Correction. It supports Live View shooting, Live View HD videos, and more. It can shoot up to 3.9 fps, has 9 AF points plus 6 AF assist points, a new 98% coverage viewfinder, a 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots/VGA) and a rugged build. Full-frame shooters rejoice!

Again, these specifications are just amazing and there are already several comparison shots at high ISO between the Canon 5D Mark II and the Nikon D700. Other than that would be the ability to record videos especially now that you would have a range of lenses to use to record those videos. That means shooting videos at f/1.2 and have such amazing shallow depth of field.

Personally, still way too expensive for my taste! I guess I better start poisoning Alex and Grace to get this awesome new piece of hardware pretty soon :P

Sources: Dpreview & Terry White

Amidst the financial crisis some parts of the world is facing as well as dropping fuel prices (currently at USD$96), there is always time and space on CNN to highlight our country. Previously it has never been in any sort of good light that we are highlighted, especially if we hoped that news like this might attract more foreign investors.

Anyway, here is a snippet of the article from CNN.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- Malaysia's opposition leader demanded Thursday an emergency Parliament session for a no confidence vote in the government, insisting he has secured enough defections from the ruling coalition to topple it.

Of course this talks about what has been going on around our country and what are the current headlines screaming. The Star is back to their cutdown web page to reduce bandwidth whilst Malaysiakini is screaming the headlines that "Anwar seeks emergency House session".

News Strait Times on the other hand is highlighting on another matter, "SAPP senior vice-president and youth chief resign" whilst MySinChew is saying that Anwar demands a "Special" session of Parliament.

Our ex-prime minister, Dr. Mahathir, has this to say about the ongoing financial crisis. Whilst many people are wondering on why a blogger was detained under the sedition act. Apparently some said that he was charged because he asked that the national flag be flown upside down and this has caused much grief to certain parties.

Wikipedia states that based on International flag terminology, flying a flag upside down means to show that a country is in distress. With so much going on, this country is changing ever so rapidly. I guess change is inevitable, whether it may be that the economy will face another crisis on a global scale or maybe there might be some sort of a life line in our current state of affairs.

I had an interesting conversation today with one of my colleagues over lunch and it was about the failing financial crisis. Out of all of these, somewhere out there, in the midst of a whole economic downturn, there is someone out there who is actually on the benefacting side. Who knows, maybe until when the shroud has been cleared, only will we know what was the real cause or who might be the real cause.

Many people have been harping on the date and finally, the 16th of September has arrived. What does it mean to me personally? Frankly, I couldn't care less about the date nor can I really care about the significance of harping about the date. To me, it is in the minds of the people, to me, today marks a day where there is a group of people who are trying to change for the better.

News websites have been cut down to plain versions without the multimedia components in order to meet bandwidth expectations. So far, the two that I have seen would be Malaysiakini and TheStar. So far, claims have been that the numbers are there whilst mainstream news says that it is just a lie. Who knows what the future holds for us but one thing for sure, the ball is definitely in motion.

Here are what some bloggers have to say as well at Rocky's Bru and Jeff Ooi on recent events.

Other updates would be that RPK and Theresa Kok are still held under ISA while our law minister, Zaid Ibrahim has resigned over the use of the ISA.

With so many events happening around us, I just wonder what would really happen. It is a public holiday here in Selangor tomorrow but I will still be working as my office is in KL. Should I travel to KL tomorrow on the LRT or should I try alternative methods instead?

Anyway, tomorrow will be a new day and I will be monitoring the situation on news website tonight!

(Update 4)

If you have the chance, head over to MIS's blog on his thoughts in regards to RPK's arrest.

Raja Petra Kamaruddin has been arrested under ISA. As the author of the popular Malaysia-Today news portal, RPK has always been the centre of the limelight in many of his interesting articles posted on his news site. The arrest came as a sudden thing to me especially after reading that the MCMC has been ordered to remove all blocks from the website. Reported in by RPK's wife that he was detained a little over an hour ago.

Personally, I am rather shocked and saddened that such an action had been taken.

Read here for the Star's account.

Read here for the Malaysian Insider account.

Also reported on other blogs:

1. Rocky's Bru


2. Wong Chun Wai


3. Lim Kit Siang


4. Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

SexyJudge has this to say about who we are. Though the name of the blog definitely doesn't add enough credibility to the writer (maybe it's because I have something against corny names or perhaps of our recent judicial problems, who knows?), I couldn't agree more about the article.

Recently, I have decided to subscribe to a very interesting RSS feed, one based on the thoughts of our previous Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir, on his blog over at Che-Det. I liked one of his recent articles here and it does touch home some very interesting points. Nevertheless with headlines screaming that he is on the verge of returning to UMNO, perhaps this article was targetted for his return.

I was at Starbucks in Centrepoint Bandar Utama last night trying to get some computer based trainings done while accompanying munZ as she worked. The wifi signal with the greatest strength was TimeZone but among all the other wifi connections about, it was the slowest. It was so bad that even my Live Messenger couldn't connect and I was really struggling to get to any websites, let alone those hosted in the US.

After 30 minutes of complaining and checking every other wifi signal, I finally found one that was slightly faster and I managed to load my CBT. It was a little bit more bearable as I could even surf websites such as "The Star" or "Lowyat.net".

I used to think that Starbucks offered great wifi service but after recent attempts to work there, it is becoming more apparent that my Streamyx connection at home was a lot more reliable and faster to boot. If you happen to have a brilliant idea to pop by over at Starbucks to do any sort of internet surfing, perhaps you might think twice again. But hey, this is just my own experience and opinion.

Frankly, I don't think Starbucks has anything to do with it but I guess their service providers should do something about their internet services.

As I was walking about in One Utama after a quick dinner of a combined Roti Boy and "mata kuching", I went in several shops at One Utama learning about the 4C's. After learning some interesting information about what the 4C's meant, I chanced upon this shop called Foot Master which offered those "fish spa" where you would dip your feet into a tank of water and let the fishes eat your dead skin away.

Now this isn't the very first post about this sort of thing and I have read about this in other blogs but I have never experienced it before. So I brought munZ with me into the spa and I was pleasantly surprised that the water in the tank was warm. Before I could even say that the water was warm, a whole school of fish can nibbling at my feet!

MunZ was laughing all the way because she felt so ticklelish but I was actually enjoying it. Being curious as ever, I even dipped my hand in the water to see if they would come and nibble of the dead skins on my hand. The fish took the bait and ate away all my dead skin.

I took some photos and videos on my handphone and would upload them up here in this post when I have the time. To be perfectly honest, my feet felt really refreshed and clean after that session and it was really smooth. Being a typical male guy who doesn't take care of his feet, this was a real way of getting your feet cleaned.

Not convinced by my post? Well here are other sites which accounts for their experience in the same store at One utama.

• http://whoisbaby.net/blog/2008/07/18/fish-spa-at-foot-master-one-utama/


• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUFkrbrM3kc


• http://www.pjnet.com.my/ftopic-10003-days0-orderasc-30.html

Woah, I just realised that lots of things have occurred since my last post which contained words. And not just anything but major important things which might make an impact in the very environment that I am most active in.

Anwar Wins in Permatang Pauh

Of course the biggest news is that Anwar is back as a MP in our parliament after his huge win in Permatang Pauh. That is by now old news and everyone is kept in suspense as they await the exciting day of the 16th of September. Pretty interesting articles have floated about mentioning about this particular date and since it is only 2 weeks away, I will too be kept in suspense on the outcome. What does it really matter to me? Well for one thing, if rumours are true then Malaysia might see a new government. Else, I pray that reforms will take place and our country focuses on helping the people and gaining back the trust of foreign investors.

Malaysia Today Blocked by MCMC

Our local blog/news site has been blocked by the folks at MCMC with the claim that the content is against article blah blah and MCMC has requested that all ISPs block this particular website to the Malaysian people. Alternate mirror sites have since surfaced but everyone is just waiting to see if anything will be done. Local politicians has already disagreed on the move to block this site. My thoughts on this? To be frank, both sides have a point and we can argue the same way when MCMC blocked those phishing sites. The reason why I am on the fence in this matter is because no matter how much it is being blocked, the alternative sites are up and still accessible.

Mobile Number Portability

This has been long awaited as previously a lot of people are "lazy" to switch over to another network even though the deals are cheaper and better is because they are just too "malas" to update their contacts that they have switched numbers. With this, price wars between our telcos can be a real benefit to the people. I am still awaiting for that iPhone 3G to arrive in Malaysia, only then can I make an even more informed decision then.

Google Releases Chrome

A new browser is in the market and its made by Google. To find out more about the browser, do check out this article here where a good comparitive is made against IE7, FireFox and Safari. The review includes benchmarks and performance tests so its a good baseline for now. I haven't installed it on my home PC at home nor can I install it on my work PC so I can't really give a good review on the new software.

Mark starts golf

Actually I am rather new in this whole sport of golf and since it has been rather quiet lately, I managed to squeeze in my first session of golf on the green at UPM. Frankly, I sucked at the game and hit 171 over 18 holes. Being very honest, we counted every hit hence the extremely high score. The next round showed some slight improvement with me hitting 73 for the first 9 holes but I couldn't finish the last 9 holes because we got rained out. Tips I learned would be to bring at least 3 sets of clothes to change a big towel.

Other than all of these, its work work work and more work for me. The busy period of shooting is coming soon so I need to be prepared for that. Till the next post!