Cosmo Canyon (Cover)

Trust me, this is bloody spontaneous.

I hope you enjoy it.

I was testing out Omnisphere, a new plugin I got for my recording stuff, and .. My word, this application really scares the crap out of me. So many patches and stuff to pick from. It's insane!

Of course, I always have owed my open mentality to the likes of Nobuo Uematsu and Harry Gregson-Williams.. So here's a rather random product when I'm not that serious.

Do check it out when you're free!

So, remembering back..

I managed to go for these clinics:

Malaysia (Surprisingly!)

2004 - Mike Mangini Drum Clinic

2006 - Wes Borland Guitar Clinic (it was FREE and not many were there!? WTF!)

2008 - Mike Mangini Drum Clinic (Again!)

2009 - Andy Timmons Guitar Clinic, then Boston Brass Clinic

Australia:

2010 - Virgil Donati Drum Clinic

And this year..

2011, October 17th - Steve Vai.

It's like a dream come true.

Having one eye bigger than the other.

In relation to the title, I have no idea what to say.

But one thing's for sure, I just found out about this thing called BTT - BetterTouchTool - To solve all stupid issues and questions that I raised for the Magic Mouse that I have for this MacBook Pro - pinching to zoom, and all that.

And I'm pretty surprised at the technology of the Magic Mouse, by the way. I didn't know it detects pressure sensitivity.

How DOES Apple do this anyway?


And as you can see, I made my mouse into a whore. A mouse that controls my Spaces windows, volume and brightness control, and all

I'm still trying to make a shortcut for it to shut my laptop down for the heck of it.

Life's good.

I think.










I don't know.

Bah.

!

Yeah, the "!" that comes from soldiers when you're discovered in Metal Gear Solid games. Heh..

But besides playing Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, my headphones arrived! Not another Sennheiser (Although I was planning to get another one), but..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mglacius/sets/72157625415231740/

Go check it yo!

My Skype headphones. HAHAHAHAHA

The iPhone 4

Now that I've got a clear mind, I'd like to write a little bit about the phone that I bought a few months back:

The iPhone 4.

Costing at AUD$859 for the 16GB, and $999 for the 32GB, which made it $20 and $60 cheaper compared to the previous model, the iPhone 3GS, which costed $879 or $1049 for the 16Gb or 32GB model respectively.

They announced the iPhone 4 being available in both black, and white. But the problem recently, they ripped off the white iPhone off the online Apple Store. Some say that it will be available in Spring 2011 (US time, so that's Autumn here in Australia; somewhere in April). But by the rate that it is going, they should not have announced it at all.

Now, basic specs of this phone:

960*640 resolution
Apple's very own Retina Display (at 326 pixels crammed into an inch)
Flash storage of 16gb
Apple's very own A4 processor (where if you scrape the A4 and black wrappings, you'll see "SAMSUNG" on it.)
Front and rear camera where front is 0.3 (VGA), and rear is 5mp camera with built in LED-flash.
Full glass body with a matte-finish stainless steel band.
512MBs RAM.

Those are the things that really captures that my attention. Another annoying fact that captures my attention is:

Uses micro-sim card.

For a smart phone, it is pretty dead slim. I never thought a slim phone would make a serious difference in pockets and putting them on surfaces. That compared to my Nokia 6151, boy, it makes my jeans look really bad.

Then again, they boast about it being the slimmest smartphone. We'll have to see about that when Windows kick back into the phone category, and when Android updates their OSes and related phones.

Now, there is a really huge difference after using the iPhone 4. The display is astonishing. It is as uncanny as waking up to a fine morning right beside to Cameron Diaz. After using this phone for months, I am able to see pixels. I have a 64GB Wi-Fi iPad, and..I'm seeing pixels on it. I also see pixels on my brother's iPhone 3GS, and we never really bothered to take all this into detail.

The processor is really snappy. I was convinced by the iPad's A4 performance, and on the iPhone, it worked nearly as well as the iPad.

Don't get me wrong. They're both iOS devices, with nearly the same specs (except for resolution and.. obviously, screen size), but the iPhone 4 tends to lag a bit in between of applications.

Maybe because it is a smart phone. Or it's because of iOS 4.1. You never know. Eventually, the Apple iOS developer team is going to scout around for blogs like these that provides an indirect feedback, and have an update on "performance improvement", so that issue should be eliminated soon.

I just found out that the camera is smart. But what would make it smarter is that instead of giving it HDR and the ability to switch the flash on or off, is the ability to choose the ISO setting and allow the camera to adapt to the settings depending on the shot being taken. I flipped open my ACDSee (after months of not uploading pictures through my laptop - all were uploaded directly via my iPhone), I noticed that the iPhone has ISO settings of 80, 500 and 1000.

And the shots at 1000 ISO does not look that bad at all, actually.

The HD Video Recording feature is acceptable. At 720p, I definitely won't complain much. There is a link that I posted on YouTube in giving one of its app, iMovie, a shot. A short compilation of my Takara Masterpiece MP-01B .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IvMzDsKoAc

But that's all I used it for, anyway.

The front camera.. works. No comments on it. It's a VGA, so what else can I say?

FaceTime, Apple's very own monopolising (what else is new) video-calling for iOS devices (now, the iPod Touch has it as well), and FaceTime Beta is out for Macs. This works in two ways; either you FaceTime with an iPhone-based number, or from an iTunes account to another iTunes account, where the iTunes account is under your email address. Smart.

One good thing is that FaceTime is free.

One bad thing is that FaceTime works only over Wi-Fi. I'd give Apple 5 years for them to allow FaceTime to be done over 3G (Like how long it took them to approve viewing Flash over Macs).

I think I've mentioned this before, but although they made it slimmer, it feels like that the battery took a diet as well. They stuffed in a bigger battery, only to catch up with the amount of pixels and colours being generated over a 3.5 inch screen.

I find that an engineering genius, really. It could have been worse; like they would have not bothered to show up with a better battery solution. Or not do anything at all.

But battery is the main issue with all of these smartphones, anyway. My housemate's running on some Android-based OS. It was a Samsung Omnia or something like that, and it doesn't last long either.

But the display on Android devices are pretty good actually.

And they don't have a 960*640 resolution either.

Sound quality on calls on the iPhone 4 is clear, and good. I am running on three phones at the moment; my Nokia 6151, Nokia E71 and this iPhone 4. Obviously, it is not fair to compare and contrast these phones as they're from different leagues, but the iPhone really does provide an odd experience.

Now, some people will mention that Apple is dumb for introducing a 2nd microphone on top of the phone, right beside the headset jack.

But for people like us who are involved in sound engineering, that is a very very smart idea. The 2nd mic is placed on top of the phone, the opposite direction of our mouth, so it picks up anything - like noise, and filters it out, to allow the caller to hear us better.

And the stainless steel band. The genius of the antenna, and the beginning to a neverending criticism of the well known antennagate, or death grip, or whatever they would call it.

I never had issues with calls being dropped so far. But my Nokia 6151 is on roaming, and it's under Telstra. My Nokia E71 is under Optus, and same goes for my iPhone 4.

When I head into my kitchen, my Nokia 6151 gets maximum signal, the Nokia E71 varies from 2 - full somtimes. And the iPhone only stays as.. 1 and below.

I'm not sure if it's a false reading, or just a bad reception from the iPhone 4. My guess is that it produces less frequencies to send and receive. Another issue is the stainless steel band itself.

Doesn't steel act as one of those conductors for frequencies, anyway?











Overall, I won't complain much about the iPhone 4. It works perfectly the way it is. And sometimes it works better whenever I shut my iPhone off. Maybe because I get distracted less by it.











That's about it. Nothing much about the iPhone 4. Now, I'll go continue reading rumours about the iPhone 5.

Post-Exam Period.

Here comes the long-awaited summer break for degree students in Australia.

I was always envious of having a 3-month break thing going on, and I finally had the chance to really experience it!

And boy, it feels weird on the first day of the long-awaited freedom. I actually tried to find ways to bore myself when I don't have work, and I needed a break from.. work.

It's just crazy to be stressed out by the amount of stuff we have to do.. So, yeah.

Anyways, besides work, toys, uni (what's left of it), and more.. collectibles, here's something you should be aware of before I officially declare myself bankrupt.

That was the most recent order update I got from amiami, and boy, this isn't the updated list yet. This shows 7 figures; four from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and 3 more from Halo: Reach.

.. Until I decided to get all available figures that's released by Play Arts (Kai) from Square Enix. So I've got an updated list of 9 figures coming in this year, and 3 more coming in next year by Halo: Reach.

All shipped by EMS, so it's going to cost quite.. a bit.

*Heart aches.*

Don't ask me when I became a collector, or am I patronising Square Enix's division in making PVC collectibles. You should see the other available figures; they look like crap.

And here's my latest addition after my Takara Masterpiece MP-08: Grimlock.. A limited edition Halo 3 San Diego Comic Con.. thing!








Besides it being limited edition, the shipping for this thing costs 2x more than it how much the figure costed. One interesting bit about this is that the left hand is detachable, and is supported by a magnet for it to clip onto the body. Also, it weighs at about 2kg.

And yes, I'm using it as a paperweight to my Virgil Donati drum clinic ticket for this coming 2nd December 2011!

I just cleared up my table and it looks great. Less messier than it's supposed to be, but because of my odd netbook setup (with the wireless keyboard and mouse combo, and a fuckload of USB cables), it looks like.. shit.

Nevertheless, my figures (and upcoming ones), should have a reasonable amount of space to hang about.

So, I was off today, and I was dropping by my other work place to pass my supervisor a HDD I got for his WD Digital TV box thingamawig, and I just had to stop for this:



A xylophone arranger's wet dreams. This whole team of kids were led by one man with a classical guitar. And what he was doing is to rhythmically play in the key of Am, and ..

.. Well, the kids did the rest of the melody runs.

It was pretty interesting, and there were quite a bit of supporters. These are just the audience from the field area. .from miles away, you'll be able to see them listening and enjoying what this guy did.

It was an interesthing thing. A guitar, and a shitload of xylophones..

And.. I actually felt calm while listening to all this..

Also, two days ago, I see what's the difference between a practice amp (regardless of its power and size) against a proper cabinet with a preamp head. I tried an Orange Dual Terror with an Orange cabinet .. 4x12 cabinet..

And my word.. It sounded so .. warm. The preamp was bloody amazing. And because of it being a high-end Orange preamp, it's a tube preamp. I know they provide better tone, but they also require a shitload of maintenance as well..

And .. I don't think I'm financially stable to maintain all that; nor do I have a clue if I'm staying here in Tasmania .. long term!

Oh boy.

I have to admit that I've been having the worst of days for the past couple of weeks.. Hopefully all will pick up well; if not, I'd be moping over my stupid finals results.












Oh well! That's about it.

Just wanted to clear up some random updates.

Oh. Yes, I do not feel guilty while playing the guitar on my free time now.

:)

(Hopefully I'm able to find more time to play more guitar without annoying anybody in the house..which is far from possible..)

Again, With The Updates.

Here's my schedule for these few days:

22th Oct - Work at the newsagent.. 7am - 12pm-ish.
23th Oct - Financial Management finals - from 1pm - 4pm
24th Oct - Work at the fresh fruit market.. 10am - 3pm
25th Oct - Work at both the newsagent and the fresh fruit market - 7am - 11am shift, 12pm - 7 or 8pm shift, followed by preparations for studies in Commercial Transactions.
26th Oct - Work at the newsagent.. 7am until unknown, then followed by preparations for Commercial Transactions
27th Oct - Offday from the fresh fruit market, but Commercial Transaction finals, followed by Principles of Finance preparations.
28th Oct - Work at the newsagent from 7am until unknown, then followed by preparations for Principles of Finance.
29th Oct - Principles of Finance finals.
30th Oct - Plans unconfirmed
31st Oct - 10am - 3pm shift .. and rock my balls off with the guitar until next February.

Now that I wrote all that out, I think I should lay off the idea of working and studying at the same time.

Then again, not.

I'll be able to do this.

I believe in myself.











Besides that, I had a straight 2-day birthday celebration. I had work yesterday, then I treated my brother and my housemates and a friend to dinner out of sheer randomness. Then followed by lunch today .. where my housemates bought lunch for me.. And this friend of mine.. bought a $50 iTunes Gift Card as a present, and then my other housemates bought a cake and dinner for me, so that's cool.

But the iTunes Gift Card was the worst present I ever thought to give to someone else. And this time, I was being offered the ..present.

I mean. $50 on the iTunes Store. What the hell is there to buy?? We can always torrent and download whatever junk we're interested in.. Until..

.. I remembered that Victor Wooten's album - Soul Circus and Yin Yang was not available for purchase in JB Hi-Fi or torrents.

So I got the two rarest album for myself. And months back, I remember updating my status saying that if anybody wanted to get me a birthday present - that would be those two albums.

.. I guess I should really be careful for what I wish for, eh?

I haven't gotten the time to review those albums yet, but from the previews, it's different - and definitely better than Palmystery.

I am looking forward to my break.











And I am looking forward to go back to Malaysia as well. That should be my long-awaited vacation.. Boy, am I stressed out.. bah..!

Quickie.

I'm going to make this a quick one as I'm blogging from my phone.

Just minor updates because I haven't updated my blog for quite a bit. But I think I'll be just fine:

I am currently juggling 2 jobs, along with my main "occupation" (as they would call it here in Australia), a Full-Time student. At least that's recognized.

Benefits of juggling 2 jobs - increase in pay. I have been working in an underpaying job and it doesn't really get me much, but I've made it through somehow.

Outcome: earning nearly $700 per week (shyly at $692 actually).

Now with this one, I'm actually able to get Christmas presents for my family. Only if I want to. I know I've already thought of my brother's gift. Heh.

Besides that, perhaps another iPhone.

Now I just spoke to one of my mates in an unknown retailer and I'm able to get a 15" MacBook Pro 2.4GHz 250GB HDD (which is not even in the list) for $1600-1700. Which is about $500 cheaper. I compared it against Malaysia at an exchange rate of 3.06, and I only managed to see it as MYR200 difference here.

Since it's easier, I might just get the MacBook first. Or not. Save up straight for the iMac.

Dilemma and decisions

Also planning to get a car here for convenience. Not entirely my idea, but better to be safe than sorry.

.. Or not at all. Depends

Well, that's about it. Besides that, I also came up with an idea for my daily routine. Sleep at 6-8pm, get up at 3am, slack off and do whatever required preparations for uni before work (if I have work)

That is most probably going to be my upcoming schedule during the study break in 2 weeks time.

Please don't think of me having 2 jobs is insane. No sympathies. I really hate it when people do that. This isn't compulsory, but this is my own decision.

Besides, Mike Portnoy once worked 3 jobs to finance his dreams.

I should too.

iDevil?

I was doing my studies a minute ago on my iPad, and I wanted to post this up for quite a bit already.

A few days ago trying to figure out the mysteries of my assignment, I got really tired. I sat on my bed, wanting to take my afternoon nap, and then like usual, I couldn't sleep.

I picked up my books, again and I could focus even better. I felt relaxed more with my phones, netbook and the iPad on the table that I call my workstation.

I could absorb information better rather than staring into a "backlit-LCD" screen with my notes on it.

I mean, it is the exact same issue with you reading books, and reading eBooks, if anybody ever experienced or encountered any problems like that?

I tend to lose focus over the times where I'm closer to technology.

Is that kind of odd?

I remember reading one article about one person giving up the cyberspace and it improved his memory.

Besides his memory, he also had boredom.

Boredom is the most important emotion to actually feel to get inspirations. He was one of the few people who bought an iPad, and then he sold it off because it took up too much of his time where he prefers to be bored.

Which is pretty interesting really. I sat down, like what normal families would do before the introduction of the iPhone, the iPad, and other smartphone-related devices. If you switch off notifications, you'll end up refreshing your applications to figure out if there's anything new or whatsoever.

Just so happens, I was too lazy to reach out for my i-Products, and I was happy with it. I focused way better, and I felt better studying - with a book.

This is a pretty interesting thought for myself, and I'm not sure if you all experienced it.

I know when I go online, most of my time is wasted no thanks to Facebook. Because of Facebook, I don't play as much guitar as I used to. And when I play guitar, I play it better when my girlfriend is not online, or when she's busy, and with my netbook shut.

Boredom kills some people, like my 4 other housemates downstairs, but I think it's a divine source of major inspirations.

Although the idea of Apple products being highly promoted here, that is clearly the wrong message to send out. It's only because I own these things. If It was years back, I'd blame it on my PS2 and the home computer.






Give me my boredom so I can study right. No wonder I haven't touched my iPad for a bit. It's an odd sign.

Ahhhh...

Welcome to the family. I've been expecting you.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

This is Nice.

There she is, having her fun with her friends, and having a different timezone just to see her for a short while.

Sounds familar, though.

I wonder if I'm the idiot doing something like that?

I am an idiot, only if I believe it.

Well, that doesn't matter anyway.

I came home from uni today, sat down and played the guitar. I actually slept while playing the guitar, so I decided to get some rest.

And I woke up at 6.45, plugged my guitar in without checking Facebook or playing around with Nemesis Prime.

And it's 2.14am as I'm writing this, and I've got the guitar with me still.











Even if I were to be alone, and that would suck. But that's alright..

"I still got my guitar!"

:)

Testing

Seriously, did they fix the issue with blogging from an iPhone after inserting pictures?

Since I already had this on the iPad, I hooked my iPhone up as well. It's one of those universal apps that you can share among devices, so that's pretty cool.

Now, updates? Another "toy".

Takara Masterpiece (MP-01B) - Optimus Prime - Black Convoy .. Also known as Nemesis Prime.
























There're two more figures coming in by this year - the Japanese mascot that replaced Mickey Mouse - Chokogin Fireball (which is smaller than my preferred height, but she is bloody flexible, comes in with plenty of hand gestures, and other misc stuff.) and the Jungle Fatigue version of Big Boss from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. That would be coming out by the end of the year, so I'm looking forward to that one.

So far this app works for the iPhone smoothly after the update being installed. I'm satisfied, although it does lag a bit (on the iPhone 4. Imagine 3GS lol)

And other than that, I've got nothing to update. Heh.

Till then, mates.

Edit: I just realized that I have already posted up pictures of this Prime. Oh well. At least the app works. I'm doing this through my iPad now LOL.

Ah.

My brother always told me that the toy quality nowadays really suck.

After I got the follow below, I agree.

25% plastic, 75% metal casted.

You tell me? :)

You Know It When..

When it's one of those days, an you know things are going to be wrong, but you still tell yourself, "nahhh. That's never going to happen" and all that

Like, seriously.

I have to stop thinking so bloody much and get my priorities all sorted out again!

What the hell is wrong with me?!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iPhone 4

The hype's over.

I received it this morning during work, and I'm still in the process of getting it up and read for the next step; Which is to switch to a postpaid line.

At the rate that I am using this phone, I think it's not worth it to stick with my current prepaid plan and go with postpaid anyway.

Will see how things go.

Plus better benefits lies in the iPhone BYO plans.











I'll probably write a review about it when I use it for a couple of days. Haven't really tried out the battery yet (obviously)

Next in Line.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

What a bloody beautiful thing.

Getting Somewhat.. Old.

Is this a good or a bad thing if I were to remember the times that I once had, and attempted to try and achieve whatever it is to achieve it, but end up.. Being tired.

I think age is catching up.

The scariest bit is that, now it's August, and I really think that time's running out for everything that I've ever planned for.

Whatever.

I'm spoilt for choices again.

iMac, 27inch, i5 or i7.. that is the question.

I know I'm going for the deadly 2x4GB RAM which costs $560. Way to go.

Big Boy's Toy - Pt. II

I know, I know.. I should really stop this habit, but..

I found the Jungle Fatigue version of Big Boss, and Chris Redfield from the ones who did and released the Sneaking Suit Version of Big Boss; Square Enix's Play Arts Kai (Custom).











And I pre ordered them too.

And out of nowhere, I want a Drossel too. T_T

Updates?

First of all, I would like to say, I nearly have a solid driving licence in Tasmania. Currently, it's a temporary one, only because my licence is in progress.

In other words, I passed! I nearly failed by 2 points, but that's all good.

The only advice I got was:

"The stop signs are there for an obvious reason."

Which is the most polite way to mention, "You should fucking stop, for once."

Like how Victor Wooten was asked to play less notes on his bass guitar when he was flooding tracks like nobody's business: "Remember Victor; We have two ears. One for the band, and one for music."

Others will ask you to tone down, play more stuff, etc, and that'll just demotivate you in a certain degree. Even if it doesn't, I bet you'll feel like shit for by 0.01%

Other than that, I've paid more attention to Eric Johnson (!!) only because the dates to my Fender Stratocaster is drawing close. Coming next month, I should be stable enough to pay the first deposit, then begin its shipping to Hobart, Tasmania.

Question is, how long is that going to take? I forgot to ask. Heh.

So I have to place my order weeks before expectations.

iPhone 4's pre orders isn't opened to Australia just yet, which is scary. The iPhone 4's release is 30th of July. Is Apple planning to not allow users to buy their phones up front first? Or ..?

The other problem is the famous Micro Simcard compatibility issue. My concern is none of that. I'm just wondering when will they have a proper leather folio casing for the iPhone 4, and make sure they have all appropriate screen protectors on the day of release, and I'll keep my mouth shut.

Other than that, university's pretty okay.

.. Or not. I won't touch much issues there.

One thing's for sure. I feel my brain's beginning to rust on me. Like a mercenary, a hero, only know nothing but brute force and survival for the love to his country.

A mercenary protects the physical state of the country, but he can't be running for politics now, can he?

He won't know the demographics, the economy, the news, and the updates that he should be knowing to improve his knowledge in handling his own country.

He only knows the battlefield.

I'm not senile, yet, but I'm starting to feel that age is catching up. The idea of adaptability used to work, but I don't think that can ever happen anymore. I slacked off way too much, and I tend to not do much nowadays.

Sadly, I wish I was not in this state. I wish to be productive. The reason why I excelled in my studies (believe it or not), was because that I could apply what I learnt at work in my studies.

Believe it or not, it was Starbucks that taught me whatever I needed to know to go against lectures with a solid point that they did not think of.

Which is a good thing; the point of a workshop. Contribution of ideas, arguements being counter-attacked, re-evaluated, and planning a possible conclusion to overcome any factors.

It's funny. It's ironic.











But give me any longer with this attitude, and I might drop out very soon.











Can I be like Orianthi, Alexi Laiho and Yngwie Malmsteen? All good guitarists because they dropped out of school at the age of 16 (for Orianthi and Alexi), and Malmsteen who had a 16-hour schedule for guitars, and 8 hours of sleep.

Heh?

Close Call.

I just got to uni not long ago, and I know that my lecturer didn't release the first week's lecture notes.

At least that's what I know.

When I double checked again, it was released already, and boy, was I in for it. I didn't upload it to my iPad, and I was in deep shit (Somehow. Since they use the projector to review the slides anyway)

I checked out Safari, and saw that the lecture slides were available for download. Sheesh.

Since I had three methods to upload the PDF files into my iPad, the Wi-Fi share network was blocked by our glorious UTAS' firewall network. Can't blame them for taking up security anyway. So I had to think of another method.

Download from link - But the iPad/iPhone does not support PDF views in a different frame, so that was another problem.

Downloading from a link, but if the link were to be in a user-friendly interface. Fuck Hotmail for once, but Gmail?

Poof, and I'm all prepared. I think this iPad was a tad bit underpriced. :)

And for those iPad users, please do get the 3.2.1 update. It's released today! (I thought it was the iOS4, like finally. Sigh)