ERIC KIM

February 2022

  • INVEST IN YUCCA VALLEY

    They got a Starbucks and Vons supermarket. Good for Airbnb and Joshua Tree travelers or digital nomads. Also check out “Invisible House”.

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  • Double Slinger

    One Ricoh GR 3X in your right pocket, and an iPhone in your left pocket? Or a RICOH GRIII in your left pocket?

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  • JOSHUA TREE x RICOH GR IIIX

    Loving the RICOH GRIIIX and Joshua Tree. Highly recommend people from California (both Norcal and Socal) to visit for the weekend — just find a nice Airbnb. Very easy road trip!

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  • iPhone Pro for Photo Editing, Review and Processing

    iPhone Pro as efficient and effective for quickly important your photos from the SD card, and to quickly flag and choose your favorite photos. When looking through your photos as aspect ratio, click and hold the photo to favorite it. Like the old school contact sheet editing technique — small thumbnails:

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  • BE A PART OF THE WINNING TEAM

    In America there is a bias to root for the underdog. But I believe it’s actually better to be part of the winning team. For example, best to stick with Apple and iPhone than to use Android (the losing team). Or better to use Bitcoin instead of all the other “alt-coins” (losing team). Or better…

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  • iPhone Pro for Vlogging

    The front facing iPhone Pro camera for selfies is very great for vlogging. To vlog more, just use the iPhone front facing camera! The camera highlight protection is great, focuses insanely close, and even Kanye West said the iPhone microphone is the best microphone on earth. Similarly speaking, the front-facing (selfie) camera for the iPhone…

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  • APPLE WEBSITE SUGGESTION

    Why is the new Apple website so cluttered? Simple ideas: Get rid of these confusing links like ‘Store‘, ‘Only on Apple‘ (it should just say “Services” or “Subscribe”) and instead of ‘Tv & Home“, it should just be “TV”. Also the banner on top is unnecessary and ugly. Just get rid of it. Otherwise the…

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  • WHY ICONS ARE SO ESSENTIAL.

    A funny bias — I am very sensitive to icons. For example, I find the Google Maps icon as insanely ugly. I far prefer the Apple Maps icon, even though Google Maps is probably at least 1000x better than Apple Maps for real navigation. Like Steve Jobs said with the original iPhone … the icons…

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  • iPhone Camera Suggestions

    Some personal suggestions for the iPhone camera UI-UX, and ideas for the iPhone pro camera: The first idea is to simplify and integrate the different shooting modes better. Currently there are far too many options for shooting modes. For example, integrate the portrait mode into the direct camera mode. Also, either get rid or integrate…

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  • Exclusive is Good

    Nowadays it seems that the trend is towards “inclusivity“. But, it seems that exclusivity is actually a better approach. Why? When you try to placate to everybody in the mass market, you end up trending more towards mediocrity. To elevate, we must become more exclusive.

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  • iPhone Pro as an iPad Mini Mini?

    I’ve always been a big fan of the iPad, especially the iPad Pro. And truth be told, I really don’t like and hate the new iPhone Pro. However, maybe the best way to approach it is to not think of the iPhone pro as a phone, but simply as a really really small iPad.

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  • RICOH GR IIIX IS SURPRISINGLY GOOD.

    RICOH GR IIIx is surprisingly good; the more I use it, the more I review the photos, the more my mind is blown. Even sharper, higher resolution and detail than the GR III! I love how black the photos are. It seems the lens of the new RICOH GR IIIX has even more contrast than…

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  • EVERY DAY IS CARTE BLANCHE.

    Perhaps the best way to approach life– Treat every day as carte blanche, a new day, a new beginning … without memory of the past. No past prejudices. PODCAST

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  • SHINY AND GLARE IS BAD.

    Just got the new iPhone Pro in silver, and oh man … the glare from the side bezels are pretty bad. Perhaps just getting the graphite finish is superior, even though silver is better to refract heat.

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  • THE BEST RICOH GR III/RICOH GR IIIX TECHNICAL SETTINGS

    My personal favorite settings for Ricoh GR IIIx/RICOH GRIII: P (Program) mode Autofocus (default) AE Metering (auto exposure metering): Highlight-Weighted File: JPEG // Small JPEG (no RAW) Auto power off / Sleep mode: 30 minutes Volume: 0 Customize settings: Instant review (OFF) Grid style: 4×4 Grid Shooting info display: Just turn on the grid guide…

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  • Ricoh GR IIIX Review

    Dear friends, Finally had a chance to review the Ricoh GR IIIX. Check it out. The skinny is that the GR IIIx has superior optics and image quality over the GR III. Assuming you already have a GR III, just stick to it, and wait for the GR IV to come out. If you have…

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  • AUTOFOCUS OVER MANUAL FOCUS

    Autofocus is superior to manual focus. Why? Reasons: You are more likely to capture the decisive/significant moment. This is by far, our #1 priority in photography. In theory if you’re shooting street photography on a rangefinder camera, with a 28mm lens, at ISO 1600, at f/16, then technically the rangefinder is superior in terms of…

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  • 718 over 911

    If I had the option, I would prefer the Porsche 718 GT4 RS over even the Porsche 911 GT3. Why? More gangsta? I really love the new proportions and the color-scheme of the new 718 GT4 RS: The cement grey with the magnesium-blue wheels. The 911 is a bit boring. Also, I prefer the smaller…

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  • What *Should* a Phone Be?

    What do we want from our phones? First of all, I think a phone is not a camera. It shouldn’t be a camera. We should have a ‘standalone’ digital camera instead (Ricoh GR III/IIIx) Secondly the question is– Do you actually use your phone for phone calls, or only texting? A productivity hack I discovered…

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  • When Small is Clutch

    Something I’ve experienced at least 2-5 times in recent memory: When going to the mall, going somewhere, and the parking lot is full … there is only 1 open spot (miraculously), but the parking spot is insanely small, because one person in a big SUV/truck parked into a ‘compact’ spot next to it. Then in…

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  • REFINE.

    Our design ethos and goal– to refine. Refine our bodies (subtract and chisel away body fat), with design … to simplify, streamline, make thinner, and make the design more direct. With fonts… more refined. With design and clothing, more refined. Fewer flourishes and superfluous design elements; as insanely simple as possible. With cameras, to refine…

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  • NEVER STOP MOVING

    “Movement which inspires” — I forget where the tagline is from but it is an apt one. To *not* have your movement obstructed is the goal.

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  • BITCOIN & UNCERTAINTY

    In a world of uncertainty, Bitcoin is a good bet. Why? The other day I learned that my servers’ kid just got a job at In-N-Out Burger (starting pay is $20 USD an hour) — a simple hamburger joint in America. That was the same salary as my post-graduate UCLA undergraduate salary at a tech…

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  • BRUTALIST DESIGN.

    Something I’ve noticed with new Apple products (iPhone Pro, 14” MacBook Pro, etc) is this — The trend towards brutalist design. Things which are bigger, more powerful, more imposing, more bulky, more imposing, more powerful. A trend away from the Steve Jobs/Jony Ive vision of thinner, lighter, purer. The question is: Is this ‘progress’? Is…

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