Yes, finally…eventually…at last…
Tamron has release the SP 17-50mm F2.8 lens in Pentax K mount! Don’t believe it? Here’s the photos of the stock that I have already received!
There is a “for PENTAX” wording on the box. Click to view in larger size.
Can’t lie now… see the rear lens with Pentax design/pins on it.
Finally…Tamron announced that the popular SP 17-50mm F2.8 Lens will be available in Pentax K mount from 7th March 2008!
SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II （Model A16）
This is one of the BEST Selling lens at ShaShinKi.com, best budget lens with F2.8 aperture and no compromise in image quality! It sure is going to be of HIGH DEMAND initially…definitely worldwide shortage for stock in the first few months.
Even as of now, Canon and Nikon mounts of this lens are constantly sold out in many places.
Official news:
http://www.tamron.co.jp/news/release_2008/0128_a16p.html
Tamron has just announced the shipping date of Tamron SP 70-200mm F2.8 which will be available from 7th March 2008.
First available in Canon EOS mount, follow up by Nikon, Sony and then Pentax mounts.
The lens was first announced in March 2007 under development. Using 77mm filter size, removable tripod collar, MSRP at 10万4,790円 (around RM3.2k). Street price should be 70-80% of MSRP, which means the lens is sure going to be a hit!
Tamron is well known for creating good value for money lenses! 
This is the first time I am experiencing this. Yeah…my server hard disk failed on the morning of 21st Jan 2008 while I was doing some backuping work.
Yes, I have foreseen the hardisk to fail. cPanel software that I use for my server has sent me two warning on 18th Jan 2008 (Friday) and 20th Jan 2008 (Sunday).
I contacted my server provider a day before I received the warning, as my httpd service couldn’t be started. It was some conflicts between my SSL certificate and the httpd service. It seems that my SSL certificate has corrupted. Most probably is due to the hardisk problem already, but my provider checked and said they found no error. So I just leave it apart.
Of course, after receiving the cPanel warning, I contacted them again and the advice is to backup my files “IMMEDIATELY”. Yes, one shouldn’t delay any further when this warning comes up.
I am not experience enough to know how to backup my entire server effectively. The backup feature in WHM doesn’t seem to work to my understanding. So on Sunday night, I backup manually the database and home directory of two of my most important sites: ShaShinKi.com and PentaxWorld.com.
On Monday morning, I am on the way to backup more of the other sites that I have on the server…too bad I was not in time to grab them all. 
I lost an important site of mine…CaptureSG.com. Though the site is very quiet and not growing as what I have hoped for, but there are some very dedicated members that still help out in the site. I must say I am sorry not being able to safeguard the data well…
On Monday morning, my database suddenly can’t be accessed. I restarted mySQL but failed. Then I tried restarting httpd, failed again. Now both database and http can’t be accessed. FTP still working fine, and I manage to copy some other backup of ECMalaysia and BlogMalaysia. However, their database are gone (for the better future I believe).
To be continue…
Cosina has just announced a new SL II series of lenses in their Voigtlander brand! Previously I thought they are too busy with Zeiss lens making, hence discontinued all the SL series of Voigtlander lenses. I was wrong and I am glad that I am wrong!
The first two lenses from Cosina Voigtlander SL II series are:
These are two very high demand lenses from Cosina. The 58mm was a remake of Topcor 58mm f1.4, Cosina has made this lens available few years ago in limited edition.
Now, what’s the extra great news?!
ALL SL II lenses now come with CPU that are able to communicate with the camera body! Yes, Nikon cameras will now able to talk to the lens! SL II lenses are available in Nikon AIS and Pentax KA mounts at the moment.
I hope and dream that the legendary Voigtlander 125SL F2.5 Macro lens will be made available once again soon!
Google, being the biggest and most popular search engine in the market nowadays, is also the first company that introduce text ads to all online users to generate money on their sites.
Google Adsense, which can be seen EVERYWHERE, as everybody is joining the $$$ wagon trying to get money from the internet. Some can generate more than US$1k a month…or even US$10k a month!
Few years after Adsense introduction, many companies start offering similar type of ads to publishers and advertisers. However, the market is already dominated by Google Adsense…so it is hard for others to shaken the base. Internet nowadays is first come first won. If you got the new idea and is the first one to implement it…most likely you will be the KING or winner in the market. Youtube being a good example, though Google has its own Google Video, but still Youtube is more popular and Google has chosen to buy out Youtube at US$1.6 billions (Youtube was still less than 2 years old by then).
Now, back to Adsense. Why is Adsense better and still the preferred ads by most? Here’s my personal experience and opinion:
1. Google being a search engine knows more about your site than others. They send relevant ads to your site which are most appropriate and match the content of your site better.
2. Google doesn’t allow inappropriate ads to be shown. There is no gambling ads, no porn ads, no sexuality ads…etc. You can be sure that your ads and site are still being as healthy as before.
3. Speed. Adsense load up time is MUCH MUCH faster than some other small company ads that I have tried (bidvertisers and adbrite). There is almost no delay when I put Adsense on my site. All contents still loads up smoothly. However, when I activated bidvertisers or Adbrite ads, there is a significant few seconds delay to have the ads shown before other contents on the site are being load up. This has forced me to put Bidvertisers and Adbrite ads on the last content to be load up on my site, so that visitors and members will not felt that my site is slow. See: http://pentaxworld.com
4. Easy to use. Adsense is very easy to setup and use. I can get my ads running in less than a minute, though signing up a new account requires a day or two for approval process. Configuring the right ads for your site is also very very easy. You can customize the colours with just a click of a few buttons to match your site perfectly. The new Google Ads appearance is also attractive, adds quality to your sites. 
5. Google Adsense now offer image ads. This is nice…adds colours to your site.
6. Biggest Ads company. Google Adsense being the biggest ads company guarantee that you will receive constants ads and advertisers on your site, and you will get pay by Google for sure.
7. One account, rule them all. You can use your existing Gmail account for Adsense, no need to sign up or remember password/email of another account. There are many other Google service as well, which you can use the same account and rule them all!
That’s all for the sharing from me for now…hope this article will be helpful/useful to you.
(DO NOT CLICK ON YOUR OWN ADS…don’t ever try or think about it!)
50th Anniversary of the Asahi Pentax
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Asahi Pentax (common name: AP type) since its release in 1957. Taking this opportunity, PENTAX built up a design study model based on Digital SLR K10D.
For more info, visit:
Found something interesting last night…
(I have to removed the flash codes as it makes the layout of my blog run crazy after I upgraded to WordPress 2.2)
It is a flash type of Clocks. I have installed it on my PentaxWorld.com and CaptureSG.com websites.
Today’s biggest news in the photography world: Amazon.com acquires dpreview.com!
I was quite surprised when I visited dpreview.com today and saw that headline news! Wow…how much did Amazon paid to Phil Askey? With millions of visitors and registered members, dpreview.com definitely worth a few million dollars! Very envy…
Here’s the official press release (I posted this at PentaxWorld.com as well):
AMAZON.COM ACQUIRES DPREVIEW.COM –
THE LEADING ONLINE DESTINATION FOR REVIEWS
AND INFORMATION ABOUT DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
(BUSINESS WIRE) SEATTLE, WA—May 14, 2007—Leading online retailer Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced it has acquired www.dpreview.com, the web’s most comprehensive site for digital camera information and reviews. Founded in 1998 by Phil Askey, dpreview.com provides unbiased reviews and original content regarding the latest in digital cameras, and offers a host of features and forums designed to make it easy for consumers to find the camera that’s right for them. With its unique voice and in-depth technical reviews, dpreview.com draws millions of unique visitors each month.
“Dpreview.com is by far the most authoritative source anywhere for straight talk about new digital cameras,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. “We at Amazon.com have been their fans for a long time, and we extend a big welcome to the dpreview.com team.”
“One of the difficulties of operating dpreview.com independently has been the balance between producing content and delivering new site features,” said Phil Askey, founder of dpreview.com. “Now, with the support of Amazon, I’ll be able to devote more of my time to expanding and improving our features – such as product reviews and discussion forums while still delivering the high-quality content that our readers have come to expect.”
Dpreview.com offers in-depth reviews of the latest digital cameras and accessories, active discussion forums, digital photography and imaging news, sample images, a dynamic digital camera buyers’ guide, side-by-side comparisons of the most popular models, and the web’s most comprehensive database of digital camera features and specifications.
Dpreview.com will continue to function as a stand-alone operation based in London.
Below are what I posted at Simple Machines forum, I think it would be useful for my future reference as well as to my visitors, so I copy and paste it here to share with you guys.
This article is all about having a review system on your website, here’s how it is in action:
http://pentaxworld.com/reviews/
I searched for ReviewPost in the forum (SMF) and nothing much comes up. So I thought perhaps I can comment something on the software and the integration with SMF1.1.2.
I was a bit reluctant of spending US$99 for a software that I am not sure of. After searching SMF for no or little use results…I google for it for more information.
I found out that there are MANY people using ReviewPost actually, and a very famous photography website that I know of is using ReviewPost as well (they have paid to remove the brand/copyright). So, with that I took the risk and ordered for my ReviewPost on last Friday night.
I received no download link of ReviewPost after waiting till Saturday noon. I decided to drop them an email and within 10 mins I got a reply saying that they have already emailed me the link to download the software 10 hours ago, and it might have been in my spam folder. Nevermind, they sent me a new link and username/login, and immediately I download, upload it to my server and installed it on my website.
Installation is pretty easy and straight forward. If you can install SMF manually, then you should not have problem installing ReviewPost.
Now, how about integration with SMF? ReviewPost is heavily made for vBulletin. You can see features in ReviewPost specifically for vB. Luckily, SMF is supported as well, from version 1.05 and above. During the installation, just read the lines carefully and select SMF as the the user database. You will need to provide your SMF database login info during the installation.
After setting everything up in about 15 mins, I can start running ReviewPost. However, login/logout seems to have some issue. I checked and it is the Cookies setting.
There are setting for Cookies in ReviewPost. You need to set the correct SMF Cookies (SMFCookie463) and also specify that ReviewPost is using the same cookies as well.
Then login/logout should be working fine.
However, I notice that the login page seems to have problem. I have some errors (4 warning lines) on the login page at ReviewPost:
and the login page is not showing the default theme properly.
I have dropped them a support request in ReviewPost forum, hopefully they will answer it soon. I suspect it to be some integration conflict with SMF 1.1.2 or mySQL version issue. Still, users can still login without problem.
Talking about theme integration, this is the best part! If you already have a specific theme for your SMF and want to use it for ReviewPost, just select to use SMF forum theme, and viola! Your ReviewPost is having the EXACT same theme as your forum within seconds!
Wrote too much, here’s my PentaxReview site:
http://pentaxworld.com/reviews/
There is a Header and Footer pages for you to add a html header and footer to your Reviews website in the admin of ReviewPost. Very simply, just design and copy and paste the html codes from your frontpage or any html editor.
(I am thinking of whether to install this review system to PhotoMalaysia or not…which means spending another US$99 for the license fee. At PentaxWorld, I received enough donation for the software, but for PhotoMalaysia, the money I spent on annual server rental (US$1.5k) has still not yet come back… :’()
Just Online! PentaxReview.com!
I just setup a review section at PentaxWorld:
http://pentaxworld.com/reviews/
Purchased a review software that costs PentaxWorld US$99.00, set it up yesterday and starts running it almost fully now.
I quite like the software, so thinking that instead of having it just under PentaxWorld, which not get much attention, why not register a domain with easier and clearer name that every Pentax users can remember easily?! Checked PentaxReview.com and it is still available, just registered it few hours ago and Stealth it to PentaxWorld.com/reviews/ now.
Perhaps I should designed a LOGO for it?
After 4 months 10 days since its birth, PentaxWorld has gotten its first advertiser!
The advertiser is an author of the Pentax K10D book, with link as stated above. I spent some time to make a banner for the advertiser, as I find the original banner that he sent me is a bit plain.
Here’s the banner that I designed:
So, how much made? Not much actually, US$50 per month and the advertiser subscribed for one month period (6th May 2007 ~ 7th June 2007). I do hope that he will continue subscribing in the coming months.
Getting an advertiser means PentaxWorld is now being recognized by others. This is a big encouragement as I have put in a lot of effort in designing and making PentaxWorld better and better each day.
I have also noticed that these few days PentaxWorld has many visitors and new signed up members. Google still don’t index much of PentaxWorld forum’s threads or posts, so promoting PentaxWorld still requires a lot of members’ link and word of mouth. I think at the moment dpreview.com is still the biggest referral site to PentaxWorld. Though PentaxWorld.com has been banned at dpreview (dpreview doesn’t allow other forums to be at their sites), but members still can post PentaxWorld without the .com at the back and it will not be filtered. So, from time to time some members at dpreview do still post reference and links to PentaxWorld.
I have also registered and created a sister’s domain: PentaxWorld.net that will link to PentaxWorld.com.
Goodnight for now…
Another three of my websites are now having PageRank 3!
http://oy-oy.eu/google/pr/?url=http%3a%2f%2fpentaxworld.com&#r
http://oy-oy.eu/google/pr/?url=http%3a%2f%2fcapturesg.com&#r
http://oy-oy.eu/google/pr/?url=http%3a%2f%2fecmalaysia.com&#r
Some said PageRank is useless nowadays. Is it really useless? Personally I still believe there are useful, as Google is still using PageRank to rate the importance of their indexed sites. There might be more and many websites indexed by Google nowadays, hence PageRank 3 might not mean much…but at least it still give an indicator to webmaster how importance the sites in Google’s eyes. Websites with PageRank 5 or higher definitely mean they are of more importance and will show up more frequently in Google search.
TIPA Award 2007 Winners
The “European ‘Oscar’ of the Photo & Imaging Industry, 2007″ is what TIPA like to call themselves has been announced and the winners in no particular order are :
After PhotoMalaysia…now PentaxWorld.
Did some clean up on the forum of PentaxWorld. Finally uploaded all icon images to make the forum looks neater. Google still has not rank PentaxWorld, upon checking site:pentaxworld.com today, it only shows 7 indexed pages. I have recently (a week ago) change my forum from guests not allowed to browse to OPEN Forum. Hope google will start indexing the forum’s topics and discussions soon.
I am quite impatient…hope PentaxWorld can grow faster and becoming the Largest and Most Popular Pentax photography forum in the world!
Pentax has stopped their previous plan of merging (or rather being eaten) with Hoya.
Pentax president resigned and replaced with a new one.
Pentax DSLR and lenses are selling like hot cakes!
Hoya plan and negotiating a buyout bid of Pentax.
Will Pentax sell their money making division to Hoya? Unlikely…
More details at:
My currently favorite forum software, SMF (Simple Machines Forum) has announced the soon to be released SMF 2.0 Alpha to the Chartered members in June 2007, and general public in Oct 2007! Current public version is SMF 1.1.2, hence jump to SMF 2.0 means there should be a huge change and improvement from the current version!
Grudge from SMF has announced some new features of the version 2.0 at:
http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=163438
Among some of the new features are:
For some who are not familiar with SMF, it is a free public forum software that is similar to the popular vBulletin and Invision Power Board, but it is FREE!
I have installed and use SMF on some of my websites:
I have created a “news” page some time ago…but did not manage it properly. Have created two online forums since then (PentaxWorld & CaptureSG), so I will leave the photography news update to these two sites, besides my PhotoMalaysia site.
So, what is this “blog” is all about? I am not really sure…that’s why I don’t know what title to put yet…and use the URL as blog under ShaShinKi. I guess I will just use this blog as my personally diary. Writing and sharing anything that I feel like writing.
Till then…see ya…
