Photography

I grew up with photography as a hobby because it was a household hobby among the boys. As time passed by, photography became an expensive hobby and  I downgraded from SLr to a sub-professional camera. Over time, the quality of the handphone's camera improved tremendously as it became imensely popular and one could do away with the bulkiness of the optical camera and its accessory. Furthermore, I realized as for me, the largest image I was ever going to need for my hobby was the size of my 19" desktop monito. Here, a high end smartphone was could deliver that in exceptionally good quality. Desktop editing and even handphone app editing advanced so much that I have long said goodbye to SLRs.

Assessing exhaust finish options

I sandpapered the stainless pipe with No.600 sandpaper to see the effect of a brush chrome exhaust pipe. For one, it's slippery smooth to touch and there won't be any fingerprints to see. There is less maintenance with this option. However, I am monitoring to see how long the pipe can maintain its brush chrome brilliance without polish. I need to get an second opinion later from the exhaust fabricator whether the quality of the stainless steel pipe used makes a difference, failing which, I may opt for a black mandrel pipe or fully stainless steel; a tussle between cost and least maintenance.

All about Raptors

I initially thought a Raptor was a specific bird specie but when I did a Google search, I found out from this interesting site that

"The word raptor is derived from the Latin word "rapere," which means to seize. Raptors are birds of prey that feed on live captured prey or on carrion. Typically, birds of prey have to kill things to make a living! Raptors may be diurnal, meaning they feed during the daytime, or nocturnal, meaning they feed at nighttime. Raptors have three characteristics setting them apart from all other birds:

• Strong grasping feet with sharp talons used to seize prey
• A hook-beak used to kill and rip apart prey
• Predators with a diet that consists entirely of meat

Raptors are predatory animals and are often on top of the food chain in most places where they live. Thus, raptors are bellwethers of ecosystem health. If through close study we see that raptors in the wild are threatened, then we must conclude that other animals in that ecosystem are also at risk. For this reason, the study of raptors in the wild and in captivity is like a window into the lives of all living things in our environment."

One learns something new everyday.