Sunday Morning. With a Twist.

The last couple of days had been great weather wise. And hopefully the same goes today. After my rounds was done, I had a quick sit down at Starbucks. Was supposed to meet somebody but I think he got the time mixed up.

That afforded those rare half an hour when I could just sit quietly.

The morning had been a hectic one. It was Anita and my anniversary. And my Facebook message for her went viral ....

Laying low for the next few minutes before heading for lunch in a bit. Not sure what she got planned. Maybe a quick outing before dinner tonight.

Spoilt for Choice

The Olympics was coming into full swing. And things would get even more hectic once the Athletics event start next week. It had been swimming and gymnastics making the headlines. And Malaysian everywhere had been rejoicing on the Silver the Pandalela and partner picked up a couple of nights ago.

I just finished my post-call morning rounds and Diana marrow biopsy this morning. I should get some time off until lunch.

Anita called that one of our friend would be dropping for lunch and she would be cooking. Great!

The boys were in their holidays and they were both still in the pyjamas. I might be able to catch a nap before heading to the afternoon rounds.

Been Behind

I must say I had been occupied in the last few weeks and blogging had fast becoming a chore. I spent some of my free times playing EVE Online as well after picking up where I left during the recent Raya break.

So, I had some backlog of stories to post and one thing led to another. But otherwise things had been good and for the this band the next couple of months, due to shortage in number of staff, I had to do some extra calls.

Better get back to the blog then...

Bring on the Theta

The Theta S is a unique camera. It brought to the masses - at least to me - the ability to capture a scene in its entirety, a global snapshot of what was going on around you at that particular moment in time. This ability was possible before through combination of multiple cameras after which the snaps would be stitched using a special software and then presented again using special monitors to whoever interested.

With Facebook embracing the 360 degree media for its user, the photos can just be uploaded to Facebook which would recognise the photo in its app and would display the photo appropriately. The user would then turn their mobile device around and the scene would be displayed as if they were at the focal point. All that was left was the ability to snap the initial picture readily and with minimal tweaking was ready to be presented to the timeline.

This was where the Theta S excelled. A quick push of the button on this camera with the twin 180 degree fish-eye lens, I just needed to link it via wifi to my phone and press upload to Facebook. Walla! It was that simple.

Considering the compact size of the camera and the size of the lens and sensor, the snap was remarkably sharp. Each sensor captured an 8MP image, and stitching them together would generate a16 MP file. This could then be transferred to the computer for a bit of Photoshop magic if needed, but for me, just a quick tweak on the phone with Snapseed was what was needed most of the time.

If you were feeling adventurous, there was the ability to capture a VR type video which could be uploaded into YouTube using the same concept. The resolution however was relatively poor as the upload was in 1080 HD resolution, which was expanded further to cover 360 degree. But as a prove of concept it was good enough, and I was sure in the next iteration of the device a 4K file could be coming out from the camera.

I have been using the camera for almost a month now and in the first few uploads everybody was fascinated by what was on offer. In fact some were disappointed if some of my uploads were in normal 2D format! They tried to turn their phones without success.

For practical purposes, I was really surprised why shop owners, interior decorators and estate agents had not been using these cameras. They could easily sell their products to show them to their clients just as easily in real life or on their website or social media. I know I would have ....

The camera did cost quite a bit - although less than the current crop of flagship mobile phones. You would also have to get used to its limitations, but on the whole I could see myself using more and more of this device in the future and am interested in seeing what the next generation of them brings .....

Across to Fahrenheit

Fahrenheit's decorations were always understated but creative. This time, the theme was kampung life and the unique thing about this was the plenty of coconut trees made from woven ketupat leaves. Very festive.

The place was overshadowed with the opening of Shoopen however as a lot of commotion coming that way. To be honest, the decoration here was actually more creative than the one in Pavilion.