My son had a chance to use his Toys R Us "10x40" binoculars for real a few weeks ago. That was when I thought it was time to buy him a real bino. I wanted something light and cheap, so I looked for 8x32 binos.
Browsing TaoBao, I found Leaysoo (雷龙) 8x32, costing just 128 yuan (S$24). I bought it. I didn't check its specs beforehand cos it was meant to replace the TRU bino. Any bino is better than it.
The focuser has this line "316 feet at 1000 yards", which works out to be 6.0°. How can it be so low for an 8x bino? Luckily, it was for the 10x32 model.
| Leaysoo | Outland X | |
|---|---|---|
| Power | 8x32 | 8x42 |
| Prism | BAK4 | BaK-4 |
| Coating | FMC | MC |
| L FoV @ 1000 yards | 339 ft | 357 ft |
| Angular FoV | 6.46° | 6.8° |
| Min focus | 1.3 m | 4.0 m |
| Eye relief | 16.5 mm | 17.8 mm |
| Eyepiece lens | 19 mm | 21 mm |
| Weight | 470 g | 624 g |
The specs are suspect. Some websites show Outland X having angular FOV of 7° and weight of 670g. (Maybe there are two variants?)
6.46° is rather low for an 8x32 bino. Comparing it against Outland X 8x42, it obviously shows more — meaning bigger FoV. Could the linear FoV be 393 feet instead of 339 feet? If so, it would have angular FoV of 7.49°, which is pretty reasonable for a 8x32 bino.
FoV is one thing. It has low optical quality: noticeable CA, blurry edges and veiling flare. This is expected due to its low price. Is it really FMC (Fully Multi-Coated)? I'm doubtful.
Also, comparing against the TRU bino, its magnification is obviously lower. That was when I realized the TRU bino had 10x power — I thought it was 8x.
Update: the Leaysoo bino has highly elliptical exit pupil! I'm not sure what it means. Exit pupil should be circular!
A bunch of celebrities came out to support Kamala this US election.
I'm not surprised by Taylor Swift. She has always supported Demoncrats.
Two in particular struck out to me: Avengers cast and Harrison Ford.
After the election, it was revealed that Kamala's campaign paid a lot of money for these endorsements.
But I was just wondering why should anyone listen to actors? It's not like they are smarter or more knowledgeable.
Their screen-time persona portrays them as heroes, agents of justice and belonging to the "good side". That's all that is: screen-time. It ends when they get off the screen.
Once upon a time, I was very excited to get 'Behind the scenes' interview with actors on DVDs. I thought they could give further insights into their character.
After watching a few, I realize they didn't know anything about their character at all, nor the character's role in the story. They just act.
For example, suppose a character made a certain choice. I want to know his thought process. What other choices did he consider? Unfortunately, the actor will not be able to answer because he is not the character.
The lack of bonus set kept nagging me. For a while, I thought they would only be sold in physical shops, as Asmodee's original announcement seemed to imply. If that were the case, then I had to accept it. However, I did a search in mid-Oct and found they were in fact sold in online stores, but had sold out already — with one exception: Recess Games.
They still have the 5 standard sets, plus bonus set, plus Milk Tankers, plus a set of transparent purple trains for US$100! It's a little expensive, but I can bite my teeth one time. But when I clicked on the 'Order' button, I found that they didn't ship to forwarders! :-(
I searched again a few days later and Knight and Day Games turned up. I realized what was happening — the sets were still being shipped to the stores and they only put up the listing when they received it!
KDG had all 7 sets for US$60, plus US$10 shipping. I was on the verge of buying when I googled them and... it seemed they had a bad reputation from last year when they changed ownership and they did not honour prior preorders. Should I take a risk?
Hmm, maybe I should just buy the bonus set separately? There were shops that sold individual sets, but they were all sold out. Finally, I found the bonus set at Spielbound Board Game Cafe, and I ordered it for US$10 plus US$10 shipping. Ouch!
With the bonus set secured, the lack of Milk Tankers now nagged me. Were they really as limited as I thought? Many shops had them as part of the deal. They used to be really limited, but it seemed they were either quietly reprinted or had a stash released.
I kept refreshing two shops: Atlantis Games & Comics and John's Total Entertainment, if for no reason but to convince myself the Milk Tankers were truly out of stock. Both places sold 7 sets for US$70.
A few days later, they came back in stock at both shops! But I had to buy all 7 sets. Argh, should I do it?
I sat on it for a few days and it went OOS at Atlantis, but it remained available at John's. So I bought it for US$70 plus US$5 shipping.
Even now, the sets come in and out of stock. Puddletown Games & Puzzles seemingly have the best deal at US$50 for all 7 sets. But they charge US$20 for shipping, so they aren't much cheaper.
So parents were asked to write a graduation note for their kids. I didn't want something generic nor too serious. Was it doable?
Think of all the hard work, studying and sacrifice you have put in — well, congrats on getting through the easiest part of life!
But with the passage of time, it is the fun, joyful moments and friendships that you remember.
If there is one thing you have learnt, it is that more time is always better than less time!
And attitude. And focus. And work smarter, not harder. And be motivated.
Oh gosh, there are so many things to improve — no worries, your learning journey continues!
I got to admit, the first sentence was combined from two different sources; one serious, one humorous. With that, I knew I had to deliver a serious message in a light-hearted way.
There is a ton of videos on why Final Fantasy 7 is popular/good. I like these three the most:
These videos are not spoiler-free, so don't watch if you haven't played the original game and you plan to.
Spoilers for a game? Surprisingly, yes. J-RPGs have stories, and FF7 has a pretty good story for a video game.
(There is a FF7 walkthrough in 'story mode' on YouTube. It skips random battles and finishes boss battles ultra-quickly. It is 14h54m.)
There is also a ton of videos why Final Fantasy 7 Remake is good. However, I like ones that criticize it:
None are spoiler-free, but who cares? (Unless you want to play the original game.)
For Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth:
None are spoiler-free. Don't watch if you want to play the original game.
Something light-hearted:
