R.I.P. ChahJee

I feel so sad. ChahJee died yesterday 5th July 2024 after been with my family for only 18 days. He died at around 1:35 P.M.. My wife and I was by his side.

Welcome ChahJee

Not too sure why but this mature cat has decided to call my house home. I tried to chase him away but he just refused to go. On the next day, he was still loitering around in the backyard. But on the third day, he got all friendly, brushing himself against and bonding with me.

So, welcome cat, welcome to my home.

R.I.P. - Chahchee

Name: Chahchee

Date Of Birth: Sometime begining December 2023

Date And Time Of Death: 13th June 2024 6:00 P.M. (after short illness since 3rd June 2024)

Cause of death: Unknown

Age: 6 months+

Thank you Chahchee for coming into my life. If only we could have spent more fun and time together. 6 months is just too short.

Focus Bracketing With Olympus EPL-9 And Nisi 58mm Close-up Filter

Greater depth of field. That's what I want for my macro pictures.

So, focus bracketing with a close-up filter attached was one of the first thing that I tried when I first got my Olympus Pen EPL-9 camera and Olympus M.Zuiko ED 40 - 150mm R zoom lens. Tried a few takes and I was disappointed. The results that I got then was unimpressive. I was confused and I wrongly assumed then that the close-up filter combination with the zoom lens doesn't work. How wrong was I. It does works, albeit with some limitations.

The focal length must be between 40mm and 80mm, and ideally, the subject should be at least 25mm across in size. Beyond the 80mm focal length or if the subject is too small (like a lady bug that is 5mm across), the pictures will be unimpressive.

I haven't tried but with a Raynox DCR-250, the focal length range should be less because of its higher magnification capabilities. Maybe between 40mm to 70mm. Again, I haven't tried.

I stumbled upon this find accidentally earlier this month. Not sure why but when I saw this colpacampsomeris indica wasp (thanks to bob296 at iNaturalist for identification) resting on a leave in the cool 8 A.M. morning air, I turned the dial on the camera to AP mode, selected Focus Bracketing, and I clicked away. And the outcome (after much editing because it was shot handheld) was this:

Sorry for the Dreamstime watermark. The picture was too good to not submit it as a stock photo. For a closer look of this picture at Dreamstime, click here. And oh yeah, I wasn't stung by this wasp.

Nest In A Tree Branch

This is the first time I am seeing this. A bird nest in a tree branch. My, the bird is not even a woodpecker but a Coppersmith barbet instead. The old tree where the nest is sits on my neighbour's property. The place is quite tranquil, now a home-stay with not much human activity. Probably, this is what attracted the mother bird to this place.

My Nisi 58mm Close-up Filter

Well, things does not always go according to planned as we all know.

A couple of months ago, I had the intention of getting a budget macro lens; the ones that are made in China. I've narrowed down my choice to either a TTArtisan or an 7Artisans.

Guess what. I bought a Nisi 58mm close-up lens (NOTE: a Lazada Malaysia affiliate link) (Also available on Amazon.com - Note: an Amazon affiliate link) instead in the end.

The deciding factor: the ability to auto-focus when shooting macro. I already own a Raynox DCR-250 (a +8 dioptre lens), by the way. But I felt that I needed the extra working distance than a +8 dioptre close-up lens offers.

Yes I know what they say about most macro photographers where they focus exclusively in manual. But I am just not that confident with my manual focusing abilities. With stock photography, where my macro pictures will end up eventually, sharpness at the point of focus matters. And when you miss your opportunity, there may not be second chance. Hence, my decision with the Nisi over a manual macro lens.

Resynthesizer's Heal Selection In Gimp Under Linux Mint 21.2

Installing the plug-in Resynthesizer in Gimp 2.10.30 running in Linux Mint 21.2 is not as straight forward as it seems. The root of the problem, it seems, is that Resynthesizer requires Python 2. However, Python 2 has been dropped on Linux Mint 21.2 in favour of Python 3. But luckily there is a work-around thanks to some very clever people on the Internet.

Anyway, this is how I got Resynthesizer (and thus Heal Selection) working on Linux Mint 21.2 for Gimp 2.10.30, as of 21st February 2024.

1. Install Gimp via Linux Mint's "Software Manager".

2. Download and install Resynthesizer executable into the local gimp plug-in directory (usually ~/.config/GIMP/2.10/plug-ins)
   
   (description can be found in this forum thread https://www.gimp-forum.net/Thread-Gimp-2-10-Resynthesizer-Linux?pid=11261#pid11261)
   
   The rest of the Resynthesizer Python scripts can be found in the folder PluginScripts at github.
   
   Make sure all downloads are executable (via the command line, I use the "chmod 664").
   
   I could have compiled the Resynthesizer executable myself, but I didn't.
   

3. Download and install 'gimp-python2-overlay-launcher-ubuntu22.04.AppImage' (a 27.2 MB download)
   
   In the description (scroll down to the 25 Apr 22:22 announcement) it says:
   
   "These AppImages launch a system installed Gimp and add Python2.7.18 and MathMap. This solution loads Gimp without changing the operating system. They are intended for current systems @ June 2022"
   
   

4. Test your setup by launching the downloaded Gimp launcher AppImage from 3. It works for me.

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Buy refurbished computers from Amazon.com

(Note: An Amazon.com affiliate link)

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Commode Chair Seat Replacement

I bought this commode chair seat as a spare back in June 2023 from China. It is only last week that I started using it by replacing the old cracked one on my mother's commode chair. After a week I have heard no complains from my mum. So I suppose the quality of this seat is acceptable so far. Installation is easy as it is just a matter of pulling off the old one and then just popping in the new. Quality wise, it is as good as the old one but hopefully better. Time will tell. They come in two colours - white and gray - but I chose the gray one as can be seen in the picture above.

New Door Closer

Perhaps it is already too old. Perhaps it couldn't withstand being opened up to 120°, sometimes up to 5 times per day. My DIY door closer quick and dirty repair only lasted 9 months. I had a final look at it and concluded that it is really beyond repair this time. There is nothing more that I can do to revive it. The only thing I could do now is to get a new one.

So, I went online and bought a new one from Lazada Malaysia. Looks nothing like the old one but it is functional. Installation is easy. It is just a matter of drilling the necessary holes on the door frame and later attaching it with the provided screws. Tension on the new door closer is adjustable (hex key is included in the package) but I find this unnecessary.

New PSU For My Lenovo Thinkcentre m70e

Now that I know the offending component is the power supply unit (PSU), now to go out hunting for one.