iPhone vs Android

As usual, I will just leave this here

Restoring an old Japanese knife

To be honest, I saw this clip some time back but I thought that I would share it. Love the way this fella restores the antique knife. Love the cats too!

Electric fly killer

I was at one of those industrial factory canteens during lunch some time back and I noticed that this electric fly killer was switched off. I do not know why it was. Was it to save electricity? I do not know. All I know is that these fly killers re very effective in killing flies, mosquitoes, in fact, many bugs. I was just there to order food for takeaway so I did not get to experience any flies hovering above me. But seriously, these are great things to have in places where food is sold. Gets rid of those disease-carrying pests.

Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur

We take on Spurs today at Old Trafford. Apparently, it is in the news that Harry Kane will not be starting for Spurs as he picked up an injury earlier in the week. While some may be cheering the good news, I am not. I would rather Harry Kane play against us because it will bring out the mettle in our defence. Still they have players like Llorente, Son and Eriksen, who will give us a good run for our money, to say nothing about Dele Alli. The game starts at 1930 Singapore time. Let us see how it goes.

Old Chang Kee nasi lemak

I buy Old Chang Kee curry-puffs sometimes in the morning when I am on my way to work. While I was lining up the other day at one of their outlets to buy the curry-puffs, I saw that they were also selling nasi lemak, or coconut-flavoured rice in their shop. Normally, mots places sell nasi lemak, wrapped in banana leaves, for about $1.40 on average. Old Chang Kee’s cost $3 and I am not even sure if it is nice or not. Old Chang Kee seems to sell one variety with otak otak, which is a fish paste, which is quite delicious. Maybe I should try it one day and see if it is really nice or not. I will put the verdict up here should it be.

Robert Guillaume of Benson fame passed away

I got a bit of a rude shock yesterday when I read that Robert Guillaume had passed on after a bout of cancer. If you watched the TV series Benson as I did, while I was a kid, you will find out why. He was a great actor and played the role very well. I think you can still find some episodes on YouTube if you look. Sad news indeed for a Wednesday. Rest in peace Robert.

How to and when to pray the Rosary

Just yesterday, or rather the day before, I was looking for my Rosary but I could not find it. I must have misplaced it after using it at my cousin’s wake some time back. In any case, I was motivated to use my Rosary more often now after reading this. Mother Mary, pray for me and help me find it

Horlicks mixer

In my younger years, when my mum and dad wanted to go out or used to go to dinners, they used to drop my sisters and I off at my grandparents’s place. At night, before bed, Grandma used to make us a hot drink of Horlicks. She used to make it with this mixer shown in the picture above. I do not know what happened to it but I bet that it would be a collectors item if it was found.

NEXO NXAMP4X2MK2 powered controller

I wrote about the Nexo NXAMPs in a previous post and after having done a few events with them, I have come to swear by then because of their performance. Looks like Nexo has released the MK2 of those NXAMPs.

Rated at in 4 X 2500 Watts, the NXAMP4X2MK2 combines advanced signal processing with four Class D amplifiers  for NEXO loudspeaker systems. They can be used in fixed installations and touring, with all essential parameters readily accessible via a large colour touch-screen on the front panel and control and networking facilities on the rear panel. But I am a bit wary of touch screens to be honest…

The Nexo NXAMPMK2 Class D amplifiers combine 32-bit/96KHz converters and 64-bit signal processing. The amplifiers integrate three new multi core DSPs providing a future-proofed hardware platform, equipped to host new algorithms and run next-generation firmware updates.

With a mains voltage range of 100 to 240 Volts it means the amplifiers can be used anywhere in the world and run on all types of power generators. Power supplies use PFC (Power Factor Correction) technology to ensure maximum power conversion efficiency and that the current drawn is smoothed and free of spikes. There are four analogue inputs and four digital inputs are also available through the rear panel expansion card slot offering optional AES/EBU, EtherSound™, Dante™ or AES67 inputs, all with automatic analogue fall-back. A native dual Ethernet card facilitates remote control and daisy-chaining of amplifiers, and integration with Nexo’s NeMo amplifier management software. In addition to the expansion card slot, other rear panel connectivity includes RS232 serial and GPIO ports along with Speakon outputs for each of the four channels. Occupying only 2U of rack space, the NXAMP4X2MK2 weighs in at just 16.1kg.

Not too bad. Would be interesting to find out how much it costs.

Car stereo for use as public-address radio source

I saw this in a Facebook post and I was thinking to myself that this is a great idea. Car stereos are built to withstand heat ( have you been inside a car when it has been in the hot sun?) and these things are also generally small in size. They pack a stereo radio (needs a 75 ohm co-axial connection) and a CD player and sometimes, in some models, a USB port is available so that you can play off USB. All you require is a 230V to 13.8v step-down transformer and you are in business. Something useful for me to do if I ever do PA installs.