Speed of Light: Another interval recording music video

 

Yellow 4G iPod nano Music Video

 

Apple HK selling unlocked iPhone 3G

Read that? Buy an iPhone direct at Apple store in HK, and you can simply put in any SIM card of the provider of your choice, like NORMAL phones. Emphasize the word any. I guess they have to do that so people will actually want to buy it. Unlocked phones are the norm in Asia, unlike the backward USA. So, Apple, when are you going to do that here?

 

Tachyon – Fell Your Breeze

Found this on youtube, a Korean boyband singing the song “Feel Your Breeze,” originally sung in Japanese by V6.

 

Anime & tokusatsu from my childhood

Youtube is a great place to find old anime clips. These ones are some of them that I watched when I was a kid. It’s funny when my friends and I here were discussing what we’re watching on TV when we were kids. Many of them mentioned Mr. Rogers. As for me, I was like “who is Mr. Rogers? I was watching Goggle V and Kamen Rider Black.” LOL.

Gyavan (1982): (my first tokusatsu show. Gyavan is still the coolest! We were always amazed how awesome his dragon robot was)

Goggle V (1982): (my first Super Sentai show. Yup, everybody around my age from my country know what Goggle V is, everybody)

Go-shogun (1981):

God-Sigma (1980): (man, I really loved this anime’s songs when I was a kid)

Thunderbid 2086/Technovoyager (1982): (Probably my first exposure to dubbed anime without realizing it. I knew it was Japanese in origin, but didn’t realize the dub. I never even watch the original Japanese one. The OP of the dubbed seems cooler, thankfully they still use the Japanese music minus the vocals)
Thunderbird 2086:

Technovoyager:

And of course, my first exposure to Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Black (1987). I didn’t even know that it was Kamen Rider. LOL.

Some of my friends always ask why I keep watching those “power rangers” shows, referring to Japanese Super Sentai (no, I swear I won’t watch any more crappy Power Rangers crap). Well, looking at the shows above, I can see why I still like tokusatsu shows. Plus, now I’m aware that tokusatsu shows are entertaining all ages, if you know what I mean. 🙂

 

Go-Onger Ep29 and Kamen Rider Kiva Ep32 Funnies

 

Pikachuu’s New Toy

Well, I can’t help it. Pikachuu wants the new iPod nano that comes in yellow.

 

Day & Night

Yet another video I did using the interval recording feature of the Samsung SC-MX20.

 

Getting rid of the genre list in iTunes 8

This is used to be selectable by user in iTunes prior to version 8. To remove the genre list in iTunes 8 on OS X, run Terminal, and type this (without the quotes): “defaults write com.apple.itunes show-genre-when-browsing -bool FALSE”

Thanks to iLounge.

 

Samsung SC-MX20 Flash Camcorder

I’ve always wanted to get a camcorder, but I hate tapes and mini-DVDs. Hard-drive based camcorders are great, but I’m worried that the nature of camcorder usage is not good for moving parts like hard-drives. Besides, the cheaper models all use MPEG2 compression, which is NOT PC friendly, especially with Macs. AVCHD camcorders are very expensive. Enter the Samsung SC-MX20. It’s just newly released, and I got it on sale for $225. It uses SD/SDHC cards as its recording media, thus the size of the unit is very compact and lightweight. Unlike other MPEG2 camcorders, this Samsung uses H.264 compression, resulting in more recording time compared to MPEG2, and it is iMovie friendly.



Quick impression list:
-Very compact
-The spec says 3 hours of recording time per charge. Not too shabby
-34x optical zoom
-Built-in lens cover, but operation is manual, not automatic
-Tripod hole
-Affordable price
-Uses the standard SD/SDHC cards
-Uses H.264 instead of MPEG2
-Can record in widescreen mode (720×480)
-Interval recording feature! (see below for video)
-Uses standard USB mini jack
-Widescreen mode recording is interlaced. iMovie and Quicktime have problems with it. Luckily there is a freeware for Mac called JES Deinterlacer. Still, this requires an extra step and encoding during video editing. Annoying and time wasting.
-Video quality is not the greatest, but since the final destination is youtube, I don’t think it’s a big deal. AVCHD video takes a LOT of space, and if the end result is youtube/DVD, IMO why not just use a standard def camcorder.
-Minimal accessories included (AC adapter, A/V cable, USB cable, pouch). Based on the manual, there will be models that include built-in memory (8GB and 16GB), and docking station.

The interval recording feature is awesome, and fun! You can basically set the MX20 to record an image every second or longer. The movie itself is still 30 frames per second, resulting in a video with a fast forward effect. This is used to be something only a pro can do, and/or very difficult. Now, it’s automatic. Here’s a video I took:

In short, I think I’m going to like this camcorder, especially for the money.