30 July 2008, 22:36 in General
Torch recommendations
I like to keep a couple of torches around the house in the event of a power failure, and also one in the car in the event of a breakdown. I wanted to recommend a few different models that I like: the Fenix TK10, Fenix L1T, and Fenix E01.
The Fenix TK10 is a compact high quality tactical style torch that uses two 3V CR123A lithium batteries. It has two brightness settings: 225 Lumens for 1.5 hours, or 60 Lumens for 10 hours. It is very bright and a makes a good torch to keep in the car or around the house. The only disadvantage is that the CR123A lithium batteries are more expensive and harder to find than the more common AA or AAA batteries; it would probably be worthwhile ordering some with the torch itself. See here for a review. I paid around ~AUD $80 delivered from Fenix-Store.com.
The Fenix L1T uses a single 1.5V AA battery and a 3W LED, and has two brightness settings. The high brightness level is 37 Lumens for 3.3 hours, and the low brightness is 10 Lumens for 10 hours, but these figures are quoted for Ni-MH batteries. It retails for around AUD $50. It’s very small and has the convenience of AA batteries but is still quite bright. See here, here and here for a review.
The Fenix E01 is small and cheap, but still high quality. It only costs around AUD $15, utilises a single 1.5V AAA battery, and gives a constant brightness of 10 Lumnes. It’s 7.1cm long by 1.4cm in diameter, and weighs 14g excluding the batteries. Because of its small size it makes a great torch for a girl to keep in her handbag, or it can easily be kept in the bag you take to work or in the glove box of your car.
You can buy these from Torchworld.com.au or Fenix-Store.com.
For more information, see Candle Power Forums and FlashlightReviews.com (sadly no longer updated).
Comments [1]
3 April 2008, 13:09 in General
Summer 2008 update
Hello again! I’ve had a busy and fun summer and my blog has been neglected… Time for an update!
Some of the things I’ve been up to include the following:
- Went to lots of music events including Daft Punk, Breakfest, NYE at Metros, Summadayz, Andy C & Dieselboy at Metros, Big Day Out, Krafty Kuts, and the Ambar 7th Birthday.
- Did lots of martial arts training – mainly BJJ and some combatives. It was no-gi BJJ season over the summer which I enjoy. Both Royce Gracie and John Will gave BJJ seminars at our club. Brandon’s friend Charley taught us some knife and stick combatives stuff; he is an excellent teacher and I got a lot out of it.
- Went to the gym – focusing on heavy compound exercises such as squats, deadlifts, power cleans, overhead press, pullups, dips, barbell rows, bench press. I don’t feel like I’m getting much stronger but I guess it’s ok considering I’ve only been going once or twice a week.
- Competed in a BJJ tournament in the men’s 78-88kg blue belt division. I lost my fight but it was a great experience nonetheless.
- Finally got around to modifying the Evo IX. Spent way too much money and regretting it a bit now, but enjoying the car.
- Went down south over the Easter long weekend with some friends and had a great relaxing time. I have to go down there more often!
- Did lots of reading and learning about investing, business, software development.
- Worked – busy as always. We had an important milestone recently which was pretty stressful. I visited a minesite, and it was a good experience seeing our software in use.
I feel like there is never enough time in the day to get things done. On a typical day, after work, training, cooking, eating, chores, and maybe a bit of socialising, there’s just not enough time for me to work on my projects or do some reading or learning, and still get enough sleep. I’m trying to become more organised by keeping a diary and prioritising what I need to do, so that I can make the most of the time that I do have.
Note that I will be making some upgrades to this website, so it’s possible that parts of the site may go weird or be down for some time.
13 December 2007, 08:57 in General
Artwork by Chris Jordan
Check out some of the amazing artwork by Chris Jordan in his series Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait.
This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. My underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.
I can’t help but feel a little disgusted looking at those stats.
28 November 2007, 23:10 in General
Stephen Hawking - A Brief History of Time
Earlier this year, when I was in Canada, I read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. It talks about the universe, the theory of relativity, black holes, gravity, event horizons, light, the beginning of the universe, time travel, the uncertainty principle, and so on.
The book doesn’t go into great detail, but presents a good high-level basic overview to the reader who isn’t already knowledgeable on these topics (such as myself). Hawking’s writing is quite witty and he explains concepts well. I didn’t understand everything in the book but feel a little more educated after reading it. I really like books like this, that attempt to make advanced topics, normally reserved for academia, available to the general public.
People will also think you’re smart if they see you reading it. Or that you’re trying to look smart?
Stephen has his own website here.
18 October 2007, 00:19 in General
Left brain right brain
I recently saw this article on News.com.au which has an animation of a silhouette of a spinning girl. Apparently, depending on whether you are left brain or right brain dominant, you will see the girl as spinning clockwise or counter-clockwise.
When I look at it, I see her spinning clockwise, which apparently suggests that I am right brain dominant. I found this interesting because, looking at the left/right brain functions listed in the article, you would expect the opposite from a computer programmer. If I concentrate I can see her spinning counter-clockwise too, but definitely clockwise most of the time.
I would be interested to know whether other people are left or right brain dominant according to this test. Post a comment if you try it, and maybe also include your profession or area of study.
Comments [3]
16 October 2007, 22:12 in General
Sailing
I went sailing with dad and his friends Peter and John on the weekend; we competed in a regatta.
Normally we do pretty well but this time we didn’t seem to be getting much boat speed. I am a complete sailing noob but I enjoy it out on the boat; the fresh air and sounds are great.
15 October 2007, 01:19 in General
I joined Facebook
I have resisted the temptation to join Facebook for quite some time. However, so many people have recently been talking about it so I have signed up to check it out.
From what I’ve seen, Facebook seems like a decent way to keep in touch with people; good for finding old classmates and so on. I guess it is also a convenient way for people to create an online presence where they can share photos on so on without requiring a high level of computer skill or planning. I can see how some people could get very addicted to it, and how it could become a bit of a popularity contest. All the little games and nudges etc seem a bit useless and annoying.
Comments [2]
26 September 2007, 12:07 in General
TechRepublic: 10 dirty little secrets you should know about working in IT
A co-worker sent me a link to an article on TechRepublic by Jason Hiner called Sanity check: 10 dirty little secrets you should know about working in IT. The article is aimed more at those in an IT administration or tech support role, but as a software engineer I can strongly relate to all of the points.