» 2009 » December

Uh oh, looks like I might have to fork out some extra pennies for the multi-cd Final Fantasy XIII Original Sound Track. As usual, the ones who got their hands on some copies have jacked up the price for the Limited edition on ebay for USD $100ish PLUS shipping.

I searched a bit and found Amazon Japan has it for pre-order for roughly USD $50ish + shipping or the regular version for roughly USD $40ish. If it’s only 10 dollars difference, I would certainly get the Limited Edition for sure. Provided I could get my hands on a copy.

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of 123 Media Max. All opinions are 100% mine.

With dramatic change in technology, many companies have come up with unique techniques to back up their favorite movies. Gone are the days of VCR or DVDs, now more improved technique in this sector are Blu-ray discs which have taken over. The latest and most advanced innovation is from 123 media max. The 123 media max allows users to backup copies of any Blu-ray movies to standard DVD-RW with amazing HD quality which is as good as the Blu-ray counterpart. In addition, it is also capable of backing up DVD movies to DVD either in single or dual layer format. You can also convert videos from digital cameras to DVD with 123 Media Max.

You can create a DVD from multiple video files as well as editing the audio and video pieces independently using this software. With 123 Media Max, you can easily create cell phone ring tones from your CDs, MP3s and Audio files. Finally, you can even convert and burn YouTube, Google, Metacafe, My Video, blip.tv, Put file, Break and MySpace videos to DVD with this software.

With 123 Media Max’s latest movie backup software, you can easily take create backups for your movie collections and without any additional add-ons. You can backup all your favorites, be it from DVDs or VCDs or Blu-ray and DVD movie collections, even your home made videos. With this software, you will never have to worry about not being able to backup your precious movie or music collections and be able to playback on Blu-Ray, DVD players or even on Sony PS3.

Don’t get me wrong about the Modern Warfare 2 image for the post. Its not related to Modern Warfare 2 but because I’ve experience this mostly in this game (MW2 is my only online game right now) so I thought I would tag MW2 with the post. Long story short, this is getting to the point where I have to vent. Have you ever got annoyed by those stupid annoying kids that would just make weird noises or talk non stop before the game launched in the lobby? Or worse, they kept on talking DURING the game until you couldn’t take it anymore and had to mute them?

Frankly I’ve had enough but then what could I do besides muting their stupid digital mouth? Are so many kids experiencing what I think is a form of ADD (Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)? Maybe if they actually shut up they can get a positive kill / death ratio for once and instead of dragging the team down?

Kids like this one fits my description perhaps? Lucky this kid got an xBox 360 not PS3, so one less stupid kid for me to deal with on PSN. Thank God!

 

I hope I’m not the only one that find these kids annoying. OK I’m done venting and off to bed!

Good night!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of LG Chocolate Touch. All opinions are 100% mine.

I’ve always wanted a cell phone with various features like Internet, image/video/mp3 capabilities but I ended up unsatisified everytime. Some phones had mp3 playback but didn’t connect to the Internet, those that allowed me to get connected had mp3 playback with horrible quaility. So I thought in order to get all these features I would have to buy many models. That didn’t sound much of a smart idea because it didn’t make sense to purchase different phones for different purposes, there must be one that has everything I need.

I came across a new phone from LG, the Chocolate Touch. In addition to the features that I wanted, it also had some additional ones such as a built-in 3.2 mega-pixel camera, great display quality, voicemail service and video conference facility. What I found amazing was the visual effects with rhythmical beats which vibrated when I received calls. Last but not least, the Dolby Mobile sound technology is top-notch among the same class of cell phones. Finally, it also featured one-touch connectivities to social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace.

With this phone, I will never get bored easily and I will never have to carry a mp3 player, a digital camera and a phone. All I need now is the LG Chocolate Touch.

I still can’t believe this happened to a pretty well known electronics store but apparently I found this from one of my friends’ friends Facebook photo album about purchasing a fake iPod from one of the Best Buy stores in Canada. The story goes, as quoted directly from the person’s Facebook comment:

When I went back for exchange that was when that jerk told me that there is no IPOD logo at the back and the ipod itself is a bit thicker that was why the casing didn’t fit. Why couldn’t I just win the lottery???? They say it never happened before so they won’t exchange it. Ain’t that ridiculous?????

And has filed a complaint to the headquarter of Best Buy. I’m curious to see how that will turn out. Again directly quoted from the Facebook comment

I filed a complaint with bestbuy headoffice and the business bureau as well. But it’s gonna take time if we ever get a real one back. What disappoint me is that even the Manager didn’t even bother to investigate before they said ” no ” to us. Yes, even with a big store like Bestbuy.

So when any of you looking for an iPod, although its rare case. Unfortunately you cannot check the back of the iPod to see if the logo is there before you purchase.

Link to the Facebook photo album:

I thought the intro was ok, I mean the graphics are certainly amazing but I was expecting something similiar to the previously shown trailers. Its missing the drama from the rest (its too calm and quiet for my taste, for an intro that is).

Anyway, March 9th 2010 people. Less than 3 months and counting! Or figure out a way to get the Japanese version, but then you won’t know what’s going on with the story.

I have always posted game related posts most of the time, maybe its time for a change. Since it is almost Christmas time, I had to think of something to surprise my girlfriend, it was actually her request to “surpise” her. I also happened to be interested and curious about photography and I found out that you can build your very own DIY Photo Studio In A Box easily. So I thought why not build her a mini photo studio since making a gift yourself meants a lot more than buying something that’s already made (its the thought that counts right?) and also the fact that she sells bling cellphone cases for iPhones, BlackBerry, HTC, G1 etc so that her product pictures look more professional.

By using just the digital camera with default settings, you will always have pictures that are yellowish (see picture below), with uneven lighting and looking too sharp because the flash light is not soft enough. But with the combination of correcting white balace using Photoshop and this photo studio in a box you can turn your everyday ameture photos into better looking images. My coworker once told me, its not about your camera, be it an everyday digital camera like my Canon SD400 or one of those fancy DSLR, its all about white balance, light and the lense itself. The latter might be hard to change since not everyone can or willing to pay hundreds just for the lense. So this is where the photo studio in a box comes into play!

Items you need for building your very own photo studio in a box:

• A box that is at least 10 inches by 10 inches, otherwise you are limited to taking photos of very small items
• Wrapping paper (the ones that you use for stuffing gift bags
• Two (three if you cut out the top opening as well) very bright lights, I bought two outdoor flood lights from Canadian Tire. If you can find natural light/bright white light lamps that’s good too but not necessary since you will be doing the white balance correction in Photoshop anyway. Oh, make sure you buy the matching bulbs, chances are most of the lights are only the housing themselves, without the bulbs.
• Tape, duck tape, scissors, razor, pencil and ruler

 

Quick and dirty build guide (for more detailed steps please check the links below):

• Cut out square/rectangle openings, depending on the shape of your box, on the left and right sides of the box and make sure you have enough space around otherwise the box might not be strong enough to stand on its own anymore. You can also cut out the top as well if you wish to have more light coming in (where the third light comes in).
• Tape the openings with wrapping paper and try to stretch them, but without tearing them apart, to minimize the ripples
• Don’t pretty it up yet though, we still have to test it. Place one light on each side and start taking test shots of some small items (once that fit the assumed 10 by 10 box). My coworker suggested me to set everything to manual for your digital camera with lowest ISO, enable white balance if applicable and TURN OFF FLASH! since we will be utilizing the two flood lights’ lights.

 

Here is what mine looks like

And the result…..

Yellowish and unprocessed image:

Processed image:

Notice it looks much better? Though not enough reflection or “bling” from the crystals but that’s a different experiment for now. All you need to do is go to Photoshop -> Image -> Adjustments -> and pick either Auto Level/Auto Color/Level and play around. I personally and mostly pick Level -> Options -> Find Dark & Light Colors with the Snap Neutral Midtones checked because I like the dark greyish/bluish tone.

I hope I haven’t missed anything or mentioned something incorrectly as this is my first photo studio in a box as well! Let me know if I did though!

For those interested, here are a few that I checked out and found useful (they are more detailed too!):

http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/07/how-to-diy-10-macro-photo-studio.html
http://www.macworld.com/article/60804/2007/11/dec07digitalphoto.html
http://www.instructables.com/id/Do-It-Yourself-Photography-Light-Box-for-Under-40/
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent

So finally a new Medal of Honor, which looks promising, will be released second half of 2010. Can it compete against or even “pwn” the almighty Call of Duty series, mainly Call of Duty 4, 5 and Modern Warfare 2? Seriously we need more than just these cinematic teasers, we need some from actual game plays!