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The Rooster is one of the few zodiac signs, that will feel an extraordinary lightness and lift in strength, and this will allow him overcome even the greatest difficulties in his path. The main thing for Rooster is a goal and an idea which he should strive to achieve, otherwise his activities would lose their meaning, and he risks just staying in a place in his development. In addition to absolute leadership inclinations, great ambitions in the year 2012 of the Black Water Dragon will require from him the ability to communicate, work in teams, actively and quickly respond to problems and be more attentive to close ones.

In 2012, the Rooster who is an employee may get promotion. The time has come for him to think seriously about the future, and change job, if the former did not bring him any moral or material satisfaction. In the coming 2012, there should not be a division of prestigious, interesting, and routine, non-essential work for a representative of the zodiac sign because the most tedious and boring affairs prepare a good foundation for future ambitious projects. Rooster’s new opportunities should be seen as a step to a higher position in society, the means by which he can achieve material well-being and professional triumph. To earn a new post or create a strong partnership, Rooster in the first half of 2012 will have to actively prove his point, his talents and abilities. Rooster who is a businessman should build partnership and collegial fraternity thoughtfully, carefully, first of all – he should by himself get rid of swagger and arrogance. If in the previous year, Rooster successfully implemented his projects, then from the beginning of 2012, he will have a lot of work, and engage in a particular business, without wavering and search for others. Rooster who is an employee may enter into a specific competition for position, and risks gathering for himself a lot of enemies with his nervousness, agitation, and aggression. In spring, an unemployed Rooster may find a good job, things will go smoothly this time incrementally, giving him a good opportunity to be well involved in his business and be active and energetic. A representative of this zodiac sign must be consistent in his actions, carefully and accurately performing his work. A Rooster who is an employee must perform more complex tasks in order to show his good side and earn credibility and respect of colleagues and the company’s management. In the summer of 2012, Rooster will be much more confident in himself, he will be happy to take up the most complex business affairs. During this period, he should not try to perform a lot of work – it is necessary to choose the major and most important affairs, and forget about the minor, which only takes time and effort. Financial transactions will be working out for Rooster in summer, he may participate in investments, and take long-term loans for business development. In autumn of 2012, affairs associated with creativity will receive the best development, so Rooster can do his favorite hobby – organizing activities, creative pursuits. He should not start new businesses in autumn, he needs to bring to complete those projects that were initiated earlier.

Rooster’s personal life in the year 2012 of the Black Water Dragon will not be smooth and calm, but he/she will have a good chance to correct all discrepancies in a relationship with his/her partner, build them from scratch, find his/her happiness, if his/her heart till then remains single. In early 2012, the partners will find mutual understanding, but lonely representatives of this zodiac sign will not be able to step over their pride and ambition to create an equal union. The second half of 2012 will be calmer. This period brings along calm, peace and happiness to a representative of this zodiac sign.

Source: GoToHoroscope: 2012 Rooster

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And that’s that. Not sure if you read through it all. But in a nutshell, there’s a lot to be optimistic about this year, but not without effort and a little bit of risk taking. Also while optimism may be on the menu, it also doesn’t hurt to be a bit on the cautious side when it comes to investments and relationships.  There’s definitely gonna be a lot of blood, sweat and tears to be shed this year but rewards will definitely be well worth it and probably more.

Solution: Crumpler’s The Haven. It basically is a compartmentalized and padded sack for your camera. Comes in Small, Medium and Large. The Medium sized one comfortably fits my 400D with the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 lens and then some other accessories in its main pouch. It’s also got pockets outside which can hold SD cards, lens caps and cable. It works more like a bag organizer with your camera in mind. Stuff it with what everyday camera needs you can, just stick it into your day bag and voila~! Your everyday bag is now also a camera bag. AND it comes in gray!!  But it also comes in different colors.

Rin goes for a stroll at Rockwell

Originally uploaded by coffeebugg

Well, 2011 certainly came and went. And I think that it goes without saying that it could not have passed any sooner. This year was a very taxing year and full of strife and grief. Natural disasters left and right, oppression of both human and civil rights rampant. The greedy got richer while the poor just got poorer.

But amid all these negativity, the glimmer of hope and humanity always shone through.

I, myself, was touched by that very glimmer of hope all too recently just as December came around the corner. Frankly, I’m still trying to absorb it. And it’s fairly difficult to swallow, but I don’t mind. This candy’s bitter coatings are starting to melt away and the sweetness is starting to come out. I just hope that this is only get sweeter over time.

Or for at least, that this be an omen of good things to come for 2012.

Via Flickr:
Rin goes for a stroll at Rockwell… While I enjoyed some Christmas espresso.

Here’s what Crunchyroll has to say about them.

One superhero on his or her own is pretty cool, a simple team-up between two heroes even more so.  But when you get a whole team of different superheroes working together?  Maybe it’s time to put those world-conquering plans on hold.

 Not to be outdone by the excitement for The Avengers, Japan’s superheroes will also get their own huge crossover in 2012 in the tentatively-titled Super Hero Taisen.  The film’s creators aren’t settling for just a few big faces meeting up and stomping some bad guys, either: 200 super sentai (the myriad teams making up the international Power Rangers franchise) and all 40 incarnations of Kamen Rider will feature, with Kamen Rider Decade and Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger taking the lead.

This means the return of the five original-in-the-US Power Rangers (Kyouryu Sentai Zyuranger), the Turbo (Gekisou Sentai CarRanger) and Zeo (Chouriki Sentai Ou-Ranger) Rangers, and more!  No confirmation yet of Rurouni Kenshin‘s Takeru Sato (Kamen Rider Den-O), but producer Shirakura stated “We want to show things you can’t see in the regular shows.  This was pretty close to impossible but I’d like to make it the norm for our spring films.  Rider is science, sentai is magic.”

Super Hero Taisen is set for a May 2012 release.  I don’t think my brain could have handled something like this as a kid, so I’m glad it’s coming out now.  What about you?  Any tokusatsu/super sentai fans ready to get their minds absolutely blown?

News via ANN through Crucnhyroll

Released in 2009, The GF1 was one of the first cameras on the market to adapt the micro 4/3 system. At first I was a bit apprehensive about the new camera system which I first got wind from Dannychoo.com. At that time, I still had my Sony DSC-H1, and I loved the Zeiss lens, long zoom range and largely DSLR-like body and controls in a compact package. While I found the form factor and system packaging impressive, the thought of having another interchangeable lens system next to my Canon EOS400D and Sony didn’t really pique my interest. However, the fact that it had a Leica derived lenses and sensor was definitely worth looking over. Then again so did its more P&S oriented sibling, LX3. It wasn’t until I sold my Sony H1 to a friend did I start considering on looking for a secondary camera to my Canon.

While it is comparable to a cinder block in terms of aesthetics, it definitely feels solid in ones hands. It’s not much lighter than my Canon EOS 400D but I think its heft does provide a better degree of stability as opposed to my other options. It is still a lot smaller than the 400D. While it has already been replaced in the market by the GF2 & GF3, I wasn’t too fond of either ones touch screen and smaller form factor. Blame my Wookie sized hands. Form factor and functionality certainly played a role in making the GF1 my choice.

The controls aren’t completely idiot proof. As a prosumer camera, it’s simple enough to operate provided you skim through the quick guide. An off the shelf point and shoot definitely it is not. It leans more towards the photographers who are looking for an alternative to their clunky DSLRs, or those who have been using advanced P&S cameras looking to step up. Even for myself, it took a while for me to get re-acquainted with the bits and bobs.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, the idea of getting new lenses for another system camera didn’t quite appeal to me. And the Micro 4/3 lenses do not come cheap. Thankfully, I was able to pick up an adapter mount for Canon lenses. Though it doesn’t allow auto-focusing, the 3.0″ screen on the GF1 makes manual focusing less of a chore. Another feature that I’ve come to appreciate lately is the ability to record at 720P. Combine that with the large aperture lenses available and you’ve got videography effects you thought you’d only see on large video cameras.

Consensus: It’s very feature packed for a relatively outdated model and can still stand toe to toe with a lot of newer cameras in its bracket. I’m considering picking up another lens mount, one which I can adjust the aperture for my Canon lenses. Maybe pick up the viewfinder for it sometime down the road. Otherwise, it is a great everyday camera for photography enthusiasts who find lugging a DSLR cumbersome.

I hope they can read the manual.

The girls get their first look at what they're up against.

And so they're off.. I guess I'll see how they do in an hour or so.

Sooo.. I wonder what other fellow doll parents let their girls do other than pose for the camera.

And then there’s this guy.

“A suspected grave robber in the central Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod is said by police to have made 29 life-size dolls from mummified female corpses.” – Via BBC News

Anatoly Moskvin, 42, a local historian and cemetery explorer also collects, well, I guess you can call them dolls. But his dolls aren’t the kind you pay a kidney and a tit for at Yahoo! Japan Auctions. He fashions them out of, wait for it, corpses. Little dead girls corpses.

As a friend mentioned, CandyGirls suddenly don’t seem as creepy anymore. I agree. He also makes us male doll collectors look normal.

Well, he’s in police custody now and I can only imagine what the Russian cops plan to do to him. Did I mention that he’s in Russia? Yeah, he is. While Russia may have their fair share of nut jobs, like Youtube’s FPSRussia who by the way is cool, this guy probably makes even Jack the Ripper cringe.

So there you go. For the guys who are in the doll collecting hobby, when you find yourself questioning about the oddity of the hobby, just think about Ol’ Anatoly.

To date, there are 5 variants of Saber in Figma form; The original Saber, which is also being re-released. Casual Saber, as she appears in her everyday clothes. Saber Alter, Which might I say is my favorite form. Then there’s the Limited editions that came with games; Saber Lily that comes with Unlimited Codes, and Nero, that comes with Fate/Extra.

Via Figma Blog

Pre-registration ended October 10’2011 but I’m not sure if they’re gonna allow walk-ins (it is going be held in a university after all). Registration starts at 11:30am with the event happening from 12:30 to 6pm.

Stay Hungry, stay foolish. Think Different.

Silicon Valley and the rest of the digital world mourn the passing of one of the greatest visionaries in the IT Industry. Easily one of the greatest minds of the Social Media generation.

I was never much a fan of the brand that he created, and betrayed him, he resurrected and pretty much raised from the ashes and steered right up to the top of the IT industry. Such a great mind and asked for nothing less than excellence. Even during his tenure outside of Apple, he gave us 3D animation in the form of Pixar Studios. Yes, THAT Pixar. And upon his return to Apple, he gave us the iMac and inspired us to “Think Different”. His iPod’s could probably have saved the music industry from the invasion of digital downloads. With the introduction of the iPhone, being and staying connected took on a completely new meaning. And what first generation of Apple Mac I’s did for personal computing, the iPad is doing so again. I think HP’s “The computer is personal again” campaign would have been more appropriate for the recent and last developments “Steve” gave to us.

Now, before I get accused of fan-boying for Apple, let me tell you that I was more a fan of the man that led them to the stars. As most people who know me can personally attest, that aside from the one iPod touch I got from my dad a few years ago, I have always swayed away from the brand. But I cannot ignore, let alone deny, the fact that his visions have affected my digital lifestyle today. Social Media and personal blogging made a giant leap forward with his innovations and pushed the boundaries of how our world is documented. No longer did people rely solely on traditional journalism. Current affairs are now streamed directly from the eyes and ears of those who are there as it happens. Less than a decade ago, I never would have imagined myself to be blogging and sharing my personal exploits to the world, and yet now my social circle has more than quadrupled, sharing and talking similar interests with people from thousands of miles away. The way Steve Jobs’ visions revolutionized the digital industry is in a word insurmountable. The last time I’m aware that someone made such an impact with how we lived our lives was when Thomas Edison invented the light bulb.

And so,

Dear Steve Jobs,

Where ever you are, thank you for inventing and re-inventing mobile personal computing.

Sincerely,
An Android user.

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