Archive for August, 2013
Saturday, August 17th, 2013
How does a traditional Malay family celebrate Hari Raya Puasa? Rasyida Sam contributed these photos to let us take a peek.
This year’s Hari Raya is a special one for me as it is the first time I am going around introducing everyone to my fiancé, so it is a chance for them to get to know the soon-to-be new addition to the family who is also new to the culture. Photo/Captions by Rasyida Sam.
For Rasyida, Hari Raya Puasa, also known as the Eidul Fitri, is a great occasion and opportunity for her to be with family and loved ones.
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Tags:family, Food, Hari Raya, Islam, Malay, Muslims, photography, photos, potd, Puasa, Ramadan
Posted in Holiday, Photography, Photos, POTD | No Comments »
Friday, August 16th, 2013
The three Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) TVs are: 85-inch S9 UHD TV (S$49,999), as well as the 55-inch (S$7,499) and 65-inch (S$10,499) Series 9 F9000 LED TV. Available now in major electronics retailers.
85-inch Samsung S9 UHD TV (S$49,999) to the left, and 65-inch (S$10,499) Series 9 F9000 LED TV to the right.
All three new 4K models are able to up-scale to UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution from lower resolution content.
“The S9 and F9000 are evolutionary TVs that cement our commitment to innovation as we create a world of possibilities to complement the smart lifestyle of our consumers.,” said Irene Ng, Vice President, Marketing, Samsung Asia.
The S9 UHD TV uses Samsung’s proprietary up-scaling engine to up-convert HD or Full-HD to UHD-level picture quality by restoring information details to create greater precision and real-life picture quality.
The two Series 9 F9000 LED TVs utilise Samsung’s proprietary Quadmatic Picture Engine, a four-step process including signal analysis, noise minimisation, UHD up-scaling and detail enhancement to seamlessly up-convert SD, HD or Full HD content to UHD-level picture quality.
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Tags:launch, Samsung, Singapore, Smart TV, TV, UHD
Posted in Events, Gadgets, Launch, Prices, Samsung, Smart TV, Specifications, TV | No Comments »
Friday, August 16th, 2013
The stalls at Hakaniemi farmers’ market are set up every morning for the locals to buy groceries and fresh flowers, amongst other things.
Two types of fresh flowers vying for space and attention at the Hakaniemi farmers’ market. Photo taken with a Nikon D600 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
By afternoon, however, all that’s left of the market is a large empty plaza, as stall holders tear down their stalls and call it a day.
Tags:Finland, Finland 2013, flowers, Hakaniemi, Helsinki, market, NIKKOR, Nikon, photography, photos, potd, travel, vacation
Posted in Finland 2013, Holiday, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, POTD | No Comments »
Thursday, August 15th, 2013
The highly anticipated sequel is now available free from the App Store on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The game will become available for other platforms later this year and beyond.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 will first debut for iOS devices and become available for other platforms later.
Featuring a time-travel theme that propels players through different historical eras to face off with zombies from various time periods, Plants vs. Zombies 2 is free to play and can be found on the App Store around the world, in seven different languages with additional languages supported soon.
While the vast majority of the game is entirely free to play (players can face every zombie and access every level in every world at no cost), Plants vs. Zombies 2 players can also purchase upgrades and other in-game items.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 is designed with an ever-expanding universe that will offer regular updates including new worlds full of new plants, zombies and challenges beyond the first three from its predecessor.
Plants vs. Zombies 2 extends the classic gameplay of the original and provides players with dozens of new levels, plants and zombies.
Key features of Plants vs. Zombies 2 include:
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Tags:Apps, EA, games, iPad, iPhone, iPod, launch, PopCap, Singapore, zombies
Posted in App, Availability, Events, Gaming, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Launch, Software, Specifications | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013
AMD’s 2H13 game bundle program for PC gamers will enable participating resellers to supply a digital or in-box coupon with the purchase of select AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series products.
AMD’s “Never Settle Forever” bundle is the successor to the “Never Settle” and “Never Settle Reloaded”.
Customers will receive a corresponding Radeon Rewards coupon for the AMD graphics & processing technology product purchased.
Tiered Radeon Rewards coupon
- A Radeon Bronze coupon (for AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition and HD 7790) entitles gamers to select any one game of their choice from a catalog of 6 AMD Gaming Evolved titles.
- A Radeon Silver coupon (for AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series GPUs) will allow gamers to select any two games from a choice of 8 AMD Gaming Evolved titles.
- A Radeon Gold coupon (for AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, HD 7970 and HD 7950) will enable gamers to select any three games from a list of 9 AMD Gaming Evolved Titles
The current 8-game bundle for the AMD Radeon HD 7990 will continue.
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Tags:AMD, games, gaming, Radeon
Posted in AMD, Announce, Gaming, Promotions, Software | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013
We’d just gotten off the ferry from Helsinki to the off-shore sea fortress of Suomenlinna. While the excited tourists and local families with children hustled and bustled around the pier, I spied this old couple quietly cycling away from the hullabaloo into the tranquility of the island’s interior.
An old couple cycles slowly down a gravel path on a hot summer’s day on the fortress island of Suomenlinna in Helsinki, Finland. Both photos taken with a Nikon D600 with AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
Suomenlinna actually comprises eight islands, five of which are connected by bridges and sandbars. There are about 850 inhabitants on the island, while 400-500 people work there.
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Tags:Finland, Finland 2013, Helsinki, NIKKOR, Nikon, photography, photos, potd, Suomenlinna, travel, vacation
Posted in Finland 2013, Holiday, NIKKOR, Nikon, Photography, Photos, POTD, Travel | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, August 13th, 2013
We were driving from Cordoba to Granada in Spain back in the summer of 2009 when we spotted this field of sunflowers along the route. So we pulled over and ran amok among the gigantic sunflowers.
The sunflowers were as big as a real person’s head! All three photos taken with an Olympus E-450 with 14-42mm kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
These were some of the largest sunflowers we’d ever seen.
To show how big they were, we donned some of them with my son’s favourite cap and my wife’s shades, taking care not to damage the flowers.
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Tags:Cordoba, Granada, Olympus, photography, photos, potd, Spain, sunflowers, travel, vacation
Posted in Holiday, Humour, Olympus, Photography, Photos, POTD, Spain 2009, Travel, Zuiko | No Comments »
Monday, August 12th, 2013
It was 9pm and businesses on this busy thoroughfare has closed for the night. Cars on the road and passers-by along the 5-foot-way in front of the shops were much fewer than during the day.
Lone passer-by walking past shuttered shophouses. Photo taken with a Sony Cyber-shot RX100 II compact camera, handheld at f/1.8, 1/160 sec, ISO 12800. Photo credit: John Tan.
I was trying out the newly launched Sony Cyber-shot RX100 II compact camera and took a quick snap handheld of the shophouses across the road.
Details at 100% view.
The shot turned out relatively sharp with only some loss of details even at its maximum ISO setting of 12800.
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Tags:cameras, compact, Cyber-shot, photography, photos, potd, RX, Sony
Posted in Cameras, Compact camera, Cyber-shot, Events, Gadgets, Launch, Opinion, Photography, Photos, POTD, Review, Sony | No Comments »
Sunday, August 11th, 2013
Tina Wang was one of the judges of the Street Dance segment of the Casio G-SHOCK “Shock the World 2013” dance competition in Singapore Sentosa last month.
Showing off her Street Jazz dance routine as a judge in the Shock the World dance competitions. Photo taken with an Olympus E-450 with Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f/4-5.6 kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
Tina started dancing at the age of 16 and presently teaches at Recognize Studios and NRA (Ngee Ann Poly Dance Club).
Tags:Casio, dance, G-SHOCK, jazz, photography, photos, potd
Posted in Casio, Entertainment, Events, Lifestyle, Party, Performance, Photography, Photos, POTD, Zuiko | No Comments »
Saturday, August 10th, 2013
We took a boat to Kusu Island on the National Day holiday for a family picnic.
Splashing along the way to Kusu Island on a sunny morning (back in March). Photo taken with an Olympus E-450 with Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f/4-5.6 kit lens. Photo credit: John Tan.
We’d visited Kusu Island back in March on a weekday and found the island almost totally deserted, except for a few people manning the Chinese temple on the island, and a few fellow visitors that came on the same boat.
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Tags:boat, island, Kusu, photography, photos, picnic, potd, travel, tyre, waves
Posted in DSLR, Holiday, Lens, Olympus, Photography, Photos, POTD, Travel, Zuiko | No Comments »
