Category: Experience Sharing

My friends at Facebook know that I have been working on this rather mammoth article on “Audio Compression for Beginners” for days.  The reasons why I am always so passionate towards sharing what I’ve learned are simply twofold – one is rather selfish and one is not.

1. Nearly all of us who use the Internet regularly use it to search for some information, opinions, or knowledge.  Most of the stuffs in the Internet are written by ordinary folks who do it as a hobby.  Since I’ve been at the beneficiary end for so long, it is only right to contribute whenever, whatever I can.  Besides, someone has to populate, right?
2. I believe that if I have already spent X number of hours to learn a new skill, spending an extra Y number of hours writing what I’ve learned and share with others forces me to internalize what I’ve absorbed and challenges me to question myself what I’ve learned.  Besides, I sincerely hope that my this website lasts longer than any paper notes and electronic files I have at hands so I can always refer to what I’ve learned.

So, why would anyone care about audio compression besides ooo’ing and aah’ing on my article that is equivalent to my 5 days worth of blog materials packed with over 30 diagrams including a hand drawn illustration that looks like a blueprint of some NASA secret weapons?

Well, it is a skill that helps to make your audio recording sounds professional.  Very much like what the airbrush does to all those photos of the models in the magazines, the gravy and garnish on your main course, and the make-up you wear before your big date.  You’ll need that for your Podcast, video editing, and music recording.  Why?  Because without audio compression, the sound appears to be thin and soft; because you want your home video to not only look but also sound like a Hollywood blockbuster; and because with a touch of technology, your band sounds much better than when you play live – pretty much like most of the bands in the world.

And perhaps you are just curious and wondering what I have been obsessing with these days.  Go on.  Just click it.

Continue to read: Audio Compression for Beginners: Setting Compressor Threshold, Ratio, Knee, Attack, Release, and More.

I literally have to wrest the recipe of this simple healthy tasting home cooked bee hoon (i.e. rice vermicelli) from Cynthia in order to have it published in my site.  She is just not comfortable with the limelight, which I reassured her that not many people visit my site anyway.  Perhaps I should re-brand my site as: where I’ll go all the way to get things that you want to read.  Except, I don’t really know what you want to read.

To be fair, this bee hoon recipe does belong to my family’s treasure box, a well-kept secret of the Wong’s family.  One fine year, my mother visited my home and like how the kung fu master finds his disciples, my mother taught Cynthia how to make some of my favorite dishes that I don’t seem to have the talent to learn.  What is amazing is that my mother speaks in Cantonese (that Cynthia doesn’t understand) and Cynthia transcripts in Bahasa Indonesia (that I don’t understand).  Maybe cooking recipes transcend languages.  Maybe all one needs is the patience to record.

Armed with my camera, here is my attempt to record how this dish is made.  From left to right, top to bottom …

1. Cynthia’s secret cookbook with my mother’s well-kept recipes written in Bahasa Indonesia that I can’t comprehend.
2. Chop the pork into bite size.  For the Muslim readers, feel free to use chicken instead.  For the vegetarian readers, I wonder if replacing fried bean curd yields the same result.
3. Marinate the meat with the usual ingredients (soy source, sugar, salt, and corn flour).  There is no scientific rule in how much ingredients to add to the meat.  Marination is an art and I usually go with the feel.  If the meat turns out to be too salty, add less soy source and salt next time and vice versa. Pay attention to the distinct taste of each ingredient and adjust accordingly.
4. Smash the dry scallop into pieces using a chopper.
5. Boil the dry scallop with the right amount of water as that will be your soup base.
6. Wash the vegetable of your choice.
7. When your soup base is boiling, throw in the marinated meat.  There is no need to add salt or whatsoever at this stage.
8. Meanwhile, prepare another pan of hot water to cook the bee hoon (or rice vermicelli).  Upon my request, Cynthia used the Japanese thin flat noodle instead.  Somehow I prefer that to bee hoon.
9. When the been hoon is cooked, run it under cold water to rinse away the extra starch that may cloud your soup.
10. Throw in the vegetable after the dry scallop becomes soft to the mouth (usually about half an hour or more).
11. Divide the bee hoon.
12. Pour the soup onto the bee hoon!

I like the way this dish is cooked because it tastes healthy – subtle and not too overwhelming.  The soup base has a distinct taste of meat, dry scallop, and vegetable.  You can always add a few drops of Maggi (Chinese seasoning source) if the taste is too healthy for you.  Alternatively, add a few pieces of abalone will definitely enhance the dish in a big way.

Note: The 1-800 number advertised is invalid.  Please don’t waste your money.

Am I the only one who is obsessed with importing my favorite music video clips into a portable device while keeping each track separate? I have been asking my circles of friends, from techno-geeks to don’t-ask-me-I-am-just-a-user, but no one can give me a satisfactory answer. So I have decided to try to find an answer myself, an answer that is safe and free-of-charge. Click here for a dedicated article on how I do it.

Now, with more and more portable devices that are capable to play video clips in an acceptable size and quality, watching your favorite video clips on the go is indeed a God sent reality. Imagine, you are squeezed into a train and your destination is just a few stops away. You don’t have your book or magazine with you and you are bored staring at a train full of bored people. Listening to music is just not good enough. What shall you do? Yes, take out your iPod, or MP3 Player, or wireless phone and watch your favorite video clips. Your boyfriend or girlfriend is late again and you have absolutely nothing better to do, what shall you do? That’s right, take out your portable device, watch a clip or two of your favorite homemade video, and be reminded why you still love that person despite the fact that he or she is yet again late. Or when you are stuck in a jam at CTE, cars are not moving and you car is on handbrake, what shall you do?

Okay, probably not for the last scenario but you get the drift.

I am surprised that none of the mainstream software application allows ripping of DVD tracks into a portable format with a click of a button. We can rip audio track into MP3 format. Why can’t we do the same for the DVD that comes with the CD that I own? There are software applications out there that may do the job with just a click. Most of them are on trial version and not free-of-charge. I also have had bad experience installing and un-installing these third party software (even for that famous video converter for iPod) ended up with system corruption here and there. Finally, not many out there have the feature of allowing you to rip your DVD track-by-track much like the audio CD. Usually the end result is one huge video file that takes up too much space in your precious portable device.

So, are you ready to read more?

Disclaimer: My criteria may be different from yours.  If you are happy with installing trial or full versions of third party software, please continue to do so. I also prefer the total flexibility of extracting any part of the video that I want.