zknives.com blog

Forza Italia!!!

Canon MP-E 65 arrived - The lens is a monster! Never looked that big even closed, but once you open it for 5x magnification, OMG... Looks like bazooka. I took a few shots to test it. Results sucked :( Very difficut to focus at 5x magnification. Now I have to get the angle viewfider from Canon. Quite a money trap all this macro thing :)

Two new reviews in Kukri section - Added review of 18" Ganga Ram Special(GRS) and the AK Bowie. Galleries for both have been up for a while now.

HDS EDC 60XR received - Today I received HDS Systems EDC 60 XR. Lots of improvements over older Arc 4 and Arc 4p flashlights. Of course the price tag is a match, at 245$. Damn, those pocket flashlights are getting more and more expensive :) I'll write up a review once I use it for a while, but first impressions are good, it is an improvement.

New article in knife articles - That is the overview of macro pictures of the sharpened and original edges on various knives. Check it out - Knife edges under magnification. Not finished yet. Part one and part two completed, describing mirror polished edges magnified 16x or 32x and various aspects of the photos and knives.

Added articles section to knife pages. Can be found at http://zknives.com/knives/articles/. So far Knife steel FAQ by Joe Talmadge.

Started work on knife edge degradation study performed this summer. Pix are already

in the knife album - Edge Degradation Study. Hopefully article will be up soon too :)

That nanopod or iPod Nano... Scratchy as hell. Especially in black color. By now everyone knows it, except the apple themselves of course. Useful advice from them, don't remove that sticker. Year right. What the hell is wrong with those designers at apple anyway. As apple proudly announced it took them 6 month from concept to the shipped product. Damn, those guys could've waited 1 more day to carry it around and see all the scratches. Still, very nifty thing to have, but apple sux0rz big time for doing this. Looks like it was almost deliberate. Mine received first visible scratch in 2 minutes after removing that plastic sticker, after I wiped it with cotton cloth. Sheezzz... By now, after over a week it looks real beat up, even though I carry it in separate pocket with its headphones.

CAPTCHA added to guestbook. Thanks to the spammers posting over 1000 spam msgs in my guestbook on zvis.com I had to add CAPTCHA. That is random generated code to identify human from the spambot. Sorry for the inconvenience.

New Knife Pix posted in HI Bowie gallery and Phil Wilson's CPM-10V Hunter. Also, few new pix in knife edge degradation study gallery.

Black iPod Nano received :) That was fast. Ordered on 16th. Apple site said it was backordered for a week, but got it on Monday 3 days later, with engraving and all. Even though I am no fan of the apple this gadget totally rocks.

WC setup completed :) Which means I've successfully installed GPU waterblock too. Works just great. Overclocked GPU core from 520mhz to 560mhz and now load temps never exceed 46C, while before on air cooling it was ~60C on 520mhz. Idle temps are down as well, 36C vs. 45-47C on air. Overall I am glad I did it. It was worth all the time and nerves ;)
More details will be posted on comp page.

Ok, my rig is officially WC now. Not without the problems tho. New mobo (Asus P4C800-E) was DOA, had all the fun with it including installation, troubleshooting and the removal, old mobo install...Sigh. What's better older model Maze 4 from Danger Den didn't fit my ATI X800Pro VIVO, even though Danger Den tech support said it would, had to order a new GPU block. Arriving Friday. So far only CPU is watercooled. Interesting thing, idle temps went up, from 39 to 42, but load temps never go above 50 now. Which is kewl. Dunno if I can OC further on this mobo though. Well, we'll see.

Watercooling System assembled. Doing 36 hour standalone test run. So far so good, knocking on the wood.

Copystand received!. Which means I can take better macro pix :)

New pictures in the knife macro gallery. More edges, more magnification :) Now around 32x. Take a look.

Breadcrumbs navigation toolbar added. Just to make your navigation easier. Lemme know if there are bugs.

Kukri Kami markings gallery posted. Check them out, Kami markings gallery. In case you were wondering which Kami made your HI kukri. Not all too comprehensive for now, but I am working on it with help from BF kukri folks :)

Knife edge and serration macro photos posted. Check them out, Knife Edge Macro Gallery and Knife Serrations Macro Gallery.

Finally tested Canon EF-S 60mm Macro lens. Well, in short the lens rocks. I like it a lot better than my old Canon EF 50mm compact macro. Although for twice the price that was expected. Review in progress.

All feeds are working again. Fixed a bug in feed generators. All up and running now.

zknives.com is public now. That's pretty much it ;) Apparently and obviously there will be bugs, missing links and such. Lemme know if you find a problem. Thanks!

New site is up. zknives.com is up. Miscellaneous Knife, kitchen cutlery reviews, flashlight reviews, software, and hardware reviews and so on. Whatever relates to my hobbies.