#for my own information it’s R2000

[zenmom]

Found this while mom forced me to find that $100 something necklace with tiny genuine gemstones.

Een looks sooo cute in this (in my own head full of dreams) poster, an illustration for the Art of Eennie-Oog.

It’s kinda old, but man! It’s GOLD!

[memoirsofaculture]

As a journalist, digital content creator and blogger, I have often sat across interviewees or on the other end of the line, ferociously trying to capture every moment with a pen and paper.

The interview process always brings with it a wave of adrenaline and excitement. But eventually the rush dies down and anxiety peeps in, rearing its ugly head as you sit down and try to relive the moments in pen. What if all the notes written down, would simply not be enough for a juicy piece?

As a writer, the story is often shaped on the engagement and experience of the interview process. This requires reeling your subject in with stimulating questions and engaging with them. This can sometimes be hard to do when you break off eye contact, to note down all the information for an accurately factual piece.  Honestly pen and paper can get exhausting, and it seems a bit outdated for a millennial like myself. 

I set out to find something other than my iphone (because lame battery power), to help me with this creative process and to capture content on the move. I discovered Powerhouse Dictation on my LinkedIn feed, which houses speech processing solutions in South Africa. They offer a range of Philips voice recorders, and transcription Apps and accessories for every kind of professional. The DVT 4010 voice recorder for notes and conversation seemed to compliment my line of work the best.

Working as a copywriter, meant that my July deadlines would test me. Having to conduct interviews twice daily was going to prove really tricky so I had to give it a go...

Unpacking my device

Looks matter too

I was pleasantly surprised at its size, more portable than your latest smartphone. The silver steel cover, infused with a black screen and navigating buttons on the side are a smooth touch! All the button seems pretty easy to use and are in plain sight, on/off, microphone plug ins, and built in microphone in plain view. 

Usability 

I never read instructions and so I was elated to discover I could figure it out on my own. Before kick starting any interviews, I had to make sure I could play with my new toy. The on and off button (on the side) is in plain view. It gives the recording device 5 seconds before recording any actual sound. The red light indicates the recording is in session. This will continue when you pause and resume the recording. 

Storage 

The recording is then stored according to date and time and all you have to do is go to the menu button to access it. I was relieved to find that the charger and the USB cable are one thing. I hate carrying extra cords  and this makes life easier for me. The easy PC storage was also a win for me, plugged into my PC and popped up like any device. Easy to listen to (Mp3 format) and easy to store my interviews, in case I might need to re-purpose the content later. 

Perks 

Playback is extremely easy, just press play. Settings are adjustable in order to suit your requirements such as mic sensitivity, wind filter, noise reduction, timer and pre-recording time. All these are found in the menu button under the recording settings.

The screen is perfect, colourful and bold. I also like the fact that I only charged my device after three days of extensive use and playbacks (for my articles). 

Tip

I conduct a lot of telephone interviews and I found a system that works for me. If you have an office to yourself, all you do is put your phone on speaker and place your recording device next to it and press record.  It really works BEAUTIFULLY, I was really impressed with the quality of the playback.

Rating 

I give this device, a solid 9/10. It has really helped with my anxiety, it’s easy to use. The price of this device is not too bad either, starting from about R2000. The only down side is that it does not come with standard earphones, which you need if you have an open plan set up at work. 

[ges-sa]

Sound BlasterX Weapons Crate Review

New Post has been published on https://ges-sa.com/sound-blasterx-weapons-crate-review/

Sound BlasterX Weapons Crate Review

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”7338″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]When I was in high school Creative Labs and Sound Blaster was a staple for any gamer here in South Africa. They had and still make the best sound cards in the world! But would you believe me if I tell you that they also make a really good mechanical keyboard and gaming mouse? Well, I was really shocked and surprised by how well they perform! So Creative sent me their Sound BlasterX Weapons Crate, which consists of the Sound BlasterX Vanguard K08, the Sound BlasterX Siege M04 and the Sound BlasterX AlphaPad. This bundle is exclusively made for the US Creative.com store. The Weapons Crate is a customized case that holds your arsenal for your favourite gaming event(there is even a custom foam insert that keeps everything nice and safe).

Creative really put a lot of thought when they created the Sound BlasterX Vanguard K08, from custom OMRON mechanical switches to a custom sound controller on the keyboard. Creative worked with OMRON to design there own mechanical switches called PRES(Perceive-React-Execute Switches). They even got the travel distance of the switch down to 1.5mm(compared to 2.0mm on some other brands). There is even a 26-Key Rollover and Anti-Ghosting on the keyboard….why you want to press that many keys at the same time are way above me(unless you love to take your loss on your keyboard). A nice touch for me on the Vanguard K08 is the Matt finish and the sound control. This will be less likely to leave finger marks and just looks way awesome. They also added an extra High-Speed USB pass-through port to free up space on the back of your rear panel on the PC. You can also program all 109 keys on the Vanguard, out of the 109 keys you even get 5 macro keys(good for League shortcuts or any game.) The Macro keys are located on the left side of the board, it does take a while to get used to them but when you are used to them they can help you out in a tight spot.

Ok so let’s move on to the Sound BlasterX Siege M04, taking design cues from all the best gaming mouses in the market you get a sleek smooth running bright gaming mouse. The Siege M04 uses top of the line PixArt PWM3360, a 32-bit high-speed microcontroller with a polling rate of 1000Hz polling rate and a native 12,000DPI sensor. What this means for you is that your next sniper shot that you take in Overwatch or even the new Quake will be almost confirmed! I mainly use the Siege M04 for some League of Legends and I can see an improvement in my playing style. Another nice feature that they implemented on the Siege M04 is braided in fabric(the Vanguard K08 cables is also braided). The Siege M04 is not a lightweight mouse, but also not to heavy. With just the right weight(for me) it really glides over almost any surface.

The Seige M04 and the Vanguard K08’s RGB lighting(yes it has RGB) is part of Creative’s new Aurora Reactive lighting system. This can all be controlled by Creative’s app called Sound Blaster Connect. From here you can change the colours(16.8 million of them), you can choose between 10 premade profiles and if that is not to your style even create your own. You can even set each individual LED’s on the keyboard to any colour you want. Then you can also change performance settings for the keyboard and mouse. On your mouse performance settings panel, you can change your DPI cycle(the super awesome Sniper Button, which is located on the bottom lefthand side) and even you Lift-Off distance!

There is only one or two stuff off the set that is a bit disappointing, firstly that they are not yet available in South Africa and you would need to order from the states. Luckily the Rand/Dollar exchange is doing good. So the crate might work out a bit expensive, but you can order the Vanguard K08 and Siege M04 separately. The other problem(and this is a bit more nitpicking) is that the colour mix at the moment is a bit sluggish. But then again for a first attempt they really, really did an awesome job. Converted to SA Rand, they Siege and Vanguard would be able to compete with our current top gaming peripherals brands. Coming in at R780 for the Siege M04 you can expect almost the same type of performance as an R1000 mouse, same goes for the Vanguard K08(here it would be between a R1500 and R2000 mechanical keyboard)

Overall I really love the Sound BlasterX Vanguard K08 and Siege M04, they even play better than my Steelseries Merc Keyboard and Razer Deathadder(the original version). I would suggest this to any gamer that needs a new keyboard or mouse. The Vanguard K08 has a really good response rate and types like a dream! The Siege M04 fits my hand like a glove and feels like a natural extension when I play my games. This is your local mad scientist signing out….now to find a local distributor for Creative![/vc_column_text][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”28502,28504,28505,28506,28503,28507,28508″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Sound BlasterX Vanguard K08 Spec

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Colour

Matt Black

Dimensions

21.5cm x 46.5cm x 3.76cm

Lifespan

70 Million actuations

Switch Type

Mechanical – OMRON PRES

Switch Spec – Actuation Force

45g

Switch Spec – Acutation Distance

1.5mm

Switch Spec – Total Travel Distance

3.5mm

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Sound BlasterX Siege M04 Spec

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Dimensions

135.6mm x 67.65mm x 43mm

Weight

110g(without cable) and 143g(with cable)

Colour

Semi-Matt Black

Lifespan

50 Million Clicks

Optical Sensor

PixArt PMW 3360

Sensor Specs – DPI

12,000

Sensor Specs – Polling

1000Hz

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Additional Information

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Estimated RRP: R3577.43 ($299 USD) for Sound BlasterX Weapons Crate Estimated RRP: R1699.77 ($139.99 USD) for the Sound BlasterX Vanguard K08 Estimated RRP: R775.14 ($64.99 USD) for the Sound BlasterX Siege M04[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Likes

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I really love the feel of the Siege M04, smooth as butter

The Vanguard K08 and Siege M04 can stand there ground against the big boys in the industry

The audio control on the Keyboard is a live saver!

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Dislikes

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The Weapons crate might not be for everybody(luckily you can buy them separately)

Not available in SA stores yet (At date of this review)

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[ges-sa]

Cosplayer Of The Month February 2017 | Annakapat Cosplay

New Post has been published on http://ges-sa.com/cosplayer-of-the-month-february-2017-annakapat-cosplay/

Cosplayer Of The Month February 2017 | Annakapat Cosplay

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”24491″ img_size=”large” alignment=”right” style=”vc_box_circle”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”image_grid” images=”24499,24498,24497,24496,24495,24492,24490,24489,24488,24487″][vc_column_text]The honor of being our first featured Cosplayer of the Month for 2017 goes to Annakapat Cosplay! Anré has been cosplaying since 2009 and she is well known as the quint essential Harley Quinn, but lately she’s been spreading her cosplay wings beyond that of the DC Bombshell and we’ve been seeing awesome costumes from her. Let’s see what makes her tick and find out more about her love for cosplay….[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Hey Anré! Tell us a bit more about the person behind the cosplay persona?   

Hi! I am Anré. I am 23, currently have blue hair,

I studied Information Design and up until recently, I was working as an assistant at Arwen Garmentry.

How and when did you get started in Cosplay and why do you enjoy it?

I love creating, and I love costumes, cosplay was an obvious choice of hobby. I first started at rAge 2009

We have been raving about your Jareth cosplay since you won all those awards at rAge Expo 2016. Please tell us a bit more about what inspired you to make the costume and what you learnt from the process

Labyrinth is my all-time favourite movie. The costume design of the film was something that stayed with me all my life. I wanted to challenge myself into doing a cosplay that would force me to expand my skill set. So Jareth was it. So. Much. Detail.

Do you have any hobbies or interests outside of cosplaying?

I love drawing, reading, motorcycling as well as sing quite loudly to my cat while he stares,  perplexed.

What was the first Costume you wore for Cosplay and did you make it yourself?

Tank Girl at rAge 2009. It was mostly made from the things I had in my closet. What was cosplay even?

What type of genre is your favorite to Cosplay, and why?

I love cosplaying from films, as I know they can be done, if that makes sense.

Every Cosplayer has a favourite part of creating a costume or something they are really good at, what is yours?

I love the planning and the wearing. The making is a process of sweat blood and tears but I love making patterns

What is your most difficult challenge in creating a costume?

I get bored easily. So I try to stay busy by working in more than one cosplay at a time.

We all know that cosplay has been become a very expensive hobby these days, do you have hints or tips for other cosplayers as far as cutting down expenses etc. are concerned?

Hah! I am not the person to ask about this! I just spent R2000 on one part of my Doctor Strange cloak. I take my time and save up, which is why I am so slow on production. The best advice I can give is to make sure you do roughs of your cosplay, to avoid cutting expensive fabrics and wasting them.

Tell us about your most epic fail ever whilst creating a costume

There are no such things as failures, just learning bumps. However, I did once touch wet expanding foam and ended up with reptile skin for a week.

Which character do you consider to be your Holy Grail of cosplays (the one cosplay that you’ve been wanting to do since forever)?

It was Jareth �� I am staring at the empty void of not knowing what to do with my life.

What is the one thing that you try and avoid when making a new costume?

Overlocking when it is necessary. (Runs to a corner and hisses)

South Africa’s convention scene has been growing leaps and bounds over the last couple of years. Where do you see opportunities for cosplay to grow at local events?

We just need to keep making it bigger, keep improving our own work and the rest of the opportunities will follow.

Costume crafting can be really hard sometimes, right? Do you have any scars from cosplay related injuries and how did you get them?

Yessss!! The Harley Quinn pants gave me a scar on my left wrist.

Which international con would you really love to go to and why?

SDCC. I want to hobo at hall H.[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”24502″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center” onclick=”img_link_large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1445504261410border-top-width: 3px !important;border-top-color: #aa71e2 !important;border-top-style: solid !important;”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

Cosplayer Bio

Real name Anré Van Rooyen Cosplay name Annakapat Cosplay Age 23 Current home town Pretoria

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Find Annakapat Cosplay on Social Media 

Facebook Annakapat Cosplay Instagram @Annakapat

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Cosplayer Roulette

Star Wars or Star Trek

Star Trek

 Who’s your favorite character from this universe and why?

Bones, TOS. He’s my spirit animal.

Marvel or DC

Marvel

If you could be any of the superheroes, which one would you be and why?

Doctor Strange, MAGIC.

Your weapon of choice in a zombie apocalypse – Sonic Screwdriver or Light sabre

Sonic Lightsaber

Why is this your weapon of choice?

So I can cleave my zombie enemies in half and still open a door.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”24493″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Pictures were supplied to GES-SA by the featured Cosplayer. We do not own these pictures so if you do, and you would like to us to add the credit please drop us a mail to linda@ges-sa.com

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