Friday, April 29

My Son's Prom Night

what an experience for him, his first prom night.  Everyone is so well dressed!  Very nice indeed.










Thursday, April 28

Back to the subject of Video Rotation... but this time better!

I was trying to see if I can enhance the quality of the videos as well... so went googling again..

I found this software called vReveal... it also gives you the ability to rotate your videos as well as enhance them.

here is a sample..

one of my favourite Youtube P&W singers, Daniel Choo singing "Your Love Oh Lord (by Third Day)".



This video was done in 2007.  I used vReveal, just did a auto contrast, auto white balance, sharpen, and gave it vivid color as well.  I did not change the resolution, which is 240p.

Some old videos...

Recorded this with my old cell phone.  The location is Cancun, Mexico.  Recorded I think in 2008.


Used vReveal to enhance...

without vReveal...

after vReveal...

Rotating your Videos before posting to Facebook or anywhere....

We have some videos recorded using our cell phone and it was in Portrait setting. You know what I mean.


I was also looking for a utility to rotate my 3GP videos (I have a mytouch4G).

I found this free utility "freevideoflipandrotate" from DVDVideoSoft.com

Link to FreeVideoFlipAndRotate

Just some notes:
1. During the install, it has an option that ask if you want to "...Plasmo web search as my homepage..." - for me I unchecked this.
2. Before you use this utility, I suggest you convert your video to avi, or mp4. When I tried rotating my 3GP, it worked, but it changed the speed of the video. I used "Format Factory" to convert my videos first. It's also a free tool.

Rotating a 3GP video directly to a rotated AVI video, notice the speed...


Here is how the video turned out... not too bad.

Tuesday, April 26

Get a New Gadget!

Just received this VoIP ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter) from Amazon and just got it setup for Google Voice.

Amazing, works great and I can make calls from a normal telephone (corded or cordless).

The device is called OBi100 VoIP ATA & Voice Service Bridge by Obihai Technology, Inc.


They also make another model OBi110, this model provides an additional connection for your landline (if you have one for your current home phone).

I'll have a picture of it on the setup, it's simple and cheap.

I considered using the Cisco SPA Voice Gateway, but the cost is higher and I didn't really like the reviews on it.

The folks that makes the OBitalk devices were from a company (Sipura) that Cisco bought over that makes the original Cisco SPA hardware.

So you'll need an internet connect (everyone has this...), a normal corded or cordless phone, a spare ethernet port on your router/switch, and a power socket for the OBitalk device.

Of course you should have Google Voice, if not, you'll have to set this up, btw, you'll need a telephone number, that Google Voice requires for call forwarding, I use my cell number.

Some information about ATA click here - Analog Telephone Adapter.

Oh yes, you know what's great?! It provides an app on your Android or iPhone that allows you to call your OBitalk device via wifi or mobile broadband, so if you're in a hotel or a place that provides free wifi, you can call your OBitalk device. OBihai provides a device number like a phone number that you can call.

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Update... you can watch a video of it... Here

Sunday, April 17

Hot N' Cold (Katy Perry) by Alison

Alison playing at Scottsdale Piano Academy 2011 Popular Repertoire Spring Recital.

She was amongst a group of 39 pianist.

The recital was held at Kerr Cultural Center at Scottsdale, Arizona.

We had a great time and was treated to a wonderful display of talent.

Thursday, April 7

Arizona board approves steep tuition hikes

"TUCSON — Despite recent student protests, regents for Arizona's public universities voted Thursday to dramatically hike tuition, but also will offer rebates to some students to help ease the financial strain.
The Arizona Board of Regents' vote raised tuition and fees at the University of Arizona in Tucson by 22 percent to $10,027 for in-state freshman undergraduates in the fall. Those costs will jump by 19.5 percent, to $9,716, for in-state undergraduates at Arizona State University in Tempe and by 15 percent, to $8,824, at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff.
The increases are far larger than average tuition hikes seen last year, when public universities nationwide increased in-state tuition and fees by an average of 7.9 percent, with the average price at $7,605, according to the College Board, the nonprofit group that runs the SATs."

Read Full Article - Arizona board approves steep tuition hikes

Tuesday, April 5

Buying a Used or New Car In America

I'm planning to get a car sometime in June/July time, so I went search for tips on buying a used or new car.

And came upon this website "CarBuyingTips", which I thought is really excellent.

It gives you details of "scams" by car dealers and tells you how to avoid it.

Here is the link CarBuyingTips.

S'poreans to get letters on growth dividends & other payouts - Channel NewsAsia

Here is the news article.
S'poreans to get letters on growth dividends & other payouts - Channel NewsAsia

So if you're reading this and you're Singaporean, you must go check it out at Grow & Share website (click).

You'll need your SingPass.