Denver Nuggets - NBA Champs 2023!

Congrats to the Denver Nuggets on winning their NBA Championship!

What an amazing achievement and to see how far they have come over the last few years- building, grinding and assembling and nurturing a team which has come through on the biggest stage.  Like any team, there are setbacks such as in the bubble, injuries to key players while also some luck in getting some strong pieces who stayed healthy and ready to help the team get over the line.  Truly embodying team basketball and the absolutely right collective mindset to winning.

 

I wanted to also reflect on Nikola Jokic.  The Joker has been an absolute beast in the post season and so very different last year when they bowed out to the Warriors - granted that they were missing Jamal Murray as well as a year of experience certainly made them look more like a team.

 Firstly, the sheer numbers that Jokic has been putting up has been insane - the triple doubles (and the volume in those triple doubles) as well as identifying what the team needs and going out and executing.  Absolutely ice-cool operator and definitely embodies MVP in terms of making his teammates around him better - freeing them up to be just experts in their trade.  Just spot up and score.

Not only his ability to be a point centre, but also mopping up rebounds and scoring and making the right play - without jumping out of the gym.  It is this type of basketball that makes it attractive on many levels (playing in teams from youngsters) rather than just pure individual 1v1 brilliance.  His play makes it exciting to watch and may not be "highlight reel" making the nightly Top 10 plays, but if you are a basketball fan with some level of basketball IQ it is very beautiful to watch.  In some ways, it is why the Warriors have been so popular as it is quite relatable basketball, but somewhat even more so, as they don't have insane flame throwers on their team.  Relatable as the best player was a guy who barely gets of the ground, but can impact the play in the right way.

Definitely deserves his flowers and as Coach Malone says, that he is a very nice and genuine person off the court, I absolutely believe it.  So another congrats to Nuggets and Jokic - well deserved and look forward to more exciting basketball in the future!

New skills, new tech. From Nikon to Sony.

I have been on and off in terms of photography when I bought my first camera.
The trusty Nikon had served me well over the last 9 years or so.  Firstly the picture quality was great being a full frame camera and I managed to take it to many places with me over the years - Peru, Europe, Asia.  So many fond memories of the camera. 
In saying that, technology has come quite far over that time and lots have improved.  Image quality and dynamic range in the photos, autofocus (like Eye AF) and not to mention mirrorless full frame cameras has certainly seen huge moves over the last 9 years where technology is at the point where I see it as being quite mature.  I have never been fond of being the earliest adopter of technology, especially in areas of limited use.  But all these things are large step ups from what and where we have come from over this time.  In my latest camera acquisition, I decided to give Sony a go, having show with Nikon pretty much these last 9 years.  I did do a lot of research on this and thought I should outline why I decided to go with Sony this time around.
Firstly, I really enjoyed my older cameras, but did feel like I was missing out on new functionality, such as WIFI, video functionality (let alone 4K), live view and focus peaking.

1) Mirrorless - weight, size and live view.
We have seen mirrorless around for some time, and Sony was really forging ahead over the last few years in this field and established themselves as having very good full frame cameras as well.  Over the years, the weight of the sturdy DSLRs as well as significant improvements in phone cameras has meant I have often opted for the convenience of my phone over the DSLRs and often were left sitting in my dry box.  In addition, I felt I was missing out on live-view to compose my shot and settings real time.  Short trips as well meant I was carrying a fair amount of size and weight on trips and was thinking about how I could make this easier.

2) Autofocus
The new cameras and mirrorless, have great autofocus.  Covering a very large area of the screen as well as Eye AF in the Sony.  One of the most annoying and frustrating things for me is missing focus - because nothing can be done about it in post processing.  Being able to track subjects across the frame rather than just the centre of the frame is very nice.
Also, autofocus on these cameras is quick - less missed shots and high burst rates!
Shots of people, portraits - it's awesome to have some of the algorithm take some of the hard work out of it and just nail the autofocus.  Most manufacturers in mirrorless have it or at least it's coming (e.g. Nikon).  Perhaps also my eyes are not what they used to be!  Clearly it is something shooters are looking for these days. 

3) Video
Video is something which interests me, but I have not gotten into as yet.  Earlier years saw implementation compromises in the Nikon DSLRs, so I did hesitate.  But now that 4K is quite prevalent, I would be keen to capture footage now!

4) In body image stabilisation
Interestingly, Sony offers IBIS which is great for older lenses.  While not all mirrorless cameras offer it, definitely helpful for someone like me with some shakey hands!  Lots of image blur is unrecoverable in post as well.

5) Dynamic range
The new cameras have such good dynamic range - just as good as the DSLRs which have closed that gap up substantially

6) Adapting lenses
I gave this quite some consideration.  As we all know, good glass is never cheap.  But mirrorless has opened up a market for a variety of old lenses to be used on the cameras via adapters, mainly due to the shorter flange distance to the sensor.  Which is great as I won't necessarily need to get rid of all my old glass, as I still have film camera around.  Some even offering autofocus!

So why Sony, given I have been a longer time Nikon shooter?
Sony has been leading the charge in full frame mirrorless.  From the research I had done, their latest cameras have taken great strides in improving their mirrorless cameras.  While I had a friend who has churned through the Sony a7i it was the Sony A7iii which really got my attention.
Better battery life than previously.  Very good autofocus.  Two card slots.  And by virtue of being earlier in the game, and the gamut of lenses (native) and adapters around. 


In addition, there were two swing factors.  While Nikon had come out with their Z6/Z7 cameras, from all accounts, autofocus was not there yet and the FTZ adapter meant that I couldn't even use all my lenses with autofocus, given I have a few AF-D lenses.  Being a younger system also meant it was still getting onto Eye AF, autofocus was good, but not quite on pair, and not as many native lenses (if I went down that path).
Flowing from that, the second big one for me was that Sony (wisely) has decided to open up their mount information to third party manufacturers.  This incentives them to make good glass for their system with pretty much all the functionality, rather than having to reverse engineer the information.  This frustrated me from with the Nikon F mount, as there was good glass out there from other manufacturers, but they were never as optimised on the F mount.
If Nikon had come out with a better FTZ adapter that allowed AF-D lenses and with better autofocus then the decision may have been harder as there is still some very good glass from Nikon.

So I bought an adapter for the Sony which allowed me to also use my Nikon lenses on the Sony body with Eye-AF.  Third party of course, but works.

Of course the Sony is not all a bed of roses.  I knew that it may not have as good weather sealing and ergonomics (menu system is definitely a bit challenging to navigate with nested options), but I felt that it was still worth it with the above.  Lenses coming from Sony are not cheap, but I feel that the adapters and third party lens manufacturers are at least coming up in that sense. Sony also has an adapter for their alpha FF cameras, so that's also an option as well.

In a way, I am excited to try this new setup.  New camera - new tips, new menus and ergonomics to figure out. But hopefully some nice photos to come out!

Sample photo below of some food - straight out of camera!

Notepad Scribbles 20180715

A bit over half the year has already gone by and I have to say, this year has seen a lot of change already.  Some was slow and some has been much faster.

I had lamented the fact that it had been challenging and the difficulty sometimes of staying mentally focused while not seeing results.  So the first positive is that in some areas, it is that the slow grind has shown some improvement.  It has justified the perseverance and the consistency.  Not knowing the outcome until afterwards.  But now, it has breathed extra life into the activities which is great to see.  While there has been a lot of stop starts and trial and error to find what works and doesn't work, it feels good when things are under control - if even just for now.

The other large changes have been moving. If ever one moves, one realises how much clutter and extra belongings one has hoarded over time - some lost in a black hole of forgetfulness or misplacing items.  Finding things can sometimes be a joy - but dismay when I realise I have bought more of the same due to being absent minded! It's also a good time to assess whether some things are relevant and some things just need updating or replacing.  Definitely been a great exercise for de-cluttering, perhaps due to being sentimental or just a hoarder mentality.  One thing I know is that I hoard quite a bit of paper (no, have not gone paperless just yet) and some I never look at again. Probably need to rethink that strategy to be honest!

Turning a slow ship....

I had definitely hoped for a more positive start to 2018.
However, it seems like things are still challenging - more a continuation of 2017.
What is most disappointing is when one believes that they have made changes; gone through the hard yards and hoping for the outcomes to be different.  Made changes to set oneself up for a better tomorrow.  But no.  The outcomes are not different.  The pain continues both professionally and personally.  All that slogging. All that running with the head down to get things done. 
What is disappointing is that after all that push - nothing.  Or even regression in some instances.

Perhaps I am not used to being in such a predicament - and usually can overcome such a predicament.  But now I start to question whether I can even overcome it all and what it really would take.   Going from, "What do I need to do?" to "What else can I do?" takes some time.  I wonder whether I still have the same mental resolve I had when I was younger.   

Have I lost it? 
I certainly hope not. 

Perhaps I am lost in the detail or I am not really thinking long term enough.  Let's hope I can turn things around - soon!

Spot purchases

The last 6 weeks have been about traveling and certainly it has been hectic.  One disadvantage is that my gym time has suffered and certainly impacted my lifestyle and fitness which is a shame.
I really need to get back into this, and my recent trip to the gym yielded less than stellar results as I was definitely not fitter than I was just a few months ago, so feel like the hard work has been literally worked off!

The last little while - work has also been tough and likely set up for some tough discussions, so that's definitely not so great.  In reflecting, I felt that I did do a lot and made some sacrifices, but in the end, results were not where I would have liked, which is disappointing.

But over the last few months, I have made some small purchases.  Largely because I hadn't bought so much for myself and also because they were related to the trip I took.
Firstly, I bought my first drone.  Yes, I bought the DJI Mavic Pro.  This was for my trip to Scandinavia, and was done as I thought there would be some good awesome footage off the back of it.  Unfortunately, it was mostly raining when we went and so there was not such great opportunity for footage and literally we didn't have time to just go flying!  I bought it because I thought it would be a great opportunity to see if there would be different angles of photography I could do - but seriously need some flying lesson!  I definitely like the idea of flying and always had a bit of interest in that area, so here is the opportunity to do more in that regard!

The second item was a bit of a whim.  I recently bought a Seiko watch - the SBDC053.  I always liked Seiko watches and I distinctly recalled that my father had one. He had it in his drawer and it was a watch he asked a friend to carry over for him back in the day.  As a child I thought it would be fun to wear around the house, and one day I was wearing it and scrapped it against the wall leaving some heavy scratch marks.  I recall having to tell my dad I was sorry about it, but he didn't scold me about it.  He left it in his drawer, but didn't really wear it until recently when he got the glass polished again, though I am glad he did and continues to wear it.  I bought a watch that was released this year.  When I went to the shop, they had three left - including the same one I just tried on.  As I was contemplating, there was only two left as someone just bought the other one.  Good sales tactic as I snapped it up!  The issue was that I had checked a few websites and they were either more expensive or not in stock, so decided to grab this one!  Also, changed the strap to a NATO strap, so definitely has a different feel!

Receipt of memories

A few days ago, I had the day off.  Of course one normally associates a day off with sleeping in or lazing about to watch TV/play games.  Relaxing.

But to be honest - that is not really me.  Most weekends in fact, I still get up early but am on the 'net surfing.

But these days I feel I need to be productive.  So waking up at 6am, I felt the need to clean up.  Mainly the paperwork on my desk and sort out my cupboards.  It was such a mess that every time I looked at it I would think, "I'll deal with that another time."

Or, "I'm too tired."

Terrible.

So I decided to be proactive to clear as much as possible: filing, sorting and cleaning.  It was a task I had started a few days ago - as I was filing away my paperwork which had piled up.  I keep most receipts - from buying my morning coffee, grocery shopping to all the receipts from holidays.  Every week I extract a wallet full of receipts and plonk them on the table or squirrel them into envelopes.

So you can imagine how many receipts I have accumulated over a short period of time.  I had every intention to track expenses but found it such a hassle I don't.  I keep them in case there is a dispute or an incorrect charge.  Ok, ok - I need a better system and  am still searching for that!

Going through a table full of receipts is downright distressing,  however, the upside was I needed to read and determine if I wanted to still keep the receipt (for warranties etc).

Strangely, most recipes were readable, and still had a lot of information.  Times and dates of my purchases.  Restaurant receipts still had the addresses of the places, what I ate and the tip I gave.  Interestingly, the memories came flooding back to the exact places I was at.  I don't recall everything - like what I was wearing - but the situation, vibe and how I was feeling did come back. All these receipts made me think of all the places I tried on clothes, the shop assistants, the stores - pretty much putting me at all these places - some of which I had forgotten all about!

One of my friends had told me about a shoebox full of movie ticket stubs - something he had collected ever since he started going to the movies.  I was just thinking whether a scrapbook full of receipts would ever be a thing, but it certainly made my day as I never thought something as simple as a kept receipt would ever be a memory of a good thing (especially if it meant I was paying!)

Are we there yet?

Perhaps it is me getting a bit further on on age and realisation that I have been working for quite some time.  But it did get me thinking about financial freedom - or at least a relative financial freedom.

While I was chatting to a colleague, we were commenting on how regulations and technology have really started to change the industry.  Furthermore, with family and worklife balance, how it would be good to be able to just take the time off when required.  Which brought me to an interesting question posed to me: "Do you have a number?"

I was taken a little aback, as I usually don't talk personal finance with colleagues.  But I was somewhat intrigued as to this - because it was phrased such that a number you would be happy with so you didn't need to work for money any more.  I had done some quick calcs, and had come up with a number which I thought would be acceptable in this scenario - i.e. a number where I would be confidently not eating salami sandwiches for the rest of my life.  (to be sure I love eating salami sandwiches - something which was cheap and tasty but I did eat a lot of it as I was trying to save money). Unless of course it is eating salami sandwiches in my holiday home in Italy. With water views... 

So I hesitantly stated a number and backed it up with some of my quick calcs.
"Excluding your own home, of course," they said.
"Yeah...., " I responded, unsure now of my quick calcs.  What else did I feel was missing as my mind started recalibrating.

Of course, context is required, as my colleague, who has a family,  are well paid professionals and I found my number to be quite a bit lower than theirs.

So what I realised was that this could very well be a lose-lose situation depending on who you are speaking with.  State a number very high, then people start to either judge you:
- Are you being realistic?
- Think you are already there, so believe you are rich or a snob;
- Admire you or just am jealous (as believe you are close to your goal).
Conversely, coming in low, like me:
- Are you being realistic?  How could you live off that.
- Think you are already there, but that you have no ambition.
- Admire you or jealous (that you are close to your goal).

Unfortunately, perhaps it was the fact that I don't like talking financial matters with friends which made me less aware of my personal finances, so perhaps this was a good lesson to spur me into action.

What I did find out is that while my number is not unrealistic, I need to consider the type of lifestyle I want from here on in.  I mean I can be more frugal and therefore get by on my lower number.  Knowing that I may not have as much as I wanted in retirement is a sad, but better to know earlier so I can do something about it. 

Anyone, less time on games and more on financial news I reckon!

Focus

Sometimes one feel so worn thin.  So stretched.  Tired.

When the goals just feel that little bit out of reach.  Like looking in a mirror, but without a reverse a reversed caveat - "object may be further than they appear".

I remember when I used to be able to run a few kilometres and really had no troubles and my mind could just push through the pain and make it through.  Over the years, perhaps my mind has gotten weaker and just gives up in those situations.  "Just walk now," my unfit tells myself.  "Just relax," that soothing inner voice says, directing my gaze to a nice park bench.

I wonder what happened.  What happened to the competitive person who used to play nonstop and who could run forever?  Was it seeing the young fellas just catch up and be better overall?  Am I past the peak?  Damn.

But self doubt aside, perhaps over the years I have grown weaker or less confident and need to mentally rebuild my confidence.  My recent determination has certainly allowed me to rebuild some of that and putting in the effort and subsequently seeing results continues to make me drive forward.   Often times, it is frustrating when one sees a disproportionate amount of effort to eventual outcomes and pushing hard for long periods at a time can be mentally challenging.

Playing video games has also been frustrating as it does require a lot more patience to get through.  Finding it much harder to stay up to play games these days!


Setting smaller goals and moving forward.  Step by step.  (heart to heart....thanks Martika!).

Lifestyle 1.0

Following on from my realisation on fitness, I proceeded to do what most people would do.  Yep, I did nothing.  My shirt buttons kept popping open and I was still feeling bloated after most meals, but especially after dinner.  My belly was getting fat but kept encouraging me to have another beer.  

I had my gym membership and I was going to do various exercises now and again, but it barely made any inroads.

When my set of old scales gave my the ghost, it was time to buy a new one.  I settled on an Omron HBF 214.  My previous set had an electronic display, which I thought was already an upgrade!  This particular model also looks to measure body fat, visceral fat and body age.  Excitedly, like a child with a new toy, I jumped on to take these new body measurements.  'Most of my weight gain was just muscle', I reassured myself.  'It's just the belly fat'.  After taking down the results, it was time to interpret them.  BMI - over.  Body Fat - outside of normal range.  Visceral Fat - High.  Body age - 7 years older than I am.  Deflated, like a child who doesn't know how to play with a new toy, I measured again just to be sure.  Same results. After other people jumped on it and it was confirmed to be working correctly....I was surprised and shocked.  

I thought I was eating healthy already?  I already cut out sugary drinks and sugar in my tea/coffee.  What more do I need to do?  What is visceral fat anyway?  

After a load of questions I was somewhat ready to tackle the issue.  There is no change, if there is no change.  I am still a newbie when it comes to fitness and health.  Speaking with older friends, they had previously lamented the fact that their bodies have changed with age and that they getting fatter, or have problems recovering.  I never really had that problem, so I had dismissed that somewhat.

So now it was time to pay more attention as the fight was on my doorstep!

My doctor had previously told me that diet was around 70% (assuming one is not a professional athlete).  I had previously downloaded an app - myfitnesspal.  It had been a while, so after updating it, I started to count the calories I was eating to see if there was anything there.  I started going cold turkey so at the beginning of the month, I decided to have salad for lunch.  I stopped snacking on biscuits/chocolates on my trips to the kitchen - eating pieces of fruit instead.  I felt hungry after lunch as I was eating earlier in order to avoid crowds.  Early afternoon was a struggle, as my body was calling out for me to eat more.  The fruit tied me over for a while.  

I started to go to the gym four times a week and lifting weights.  It had been a while since I had gone to the gym.  Work commitments always made me tired and unmotivated.  'Maybe tomorrow', I would tell myself.  'It's raining today', I would think as I looked out the window.  I certainly was getting up early enough to be able to make it to the gym, but the will was not there - until those results from the scales slapped me in the face!  I tried to go after work (realising that my gym closes at midnight).  It was packed.  My lack of exercise meant I was starting off with light weights in comparison to all the all the deep V tank top wearing people around me.  'I have to just start and not worry about other people,' I sighed.  

This was a few weeks ago.  On the food front, after about 10 days, my afternoon hunger pangs have reduced as my body has adjusted to the reduced intake.  During that time, I had two of my previous "normal" lunches - a chicken curry rice, and a BBQ pork rice with veggies.  The calorie count on were much higher than my salad lunch and I actually felt bloated after eating.  I have not tried it again.  My dinner diet at home has also changed - adding more vegetables and a smaller portion of meat. Not half bad tasting, but at least it is much healthier than when I was eating out 95% of the time, which had a large proportion of carbs.

I have already shed a few kilos of weight and my pants and shirts suddenly are not bursting at the seams.  Interestingly, my posture has improved and I don't feel tired in the seated position any more - strange I know, but I don't think I worked my back muscles as much as I did before!  After most meals, I felt bloated and lethargic and really don't feel that way so much any more.

Obviously early days still, so hopefully I can look forward to getting fitter, better shape and healthier!  At least I don't need to buy a new wardrobe!

Fire Rooster

Firstly, to all those who observe it - happy Chinese New Year! Welcome in the year of the Fire Rooster!

Another year has rolled by and though my post rate is up, it is still abysmal!  So room to improve I say!
Over the past two years, during Chinese New Year I have had to travel, which meant that I really did not get much of a chance to appreciate the festivities or really take a break.  However, it still has remained rather busy and hence there has not been much rest in the lead up to this time!  However, at least staying put has meant some less stress from the hectic travel.
Reflecting on the year, I tried to do better and remain focused, but it was quite challenging.  Taking the time out towards the end of the year was certainly refreshing and allowed me to get through one game which I had been looking forward to:  Uncharted 4:  A Thief's End.  On PS4. Which was awesome - firstly to be able to crack open the PS4; secondly to complete a game during the year; and of course finishing the series.  In a strange way, I was in two minds when I heard that this was the last in the series.  My initial thoughts were ones of disappointment in that a really good game franchise was actually finishing up, especially as I had played all of them and been on the adventures with the characters.  However, after deeper thinking, I realised that I had been lucky to play all of them and finished all of them.  In my (much) younger days, I certainly devoted much time to playing various games and was happy when I completed different games - Zelda I, II and III and a few in the Final Fantasy series - but I did find it difficult to keep up with the games across multi platforms, as much as I was fond of the series.  I was very engrossed in the Final Fantasy series, having played since around FFIV (Final Fantasy II for the US market). But somewhere after FFX, I seemed to have lost the urge - not to mention the gross misnomer.  I missed the PS One games, and had heard good things about FFVII, so perhaps once remastered, I will get a chance to play the version.
One game which I am currently torn in - The Last Guardian.  I played ICO and was immediately drawn to the puzzles and gameplay - and it did become a sleeper hit.  I also really enjoyed Shadow of the Colossus, with similar premise.  However the reviews have made me hesitate, but we shall see whether the urge to play it remain to be seen.  The discrete nature of the stories means there is less compunction to play.

This time of the year is also when one tries to make effort and makes resolutions.  Unfortunately, I have not had much success.  Firstly, I find it difficult to pin down one thing.  Secondly, I am not good at setting good goals.  It did put me to shame hearing others' resolutions and perhaps I need to put together a better list. An ambitious list (stretch targets) to keep me going.  Like finding good books to read.  Learning a new language (incl a programming language).  Finishing games.  Perhaps knowing what I want well help me set on the right path.

Well it is a interesting time of the year - with lots of horoscopes and predictions.  Having read mine, it did mention a few things to watch out for, so I will see how that pans out!

Hands on

Sometimes, doing something different is what we need.

So when the time came to do some renovations on an apartment, it was a great opportunity to really try to do something outside of my comfort zone, learn about renovations and literally (and figuratively) get my hands dirty.

Finding the right goods is very much also about finding the right contractors to do the job - and certainly there is a variety of people out there.  Certainly, some people take more pride in their work and are willing to do a good job.  Or they are more experienced.  Or a bit of both.  But the way I see it is that perfection is quite difficult to achieve, but trying hard is about effort and heart in work and striving to be better each day.

The whole exercise was a great one.  Taught me to be patient - waiting for contractors, work to be done; glue to set!  But also the fact that doing some of the work takes a lot more time than what I had initially envisaged.  Leveraging off the experience of my parents as well allowed me to spend time with them and realise how engaged and hard working they both are - me being tired yet they had the spirit and energy to help out.  We chatted, ate together and worked together.  The last time we worked on a major project like that - would have been pretty close to around 17 years ago!  Lots of tired weekends and Burger King lunches which were quick!

Working with my hands was a lot of fun and really staying fit to do all those things is something of a goal.  It has somewhat motivated me to want to be more fit and healthy moving forwards and should really make be more disciplined when it comes to doing exercise for the longer term benefits as well.

Recently, I also bought a masticating juicer (a Hurom, for those who are curious).  So making juices and thinking about the different varieties of fruit and vegetable juices is taking a bit of my time.  Slicing up all that fruit takes a bit of time - but the juices are refreshing and make it worthwhile!

Small Form Factor

Not sure what the useful life of a computer should be, but I have had a my laptop for a few years now.  I know some of my friends have cycled through three laptops in the space of same timespan!

In any case, it was getting to the point that I felt it was time to upgrade.  With file sizes and resource usage increasing it was time for some new hardware.  In terms of using the computer, I wanted it to be able to play some of the more recent games (though I have not really been a PC gamer much before), and be powerful enough to take on some of the more complex tasks required (whether it be for work or some video/photo processing).  Whilst I had really enjoyed my laptop, there were three main reasons why I decided to explore a desktop:

1. Power vs cost: While the computing power in laptops has certainly been increasing, even the more basic video cards are on par with the more expensive mobile versions.  Furthermore, the smaller footprints make heat dispersion more challenging and currently places limits in terms of pushing the hardware.
2. Upgrade and fixes:  the lack of ability to upgrade is also a bit of a problem.  Some vendors at least allow the simpler hardware to be upgraded (e.g. RAM, HDD) but changing the CPU, graphics cards etc are typically much more challenging.  Furthermore, to me at least, I don't have as much competency in fixing laptops!
3. Static:  There was a time when I took my laptop around - trying to be hipster sitting in a cafe....  But seriously, that was prior to tablets and large screen phones.  For the most part, the general web surfing and videos can easily be satisfied through other more lightweight means, which leaves really only the intensive applications to the laptop.  The laptop had been confined to just sitting at home these days, so portability was less of a factor to my mind.

So the challenge for me was to build a PC which would not be a hulking beast, but something which would fit within a small space but still have be punchy enough to churn out things quickly.  Which led me to the space of small form factor (SFF).

I did some research in the area and used the very hand resources of PC Part Picker and the Whirlpool forums.  What I liked about PC Part Picker, was the fact that a lot of contributors posted photos of the their builds which gave me much better knowledge of what was possible (or not) and at least brace me for potential issues.  This is particularly important when it comes to SFF as one needs to be aware not only of parts compatibility, but also whether it would even fit into a particular space - and each SFF case would be slightly different!

I went with a case which is only 21cm high and 28cm deep!  The reason I chose this one is that it is small but with decent airflow the the front fan and supports a full sized power supply unit (which allows me to reuse and has more options).

It was definitely a tight squeeze in terms of fitting all the parts in there - it was like playing Tetris and I had to be very mindful of cable management (cable ties definitely came in handy).  All in all, I have been very pleased with the result which took almost two nights to complete (tip: I had troubles with the length of the video card which just fit).  I managed to cram a whole lot into it:

CPU: Intel i7

RAM: 16GB

GPU: GTX750Ti 

HDD: 250GB SSD and 2TB HDD

PSU: 550W Modular ATX

I have been loving the fast boot up times, responsiveness and ability to have the more up to date software.  While there are still expansion slots, the space is so tight, I doubt there is even any room to add anything!

Fifteen

Another year another post it seems.  The early months in the year always start with such good intentions but seem to fade so quickly!

Reflecting on my single post last year, 2014 definitely ended up being a travel year.  I went to new places in Brazil, Indonesia and squeezed in trips to Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia!  Hopefully get time to look at some of the photos too!

Can't believe that I have been to the gym for a year.  I definitely feel that going has it's benefits but with a hectic year (hey when is it never) it was harder to watch improvements as consistency was a factor.  Definitely requires some discipline so hopefully something to work on in the coming year.

It was funny how I mentioned the potential for upgrades last year and definitely I could sense a theme there.  I did decide to upgrade my computer to a new small form factor (SFF) computer.  While I did do research for a while, when it came down to executing the trade and buying the equipment I ended up being quite decisive - quite a first for me actually!  So here I am typing this up on a (relatively) new computer.

My PS3 refused to accept my tender loving care of a DIY job of opening it, cleaning it and trying to fix the flashing red lights.  The equipment required to fix it was a heat gun which would have been a quarter of the cost and so the cheap me decided to use a hairdryer.  A travel hairdryer.  It certainly did not reach the requisite temperatures (I would have no hair if that were the case) and as such the fix was temporary in that it lasted it mere month.  Fortuitously, one of my friends was upgrading to a PS4 and as such his PS3 was on the market which was great for me. It was an easy decision as there were still a few games on backlog and helped me hold fire on the PS4...for the time being.

If it were not obvious, I often like to hold onto things.  I had some pairs of shoes which had long been worn out but I had gotten them repaired multiple times - and the repairs were only lasting around 6 months.  It was time to clear those out and actually start using my new shoes.  These new shoes had been sitting in my cupboard but I didn't want to break them out until my old shoes were worn out.  

I also needed a bit of a work clothes refresh. Why?  Well the gym sessions accompanied a change of diet and I actually could fit back into the suits which I had tailored around 7 years ago (I like to hold onto things, remember?). Boy was I proud!  These were the first suits I had tailored! As one can imagine, those seven year old suits had taken quite the beating.  The subsequent suits I had made were ill fitting now as I had lost a fair bit of weight.  So it was time to get with the times for a bit of a threads update and it has definitely been a learning experience!

During last year I had also made a few purchases in the photography equipment and accessories department.  Hopefully I can put together some more information of the different items to document all the progress!

Enough about 2014. 2015 is what I should look ahead to right?  Apart from a continuation of activities from last year of course.

For me, it will be interesting as I have decided to play competitive basketball again and want to get fit enough to be competitive.  More motivation to learn

I still have an eagerness to learn and so want to really keep up with the photography.  Think a language will be handy so learning a new language will be good too!

These days I certainly don't read and write as many novels as I used to and that will be an area of focus moving forward. Perhaps more blogging will help? My record would suggest otherwise though!

Galloping into the new year

It seems that updating has merely come down to being an annual event - not good!

The prior year was definitely a busy one for me.  Some fun filled memories on the travel front and definitely opened up from the perspective of experiences.  The outdoor oriented travel experiences was rounded out with mountain biking (hard!) and white water rafting (easy rapids were fun) which has inspired me to keep fit.  While it forced more photography, it also highlighted that more effort and work is still required!  Will be working on it a bit more I think. 

With the year well on its way, interesting that I already have already been on one trip and have another trip planned, so sounds like another year of travelling!

Once the weather improves, I will be hitting the driving range a bit more, but I had definitely seen swing consistency improvement in the last round of golf I played.  

Joining a gym is a bit of a first for me.  It's been great in terms of keeping up fitness intraweek without being too weather dependant.  While some people pay to go to bootcamp so that a sadistic instructor can shout and put one down, I am hoping that the mere financial burden would be sufficient motivation.  Hopefully the reason for the lack of updates is because I am there!

To be honest, I really hate it when things break down, but perhaps I need to face the reality that these things happen.  So it looks like some hardware upgrades might be due: 

• Looking back, I have had my MacBook for a while.  For a seven year old machine, it still runs pretty well (after the upgrades I had done), but sadly, I am doubtful it would be able to cope well with much of the newer software and slow to update photos.  So at this stage, thinking about a high powered desktop, but might sound a bit too old school, given laptops these days are reasonably powerful and portable.
• My beloved PS3 has decided to give me the red flashing lights and refuses to turn on.  Definitely not because of overuse (I wish!) but likely snubbing me out of neglect.  Thankfully, I managed to back it up right before it has gotten really bad.  Have been quoted a fix price at a quarter the price of a new one and with no guarantees it's really forcing me down the option of undertaking a self fix of some description. Or just get a new one.  Or just get a PS4....or an XBox One.  Damn it - too many options!
• (Ok, so I have already updated my phone in January, but for completeness:) My phone was quite sluggish and failed to get onto some of the wireless points in certain instances, which was very frustrating.  Not only that, the battery life was wearing thin and in all likelihood, could not support the latest OS updates without running like a two legged dog.  The pace of technological improvements meant I had a lot of choices, so decide to go with a larger screen size without compromising much on battery life and changed ecosystems as well. Am quite happy so far, but has been a learning experience with different controls and functionality.

With all of these, off to an interesting start!

2012 2013

As the year drew to an end, I thought about the things which I had done over the year.  I have to say, this year was rather big year for me.  If I have to sum up, my personal life was definitely filled with lots of love, laughter and great travel memories - a very fulfilling year.  I definitely felt I had more responsibilities in life over the last few years - but that is rather expected as one gets older!   It was great spending time with friends and family who stayed with us - feeling I was able to perhaps get to know them a little better.

In terms of personal hobbies, I have been told that my coffee making skills have improved, though I suspect that could be largely due to some changes in ingredients and machinery!  I believe that just using and reading more about photography has definitely helped (also good to learn more techniques and buying some different equipment helps too).

Playing sports has definitely taken a bit of a step back (golf only a few times) and I was definitely slower on the court and field - but perhaps nothing too surprising given age is starting to be a factor!

My closure rate on games was low last year - largely because time did not afford me to to sit in front of the TV for big swathes at a time.  

So for 2013.

Hopefully I develop further in terms of photography.  I will likely invest in a bit more equipment (and education), to keep me interested. 

Sport is always up there, but need to learn to play to keep fit and protect myself (not that I am not trying hard).

Gaming - that's what those public holidays are for, so I did manage to complete at least one game last year and have already finished one game this year (admittedly a HD remake of a game I had before) so at least I am off to a good start.

One thing I do want to do is do a bit more reading.  I had bought some books which I still have yet to read, so perhaps it would be good to be able to do that every so often!

Hoping to lead a more healthy lifestyle, so decided to make some homemade muesli as healthy way to kickstart each day. No, it had nothing to do with the fact that I had a large bag of oats sitting there which I didn't like eating!  Recipe courtesy of Poh's Kitchen  website [Muesli Maple Crunch with Wattle Seeds] but modified with ingredients I could easily find.

Happy New Year!

 

Domestic

So having one's own place has definitely been a good thing.  Own freedom to do what I want; furnishing the place to my own liking.  On the down side though, there is a fair bit of cooking, cleaning (cleaning after cooking), ironing, paying bills, tidying up.  It just seems endless in the amount of household duties which needs to get done.  Previously when I was at home, if I asked someone for a gadget there was a pretty high chance we would have it lying around the house....somewhere.  

Upon trying to assemble an Ikea chair and realising that I was not in possession of a a screwdriver, I decided to level up and buy a screwdriver set.  Over the year I have been here, I have slowly accumulated various gadgets which admittedly, I have only used on a few occasions.  I have now a voltage/battery tester, watch tooling kit, a dry box, thermometer, humidity meters.  

As with anything I have bought, things get older and need some fixing and restoring.  Although my father was rather handy, my rudimentary understanding of physics and chemistry has left me only to do the most basic of tasks, like changing a lightbulb or screwing in loose screw.  Recently I did have some problems with my coffee grinder (a very similar model to the Sunbeam EM0480), where the grind was way too coarse (couldn't even use it for French press).  I tried a few different things but to no avail.  When something I have stops working the way I expect, I quickly get disappointed in the product I have spent  my hard earned money on.  Fortunately, I wasn't the first to ever encounter this issue, so it was easy enough to find some materials on the Internet!  I was proud when I finally gave my grinder a good clean and fixed the grinder so now it produces a nice fine grind for my newly acquired coffee machine!

Nowadays, I even find myself discussing with other people where to get good washing powder, laundry bags and shopping for ingredients! I think I am truly becoming more domesticated.

Recently, I have been interested in some leather cleaning and polish products.  I do enjoy seeing my leather goods get a good clean (like my shoes) so hopefully get a chance to test out some of my new goodies (photos to come as well!).

Unpacking

Having lived in a serviced apartment for a while, I was starting to establish a habit.  A habit of waking up late and walking to work leisurely.  A habit of leaving dishes and towels to be cleaned.  The floors would be wiped; the rubbish taken out; my bed would be made - by the time I got home in the evening.  Wonderful for those who really don't like housework - like me.

When I looked around the place, I still had my seven boxes in the state which they had arrived - stacked two high in the corner.  My golf clubs were still safely in a box waiting for their next destination.  I hadn't really bought anything substantial - fearful of having to move yet another item when I finally left the place. 

As many habits which I had developed during the time I stayed there, there was something which was gnawing at me to not relax quite yet.  Whether it was the friendly daily "Room cleaning!" shout at the door, or the lack of space in the small serviced apartment - I never felt I was living in my own place.

So it has been a few weeks since I have moved into something more permanent.  I finally felt comfortable enough to unpack all my boxes and pack them away into the shelves.  The major pieces of furniture have arrived and managed to get some kitchen utensils and cutlery as well.  With broadband internet connected as well - what more could I ask for?

Ah - I can finally relax....I'll do those chores a bit later I think...

Hardware Reset II

Out with the old and in with the new. 

Further to my previous post, I have had a pretty busy time at work with some rather late nights and dinners.  In between all of that, I managed to upgrade my HDD from a 120GB to a 500GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue.  The upgrade process was pretty painless having familiarised myself from the RAM upgrade.  The longest part was reinstalling all the software!  It has been much better now rather than having to worry about capacity constraints.

Also, my recent trip to Orange was a rather different experience.  Venturing past the Blue Mountains (Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth would be proud) the drive was done through some heavy rain.  Unfortunately, the roads were narrow, and a semi-trailer going in the opposite direction kicked up a rock which ended up cracking my windshield.  Shops opening on weekend were somewhat limited, and the local auto store didn't offer a sound solution to a crack of 15cm.  Also, I was meaning to change my "semi-slick" tyres after the trip and we experienced icy and snowing conditions!  Smart one!
Thankfully, we got back safely, and my windscreen was fixed (I knew the one free windshield annual extra would pay itself one day!).  Furthermore, I changed my tyres as well (rego also hitting soon, so may as well).  I decided to give the Bridgestone Adrenalins a go from the perspective of being semi-performance.  Compared with the stock Michelin SX-GT's the ride is much firmer (could be the sidewall being stiffer or the tyre pressure) and feel slightly less grippy.  I've only clocked around 70kms on them, so they probably could do with a few more to run them in properly.  Time will tell.

Of course as true testimony of my devotion to my car, I did ran a Mothers clay bar over my car - which managed to lift off the specks of brown sap which had been there for about one year.  Admittedly, the car was silky smooth after that, like a brand new car.  This was quickly followed by some Meguirs Gold Class Wax.  All that elbow grease, I hope the drag on the car was reduced haha!

Finally, blogger templates needed a refresh of course.  It was time for a different look, and the coffee theme was apt given the four I consume a day!

Hardware reset

Living in a house means that the wireless connectivity can be rather temperamental at times. My four year old Billion 7300 coupled with a wireless Netgear router (WGT624 v2) suffered from regular dropouts and a wireless signal which couldn't quite reach my room 100% of the time. Updating the firmware only made things worse - resulting in me frequently storming downstairs to reset the router! I was ready to either (a) buy a new router or (b) buy a signal repeater/extender and hence more dollars spent! However, lo and behold, my sis pulls through and somehow scores a relatively new modem/router with Wireless-N capabilities (Netgear DGN2000)! After some quick setup.....Stability - tick. Range - tick (finally get a healthy signal in my room). Speed - tick, tick, tick! The broadband speed tests were improved and Wireless-N at 130Mbps vs a mere 54Mbps on the old technology. Woohoo!

So it has been a while since I got my Macbook. To be honest, I only use it to run a few spreadsheets, surf the web - nothing too strenuous. In between the first day of ownership and now, I have only had a HDD failure and that's it.

Recently, trying to download my photos from my new camera and manipulate a few photos had left me rather frustrated as it was S-L-O-W and clunky. Being a laptop, they are notorious for lack of upgradeability, but the two things which Apple seemed to have gotten right was the ability to add more RAM and add a new HDD which can be done by the owner. Checking the Apple store resulting in me navigating to page requesting some $300+ for 4GB. hmmm.

So I set myself off to find some aftermarket parts. Finding the parts wasn't too hard, as I just used staticice to find some RAM. I even ordered the goods online, so that was a real first for me! After adding some Corsair Value RAM to my Macbook, I have to say, it has run a bit faster and appears to be quite stable! I am suitably impressed...especially since the total cost was way less than half of what the Apple Store were hoping to charge!

100GB HDD just doesn't cut it these days, so that's next on the list of things to upgrade, so hopefully, I can get that up and running by next week. Looks like a 500GB drive is just the thing to fully pimp out my Macbook! Fully sic!

Virtually shopping

I have never really been a big user of eBay or bought much off the internet. I don't have a paypal account. There - I admitted it. Call me backwards (or a grandpa). Strangely though, the so called "explosion" in internet sales which was a much touted affair just over a decade ago has only been represented by a relatively small level of total sales.

One thing that the internet has provided is the ability for research. I think a lot of people are becoming more savvy in their purchases and knowledge of products (rather than get fed some misinformation by some sales people).
However, what is swaying me in the direction of using the internet as shop front is the price discovery and how absolutely outrageous some of the prices we are being charged for goods.

When I was shopping for my camera and accessories, I found that the RRP and even discounted prices here were much higher than online prices were (ok - they were grey imports). I applaud some distributors who are willing to match the grey importers' price, which I think is wonderful news for consumers.

The internet allows retails to cross geographic borders and keeps retailers honest in terms of the pricing and margins being applied.
Sure, Australia being somewhat more remote means it may cost a bit for freight and labour, but some of the pricing discrepancies are quite large. But coupled with being in a high tax environment, it definitely makes me think twice about handing over some of my hard earned dosh.

I also agree that the some goods rely on the shopping experience more than others (e.g clothing), and some goods are just not so suitable for internet purchases (e.g fresh food). Some high value and highly personal goods definitely are about the shopping experience (e.g. leather goods, watches). However, for largely homogenous products, I am happy to look for alternatives.
I am considering some shirts/shoe purchases online now - as impossible as it seemed a few years ago. Anything for a good deal, right?....