Nikon Hits It With New D5000

If you’re considering an entry-level Nikon D.S.L.R., you might want to aim higher. The company has just announced the D5000, a model that bridges the gap between its popular D60 and D90 models by offering features like high-definition video capture, a larger sensor, an 11-point auto-focus, and Live View at a reasonable price of $849.

Those familiar with Nikon’s naming conventions will note the new four-digit numeric range. “The D5000 name is intentionally designed to set the camera apart,” says Steve B. Heiner, a senior technical manager for Nikon. “It’s not necessarily an entry-level D.S.L.R.—the price is a bit higher, and the features are more advanced. But even the most beginner photographer can use it and, at the same time, it’s also great for an advanced amateur.”

The D5000 will be sold as a kit with an 18mm to 55mm (equivalent) f/3.5-5.6G VR lens for $849. Nikon will also offer a two-lens kit that adds a 55mm to 200mm (equivalent) f/4-5.6 zoom lens for $1,100, or body-only for $729.
The D5000 is built upon the small chassis of the D60 (which costs approximately $600) but adds many of the finer attributes of the D90 (now selling for roughly $1,200, with lens). The 12.3-megapixel D5000 employs the same sensor as the D90, for instance, and it offers the same 11-point auto-focus system (the D60 has only three AF points). That means the D5000 will provide faster and more accurate auto-focus than the D60.

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing feature borrowed from the D90 is high-definition video capability. The D5000 can record video at 720p (1280×720 pixels at 24 frames per second), and video can be captured with image stabilization when using a Nikkor lens.
Unlike the D60, the D5000 includes Live View, which enables you to compose photos or video on the LCD (in addition to the viewfinder). The D5000’s Live View offers subject tracking auto-focus to automatically lock onto a moving subject. And its 2.7-inch swing-out LCD can be rotated and tilted for framing low- and high-angle shots—a feature that even the D90 doesn’t include.
The D5000 also packs a whopping 19 automatic scene modes (as compared with 5 on the D90) as well as several new in-camera editing features, including a soft filter effect to smooth out faces and a perspective control that enables users to correct distortions of up to 10 percent that often appear in architectural photographs.

And for geo-taggers, the D5000 is compatible with Nikon’s GP-1 GPS unit, which means you can add longitude and latitude data to images. (The GP-1 will set you back roughly $210, however.)
With features like these, why even consider the more expensive D90? “There are a couple of reasons,” says Heiner. “The D5000 cannot control multiple SpeedLights, and it lacks a depth-of-field preview capability, as well as the ability to accept an ancillary battery pack.”
Still, no matter how you look at it—either $350 less than the D90 or $250 more than the D60—the D5000 delivers the best of both models at a reasonable price. It’s definitely worth waiting a few weeks before you make a final buying decision.

Passenger lands plane in Fla. after pilot dies

Read the news today!

A passenger landed a twin-engine plane in Florida after the pilot died in flight with a total of six people on board.
Federal Aviation Administration officials say the pilot died after takeoff from an airport in Naples on Sunday. It was on autopilot and climbing toward 10,000 feet when the pilot died.
The passenger who took over is licensed for single-engine planes but isn't certified to fly the larger King Air craft.
An air traffic controller helped the passanger down by calling a friend in Connecticut who knows the King Air plane and relaying instructions. The plane landed safely at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.
The plane had been headed to Jackson, Miss. The names of the pilot and passengers have not been released.

Normally this is the stuff of B grade movies, but for it to be true!

Spendid!

How to Wear a Wrist Watch

I'm right-handed, and my watch feels more comfortable on my right wrist, but I've heard that I should wear it on my left wrist so the watch or the movement doesn't get damaged. Does it matter?
— Aaron Sherman, Davis, Calif.
I've heard that, too, but I don't think that's the whole story. Seems to me we've historically worn watches on our left wrists because they're easier to wind with our dominant right hands. This is, of course, irrelevant if one's watch is automatic. Or if it's quartz, driven by battery. Or if one is left-handed, in which case it's whatever the hell makes him most comfortable. It's also worth noting that a lot of watchmakers — Seiko, Panerai, and TAG Heuer among them — make lefts, or watches made with the movement reversed so the crown is placed at the nine-o'clock position instead of the normal three o'clock. I still wouldn't advise wearing it on the basketball court.

Coolest Coffee Mugs and Cups

On/Off Mug

Created with heat sensitive pigment, at first glance the On/Off Mug ($27.00), looks like a standard black mug with big white letters that say "OFF". Nothing fancy, but once you add the hot beverage of your choice, the mug changes color to white and in big black letters it states: "ON".

Drink Selector Mug

Tired of telling people how you like your tea or coffee? Twist rings on your Drink Selector Mug ($22.75) to reveal your choice of drink and your milk and sugar preferences.
Gun Mug

Sick and tired of high design constantly cast as sensitive and wimpy? Then kill a little time with this clever Gun Mug ($14.99) that replaces the boring office cubicle mug by a gold plated trigger custom made mug.

Darth Vader Mug

Let the Dark Lord of the Sith watch over your coffee with your Darth Vader Mug ($16.99).

Equal Measure Cup
View your measurements in a surprising new light - next time you make brownies, use a tyrannosaur's brain of flour, or sugar equal to the water in a cumulus cloud the size of a bus. The Equal Measure Cup ($11.49) is half measuring cup, half laboratory beaker, and all fun.

And since I like them better, they are better.

Seth Godin is probably one of the most insightful marketing thinkers and writers that I have known.
And Below is one of his posts that simply spells out out what real life is really is.
And for me this simply screams " the baiscs, never forget the basics, always go back to the basics" and I have highlighted the phase the spells it out for me.

What does better mean?


Are zippers better?
For years, I always wore jeans with a zipper. After all, zippers are better. They're faster and easier and they do what they're told. What an amazing invention! How did we survive without zippers?
Last year, just for kicks, I bought a pair of jeans with a button fly. Middle age crisis, I guess.
Now, that's all I wear. Buttons are better.
How can buttons be better? They're archaic. They take a long time. They're difficult.
Except that I like the way they look. And since I like them better, they are better.
This is a hard lesson for marketers, particularly technical marketers, to learn. You don't get to decide what's better. I do.
If you look at the decisions you've made about features, benefits, pricing, timing, hiring, etc., how many of them are obviously 'better' from your point of view, and how many people might disagree?
There are very few markets where majority rule is the best way to grow.

And the reminder "hard lesson for marketers"
Hard indeed!

The Ideal Pillar Post. The Super Pillar Post

I haven't written a post here for a while.

Not that I haven't had anything to write about, just wanted to write about something really worthwhile.

Pro bloggers like Yaro and Gideon ( my blogger heroes) have always talked about writing a series of 'pillar posts'.

So I thought I might just take the advice of the experts and get to it.

So hmmm,

Now that I'm getting down to it.

What is a pillar post?

" What is a pillar post? A pillar post is a post that is very long, instructional, and is usually a list (or at least that’s what I like to call it). A pillar post can take many, many hours and up to days to write, but they are definitely worth it. On July 18 I published a post called 75 Ways to Increase Your Site’s Traffic. I like to refer to it as a pillar post. It is a list of 75 items and is instructional, telling you how to get more traffic to your site or blog."

and with

"You should write one because people love posts like that. They can get so much from it and they can tell you are very serious about what you’re doing. I’ve gotten more comments on that post than any other, and also more people have linked to it."

is something about it from the super blogging blog

http://superbloggingtips.com/2007/08/why-you-should-write-a-pillar-post/

But how to write one? I spent a few hours (on the MRT) pondering this question;

"Pillar posts are not hard to write. No matter what your niche, a pillar post cannot be very hard to write, or even to come up with an idea for one. True, they might take awhile, but they aren’t hard. For my pillar post, I chose a very general topic in my niche: increasing traffic. Choosing a general topic makes it a lot easier and lets you have more to write about, and that’s essential for a pillar post. All you have to do is think up what your post will be about, and then brainstorm all the items in the list."

And then also...

"When you write a pillar post, and if it’s a decent one, you will receive many links from it and lots o f comments. Just be sure to proofread it as best you can before you publish it and make sure it makes sense, because if it doesn’t, you’ll lose valuable links."

So, Voila!

Olive Riley (108-year-old): World's Oldest Blogger

Believed to have been the world's oldest blogger, australian woman Olive Riley began her blog The Life of Riley in February 2007 at the age of 107 and made her final post on 26 June 2008 from a nursing home in Woy Woy, New South Wales, complaining of a cough about two weeks before she died at the age of 108. She had posted over 70 entries, as well as several video posts on YouTube. Her blog (or "blob" as she called it) was inspired by her experience with documentary filmmaker Michael Rubbo who, in 2005, made a documentary about her titled All About Olive.

New 7 Wonders Of Nature - Vote for Mergui Archipelago

A frantic incoming message from my friend in Yangon, distrubed my evening musing.
It was Rahul, a dear online friend, and he was on a mission.
and our conversation;

Rahul: Hey! Bro...pls cast your vote at http://www.new7wonders.com./
Rahul: Let's vote for Mergui Archipelago at http://www.new7wonders.com/
Rahul: Pls vote for Mergui Archipelago
moelwin999: eh?
Rahul: Okie?
and also spread this info with your myanmar fri from S"pore
moelwin999: ok
I will put it on my blog
and face book page too
Rahul: Thx
Good
moelwin999: where is it?
Rahul: What?
Mergui Archipelago?
in southern part of Myanmar..kawthaung
moelwin999: where do I vote for Mergui?
yeah I know that! I mean on the web page?
Rahul: Pls link to New 7 wonders of Nature.
moelwin999: ok found it
Rahul: there they'll be explanation step by step
moelwin999: ok here goes
Rahul: thx
moelwin999: ok



So now you are looking at it on my blog, and some notice i will put on my Facebook page too.
http://www.new7wonders.com./nature/en/index/

Extreme Sheep LED Art

Time and again you come across something that impresses you.
And here you can see that this really impresses me.
Not only because of all the sheep and stuff.
Not because of the originality of the idea.
But What impressed me was the will to turn it into reality.
For that they have my respect and a place on my blog!

Enjoy!



The URL is here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

On the top of the World's Tallest Building

Watch the video. Surely worth the effort.

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7037537

Then read, then you want to go to the website!

Burj Dubai
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Burj Dubai

Aerial view of Burj Dubai on October 26, 2008
Information
Status
Topped-Out
Groundbreaking
September 21, 2004
Estimated completion
2009[1]
Opening
September 2009 (est.)[2]
Height
Antenna/Spire
818 m (2,684 ft)[1]
Technical details
Floor count
160 habitable floors[3]
Floor area
334,000 m2 (3,595,100 sq ft)
Companies
Architect
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill
StructuralEngineer
Bill Baker at SOM[4]
Contractor
TurnerSamsungBesixArabtecGrocon[5]Bauer AG[5]Middle East Foundations[5]Otis[5]Lerch Bates[5]Schmidlin[5]Al Naboodah[5]Laing O'Rourke[5]
Developer
Emaar
Burj Dubai (Arabic: برج دبي‎ "Dubai Tower") is a supertall skyscraper under construction in the Business Bay district of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure ever built, despite being incomplete. Construction began on September 21, 2004 and is expected to be completed and ready for occupancy in September 2009.[1][2]
The building is part of the 2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) development called "Downtown Dubai", at the "First Interchange" (aka "Defence Roundabout") along Sheikh Zayed Road at Doha Street. The tower's architect is Adrian Smith who worked with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) until 2006.[6][7] The architecture and engineering firm SOM is in charge of the project.[6] The primary builders are Samsung Engineering & Construction and Besix along with Arabtec.[8] Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction manager.[9]
The total budget for the Burj Dubai project is about US$4.1 billion and for the entire new 'Downtown Dubai', US$20 billion.[10] Mohamed Ali Alabbar, the CEO of Emaar Properties, speaking at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat 8th World Congress, said that the price of office space at Burj Dubai had reached $4,000 per sq ft (over $43,000 per sq m) and that the Armani Residences, also in Burj Dubai, were selling for $3,500 per sq ft (over $37,500 per sq m).[11]

The official website: http://www.burjdubai.com/

My Sideways Jiggy in Australia

http://www.nuffnang.com.sg/tourism-australia
Yeah that's the link that started off all this day dreaming.
I must say, it has been fun indeed!

I intend to win the two tickets and proceed way-down-there and to record my experience in perpetual electronic memory in the form of doing my Jiggy in all the prominent places of the Great State of Queensland. A sample of my jiggy is demo'ed below;

Yes this jiggy shall grace the main places of Queensland such as the Gold Coast, now I like the sound of that place! must be cool.

And then Brisbane for a little down-under urban jiggles so the Aussies can draw some inspiration in some moderate silly stuff.

It has been nearly 30 years since Australian soil has borne my weight. And now this competition will allow a second return, with my weight estimated to be at least 5 times more than the last time I left. I will travel the lands with my wife, probably in great embarrassment in having to be my camerawoman, to record the stories and jiggies of which the trip will result in.

Humanity is expected to become richer for my acts and experience.

No more need to be written here after viewing my video (in front of the great Shwedagon and U Wisara Pagodas of Yangon).

Come to think of it, a jiggy in front of the Sydney Opera House is called for too, I must say!

I will want to visit the war memorial in Melbourne too,

And perhaps to Canberra to visit the Parliament building and Duffy Primary School.

Cars of the future

Remember all the movies about the future or events set in the future.
One item that they always tried to show there, was the cars of the future. The vehicles that we would be driving around in. In some movies the future would be only as far as 25 year away and the cars of that time are really far out.

Here is proof that those weird looking cars have arrived. At least the first models.
Remember this clip so you can talk about it in the next twenty years.

Follow thew link; http://uk.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=98891
And they don't look too weird. Maybe all those movies familiarised us!

Kenny G, The Moment, Video

I know this is an old one.
But it is an all time favorite for me.
And for many like me.

May it be-enya - Eectric Violin

As I said, I'd be surfing the net this Sunday and this iswhat I came upon.

The song May it be by Enya.
By electric violin,
Could someone tell me who she is!
Her performance has made my Sunday.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2VhMvstSX0

All the best wishes for this talented person.

Could I take up the violin now and someday become like her?

Yes We Can Obama Song By Will.I.Am

I chanced upon this amazing MTV.
Here for all.

Golden Duck Restaurant, Mandalay Review

I have been patronising this restaurant for years now. At least since 1998 if I remember clearly.
(I would drop-in and pick a whole roast duck and drive 4 hours to home where, gentle wife would be waiting and the duck would be merely bones in a good single meal.)
Little has changed through the years. The flagship roast duck is as excellent as ever.
I had one on the 6th of February 2009, night. Yes, the quality maintained. A tribute to the close attention of the management.
Besides the duck, my all time favorite is crab and prawn fried rice. I can never get enough of that tantalizing food (my mouth water just writing about it).
Air condition the restuarant is, one cannot imagine a Mandalay summer without airconditioning.
Book a table early to ensure you get a scenic table, try to go while there some sunlight to enjoy the view of the place moat and wall. And tell them that you are going order their roast duck. (It seems that the duck tastes even better).

Indeed it is one of my favorite dining places in Mandalay, and very rarely there is a trip to Mandalay where I do not dine at this restaurant.
My every recommendation!

Golden Duck Chinese Restaurant
No. 192, Corner of 80th & 16th St, Mandalay

Keep Your Camera Ready

I was in Myanmar for the first two weeks of February.

Between appointments, I came upon a movie shoot in the middle of Yangon in a Shopping Mall.

So I took a few minutes, to get myself photographed with the stars.

And they wear so such nice and sweet people.

Wishing them all the best for their movie.

My advice - keep your camera all the time for moments like these.

Halo - Beyonce

Man! I was blown away
Totally
And took me a while to find the lyrics video (then I found hundreds of them).
Enjoy.

Trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia (10)

The next day was more or less of the same temple trudging for me. The names elude me now, but there is one I do remember: Neam Preak : it's a man-made lake with a horse in the middle of it and in the middle of the jungle. It is forever etched in my mind, cos the walk there was the longest and most gruelling.... like walking on hot embers or stakes of iron.

Was dehydrated, in need of constant liquid replenishment and to be honest I had had enough of the temples. Had a picnic lunch of stuff I'd bought at the shopping mall (try that it's cheaper and much more convenient). Back to the town, but first, a final look at Angkor again.
Hordes of tourists were descending from buses upon one of the wonders of the world. The walkway to the temple was full of them. There was a Cambodian child in pram with a deformed and enlarged head. My mum who had once worked as a nurse in hospital children's ward said she had seen children like that and that their lives were short. She stopped to play with the child. It made gurgling sounds and gave us what we thought was a smile.
Some local girls in Cambodian dancer dress were lined up by an enterprising guy who was charging 10 dollars to photograph them or topics with them. My mum took a pic of them not realising it was a business venture and when the guy asked for some money she promptly erased the offending photo in front of him.
So to the swelling crowds, the dust and heat and famed temples of Angkor, I bid farewell. We were satisfied.

Ankgor had been good.

The carvings extrordinary. Certainly a place one should visit. Was a bits orry to say goodbye to the stone faces of Bayon and the Victory gate.

They were my favourite stone figures.
Maybe I will visit again one day.
One last trip to the tourist trinket market in the Old quarter of Siam Reap full of stuff mostly from Thailand. The multi-coloured rice-sack Saigon chique handbags were nice. But I really think the Cambodians should try a bit harder and produce stuff that is more of Cambodian origin.
Now it was for us to continue on to Ayutthya. The Cambodians say a lot of stuff was taken from Angkor and environs to Siam. So we were to go see on the morrow the remains of the place that had sacked the place we were in now.
We jump forward to Bangkok!

Trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia (9)

After a forgettable foot massage, I chatted online for 10 minutes to my bro in S'pore. Now internet access is cheap 50 cents an hour. So have some of that Cambodian money on you or you'll have to pay a dollar. Some places just do not want to give you change at all. Siem Reap is hot, muggy ..humid even in December. There is no cool season there at all. At least here in Mandalay we have about three and half months cool season and its even a bit chilly in the mornings. 42 miles from Mandalay, there is a hill station where it can get a bit freezing at night. But Siem Reap is just plain hot. So if you are ever going there pack those shorts and T-shirts. How long a stay should I stay in Siem Reap? I hear you ask! Well, for those not really into culture / archeology / social work / cooking classes, I guess about three days should be just about right. Two days for the temples and one day for exploring the town. They say there are other places like lake-dwellers communities and faraway temples but you would need about another 2-3 days to visit them all. Siem Reap has a newish shopping mall and I think I also saw about 2 others in various stages of development. When I told my friend Chris when I got back from Cambodia, he was astounded. What? Shopping malls?

Crikey !

Cos there weren't any in 1994ish when he was there. Man, " Only Angkor was open to the public then and we had an armed guard and they were still clearing landmines, so all the other temples were off limits. "Well" I told him "Times have certainly changed." Yes the town and temples and number of tourists has certainly changed.

But what of the people? Especially the younger ones? And orphaned ones? I am sure there are respectable organizations working in those areas, but I saw some very badly written (in English) fliers distributed by 7-8 year old kids who said they were from orphanages with donation boxes in front of the Romulus temples asking for donations. Shouldn't these kids be doing lessons? And I guess so many tourists has sadly turned some kids away from going to school, but starting off careers in tourism by beginning with asking for a dollar for stuff like rearranging your flip flops at monastery door unasked. The "one dollar please" here, and "one Dollar" there can be a nuisance. I had to borrow a pen off one lady tourist in a temple and she sarcastically said, "One dollar" as she gave it to me. But enough of this stuff. Who am I to criticize others ?
But anyway, I advise you to check out credentials in depth / detail, any orphanage anywhere in Asia ( or the whole world for that matter ) as some people try to make a living off being a " Director of so-and-so Orphanage ". You know, kind of like the kids are like the Giraffe women of Burma on display in pseudo villages for tourist perusal in Thailand. I mean the kids are brought (with consent of parents ) from genuinely poor families ( so not technically orphans )and fed and taught badly and then discarded or sent back without the means to make a livelihood when about 15 years old to make way for the younger ones who will bring in more donations and cement the livelihood of the so-called directors or founders of the place.

It's sad.

In the morning as we were off to the Romulus group of temples we saw an on-foot procession of locals, proceeding to the monastery with offerings all carried by hand. The town gentlemen were in smart trousers and shirts, the town belles were all made up, coiffured and in silk sarongs. My mum remarked she was getting a Cambodian sarong after seeing their nice colours.

It was wonderful that customs like that are still in existence.

Written By Mr. Soe Lwin, Principle of BEST Language School in Mandalay.

These posts are relayed from Singapore.