End of 2012. Start of 2013.

I have not kept up with the likes of my blog as of late. Which is a little bit disappointing but I have been quite busy. 2013 will be a fun year and I look forward to it. A few things have happened in the last stretch of December and that has made me very excited.

2012 started out a bit slow and I set a few goals for myself but they were not fully achieved. However, I have had a progressive year. Although it did not go as smoothly as I wanted; I put down some anchor points that will help me through 2013. These are the anchor points that we need to use and remember how they effect us on our journey through life. Always remember how we progress from failures and success.

I didn't really accomplish some goals that I had set out. Did not really lose weight nor did I fully fix my sleeping but I look to adjust that this month. I have a lot to do and catch up on. What do I look forward to this new year? Getting healthy. I have to lose weight and get back in shape. It's not something to just think about as a goal or a joke. I should put the energy forward and be serious about it.

In the past year I have grown more confident, a bit more active and have taking initiative to get things done and meet new people. I have to carry that energy forward and make use of it. No more diddle daddle. The last several months has been very exciting. I have become a huge fan of Lindsey Stirling. She is a violinist who is very energetic and has a great personality! I got the pleasure to meet her in person when she played a concert here in Vancouver, BC. Least to say I was super excited. I've loved a lot of her pieces and her playing in person is full of energy and passion.

Lindsey Stirling performing at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver, BC, Canada

On top of that I got a CD and my violin case signed by her. It was truly an inspiring moment. I am very glad to have attended this concert and taken photos of her.
The rest can be found here : Lindsey Stirling Concert photo album.
To see Lindsey perform live and watching her passion and personality shine through her music, dancing and playing is very inspiring. It reminds us that it doesn't matter who tells us what we can and what we cannot do. We have to find it in ourselves to find the strength to go forward and achieve what we want.
Go down trying then to not have tried at all.

It is very frequent that we get put down by our own emotions. Our lingering expectations and hopes for something in hoping that our effort and time is recognized by others. There are times you think to yourself whether or not that time spent is worth it or not. If people even care. Sometimes it takes time for the progress to pay off. We get knocked to our knees but we have to climb our way back out. One has to look back on the past, the failures and the successes to learn from that experience to grow and progress forward.
Inspiration, motivation and passion is the fuel that a person needs to work towards their goals. Sometimes they are big goals and sometimes they are small goals we set for our daily routine.


I started working for a company local here in my city which has been fun. Like all workplaces there will be frustrating moments and times where I will really have to haul ass but it feels good to be there. What they hold for me in the future I am not sure but I look forward to it in the long run and we never know where it may or will take us. How this coincides with my future plans; I do not know but things will progress and I will find out. I really do look forward to promoting events and games in the local municipality and get the name out.

I got a bit of fun shooting a cabaret show in December for a friend and that was a lot of fun!. Cabaret shows are very fun to attend and watch. There is so many forms of dance and art.

Austin Jeng Photography Facebook Fan Page

All in all; 2012 could have been much better but I pulled out of a lot of slumps and I feel so much better emotionally and mentally. I do feel like I am striving forward and fixing a lot of problems that have been pulling me down in the last few years. Emotional slumps are the worst and to break out of that cycle has been a major relief. Sometimes you don't realize just how much you have connected with someone until they suddenly turn around on you and as time passes you watch all the bridges slowly burn away.

Life continues forward. Always remember to try to find the bright side of things, stay optimistic and objective. There are always things that will try to put us down and we just have to find that shining light and pull our way through. Friends, family and the communities we participate in are there to help us. Don't feel so  proud or be afraid to look weak to reach an arm out for a buddy to help you out. In the end; if those are the people who are criticizing you then you need to be looking for a different group of people. Look hard and dig around and generally (and hopefully) you find someone that can lend you a hand.

Have a good year everyone.
Good luck with life, school, family, work and our personal health.

Signing out,
Shroker

MILSIG magazine collar comparsion

I should note that the magazines I am using is an older gen 19 round magazine for both MILSIG and RAP4.     Since the release of the MILSIG Paradigm Pro’s new magazine system, the square head collars, many people have asked the question “What is the difference between the round collars and the square collars?” “How do they operate from each other? Pros and Cons”.

    Throughout the years before the Paradigm Pro square head magazines were introduced it is frequent that people did not really have a clear understanding what the differences are between the RAP4 magazines and the MILSIG magazines. At most people knew they are interchangeable and compatible with each others markers. Thus the question is, what really separates the three magazines in terms of operation mechanics.

    I will start with the new MILSIG Paradigm Pro. The current square head magazines is designed for the Paradigm Pro What is new about the square head collar is the head is constructed from polymer. The only metal parts is collar detent and the spring that holds the detent bar up. The MILSIG square head collar replaces the ball bearing round collar system. There is a bar that runs lengthwise across the farther side of the opening with both ends of the bar protruding out the sides of collar body a little bit. When the magazine is inserted into the magwell; there is a little ramp within that will push the bar down as the magazine is inserted. The balls than are clear to enter the chamber without being hindered by anything.

                                                                 
    In comparison to the round head feedneck collars; the round collars uses 3 ball bearings to hold the balls in place. When the collar is depressed it creates room for the ball bears to “roll back”. With the spring pushing the paintball rounds upwards , the paintballs squeeze through and then is chambered by the bolt. The problem with the ball bearing design is shooting low to mid-grade paintball or paintball that have not been storaged properly. These are the paintballs that are oblong, dimpled or a shape that is not spherical. The problem is non-uniform paintballs get stuck in the ball bearings which leads to either a misfeed or a ball chop. 

    The RAP4 magazine uses 6 ball bearings as opposed to the MILSIG’s 3 ball bearing collar. However, the RAP4 ball bearings are smaller than the MILSIG ball bearings and this leads to problems with smaller paintballs. In my personal experience when storing the magazines upside down (feedneck facing downwards) smaller paintballs in the 0.679 caliber region will roll out past the ball bearings. This is the main difference I have discovered between the MILSIG and the RAP4 round collar feedneck and can lead to problems for some users. The RAP4 has a shorter collar clip and the MILSIG round feed neck has a taller collar clip.

                                                                 
    I hope this helps clear up some confusion between the differences in the magazines. I often hear people wonder what the differences are between the RAP4 and the MILSIG magazines and excluding the internal mechanics, physical differences of the winder and what not, the feedneck ball bearings is the biggest difference.

In the next article I will talk about the MILSIG Paradigm Pro magazine in detail. Stay tuned and thank you for reading!. Visit www.magfedpb.com for more magazine-fed paintball information!

MILSIG Paradigm Pro - First Impressions

On Friday, 28th of September 2012, I picked up the Paradigm Pro from the MILSIG Canada office. I have been eagerly waiting for this ever since it was announced and after decisions and questions from announcement to release, it is now in my possession.

I should note I will be mostly writing this in comparison to my Paradigm 1. The K-Series is roughly the same size give or take.

This passing Saturday I brought it down to my local paintball field, North Shore Paintball where people were anxiously awaiting for me to show them this new toy. My initial impressions when I brought the Paradigm Pro home is the look and feel. The coating is a different from the Paradigm 1 nor the K-Series Mk II. It has a nice texture and feel to it in its own form. The platform has been working out and shedded some weight!. The Paradigm Pro is lighter than the Paradigm 1 and K-Series Mk 1 and features a brand new one piece, 400mm rifled barrel which has been rifled for First Strike rounds and of course, is First Strike round capable! The marker is also equipped with MILSIG’s new spool-valve blow forward internals known as the HEAT core.

Paradigm Pro @ North Shore Paintball , Vancouver, BC

The new square head magazines for the Paradigm Pro is a big improvement over the traditional round magazine heads. The traditional round collar heads have 3 ball bearings that retain the rounds and thus occasionally you could get oblong balls stuck in the bearings. This would result in either a misfeed or a chop. The new square head magazine collar uses a sliding bar so when the magazine enters the chamber; the bar is depressed allowing the rounds to be fed and chambered. This eliminates (I would hope so) a lot of misfeed issues. The user does not have to worry as much about oblong shaped balls getting stuck during feeding.

The Paradigm Pro features a nice egro grip handle and a smooth trigger pull. Although I think in the future having a switch safety will be pretty wicked. That just complicates the mechanical aspect of it. The trigger has a small amount of slack giving you ample amount of space to get to the razors edge and then a smooth pull to the rear to fire.

The weight of the Paradigm Pro has been reduced. I don’t have the exact numbers yet but reciever of the Paradigm Pro vrs the Paradigm 1 is noticable and feels ligther and more versatile. Not having that steel hammer in the action group probably helped reduced the weight too.

In the next part I will write about the magazines, the operations, advantages and disadvantages (that I have found so far, although so far I have not found any negatives yet).
I am looking forward to more games with the Paradigm Pro. Overall I am impressed at the overall build. It feels solid, balanced weight and operates quite smoothly. The sound report is also not as loud as the previous K and M series markers and does not blurp when the marker is out of air.

Upcoming posts!

     In the next week or two. I am hoping to get some posts up. I will be putting out the first part of MILSIG's new flagship marker, the Paradigm Pro. I also will be writing my little adventure into modifying my Musical Fidelity X-Can V2. Literally not having ever learned how to solder it was quite an adventure. I know eh, someone who loves electronics and loves building stuff as much as I do, I have never learnt how to use a solder nor solder anything. Never got the chance. Least to say, it went pretty well. I did a lot of reading, videos and asked my friends for advice and help. The overall result went smoothly and I did not end up with any cold joints!

School!

    I have been pretty busy with school lately and still trying to work out the whole getting to bed thing and just knowing when to ignore people and getting into bed myself. One can only do so much but never comprise yourself too much. Especially when you know its an issue.

    Quantum Creativity is my little blog/journal thing I started up last month. When I get around to it I usually write in my journal and decided that some of them I might write into here and expand on the topic. I sometimes will just write what is on my mind or my feelings. Sort of similar to my Xanga but different in a way. Anyways, I hope my project continues to grow and create a place for friends and friends of friends to find interestin artciles to read about. Pictures that I might put up of my own or others or even music and other art related things.

    Shroker's Corner will hopefully grow once I get it going. I know its not as grand as I make it out to be but I can hope right? I know I have some friends who enjoy the stuff I put up so who knows!.

Shroker