Bagman

Recently have been looking around for a bag. No, not the $3000 Chanel or Prada type :-P but the Daddy "diaper" type. It seems like most diaper bags (especially those for Daddies) come in 2 main styles:

1. Backpack (when you need to carry lots of stuff and be hands free)
2. Messenger/Sport bag (more stylish and sporty, sling across the shoulders)

If you're wondering what I am talking about, just go to Dad Gear to see 1 and 2.

Anyway, just got myself a Bagman messenger style bag (some of their designs looks uncannily similar to Crumpler) last weekend for use as a diaper bag. Its large and got lots of pockets. Think will be using it quite often next time as I am the assigned "bag man" ...

Playing with Cayden

Yesterday, Cayden (week 34, currently still in mummy's tummy) and I had our first "interactive" play session!

Usually he is active around 10pm at night. What he will do is move around a bit, poke and kick for about 5-10 minutes then will go back to sleep. So yesterday when he started moving, I decided to "play" with him by tapping and poking mummy's tummy when he started moving. Guess what, he responded by poking and kicking even harder than normal! Everytime I poke, he responds.This went on for about 15-20 minutes after which I decided its time for him to rest.

Will try "playing" again tonight ...

Used K10D

Finally got myself a used K10D body as some are selling theirs to upgrade to the newly launched K20D. Still getting used to the camera and don't have a digital lens yet. Some initial evening and night time sample shots below:



The following shots were taken with my 20 year-old Takumar 28-80mm film SLR lens.
:-)

Rice Cooker Tip

Have you ever struggled with cleaning the rice cooker after every meal where you had to scrub and scrape all the burnt/stuck rice from the bottom of the container?

This happened to me, especially when the rice cooker gets older and the non-stick surface of the rice container degrades.

One tip which I like to share to solve this cleaning problem is to use ALUMINIUM FOIL.

What you can do is to put the uncooked rice and water onto an aluminium foil and place it into the container. Make sure the water in the aluminium foil does not leak out. In the space between the aluminium foil and container, add a little bit of extra water. This is to make sure the foil gets good contact with the container through the water and to allow the rice cooker to detect when cooking is done. (This works cos most rice cookers use a thermostat to determine when the rice is cooked i.e. when the water dries up, temperature goes > 100 degrees C)

Result: 100% Fluffy rice without s single grain getting burnt! Better yet, just rinse the rice container, no scraping or scrubbing!



BTW, for those who want to know how a rice cooker works, here's some interesting links:

How Stuff Works (Rice Cooker)
How a Rice Cooker Works (Some girl on YouTube)

Indian Baby

Last week, I had a strange dream. I dreamt that the hospital mixed up babies and I ended up with an Indian baby! The baby didn't have any identification tags on. Furthermore, the baby was quite big and can even talk!

Eh, anyone can help interpret what this dream means??

KooshLog: Drive Recorder

KooshLog: Drive Recorder

As a follow up to the previous post above, I got myself a cheap Drive Recorder (aka Car DVR). The gadget cost me S$99 from Giffy Gifts.

This nifty thing is supposed to install on your dash and record everything that happens in front of you during your drives. Well, it works but is far from ideal. Here's a quick review:

Pros:

1. CHEAP!


Cons:

1. Field of view is too narrow (can't capture vehicles coming from your side until they are directly in front of you.

2. Resolution could be better. 320x240 is ok but 640x480 would be better at capturing details such as license plates.

3. There is no timestamp and the device does not have an internal clock. All recorded AVI files are timestamped 1/1/2004.

4. The device does not automatically start recording when power is supplied. This means you need to manually press the "ON" button, following by the "RECORD" button to start recording everytime you start your engine. Also, if you do not press the "RECORD" button to stop the recording before switching off your engine, some data may be lost when the power is cut off abruptly.

5. Mounting on the dash is not really ideal. Most of the time your dashboard and bonnet will be in the way. Best place to mount it is behind the rear view mirror.




Managed to mount it on the rear view mirror itself. In this position, buttons are accessible but I cannot see the status LEDs (i.e. power and the blinking recording LED). Anyway, I've attached a sample video clip captured from this device.

Addicted to Bass ...

Ever since I had my bass tube installed, I was addicted and there was no turning back. Sometimes I take a ride in some of my friends or colleagues car with a normal audio system and it sounds "strange". In my world, any car audio system without any sort of subwoofer is somehow "incomplete".

Anyway, the long bass tube (which took up 1/3 of the entire boot space when standing up) has to give way to allow for more space to fit a baby stroller. Instead of removing it, I replaced it with a locally made sub in a compact enclosure. The sub and enclosure is the e2 Cube from "FredericStevenson Moving Air".

The Cube comes either in an 8" or 10" setup. The entire Cube is about half the size of my original 10" MTX Tube (see the Tube in the previous Galant), so space is about halved. Although smaller, it is heavier as the enclosure box is made of more solid wood. The bass quality is as good if not better than the Tube. I find it generally produces a more "punchier" bass.

IT Show 2008

My 7-year old Toshiba Quadro died on me 2 weeks ago. What this meant was that I needed to go to the IT Show 2008 to get a good deal on a new TV.

I decided on a Samsung LCD TV as I think their models look sleek and are quite affordable. With my existing TV cabinet, I can only go for at most a 40-inch panel. So eventually after doing some research, I decided to go for the Samsung LA40R81BX. This model is HD-READY, not FULL-HD. I figured saving $1000 makes better sense since I don't have any HD devices now and will unlikely have any in the future. Furthermore $1000 goes a long way for baby stuff ...

Anyway, its been a long time since I went for any IT/PC/Computer Show. When I went down last Friday late afternoon to Suntec where the show was held, I was promptly reminded why I usually don't go. Even before I stepped out of the car, I was greeted with signs saying "CARPARK FULL", a reminder of the potential crowd in Suntec.

Took me a while to find parking, after trying at least 4 carparks. (Suntec, Esplanade open-air, Esplanade basement, Shaw then finally Beach Centre) The show was quite huge with 2 levels full of stuff. Fortunately, I remained focused. Go-in, find Samsung, buy, go-out. Well, almost, with a short detour for other "snakey" gadgets, kekeke!

The TV will be here in 2 weeks. Will post a short review (maybe) after I get it.