Back then, film was, for a lack of a better word, a scarce commodity. Pressing the shutter button will take you to a point of no return where the image will be permanently “engraved” with no option of do-overs. Every time light is shone at layers of silver halide emulsions on a 35mm strip of acetate, it felt like one was burning money. Back then in order to see your shots, you had to have them processed and printed which pushed the cost further. Suffice to say, it wasn’t cheap, destructive and left a lot of us skimping on pictures.

Sometime in the mid-late 90s, digital cameras were introduced. It enabled everyone to take as much photos as they like without having to go into a second mortgage. Unlike film, if you didn’t like what you see, you can always reach for the delete button.

This will not be an argument on which takes better photos. I believe that both film and digital have their own strengths and weaknesses and it’s all a matter of how one can milk them both for what they’re worth. This, however will be about how most of us deal taking photos with both. I will be straightforward and might offend some people so I apologize in advance. I will also be telling this with a consumer’s point of view, so professionals and advanced amateurs don’t count (as they obviously know what the hell they’re doing anyway).

Back in the film days, like I said, everyone wasn’t about to waste precious shots on film. So they were very conscious about composition, and all that stuff in order to make the most out of the shot. They read manuals, framed shots evenly (I know my folks did) and some even cared about lighting and exposure. You can say that everyone had an eye for photography in one way or another because one just can’t afford to ruin a shot.

Then digital came. People suddenly took as much photos as they like and cover up any screw up with that little thing called a “delete” button. Yes, we can finally take tons of snapshots and chuck the unwanted ones. Photography has become a game of chance. The more you press that shutter button, the more odds of you getting that good shot.

Unfortunately, this caused most people to become n00bs at it. No one cared about the fundamentals of photography anymore(most don’t even have the slightest wee bit of idea on it). The only criteria now in order for one to be called a photographer is being able to hold the camera at eye-level, and knowing how to press the shutter button. You may think that pressing the shutter button is simple enough, but apparently, it’s not. Nobody cared to know that pressing it halfway before taking the shot lets it focus on the subject first. When they see how blurry the shot is, they turn to the camera then blame it for not “having enough megapixels(I actually had someone tell me that).” Everybody’s photographic skills have been dumbed down to your average bowel movement and is going down the drain. (This is what we all get for not reading the friggen manual.)

Digital cameras have undoubtedly got everyone into photography, since it’s much more affordable. It has also been more convenient to view and share images. But, let’s not forget the basics. Do yourself a favor and go the extra mile of at least knowing how your digital camera works and how to take good photos from it. You don’t need an uber ’spensive high end DSLR to take good photos. It’s just a tool. 90% of the time it’s all in the skill.

Each social, political, religious or ethnic group may have different cultures, and practices from each other but they all have one thing in common; social stratification. The caste system for the Indians, and the social class for the capitalists just to name some. People are arranged from the most powerful to the helpless. Common determinants are money, wealth, power, influence and family prestige.

Consumerism also separates people in to two groups; the “have”s and the “have not”s where the social caste is benchmarked on how much material goods you have over the other.

In simple terms, one either becomes the boss or the employee, be one of the elite or the little people, work for other people or have people work for you, covet or be the one sticking his tougue out yelling “neener! neener!”.

What makes it interesting is that people will do anything to get on top. A good example of this is the idea of “keeping up with the Joneses”. Wars may have different agendas but they all come down to determining who dominates and who falls into submission. People will go to great lengths to climb the social ladder.

It’s the reality that shouldn’t have been. But on the contrary, I don’t believe in total equality. If everything was fair, we would all live in frustration. I do believe however, that there is a way to justify everything. For example, a person may have an advantage over the other and vice versa. This makes one equally important as the other and is what makes the system work.

Society is a set of cogs meshed together. Lose one gear, no matter how big or small, and the rest are bound to fail in one way or another. This idea provides the perceived equality among everyone.

I called up Smart, my ISP and I was scheduled to get a visit from the tech at 2pm on Friday.  Surprisingly, they did come albeit being an hour late. Finally I get to have my Internet back! Not quite. They came over to my house to replace the power adapter but the thing is, they didn’t bring the goddamn part! Seriously, how the hell can you possibly forget to bring something when it’s the ONLY reason as to why you’re coming over to my house in the first place? IDIOTS!

Moving on, they took the busted adapter with them and scheduled for a second visit at 9am the next day to finally replace it with a new one. So I reluctantly gave them some consideration and agreed for a second visit. I said to myself; “After this rather embarrassing situation, I think they’d do everything to set things right. Right?” Wrong. They never came and I had to call up Smart (Which by now I strongly believe is getting a bit tad ironic) only to realize they had it scheduled to January 18^th without me knowing it. To make the long story short, I still don’t have my Internet back as I’m writing this little rant of mine and I’m also starting to get broke by being on 3G.

Fortunately, it turns out that my contract will end on February 3^rd when I asked the guy on the line. Now, I’m not going to have any second thoughts of terminating my subscription and switching to another ISP. Thanks for relieving me of that dilemma Smart Bro!

But I don’t wanna look like a snobbish selfish prick so I believe I should be careful with what I say here.
First of all, I like getting gifts. No doubt about that. And as much as I would like to give back, I don’t have the money nor the resources to do so. Neither do I have the talent/skill/inspiration to make artsy/crafty crap that people make in lieu of something with market value.

Every Christmas, I’ve been asked by people what I want. But social protocol dictates that you let the giver choose the gift, while you cross your fingers that he/she will get you something that you will really really like or really really need. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way.

So without further ado, here is my top-10 wish list for C-Mas ‘09.

1. A new pair of Sony headphones – my current one’s has been broken and patched up which i don’t think will last much longer.
2. CDs – I know most people nowadays are getting songs from iTunes and other online music stores, or erm… the dark side, I still prefer it if I had a tangible copy of every music I own which I like to collect. I’m currently eying either Daughtry’s new album (just because it was mixed by my fave mixing engineer; Chris Lord Alge), Paramore’s new album or Flyleaf’s Memento Mori (same mixer).
3. New 3G USB Modem - I know it sucks having to pay for internet on the go when I can get wifi for free, but wifi coverage around here is spotty. Plus, you can’t really automatically switch from hot spot to hot spot as you would normally do with cellular networks, so wifi ain’t an option in a speeding car.
4. 30 Rock Seasons 1 & 2 box set DVDs - I just love that show. It’s probably the best comedy show that doesn’t have a laugh track like sitcoms.
5. A Turntable – VINYL ROCKS!!! ’nuff said.
6. Vinyls – something I can use with my turntable. preferably by Coldplay or Anberlin.
7. Useless knick knacks that I can use as bedroom ornaments – or better called as Novelty items.
8. Books – Novels worth reading. like Dan Brown’s new “The Lost Symbol” or some other best sellers. I like thriller and mystery books. Don’t even dare to get me Twilight crap or I KEEL U!!
9. Cargo Shorts - gotta have the extra pockets!
10. Cash – to save you the trouble of falling in line doing christmas shopping and it’s also something I can feed my piggy bank with.

-angryman.ca

-angryman.ca

When we fly from point A to point Z, we lose points b, c, d and everything in between. That right there is the trouble with flying, and not just the flying that’s done in airplanes. All around us we see people flying here and there, flying from this commitment to that appointment, ears pressed to cell phones, fingertips on the keyboard, eyes glazed over in a 1,000 yard stare. We’re going fast as hell, but where we are heading and what happens when we get there? That’s the question.

-Orba Squara

The current theme is the best one that I could find, and it will be my current theme until I find something better.

Feel free to suggest a good theme if you know of one. My definition of a good theme is:

• Black(or at least dark) and subtle tables
• White Text field background
• Abstract banner header; preferably Neon (think Las Vegas!)

[edit]

I just got a new header banner thanks to Firebucket and to iAlex for some php stuff

Another reason that made me love pop punk are the good memories I had listening to them back when I was in grade school until early in high school. I remember the times when I would sit on the porch in school just having a good time listening to music on my then 128MB mp3 player. Those were the carefree days, good days .

Album Artwork

Now to get on topic; I found out about “Nothing Personal” by All Time Low yesterday and decided to download it. All I can say is, it has satisfied my pop punk cravings that even Hit the Lights can’t do. Every track reminds me of the good days I had and the catchy tunes made me want to sing along to it -or at least lip-dub to it -

Now moving on to the individual tracks; there are 12 songs packed in this album. But only three songs caught my attention;

1. A Party Song (The Walk Of Shame) – I love the upbeat mood, good vocals, and good backup vox reverb
2. Damned If I Do Ya (Damned If I Don’t) – Good intro, Good chorus
3. Keep The Change, You Filthy Animal – Good chorus rhythm

Now just to be clear, I judge (and I tend to get technical into stuff) songs mix wise, by the intro, rhythm, and on how catchy it is. I don’t care about the lyrics unless I can really relate to it or I dunno. It’s just me.

With a list of producers (Matt Squire, Butch Walker, David Bendeth, S*A*M & Sluggo, and The-Dream) who have been in the industry for years, No wonder every track has been laid out smoothly, crisp sounds, and overall, good mixes.

The album is due to be released on July 7 but I got a digital copy of it beforehand and I hope I get to grab a copy once they hit the record store shelves. Definitely worth my $10.