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Dec 31, 2010

X marks the spot ...

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Practicing with black and white filters.
Found this at back of a parked car collecting dust.
I don't know the make or model of the car. If you do know, let us know.

Malé, Maldives.

Kids on the beach ...

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Was a cloudy and a windy day, but at the end the day gave us a very colorful sunset.
Kids playing on the beach while parents enjoy the colors of the sunset and cool sea breeze.

Villingili, Maldives.

Dec 29, 2010

Oxidated Outdoor Light ???

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An outdoor light succumbs to extended exposure to saltwater spray.
Found this light installed on the fascia of the roof overlooking the sea at Lily's Coffee Shop.
Surprisingly, it still works just fine.

Malé, Maldives.

Everyone seems to want Jelly ...

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A store called Jelly selling candies and special kid friendly drinks.
This place is popular spot for kids and families on weekend, especially in the evening around dusk.

Malé, Maldives.

Dec 25, 2010

Hot Sauce ... by Coca-Cola !!!

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Must be a brand new product by Coca-Cola company.
Or someone at the table must have been bored out of his/her mind.
Must have been the slow service or something.

Malé, Maldives.

Dec 24, 2010

The speakers story ... what is good ???

3 comments

Hello.

I have had this Yamaha TSS-10 5.1 Home Theater System for a few years now. It is a good system and I have enjoyed many movies and songs on it.

Here are the main features:
• Decoding of Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Pro Logic II (Movie/Music) for stereo sources to 5.1-channel sound
• 32-bit, high precision, high sound quality DSP LSI (YSS-938 Yamaha original LSI)
• SILENT CINEMA for headphone surround sound enjoyment
• Remote control unit
• High sound quality spruce cone driver for 5 satellite speakers
• Yamaha’s unique YST for powerful bass response (subwoofer)
• Angle adjustable satellite speakers for optimum positioning
• Two optical digital input and 2-channel analog terminals
• Magnetic shielding allows placement near a TV (all speakers)
• Slim, vertical standing amplifier.

You can find more information here and here.

It is not top of the line, but good for a living room or a bedroom.

However, I've had it with 5.1 systems and wires running across and all over the room. I am now thinking of getting myself a good 2.1 system. Hence I have listed my Yamaha TSS-10 5.1 Home Theater System for sale in iBay.

Give me a call if you are interested in buying it.

Since, I am "downgrading" myself to a 2.1 system, I went to Bose show room at Reefside to have a look an available option. I was surprised (and a bit annoyed) that almost all sub-7,000 Rufiyaa Bose system suck really bad. I mean seriously, I am no sound engineer, but my years old Yamaha sounds pretty good compared to Bose systems in the range. I am not saying this just because I am selling my Yamaha, I just was bit let down by Bose. Maybe I was expectation for Bose was a bit high when I walked in to that shop.

I am going to go to Island Music and check out the JBL systems there. I am sure they will sound better than Bose. They have to.

If you have any suggestions or recommendation for a good 2.1 speaker system,  please let me know. Thank you.

Laterx.

Edit :: 27/12/2010 11:54
Yamaha TSS-10 5.1 Home Theater System has been sold out and marked same on iBay.com. Thank you.

Dec 20, 2010

Please don't burst with stuff ... :P

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Double burst!
Bursting with flavor, bursting with health.
Who wants to burst with flavor? Who wants to burst with health?
Not me. I don't think its a good ad. My personal opinion.

Malé, Maldives.

Dec 18, 2010

Blogger: Turning on Mobile Templates …

5 comments
Hello.

Today, I logged on to Blogger to see a pop-up asking me to turn on mobile templates. I did not know what it was exactly, at the time, and I was in a hurry to get something done. I clicked cancel, and moved on.

Later, when I thought about it, turning on mobile templates sounded like a pretty good idea. Especially since I get occasional visits on my blog from mobile devices like iPhones.

So what does mobile templates do? Well, not much. It simply optimizes the blog to display it better on mobile devices with smaller screens. Apparently, when using mobile templates, pages will load faster because of minimalistic design with less graphics, and use less data, a good thing when surfing the web on an a cellular connection.

When I came back to Blogger to turn mobile templates on, I had to drill down a bit in settings to find the option. To save some of you a few minutes, here is how to do it.

From Blogger Dashboard, go to 'Settings' tab and find 'Email & mobile' menu. Under the 'Mobile Template' part, click 'Yes. On mobile devices, show the mobile version of my template.'. Scroll down and click 'Save settings'. If you want to have quick look at how your blog would look like in mobile view, you can preview it before saving the settings.

Hope this helps someone out there who uses Blogger/Blogspot.

Laterx.

Dec 16, 2010

Big One: Dexter season 5 finale ...

2 comments
Hello.

It seems like only a few days ago that I wrote here, all excited, about Dexter season 5 was about to begin. Last night I watched the "Big One" season finale. It was a amazing and gripping season. Season 5 was great, I really liked it.

Dexter was great, juggling the role of single parent and knife-wielding vigilante serial killer. The way he protected a victimized girl, the way he opened up for her, spilling all his secrets, and later taught her the secrets of the trade and teamed up with her was great. I liked them as team. Too bad that did not last. Guess this vigilante is not getting a sidekick, and is destined to roam the world alone. I did not like Dexter evolving, starting to show normal human emotions. He is supposed to psychopath, disconnected from all human emotions. That is what rationalize his "activities". It will be hard to root for a normal human serial killer, no matter who he kills.

I admit I was not fan of Julia stiles, but that may be changing. She was spectacular playing the the victimized girl, Lumen. I am guessing this is her frost TV role, I may be wrong. I liked how Lumen starts broken bad, but manages to pick herself up, learned the ropes fast, to take revenge on people who hurt her. Something like a modern day avenging angel. Her relationship with Dexter was like healing process for his wife'e brutal murder. And I think it worked out great, too bad Lumen had to leave. I think she deserves her Golden Globe Award nomination for this.

Johnny Lee Miller was creepy as hell as Jordan Chase. It was a good performance. I have not seen Johnny Lee Miller since Aeon Flux and he always reminds me of the movie Hackers. Though the tick-tock thing went a bit far, I liked him giving all those life lessons even at the last moment. He is no Trinity killer, not by a long shot, but he was OK.

So does Deb know about Dexter and what he does? What was she saying to Dexter when she said "all is over for you"? I personally do not think she knows what Dexter is up to, thought in the novels she knows very early on.

This was good season of Dexter. It was shot, but a good ride. Cant wait for season 6.

Laterx.

Managed to bust my bike silencer ... again !!!

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My Honda Wave 125S.
I don't know why, but I somehow manage to bust the exhaust pipe or the silencer/muffler of my bike several times each year.
And every time I go to garage to repair it, they tell me that the I have change whole exhaust system next time.
I have repaired the exhaust system several times after that. I did it a few weeks ago too.

Malé, Maldives.

Dec 12, 2010

Silhouetted Minaret ...

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A silhouette of a mosque minaret taken around dusk.
You can see the low dome and the crescent atop the minaret of Masjid Al-Noor Mosque.

Malé, Maldives.

MNBC1 Antenna ...

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The moon rising behind the main antenna of Maldives National Broadcasting Corporation (MNBC1), formerly known as Television Maldives (TVM).
This was a gift from a people of Japan to the people of Maldives. Its a few decades old.

Malé, Maldives.

Dec 11, 2010

Keerithi Rasoolaage Siyarath ...

14 comments
Hello.

Here, I present the recitation of written work "Keerithi Rasoolaage Siyarath" for download in mp3 format. The 29 audio tracks represent the complete work, read by Late Mr. Mohamed Thaufeeg of H. Haajaraage.

You can download the 29 tracks separately on MediaFire for free, it does not require an account.  I have also made it available on Google Drive  (Zip file, 895MB) for easy download.

The source files I got were 1.65GB and in 128kbps mp3 format. I re-encoded the files to 64kbps mp3s using iTunes. In my opinion 64kbps is decent enough for spoken-words and I managed to bring down the filesize to almost half. Few suggested that I use a more efficient codec for spoken words, like AAC, but I finally decided to use mp3, for it is the most ubiquitous audio format around. I did not want to letdown those with finicky portable players.

This is by no means a clean or professional recording. There are some hisses and blips interspersed among the tracks. Passable for works decades old.

I grew up listening to this every year in the month of Ramadan. I remember when we were young, neighborhood kids would meet up after noon prayer, decide on who's place to go to listen to Siyarath. We would fight for the best seats in the living room and few would end up on the linoleum floor near the TV rack. The huge Hi-Fi system (with too many lights, switches and knobs) would be available to us for the hour. I still remember the peeling "PMPO 4500" sticker on those huge double-deck cassette players. Fond memories they are.

Have a good listen. May be you can bookmark this page for Ramadan next year.

Laterx.

Update: 14/09/2011
I have also made the Zip File available on Minus for people who may like to download the Zipped Archive, but don't have a HotFile account. Hope this will make it easier for you. Enjoy!

Dec 6, 2010

Good Companion: Name very much failed!

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A cigarette butt thrown on to the sidewalk.
Good Companion is a cheap brand of cigarette trying to gain ground on the more popular Marlboro and Camel brands.
Good Companion cigarettes are produced in Hong Kong (China) & USA.

Villingili, Maldives.