Monthly Archives: August 2009

Hudson

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It was great seeing James Taylor last night. I haven’t seen him in over a year. He made the long drive just to see my band play at the Terrace Restaurant in Pasadena.

I’ve known him since he was in sixth grade.[1. I coached him for a year. Football, basketball, baseball, soccer. Don't ask me when that took place. I haven't a clue!] We’ve kept in touch ever since. I do need to make the trek out to his area (Orange County) more often, especially to get him taking more photos.

I asked him if I could take his photo before he headed home.

The photo is in B&W (grayscale) because the street lights gave off two drastically different color temperatures.

Mini-Review: Sennheiser CX300 Earphones

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A few weeks ago, I bought Sennheiser CX300 earphones to replace my pricey Shure E2c in-earphones. Wait, why? The cord that wraps around the ears frayed out. It’s the second time it happened, and my warranty has run out.

I knew I’d be taking a hit in quality, but I just needed to isolate myself from the sounds of the subway, light rail, and people chatting loudly on their cell phones.

Once I stuck them in my ears, I was able to zone out just like before. Wailing babies? What babies? I can’t hear the random preacher on the subway. The sounds of Nine Inch Nails, The Mars Volta, or Rx Bandits engulfed me.

Verdict: the Sennheiser CX300 earphones are a fantastic, cost-effective, and necessary replacement to basic earphones supplied with MP3 players.

[amtap amazon:asin=B000E6G9RI]

Slacking off or more focused?

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Social lube

After my previous show on Sunday, I was talking with Arnold talked about how sad it was not being able to hang out and photowalk as much as before. In contrast, the Los Angeles [Flickr] group have constant meet-ups. You can never be bored when you hang out with them!

Perhaps this is my mellow and slightly more focused approach.

In 2008, I posted about 2,300 photos to Flickr. So far this year, I’ve posted 437 photos to Flickr.

On the other hand, 2009 has mainly consisted of work, school, and music. I didn’t go to Las Vegas yet[1. I went to Las Vegas twice last summer.], nor did I visit my cousins in Hawaii.

Wait. I photographed a protest, went on a few protests of my own. C’mon!

Arnold would scold me for not undertaking another year of 365. But, I’d like to justify that I’m looking for quality over quantity. Some photos in that 2008 set were forced. In contrast, I’m very happy with the majority of photos posted from this year.

Plus, I’ve photographed more concerts, and I’m aiming to photograph two weddings in a couple months.

Whatever. I do what I want!

Trust Agents

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Chris Brogan and Julien Smith just wrote and published a book called “Trust Agents.”

I haven’t read the book yet, but I know Chris. He loves helping people/companies, so I feel particularly close to him.

While all these social networks are in their infancy, people are the same. We could use advice to make sure we’re focused on the right things.

I don’t care where you buy the book from. I just think you should do it. (Jon Swanson would agree.) I’ll be ordering my copy today, too.

My stuff isn't free

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Why do some of my friends and contacts[1. Especially from Flickr] swipe my photos without asking or giving credit? Everyone who has gone through high school have written essays requiring citation of their sources.

The same applies with photos. Furthermore, according to Section 1202 of the U.S. Copyright Act[2. via Photo Attorney], cropping or cloning out watermarks is illegal.

My Flickr profile only says: “No use without permission.”

I don’t like embedding watermarks in my whole photos. Now I understand why some photographers do that and it’s not their fault.

I’m not just making a big deal out of this. Jim M. Goldstein and Merlin Mann would agree with me.

Rethinking my photography

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I’ll bet you’ve noticed that I’m not posting photos[1. Here or at Flickr] as often as before.

These past few months, I’ve hung out with my friend, Michael Kang[2. Flickr friends might know him as "Kangster"]. We’ve talked for several hours, and he’s given lots of hands-on help and time with my photography.

Other friends, coworkers, and photographer peers have encouraged me. A few have even took it a step further to pay me for my service. Apparently, I have a gift. I need to use it.

How do I move beyond photography hobbyist? How much do I charge?

I know I need to write what I want to accomplish from the bottom up. (How many of you have a written business plan?) Without that, I won’t know my expenses and how much profit I’d like to make.

Why not charge lower than the competition? You’ll devalue yourself.

How do I build my portfolio? Serve clients/customers pro bono. However, let them know that while you’d normally charge x dollars, you’re giving them a 100% discount to help build your portfolio. At the same time, I can’t just give myself away. I need to feed myself and pay the bills.

Coupled with college, part-time work as a Computer Network Assistant and playing with The Scarlet Paradigm, am I spreading myself too thin?

If I try to make this a full-fledged business, will it just become another job? (I don’t see that happening.)

I realize the magnitude of my questions. There isn’t an easy answer.

Ultimately, I want to help people. If my photography can help you somehow, and you’re not a mooch, let’s talk.

Thoughts on the Shuttle SA76G2 barebone mini-PC

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I’m helping my friend at work build a new computer, which will replace an aging system at home. It’s based on the Shuttle SA76G2 barebone mini-PC.

Components:

In case you’re about to build a new system based on this, you need to know something.

For the Shuttle SA76G2, the CPU power consumption (TDP) has a maximum of 105W. We actually ordered the AMD Phenom II X4 945 Deneb 3.0GHz AM3 125W Quad-Core Processor.

Why? The Shuttle SA76G2 specifications at Newegg doesn’t list this. I didn’t find out until I and saw the sticker on the CPU socket. Now we have to return the 125W processor and order the 95W processor.

It gets worse. At Mwave, you can configure the system with a AMD Phenom II X4 920 2.8GHz processor — but that runs at 125W!

Newegg, Mwave, and other resellers that sells barebone systems and motherboards that have a CPU power consumption (TDP) maximum: please add that specification to the item page!

Alright, so I don’t have too many thoughts about this system yet. Aren’t you glad I shared this information before you got an incompatible processor?

Give me until Tuesday Wednesday for more thoughts on this. Hopefully the replacement processor arrives Monday and gives me the chance to finish putting the parts together. If I’m somehow wrong with all this information, please leave a comment and explanation. Thanks.

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Update 2009-08-10 — At Mwave, they let you configure a Shuttle SA76G2 barebone mini-PC with the OCZ OCZ2RPR10664GK 4GB Kit.

The problem is that the heat spreaders for the memory sticks are too tall for the case. How would they have tested the system? Why is it an option?

Two strikes on Mwave.

So, the beastly memory kit is heading back and the OCZ Fatal1ty Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2F10664GK will hopefully arrive tomorrow.

If you follow me on Twitter, I was griping about something else. An error on my part is that I forgot to buy thermal compound. Fortunately, Radio Shack had Arctic Silver® 5 and Arctic Silver® Céramique. I went with Céramique.

[amtap amazon:asin=B000BSLU2S]

[amtap amazon:asin=B0007Y836W]

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Update 2009-08-10 3pm — Wait, the barebones system did come with thermal compound! Stars Heatsink Compound, to be exact. It was hiding behind the CD. Oh well, it’s cheaper stuff that definitely wouldn’t perform as well as Arctic Silver®.

I am idiot.

Update 2009-08-12 5:30pm — Memory came in two days later because he went with Egg Saver (free) shipping.

I snapped the two sticks into the motherboard, plugged in the hard drive and DVD burner, and powered on the computer.

The Windows install — from partitioning the hard drive to Windows desktop — took about 15 minutes.

A detail (Mwave) overlooked is that the Shuttle SA76G2 only supports memory types DDR2 533/667/800. Buying DDR2 1066 was overkill. Fortunately, there isn’t even a price difference. Of course, it runs fine at DDR2 800. Nothing to worry about.

Windows 7 didn’t need me to install additional drivers. Nice.

My friend is taking the system home tomorrow because he won’t get a chance to use his new computer tonight. Then, he’ll run it through the paces. (He’s a graphic designer.)