BlogMunch

upgrade my photo equipment…Part 1

You might have wonder what I am up to these few months that I stop blogging. Well, I sort of take up photography. Not that I have my virgin camera for the first time, but I bought a DSLR (Digital Single Reflex Camera) to upgrade myself from the amateur photographer to an enthusiast photography.

I own the legendary Fuji Finepix F30 (look at some of the reviews and pics from dpreview if you  don’t believe me) before my current DSLR. Fuji abandoned the megapixels race to create this neat little camera which have excellent high ISO performance, normally only found in DSLRs.

Looking at my snaps, even the ISO 1600s is usable if you are only printing 4R photo. The noise control in the F30 is so  good that its ISO 400 looks like most ISO 100 pics for all camera at that time. Sadly, Fuji cannot withstand the the lure of the megapixels race and have since produce higher megapix camera (F50fd) that is not as good as the Legend.

So the next step up will be a DSLR. If you have read any information on choosing a DSLR, most would have recommend the big 2. Nikon and Canon. The reason is not mainly of fanaticism (though each group is quite protective to their brands), but of adaptability.

It is often said, when you buy a DSLR, you are actually buying into the family. All the different types of lens, flashes, remote control, teleconvertor, etc. Especially the lens. This is an area where the second hand market is very important. If you search carefully, you will be able to find mint lens floating around ebay less than half the price of the new ones. And they are extremely usable.

At the period which I decide to buy a DSLR, budget is important to me. So some of the models I look at is:

• Nikon D60
• Nikon D80
• Canon 450D (not out at that time)
• Pentax K200D
• Olympus E-510

It so happens that there is a IT Show in Singapore at that time, So I was able to hands on on each camera to have a feel. After dancing around the area, guess which DSLR I am holding now? Here’s a picture of it. More on it next time….

Tinker here and there…and some RSS troubleshooting

The first thing I do when I came back to BlogMunch is, of course, tinker with the theme. First I upgrade to WP 2.3.3 (Fantastico is still behind times and too lazy to switch to Simple Script). Then I switch to a simpler theme that you are seeing now, Codename “Statement”. Redoable is really a high maintenance theme and also quite a slow theme.

Disable some of the plugins that I am not interested anymore, like Adsense-Deluxe+, Extended Live Archives and Gregarious.

Write out yesterday’s post and publish it.

Here’s the thing about changing to a new theme. There are snippets of code you need to remember to add in. Like FeedFlare code, Goggle Analytics code and Similar/Related Post php callup. Not only do you need to remember to put all these code back, also you have to remember where to put them. I wonder how some blogs can change theme every month or so.

Troubleshooting begins…

That’s when I went back to my Google reader to see if my new post came up so that I can check everything is working properly. Nope, no new post. I then subscribe to the blog original feed at http://blogmunch.com/feed to see if it work. No luck there too. So both the feedburner and blog feed doesn’t work.

Log into feedburner to check feed status. Apparently, I have an error within the feed.

Source: http://blogmunch.com/rss2

   1. 
   2. <br />
   3. <b>Warning</b>:  Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/blogmunc/public_html/wp-content/plugins/illacrimo/functions.php:24) in <b>/home/blogmunc/public_html/wp-includes/feed-rss2.php</b> on line <b>2</b><br />

There are three extra lines on the feed xml file. Send my feed through the Feed Validator and confirm this error.

The first thing I do is to delete the illacrimo theme that might be causing the error. No luck there.

Then I download all my WP files through ftp to find the feed file so that I can delete these three lines. Not right either.

Search about this error on Google. Someone reported that to solve this error, you need to delete all extraous spaces before <?php and after?>.All my php files seems fine.

The answer is actually staring in my face. If you read carefully, the problems lies in the plugin section. I only though illacrimo as a theme and didn’t know it adds some plugin too.

Well, after that it si quite simple. I delete everything about illacrimo in the plugin and all my feeds works fine now.

This teaches me not to overthink things sometimes. Keep.It.Simple.Stupid. KISS

I’m Back…well, sort of…

Ahhhh… That’s a long break I have taken from BlogMunch. In fact, I think I have taken a long break from all things blogging. I think I am sort of burnt out, though I am not too sure.

For six months since I started blogging back in the days of Blogger, I have learnt a lot. Maybe too much.

I learn about blogging while reading Darren’s blog. (if you don’t know about Darren, you will soon know). Start a few blogs on Blogger. Tempered with all sorts of Blogger theme here and there. Found that Blogger is not enough for my OCD in customising. Learn about hosting my own blog. Recommended left and right about WordPress. BlogMunch is born.

Cramped myself with all sorts of knowledge on WordPress. Played with plugins and free themes. Add every ads I can think of top and bottom to the blog hoping to at least break even with the hosting charge. Entered contest at contestblogger. Never won. Dipped into social media websites like DIgg (dying), Facebook (have not check it for a long time), Stumbleupon (like the site discovery, not the social aspect), Twitter (see no point in it) and MySpace (ABSOLUTELY hate it!).

Oh dear, this sounded too much like a rant. Which I interpret as releasing of old baggage so that I can start anew. Want to know what jot me back to BlogMunch. Quote from one my comments:

Arbie | crn-web.com |

I do not feel obligated to blog at BlogMunch (and wont!)

Wow, that really bring me back here, writing…

Hi Arbie, Thank You…

Now that the “I’m Back” stuff is dealt with, now to tackle the “well, sort of” stuff.

Now that I am back, I am going to use BlogMunch as a personal blog. Or define as “I am going write anything I fancy, whenever I want (though frequently)” blog. This will go back to the basic definition of a blog where it will be a log of my internet presence.  There will not be any common theme like wordpress themes, making money online, breaking news (mostly old news by the time it reaches me) or internet marketing. Just plain old rambling, ranting and musing. (hmm, that reminds me I need to update my About page).

As you can see, I have switch to a new theme and will upload the logo I design (which I think is too non-simplistic) later. I might even design a new logo just to refresh my mind again.

I really thank those 30 odd RSS readers for their loyal support to the BlogMunch site during the time when I went MIA. Hope you will like my new direction and as always, stay tuned.

Thanks.

Bmunch

My Westone UM1

Wow, I have been away for quite some time. My day time job is quite intensive these days, so well…

Recently, I have the opportunity to spend some money due to the last year end bonus and I bought myself some expensive stuff and the Westone UM1 True Fit Single Driver Earphones is one of them.

Actually, in the audiophiles (I am just a wannabe!) world, they are called In Ear Monitors.  Since the 1990s, Westone have been custom-making in ear monitors for musician to help them monitor what they are singing so that they self correct their singing.

I got my Westone UM1 from Stereo Electronics at Causeway Point. In Singapore. Stereo Electronics is one of very few shops in Singapore that allows you to test drive their earphones before you make the decision to buy.

The package is a very nice black translucent box that house the UM1 monitors, two sets of Comply tips (long and short) and a small carrier for your monitors. Oh yeah, there is also a short stick that I didn’t know what it is, until I read some reviews that it is a ear wax removal stick for your UM1 canal.

To tell the truth, the first time I see the UM1, my first impression is "What is this ugly piece of sh*t?" If you are coming from well designed Sony or Audio-Technica earphones, this might be your first impression too. The UM1 look like a smaller version of a hearing aid.

You have to get used to wearing the UM1 too. It is using the over the ear design and you have to hold it the right way to insert it properly. But one you insert it properly, WOW, they are the most comfortable earphones I have wore. The reasons could be the light weight of the monitors and the Comply tips.

And to properly enjoy your UM1, you need to wear or insert them properly. The first time I wear them, the angle of the monitors are wrong, and the sounds that came out was flat. Oh, a side note about the orientation of UM1. It does not comes with the normal L and R to denote Left and Right ear. The Blue dot is for the left ear and the Red dot is for the right ear. 

Once they are inserted properly, the sounds that came out of my 5G Ipod is different. The first thing you notice is the silence. Both external and internal silence. Most of the noise like people walking around are cut off and your music will seems louder because of that. That’s why it is advised in the manual (yes, I like reading the manual of electronics) to keep your volume low, so that you don’t hurt your ear. It really enhance your music experience.

I am not going into the bass definition, midrange accuracy or treble response and other technical stuff as I don’t pretend to know these stuff. The first song I listen to is my current favorite "God Knows" from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. For those who had heard the song, you will know there are a wonderful mess of electric guitar inside. With the original Ipod earphones, the sounds are kinda lump together, but with the UM1 the guitar sounds are well defined. it really gives me a WOW experience that I cannot forget. In Eason Chan’s "Shall we Talk", the background piano sounds stronger and there are also some sounds (like the triangle) that I didn’t hear before.

I am really impressed with the UM1 and I don’t think I can go back to the normal earphones anymore. Up is the way to go. If you think spending $100 for your $200+ Ipod is too much, don’t be. The experience is really great and I don’t regret it a bit.

Music to your ears?

Well actually not music, but Audio Ads that will play on your site every time your reader loads a page on your blog. If you are a blogger looking for more alternative ways to monetize your blog, Net Audio Ads could be the one for you. Especially if you run a music blog or stream music directly from your blog, as this additional audio ads will not serve as an intrusion for your reader.

So how it works?

In a nutshell, it is an audio Adsense. Net Audio Ads will serve contextual audio ads based on the content you have on your blog. So if you write frequently about your local Taco Bell, then it might serve a relevant five second Taco Bell audio ad when your reader arrive at the post.

For every ad being played at your blog, you will get 25% of the ad revenue for 100% of your traffic. Your reader do not need to click on any banner or text link. Essentially, BAM, your page load; WHAM, five second audio ads; SLAM, 25% ad revenue. That’s all.

As I have said in the beginning, this type of ads might be more relevant to niche sites that are already playing music on their site, so if you have a music blog, by all means apply to Net Audio Ads.