29Nov/100

Give Credit Where It’s Due

Update: After talking with some people, I realized that all of this was worded pretty harshly. It was intended only to be a request for what I wanted people to do when they use my photos. My apologies to everybody.

Recently, I've noticed on more than one occasion people using my photos for their profile pictures on various social media websites. I think that's great; it's good publicity for myself and it shows that the photos are liked. Unfortunately, I've seen the growing trend of some photos getting cropped, removing the URL from the image. Most of the time this is unintentional. If this happens, don't worry; just give me credit in the photo description.

Here's my requests for my photo use:

Feel free to use the photos on any social website, provided that you give me credit. This can be either by:
- Leaving the original URL watermark in tact, or
- Giving credit in the description or caption, using both my name and website URL
Unless I give specific permission, I would not like my photos used for derivative works. Chances are just asking will result in a "yes"; I simply want to know where my photos are being used.

I believe that credit should be given where it's due (not to mention that it's a copyright violation). If you want to use my photos, just give me credit. Hopefully I won't have to put watermarks in more obstructive locations in the future.

Hopefully that clears things up a bit. Again, for those that read this before the update, sorry about how harsh it came across. I guess that's what Mondays do to me.

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Tagged as: copyright, Photos No Comments

29Nov/100

The New Battery Grip

I just bought a battery grip for my Canon Rebel XTi a few weeks ago, and so far, I absolutely love it. It's a great addition considering how little I paid for it.

Those of you now looking at the price of said battery grip on your favorite photography website will probably see a price around $250 – not exactly a cheap investment for the photographer on a budget. Thankfully, if you're cheap like me, you can find 3rd party brands on bargain sites or eBay. I did the latter, and got a grip and two new batteries for $50, including shipping.

The grip serves a few purposes. First, because it has button duplicates on it's side, it's great for portraits. No more twisting your arm uncomfortably to get the camera aligned! Secondly, they typically hold two batteries instead of just one. With good enough batteries, I've heard of a few people getting up to 2400 shots off of the grip between chargings. As an extra 'bonus', people will instantly think your camera is much better than it actually is!

With the additional battery and mass on the bottom of the camera, there is the side effect of the extra weight; expect about a 500g increase. While it doesn't sound like much, you'll notice. Although some people may look at this as a burden, I look at it as an improvement. That extra weight increases the camera's inertia, helping to steady your shot and get sharper shots.

The other feature I like about the grip is the extra AA battery cartridge included with it. Say, for example, that you're out on a photo shoot and forgot to charge your batteries. All you do is put 6 AA batteries in the supplied cartridge, put it in your camera, and away you go! Granted, they won't last for long, but it's a great backup when you're in a pinch.

I think it's definitely something that every serious SLR photographer should pick up. The combined worth of the grip and batteries is far more than what I paid for them.

Camera and Grip, shot by my iPhone

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28Nov/100

The Gentlemen — Live At The King’s Head Pub

I got the opportunity to see a few old friends this weekend. They happen to be in a band, and I needed an excuse to pull out the camera and get some use out of it. I shot 175 photos that night, and here's a selection of 37 of them (1:5 ratio ain't bad!). I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. I normally hate shooting in dark rooms, but a 430 EX II with a poor man's flash reflector (ie. a white sheet of paper with an elastic band to hold it on) does wonders when you're that close to your subject.

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21Nov/101

A Reflection on Being President Of A University Club

Over the past year and a half, I've been presented with the unique opportunity to be on the executive committee for one of the largest university groups on my campus; UMSwing has grown to be one of the most popular interest groups, and I would like to think that it has something to do with the executive committees of years past.

I love every minute that I spend working for the club, not because I think it's good resume padding (my last job at the RCMP does a much better job of that) or that I think I will get some benefit from it; I love it because I am glad to give back to a community that has given a lot to me. It's exciting to be in a position to shape the future of such a prominent student group.

The position I'm in takes up a lot of my time. I show up to almost every lesson to supervise, design all of the graphics-related materials for the club, as well as coordinate and chair executive meetings. I'd say on average I spend 10-12 hours/week during the middle of the semester (when there are no events in the works) on UMSwing stuff, and between double to triple that at the beginning of the semester.

Upon reflection however, I feel like I'm losing touch with some of the reasons I joined UMSwing in the first place. UMSwing was a place to learn something new, make some great new friends, get some self-confidence, and get in shape. Back when I was a member, I accomplished all of that and then some. I attended as many lessons as possible and met some friends who will be with me for the rest of my life. This year, I've only participated in one lesson as a student, and that was because we were drastically short leads. The unfortunate side-effect of this is that I don't get the opportunity to meet any of the new members. To them, I'm simply somebody that signs members in and supervises lessons.

I find myself in the unfortunate situation where my friends, who are participating in the lessons, are meeting new people, making friends, and getting so much more out of the club than I am able to in my position. It's a shame that I am only able to enjoy the fruits of my labours by watching our members enjoy themselves. Being in a work term next semester only means that I will have less of an opportunity to meet the members.

That being said, I'm glad that our members are getting so much out of the club. After all, they are the ones paying for lessons, and they are the priority. I'm glad to have been a part of the team that has given them the opportunity to meet new people and learn something new, and I hope they all enjoy the lessons, social events, and the friendships they will forge on the dance floor.

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Filed under: Rants 1 Comment

5Nov/103

Five Tips For Doing Well In A Co-Op Interview

This winter, I will be going into my third work term in the Computer Science Co-Op program. Over the past two work terms, I've found that I'm pretty good at interviews; in fact, I have only gotten lower than a #1 ranking for one interview. I've also had the experience of being one of the interviewers, so I've seen the process on both sides. Interviews for winter work terms are coming up, and to help out some people who may be going through their first work term, here's some quick tips to survive your first set of interviews and get a great job.

1. Get Some Sleep

Look, if you show up to your interview with bags under your eyes, chances are you won't get hired. Show up awake, alert, and not hyped up on caffeine. Being on a good sleep cycle shows that you're capable of preparing for things in advance, not at the last minute.

2. Do Your Research

Is the company you are applying for a major corporation or a mom-and-pop IT firm? Are they local-only or nation-wide? How many employees do they have? What is their mission statement? Where is their office located? Are you able to get there via transit, or will you have to drive?

It's important to do a lot of preparation for an interview. Almost all interviewers will ask you what you did to prepare for the interview, so have a mental list prepared. You should also have a list of questions you want to ask them. Bring a written list of these questions. I have gone through interviews where they have asked if I have had any questions and they answered all of them in the interview, so have the list there to prove it. Show that you have questions and are interested about the job.

A quick word here on the job posters which you read prior to applying for the job. If there's a technology or TLA (three-letter acronym) listed on the poster or in your job poster, be prepared to know what it is and what it's used for. If you don't, you look like you're just padding your resume or didn't do research about the job.

3. Don't Skimp On The Answers

When you get asked a question, don't just say the bare minimum to get by. Interviews are painful if it feels like the interviewers are pulling teeth to get a reply from you. Gerri (our co-op coordinator) always refers to the STAR method for situational questions. Tell them the situation, the task at hand, the action you took, and the result. Contrary to popular belief, it is FINE to tell them about a situation in which things did not turn out for the best, but be sure to tell them what you learned from the situation.

On the other hand, don't keep talking until the cows come home. There's a healthy balance between talking too much and talking too little.

4. Relax

Nobody likes seeing an interviewee so uptight they can barely speak. Many times the interviewers are very relaxed. While I was waiting for my first interview for the interviewers to show up, I overheard the following in the hallway as they approached:

"God, why the hell did Gerri schedule us for eight in the morning? NOBODY'S up this early!!"

Needless to say, we all had a great laugh in the hallway before my interview started. That interview went great.

Again, there's a healthy balance. Don't show up so relaxed that you're acting like you're talking to your friends. It's possible to be professional while still being relaxed and enjoyable.

5. Show Up Early

At no point should you EVER show up late for an interview. If you're taking a bus, go one bus early. You should always be at least fifteen minutes early. If you're going to show up late, be sure to call them to let them know that you will be late, and hope that you have a great excuse.

So, those are a few tips to get you started. For those that are going into their first work term, I wish you all the best in your interviews, and I hope you get the job you want (unless, of course, it's the one I also want, haha). For a bit of extra reading, take a look at Tipping Canoe, who has a great blog post about going through the interview process with them and their "infamous" interview questions. Who knows? Maybe those extra 5 gold coins you earn from reading that article can be cashed in for a job with them...

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Filed under: Five Things 3 Comments

4Nov/100

Build A Home Theatre PC for $317

Although I've been planning on it for a while, I've been putting off the purchase of a home theatre PC for my house. I've been storing all of my media on a server running in my basement, but I didn't have any way of playing that media on the TV in my living room. An HTPC seemed like the logical answer.

The only issue I had was that I was on a budget. I wanted to have this system powerful enough to handle 1080p video with no trouble, load up quickly, play anything that I can throw at it, and still be affordable. After watching some sales and pricing out the components, I managed to build a fully-functional system for only $317.

The HTPC case.

Here's the component list for what I ordered:

AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0Ghz 65W processor - $62.99
Foxconn A74ML-K AM3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - $46.99
Rosewill WMC Remote - $24.99
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4350 low-profile video card - $45.99
hec Black Media Center case w/ 300W power supply - $59.99

A few notes about this:

I already had a hard drive, so I didn't have to buy one. I saw some for $36 recently that would do just fine for this.
I had bought the wrong RAM (I bought DDR2 when I needed DDR3), but I had a friend who did the same thing but bought DDR3 when he needed DDR2. We traded RAM and I gave him $20 and we called it even.
Operating System not included. I found that ATI's proprietary Linux drivers don't cut it for 1080p video and the sound output didn't work with the TV in my living room, so you might want to find a Windows licence.
I had an existing HDMI cable and a TV that supported HDMI output. You will either need both or will have to figure out another way of getting your video and sound on your TV.

My first build used Ubuntu 10.10 for the operating system, but I found that 1080p video just wouldn't play smoothly. It looks like ATI just hasn't put the spit polish on the Linux drivers. When I tried a full 1080p video it dropped several frames per second and maxed-out the graphics processor. So, I decided to go with a Windows build. I happened to have a spare licence of Windows 7 Professional, so I used that as my base operating system, and I'm really happy with it.

The media centre I'm using is XBMC Media Centre, which was originally designed to work on the classic Xbox (fun fact: I soft-modded a friend's Xbox to run it; it works great until you throw something high-def at it), but now runs on Windows, Linux, Mac, or Apple TV for XBMC. If you're looking for a home theatre frontend, I highly recommend this. It's seriously one of the best pieces of software I've used, and it has support for a MySQL media database, which is great for me because I have multiple frontends that share content. After an install and a quick configuration change, it worked out of the box after I gave it my server login credentials.

The remote took a bit to get going. I found a guide online to disable Windows Media Center from loading when I hit the Windows logo on the remote, and set it up to open XBMC instead. Also, rather than booting into a Windows environment first, I configured Windows to load XBMC as its graphical frontend rather than explorer. This means that there's no menu bar at the bottom, no applications running in the background to slow down processing power, and it's much harder for people to use the computer for other purposes. After I got the remote working, I packed up the keyboard and mouse; I have no use for them anymore, as it should be with an HTPC.

All in all, I love this new thing. It runs so quiet I can barely hear it, uses little-to-no power, and will play absolutely anything that I have. It's more expensive than those pre-built ones that Western Digital makes, but is customizable, can be used for other purposes such as surfing the internet, and has a compatibility list that can be summarized by "it can play it". If you like your digital media and want to play it on a TV, build one of these; you won't regret it.

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Tagged as: 10.10, 1080p, ATI, deals, DIY, drivers, media, Ubuntu, Windows, XBMC No Comments

18Oct/101

Replacing The Junker

Some of you may remember the first car that I owned: a 1994 Plymouth Acclaim. The behemoth handled like a Plymouth van (which handles like a boat) and guzzled gas like it was a Slurpee. The only thing good about that car was that it got me around and it had a pretty awesome custom sound system in it.

This past summer, with my co-op job bringing in some serious cash, I decided to buy a 'new' car: a 2006 Ford Focus ZX5 SES, to be more specific. My stipulations when picking a new car was that it had to be a manual transmission, sporty looking, fun to drive, a good track record for repairs, and relatively easy on gas; the Focus met all of those, and came at a great price as well.

With me being the audiophile that I am, my first thought was that I would be replacing the sound system pretty soon. When the car salesman heard this, he thought I was nuts. He kept on going on about how the sound system was "pretty darn good for a stock system". I'm tempted to take my car back now for him to see. I lasted maybe two weeks before the sound system was ripped from my old car and put into the new car, with a few improvements along the way.

The gear going into the car

Here's a quick rundown of the sound gear that got put into the car:

1 800W Sony 2-channel amplifier (for back speakers)
1 1300W Sony Class D amplifier (for subwoofer)
1 Farad capacitor (helps battery deliver current quickly)
JVC single-DIN head unit w/ iPod cable
2 Alpine Type-S 6"x9" speakers (for custom privacy screen)
4 Soundstream 5.25" speakers (door replacements, not pictured)
2 4ga-8ga distribution blocks (distributes power lines)
4ga Power line from battery to distribution blocks
8ga power line from distribution blocks to amplifiers

The first thing to do was to rip out the stock head unit and replace it with my custom one. This was probably the easiest part of the job, as it involved only a bit of soldering, and the entire front panel popped right out. The DIN converter plate has a nice little storage pocket underneath for the iPod hookup.

The next step was to run a power line from the battery to the trunk to power the amplifiers, as well as the remote and audio lines from the head unit to the trunk. I decided to run them on separate sides of the car this time: power on the left, data on the right. I also opted for a higher-gauge cable: 4ga (1/4" thick) instead of my old 8ga (1/8" thick). 4ga wire should be able to take a couple thousand watts without much trouble. I took pictures of the carpeting ripped up, but unfortunately they did not turn out well.

Now the door speakers needed to be replaced. There were two tricky things about this. First, the door panels needed to be removed (picture on left). Secondly, the stock speakers were 5"x7" speakers, and the hole would not support the 5.25" speakers I wanted in there. The solution was to build custom mounting brackets to support the speakers in the hole. All I had to do was trace the old speakers and drill a few holes. Problem solved!

Now for the part I think I'm most proud of: the subwoofer cabinet. My old cabinet was a ported box that takes up at least a third of a trunk. Don't get me wrong: it sounds amazing. My main goal however was to have a functional trunk when I was done with my custom build, and my old cabinet simply did not accomplish this. Time to build a new one. Inspired by the Focus SVT model which comes with it's own subwoofer, I built mine into the opposite side of the car trunk, and designed it to be as small as possible while still being around the ideal volume for my subwoofer (about 0.95 cubic feet). The end result, after carpeted and equipped with the sub, amplifier, distribution blocks, and capacitor, is something I'm very proud of. Had you seen it prior to it being carpeted, most people would have thought it was professionally built.

I'm glad to say that this is now fully installed and sounding beautifully. I got a great deal on that 1300W amplifier, and it really packs a punch; seriously, if you don't believe me, ask Tyler S for those of you that know him (he can attest to how his hair started vibrating at about 3/5ths volume). More importantly, however, is that it sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and it most certainly does.

I have also done some other work on my car, but unfortunately I do not have photos of it...yet! So, you will have to stay tuned for part 2, when I will have photos of the custom-built privacy screen (that part in hatchbacks that covers the trunk space), the custom shift and e-brake boots (I pulled out the sewing machine for them!), and the custom lighting mods, which look amazing. If you don't believe me, below are a few teaser shots of my trunk with the subwoofer cabinet installed and the trunk lighting on. Talk to you all later!

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Filed under: Music, Technology 1 Comment

1Oct/102

Where I’ve Been

For the past four or five months, I haven't had much of an online presence. In an effort to keep people updated (and perhaps explain the lack of posts), I have here a brief summary of my past few months, including notable purchases, projects, and job changes.

At the start of May, I started working a 16-week contract job working for the RCMP. Overall it was an interesting experience. I got to see the inner workings of Canada's federal police force, and I got some hands-on experience working in a support environment. The work was not challenging in the slightest, but it paid well and I worked with some good people. In the interest of not breaking the law and violating my security clearance, I won't go into any more detail.

Along with the very nice pay check I was getting was a goal I had of purchasing a new vehicle. My old car, as you may recall, was an old 1994 Plymouth Acclaim. After a few months of looking around, I settled on a 2006 Ford Focus ZX5 SES with manual transmission (oh, how I missed you). I pulled out my sound system from the Acclaim and put it into the new car with some mods that I'm very proud of (post coming next week!), including a new custom-built sub cabinet and custom-built trunk privacy screen. I also put some time into doing some lighting mods, and I even had to pull out the sewing machine for a few parts. All in all, I love the car; it's far better than my old vehicle.

At the start of May, I took over the position of President with the University of Manitoba Swing Dance Club, which has been an exhausting experience, but definitely well worth it. I redesigned the website, and I have a great executive to help me out. Although my delegation skills need some work, I'm confident that my executive this year will keep me in line, and I in turn will unload work on them . Our open house is today, so you should all come out! We have tons of things planned for this year, including potlucks, live band events, movies, and more.

I have also started doing some private contracting for my web development and computer skills, earning the occasional few extra dollars. A year ago, I started Windfire Hosting to offer cheap web hosting to friends (only $5/month!), and I'm pleased to say that I'm finally making a bit of "pizza 'n beer" money off of it. I've started offering web development along side my hosting, so I can always guarantee that my applications run on the server it will be deployed to. Most notably, I'm building a photography portfolio for my friend Miguel; his site should be up within a week or so, so check out Chrestos Photography when it goes live.

If I ever had free time on a weekend, a couple friends and I started getting back into gaming of all sorts: board games, consoles, and tabletop role-playing. We've gotten on a regular schedule, so my friend Tyler (one of them) started a podcast called "I, Gamer", which has actual play recordings, discussions about multiple gaming topics, and some random philosophical talks. If you're interested in gaming, I highly recommend checking it out, and I'm not just saying that because I'm a regular contributor and I'm responsible for the podcast recordings.

Last but not least, I have university to contend with, including two of the hardest computer science courses offered at the undergraduate level: automata and cryptology. All of my courses are really interesting (at least the content is), so hopefully my other time commitments will not interfere with my studies.

Next week, I'll have a post talking about some of my car mods that I've done, along with a bunch of photos of the partially-gutted interior, the finished mods, and more.

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Filed under: Everything Else 2 Comments

29Sep/102

I’m Back; Photography Updates To Get Back In The Groove

After a period of almost five months of no blog posts, I'm finally getting going on these again. In a moment of inspiration, I decided to dust off the lenses and flashes and start honing the photography skills again, as well as working on the previously-regular rhythm of bi-weekly blog updates. A post will come later (hopefully by the end of this week) about what I've been up to over the past months. In the meantime, here's a few photos I took this past weekend. They're not much, but it's definitely a start!

The wooden bowls are all made by my father, who over the past couple years has become obsessed with lathes, wood turning, pen making, and bowl making. The surface underneath is an old chest that was made by my great (great?) grandparents, and was recently refinished by my mother. I thought the combination of the two together would work nicely.

It's always nice to hear from other people about the photos I put up. If you like what you see, take 30 seconds of your time and leave a comment. Let's be honest: chances are you're either slacking off in class, procrastinating over some work, or surfing between this and <insert social media site here>. I'm sure you can spare 30 seconds.

Without further ado, here's the photos. Next week I'll throw up some photos of the work I have recently done on my new car, some of which I'm quite proud of.

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Tagged as: photography, updates, wood 2 Comments

18May/100

May 18 Photography Update

About two months ago, I found myself hitting a brick wall with my creativity. Not just photography in general, but with website design, programming, and life in general. I found myself not producing anything that I considered "up to par". Thus, my camera found a home, case gathering dust, in my closet, wasting its life away.

A week or two ago, after reading a very helpful blog post by Lisa Bettany (I LOVE her photography; check her website out), I managed to get back into the swing of things; I think it had a lot to do with reading Lisa's blog, particularly because a while ago she went through a similar issue, where she felt that none of the photos she took were any good (the different being she's a professional and I'm not ). I got the opportunity to photograph some of my late grandfather's World War II medals, which let me put some of my practical skills to the test. I made myself a back-lit softbox with a flash behind the medal and a shoot-through umbrella above. Doing some minor post-shot colour tweaks, I got some great looking shots which, I think, do the medals justice.

This past weekend, I got the opportunity to have take some photos of a get-together with a couple high school friends, and the camera came out again. Although a number of my photos didn't turn out, I was very happy with the results of some others.

Finally on Sunday, I went through my back yard and the back lane, taking photos of the trees in bloom and an old truck in a neighbour's back yard. Although the photos I had originally intended on taking didn't turn out nearly as well as I had hoped, other ones worked out nicely.

So, in attempt to get back into the photography (and blogging!) groove, I've decided to put up another 45 photos from the past weeks. As always, your comments and constructive criticisms are welcome and encouraged.

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