So, I have been way too busy with work. Started off with my 10 day project. Was able to get it done after 6, and 4 days of testing. There was just too much testing. I was able to get it done, and was quite impressed with the speed at which I was able to get it done. This project was finished in the week of 18th June.
On the 23rd, I had a shift at Telstra Stadium at the Swans v Collingwood match. Didn’t get to watch too much of the game, though I was at the entrance to the Legends Room. Let through quite a few TV personalities majority of who are from Home and Away. This game was followed with a quick trip to Sydney Kebabs in Yagoona. Its open 24/7 and a top place to go for a late night feed.
This was then followed by a week of Michael Buble. Yes I am a HUGE fan, quite jealous really. First appearing on Rove Live on Sunday night (recorded by a guy at work), then appeared on It Takes Two on Tuesday night (again, recorded), appeared on Sunrise on Thursday (also recorded) BUT I had made the effort to go there, so now I can proudly say “I’ve seen Michael Buble LIVE!” (through glass though) and here is evidence:
I wasn’t able to see his performance since there were obstructions, and there were also quite a few screaming girls (quite possibly one of a few guys in a sea of girls). This of course also meant that I saw Mel and Kochie:
That brings me to JP’s 21st on Friday night. Was at scruffy murphys which is a top spot of a nice cheap dinner and drinks (although drinks arent so cheap). Good night overall.
Project wise, I started my 6-10 month project just last wednesday. Lots of pressure on me to get around so much. Basically the whole data model is changing and the whole application is going to be redesigned by me! Trying to steer clear of any distractions so to make sure I do the best I can with this project, and so far its not so bad, but i know in a couple of weeks the programming will start and I’ll be head deep into it.
Well news on my toys – MacBook Pro. Oh its soooo sweet. So I opted for Apeture to use for my indexing and quick editing of photos. The other choice was Adobe Lightroom which does exactly the same thing. So far, I’m liking Apeture (it was also cheaper!). One thing to point out maybe, since im storing the photos on my 2.5inch external HD, when I first imported them in and disconnected the drive afterwards, on reconnecting, Apeture wouldnt find my pictures for me to edit. Managed Referenced Files, is the button you need to press and link back ONE photo, and the rest will find themselves as long as you do not move the folders. What Apeture does is write meta data for the photo rather than editing the file. This just means the original is not touched and you can do so much with the photo. Once you are happy, you can export the photos out. You can make the decision as to which one you would like yourself – here.
I’ve moved all my calendars over to iCal. It now subscribes to Vince’s wedding calendar and I’ve published my calendars to a website, so now my calendar is accessible anywhere. Also, for a PC, when you close the lid, you can set whether or not your laptop will go into standby or hibernate or do nothing. I had it doing nothing so i could listen to music without the screen showing. On a Mac, there is no option to do such thing. I did however find myself an application called Insomnia X which allows a mac to do such a thing – turning your mac into a GIGANTIC ipod. I’ve also installed MenuMeters which is a great tool to keep an eye on CPU usage, RAM usage as well as Network throughput. iStumbler is also a really great tool to see what wireless networks are around and whether they are secure or not and the signal strength (great for wardriving).
No new toys yet though. Been spending some time shopping since its sales time, as well as being able to catch a couple movies – Oceans 13 and Transformers. Both are top movies. Oceans 13 – you wouldnt expect anything less. Transformers – loved the special effects, they are really unbelievable.
So having given my bike to a mate of mine, I’ve got to start looking for a new one. So I’m currently eyeing the Giant Alias, Giant Talon and also the Avanti Montari. The later two retail around 1200. The Alias retails at just under 1000. It’ll just take me some time to find out good prices as well as which parts are better than others and whether they would suit me.
I do hope I can have more regular updates with some more tech related posts, just so I can remember what has happened (so I can write this damned report for uni).
Written by Milton Lai