Aug 18
Hi all. Just a small announcement to let ya all know that I FINALLY launched my Apple blog. The blog is all about Apple Mac – news, software, guides, reviews and more. Hope you find the site informative and of course join the Apple family. Enjoy. Send me a mail should you have any queries, suggestions or complaints. Click here to visit the site.
Aug 18
I know this is old news but I stumbled across it again on the net. It’s amazing how our brains work. There’s just no way we could have evolved but let me not go into this or else I’m going to have to prove to some of you that The Creator exists (which will actually be an easy task). Anyway, below is a short paragraph of how our minds recognoise words even though they are spelt wrong. See if you can read the following paragraph.
Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?
Cool hey. Well as you just read, as long as the first and last letters of a word are in the correct place then our minds can easily recognise the word.
Another amazing thing is how difficult it is to read colours. Take a look at the image below. The test here is to read out loud the COLOUR and not the word. Read the colours and see if you can do it without getting stuck.
Amazing again hey, but apparently there is an explanation. According to Eric Chudler, Ph.D., a neuroscientist (Research Associate Professor) and Director of Education and Outreach at University of Washington Engineered Biomaterials in Seattle, Washington, the words themselves have a strong influence over your ability to say the color. The interference between the different information (what the words say and the color of the words) your brain receives causes a problem. There are two theories that may explain the Stroop effect:
1. Speed of Processing Theory: the interference occurs because words are read faster than colors are named.
2. Selective Attention Theory: the interference occurs because naming colors requires more attention than reading words.
Well, whatever it is, I’m just grateful that I can read in the first place. From me and paeunt btuter and jam – bye.
Jul 26
Its been a hell of a cold winter in Newcastle this year but when the snow falls it’s all forgotten. I have never been in snow so for me the winter has become a special one. The last time it snowed in Newcastle, I was in Jo’burg – I missed it. Today we woke up to white grass. Yesterday the parts of the N3 from Gauteng to KZN was closed due to the icy weather.
Well as for the day ahead, I dont know. To work or not to work – thats the question, hehe. All I can say is that I hope the snow doesnt stop falling. Its absolutely beautiful.
Jul 15
Poster Design by theimagehouse
World renowned reciter Sheikh Abu Bakr Ash Shatri will be visiting South Africa and gracing us with some Quraanic Recitations. Many muslims throughout the world love his style of reciting and many try to imitate him as well. We, in Newcastle South Africa, will have the honor of hosting this great Imaam and are sure to be inspired. Madrasah Ummul Hasanaat will attend and will update you.
Jul 14
Its 11pm, 3 degrees outside, no-one in site for miles, all the kids are asleep, cars parked, there is peace and quiet. What a wonderful time to relax and de-stress…. UNTILL your damn neighbor’s dogs decide to bark non-stop for the next hour. Im talking at least 4 houses away. That constant woof woof woof woof woof woof woof woof goes on and on as if its a dripping tap with a damaged washer – dripping into the very core of your skull. Now being 4 houses away and yet the sound is as if the mutts are right next to me, one has to question the infinite knowledge when you cry out to that someone – something WWWHHYYYYY…. “Do the neighbors not hear their dogs barking?” I mean they in the same damn yard. Are they asleep, blasting some hypnotic music, not at home (every night) or just plain inconsiderate? and stupid.
Another bark !!!!
Why do they keep these animals in the first place if they don’t come out to check what the THINGS are barking for. DOGS SHOULD BE KILLED – PERIOD. They are filthy and stupid. Yeah yeah, you can train them blah blah… but in the cold heart of winter they choose to stand by a gate barking because they probably smelt some dog ass 50km away.
Im going out with my gun. If you don’t see another post from me, then know I’ve been thrown in jail by the SPCA. DAWG !
Jun 27
Three Little Pigs
This is a true story, proving how fascinating the mind of a six year old is. They think so logically.
A teacher was reading the story of the Three Little Pigs to her class. She came to the part of the story where first pig was trying to gather the building materials for his home. She read. ‘And so the pig went up to the man with the wheelbarrow full of straw and said: ‘Pardon me sir, but may I have some of that straw to build my house?’ The teacher paused then asked the class: ‘And what do you think the man said?’ One little boy raised his hand and said very matter-of-factly…
‘I think the man would have said – ‘Well, F#ck me!! A talking pig!’
The teacher had to leave the room.
Now if only we could think like kids.
Jun 26
Hi All
As a launch promotion at AppleComputers.co.za, we are giving away 35 advertising spaces FREE for TWO months from launch. The rules are simple and anyone may apply. We will place your advert on our site at no cost whatsoever. This is a first come first serve promotion but bare in mind that adverts can be refused based on content etc etc (no porn and crap advertising – no chancing). We have 5 categories at the moment so please design your advert according to your chosen category.
Categories:
1. WHATS HOT – Anything goes – best place to be as it’s the first page
2. Mac Stores – If you have an Apple store or sell macs
3. Apple Training – If you offer training (Apple, Design, Photography etc etc)
4. Repairs – If you offer Apple repairs for Macs, iPhones, ipads etc etc
5. Professional] – If you are a designer, video editor, photographer, etc etc
Here are the rules:
1. Adverts must be of high quality and pertain to one of the categories above.
2. Links must be provided to a legit website
3. NO animated Gifs, Flash, etc etc – JPG ONLY
4. NO PORNOGRAPHY or HARMFUL CONTENT
5. ONE ADVERT per person / company
6. No adverts will be accepted after launch – July.
Judging
This is not a competition but adverts can be refused without reason. Send your advert and hope for the best – basically.
Advert sizes:]
Small Adverts – 200px x 90px
Centre Huge Advert – 564px x 292px
Remember to send us your advert today with the artwork and a link to your website.
Send to : adverts@applecomputers.co.za
GOOD LUCK !!!
Jun 23
Final Cut Pro Heading
Today I got hold of Final Cut Pro X. I couldn’t wait to fire this baby up, caress the new interface and start my video magic. With my 17″ MacBook Pro, i5 2.53, 4GB Ram and a Seagate hybrid I was sure to rock the house. riiiiiiiight.
I was greeted with the new interface of what I’d seen before – cool, I thought. but then I decided to take it for a spin. Imported a 4 minute video (didnt want to overload her with a full HD 1080 60min clip, so a 4min 720 seemed appropriate). By the way, before starting FCP I restarted my Mac.
The clip imported and soon the background rendering started. Cool. I then added a transparent PNG, and then a PSD. Overlaid some effects and hell it started to slow down quickly. I thought maybe its the background rendering? Nope. Any open apps? Nope. Then what? Its turned out to be that the new Final Cut Pro X is just a load of …..
After 2 hours with only a 4min clip and 2 pics. I was lost, frustrated and couldn’t believe how slow it had gone. The interface seemed fine at first but it became clunky and unusable. The effects are horribly slow. This is iMovie Pro and NOT Final Cut Pro.
Im sorry but I feel that Apple has made a disaster and they can see it. Many pro users are complaining as well. I for one am going right back to FCP 7 and Motion. People DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY on Final Cut Pro X !!!
To be more specific, here are my gripes:
1. Extremely slow
2. Clunky UI
3. Horrible timeline – stuff jumps all over the place
4. Too simplistically inclined
5. Cant open FCP 7 files
6. Slow effects
7. Background renderer re-renders too much – even when just a small piece of a clip changed.
8. Too much like iMovie and NOT an improvement on FCP
9. The Events manager is a disaster – too much iPhoto
10. No FC Server
11. Adding text and editing is horrible.
12. The effect manager panel cannot be moved (to a different screen)
Thats about it for now. I havent even done some Chroma keying, or colour corrections.
This is a huge disappointment.
Jun 21
The Test Pattern - Best thing on TV back in the day.
In 1975, after years of controversy over the introduction of television, the SABC was finally allowed to introduce a colour TV service, which began experimental broadcasts in the main cities on 5 May 1975, before the service went nationwide on 6 January 1976 (AFTER I was born – damn). Initially, the TV service was funded entirely through a licence fee, as in the UK, but advertising began in 1978. The SABC (both Television and Radio) is still partly funded by the licence fee (currently R225 per annum which no-one pays).
The service initially broadcast only in English and Afrikaans, with an emphasis on religious programming on Sundays.
A local soap opera, The Villagers, set on a gold mine, was well received while other local productions like The Dingleys were panned as amateurish. Owing to South Africa’s apartheid policies, the British actors’ union Equity started a boycott of programme sales to South Africa, meaning that the majority of acquired programming in the early years of the corporation came from the United States. However, the Thames Television police drama series The Sweeney was briefly shown on SABC TV, dubbed in Afrikaans as Blitspatrollie (lol). Later on, when other programmes were dubbed, the original soundtrack was simulcast on FM radio. With a limited budget, early programming aimed at children tended to be quite innovative, and programmes such as the Afrikaans-language puppetshows Haas Das se Nuus Kas and Oscar in Asblikfontein are still fondly remembered by many.
In 1982, a second channel was introduced, broadcasting in African languages. The main channel, then called TV1, was divided evenly between English and Afrikaans, as before. Subtitling on TV in South Africa used to be almost non-existent, although now many non-English language soap operas have started to display English subtitles. The second channel, known either as TV2, TV3 or TV4 depending on the time of day, was later rebranded as CCV (Contemporary Community Values). A third channel was introduced known as TSS, or Topsport Surplus, Topsport being the brand name for the SABC’s sport coverage, but this was renamed NNTV (National Network TV).
SABC television become widely available in neighbouring Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland. The SABC also helped the South West African Broadcasting Corporation in Namibia to establish a television service in 1981 with most programming being videotapes flown in from South Africa. This became part of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation in 1990.
Jun 21
My wife sent me these beautiful 5 pearls of wisdom.
I love number 4. I got my eye on the scope ready.
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