He shoots. He scores! 11/11/11

If you're a numbers person set on having a baby with a 11-11-11 birth date, today is the day to get started. (Or, you know, this weekend. These things aren't timed too specifically.)

Personally I know of a couple that have 01-01-11 as their special number. So I KNOW they'll be rethinking their weekend plans. Hopefully she'll call me tomorrow to cancel the piano lesson :)

LINK

Back to Twain Harte

Last weekend we went back to Twain Harte for our now annual snow vacation. We stayed at the same cabin as last year but with two different families. The Maks and Trans both have recent new additions to their families so they had to sit out this time. But they definitely plan to be there next year.

We originally planned to go on President's weekend, but it was booked. And good thing, because there was hardly any snow left around the cabin. The lack of rain in January caused most of the snow to melt. Fortunately, the main snow hill still had enough to sled on, whew! I feel sorry for those people coming later this month when that hill dries up. Boy will they be disappointed!

More big kids this year, so a lot more sledding.

All smiles before attempting the big snow hill for the first time.

Last year, there were about 20 people here. This year, just us.

 You can ask my wife what she "took a big ol'..." of.

A new play area they discovered. What's with kids and water?

 We found this abandoned bunker. I dared them to see if there was a body in there.

60 degree weather and beautiful surroundings.

She's a big girl now and can sled on her own (frees up daddy to do his own thing).

When staying at a cabin with friends, it's really all about the junkfood.

On the last day, the hill was icy and super fast! And it had noticeably less snow.

Um, so what do you expect from a family of Asian female drivers?

It's like that Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland...
There's a ghoul sitting behind you the whole time and you don't even know.

No injuries and we all still mostly remain friends :) We got home by 10 p.m. Sunday.

We're already looking forward to next season where we'll hopefully get two cabins and six families. We may even go twice. Better reserve your spot soon!

Oakland Crimespotting

If you're like me, you've long moved out of Oakland but your roots are still there. Whether it be your parent's house, your church, or your job, you find yourself in Oakland at least once a week. You wish Oakland was still the way it used to be growing up, but times have changed and it's hard to deny that even the "safer" parts of Oakland are no longer immune to crime.

Oakland Crimespotting is an informative interactive website on all the crime reports in Oakland. For the past year, I've been tracking the crime around my old house and it's pretty scary! I cringe when I read about the activities in my former backyard: burglary-forcible entry, carjacking-strong arm, assault, robbery-firearm, battery, etc. Wow.

On any given day/week, the map is just littered with colored spots indicating how much evil is lurking throughout the city. For those of us living in the suburbs, it's quite an eye-opener seeing so many colored spots daily. But then again, even in our own perceived, safe neighborhoods, I'm sure crimes are committed everyday also, but those are usually just theft and vandalism (non-violent). Also, we have the luxury of not knowing about them.

In 2010, there were 90 murders in Oakland. That's a decrease from the 120 in 2007, but still way too high. But it's not just the murders that scare me, it's the other assault, robbery and crimes of opportunities that has me on high alert at all times. Knowing that at any intersection, some gangbanger can blow through a red light and plow into you (yes, that happened to my friend on her way to her mom's house), that gives me reason to avoid the city as much as possible.

Just last month, three people were charged with 132 felony counts including TWO DOZEN home invasion robberies "targeting mostly immigrant families of Asian descent." Two happened on Wisconsin and Delaware streets, which is above MacArthur Blvd, the psychological border that separates the good from the not-so-good.

It's a given that Asians are targeted because we tend to be weak and carry a lot of cash/gadgets. Last year there were a few high profile cases involving black on Asian hate crimes. So it's hard not to assume the worst when seeing a group of ghetto teens with saggy pants and hoodies. That's why I avoid public parts of Oakland at night, even Chinatown. Even if I find a killer deal on Craigslist after dinner, it'll have to wait until the next day.

Below I've listed a few neighborhoods that my readers may have interest in. The easiest way to follow the action is to subscribe to the RSS feed.

Chinatown: 3X

Dimond/Upper Fruitvale: 22X

Coolidge to Crestmont: 22Y

Upper High Street: 25X

Montclair: 13Z

China Hill/Haddon: 15X

For those of you new to Oakland, let me just tell you a few streets to stay away from, especially at night: San Pablo, Seminary, 73rd, International, Foothill, Martin Luther King, anything below MacArthur, and any area around the Coliseum or a BART station.

Stay safe my friends.

How To Use Multiple iTunes Libraries on a Single Computer

From Simon Blog

Chances are that you need to share your computer with other family members. Apparently you do not want to share your own iTunes library with others. You want to keep your own library and create a new one for other users.

There is a hidden feature that you may not know. iTunes does allow you to create separate library for individual user. Just hold down the Option key (for Mac user) / Alt key (for Windows user) each time you launch iTunes. You’ll then be prompted with options to create a new iTunes library or choose an existing iTunes library.

Let’s say you’re now sharing the computer with your mum and dad. Simply select the “Create Library…” option and create a new library for your mum. Do the same procedures again to create the library for your dad as well.

Later when your dad needs to use iTunes, tell him to hold down the option key (for Mac) or Alt key (for Windows) when launching iTunes. Then select the “Choose Library…” option and select his own iTunes library folder.



By using this technique, each of you can keep music, movies or apps in a separate iTunes library. You can have a complete control of your own library. You can add/delete music or sync your iPhone without affecting other’s iTunes library.

But please note that this method only works on iTunes 9.2 or up. It’s time to upgrade if you’re still using older version.

Avoid the Droid

For those of you sitting on a fence deciding whether to get an iPhone or an Android, today there was a very interesting article on SFGate. I pasted it below.

My favorite quote:

So when users buy an Android phone, what will they get? That depends. How will they get new apps? That also depends. Will those apps work with every Android phone? Probably not.

If you're already on iTunes, there's no reason to downgrade to the Android market. You'll have to reorganize your music/movies and rebuy/download all your apps. The simpler way is to just have one iTunes library for all your media that you can distribute seamlessly across all your Apple devices. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. I can't understand why anyone would want to fragment their media into another marketplace, another file system, just to save a few bucks on that buy-one-get-one free Motorola. But of course if I'm talking to a peecee user, you're already use to doing things the hard way for the sake of saving a few bucks. Carry on, my tortured friend.

All the goodies you get with iOS like Facetime, Airplay, and Airprint, you won't get any of that on a droid, sorry. And don't just take my word. I have a reader who recently swapped her iPhone 4 for a work-issued Sprint EVO. Now she can't sync her iPhoto, music, nor share games with her son, or do Facetime with her iPhone-toting hubby or her iPod Touch. The EVO is chunkier but yet the battery life can't even last a day. Go figure.

And I have another friend who opted for a cheaper Droid only to lose all its photos forever for no reason. Fact is, no mobile operating system is as stable, unified and mature as iOS. And no app store has as many offerings as the Apple App Store. Did you know J.D. Power rated Apple highest in smartphone customer satisfaction four years running?

Spend a little more on an iPhone now, and you'll get it all back when you resell it. Remember, with Android, you'll only get what you deserve.

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Amazon's Android Store Will Make Android Even Messier

Amazon's Android app store, which the company opened to developers this morning, will offer a better experience than the current Android Marketplace run by Google. Apps will be vetted by Amazon (much like Apple does with iTunes), which will get rid of a bunch of crummy apps that don't work right or feature unsavory content like porn.

That's good news for Android users, right?

Not necessarily. Having separate app stores for the same platform contributes to the biggest problem facing Android: fragmentation into a bunch of slightly different platforms, each offering slightly different experiences and supporting different apps. That's not a smooth user experience.

Users have already seen Verizon swap out Google search for Bing search on some phones, and Angry Birds developers Rovio have complained that the app doesn't work as well on some older versions of the platform, forcing them to build a "light" version. Android tablets will require powerful hardware, which means that apps which run fine on them might not run at all on earlier smartphone versions of the platform.

But the problem could get much worse from here. As developer Kevin Marks explained on his blog yesterday--and TechCrunch elaborated on--there are actually two Androids. Most popular Android phones are certified by Google and come with various Google apps built in, such as Gmail and Google Talk. But there's also the underlying Android operating system, which is open-source and can be customized by phone makers, carriers, and even Google competitors like Facebook.

As third parties build more customized phones on Android, expect more unique apps to emerge for each platform--imagine Zynga apps built for a Facebook Android phone, or a specialized Motorola app for backing up music and video, for instance. Amazon's Android app store will be a perfect venue for apps that Google might otherwise not highlight.

So when users buy an Android phone, what will they get? That depends. How will they get new apps? That also depends. Will those apps work with every Android phone? Probably not.

In 2010, users didn't seem to care, and bought phones based on Android anyway. But as the platform fragments further in 2011, that could change.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/01/05/businessinsider-amazons-android-store-will-make-android-even-messier-2011-1.DTL#ixzz1ABakENxT

Christina & Buddy Endless Love

This is the final song of the original 12-minute video. The second half of this segment was shot, edited and compiled the moment the wedding started. The file then had to exported to Quicktime and then burned onto DVD disc. It finished burning five minutes before showtime. Boy I was sweating! I think it turned out well. What do you think?

A Manger is His Throne

As keeping with tradition, here's the CIBC Children's Choir Christmas performance.

Happy New Year everyone.

Welcome to iOS

Thanks to Bank of the West and Christmas gift giving, many of you received either an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad. For many of you, this will be your first Apple product ever! Congratulations! You are about to enter the Apple ecosystem known as iOS. So get ready, as your life is about to change dramatically for the better. And for those of you who opted for an Android or a Best Buy $299 peecee craptop, good for you too, because you truly got what you deserved.

Free Apps
The biggest appeal being on iOS is the iTunes App Store. There are over 300,000 apps available, both paid and free. Many of the free apps are trial versions that have limited functionality or perhaps just the first few levels of a game. The apps you really want are the full version apps, but for free. Most full version paid apps are only offered free for a very limited time. The best website to find out what paid apps are free daily is freeappalert.com. Bookmark it and check everyday, or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Best Stuff
Engadget recently had an useful article "Just got an iPhone?" It's a brief summary of what's available for the iOS products. Another place I like to go for research is iLounge.com where you can research how-to's or sign up as a member to post questions where tons of knowledgeable people can answer. The apps I personally use the most are iBART (BART schedules), WhatsApp (instant messaging via wifi), and Tango (Facetime/phone over wifi and 3G). And of course, Navigon MyRegion for the iPhone or iPad 3G.

Accessories
If you go to the Apple Store or visit the kiosks inside the mall, you'll find that cases and screen protectors will cost upward of $15 and $7 respectively. If you go on ebay you'll find cases and 3-pack screen protectors starting at 99¢. These products are shipped from China so you can take comfort that you're keeping some 11-yo girl employed at the sweat shop. It will also take two weeks to arrive. If you need it sooner, select a US seller, pay an extra dollar or two, and you should receive in three days. So shop the kiosk and touch and feel the one you like. Then come home and find the exact item on ebay for 1/10th the price. Same applies to chargers and cables. Get a few to leave at the office, car, and each computer.

Jailbreak
Jailbreaking will allow you to customize the icons, background and broadcasting (tethering) your 3G signal. It will also allow you to unlock your iPhone for use on T-Mobile. And it will allow you to install unauthorized and pirated apps. So unless you're on T-Mobile or tethering your unlimited data plan for your iPad to piggyback on, I would not recommend jailbreaking. With the latest 4.2 iOS, some of the jailbreak-only features (background, folders, etc) are already included. If you really want to jailbreak, contact me offline, as there are many different procedures for the many different configurations. iPhone Hacks is one of the sites I subscribe to for jailbreaking instructions. For Mac users, iClarified has some great tutorials. If you want to try, here it is: Instructions for jailbreaking iPod Touch 4g

Halo Effect
Back during the days of the iPhone infancy, many industry pundits spoke of the Apple Halo Effect. It states that non-Mac users with first time Apple experience are causing them to purchase a Mac for the first time also. They realize Apple products just work, and work well – a far departure from the peecee environment. For the last five years, Macs have outpaced the entire computer market in terms of sales growth. So obviously many many people are making the smarter choice to switch. My question to you is: Will you see the light and switch too?

Merry Christmas from Bank of the West

Yesterday, along with many of my faithful and happy readers, I received my free iPod Touch from Bank of the West – just in time for Christmas!

I blogged about this in July and many of you jumped on it immediately. To you, you are welcome! You know a great find when you see it and your sense of urgency is to be commended. To the others who ignored my warning that they might pull the promo early only to find out that that's exactly what happened… well sorry, but I TOLD YOU SO!  You know, I can only lead a horse to water… Bottom line, this is a great freebie that required very little effort.

I also predicted at the time that we would receive the then-not-yet-announced 4th generation iPod Touch with dual cameras ($229 value) rather than the 3rd generation ($199). And again I was right! (Well, maybe I was half-right). Last week, people around the web forums were complaining about receiving the older model, including one friend in Alameda. But the latest batch of iPods delivered yesterday were all reported to be the latest 4th generation! Woohoo! Yep, good things do come to those who wait!

Rumor is that the people who both set up direct deposit and used the card for 20 debit transactions were rewarded with the newer model for being potential excellent customers. But who really knows? Maybe it just comes down to us being special and them being not. Who said life was fair?

So far, online banking at Bank of the West is pretty straightforward. I have yet to walk into a branch office because I don't need to. I can cancel my direct deposit, stop doing direct deposit and bill pay, and it still will not incur any fees. The checking account is really free! My only gripe is that there is a $3 fee to wire money out to another bank. Other than that, I may keep this account for awhile, or until the next great promotion :)

Merry Christmas to all of you.




Photo credit: Bryan's FB

Lumber for Slumber, Part 3

Over the weekend many of you inquired about the status of my loft bed. Well it's been completed since Thanksgiving, but the room was a total wreck and I was too lazy to clean it up for the photos. Plus it took me longer than expected to install the handrail. So here it is (and please excuse the mess).

Building the stairs took quite a bit of research and planning in determining the length and amount of steps. They needed to be strong enough and wide enough to support adults in case my mom needs to get up there to administer first aid – that's why a ladder would not have worked. The angles could get quite complicated if you wanted a proper descent, but seeing that I don't have the space for a long stairwell, I just stuck to a simple 45 degree cuts. Cutting the stair stringers were surprisingly easy once you get the hang of it. A portable sliding compound miter saw was all that I needed to go through the 2x12 beams (Thanks Larry!). Without that saw, it can get quite tricky. In fact, I could have built 90% of the entire loft with just that one saw! Other tools I used was a table saw and a router. The tools that could have made my life easier were an impact driver, a jig saw, and a dado blade insert for my table saw – all on my future wish list.

Whoops, excuse me, I didn't mean to disturb you two... Fact: The loft bed they built for their daughter was the inspiration for me to attempt this project. I figure if they could do it, I can do it too. Plus I wanted all of their leftover lumber :) The carpet remnant is leftover from my office when I installed the laminate flooring.

Hey, no girls allowed! Now you know what moms really do when us men are at work.

Grace is thinking: "Wow, had Myron built us one of these love-nest hideaways, I can totally see ourselves with nine kids!"

Being seven feet up, adult supervision is paramount when young children are up here. As you can see, Snow White and the dolls were all jumping overboard under the watchful eyes of this responsible family.

After the busting Patty and Glenn up there alone as well as the Snow White incident, I had to install a gate and impose some basic house rules.

The view from above. I originally was planning to build a floor-to-ceiling bookcase, but instead I found a used Ikea Pax wardrobe at a garage sale around the corner. I also raised Colby's bed 4 inches so that I could squeeze his dresser under the bed to save space. Now I can't wait until the boys move out so I can convert this loft into my man-cave. A wall-mounted tv and a mini fridge is all I need!

On Black Friday Home Depot had 50-ct LED Christmas lights for $1.98 – I should have bought more!

Now whenever anyone comes over, they always want to check out the loft! During the cold weather, it's especially quite cozy and warm up there. We hope to enjoy the loft for years to come. Who knows, now that I know what to do, I may even attempt another one in the other room...