DSLR ?

The following being a recent report on DSLR which is quite interesting. I have recently purchased my Canon 30D DSLR and found it to be a superb camera with quick response and better image quality. I still use my Canon G6 and G2 occasionally but has been relying on 30D for most action shot. DSLR are more affordable these days and no wonder more are switching to DSLR.

Digital camera shipments increased 15 percent from 2005 to 2006, but the high-end SLR category grew at a much faster 39 percent clip, according to new statistics from IDC.

SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras offer snappy response, higher image quality and a range of lenses, but they also cost more and are much bulkier than compact models. They offer better profit margins than compact models, but consumer electronics companies are injecting new competition into the market.

Sony wasn’t in the market in 2005, but its 326,000 SLR shipments in 2006 were enough to vault the consumer electronics company over established camera makers Olympus and Pentax into third place overall, according to IDC data released Monday. Samsung and Panasonic also debuted to the tune of 43,000 and 36,000 SLRs, respectively, giving the newcomers 405,000, or 8 percent, of the 5.3 million total SLRs shipped.

However, Canon remains king of the SLR heap by a wide margin. Its 31 percent growth–a 578,000 camera increase to 2.46 million in 2006–added more new cameras than all three newcomers combined.

No. 2 Nikon cut into Canon’s SLR lead, with 36 percent growth to 1.74 million shipments in 2006.

The overall SLR market grew 39 percent from 3.8 million shipments to 5.27 million in 2006, IDC said.

The overall camera market grew 15 percent from 92.3 million shipments in 2005 to 105.7 million in 2006, IDC said. The compact market grew 14 percent from 88.5 million to 100.4 million.

Read more on SLRs lead digital camera sales surge

Dog Microchipping and Graduation Ceremony at Taman Desa, April 15, 2007

Puppy.com.my has its seventh Dog Microchipping Day in Taman Desa recently and the campaign attracted many dog owners come forward with their dogs for microchipping. The microchipping drive was held in conjunction with the Graduation Ceremony held on the same day for trainee of the Purina Puppycom Dog Obedience and Agility Training program. About 100 trainee graduated from various level of dog training courses.

Some of the pictures of the day as below.

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation

dog microchipping, obedience and agility graduation


Magical Face Changes

Our recent stop at Singapore Airport for transit we had a chance again to view the Magical Face Change performance in conjuction with the CNY celebration. The Magical Face Change performance used the pulling mask routine which is fast and accurate.

The Pulling Mask routine is the most complicated. Masks are painted on pieces of damask, well cut, hung with a silk thread, and the lightly pasted to the face one by one. The silk thread is fastened in an inconspicuous part of the costume. With a flick of his cloak the performer magically whisks away the masks one by one as the drama develops.


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cff22.jpg

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Google is gaining ground in search results queries in USA, survey revealed

Google is gaining more gound in USA in report append below. With this surge, it is normal that many site owners will spend more time to optimize their site for Google. Even with dwindling market share, Yahoo still provide a good share of traffic to my sites. At this point in time, any SEO effort will still have to cover all the top three, namely Google, Yahoo and MSN. Others, to me is no longer significant.

Read more on report on Google gaining strength:-

Web search leader Google’s market share inched up to 64 percent of all queries among U.S. Internet searchers in March, gaining further ground against Yahoo and Microsoft, a survey released on Wednesday by Hitwise found.

The number of search queries on Google rose to 64.1 percent in March, compared with 63.9 percent in February and 58.3 percent a year ago, according to Hitwise, which bases its report on the surfing habits of 10 million U.S. Web users.

A more conservative survey by online measurement firm comScore Networks from February also showed how Google’s U.S. market share grew to 48.1 percent in February from a 47.5 percent share in January. On a global basis, comScore estimates Google held a 65.7 percent share of the Web search market.

Hitwise said Yahoo search queries slipped to about 21.3 percent from close to 21.5 percent in February and 22.3 percent in March 2006, while MSN Search dipped to 9.2 percent from 9.3 percent in February and 13.1 percent a year ago.

Full Articles

Excitement of Formula 1 is finally back.

The recent promising start by the Vodafone Mc Laren Mercedes Team in the first two races in Melbourne and Sepang finally get the Formula 1 excitement back. Being a fan of the Mc Laren Team, I have not watch many races in year 2006 mostly due to their poor performance during which Mc Laren failed to win a single race in that whole year. Signing Alonso was one of the big news then. Things has change quite a bit in this early races of 2007 season with both Mc Laren drivers raced to podium in both races, what a fanstastic achievement for a team with zero win in 2006.

Having said that, I must agree that Ferrari still has the edge over Mc Laren. Ferrari has been enjoying a good engine and aero package since 2006 and they also have more experience in Bridgestone tyre. No doubt that Mc Laren is catching back but it will not be easy for Alonso and Lewis to win again in Bahrain this weekend. Nevertheless, the result of this weekend race will provide us more concrete answer on how far Mc Laren has progressed again the Ferrari. Both teams have drivers of almost equal calibre and it is now down to the fight of the both machines and team strategy.

Adopting a dog in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

If you are looking for a dog to adopt in Kuala Lumpur, you can now proceed to Bangsar Shopping Center Marketplace where SPCA Selangor is having their Adoption Fest booth on every other weekend start from 7th and 8th, 21st and 22nd of April 2007 from 10:00am to 6:00pm. SPCA will also provide Adoption Counselling, advise on Cleaning & Feeding Animals, Merchandise Sales, Handing out leaflets, Answering Enquiries (on SPCA, pet care, etc) at the venue.

Adopt a dog today

Alternatively, you can also proceed to SPCA office in Ampang to see it for yourself dogs that you can adopt or simply connect the view the Photo Gallery online.

Animal Friends is another avenue where you can check to see if you can find a suitable dog to adopt. Information on dogs available for adoption are posted online at Animal Friends Thread at Puppy.com.my

PAWS Malaysia in Subang near Subang Airport is another place where you can find a number of dogs that are available for adoption. The web site of PAWs Malaysia is currently under construction which I think should be up sooon.

Lastly, The Independant Pet Rescuer also list the dogs and pets that are available for adoption online via their Blog.

AVG Offers New Free Anti-Rootkit

Being a user of AVG Network Edition for years, it is great to know that grisoft has recently began to offer free version of the Anti Rookit and immediately available for user to download.

GRISOFT, the developer of AVG Internet security software, today introduced a new, free product aimed at detection and removal of Rootkits. Rootkits are a specific malware type which hide in other applications or a computer‘s operating system kernel. This allows malicious applications to then collect passwords and sensitive data from the infected computer without user knowledge for personal information theft, spam relay and other criminal intents.

Rootkits have become a severe threat in comparison to traditional malware because conventional antivirus often misses the hidden rootkit. They execute by embedding applications within the operating system, which is also an essential application to many necessary programs including antivirus protection, so it is important to correctly distinguish between malicious rootkits and legitimately hidden processes. GRISOFT conducted six months of open beta program testing to ensure AVG Anti-Rootkit is able to protect users and operating systems without the confusion and hassle of false alarms.

Rootkits were originally used by hackers to cover their tracks after unauthorized access to computers. Today, these techniques have been redesigned in order to mask the presence of malicious software used to gather and exploit personal information such as credit card numbers and social security numbers creating a serious threat to users.

“Rootkits are computer code that attempt to hide their actions and processes, making the job of detecting the code and the harmful processes very difficult,” explains Larry Bridwell, Global Security Strategist of GRISOFT. “AVG Anti-Rootkit is developed to detect and destroy rootkits effectively, without bothering users with false alarms.”

Like all AVG products, AVG Anti-Rootkit offers users free, regular updates and a simple user interface. AVG Anti-Rootkit is available now to all users as a free, English version download.

The Free Anti RootKit can be downloaded

Visit to Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi, Penang, Malaysia

It is April again and we were back to Penang for Qing Ming . This time around we took the opportuinity to drop by Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi with Doreen. The Clan House, the Leong San Tong was built in 1851 is a magnificient structure worth visiting. Khoo Kongsi practise the allocation of scholarship to clan children and during the our student days, we were here several times to collect our scholarship. It has been several years since our last visit and as a Khoo Clanman, all we need is to collect the entrance pass upon arrival before we proceed to visit the main building. We were there for about an hour and took sometime to shoot some pictures.


Khoo Kongsi, Penang, Northen, Peninsular Malaysia
Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi

Leong San Tong, Khoo Kongsi