Southampton – 2 vs Manchester United – 3

I was looking forward to this match against Southampton. I knew for a fact that Southampton are no pushovers. Plus, their captain Ward-Prowse was known to be deadly taker of free-kicks in the post-Beckham era. So in my mind, I was imploring that we do not give away any free-kicks. The first half started pretty well with United coming close to scoring a couple of times. But that was due to change soon. Southampton started putting on the pressure and sure enough, they looked in control after Jan Bednarek headed in James Ward-Prowse’s corner in the 23rd minute. Damn I told myself. Fight back! Focus! But then it happened. Fred clumsily brought down one of their players. Who steps up to take that free-kick? None other than Ward-Prowse. I was dreading what would happen and I was not wrong. Ward-Prowse beat De Gea in the 33rd minute with that curling free kick.  By that time I was pissed off. The first goal, that was unavoidable. But the second was totally avoidable if Fred had not given them the opportunity. Ole did warn them against giving out free-kicks, especially if Ward-Prowse was taking them. But that was not the end of it. De Gea clattered into the post trying to keep out Ward-Prowse’s 33rd minute free kick and was replaced by Dean Henderson at halftime. But that was not all. Another lethal change came at half time. Cavani came on for Mason Greenwood.

In the second-half, United were much sharper and Cavani showed his quality to pick out Bruno Fernandes in space to score on the hour. The score was then Southampton – 2, Manchester United – 1. But it was not good enough. We had to win. Then Bruno did it. Cavani scored with a diving header off a Fernandes shot. I was elated! the score was tied at 2 – 2! I thought that would be it but there was more. In injury-time, Marcus Rashford crossed a ball to Cavani who once again headed in to claim a win for Manchester United.

What a comeback! What a match! Never write off Manchester United! Glory Glory!

j5create HDMI to VGA adapter

One of my clients has a board room with VGA connectors. I can almost hear all of you now, saying that what is your client doing with obsolete technology? I will say this for the record…their VGA system is working just fine. It is just that laptops nowadays do not come with VGA ports anymore. So in order to use that boardroom, they will require these adapters. How about the audio part? Well, there is an audio jack behind it so for the price, you are getting an audio de-embedder. Pretty good if you ask me. j5create makes some of the best adaptors out there and these will work just fine.

Legendary soccer player Diego Maradona has passed away.

I had a shock when I read the news this morning about legendary soccer player Maradona passing away at the age of 60 from cardiac arrest. He had only turned 60 on October 30th and was released from hospital a couple of weeks ago following brain surgery. Admired and adored by many and vilified by some, there is no denying that he was one of the greatest soccer players around. Rest in peace Diego Armando Maradona. The soccer world mourns your loss.

Fake Apple iPad USB charger

I was rather pissed off when a client of mine called me up a couple of days back and said that the iPads that came with USB chargers that were fake. He said that they did not look anything like the original. So I went down to his office and checked them out. Sure enough…they were copies…and very good ones at that. Check out the picture above. The genuine Apple USB charger has a font colour that is a lighter shade than this one. I have to admit that this totally fooled me when I saw it at my client’s place. Looks like my procurement and sales are going to get a very stiff talking-to when I meet up with them. I This is totally unacceptable.

Another thing guys and gals. Some of the earlier iPad USB chargers do not have the Apple logo on them. So be careful and make sure that you buy USB chargers from reputable dealers. Do not use fake power adapters. They will spoil your equipment and are a fire hazard.

TP-Link Archer A10

Yesterday, at a client’s place, I saw that they were using this new TP-Link AC2600 Archer A10 wireless router, hooked up to their Soundcraft mixer. They did so because they wanted to control the mixer by remote, using an Apple iPad. When I tried the iPad from a distance away, I was impressed as to how far this router was able to throw the signal. So I decided to do a little research on the router and this is what I found.

According to TP-Link, This Archer A10 delivers dual-band Wi-Fi with speeds of up to 1733 Mbps on the 5 GHz band and 800 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band. Not only that, this router is equipped with three external antennas and one internal antenna for stronger and more reliable networks, according to them. It utilises beamforming technology which apparently concentrates the Wi-Fi signal towards your connected devices, providing better Wi-Fi range and network performance. I can attest to that. Connection from this router to the iPad was superb at great distances. Also, this router is equipped with MU-MIMO technology. What is that? Well, MU-MIMO (which stands for multi-user, multiple input, multiple output) was created to support environments where multiple users are trying to access a wireless network at the same time. So with this, this Archer A10 provides four simultaneous data streams, allowing all connected devices to enjoy speeds up to 4X faster than traditional routers.

So what do I think of it? To be honest, I like it. It costs on average about $150 dollars here in Singapore. It is a shame that I just bought an ASUS router for my home or else, I would definitely buy this!

Pioneer DDJ-FLX6 DJ controller

 

Pioneer released a new controller, the DDJ-FLX6. This bus-powered controller is the first one that can work on both RekordBox and Serato. According to Pioneer:

Captivate your audience with the DDJ-FLX6. Packing a host of brand-new features, this 4-channel unit makes it easy to hype up the audience, mix tracks from totally different musical genres, and spice up your sets with pro-sounding scratch effects.

So what is so great about this new DJ controller from Pioneer? Well, for starters, there are these big knobs on the top of the controller that have a blue ring of light around them. These knobs are the Merge-FX knobs. According to Pioneer, these new knobs “allow you to add drama to your sets and easily mix different styles of music. No matter what the BPM or key of the next track is, you can create an exciting transition whenever you want. Simply press the knob and turn it as fast or as slowly as you like to start building up the tension in the music.” Now this is something I do not need, especially since I play mostly disco and 80s music. And, I might add, I  really do not like DJs that use effects to mask their mixing. That echo thingy is very overused and after a while, really sounds bad. Imagine someone doing it every single time they transition from one mix to another. So no…I will not buy this controller for this feature alone.

Now this is one good plus-point. This baby comes with full-size jog wheels with a track position display. Each one features On Jog Display too, so you can keep an eye on the playhead position. Very useful and this is the first bus-powered controller have seen with platter like this. I am not too sure about those Numarks that were released a couple of months back. Are they bus-powered too? Also, these jog-wheels are touch sensitive like all their controllers and it just works.

Another feature on this controller is Sample Scratch. According to Pioneer: “Sample Scratch is a brand-new pad mode in rekordbox which enables you to choose sounds you’ve assigned to the sampler and load them onto the decks. So, when you want to create a live remix of a track, or simply add some texture to the music, you can scratch with your favorite sounds.” Apparently, since this controller was made for Serato and RekordBox, I wonder if these predominantly RekordBox features built into this controller can be used by Serato. Anyway, I rarely use samples when I mix my music but someone else may so it is a good addition.

Like I said earlier, this DJ controller has plug-and-play compatibility with RekordBox and Serato DJ Pro. And according to Pioneer: “With a built-in sound card and support for DJ Performance functions in rekordbox (equivalent to the Core plan) and Serato DJ Pro, all you need to do is connect the DDJ-FLX6 via USB cable to a laptop that’s running either software application and you can start DJing. You don’t need a paid subscription plan for either.” That means it unlocks Serato DJ Pro. Nice.

So what else does it have that makes this controller great? Well, for starters, it has a 4-channel mixer. For this price-point, that is great. And also, according to Pioneer: “The layout of the controls on the DDJ-FLX6 is similar to that on our club-standard CDJ + DJM setup, so you can perform intuitively. However, this DJ controller introduces a fresh look, with a high-quality dark-gray matte finish and redesigned jog wheels that will make your setup stand out.” I like it that it is all stealth. It has a plastic housing admittedly but this would be great as the house controller for small bars and clubs where DJs with RekordBox and Serato can connect to it to make it work.

So what do I think of it. I like it. I have a DDJ-SB3 now. It does the job well. But if I want to upgrade to a 4-channel DJ controller that will not break the bank, this looks good.

Solar sensor light

I bought a couple of these online after I saw that my neighbour had installed one of them on his front gate. I have to admit that these are pretty good and they will really help with scaring any intruders away. I installed one on my front gate and one at the rear of my house. They are not too expensive and they feel a little cheap (which they were) as they are made mainly of plastic. Worth every bit I paid for them

1938 Pontiac Coupe rebuilt

I love what this fella did to this car. He completely refurbished it and it loos like a killer restore. It is great that people like him saves all these beauties from the scrapheap. I love the attention-to-detail this fella puts in the rebuild…it just screams quality. I wish I could weld and restore like him.

Happy Deepavali 2020

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all my family and friends a very happy and meaningful Deepavali, the Festival Of Lights.

Extron MIX 301 three Channel Line Level Mixer

While stripping a client’s place of his old equipment, I happened to come across two of these Extron MIX 301 three-channel line-level mixers. According to Extron, The Extron MIX 301 Three Channel Audio Mixer combines three line level mono audio sources into a single line level mono output. It accepts balanced or unbalanced input signals, and provides a balanced or unbalanced output. The MIX 301 accommodates input sources with various impedances. Three recessed input gain controls on the front panel enable adjustment of mix levels from -80 dB to +20 dB. This will be very useful if I need to combine three inputs into one…like what I require for my Yamaha MG82cx mixer. There are 4 XLR inputs but after I use two for my stereo input from my DJ controller, use up one for my microphone, there is only one balanced input left to use. This is where this one will come in and I bet that it will work just fine. Plus its small size makes it very portable indeed!