VistaCrew

First, read Ken Rockwell’s fun article, How to Spot an Amateur.

Based what he had mentioned there, the following criteria is used to define are you a amateur.
1 ) Backpack
2 ) Carrying too much stuff
3 ) Polarizer over UV filter, or polarizer used all the time
4 ) Midrange zoom
5 ) Camera worn directly over the neck
6 ) Clean gear
7 ) New DSLR
8 ) Lens cap and lens keepers
9 ) Using a tripod in daylight
10) LCD magnifier
11) Beepers
12) Camera brand strap showing logo
13) Hood on backwards
14) Tripods, fast lenses and high ISOs

So, how many criteria fit into you? I am 6/14 which is 43% amateur!

Article read from albnok’s blog.

After the new release of Canon 500D and Nikon D5000, Sony came out with it new entry-level DSLR models – Alpha 230, Alpha 330 and Alpha 380. IMHO, all the three new DSLR are facelift of Alpha 200, Alpha 300 and Alpha 350. The differences between them are changes of the outlook, buttons location, the GUI and the storage format and etc. The new trio also have shallower handgrip, nicer icon-ize menu and different kit-lens which is 18-55(what i got for mine is 18-70) .

With all these new release, there are more options to consider. Still, different brand have their own pros and cons, so think carefully before buying any as there will no turning back after you make up your mind. (If you are loaded then that’s different la)

Here some information for you people.

Alpha 230

Alpha 330

Alpha 380

Specification/Model	A380	A330	A230
Sensor resolution	14.2 megapixels	10.2 megapixels	10.2 megapixels
ISO sensitivity	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200
LCD size	2.7-inch tiltable	2.7-inch tiltable	2.7-inch fixed
Video recording	No	No	No
Continuous shooting	2.5fps	2.5fps	2.5fps
Image stabilizer	In-body	In-body	In-body
Storage format	Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC	Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC	Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC
No. of focusing points	9	9	9
Dimensions/ Weight (body only)	128 x 97 x 71.4 mm 490g	128 x 97 x 71.4 mm 490g	128 x 97 x 67.5 mm 450g

Specification/Model	A380	Canon EOS 500D	Nikon D5000
Sensor resolution	14.2 megapixels	15 megapixels	12 megapixels
ISO sensitivity	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200 (expandable to ISO 12,800)	ISO 100 to ISO 1,600 (expandable to ISO 6,400)
LCD size	2.7-inch tiltable	3-inch fixed	2.7-inch tilt and swivel
Video recording	No	Yes. 1080p quality maximum	Yes. 720p quality maximum
Continuous shooting	2.5fps	3.4	4
Image stabilizer	In-body	Via compatible lenses	Via compatible lenses
Storage format	Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC
No. of focusing points	9	9	11
Dimensions/ Weight (body only)	128 x 97 x 71.4 mm 490g	129 x 98 x 62 mm 480g	127 x 104 x 80 mm 560g

Specification/Model	A330	Olympus E-450	Pentax K2000
Sensor resolution	10.2 megapixels	10 megapixels	10 megapixels
ISO sensitivity	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200	ISO 100 to ISO 1,600	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200
LCD size	2.7-inch tiltable	2.7-inch fixed	2.7-inch fixed
Video recording	No	No	No
Continuous shooting	2.5fps	3.5	3.5
Image stabilizer	In-body	Nil	In-body
Storage format	Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC	CompactFlash and xD-Picture card	SD/SDHC
No. of focusing points	9	3	5
Dimensions/ Weight (body only)	128 x 97 x 71.4 mm 490g	129.5 x 91 x 53 mm 380g	122.5 x 91.5 x 67.5 mm 525g

Specification/Model	A230	Canon EOS 1000D	Nikon D60
Sensor resolution	10.2 megapixels	10 megapixels	10 megapixels
ISO sensitivity	ISO 100 to ISO 3,200	ISO 100 to ISO 1,600	ISO 100 to ISO 1,600 (expandable to ISO 3,200)
LCD size	2.7-inch fixed	2.5-inch fixed	2.5-inch fixed
Video recording	No	No	No
Continuous shooting	2.5fps	3fps	3fps
Image stabilizer	In-body	Via compatible lenses	Via compatible lenses
Storage format	Memory Stick PRO Duo and SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC
No. of focusing points	9	7	3
Dimensions/ Weight (body only)	128 x 97 x 67.5 mm 450g	126.1 x 97.5 x 61.9 mm 450g	126 x 94 x 64 mm 495g

(Information and picture from cnet)

More information click here, here, and here .

I owned myself an Alpha 300 and I am bleeding Sony Alpha blood! Hoo-Ra!

I have been hiatus for very very long period just because no motivation. LOL! Will continue back the Hong Kong Macau trip journal when I got the mood. Don’t worry, I still remember every little detail of the trip for after so long *praise me please*

Ok, recently been doing quite lot of outgoing and home staying simultaneously and last week Monday I attended a course with my friend, Ming Yuan, provided by Guidance View sponsored by MDeC. So just a quick update on how the place look like and what my friend and me been doing or let’s been eating since we at Mid Valley. *gonna try out every foods store available there within our budget LOL* You can come find us for lunch too, dinner as well

where we learn new stuffs *is really new stuffs yo! Nothing like what we learn during college*

Food we ate during the whole week.

And we try something we haven’t had the chance to try when we are still studying.

Tempting? Come find us next week. We can go together-gether!
Haaha…
Anyway, me signing out!

The world’s thinnest laptop is no more Apple Macbook AIR! The crown is now given to Dell Adamo! What’s so cool with Dell Adamo? Obviously… It’s slim and lightweight! The design of the laptop is revolutionary! When you first see it, you will think that it is an artistic figure more than a laptop computer itself. The chasis is made of solid aluminium with distinctive textures on the lid crafted with precision. Somemore, glass-framed 13.4″ HD LCD screen and backlit keyboard (Shines in the dark just like your mobile phone!). Spec-wise… this lappy is powerful! With Intel Core 2 DUO as standard and DDR3 RAM!!! That’s a beast! Also equipped with Solid State drives. Even their packaging was so stunning as it looks like sealed inside a capsule. However, the price is also a WOW… Starting RM7399… Dunno how this machine will sell in this economic environment… But it was sure a big leap for Dell in the laptop industry. It comes with 2 colour patterns – Onyx and Pearl.

(Partial sources from Lowyat.net)

Wondering how to print out photos on the go to share with friends & family? Well, here’s Dell Wasabi! A compact mobile printer which is inkless! Yup! thanks to the ZINK – Zero-Ink Technology. Actually, the magic lies beneath the special ZINK paper. It has special chemicals in order to produce vivid colors! Very unique indeed. Design-wise, Wasabi was so compact that you can carry it in your pocket! The colored transparent panel is also so cool! Also the indication lights which symbolizes a smillie face! But how to print from a device? Well, Wasabi supports Bluetooth as well as PictBridge technology. So, you can print from your mobile phone or camera on the fly! I think this is a cool product. But, its a bit pricey for now with retail price of over RM500… With such economy situation, it shoud not be practical yet… Nevertheless, it’s gonna be a product to threaten photo printers for sure, as if price became cheaper… Looks like Dell is targeting for a diverging market!

Yes, Intel had introduced its masterpiece of all time – the Intel Core i7 processor line. Intel Core i7 is a monster despite a small tiny physical size! It is quad cored and has capabilities to process 8 threads a time! That’s doubled the capabilities of its quad core predecessor thanks to Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technology. It also broke the world record for the fastest processor, achieving an astonishing result of 117 for the SPECint_base_rate2006 benchmark test, in which no processor had ever broke the 100 bar. Price-wise, it’s going to be a whooping RM1000 or more.

Here’s detailed sources from lowyat.net

Video demonstrating the new making of the beast here. Man, Intel is really a small United Nation itself as there are many employees from many races and nationalities. Cool.

Additionally, here’s some comics from Intel making fun on describing Core i7:

It’s been long since the last updates from me… Been quite busy on courseworks also post-FYP relaxation… LOL! Anyway, here’s some updates on the latest tech news… As we knew, the current global economy is going downwards… Many companies are going to suffer… Retrenchments in action everywhere now… I’m not sure if I was “lucky” to be graduated under such market conditions… But it’s a fact that it will be though for many for the following time to come.

So… many big guys (multi-national companies) are laying off employees… It seems that the technology world is going to be the same… just like Yahoo!… Lots of people left the company since the falldown of its proposed acquisition from Microsoft. Jerry Yang, Co-Founder and current C.E.O of Yahoo! is in the midst of a storm of the company’s situation and it seems he’s surrendering.

From my point of view, Yahoo! is an innovative company as they offer lots of integrted, value added services to web users. But what’s went wrong with the company? A simple answer is… It is less competitive compared to Google. Their share price drops because they cannot compete. It’s a realistic fact that they earned lesser than its rival and shareholders are unhappy. Now, with the global economic downturn, it worsen the condition. I think Jerry Yang was stepping down as for the company’s good since he can’t do anything for now.

Yahoo! needs a savior. Anyway, it would still be a good thing for Jerry Yang as he still remains as Chief Yahoo! and would continue to monitor his baby, letting a more capable man to drive it despite making it worse. Hopes Yahoo! could overcome and continues to savage the Web.

It’s been over a decade since the Windows OS launched and various naming conventions were used over different versions launched during these years… From Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows 2003… until today’s Windows Vista and the server cousin Windows 2008…

Many people thinks that the Windows product had the worst namings of all time for Microsoft’s product…especially XP and Vista which does not have a strong meaning associated… Perhaps just for cool? Anyway, seems that Microsoft had found out that it doesn’t really make any sense at all… That is why they decided to name the next Windows release as Windows 7! Yeah! It’s quite official. It represents the 7th release of the Windows family.

Since a lot of complains were reported regarding Vista, thus Microsoft would really want to make a bet for Windows 7 as a lot of features and stability will be done based on the Vista core. Let’s just hope Windows 7 will be a better OS for the coming years. But when Windows 7 will be shipped? Perhaps within a year or two… Let’s see…

(Source from Techcrunch and Microsoft)