Archive for the 'Ramblings' Category

03
Nov

Birthday Time

Seems like November is Birthday Month around me.  Happy Birthday to all my friends and family (about a dozen).

Gils has asked me to update my wishlist for this year.  I’ll keep it up for Christmas too. Clicky here!!!

PS: Since wordpress has added a Poll feature, lets try it out.

12
Sep

Travel Charging Solutions

I spend a fair share of time away from home at hotels or in Victoria. For anyone that travel frequently, you know how much hassle lugging chargers and cables can be. On top of your pluggables, you also have to worry about finding enough outlets at hotels.

The first solution that I found is the Monster Outlet To Go 3 outlet surge protector. Lina and I travel with 2 or 3 cell phones, laptop, and a couple of iPods. Of course, we have one surge protector each. It’s the perfect travel companion as the short cable plug into itself, and is neat and tidy. Couple that with a USB-to-wall-charger and we can charge your USB device with ease.

Perfect!

 

 

Or so I thought…

 

 

Recently however, I’ve discovered an even better device while browsing at Vancouver’s only Apple Store.

Belkin offers what they call a Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger: a surge protector with 3 household plugs and 2 USB outlets. How awesome is that. The main plug rotates 90 degrees to hang vertically or horizontally off the wall outlet.

Now I don’t have to take my charger for my work Moto Razr and iPhone/iPod. And, that still leaves all three outlets for things like laptops and other battery chargers.

All this for only $25 at the Apple Store.

Nice!

17
Aug

iPhone use on BC Ferries

The iPhone is an awesome way to kill time on the ferry!! This was the first weekend that I headed to Victoria with my new phone, and it made the time absolutely fly.

I was very sceptical of Rogers/Fido coverage for Data between Tsawwassen and Swartz bay. I expected that my internet use would drop out frequently and be super frustrating. But, to my surprise EDGE coverage is wide spread and strong. 3G isn’t too bad either.

I noticed that, with 3G, I dropped my connection a few times which caused it to switch to EDGE, dropping the entire connection momentarily. If you just turn off 3G, the connection is very solid–a strong and steady signal.

(As I am typing this, the captain announced that a pod of Orcas can be seen up ahead. I’ve never seen so many people moving so fast on the ferry.)

I’m looking forward to future ferry trips.

10
Aug

Dr Horrible’s Sing-along Blog

I’ve heard murmurs about “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along Blog” on Twitter and podcast, and being the the curious person that I am, looked it up on iTunes. The reviews were pretty good and the price was only $5.99 (CDN) for 3 acts at about 15 minutes each. Sounds like good entertainment value.

The story is about Dr Horrible and his struggle to get into the “Evil League of Evil” and to win over his love interest Penny. You can watch this for free on Hulu (if it says you can’t watch it because you are not in the US just ignore it and you should be able to view it) or purchase a high quality version on iTunes. Who knew that Neil Patrick Harris could sing?

Edit: Looks like Hulu is only allowing it to be seen from the US.

Trailer below:

20
Jul

Icons

I’m always surpised with the internet.  There are alot of people with great talent giving away their hard work.

Last night I was updating my “RSS et al” portion of my sidebar when, all of a sudden, all of it disappeared.  I don’t know what I did but it was gone.  What sucks about the sidebar is you have to type out the entire HTML code for the icons and all hyperlinks.  Pain in the BUTT!

Originally, I was just planning to add an icon, but now I thought I’d look for new icons.  I came across AODdesign! blog.  They have very cool web2.0 icons.  All for free!  All you need to agree is to use it for non-commercial applications and to link back to the website. Now I’ve updated my icons with the glossy ones from their site.

flickr round

Check it out.

09
Jul

Improv Everywhere

I subscribe to many blogs and RSS feeds. They are always a good read, but one of them really stand out. You won’t get a post-a-day or maybe not even one a month, but it is my most anticipated. Improv Everywhere is a blog of a group of people based in New York who like to pull of pranks. They are never doing anything against the law or endanger anyone’s safety.

The latest post, Human Mirror, takes place on a subway train with 8 sets of twins. Each sibling is on opposite sides of the train mirroring each others movement.

All their pranks are really funny, with my favourites being Frozen Grand Central, Best Game Ever, Food Court Musical, and of course their famous No Pants 2k8 days.

Check out the video for below and followthis link to the post itself for the behind-the-scenes look.

30
Jun

Back to Vancouver, off to Seattle (again)

Now that we are back in Vancouver, and surprised by how hot it is, we will be heading out to Seattle for a Mariners game. Seattle vs. Toronto on Tuesday night. Do I cheer for Ichiro or the Jays.

By the end of the week, I will post up details of the SF trip as well as the pictures taken there.

Time for some sleep. Must get up in 4.5 hours.

18
Jun

SFO I Go

SF-DT.png

I’ve just finished packing my bags for my Vacation. It’s Fio and Phil’s wedding in San Jose this weekend–Congratulations! I am totally excited.

Tomorrow after work, I’ll be picking up Lina and heading to the Seattle. Why am I flying out of SeaTac and not YVR? Because we can buy two roundtrip tickets through the US compared to Canada. Boo. Then Rendezvous with Gils and Sammy-poo for a 2 car convoy down I5.

I’ve loaded my Ipod with as many Podcasts and Family Guy episodes that I can; packed my carry-on with some magazines and a novel; and have my cameras ready to roll.

So many places to visit, so little time. I hope I get to bump into some internet superstars while I’m down there.

*singing to myself* “…where little cable cars ~ climb half way to the staaars.

16
Jun

Sun Shines Through

IMG_0900

IMG_0900

Originally uploaded by Ryoh A

I took this from the ferry at Swartz Bay as we docked. I was waiting in the line up to get off the ship, when I looked over to my right and saw this magnificent beam coming through the clouds. Of course I had both my cameras on me (did you expect otherwise?) and started to snap away. I didn’t realized the line had already subsided and I was the very last stragler. I also had my Shure earphones on, so I couldn’t even hear the lady from BC ferries trying to verbally flag me down.

Anyway, it was a very good day to be taking photos.
IMG_0951IMG_0909Ogden Point

26
May

Maple Ridge Truck Chase

This morning on my commute to work, I hear about a crazy dude in a 10 ton truck being chased by the Maple Ridge Police. The chase goes on for 40 minutes as he terrorizes the neighbourhood. For whatever reason he keeps doubling back over the same stretch of Lougheed Highway. When he finally runs out of steam he runs out and is nailed by an unmarked police car. Rolling head-over-heals on to the hood and being launched onto the road, he crumples to the ground and still tries to make a bit of a run for it. But, he’s hit hard enough to and surrounded by police. Point for the Maple Ridge Police! FTW!

Videos below. See part 2 (5 minutes in) for the Take-down!!!  Video from original Global morning broadcast.

Part 1

Part 2

Edit: Didn’t think that so many people were going to stumble across this blog. Here is some more info on this story: Global follow up report (Video) and Global story.