Vraxxisms Live!

5-Minute Review GT5: Prologue (PS3)

2008-04-17T07:02:00.003-10:00

I will mince no words in saying I am a fan of the Gran Tourismo franchise. Played GT2, GT3 and 4 heavily and now comes the precursor to the full version, GT5: Prologue.

Let's look at things that are fun, easy to navigate menus, fairly quick load times (mostly owing to the game data being installed on the HDD versus run purely off BRD). Environments feel much more immersive and subtle touches like lighting/shadow and vehicle detail are are times nearly photorealistic. Car response in terms of steering and control feel a little bit easier to manage, particularly when trying to draft the AI cars. Some of this however is due to the longer throws of the analog sticks on the Sixaxis/DualShock 3.

The downside. Let's face it, as games go Prologue is a preview. Granted one that I'm paying for, but hey I'm a nut. I think it provides a good initial feel for the type of handling and graphics you'll find in the full release in 2009 (Painful I know) but many areas need to be optimized. Lag during online gameplay (though truth be told I had similar lag issues on Forza 2), occasional stutter with reflection rendering, lack of tuning and damage physics give you that slightly less than true GT feel and gives an edge to the likes of Forza.

Overall if you just want some slightly different tracks or, like myself am a GT fan, I think the $40 price tag isn't great, but not horrible. Visually stunning, fairly good handling and enjoyable track variation and environs bode well for this teaser release and hopefully results in a better final product in GT5.

Final Score 7.9/10

Epic Fail: Vraxx + Sick = Fail

2008-02-11T10:11:00.000-10:00

OK so I confess that at times I am a workaholic. Not because I love work, but I hate trying to scramble to fix things later. That and I don't find myself particularly efficient. So Friday was miserable, body aches, previous day had been 15 hours long, I was supposed to be on sick leave but I remembered that I promised a coworker we'd do some triage testing in the lab. So off I went figuring "Ha I'm tough enough"... Bad, bad, bad idea. The weekend was mostly OK, I did chores, I read, but I realized I was still feeling woozy and food was not my friend.

So here it is Monday, I no longer have a fever but I'm coughing up my spleen... and what do I do? I STILL try to do work. Logged into a system with documentation opened up to try to configure something. After a bit of of frustration I realize why it's not working. I just spent 2 minutes trying to click the buttons on a screenshot... with that ladies and gents, I am not going to be doing anymore work today...

Vraxxism of the Day: It feels so good to be bad...

2008-01-16T14:13:00.000-10:00

Addison: somehow i feel wrong and dirty loading an open source DB on a windows box
like the box is looking at me going "what? no MS SQL... for shame..."
then again the wrong and dirty part is probably why it feels so good :P

For reference, I was installing PostgreSQL on a Windows box for some testing since I didn't feel running with the MSDE. And I admit, it does feel good ^_^

And people wonder why US folks don't want these jobs

2007-12-25T16:18:00.001-10:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/25/india.outsourcing.ap/index.html

Now far be it for me to begrudge India for their outsourcing but I've got news for you. US laborers faced similar issues with health, work/life balance and everything else mentioned in TFA. I just find it amusing that they're only NOW realizing it's impact on their own workforce.

Let's face it support centers are one of the weirdest jobs out there, you're expected to know everything, solve a problem remotely and above all do so with a chipper attitude and in a completely professional manner. In the US the quality of these centers often went to pot simply because nobody wanted such a raw deal job. Now that the economy is worse we bitch about not having the option. Hopefully Indian call centers will be used as "part" of the support infrastructure and now the entire infrastructure.

I'll close by commenting, yes I have worked a support hotline as one of my first jobs in the IT industry and while it was a grueling start I think it also helped me develop into the analyst I am today.

Nice Example of How I See the World (Colorblindness)

2007-12-15T12:50:00.000-10:00

http://critiquewall.com/2007/12/10/blindness?printable

Found this while combing through Digg and thought it was a great example of how some of us colorblind folks actually perceive he world. My case isn't as severe as some of these examples show but I do sometimes have problems distinguishing when red/green are adjacent.

Hot Import Nights 2007 -- Or How Vraxx Is Bringing Sexy Back One Frame At A Time

2007-12-02T08:51:00.000-10:00

Gallery at:
http://vraxx.smugmug.com/gallery/3923139/

OK OK long ass title sorry. Dec 1, 2007 I went to capture footage at the Hot Import Nights 2007 car show/tuner event here in Hawaii. It's been more than 10 years since I really shot stuff at a car show and I admit, it brought about memories of being at the raceway park, being around pure gearhead action and the copious amounts of eye candy. Guests included Tera Patrick who served as an MC and guest DJ. Deal or No Deal model Ursula Mayes and several other HIN mainland models who flew down for the one night show. Where some of the dancers get there energy is a mystery to me but they need to bottle that and sell it at the show. Lot of the shots are soft on the focus since half the time I was just bursting like mad :P Enjoy and share with your friends. I need the hits ^_^

Some highlight shots:

A Word About Gamer Maturity

2007-11-06T20:33:00.000-10:00

Let's face it when it comes to the movers and shakers of the world, I don't know that gamers are viewed with much respect. Between nut jobs like Jack Thompson and equally inept gamers like this MENSA candidate
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2789073.ece the world of gaming probably strikes outsiders as completely helter skelter. Not only has the 'guy living in the basement' gotten more fiscal clout but he's no longer afraid to be adamant about ssatiating his addiction (Take the case of the boy who decked his own mother while playing Halo 3). I don't propose to tell you all that I'm any smarter, but it seems as though the more mainstream gaming has become the worse the overall community has become.

Part of me wonders what the root cause is. Is it the increasingly competitive nature of gaming? Is it the bragging rights that go along with things like Xbox (All rights reserved, Microsoft Corporation) Live's Achievements? Could it be the simple need for escapism which people are drawn to? As I've gotten older (much older it feels) I've realized that the fun of online gaming often doesn't match up the tangible fun I can have with my more 'analog' hobbies (photography, movies, anime, hiking). Sure a lot of my hobbies eventually cross paths with my digital age components but it's good to just get the heck away from the PC or my consoles and detach.

Part of me worries that as we've become more and more a digital community we're going to find the dregs of society creeping up the interaction ladder. Hopefully I missed that degree of addiction by a hairs breath, but who knows...

Where's the time go?!

2007-11-06T15:33:00.000-10:00

Seriously guys I'm alive, don't worry. On the other hand I have absolutely no idea where my free time has gone. It isn't like I'm a very active guy... I mean hell I mostly just lounge around but somehow between the lounging, photo stuff, general internet geekdom I seem to have little to no time to do anything all that interesting or creative.

As my work situation is slowly getting back to a steady pattern I'm hoping that I'll get to play more games now and then to unwind and expand my photography to more events and macro shooting. All in all time to get cracking on this whole time management thing... (uugh)

Thunderbirds are GO!

2007-09-16T06:55:00.000-10:00

Attended the Thunderbirds air show 9-15-07 over Waikiki. While the weather was anything but clear and nice I tried my best to capture a few nice angles and clear shots. This is one of the first times I've gotten to really make use of my zoom but realizing that I do need a little more reach for really extreme events. (cmon 400mm) I'm particularly fond of the high angle of attack shots like this one:

Full Gallery
http://vraxx.smugmug.com/gallery/3484347

Horrible way to go...

2007-08-19T12:37:00.000-10:00

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/19/world/main3181944.shtml

While I am certainly not making light of the situation, this is a horrible way to go.

The trouble with tribbles...

2007-07-12T15:45:00.000-10:00

I just found this photo too silly. Who knew we still had Tribbles!

Mini-Review: Canon 50mm f/1.8

2007-07-12T14:06:00.001-10:00

If you're just getting into the SLR world and are looking for a nice, low cost prime for your EOS camera definitely give the 50mm f/1.8 a look. Priced around $79 (USD). Particularly helpful for those low light environments or dimly lit indoor events, this light weight normal/zoom lens gives you an effective 80mm on a cropped x1.6 sensor. Though not as wide as I'd like, it works great for in tight shots or areas where you have a few feet of space to backup out of range.

Constructed almost entirely out of light plastic the lens is easy to carry with you. The one downside is that the lower construction values on this lens result in a sometimes loose feel in the focus ring. Below are a few cosplay (costume play) photographs taken with members of the local anime community here in Hawaii.

With a nice wide aperture the DOF can be kept very shallow and provides a great contrast. It also allows you to really up the shutter speed as the ambient light normally allows for sufficient illumination even down to ISO100. Though there are higher grade versions of the 50mm prime (a USM and an L) the bang for the buck of this lens is undeniable. If you're just starting, consider adding this as your starter prime besides your kit lenses.

IRC quotage goodness

2007-07-07T07:49:00.001-10:00

OK so sometimes I get bored and just do screenshots of oddball things. Here's one of those moments.

Beer icon exits are the best.

Worst drift... ever

2007-07-04T06:51:00.000-10:00

Listen, I know you've played PGR until you got every 1st place win there is. I know you rock Ridge Racer. You've got the pimpest ride in Forza 2 but for the love of god do NOT assume you can do the same shit in real life. Click below for the oh so fun description of the worst drift EVER.

Worst drift ever!

Guess somebody's been watching to much Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Don't worry though the guy is alive... somehow.

Is THIS the taste of Hawaii O_o.... I'll pass

2007-07-02T18:54:00.000-10:00

While walking around Waikiki playing tourist with Selene I happened to see the following candy. I really hope that tourist aren't thinking Hawaii tastes like Collon... wtg marketing dept.

LOLCATS: im in ur blog, hacking ur page rank

2007-06-19T21:26:00.000-10:00

LOLCATS In the news

This scan of a newspaper article says it all. The phenom that is LOLCATS is just something utterly silly but enjoyable. Even I have gotten sucked into it. Originally a forum posting trend, the images themselves have become more important than the threads which spawned them. What is it about them though? Is it the spelling, the poses, the blend? I think part of it is that the computer subculture has always had an affinity to cats and the fact that they, like many a geek, are insanely curious. That and the fact that cat behavior seems about as alien to us as we are to normal folks.

Personally I'm partial to this guy: Sadly, don't have any cats myself (darn building rules) but if I did I'd be gunning to take a LOLCATS photo.

Do we watch the news or does the news just watch us?

2007-06-13T22:00:00.000-10:00

As I plod though Digg.com, /. and other news sites (not to mention the local newspapers and stations) I realize that it doesn't really seem like we watch the news in so much as the news is watching us to gauge what will grab the most ratings. It's not about the events, the critical things going on, the little guys story who needs to just be shown to the world.

Consider the infamy that is the kidnapped white female syndrome. Why does it seem like any time a Caucasian woman is abducted there is instantly a firestorm of press. Kidnappings happen considerably more frequently, often in poorer neighborhoods than most people would care to know. So why then are only the suburbia victims paraded on the 6 o'clock news? Is it because it pulls at the hearstrings of middle America? Is it more newsworthy to put up the face of someone 'nice' looking?

Equally annoying to me at least are the droves of camera guys, helos and 'guest commentators' for high speed chases and shooting incidents. We as a people have become obsessed with wanting to see the worst things unfold, not the good things. Perhaps our culture is just based on the negative press idea but I for one wouldn't mind seeing some lighter news.

Carsplay Photography!

2007-06-03T22:00:00.000-10:00

OK OK bad joke but true none the less. This go around my photographic subjects were not cosplayers but cars. In particular cars on display for the Build the Track Car Show/event to raise awareness for the need for a replacement for the demolished Hawaii Raceway Park.

Picasa Web Gallery Rough Cuts

A more polished version is posted here on Vraxx.com

I actually avoided photographing some of the eye-candy because well honestly? I'm not working for a magazine or anything that gets a lot of rotation, so I figure I'll focus on the subjects that don't care how long it takes me to setup the shot :)

Why sometimes it doesn't help that Vraxx can be quoted...

2007-05-29T16:55:00.000-10:00

http://ryusen.livejournal.com/620419.html

This one comes from a conversation I had with my fellow photographer Zarli. The topic was how much debt we can accrue and not being able to get the $$ to expand our hobby. As you can see... I was pretty out of it :P

Moving towards more mainstream photography?

2007-05-20T19:55:00.000-10:00

As some folks know me, I'm an amateur photographer who has lent my time to work with cosplayers here in Hawaii. I find the work fulfilling since I get to practice portrait work and meet fellow anime fans.

Lately however I'll admit, I've had a hankering to work on things other than cosplay photography, it's just a bit harder. Hiking is sort of out of the question for now since I'm horribly out of shape (unless you count round as a shape). Studio work is out since I'm not taking classes or workshops and don't have any space. Floral is getting harder to do w/o hiking (grr) and special events can sometimes be more trouble than their worth (especially if people think you're the professional photographer they hired for footage).

So that leaves me in the odd position of trying to figure out something to shoot =\ A rekindled go at Macro photography has me peaked since I can do some of that indoors and focus on lighting and such (though I'll need one more big macro lens). Scenery photography is another idea, mountains, waterfalls etc, though again hiking...

I'll pose it to the online community, ideas? Suggestions?

We kick it Old School (Virtually)

2007-05-18T00:46:00.001-10:00

OK I admit that's got to be the lamest title I've read all week too.
As part of ongoing support for a few legacy systems I undertook the none too unusual task of virtualizing a Novell 4.11 install. Now I'll be the first to admit I remember about as much about my Novell installation/early administration as I do how to program Centipede for my Commodore C64.

The first hurdle to overcome was an apparent lack of usable install base :( Let's face it, Novell 4.11 was originally designed to run on top of a DOS partition with say a DOS 6.22 or Windows 95 base OS (at least if I'm remembering the install process). So here I am combing through my archive of files praying to god I still have a Win95 install disk and a license string.

Failing that I find the next best option, a Win98 disk! I install, attempt to load Novell... no dice system has some problems reading the Large disk formated partition. Sigh... ok so hunt s'more and we find a boot disk image for Win95A. Tadda! Novell finally see's the partition and starts copying stuff over. Keeps going, keeps going... *donk* net drivers IDE drivers bomb... sigh... (I should note I'm no idiot, I snapshot the base image JUST prior to Novell being installed).

Finally after much trial and error eureka it boots! Now the catch 22, time to install another client to use. Here's where things get MESSY. Use the Windows 98 build I had done in prior test and attempt to load the Client32. Bomb... Setup.exe crashes... great... rollback to snapshot over an over and try it again and again. Finally I have the audacity to just say, screw it, if part of the setup.exe fails i'll try to force close the offending subprocess... I try that, reboot and tadda! Novell client login.

So... after half a day of fighting it I have a fully ready to test NDS structure, a client pc with Novell Client login and a basic file server... whew... Now to get down to the network tracing :)

5-Min Review Panasonic DMC-TZ1

2007-04-22T17:34:00.000-10:00

It isn't often that I am pleasantly surprised by a Point and Shoot camera. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ1 however was quite a surprise in terms of its flexibility and usability for beginners. I originally purchased this camera to test and sample photographs for the photography panel I'm involved involved with for this years Kawaii Kon.

Here's the basic rundown. Built around a Leica lens and 5MP sensor the TZ1 is a small, relatively easy to grip P&S. The controls are very simple though I found the buttons at the rear of the camera somewhat small for most hands.

The optical zoom is a surprising 10x with an additional 4x digital. Realistically however I would recommend only using the 10x optical. Magnifying as far in as an effective 40x gives rise to a pixelated image which I really wouldn't use as a webpost. The TZ1 lists this option as their EZ Zoom.

Another quirk, at least to me is the fact that the TZ1 uses a lens cap. I'm no stranger to caps in SLR's but for a consumer camera I'll admit I found the lens cap offputting . Convenience wise it isn't the greatest, nor does Panasonic include a laniard strap for it. The battery compartment and SD storage slot are neatly kept in the grip, though the battery release is again rather small.

Shot accuracy is surprisingly good for a camera which has no viewfinder, aided in part by the Image Stabilization (anti-shake) mode. In particular the camera did a good job in its Macro shot mode, particularly compared against my Canon SD400. White balance controls could use some work, but the two pre-set Scene modes were a nice touch for novices. One mode I found particularly amusing is the Food Mode. Yes, you heard right, a preset intended to shoot in a macro-style mode with white balance adjustments for Flourescent. My mother will get a kick out of it.

At a retail cost under $200, the TZ1 is a very nice starter camera. Giving you better range in zoom than some 6-7MP cameras, a simple to use interface and image stabilization (not digital stabilization I should note) the camera packs a great set of features in a cost-effective device. If you're looking for a camera for a relative or a novice just getting into being a shutter bug, this should be on your list of purchase candidates.

Example of 3rds Grid Mode, very handy for beginners

Simple dial controls with Normal and Simple shot modes and SCN (Scene) programable modes

Pardon the dust... we're testing

2007-04-20T22:55:00.000-10:00

Fine line between responsible disclosure and...

2007-04-18T23:15:00.000-10:00

Now I don't often come to the aide of Microsoft as a policy but even I have to speak up when people begin to bash MS for something they are trying to do in good faith. Recently some critics have been harping on MS's disclosure of unpatched flaws by arguing that they are in fact enabling hackers by giving hints.

Granted there are issues when such a wide number of PCs can be vulnerable and the vendor has very little to offer the end user in terms of workarounds. However I don't think the critics will ever be completely happy given the closed source nature of Windows. Let's face it whether its in a MS security bulletin, Bugtraq or some script kiddie news board. A flaw can go from unexploited to serious threat in a very short cycle. I don't blame MS for trying to disclose what it feels it can w/o directly pointing to a bug. Previously the stance was to disclose next to nothing and Microsoft was faulted for that policy as well. As with all things there's a delicate balance between being a responsible software vendor and disclosing issues to your customer base and giving breadcrumbs to wood be hackers.

Heart Felt Condolences to the Families of Students killed in VA Tech Shootings

2007-04-16T18:15:00.000-10:00

I don't normally post about sad things, but I do wish to extend my condolences to all the families of students who were killed during the shootings at Virginia Tech. No one deserves to be taken from their families in such a way and I can only hope that if there is indeed a beyond, the shooter is answering for his crimes.

There is one plea I have to the media however which is please do not bombard America with an endless stream of this. While awareness is key, healing takes time and the sooner we are able to move past the shock of the initial tragedy the better.

Be well, be smart, and be safe folks.
--Addison Caluya