Deuts.NET – Page 78 – Personal rumblings on tech and stuff

The NBA Live 2007 is Gaining Speed

It can be noticed that my entry on NBA Live 2007 – The Final Straw is gaining speed in my Most Popular Posts. It is now third on that list.

I was even surprised to have an unknown commentator trying to voice out his disappointment with the game. Unknown in the sense that I don’t know him personally. But of course, everyone is most welcome (except spammers) to comment here!

This wonder led me to investigate more how did he find out about my site. Then, I found out that:

If you google search for a keyword “NBA Live 2007 bugs”, you’ll find my site third in the google search results page.
If you google search for a keyword “NBA Live 2007 glitches”, you’ll find my site seventh in the google search results page (fifth, if you exclude the indented lists).

So, how does this make sense? Is my site really that popular? (Hehe) Well, I can offer a reason for this though. Maybe I was just the only blogger to touch on the topic of the glitches and bugs of NBA Live 2007, plus some makulit commentators and die-hard NBA (Live) Fans like Lou Franz and Percival who are leaving those comments, adding to the popularity of the post.

Anyway, thank you to all who have left comments! And Happy 2007!

Testing Out EF85mm f1.8 USM for the New 2007

First of all I would like to greet all my avid readers a Happy New Year, a Happy 2007!

My first prime lens, the EF 85mm f/1.8 USM lens, according to reviews produces sharp pictures and performs well in low light conditions. The AF is fast and produces beautiful bokeh when shot as wide as f1.8.

Let’s see some samples of the pictures I took:

Waiting for 2007!

The Sandisk Card Reader

cliff
Cliff

Apples for the New Year

the new year food
OK, so this one was actually taken using the EF-S 17-85mm IS USM, not the 85mm prime. The latter was too long to accomodate us all in the picture given the limited space in our kitchen.

The Manikins

Superman

The Chief

Yet, you know what? I’m not yet convinced. This lens (85mm) has still a long way to go to convince me to really become my favorite lens. It has yet to prove its superiority (actually) over the 17-85mm zoom.

The Christmas in Doha

Celebrating Christmas with fellow Filipinos in Doha. Well, after all, the spirit was present with some “exchange gifts”, foods, friends, pusoy, videoke, and of course, some beers and cheers!

Yeah, there is San Miguel Beer in Doha:

We Ain’t Ask For Too Much

All we are up to is a DSL internet connection to pass the time away. But Qtel refused to install the telephone connection (in the first place) simply because of this sign outside the house/villa.

Gulf India Trading

It’s the Gulf India Trading Co. WLL!

Happy Holidays!

Just wanna say a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each and everyone who is able to read this! Please extend my greetings also to those who are not able to read this and to those who can’t read.

Doha Office

For the Doha Filipino people, this is going to be a bit different Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Though, we hope to enjoy celebrate it with some bottles of beer!

Offtopic: Please welcome our new contributor in the house, Cliff! Share the memories of the Asian Games!

Some Business News

Here are some interesting finds in digg as regards business and finance news, from the legality of SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) to the girls of Hooters.

Is SOX unconstitutional?

Sarbanes-Oxley is totally unconstitutional says prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Starr, who led the charge on Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky, is now heading up the constitutional challenge to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board which will be heard by the courts this week. (Read more)

Despite Controversy, Hooters Prospers

Having a brand image focused on staffers wearing less has meant more for the privately held company, which started in 1983. It’s blossomed into a chain that brings in $900 million in yearly sales and is expected to cross the $1 billion mark for the first time next year. (Read more)

Doha 2006 Closing Ceremony

Pictures taken during the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Doha Asian Games:

The busy road going to Khalifa Sports City:

The view of the Khalifa Stadium at night:

The beautiful Khalifa Tower:

The long line of gate signs along the hallways of the Khalifa Stadium:

Lea Salonga, a pride for all Filipinos, was one of the performers:

The Qatari Flags waving throughout the ceremony:

The lamp, but not Aladdin’s:

This picture reminds me of Battle Realms we used to play:

Sindbad, the explorer:

The show:

And of course, the company:

By the way, China won over Qatar in the Men’s Basketball Finals.

Doha 2006 Basketball

In the Finals, it’s Team Qatar versus the powerhouse China, in the Men’s Basketball in the Doha 2006 Asian Games.

qatar-vs-korea

We were able to witness the games during the preliminary rounds between China and Japan, and Qatar and South Korea. These are the pictures I’ve taken.

china-vs-japan

A funny thing happened during the match between China and Japan last Friday (December 8, 2006). Japan was rallying in the first few minutes after the start of the second half–and cut China’s lead to only 6 from as high as 16 points (I think!) in the first half. The crowd, mostly Filipinos, were excited, and chanting—“GINEBRA! GINEBRA! GINEBRA!”

You can just feel the frustration of Filipinos here that there were no representatives for the Philippine Team in the Men’s Basketball.

China won that game. Wang Zhizhi was the highest pointer with 30 points.

On the other hand, in the game between Qatar and Korea, the latter won in overtime. It was the first overtime in the 2006 Asian Games.

On Photography

canon eos 30d

My fancy for photography actually started when I acquired my first ever digital camera, the Sony Cybershot DSC-S60 ((I didn’t have a camera phone yet then)). I was browsing through all the features of my camera because I wanted to maximize its use.

Learning the basics of photography and the limitations of this point-and-shoot camera, I realized that should I have a more sophisticated camera, I can at least duplicate those spectacular photos in photography books, magazines, brochures, newspapers, internet, etc., by professionals. I can even have my own personal collection (Now, what do you think of that? LOL).

My interest even grew deeper when I learned photoshop. I was wondering– if I only have my own salient photos to work on using photoshop.

Well, there goes the story…

The Camera

Canon EOS 30D

The Lens

Canon EFS 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

On Photoblog

Maybe, in the future. Who knows… Just keep visiting, and subscribe….

The Photographer

Here’s a joke I found somewhere:

A photographer for a national magazine was assigned to take pictures of a great forest fire. He was advised that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the fire.

The photographer arrived at the airstrip just an hour before sundown. Sure enough, a small Cessna airplane was waiting.

He jumped in with his equipment and shouted, “Let’s go!” The tense man sitting in the pilot’s seat swung the plane into the wind and soon they were in the air, though flying erratically.

“Fly over the north side of the fire,” said the photographer, “And make several low-level passes.”

“Why?” asked the nervous pilot.

“Because I’m going to take pictures!” yelled the photographer. “I’m a photographer, and photographers take pictures!”

The pilot replied, “You mean you’re not the flight instructor?”

One Dies in Asian Games 2006

Who would have thought that a friendly game like the Asian Games can bring casualty? Here’s the news…

Equestrian athlete Kim Hyung Chil of Korea has died after falling from his horse during the individual cross country competition this morning, Thursday 7 December.

~~Read the news~~.

Update: Nevermind, you’d better grab the latest newspaper than reading that link in the official website of the Doha 2006 Asian Games. It’s just returning a 404!