1) Take a length of nylon cord / paracord (Of course, longer than the size of your head).

2) On one end, tie a bowline knot.

* In the next step, you will have to tie a loop whose name I have completely forgotten (If you know it, please let me know its name!). It is very similar to the Alpine butterfly, but with one less loop. Here’s a picture demonstrating how to tie it:


a) Loop the string 3 times around your fingers
b) Take the 3rd (right) loop and bring it across to the 1st loop…
c) …and push it under the 2 loops
d) Holding the loop, take the string off your fingers and tighten it

3) Just after the bowline knot, tie two of the above knots consecutively. Your string should now look like this:

4) Take the two loops, and place them around your flashlight, then pull them TIGHT.

5) Take the other untied end of the string, pull it through the bowline loop, and tie a taut-line hitch.

6) You’re done! Place the entire contraption over your head, and slide the taut-line hitch back and forth to adjust the size of the head lamp band. By adjusting the position of the 2 loops, you can, to some extent, change the angle at which the flashlight points. Don’t overdo it though – you may risk having your flashlight fall out from the loops! Additionally, you could probably make 2 more loops on the other side and mount a 2nd flashlight!

Here’s a picture of a CD/DVD container wearing a headlamp (This is my 4Sevens Quark AA flashlight):

And with a smaller flashlight (My Liteflux LF2XT):

I find that smaller flashlights tend to work better as they are lighter. However, there’s no rule against big flashlights! So, how’s a heavily modified Maglite 2D look as a “headlamp”?

Granted, my head started to tilt to one side with that huge behemoth attached!

Now, I don’t consider this to be a permanent solution for a headlamp – a real headlamp which is on the front of the head is still better, and can be angled up and down much more easily. However, if you ever happen to have only a hand-held flashlight and some cord, hopefully this guide comes in useful!

I decided to make use of a length of string and some well known knots to make my own adjustable belt which I wear when I exercise, on which I can hang a number of items. In fact, after I made it, I found that it doesn’t bother me at all, and so I never take off my “belt” – I even wear it to sleep! (Of course, I do take off a couple items) So, I have decided to share this creation here!

1) Take a length of string. Preferably, you should use paracord, but any type of relatively durable/thick nylon cord should work. The length of the string depends on how many ‘hanging loops’ you want, but of course needs to be fairly longer than the circumference of your waist.

2) On one end, tie a bowline, double bowline, or figure-8 loop. In this example, I used a bowline because it’s a relatively simple and reliable knot, and I haven’t had issues with it.

3) Using the Alpine Butterfly knot, fashion as many loops as you want, in whatever positions you want them in. In this example, I made 4 loops, 2 for the left side of the waist, 2 for the right side.

4) Take the other (untied) end of the string, and pass it through the loop you made in step 2. You may want to wear your belt now to adjust the length as needed.

5) Tie a taut-line hitch. You can slide this knot back and forth to adjust the size of the belt to suit your waist. In my example, I used a slight variation (#1856) of the taut-line hitch, which is slightly less secure but easier to adjust.

Your belt is completed! Now, go ahead and hang items on it:

On my belt, I chose to hang the following items:

1) A small plastic namecard holder which holds my Malaysian National ID card, driving license, and some spare cash.
2) Swiss army knife
3) Whistle
4) Small flashlight

You can easily modify your belt to your needs! It’s simple, cheap and easy to make!

Now, when I go jogging, I don’t have to bother keeping my wallet with me because I have my ID & driving license. In addition, the spare cash can come in useful if needed.

The items I personally carry are finely honed over years of carrying items, and so they may not be the best for other people. I continually change the items I carry, so what I will list is only effective at this current time. You can divide my EDC items into 2 categories:

1) Items I carry on myself
2) Items I carry in my backpack

Items I carry on myself

I generally try to conceal these items, as I don’t want to look like a person gone crazy – so when I am carrying these things, you probably wouldn’t even know, until I started taking things out of my pockets! These items tend to be small, and consist of things which have come in useful over time.

Here is a picture of all my on-person EDC items:

From left to right:

[Top row]

• Packet of tissues. This probably doesn’t need to be explained, it comes in handy all the time.
• Phone. Again, doesn’t need to be explained.
• Flashlight (Liteflux LF2XT). This one goes around my neck on a paracord lanyard, and is one of my favorite flashlights – it is fully programmable (various brightness levels which can be set), waterproof, and brighter than most of those big Maglights.
• Concealed waist pouch. When I wear this, it is completely unnoticeable, which is great! Items inside shown later.
• Flashlight (4Sevens Quark AA Tactical). My “main duty” flashlight, goes from really dim to really bright. It is tied to my waist pouch using a very useful quick release knot (The slipped lap knot), which prevents it from falling out, but at the same time provides quick & easy access. It is also clipped to my pants.
• Swiss army Deluxe Tinker knife. This particular one comes with pliers in the middle.
• Secondary wallet, with various items to be explained later.

[2nd row]

• Wallet, which contains various items which will be shown later.
• Keychain, which will be explained later.

[Not in picture] Clip-on sunglasses.

Concealable pouch

This contains items which will probably confuse you as to why I carry such random stuff, but here goes. It consists of a large back compartment, a medium middle compartment, and 2 small front (left and right) compartments. On the left and right are carabiners, to which are attached the swiss army knife, flashlight (Quark AA) and wallet (using nylon) [and not in picture, a 1 meter tape measure].

In the back compartment, from left to right:

• A small 2 pronged fork. I have taped up the top to ensure it doesn’t poke anything
• A small plastic spoon. I used to have a steel one, but it started rusting, and it was a bit heavy.
• Comb. Self explanatory.
• Extra ziplock bag (4″x6″). I’ve used this to store various items (I just used it to pack some leftover peanuts from a restaurant), as well as a waterproof container for my phone if it is raining.
• Some tissues in a ziplock.
• Guitar pick. It’s a Dunlop gator .71mm for strumming
• Nylon fishing line
• [Not in picture - several feet of copper wire]
• Several rubber bands in a small ziplock
• Foam earplugs (for nighttime use) in a ziplock
• A twisty tie

In the middle compartment, left to right:

• A small contact card with my details on it
• Some paper and cotton buds in a ziplock
• Extra plastic bag
• A sealed plastic bag containing a surgical mask and star charts

In the front left compartment, left to right:

• A tripled ziplocked bag (to keep out humidity) containing various meds like:
  • Carbon pills
  • Panadol/Tylenol
  • Piriton (antihistamine)
  • Buscopan
• A ziplock bag containing:
  • A small lens (works as a magnifying lens)
  • 2 bandages
  • [not visible] some spare cash
• A lighter
• Small marker pen

In the front right compartment, left to right:

• A signalling mirror in a ziplock, for use as a regular mirror as well as emergency signalling
• A ziplock bag containing:
  • 2 rolls of masking tape
  • 1 roll of scotch tape
  • Nail clipper
  • Small and powerful magnet
  • Several paper clips
  • Several safety pins
• A small vial of hand sanitizer (77% ethanol – also useful for cleaning)

Secondary wallet

I may not always carry this, depending on if I have enough pockets. Has 3 compartments, and contains the following, left to right, top to bottom:
[Top row]

• Small plastic bag in small ziplock
• One sad looking bandage
• Some fishing line

[Middle row]

• Chapstick (lip balm) for dry weather
• 2 rubber bands
• Err, silica gel to absorb humidity. I think it’s no longer working.
• 2 batteries – A rechargeable Ni-Mh AA (Eneloop) and an Energizer Lithium AAA. (Sometimes, I carry a 3rd lithium ion battery)
• A small black pen
• Triple ziplock containing:
  • Safety pins
  • Rolled masking tape
  • Panadol/Tylenol and piriton (antihistamine)

[Bottom row]

• Ziplock containing some paper, alcohol wipe and bandage
• 2 toothpicks

Wallet

Besides the usual (some cards, id, cash, emergency contacts), I carry:

• A ziplock containing an alcohol wipe, band aid, and a personal card
• Picture of my college CF (HRAACF)
• Some paper
• A homemade chart of [music] notes and their frequencies, as well as my flashlight (Liteflux LF2XT) operation manual cheatsheet
• Band-aid
• A homemade chart containing various knots, in case I forget how to tie them

Keychain

Besides my keys:

• My ‘backup of backup’ flashlight (Fenix E01)
• Mini Fox40 whistle
• Mini compass
• Small plastic container containing musician earplugs (Etymotic ER20), and 2 guitar picks

That ends the list of all the things I carry with me at all times. I am, of course, missing some items which I wouldn’t mind adding, and some items which I should add. But I’m already at the limit of what I can carry without it becoming noticeable.

In general, if I were to recommend some items which EVERYONE should ALWAYS have, it would be these:

• Tissue – I shouldn’t need to mention why
• Small flashlight – Something which most people lack, but I have been in situations when the power went out, and I would have been trapped in a building if not for this. (Actually, it was because I got trapped in a dark building that I started to carry one) If you frequent the underground or buildings with sealed stairwells, THIS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Your cellphone screen does not count. You can get a simple coin flashlight for just $1 in most places, and it could save your life!
• Whistle – If you get trapped, or if you are in a place out of sight
• Small utility knife, if you can

Items I carry in my backpack

On longer trips or car trips, I will take my backpack with me. Now, this is where the ridiculousness starts, with the crazy amount of things I have in my backpack. Over time, I will probably streamline things a bit more, and take out some things which I don’t need.

Here’s my backpack:

It has 4 compartments and 2 side pockets.
Shown are the items in the side pockets: A small water bottle, emergency poncho, and emergency [mylar] “space” blanket.

The 1st back compartment is usually empty, and contains whatever I may need to carry. However, it does contain this flashlight:

which may look like your average Maglite 2D. However, looks can be deceiving – it is actually a VERY heavily modified maglite which puts out more lights than your car headlamps and can shine up to 200 meters away! It can even start newspaper on fire if you try…

The 2nd back compartment is also relatively empty for whatever goods I may need to place inside. However, it does contain these items:

• Pack of tissue
• In-Ear headphones (Etymotic er4p)
• Spare socks & spare t-shirt, for emergencies if I need to change (both inside a plastic bag)

Here is where things get crazy:

3rd compartment (near the front):

This compartment contains several sub compartments, but I will just show everything in the 3rd compartment:
From left to right:
[Top row]

• Umbrella
• Ziplock containing notepad and pen
• A couple meters of nylon rope (waiting to change this to paracord)
• Small philips screwdriver
• Large philips screwdriver
• Long tipped pliers
• Red decorative string in ziplock

[Middle row]

• A couple CDs used for troubleshooting computers
• Small swiss army knife
• Lighter
• Double sealed, small tube of superglue
• Short stick of hot glue
• Self winding Mini-USB cord
• Ziplock containing contact treatment (for electrical contacts) – DeOxit Red & Gold
• Ziplock containing 2 Energizer Lithium AAAs

[Bottom row]

• Big plastic bag
• Salt
• Pepper
• Mini Card reader – a very popular item!
• 3.5mm -> 6.5mm TRS converter (for headphones etc)

[Not in picture] 4GB USB flash drive

4th (front) compartment:
Left to right:
[Top row]

• Metal chopsticks. They’ve come in more useful than chopsticks before, as they’re strong
• Big ziplock containing:
  • Syringe
  • Surgical Gloves
  • Surgical Masks (2x)
  • Various 1st aid items such as:
    • Cotton buds
    • Antiseptic wipes
    • Bandages
    • Various pills
• Tissue in ziplock
• Ziplock containing various vials of:
  • Heavy grease/lubricant
  • Lighter fluid
  • Cleaning Alcohol (Isopropyl)
  • Detergent
  • Light oil
• Toothbrush & Toothpaste

[Middle row]

• Sealed bag of pemmican (Ground beef jerky & rendered beef fat) – Courtesy Shannon Wong who made this batch!
• Two cereal bars
• Small spray can containing water
• Ziplock containing fork & spoon, teabags and aluminum foil

[Bottom row]

• Tin can, in which I keep the remaining items on the bottom row. The tin can comes in useful as a bowl/cup, and it can also be put on a fire if needed (I did cook an egg in it once)
• Ziplock containing roll of duct tape and masking tape
• Ziplock containing soap
• Ziplock containing eyemask

For portability, I made it cross platform, and have tested it on Windows XP, Mac OSX, and Ubuntu 9.04. Some of the debugging text seems to be a bit buggy, but it otherwise works. It’s just a stand-alone commandline executable, so you’ll have to run it from the command prompt. (I can’t be bothered to build 3 different GUI front-ends for the different OSes, even though GTK is an option)

I’m not currently posting the source code, and I don’t currently have access to my Ubuntu installation & binary executable, so all I’m posting for now is the Win32 & Mac OSX binaries.

Download:
audiostreamer.zip [610KB, Win32]
audiostreamer.tar.gz [37KB, Mac OSX 10.5+]

Here is the commandline usage:

usage:     audiostreamer.exe <type> <port> <hostname>
<type>     specifies whether we are running as a server or client
           Values: 's' (server) or 'c' (client)
<port>     specifies the host/port to listen on (as server) or to
           connect to (as client)
<hostname> specifies the host to connect to (as client). No effect
           as server

I made use of portaudio, libpthread (win32) for this project.

Audiostreamer will use your default input (For win32 – I haven’t implemented ASIO support yet, so it uses your WAVE input. For Mac OS, it should take your default CoreAudio input – I haven’t actually tested audio input on Mac OS)

Audio is streamed through the TCP port of your choosing. You NEED a fast network connection for this, or you may experience buffer underruns. Make sure you forward your port if needed (through your firewall/router)

Let’s say you have 2 files which are supposed to be identical, but each of them is MISSING a chunk from the whole file. An example is that you’re downloading 2 torrent files, one downloaded the 1st half, but the other only has the 2nd half. They both have the same file size, though.

This tool for Win32 will allow you to merge them:

DOWNLOAD HERE (585KB)

WARNING: I didn’t spend much time on it, so it’s very basic – doesn’t even have an icon or taskbar entry. In fact, it may be buggy and may crash. Who knows?

Enjoy =)

Download it HERE

Hail to the King

You came to us a man, in very nature God
Pierced for our iniquities as You hung upon the cross
But God exalted You to the highest place
And gave to You the right to bear
The Name above all names
That at the Name of Jesus we should bow
And every tongue confess that You are Lord
And when You come in glory for the world to see
We will sing …

Hail to the King, in all His splendor and majesty
Hail to the King of kings, Lord Jesus, our God

We eagerly await the coming of the day
When the glory of the risen King will shine upon the earth
Then rival thrones will fall before the Lord of all
And hail supreme authority in the true and living God
That at the Name of Jesus we will bow
As every tongue confesses You as Lord
And when You come in glory for the world to see
We will sing …

Hail to the King, in all His splendour and majesty
Hail to the King of kings, Lord Jesus, our God

You can listen to it HERE!

Ignore the vocals =D And I could have spent more time on it, but, the hymn still has the same content either way!

Because He Lives (Bill Gaither)
God sent His son, they called Him, Jesus;
He came to love, heal and forgive;
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the pride and joy he gives;
But greater still the calm assurance:
This child can face uncertain days because He Lives!

And then one day, I’ll cross the river,
I’ll fight life’s final war with pain;
And then, as death gives way to vict’ry,
I’ll see the lights of glory and I’ll know He lives!

When you have to carry two 22kg speakers, one in each hand, it can quickly become tiring! I quickly realized that it has all to do with your hand grip – since your arms are just down by your sides – it’s your hands which carry all that weight!

So, what better way to train carrying equipment than [besides carrying equipment..] using… handgrippers? Frankly, I don’t know! I found these: Captains of Crush hand grippers, which seem to do the job nicely! Already, carrying equipment is much easier, after spending over a month with the No. 1 and No. 1.5 grippers!

Happy gripping, and happy carrying equipment!

(Btw, yes, I’ve had to carry equipment from our storage room to my dorm, which is… 915 meters, according to google earth)

On Bended Knee

Visit the link for more information on the album!

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28:19-20

We are on God’s mission, to reach out to the unreached with the Father’s love. One thing which I have realized throughout the year is that – it doesn’t matter where we are, we can still shine God’s love and we ARE on mission all the time!

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” ~ John 13:34-35

Why are we in Christian community? What should Christian community look like? Sometimes, it may be hard to figure out. But thing I know for sure – we should be in community to love one another – and just not any love, but love which SHOWS all men that we are followers of Jesus Christ. When people look at our community – it should SHOW. Community should be a form of witness.

“… for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” ~ Philippians 4:11b-13

Something which God has been teaching me slowly, and something which I still have a long way to go – we will face many circumstances, both good and bad. However, a lot of the times we feel that we only need to turn to God in dire times, to let go of the bad things to God. We many times pray for the things we want to get rid of, like a bad habit, or the problems we see in our community. And indeed, we should!

But one thing I have learned recently – we have to let go of the things we WANT to God, the things we want to hold on to. Take Abraham for example – who got his only son Isaac, and when God called him to sacrifice his son, Abraham did what was right – to give his only son back to God, to let it all go into God’s hands.

When we surrender everything into God’s hands, He can bless us so much more in return, and we can find true peace in all circumstances, even if we do not fully understand everything. Which leads on to my next and final verse for now:

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:11

We cannot ever understand what God’s plan is, or why he allows certain things to happen. However, we can only trust in His perfect hands, that he will make everything beautiful.

As the Lord is our shepherd, we do not need to know the destination, but let just follow him step by step, trusting in Him, and surrendering everything to Him!

If you want to read a bit more, I also wrote a bit more of what God has been teaching me in my latest album preface, which you can listen to as well!

2008 has been an adventure, filled with many surprises, both good and bad, unexpected twists and turns, and ups and downs. I do not even know where to start describing the year, and in ways, I don’t think I can do so at all!

But, even in my short reflection of the year, there has been one thing which has remained constant in my life – the love of God, giving me hope and encouraging me. I have learned so much throughout the year – things which will change me for eternity.

A lot of things I do not feel I can share openly – but one thing I will want to say, looking forward to 2009, seeing what the new year brings – I have no expectations of good or bad things, for I do not know what the future holds, but I can trust in the Lord’s love, which endures forever.

Through all circumstances, God can teach us and change us. It doesn’t have to be through bad things, nor good things – but in ALL things.

So, with the Lord as my shepherd, I look to 2009, to see what new things God can teach me!

Blessed be the name of the Lord, who has brought me through 2008!