~minors n’ MAJORS~

Remember all those times when you read a comic or watch an anime, there will be times where dead or sick characters are shown with eyes like X…(Emoticon Xl )

Well.. I came upon a dead/sick elevator…

Just wanted to inform everyone that minorsMAJORS photo blog is up and running at the following site

mnMPhotos

I’ll be featuring some of the better shots at higher definition for better viewing and also for archival purposes. Do bookmark the site and check back for more updates on the photos that I’ve taken… And I’ll do my best to learn to get better at photography as well Do leave critical comments that could help me to learn to be better as well.

The link can also be found on the sidebar on the right.

In the meantime, this blog will still be running at a slower pace as I’m still very much tied up in the things I do… So please do check back every once in a while for updates

I’ve been wanting to get a DSLR for quite some time for its functions and also for its ability to generate HDR images automatically for HDR projects. My Canon 720IS could also take photos at different lighting and speed to generate photos of different exposure. But this is hard without a good grip and a tripod.

Recently, I found that there was a development team working on hacks (See CHDK) for Canon camera which gives it extra functions including the function for auto bracketing, which is what’s necessary for generating photos of different exposure automatically for HDR photos

So after upgrading my camera with the hack, I carried out a few test shots. Leave your comments if you have any okay?

~Photo of the scenery behind my faculty~

~Photo at the Hotel… Was trying to get a ghostly effect off the corridors by taking it at different exposure but with B&W~

~A B&W photo of the lounge at the hotel~

~The above shot but in colors~

~The same lounge but during the day time~

~Some book stands at the lounge, taken with different exposure of B&W~

~A vase with flowers at the hotel lobby~

Going to have to start blogging again. If not, this blog will become a dead blog. So here we go…

Just came back from Kota Bharu, Kelantan; RCMM 2009. RCMM stands for Regional Conference on Molecular Medicine, which is basically the field of study I’m currently in. So it was quite an eye opener for me.

(This might sound a bit similar to what a particular speaker spoke about in the conference… but still worth sharing nevertheless) The difference between research within Malaysia and other countries are really quite far apart. As far as I could observe, most research done in Malaysia are product orientated, as in research on items that may bring $$ in the future. I understand the importance of this as in Malaysia, research institutions are mostly funded by the government and the allocation that is given from the government towards research is also not that prominent (There’s also the bias by which the budget will favor those which may generate income for the country as well). But this caused us to be left behind in other types of research, such as basic research, the fundamentals (Which often has a higher uncertainty rate). But its through the fundamentals that we could actually learn new things and discover new methods and process which may lead towards greater and heavier impact towards research. Sadly, this is not widely realized by those in authority here in Malaysia. But still regardless of that, research in Malaysia, in its own speed, is making progress.

RCMM 2009 is held in Renaissance Hotel, KB, which is really quite a grand hotel. Love the place so much. It’s been quite a while since the last time I had the pleasure of indulging myself into the lifestyle of the rich.

~The room I stayed in for the 5 nights I was there~

The whole conference was also quite nicely planned out. A minor matter which cross my mind is possibly that while it is stated that this is a Regional conference, by which I thought would be more less for the Asian Region… I found that the support from other Asian countries may have been a bit… lacking. But nevertheless, I’m quite sure that the conference was a great success.

~The ballroom where the conference was held~

Another down part is… It had to rain for the few days we were there and that made sightseeing quite an impossible sight.

The food was great for the few days we were there. Lunch and dinner and the BBQ was good. It was like being back home again when I can eat normal food and eat it in bulk. I’m eating more of fast food and bread here in KL

~Lunch and dinner was great. And very filling… I returned a few pounds heavier than when I left… Luckily AirAsia weight limit is only for check in baggage and not for the passenger.~

~The food during the BBQ session was also alright. Except, it wasn’t really a BBQ since we were sitting on chairs and eating in a hall… I thought BBQ would have been a bit… wilder than that… As in BBQ in the open air, with those sticks of food over the fire etc~

I also managed to visit INFORMM in USM (Institute of Molecular Medicine) and although small, the labs seemed to be quite well equipped. Everyone was friendly during the visit here.

~The insides of INFORMM sort of remind me of those nice comfortable budget hotels you can find while backpacking~

And there are those other photos I took at the hotel… Overall, I’m sort of looking forward to the next trip out. A new chance to learn something else and to experience new things… As well to get out of the life I have in KL for a moment would be nice

All that worries me now is the process of claiming back all the expense we had there. Lets just hope its not a problem.