PC Building Thoughts 2020

Prior to rebuilding my PC with new parts, my custom PC was assembled in 2007.

For a system to run a Core 2 Quad for 10 years, I have to give kudos to the manufacturers and my local and now defunct parts store for assembling. At the time, all PC’s were all just behind opaque cases and kept aside. Now custom built PC’s look more like gawdy, over the top cars with accent lighting and radiators. I’m old school. It runs, it is efficient, it doesn’t give up. Though with the introduction of new technology I feel more confident that systems get more powerful but will still lack in many ways.

When I built my PC in 2007, liquid cooling was more of those people who want to experiment with mineral oil, distilled water and nitrogen. Now all-in-one liquid cooling is common and custom liquid loops are an amateur’s reality. But for me, I’m tried and true with the air coolers. A heat sink strapped onto of a CPU with a fan cooling the entire thing. Simple as possible, very few parts to worry and it works in a lot of conditions. AIO coolers to me is still fairly new despite maturing in the last 8 years or so. A closed loop with liquid, a pump and a radiator. The only problem I see is quality, how reliable is that pump? How much will the radiator can wick? Biggest question since there is liquid involved, will it leak? Leaks can total an entire system by shorting out. That’s as I understand, which means I could lose hundreds of dollars on a system. While air cooling is cheap and does the same job with less parts. Living in Canada, the heat here isn’t so bad and water cooling is only if you want to push every single amount of performance to to the point where you are willing to void a warranty or two to get it. Which isn’t that smart especially living on a budget. This computer is the only computer I have to play games and do most of my work on. My laptop is used for portable work things when I can but I don’t use it as an everyday device to get the job done because I can’t game on a laptop.

Storage solutions now are pretty amazing. They’re fast and massive. My first PC before going custom was 40 GB in hard drive storage. My first custom at the start was 500 GB. Now there are drives a tenth of the size that carry 500 GB and can boot up in 10-30 seconds rather than 30-60 seconds. They’re about the same price as I bought my 500 GB hard drive but these solid state drives are more resilient to magnetic disturbance. If I put a magnet to my hard drive, my hard drive will probably no longer exist. Though the implementation of SSD’s, we not have more use for onboard memory. Which is a neat concept to have a compact storage drive integrated to the motherboard. However I still prefer have an accessible part to swap. When the day manufacturers make an SSD bay that’s like a hard drive, it would be revolutionary to me. Now a hard drive bay that can be disassembled and replace each SSD and plug it back in as one hard drive. For now, they’re provided as an integrated circuit or a box traditionally like a hard drive. Not much in between unless you get into third party and custom boards. I have a drive slot on my motherboard but it’s underneath a CPU cooler and a graphics card and I’m not fond of poking around these parts to install a drive. Unless they put the integrated slot to a port of the board that’s unused for anything or have it as a drive bay!

Boards, especially motherboards, aren’t growing into the enthusiast role as they were before. They were standardize to meet with cards and cases. But what I’ve found is graphics cards are outgrowing the space they sit in, taking up 2 and 3 slots at time. Meaning if I want accessories on my back panel, I cannot use the PCI slot because the cooling unit on the GPU would block that slot. Though I have a mATX in a ATX case, I have 2 slots but only one is populated by my graphics. My case is old so I can’t just side-mount anything and the space between the connector and the cooler won’t fit risers or extenders. So one of my slots will forever be unpopulated so long as I use a graphics card. For the cost of the motherboard, it’s not worth it unless it’s purely all gaming on this tiny board. So either graphics cards needs to be slimmed down for their performance or motherboards need to predominately build cheaply to the ATX case format if you want more accessories. But in my configuration, I could get a smaller case but I don’t due to cost.

I’m stuck in my old ways but the old ways still work. PC building has gotten easier and less can fail. Anyone can build a PC nowadays with a little know-how and a YouTube video to watch about it. But sometimes hardware limitations still gripe me because of the lack of design or compatibility which feels like we’re going back than going forward.

Viral Benefits

The cases are piling up and it seems like there isn’t much stopping. National news here says this might last for a few months before we’re over the hill with this virus. Constrictions in activities and movement of people have taken a toll on the economy. However looking on the light side, there has been a few benefits.

Working on the daily does take a toll on everyone. As introverted as you may be, you would agree having time alone to do your own thing does help benefit people mentally. Spending time with family, friends and pets is definitely something everyone looks forward to, why not make a full time commitment?

At the same time, this is an amazing opportunity to learn new hobbies and ideas. We live in an extraordinary time until the Spanish Flu. We’re still very interconnected electronically that we can gain knowledge of what’s going on in the world in seconds instead of weeks or month. I learned everything I can by myself about photography, but I have been thinking I could learn it a bit more semi-formally.

Along side with that, I’ve always wanted to learn a bit of electronics. This might be a bit more difficult since I would have to invest into hand tools like soldering iron, pliers and drivers. That doesn’t even include materials.

I could reteach myself into editing HTML. I learned a bit of HTML in high school a decade ago. I’ll definitely get back to you on that one.

A couple years ago, Canada legalized marijuana as a recreational drug. Since then, there has been a huge boom in sales and brick-and-mortar shops. Even chains are starting to pop up all over the place!

With that, there are more people beginning to smoke very openly. I have nothing wrong with people enjoying themselves. The problem I have is the smoke expelled from the burning herb. Since the start of legalization, I’ve been having a lot of headaches more than usual. About four a month coming from a guy who use to have occasional headaches less than five per year. Some of them are worse than others where I couldn’t feel too comfortable. The pot shops are still open, however I’ve seen less and less people hanging around there. The last week or so, I’ve had no headaches and it feels nice.

There are still a lot of people walking around despite people are suppose to be self-isolating, the amount of cars have reduced by a lot. I could jaywalk downtown without much worry about getting hit by a car. Occasionally there will be traffic jams, but with everyone staying home it has made the city a bit more liveable. And a lovely side effect of less cars is better air quality! Living in the west, there is more of a conscious about the environment but having this virus has contributed fresh air without the smell of rubber and gasoline.

Masks and cleaning

This post will probably make people lose their minds, especially during this pandemic. I’m stilling heading outside, trying my best to not let all this bell ringing fear keep me inside. Besides the Monday rain, I’ve been outside for at least 4 hours every day. I need to feel not like a prisoner in my own home. At the same time, I don’t do much to antagonize my chances of surviving despite them improving by staying indoor.

“Social distancing”, now called “physical distancing”, might sound something complicated though honestly anyone who’s in their 20’s and early 30’s have endured this. You might now know it is “binging”, you sit at home away from contact from anyone and watch TV or play video games. I’ve done this many times and in the past, I’ve gone months without setting foot outside unnecessarily. Before I had a prescription, video games was my life. It ruined me pretty bad where it took me longer to graduate high school and set my life back permanently. Agreed I should stay inside and join everyone being stuck indoors and wait out, but there are still things I don’t dare admit about my home life which disturbs people. Those facts about my life I keep to myself are enough reason to choose going out than staying in. Living in the city, staying two metres away from someone is uncommon. Though usually anyone can agree your personal space is within arm’s reach. Even walking down the street I try and keep a distance from people around me since in the city, there are people that can just easily get you sick because they’re constantly exposed to diseases.

However this what annoys me a lot and why I titled my post about this, cleanliness. I don’t have a problem for being cautious and taking precautions, I for one do my best on the daily to clean my hands before and after I eat since I don’t want foreign germs and matter going into my body. I work in an industrial atmosphere where lubricants and solvents are either toxic, poisonous or cancerous upon ingestion. So the use of soap, water and heavy rubbing is a must. At times, water and soap is unavailable especially now when restaurants are restricted to take-out and delivery here. For this we have a modern solution, hand sanitizer. Though alcohol based, it does get a bit harmful for your skin if you use too much of it. I don’t like using it because it doesn’t make a good substitute to proper hand washing. Why pay for an inferior product when you can have a cheaper and highly effective solution? I’m not turning people away from hand sanitizer but it’s a poor solution for lazy people who refuse to learn to wash their filthy paws.

I think at the same time when hand sanitizers showed up on the scene around 2004, there were more and more people wearing surgical masks. It become a bit of a fashion trend in a lot of Asian countries and it seems to be re-surging and being part of western society as well. If you have hoarded or bought masks during this crisis, I feel so sorry for you since you sort of been peer pressured to do it. To clear up what each mask does, here’s the short explanation from my knowledge:

Surgical Masks are commonly used in hospitals to prevents people coming in contact to your cough or sneeze. Does protect you a bit but won’t stop anything aerosol or airborne. Wearing one to stop a virus is equal to using paper to stop a bullet.
Dust Masks are for vapours and particulate. Though it does firmly seal around the nose and mouth, it’s as effective as a surgical mask against an airborne virus. It doesn’t. Though if you hoarded a bunch of these, good time to learn to graffiti paint or take up carpentry.
Respirators are any mask with a filter. These are especially great when you’re constantly in a space with heavy aerosol or particles in the air. Does it protect against a virus, some but not all. Viruses are really small and these do well with prevention especially with 95% of particles that are of a particular size.

But the biggest kicker is this, none of these will stop you from getting sick. They’re all prevention tools to reduce your chances, but absolute protection is unlikely if you are already exposed. So hand washing, using hand sanitizer and being decked out like a hospital worker might reduce your chances greatly, if one gets in and survives then it’s kind of moot to be protected. The best we can do with absolute success is working together.

At this very moment, some really smart folks are figuring out this virus and creating a vaccine against it. For them, I urge people to not hoard equipment so these people have the right stuff to keep us all alive. Then there are the people trying to keep those people keeping us all alive, let them do their job. If they don’t do their job, then that’s one more thing you can hang over them when election day comes.

The best we can do is just remember what our parents taught us. Hand washing and keeping as clean as humanly possible. And absolutely not feed into the fear and panic. Keep calm and carry on.

Outdated Tech Laws

I’ve definitely mentioned it in a blog before but it has been really in my mind consider that technology has outpaced us. Civilly, we were never prepared here in the Great White North. Airsoft has been around since the 50’s and 60’s but no laws have been properly applied until of late. Crowd-source industries have surged through without much regulation and has tested classifications and definitions in law. Photography and drone flight have particular pricked the public interest of where it’s considering right and wrong.

I haven’t played airsoft in awhile but it doesn’t mean from time to time I receive news about the goings-on in the community at large. When the government decided to apply laws that are equal to paintball, it was slowly declining in interest. Due to the draconian enforcement on importation and carry laws. It doesn’t mean people still don’t care, in fact have these items classified as equipment of a sport but further to label them as replicas applies implicit ways to handle them in use and storage. Which I think is great since it would encourage not only honourable sporting practice but a good introduction to proper firearm handling for anyone who was interested to own their own gun.

Most recently crowd-sourcing has been a big issue in my city. The fact the roads and homes are being fully maximized to profit pulls away from the human component. My city has a big issue with homelessness, cost of living and a heavy reliance on external investment to build more housing. More I think about it, we put ourselves into a cyclic system that has destroyed the downtown core. Up to the end of the 20th century, the “downtown” was always the economic and financial hub of the city. People go in there to make money or spend it. Though recently with more people wanting to live and work close, condos have been rising all over the place. Not only that they want to travel conveniently and live cheaply. On top of that, the city does enjoy money that they want it from anywhere. Foreign investment into building these units to fill that demand without little or no feedback from the companies involved and responsible for these buildings. In the last 15 years, there have been sporadic reports that even these aging condo units are falling apart. Not only that but it raises taxes of the local area which forces business out and for them to stay in business, they have to increase prices to cover costs. Who buys these stuff? Off course the people who live close. Luckily the bubble is slowly bursting here because condos are about expensive as owning a house in certain places. However this doesn’t stop subleasing to others not named in their lease contracts. When you rent, you agree that you are the sole occupant of that space and if there isn’t a clause or proper enforcement, people are going to sublet their units for temporary renters which borrow the space for a few days. As a result sometimes, these people might not follow the rules and cause trouble. In the city this can invite some bad people to influence the neighbourhood. In my city, shootings, homicides and noise complaints have been the prime push for controlling these sub-leases. But it doesn’t change much because people want to make money to cover costs and if they have the money to buy property, then nothing will stop them to buy it. This goes specially towards foreign investors and non-residents.

Besides not letting strangers into your house, a lot of people never learned the lesson of entering a stranger’s car. Most apps now define their drivers as “private contractors” or “private operators” which can be a slippery slope since it offers the driver a lot of freedom of how they operate. Since they’re private means they’re not necessarily employed by the company so it absolves them from responsibilities of their drivers. So if a customer complains about a certain driver, the company can quite literally don’t have to do anything. As much as they will remove drivers off the app, it could be just as easy to do very little if the government doesn’t personally responsible. It’s kind of embarrassing too when I see taxi drivers operate their vehicles more responsibly than some of these drivers that are so heavily dependent on GPS to get them from point-to-point. This is why I refuse to get those apps, I know my cabbie can get there for cheap as well. Cabs don’t surge price so when you get in, you already agreed to a fixed fee. Meanwhile 5 kilomentres and 5 kilometres with the surge price can be a big difference. So keep your bottle water and candy, I rather hop into a cab with someone who knows the city on the back of his hand. Perhaps the only time a private car may be worth it is going intercity since anecdotal accounts from people close to me say it’s cheaper. Go figure.

A bit of a hobby and interest is drones and photography. Not going to lie, I have one sitting on my shelf in case I want to fly it and I might want to trade it for one with a camera on a gimbal. Also I own a couple cameras, because a good hobby is one that interests you and for it going 3 years strong; I think it’s officially love. Recently though, mirrorless systems are about to close the gap with cellphones since MILC’s (Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras) are just as powerful in resolution and the ability to capture light. Despite the price, in 5 years these camera bodies would be equally priced to a new phone. I’ve seen what a lot of full-frame MILC’s can do and it’s absolutely beautiful. I’m still holding out for DSLR but the advantage of an electronic shutter is immense especially capturing things faster than 1/10000 of a second. However back when laws were placed on cameras in regards to a person’s privacy, they were meant for bulky cameras like SLR which applies to most cameras. With smartphones and everyone owning a device with a camera, it’s quite impossible to stop someone from taking a photo. I’ve been caught more times than probably someone in the same space for taking a photo on their phone. It’s quite obvious what I’m done with a camera but I’m the one called out for it. This is not much for governments to enforce these laws but to the security firms that maintain buildings. Definitely property owners can consent to photographs but for the most time a lot of people take a quick photo of a building and move on. Why can’t I do the same, guys? Honestly if you place art installations or decorate to appeal to the eye, no doubt you will have looks and a couple photos. Drones are in their own ballpark but photography does get involved however. I love these things, it’s always nice to see things from a different perspective however as much as privacy is concerned, these lens are pretty garbage. Now only if I can mount my DSLR on a drone, that would be the dream. The big issue here is safety. I haven’t seen it myself since I know there is a FPV drone community that sometimes loves to race. But if it’s anything like airsoft, most of them are responsible folks – which I guess why I don’t see them a lot. Though some people love to push the limit, either by ignorance or sheer daring. Ignorance is forgivable though if someone is in danger, it can’t be overlooked. As a human being, you have the ability to have empathy (unless you’re psychopathic, that’s another discussion). If you can’t think about what you’re doing and what it results for others, then you’re not a human being. What goes up, must come down. It annoys me when the government has to dumb down to get people to live sensibly with others. Next thing you know, bike licenses are re-instituted (it happened in my city a long time ago), you have to carry registration for pets and then how much father until we have to have a certificate that allows us to leave our houses.

The biggest takeaway from this is just consider about others and the whole.

Many Little Rants

I’ve been busy and I’ve kind of been a bit burnt out from work and life. But it doesn’t mean I haven’t been letting the world drift by me. The world is a weird place, here’s my thoughts on that.

Bags vs Women

If you live in a big city, especially in North America, you probably have a subway system of some sort. If they’re run by human beings, there might be some etiquette when using public transit. Examples from my local transit; don’t put your feet on the seat, no baby carriages and dogs on the trains during rush hour (with exceptions), and don’t play music loudly. A lot of people surprising are polite enough to understand and follow some of these. However there is one rule not a lot do follow. Since the inception of the subway system here, baggage has been a bit of an issue. Common solution is to remove your backpack or bag and place it on your lap when sitting, have it on your side or between your legs while standing. Some people are pretty hopeless when it comes to this. As a cis male, I will probably never understand fully why but I notice that during rush hour there are a lot of women with handbag slung over their shoulders. If it was a small bag, it’s understandable since it’s a small thing you can rest under your arm. However I’ve seen handbag as large as school bag and it’s quite annoying trying to wade into a crowded subway car just to be bashed around by a bag that someone isn’t willing to securely hold.

Honestly ladies, either lighten the load or at least have a separate bag for accessories. If you don’t like me strapped in with my camera bag, then I’m not definitely okay with your bag kidney punching me every time the train stops.

Automated Cashiers

A few years ago, you wouldn’t have really seen an automated cashier. There would be a human scanning your items and asking if you want to rewards card. Now it seems every large store has an automated cashier or 6 of them to cut down the waiting time. It’s great that there are machines that can do what a minimum wage worker can do but there is just something cold about using a machine like that.

Surely if the line is long for the one human cashier, I’ll definitely pick a machine in waiting. Though it’s very odd to really see a place once full of cashiers to now just one or two with a small crew of machines laying around at the checkout. When empty, it’s weird to feel nice talking to a human being about my order. Yet after all this time, these machines make any interaction with a human being be slower.

Perhaps in the end, customer service may have to come down with being able to hold onto a conversation if you don’t want want to be replaced by a machine. Considering most machines are replacing the customer service end where you just close the sale. With my time in retail, it’s kind of dull to scan and ring up the customer. However if you are sociable you can actually make this more comforting and interactive.

So if you are a cashier out there, time is limited but you can make someone’s day by talking to them. Perhaps that one chat can stop you from losing your job.

Public Areas

From time to time, I like to try attend public events to take some natural street photos of people. I’m usually shy when it comes to approaching people. Something I’m still working on it.

The last couple events going on in the city have been pretty exciting but at the same time were really packed. Being squeezed in with a camera half the size of my head isn’t how I like to try to take photos. Especially when people are holding their cellphones up in the air. Also having sunset be earlier in the day doesn’t help but does provide a challenge to take photos at night.

It just seems weird that there are so many events out there that haven’t really adapted well to the modern tech. More people are just wanting to show off but no one has the courtesy to allow others to experience it. Which also gets me to my next problem, people who keep standing in the same place and pose for minutes on end.

You already took your ugly selfie that you are already posting. Why are you there on your phone for 10 straight minutes trying to get the same photo when already have a photo. The worst is people who take a photo and stand in the same spot. You think this is innocuous but time is everything. While you stand there, other people may want to take in the view from that vantage point.

Luckily for some of us, we don’t have time for that so in the end some of the best photos are the ones you point the time in to find the place.

In Defence of Drone Operators

This is for the drone operators and future operators in Canada.

Couple weeks ago, I came across an article about the drone operator who flew over the Toronto Raptors championship parade.

In short the facts: Drone operator fined just under $3000 CAD for flying a drone in a crowded public space. Transport Canada, the authority in charge of airspace for planes, helicopters and now RC quadcopters, is enforcing new laws in place as of July 1, 2019.

I personally own a drone, flew it a few times in my room and in an empty parking lot and limited to 10 metres. I have handled it dangerously physically and legally. With these new laws, it’s understandable for the concern especially with larger drones which have more mass which can hurt someone if it was in free fall. At the same time the laws can be a bit unreasonable in terms of bookkeeping for hobbyists as well as having certain conditions met before flight. Going through a small course is a good idea to understand what it takes to keep Canadian airspace safe, but making it mandatory as a hobby is a bit too much. Though the law is a bit flexible in terms which certification who need to fly. You can do almost anything for a basic certificate. Advanced seems ideal since you can do a lot more but geared for professionals. And of course anyone can apply for special permission.

The drone community has grown a lot since these flying machines are getting cheaper. Mine was about $129 while the most average around $500. The surge of people taking these things to weird places have yielded some spectacular aerial photos you can and cannot get in a plane. Though breathtaking, it has caused some grief and worry from interest groups. They’ve been shamed as voyeurs since drones can be used to spy on people. Though most place now have some drone laws this hobby stood up when traditional laws didn’t foresee technology to advance beyond what is governed. Almost like they operated in a grey zone, which is why I can relate to another community of enthusiasts.

Remember awhile back I was a bit gaga over airsoft. In Canada, airsoft has received less notoriety but still show up on the rare occasion. To fill you in airsoft is a sport where people shoot small plastic BB’s at low velocity at each other (Think paintball but less mess and smaller projectiles). Because the guns look real, they have been used for nefarious purposes and end up on the news. For a time people were angry that kids can acquire these things for cheap and even the government stepped in to amend the gun laws to include paintball and airsoft. Seeing the parallels? Not only the law is involved but I’ve seen the community grow a bit to where it was a self-policing body. For a sport about honour and integrity, it was noble of them to take care of each other in terms of campaigning their own on safety. Of course there are the outliers who don’t conform and stay on the fringe to enjoy airsoft in their own way but very rare.

Perhaps that’s the next step for the drone community. As much you want drones to be popular, having passionate folks spearhead the hobby in a safe and legal direction. I don’t think it has to go as far as carding member or restricting to an 18+ affair. But having people who put the best foot forward to teach newcomers about proper etiquette and safety. As laws are being made the grey zones where new technology and fringe hobbies, there will be a proper line of where everything should be. As much as politicians establish that line, it’s really up the people to figure out where they want that line.

Drone can be fun if everyone have a basic understanding of what is expected as an owner and operator. So my contribution for anyone who is starting out in Canada, here’s the link to the new laws and how it affects you.

The best I can say is what I know as an amateur photographer:

Be considerate of others.
Respect people’s wishes, regardless how they convey it.
Have empathy. If a stranger did that to you, how would you feel?
Be aware around you and take no unnecessary risks.

T6i & Canon Things

Awhile ago, I went to a local auction and purchased myself a used T6. For the longest time, I’ve been sitting on it in my drawer with a universal charger. The past couple months I’ve changed up and started using it. More for out of familiarity than for the photos, however this is growing on me.

There isn’t must difference between the the T5 and the T6i. But the convenience of some of the settings are a bit more obvious which helps with setting up the shot. After using the flip-tilt screen, I feel I can get better shots than I could with the viewfinder. But I still feel so comfy with the optical viewfinder. Since the first time I tried using the camera, I turned off the wi-fi feature where I have access to some of the camera functions on the phone. The turn off is I have to save things into JPEG to view on the phone. I’m a RAW format kind of guy, I like to have the flexibility to edit in post. As much as I aim for in-camera, nothing beats really tweaking the photo to match what I really see.

I think the T5 might have gotten me into photography but the T6i is definitely turning me into a gearhead. I’m starting to really dial in what I like; the articulated screen, ergonomics and the compatibility for a wireless shutter release. The hard thing to buy into is it burns through the battery a bit quick compared to my T5. I may never own a T7 which could be the last DSLR I could possibly own, but I’m pretty happy with the T6i.

Because I bought it a bit used and abused, I just have a few things that make me twitch. Through the viewfinder I can see a tiny crack or something and it makes me obsessed about it. Probably because of the lens changes, I feel it gets dirt in itself a bit easily. But it is inherent in any interchangeable lens system. Mitigation and not elimination to dirt and dust.

Some cool news though is Canon might be announcing the 90D, which is a bit of an enthusiast’s camera. From all the articles bouncing around, it sounds like something up my alley besides being a mirrorless body. I like looking through the viewfinder but I find it annoying to turn on the camera just to use the viewfinder. However they’re still offering newer and better cameras with the EF and EF-S lens mount. At first I liked the look of the EOS R and I might at some point look into getting one. Just to claim I have a full frame. I hate the idea of buying a camera to have to purchase an adapter to all my lenses from the same manufacturer. Like if I came across a Nikon body, then maybe an adapter for the my Canon lens. Though I might just sell my system which I won’t really do. I’m pretty happy with the Canon product line besides feeling I possess an obsolete lens mount. RF or EF? I still feel there is much life in the EF mount.

Pornography/Nude Photography?

I admit, I do look at nude photography on occasion. At the same time, I do look at porn like most of everyone else. As a person who appreciate great photography, I recently came across a photo on 500px with comments condoning the image as pornographic.

How can one image be lewd to another? In short, context (Blog post done, see ya next time!)

So what is this offending image? In words: a vagina. Too broad?

Okay in layman’s term, it’s a close up picture of a vagina with fingers which look like someone is masturbating.

As a bit of a shutterbug, I see it quite deeper. On the surface, it’s a woman masturbating and a close up of her vagina. But I also see the composition, the colours, the other elements which make the photo. At the same time, I see the same elements in other photos of men and women nude in other photos. I’ve seen photos of men posed with their penis and women with breasts out. And yes in these photos have subtle or exaggerated creative elements. The contrast of lighting, the use of space, the colour to attract the eye, leading lines and use natural and artificial shapes. Am I looking way too deep into the photo? Probably. Am I a pervert? Probably.

Yet in this lone photo that has triggered me to write this post, 3 people commented on this photo are crying out and I paraphrase.

“Very lewd, highly pornographic. Unsuitable for this site.”

“This isn’t what this website is about. No substance or meaning.”

“Disgusting.”

To me, these are also the thoughts in my mind when I see nudes. At the same time, I do see the value in the photo. Perhaps I have an open and expansive mind. I guess it’s why I hold my tongue to comment publicly on nude photography. Some see it as perversion while others see the artist capturing beauty in their own way.

Though I wouldn’t say all porn is artistic, I wouldn’t say all art is pornographic. It’s how you see it in your own mindset and in that sense, it’s not the artist that’s perverted.

It’s you.

Bikers, Cyclists, Pedestrians. Oh My!

The other day after I spent my time taking photos around the city, I decided to hop on a streetcar. Usually people don’t chat with the driver because their focus should be the road. However looking at the face of the driver, I felt this guy needed a change of pace. So what did we talk about?

Aside from photography which he was more versed than I would ever be with techniques principles and hardware, we got into talking traffic in the city. We swapped stories as vehicle operators and pedestrians, agreeing and disagreeing on a bunch of topics. The entitled cyclist and racing bikes and cars sprinting through the roads. Hearing from him, he mentioned he wants more warning especially for pedestrian crossing. However I quipped about the confusion about pedestrian crossings.

Here we have a countdown timer for pedestrians. As simplistic it sounds, the countdown was originally meant for the vehicle committing a right turn and to tell pedestrians to stop. Whoever planned and engineered these signs made it look like the lighting system makes you think you have a certain time to cross. I said to him the only way to stop pedestrians from dashing across is if all signs just told everyone to stop. A red light for cars and a solid hand for pedestrians. In lieu of a countdown, just a hidden timer until the next green light.

Sometimes a good idea just involves talking to people who have to live through those mistakes.

The city here is filled with literal and figurative signs of actions upon the infrastructure. Senior zones that cover just 2 city blocks, defunct or aging neighbour watch, unenforced school calming zones on 6 lane thoroughfares; there is no consistent idea what the city wants but works on the whims of those affected by them. In a chaotic system like traffic infrastructure, I would side with anyone who builds a logical and intuitive system of signage.

It Could Be Anyone

I’m terrible at keeping this thing updated. I’ve been kind of just going on my own thing and I was planning a week long trip. Unfortunately all best plans fall short, especially with me.

With the recent ongoing crisis in my city, I feel like the aftermath brings so much hate and ignorance. Three months, a van attack with 16 injured. A shooting involving two children. Another that killed two downtown. Now 13 injured and 2 dead with the shooter slain. To each, a reason why. To each, a victim undeserved.

Watching the news about the recent incident causing mass bodily harm, I realize not just the victims can be anyone. The man with the handgun, 29, mental health in question, deceased.

We all make choices in life, acting mostly to the obvious and some the obviously easy way out. Of all the things I try to spearhead, mental health is the strongest issue I try to push onto others to learn. Since ever I identified my own demons, I was given another option. With everything I’ve learned in my short life, there’s always another way to fix all your problems – a peaceful and mindful fix.

For me, I do my best to help others and capture the intricate moments with my camera. I always felt like an outsider and tried to be in. But I’ve accepted who I am and now I’m just working on being comfortable with myself.

As much as anyone can be a victim, anyone can be their own bad guy. However a good human being is the power within knowledge and understanding the world around you.