The Manufacturer's Game

Nikon, Nikon, what are you doing with our minds?

After months and months of speculation, Nikon decided to play a little peekaboo with desperate photographers who have no better use for their time. That wouldnt include me because I wasnt the one who found out about this.

Anyway, sometime in the middle of the night two days ago, someone found some information about the new unannounced Nikon D200. Apparently some careless web developer uploaded the information on the highly anticipated camera way before the official release date, which none of us know of.

So along with the leak, came additional information about the new body. The Nikon D200 will have:
- 10.2MP Sensor
- 1005 pixel 3D color matrix metering
- 5 frames per second continuous shooting
- 2.5 inch LCD screen
- 11 Area Multi CAM AF
All for the reasonable cost of USD$1699.95.

Apparently Canon also uses the same tactics to get their customers riled up over some digital camera. Terrible isnt it? Well, we dont know if it's intentional or not, but I'm pretty sure it is. Since it's a regular occurance it cant be a mistake.

Anyway, I'm already hopping in my seat thinking about the new Nikon D200. It does promise to be a great camera. Very promising features and would be a great upgrade from my aging D100. Now all I got to do is start fasting and saving up money in that little piggy bank of mine.

Here's the flash that was copied from the Nikon website before it was taken down:
http://www.photoshoot.in/d200.htm

Chicken Soup

I felt rather nauseous today after one of my long lectures. So I decided to skip the other 2 hour one that followed. I went home and made myself a nice bowl of chicken soup.

I haven’t had some nice chicken based Chinese herbal soup since I arrived here. I used to make pots of it pretty often, when I was more extravagant with my cooking. Now cooking has slipped down into the status of a chore rather than an opportunity to excite my taste buds. Sad isn’t it?

I remember when I was back for the summer I felt sick a couple of times. Round after round of food poisoning. One particular day, I decided to come back early from work and made myself some chicken soup.

“Why make chicken soup when you’re sick?” asked my mother.
“Doesn’t chicken soup boost the immune system? I thought it was a common remedy for someone under the weather.” I replied.

Then I realized that I was kind of influenced by the cartoons I watched when I was little. When some kid was sick, the superhero would make him/her some hot chicken soup and everything would be just fine.

Scoff all you want. But I think it’s part of American Culture too. How did you think they came up with the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series? It must be true right?

Anyway, I do feel better. Therefore I know it works. Tastes a whole lot better than any cough medicine I know of too.

The Cost of A Pair of Jeans.

I was thinking over dinner about how clothing lines decide on the prices of their apparel. I wondered why clothing, regardless of size are always priced the same. Doesn’t more material mean more cost involved?

Maybe it would be really discriminatory to those who are oversized….which would eventually lead to the idea that being overweight means you’re high maintenance. Well, if you’re bigger you eat more anyway. But do you have to pay more for your clothes?

So after a little pondering and a short discussion with my dinner partner, it dawned upon me that there are several reasons as to why such a policy exists.

One of them would be, how would you put a price tag on clothing of different sizes? There has to be a huge range of numbers determining different waistlines and inseam lengths. Does one inch mean $5 more? That would make a skinny guy a whole lot happier than a really big guy. So that idea isn’t economically feasible in the first place.

Thus, I postulate that they price their apparel based on the cost it takes to make a garment that fits the middle waistline and the middle inseam measurements of the general population. Hmmm…so the minimum for an adult waist is around 28 inches and the highest is….err….48 inches? So the price would be set based on the cost it would take to make a 38 inch waistline pair pants.

That way, the material the company saves on making clothing for smaller people can go towards the extra they need for the larger sizes. In the end it all evens out.

So those of you who are below the average 38 inches, you’re not getting your money’s worth. Those of you who are above 38 inches, good for you, you’re getting a better bargain.

But I’m happy the way I am. Don’t intend to pack any more pounds, thank you very much.

Fall Study Break

I cant believe it. It’s the last day of my Fall Study break, which marks the midpoint of this semester. Boy, does time fly.

Anyway, I spent the first two days of my break up in the northern part of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. There were five of us, four sophomores and me the old senior. Don’t ask how I got into that sort of arrangement. But no complaints here.

We left Ann Arbor at about 6am in the morning and headed straight to Traverse City. We were told by a few brave souls who dared venture there that it was a nice place to visit. About 30 minutes away from Traverse City is a pretty interesting natural phenomenon called the Sleeping Bear Dunes. It’s one of the 380 places in the US which is designated as a National Park.

We arrived at the Sleeping Bear Dunes at about lunch time. Boy was it something. After driving for so long through some nice autumn forest, we were hit with miles of sand dunes. It was as if someone just plunked a chunk of the Sahara Desert right in the middle of nowhere.

After hanging around for a while, and getting really sick of the sand blowing in our faces, we headed on to Mackinaw City. Our next destination is a tourist spot. Some small town trapped in time. It was peppered with cute little quaint houses and tons of places which sell fudge.

Mackinac Island, a small island 15 minutes off Mackinaw City was also one of the places which we visited. We crossed over to the island after spending the night in Mackinaw City. The island, which is only accessible by air and sea, was even quainter than Mackinaw City. There was not a car in sight. Only tourists on bicycles and horse-drawn carriages occupied the streets.

I managed to witness how fudge is made. Fudge is some kind of chocolate candy which comes in a variety of flavors. I walked out of a store with a pack of three flavors, costing me $15.00. MMMmmm….Good stuff.

We headed home at about 4pm and ended our journey with a good time of fellowship over dim sum at Farmington Hills. I was too tired and partly constipated to fully enjoy the rare treat. But I was more pleased with the photographic opportunity that my holiday presented me. Now to get the motors running for my exam this Thursday. Grrrr….

100 FREE Prints from DotPhoto.com

Yep...100 yes ONE HUNDRED free prints from DotPhoto.com. Expires on the 9th of November so you better be quick. Sign up for a new account, add the coupon code: "erewards100g" and you're good to go.

www.dotphoto.com

Woohooo.!!

Blink blink.

Gosh, it's 3.30am in the morning and I'm not up studying. Insomnia...or a caffeine high. Pardon my atrocious spelling...I'm too lazy to type up in MSWord. It's this sorry state where you're trapped between a dazed state and an alert mind. Body is weak but spirit is bouncing off the walls.

Darn that Caramel Machiato I had this afternoon. Darn that Coke I had with my dinner and darn that fizzy orange drink I had with my pizza for supper. Darn caffeine. Sleep robber.

I've got a pretty big day tomorrow. I'm covering a photoshoot for my church's biggest sporting event of the year. Harvest Games is tomorrow for a whole afternoon and here I am feeding my insomnia by being occupied.

Yeah, I could drink a gallon of water and hopefully the neutral liqiud will get rid of the caffeine sticking around. But I dont want to wake up in the middle of the night just to take a piss.

I think I'll just "try" to sleep. I'll eventually just doze of out of complete boredom. I hope that it'll be quick though.

Lights out.....soon.

Evolution of Taste

I find it interesting how people’s taste buds evolve in time. I personally have experienced such changes throughout my time here, being exposed to a wider range of foods.

For one, I used to hate raw vegetables. So salad was really out of the question for me. But with some Italian dressing and a little fiber-depleted guilt thrown into the mix, I’ve grown to appreciate salad.

Another dish that I’ve learned to appreciate is cheesecake. I’m not usually fond of cheese, let alone cheesecake so this change is pretty refreshing. Maybe it’s because the cheesecake here is different. I don’t know.

Through some complicated mind-things going inside of my upper cavity, I’ve come to realize that there’s a distinct pattern for which a human’s appreciation for taste follows. I’m not sure if it is culturally universal, but it rings true for most Malaysians.

Typically:
Baby ======> Milk, period.
Toddler ===> Sweet things
Youth =====> Sweet and salty
Adult =====> Bitter
Old age ===> Bitter and Sour

Of course you appreciate sweet things throughout your life, but the changes that one grows into involve the appreciation for a wider range of tastes.

This whole theory probably isn’t true for Americans since I’ve seen so very often grandmothers sipping on Biggie-Sized Cokes.

Freshmen Folly

One phrase to capture what the situation is like right now would be “They get stranger and stranger each year”.

I just have to say a couple of things about the freshmen that came in this semester after hearing so many things about their wonderful batch. In a way it reminds me of how I was once….way back when I was still a greenhorn. But a lot less naïve, honestly.

Case 1: Girl Meets Boy.
Ok, so I attend this open house organized by a fellow senior and see this white guy getting really comfy with this malay girl. Ok, white guy in a Malaysian open house…kind of strange, but it has happened before. But this white guy’s pretty physical with this Malay girl. Now that’s something to talk about.

Then I hear that they’re like an item and she’s going to visit his home in another state for winter break. Boy do relationships move fast nowadays. Certainly breaks the record of a sleep-in SPG sophomore last year.

What should have been done:
Slooooow things down girl. Does he know that he has to lose part of himself later on?

Case 2: Cellular Crutch
Yes, yes, everyone in Malaysia has a handphone. So naturally you’d get one when you relocate to the States, right? But would you get one if you had to plunk down US$500 as a deposit and never see it for a year? That’s what the freshies did. Got themselves handphones within less than a month of being here when their dorms do come complete with a working land line.

What should have been done:
They should wait for about 4 months to build their credit history and then get a line without having to pay the deposit. T-mobile’s sucking off interest from your $500 while you have to skip meals. Besides, do you even have enough people to call to justify paying $50 a month in phone bills?

Case 3: American Already?
I picked up the phone this evening only to be greeted by a ABC, whom I thought was from my church. She certainly sounded like one. But guess what… it turned out to be a freshman. After being persistent with my Manglish, she buckled and the “lohs” and “mahs” returned. Heck, you’ve only been here for about a month, and you jolly well know that I’m a fellow Malaysian. What the heck is that?!

What should have been done
Need I say more?

Case 4: Going Around on 2 Wheels
I was told that a bunch of them bought bicycles. Gosh, who orientated you guys? P. Ramlee? Out of the 8 months of academia here at the U of M, you’re going to see 4 good months of snow and slush. Besides that, the bus service here on campus is THE way to get around.

What should have been done:
Use the $80 you spent on the bike to buy a senior dinner. Then you’ll get a good meal and be a lot wiser afterwards.

Ok, enough self-righteous pummeling. I’m sure there’ll be more stories soon…