Perpetual spinning wheel.
Category: Posts
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Nowhere is forever
I think the foolish thing that a lot of people think is this; once I find the perfect city, neighborhood, town, house, climate, living situation, etc., I will live there forever until I die.
In fact, nothing and nowhere is forever. I think an undulation or the dynamic range between things is what makes life great.
For example, I am American, yet I love being all over the place. I love Seoul South Korea, the countryside, the countryside of Korea, Phnom Penh Cambodia, Saigon in Hanoi in Vietnam. Mexico City, etc.
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All you need is a Wi-Fi connection
Give me insanely fast Wi-Fi and I shall move the world!
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JUST EXPERIMENT.
You will never know until you try it.
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HOW TO DIGEST YOUR PHOTOS
First select your favorite photos, then export them, and re-share them to another device, then re-filter them again. Kind of like filtering kefir cheese:
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YOU GOT MORE FREEDOM THAN YOU THINK YOU HAVE.
VIDEO
VIDEO PODCAST
Why I love being abroad:
We are the new Spartans:
AUDIO
YOU GOT MORE FREEDOM THAN YOU THINK YOU HAVE. -
The upside of being somewhere else
You begin to realize just how ridiculous your own place is.
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USE ALL THREE
The trifecta — iPhone, iPad, MacBook.
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ERIC KIM CAMBODIA PHNOM PENH LAST DAYS PHOTOS SLIDESHOW BEATS BY KIM
PDF DL
DROPBOX LINK
Video slideshows as a great compact way to share your photos:
VIDEO
I love Cambodia!
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ERIC KIM FUJIFILM X-PRO 3 REVIEW
VIDEO
SLIDESHOW
Surprisingly, I actually really like the Fujifilm XPRO3.
Originally I thought the ‘no lcd screen’ (or the automatically flipped backwards LCD screen) was a gimmick, but it is actually really cool! Kudos for Fujifilm for having the balls to actually attempt an incredibly radical idea!
Insanely fast
The first thing I really like about the XPRO3 (and the 23mm f/2 lens — 35mm full frame equivalent) is that the autofocus is insanely fast and accurate. No more need for manual focus.
Also, electronic shutter– totally silent. Shooting with the XPRO 3 for street photography (in dark, dimly lit subway in Seoul) and also on the streets felt a trillion times faster than shooting with any Leica M rangefinder.
In fact, for street photography, the XPRO3 is probably 1000x better than even the Leica M11 for street photography!
Phenomenal color
The JPEG in camera settings are quite great. Any of the color fujifilm color film simulation presets (negative film simulation, high contrast, classic-chrome, etc):
Shoot before thinking.
The biggest pitfall for us photographers:
We think too much (paralysis by analysis) before hitting the shutter.
XPRO3 is a great solution– because it is so fast, you shoot more, think less.
The design is ugly?
Frankly speaking my biggest critique of the XPRO3 is that in terms of proportions, I think the XPRO3 is pretty ugly.
But ultimately speaking, this doesn’t really matter. This was my realization:
The design of the camera body is not embedded within the photos.
So in some sense, it is better to have an ugly camera which produces great photos, than a beautiful camera which produces ugly photos.
Good for life photography
Ultimately what matters most? Life. XPRO3 good to photograph your life!
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MacBook Zen Concept
90% Hardware, 10% Screen?
Today on my 13” MacBook Pro touchbar, seneca did something interesting:
He turned off the screen brightness to zero, and when having the music app open, he controlled the music only using the touch bar.
Which made me think:
Imagine if Apple made a MacBook laptop (the ‘MacBook Zen’) which was literally a typewriter– only the physical keyboard and the tiny touchbar area which showed the text you were typing.
Do you remember the super early-old-school ‘digital’ keyboards, which was literally just a typewriter with a tiny LCD strip on top? Might be a good cure for ‘writer’s block’ or those who are too distracted when writing!
Imagine a MacBook Pro Touchbar (13”) without the LCD screen– only the bottom part! The exact opposite of an iPad.
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META
Share your works in-progress:
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WITH FAST ENOUGH WIFI, I CAN DO ANYTHING.
Also, laptop for maximum power.
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WORKFLOW FLUX.
Your workflow is and always will be in a state of flux.
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Effort is not virtuous
Effort is a slave mentality.
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Not “working outâ€, but getting a quick pump?
Against the notion of training until failure. A better approach is doing as few repetitions as possible, in order to just feel a good pump.
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Why Korea?
How Korea is interesting to me:
First of all, my general sense is that Korea just feels like America junior. Korean modern ideals are very similar to American ideals. The only difference is when you’re in Korea, everyone looks Korean and speaks Korean. But essentially, the modern Korean is American.
Secondly, being Korean American, I have strong clout and influence here. Knowing English and being fluent in English is a huge plus, and also looking Korean is good to look the part.
Third, Korea is like a limitless playground. It is the ultimate urban jungle, with infinite possibilities. You could attempt to visit all of the subway station areas in Korea, and never bore.
Fourth, Korea is at an interesting inflection point in which the old population outstrips the young and new population. I can see the population decline happening right before my very eyes. Barely any new kids, only new dogs (just like America, but worse).
Fifth, very easy being an American or foreigner here. Visa is accepted almost anywhere, and everyone uses Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Google, Google Maps etc. Apparently you can even use Uber here! (I didn’t know).
Six, Korea is actually doing a good job becoming more lax with tourism and travel and Covid restrictions. Compare this with Japan which is pretty much on foreigner lockdown.
Seven, South Korea has lots of disposable income. They are relatively rich. Certain new concepts have not penetrated the main stream like gym culture, Lululemon tights for women, etc. A lot of opportunity for foreign investment.
Eight, at this point Korea is quite bilingual in English. Even if you didn’t know any Korean, if you could live a pretty good life here.
Nine, I love taking the subway, the bus, and the urban city and street life. It is a street photography paradise.
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NO TINT.
To tint your car windows, or to tint your lenses, or to tint your sunglasses is cowardly. More courage to have no tint.
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VIBRAM 5 FIVE FINGER SHOES
VIBRAM 5 Finger shoes (EL-X) is supreme.
Superior to any Adidas, Nike, Jordan, Yeezy sneaker.
Also, it takes more courage to wear. If most people strive to wear a certain shoes in order to seem unique or to be “coolâ€, having the most unusual type of shoe which is the most functional is best.
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DON’T STRIVE TO BE UNIQUE.
Perhaps the goal of striving to become unique is the red herring. Perhaps the better goal is for you to just strive to do what you want to do.
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Why be nice?
Or the more recent notion of being “kind�
I say it is much more robust to be respectful instead.
Also, do not concern yourself about making other people feel uncomfortable.
