Lots of Podspeakers by Scandyna Recently

Yes you don't have to tell me they are cute, I knew it. Well I've been dreaming to have a pair of the Drop with the Amp from Scandyna, and I finally did. And as usual, things that you don't actually own is always more attractive. And yes, I am thinking of the Minipod now...

I'd been wondering the difference between the two, same manufacturer, same units, would it be same performance just different design? I found an article that indirectly says: Not really. Although this review rather than mentioning the Minipod, tested the Cinepod, which is pretty close to the design of the Minipod. Btw, a review solely and technically on the Drop is pretty hard to find on the internet at the moment...

The biggest difference between the Cinepod/the Minipod and the Drop is, that the drop is a sealed box design while the other two are relax cabinet, see the holes down there? That one's not present on the Drop although it might just look decorative for symmetry on the Minipod.

Well I do not have a Minipod or Cinepod, but according to the articles I've found, the main difference in terms of sound would be that the Drop have a quick, slick and punchy sound while the other two would rather have a mellow, widened and laid-back sound thanks to that hole there. (I've read some of the reviews solely on the Minipod which support this)

That means I really should have, both... orz

Well I'm at least not regret with my choice cos the design of the Drop are simply astonishing, and I do listen to musics such as trance and D'n'B which are punchy by the nature (I tried them and they sound gorgeous). But on the other hand I do enjoy some chill out and Bach while relaxing which is obviously more on the Minipod's end. So, how about the Julibee matte black version of Minipod with golden sputniks? Well when I have that money and if they are still there I might. But here comes another problem, the Amp would only support one pair of speakers and, I don't actually have a desk big enough for both pairs, the Amp, my SACD player by Marantz and my laptop...

OK let's talk about the sound of my Drops and the Amp (the other components of the system include the Microsub which I got some time ago and sound sources including an SACD player, my laptop and my MD player), one word, incredible. Especially when it comes to the details. I'm not good at explaining such but you will know it when you hear it. The high is slick and dazzling while the mid-range is smooth and flaring, the bass is sort of not deep enough as the Microsub is the smallest sub within the line of Scandyna. (Mentioning the Microsub, I got it with my Micropods as a set and sold the Micropods when I made up my mind to get the Drop and the Amp but saving the Microsub cos I knew I'll need it :P)

Another thing that I began to miss is the Ferguson Hill FH007, a totally transparent speaker system minimized from the luxury FH001-003 system. I just comforted myself by wondering how long does it take to turn yellow and again, although minimized, I don't have the space for them. The class A/B amp included in this system does sound tempting though. (The Amp is a revised design class D which is said to be comparable with class A/B amps, well using the technologies from B&W again I suppose?) Well I have to say that the huge version is way astonishing though.

Yes I am in love with Scandyna the day I got my box of Micropod+Microsub 2.1 system. for that one, the process of sticking the spuniks into the pods are dodgy as far as I recall and I was actually upset that the manufacturing is not very good for that one (again the sin of Made in China) that made me sort of disappointed until I hear the sound from that little round white box. Well the Drop, you might have known after seeing the price tag, is Made in Denmark and the finish is way better than the Micropods, thile the Amp is still a Made in China, it was not as bad as the Micropod, again, related to its price tag I have to say.

Sushi

I've actually never imagined I would work in a sushi shop like this... Not even now did I ever consider that I would stay there for any long. But I actually stayed and decided to work here at least for now.

They pay shit no wonder. There are good sides though, I got a free lunch there and the sushi that is left over could be taken home for dinner which means i got two meals on top of the pay, well we earn for living and eating is no doubt part of it right? Plus the people working there are nice to me and I could actually burn some serious fat doing the hard work. Yeah, so why not?

Btw, just found that the avocado rolls from this shop is nice :P

Die Welle

The English name is translated 'the Wave'. This movie's in German, as my German is obviously not good enough to watch it straight and the English subtitle is mystically missing (hope it will be on the internet soon though), I actually had to change my windows setting to make it able to encode non-Unicode Chinese so I could load a Chinese subtitle and I was finally watching it, and change it back after finishing. The effort is all worth it though.

The movie's recomposed from a true story about a high school teacher's experiment on his students on autocracy, the original story started 1967 in California's Palo Alto Cubberley High while in the movie the story is relocated within Germany. The use of simple but strict discipline, uniform and the collective consciousness, which made himself a autocrat to the group in a stunning five days. After all these the mind control slipped in without the conscious of even the teacher himself, the students have all changed. They become adulatory, selfish and not even conscious of what they are doing as the concept of a group had gone too far in their minds.

The students named the group as 'die Welle', established a website, made their own logo and spread it, they even made up a gesture for the group and tries to exclude and isolate everyone that opposes the motivation, all spontaneously. And they finally become some kind of gang that even go out on streets to fight other gangs.

The ending is obviously not happy. As the teacher realized he is going a bit too far after all those five days, he demonstrated the harm that had already done on their students, to show that Nazism and Fascism is already successfully established in the group and how disastrous it can be if they simply allow this going on. Some of the students, unfortunately, had already gone too far that one of the students even regard 'die Welle' as his whole life that he refuse to end this farce. He's got a gun somehow and after hurting a classmate he shot himself in the throat as 'die Welle' is dead and there's nothing left on earth for him. The teacher is arrested for going too far and the story ends.

The movie thrilled me, deeply. What is most shocking to me is that most of the methods used to achieve autocracy in this movie, I've actually been through while I was back in China. From elementary school we are asked to practice stepping simultaneously, sit properly, raising hands before allowed to speak in class, compulsorily wear uniforms on school days, arranging seats so that 'good' students are usually sit next 'bad' students, elimination of individuality, be encouraged to tattle against even the closest friends... And I believe that this is how the Chinese government achieve its autocracy, and most of the Chinese people are not aware what they have been through and they are still mind-controlled by the government after growing up and even til death. Hey, these students are treated this way when they are like 16 or 17 and there are people who know this is wrong and tries to stop it while others can be woken by demonstrating the harm done to them, and they have the right to choose another subject in the first place; every single Chinese kids are treated this way since they are 6 or 7, totally innocent and haven't got the foggiest idea of democracy or autocracy, every single one that oppose such brain washing is either tortured or made suffered til they surrender or be isolated and excluded for the rest of his/her life in China.

Is this obvious enough?

Wicked Logics of Quilts

Been pretty sick for quite a few days now and skipped heaps of uni... And I was so bored lying in bed daydreaming. And, here's what I've got out these days, about the warmth of 3 quilts, the arranging.

Let's assume quilts 1, 2 and 3, same materials, thickness 1+2=3. Arrangement 12 means quilt 1 is inside with quilt 2 on top, 21 means quilt 2 inside with quilt 1 on top. Simple huh?

Which one's warmer, 123 or 321?

123 definitely. Heat loss rate 1>2>3 no doubt? Heat loss from 3 is easier to go through 2 and 1 than heat loss from 1 to go through 2 and 3, as simple as that. We could go further. The space between two quilts stores heat that is lost from the bottom quilt but not able to go through the top one, the heat is easier to go through the thinner layer than the thicker layer, and if you like, consider the heat between itself as one layer, isn't it warmer when the layer of heat is closer to you?

Does 1+2=3?

No. You could think of it simply because 12=/=21=/=3. Don't mean either 12 or 21 is warmer than 3 though. The opposite. 3 is solid thickness of 3 while either 12 or 21 is not. Think of the heat layer again, yes some of the heat might go back down but there's not as much thickness above to prevent it from the loss.

Conclusion, 1<2<21<12<3<31<13<32<23<321<312<231<213<132<123. Well, not quite a conclusion like that yet, this one is based on the speculation that thickness being the first rule. If not things will be different.