Mildly Hurtful Sarcasm

Sell me something now

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sat, 01 Nov 2014 06:58:00 +0000

It's a bathroom sink and they are trying to sell me McDonald's?

(Picture taken at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas).

My first pride parade

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 17:16:00 +0000

I had some business to tend to at Oakland yesterday and I took Bart (the subway) there. To my surprise I emerged from the station to the annual Oakland guy pride parade festivities. I have lived in the bay area for many years but interestingly this is my first. Too bad I was in a hurry to tend my other errand so I only had time to snatch a few pics.

Locke (2013)

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 06:58:00 +0000

I just finished on DVD Locke (2013) and I got to tell you, this is definitely the most amazing movie I have seen in my life.

Not amazing in a good way...

SPOILER ALERT

... it's amazing as in, I allowed myself to spend Saturday night watching a movie that is played by one actor talking on the phone in a car. Literally, one guy, driving in a beemer, talking one the phone.

Seriously???

Estadio do Maracana

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 14 Jul 2014 06:09:00 +0000

FIFA fever has come to an end for 2014. Germany played a great game, Messi did not (if only he had learned to shoot...) I don't watch sports but I did catch the final, and it brought back so much memories, not least of which, my visit to the venue and Rio back many years ago.

I took the pictures with a good old point and shoot film camera (that was before digitals were popular) and stitched 2 together to get a panorama. As you can see it still had the 2 level seating configuration (that has since been torn down and rebuilt for the World Cup 2014). Each visitor was given a little access card and there was a little hall of fame and pictures of old teams graced the wall. It was a fun visit.

My Chromecast - Roku HDMI stick face off

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Thu, 01 May 2014 06:59:00 +0000

There are plenty of Chromecast vs Roku stick reviews on the net; but having used the 2 for a while I realized there are still some finer points nobody had mentioned, let me lay it out here. But if this is too long didn't read, yeah, I agree with the rest of the guys, the Roku stick won, hands down. It is indeed worth the extra $15-$20.

The Chromecast is attractive to the price conscious bunch - at $35, dropped to $30 after the Roku stick was released, it is somewhat competitive, but only somewhat. You want to see your media like pictures and videos on the big screen I get that, but chances are, if your TV has an HDMI port, you can already do the same through the USB port. Of course you want to do it wirelessly and you want the convenience, but I got to say, all those clicking on your iPad/iPod/tablets ain't that easy either, its a lot of finger hassle.

And if you want to watch Netflix/Hulu? Forget it. Tables/phones make lousy remotes; those tiny scroll bars can never replace the rewind buttons for fine searching and if you think wifi means you don't need to point you phone/tablet towards the TV to operate, you better remember, that's the least of your worry, cause there are no buttons, just a flat piece of glass, meaning every button click requires you to take your eyes off the TV, it really sucks.

The Chromecast does has its upside: it does boot up a whole lot faster than the Roku stick, if you choose to power it with the TV's USB instead of leaving it on always. It also comes with an HDMI connector which can be marginally useful if you want to press your TV really close against the wall, but don't expect much, well, the connector cable is tough and doesn't bend easily.

The Roku stick comes with a Roku remote, which works a million times better than using a phone/tablet, but I just think the Roku remote on its own simply has a usability design issue. First of all, the OK button is not in the middle of the arrow keys - who does that! Notwithstanding, there is another back button and another rewind and fast forward button and play/pause button. Why can't they make it like the Amazon Fire or AppleTV or just about every other remotes in the world, I like to watch TV, which means I am lazy and don't like to lift my finger too much!

Another thing few people noticed about the Roku is that, unlike what Amazon will have you believe, you can do voice search, so long as you use the iPhone/Android apps. You can either use their voice button or just use the voice recognition part of your device keyboard.

Overall, the Roku HDMI stick may be just a bit slower than its Roku 3 cousin or the Amazon FireTV, but it is economical and it does not take up another wall socket or any cabinet space. It is a fine lovable product.

You will get used to it

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 06:47:00 +0000

I just got a new Microsoft Surface, and it is really a piece of shit. It is very restrictive, it doesn't allow you to do many things, even though you own the device. The keyboard is really not intuitive. All in all it looks pretty but it is a very impractical piece of junk. But then again what do you expect from Microsoft, eh?

No, I did not just get a Microsoft Surface, but more on that in a bit.

I have just been wrestling with an iPad, with iOS 7. Look at how a side by side screen shot of the Surface's keyboard, with and without the Shift key pressed, looks like

What so special about it? Nothing. But do check out the same side by side from and iPad:

Pop quiz: which side shows the Shift key pressed? Is it the one with the white arrow because white looks like it has lit up? But the black one looks like it is "selected"? But then all the other keys have black labels too...

Don't look at me, I can't tell either.

The truth is, Apple's success is built upon its products being pretty. There isn't anything wrong for being pretty or selling pretty. What upsets me the most is its blind, brain-washed following, who would say anything to defend it.

No, I did not just get a Microsoft Surface, I just started using a MacBook at work, and it's only until I actually started using one when I realized I could dislike Apple products more than I already had. It's prettier than other laptops, it has a nicer screen, everything in the vanity department, I give you that; but the touchpad that has no buttons so you never know whether you are clicking left or right? The keyboard that is missing the Home/End/Ins/Del/PgUp/PgDn keys? In the age of Snowden revelation, no TPM (trusted platform module) no hardware buttons to turn off wifi and bluetooth? That's just lame beyond reason.

I asked my neighbor "On a Mac, how do you delete the text between where the cursor is and the beginning of the line", "Just hit delete (backspace) repeatedly". I showed my upset face and his response was "You'll get used to it". For us sane, we know that on any other platforms, a Shift-Home Del combo would have done the job, but that's beyond the point. While the Mac does have pseudo Home key as I've later discovered (though utterly unusable because they fn and left arrow keys are too far apart to be pressed with one hand) it highlights how forgiving Apple fans are when it comes to the Mac's many flaws; how people are willing to overlook the lack of substance in Apples' products so long as they are pretty.

That, I will never get used to.

Pont de l'Archeveche

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sat, 01 Feb 2014 01:58:00 +0000

So it was our first day, after getting some sleep, in Paris. We saw the Pompidu and the Notre Dame and its time for lunch, but not before we head over to the other side of the Seine and get a picture of the famous Cathedral from across the river. That's we stumbled upon the love padlock bridge.

I thought it was Pont des Artes that had all the padlocks. It was, the city cleared out. But I didn't know that at the time. When we arrived at Pont de l'Archeveche and saw all the locks there, I just thought I read the map wrong!

We brought a lock from home just for this. It was a light small one. Beats paying 6 euro for one there. With the Notre Dame as backdrop, that was a perfect spot.

Sticking it to the man II

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 03:14:00 +0000

So I was shopping for outdoor TV antennas. Patrick got his RCA for $55 from Amazon, it was compact, stylish, nice. But I wanted something better. I have a 3 story building behind my house blocking my line of sight to San Francisco. Besides, I am ditching Comcast home for Comcast Business, saving a bunch. So I went for a slightly larger Channel Master from Fry's for just a teeny bit more.

I got the antenna, and from online I got a J mount, a 50' RG6 coax with ground wire, and a whole bunch of F-connectors. I am ready to roll. But where to start.

First question is, how do you get the cable from outside the house to the TV. There's the flat 3" adapter that allows you to run it through the window, but that's ugly! Out of the question. There's also the option of drilling through the wall, but the wall is thick and I don't want to damage the house! Decision: I will connect through the cable box, my house comes with the wiring anyway.

Second question is, where to mount the antenna. I am a fair distance from the towers, with a 3 story building blocking line of sight. I need as little obstacle as possible so it has to be high up, higher than my fence.

So on a sunny Saturday, I removed the bug screen of my laundry room and stuck my body out to survey for an antenna site. I realized the spot right by the window frame was just the best position with the least obstruction. So I went to Orchard Supply Hardware, bought myself 4 very big screws, and just screwed the J-mount on.

... and a bit of a close up

I attached the big roll of coax to the antenna, and brought it out of the window, but not before I fold the metal arms - the antenna is too big for the window when unfolded. There is a U-ring that snug fits the J-mount after I screw it tight.

Then I just sort of threw the roll of cable out like a mountaineer, and lined it around the house to the cable box. Now all I need to do is unfold the arm, point it to San Francisco, put the bug screen back on, and run my TV tuner, and enjoy!

Surprisingly, the whole thing only took a couple of hours, it was so easy. An how's the picture quality you ask? With close to 100% signal quality (and 60% signal strength), there's simply no difference from cable, except, it's free!

Oh folks, don't forget, if your land lord gives you heart ache about putting up a TV antenna, just tell them about FCC's OTARD act. Its specifically forbids landlords, including homeowners' associations, to even require you to apply for putting up any device for TV reception (there are some exceptions in dish size or how high you can put them up, or whether your building is considered to be of any historical significance, but the chance of that applying to your case is next to zero). Tell them it's law of the land and supersedes even state laws/county/city ordinances, so suck it with those dated HOA rules.

Sticking it to the man I

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 08:30:00 +0000

The best things in life is free, that's why TV is the best thing in life.

Well, yes and no. Turns out there's something worse than the prospect of the "Big One" (earthquake) in the valley, there's the hilly terrain that makes TV reception next to impossible where I live. I tried many rabbit ears + foils + metal structure combinations the first few years I moved out here to no avail. I finally broke down and paid for cable.

Fast forward many years, the Comcast rate has nearly doubled, but I didn't think any of it cause I thought I had no choice, besides, I get $10 knocked off my internet bill because I had Comcast internet too, until Patrick enrolled himself in Comcast business (which didn't allow him a home TV service anymore), braved the ascend to the roof of his one story new home and erected a fish bone antenna.

"It's never gonna work." I assured him. I tried, rabbit ears, even with the digital converter, reception was flaky at best.

"It does, it's digital broadcast, there's clear picture." he politely explained.

I doubted, but he whatsapp'ed me picture of his 63".

So the next night I doubtfully hooked up the V shaped dipoles that came with my 19 year old Sanyo, stuck it out of the window, and ran the scanner. To my ~~surprise~~ horror (that I have been paying Comcast for this), it worked! I got clear pictures from Fox to ABC to NBC to CBS. Sure there were occasional jitters and I couldn't stand hear the set up, but it was over the air and it was free! Patrick wasn't lying!

My search for the perfect HDTV antenna thus begins...

Pacific Rim (2013)

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 08:10:00 +0000

If I am to explain why I think Pacific Rim (2013) is a fantastic movie, I'd tell you:

Because you don't need a parade of helicopters/jets/carriers with an American flags and sun set as back drop, or any unauthentic military lingo (less the swearing), or any cheesy Hollywood score to make a good robot movie, its not about feeling good, suck it Michael Bay
Staring Heath... I am sorry, Charlie Hunnam
There are very very very big robots kicking up very very very big waves
Guillermo del Toro

And to those who disagree, I'd say:

Ron Perlman comes with Guillermo del Toro, just ignore him
The physics ain't matter, don't be a stickler, it's a robot movie
The fact that it is another movie about nomadic aliens eyeing Earth's resource ain't matter, it's a robot movie
The fact that the characters explain the story out loud ain't matter, it's a robot movie
All the other plot holes ain't matter, it's a robot movie
Be honest, don't you get a great deal of satisfaction out of watching giant robots punching giant monsters in face among sky scrappers? No? Go see a doctor.

The crime of Lay's

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 28 Oct 2013 06:36:00 +0000

FritoLay, maker of my favorite chips, has just committed the biggest crime since retiring the KC Masterpiece flavor. For I've been desperately supermarket hopping the last 2 days, and came to realize my most beloved Garden Tomato and Basil flavor is no where to be found.

Within the sweet aroma of dried tomatoes there's just the right amount of mintiness blended in , it's not salty and the flavor is bold but not too strong, GTB has become my family first pick of snack since its debut. I was sure it was here to stay - aren't everyone tired of the Classics already? Who would have thought of its short existence, and the despair its disappearance would bring forth.

FritoLay, I hate you.

Marvel's Agents of SHIELDS

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 06:52:00 +0000

I like the Marvel comic movies, and with Clark Gregg reprise the role of the lovable Agent Coulson, I thought it was something with potential.

But potential, that's it.

I guess the producers don't understand people watch super hero shows not just out of nostalgia. Oh yes, people actually want super heroes in it: the super power, the broken personality, the whole nine yard. There ain't none of those. What's there is the overused formula like having a new guy joining a team, a tech ignorant "in English, please" guy bring in the explanation of a bunch of made-up jargons, and some suffocatingly cheesy scores... I mean, they could have shot it like a movie, what a waste!

Hatred for iPad

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 06:16:00 +0000

How frustrated am I with the iPad? I want to smash it at the sidewalk. (No, it's never to late to announce your hatred for Apple products).

So mom wants her pictures from South America loaded onto her iPad 2. Around 800 of them. No problem, I can sync with iTunes right? You guess it, Apple's crappy software never fails to disappoint. It took an hour to transfer those pictures (it would have taken just minutes if I could stick an SD card there or there or there). Did they come out right? Absolutely not, they came out out of order. But not random order, just an eyesore 3 pictures in the wrong order. Oh right, I named them wrong? Nope, double checked, Photos on iPad just ain't displaying them all in name order.

No problem mom, I'll reorder it for you. Long press, nothing, click the edit button, long press, still nothing. You can't reorder pictures on an iPad! If people at Apple have 1/2 a brain they won't come up with something so profoundly stupid. No, this piece of shit does not deserve to exist.

Victoria beautiful II

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 09:33:00 +0000

Last time I was in Victoria, British Columbia, I was on business and didn't get to see it in daylight. Luckily more than 4 years later, I get to see it again, even though in a light drizzle, it was beautiful.

We started off from the dock at Ogden Point, and walked to downtown, passing by Fisherman's Wharf

We visited the Empress Hotel and the Parliament building. We actually took a tour inside both buildings.

Then we spent some time along Government Street and did a little shopping. The ice cream they make here is quite amazing.

Victoria is still beautiful.

The amazing Woz

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 20 May 2013 06:37:00 +0000

Yesterday was cousin Ryan's graduation day and Steve Wozniak was the keynote speaker at his ceremony. I knew about the Woz's business accomplishments, I know about his technical accomplishments, but to me he had just been another tech giant in the valley, until I saw the human side of his.

There were literally thousands of students walking across the stage under the California hot sun, and it went on for hours. He wasn't there to the whole time but when he was, he didn't just greet every graduate with a warm smile. He hugged, chit chatted - even after the graduate had walked past him he would still keep talking - and took the time to take pictures with so many, even when the line seemed never ending. One girl, she fumbled with the camera and couldn't figure out how to do it, the Woz took the camera, put it at the right setting, and did it for her.

He's been a living legend for the past 30 years, everywhere he goes, autograph and picture requests follow. How can he still manage to treat every single person who asks for it with such grace and kindness! To me that was just more impressive than anything that had come out of him.

Emoji on your iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 07:06:00 +0000

If you're like me, you don't wanna cycle between keyboards for your smiley face, why do that, you are use to those good old text emo aren't ya :-)

I got it, what I do it I make them keyboard shortcuts, like a ;) becomes a 😂 that way them show up in SMS, whatsapp, what not. Good deal.

The Americans and Zero Hour

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:46:00 +0000

I caught the pilot of FX's The Americans (2013) the other day, and I was hooked instantly. TV shows as good as this come only once in a few years. Staged in the 80's during the height of the cold war, thatcould not have been better setting for this larger than life thriller - pre-digital age with old school spying and nuclear tension, why didn't somebody come up with that earlier!?! The script was superb and the characters were amazingly well crafted out. Within an hour and a half you already know Philip, Elizabeth and even the main antagonist Stan better than you would have had they been on another show for an entire season. The icing on the cake? Spoiler alert! Spolier alert! even on the first episode it manages a complex scene like Philip singing the national anthem with his son at the school for the astronaut. It's just a stroke of pure genius to tell the story through the eyes of the Russian spies. Scratch that, the entire show is pure genius, period. Watch it, you won't regret it.

Guess what. I watched the pilot of the new ABC show Zero Hour (2013) right after this. They show this on prime time? Really? Seriously? They can't even show the story they need to employ the used and over used trick of having some kids seek out and old guy and have the old guy just tell the story... what is this a radio show? I just listen to the story instead of having those overpaid actors act them out? Woo, there's conspiracy. I am so scared. Seriously? A elementary school kid could have come up with a better story; the bozo under the highway pass could have given a better performance. I so wanted to throw up after.

Oscars 2013

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 08:44:00 +0000

Spoiler alert!

There's little surprise in the Oscars 2013. Seth McFarland did a good job albeit I expected his opening to be funnier. The only thing out of the ordinary I say would be the fact that there was a tie - I didn't know you can do that?

And that when they showed Denzel Washington's clip for his performance in Flight (2012), I mean come on! That was the ending! That was the entire movie! They cold not have picked a worst scene than that could they? They just spoiled the movie for everybody!

Iguana nation

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:08:00 +0000

I've been back from Ecuador for little less 2 weeks now. In Guayaquil we stayed at a hotel right across from Parque Seminario, more commonly known as Parque de los Iguanas, for the iguana's name sake.

I read about it before I was there, and from my hotel room window I could see the park clearly, but I didn't notice any iguana the first day. We went down there the second day and was stunned by the numbers, in the middle of town, many perched on the trees, many more rested by park benches waiting to be fed by visitors. It was cute.

Easter island

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:37:00 +0000

It's 4000km from any major land mass, the closest land is Pitcairn island which is 1000km (and truly the most isolated island in the world) Easter island is most famous for is moai - big headed statues whose method of transportation have baffled scientists for years.

Everybody has the same story, something like "oh when I was little I saw on TV..." which is exactly my case. I have known about these statues since very little seeing them on TV with my brother and never thought one day I would be here. It's amazing. I am loving it.

Turning 100 thousand

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 08:51:00 +0000

My car turned 100 thousand miles

The economics of iPad4

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 07:03:00 +0000

So I talked about this before. It's all about expectations.

Take the iPad4 for example. Why are so many iPad3 (or the new iPad, ha! that's funny) owners pissed off? Really, what has changed in their tablets? Nothing! It's still the same device that you went "Oh the screen is so nice, oh it is so fast" just a few months ago. It just goes to show how people buy Apple products not because of they appreciate the products, but rather, for the sake of having them.

And why were the iPad's 3 pulled from the stores and not iPad2? Well, Apple can neither drop the price nor ask for the same price as the iPad4, either way it is going to cause an out roar. Smart move.

Jimmy says it all, the new iPhone (iPad) doesn't ruin the old one. If you are still pissed, lock yourself in the bathroom and repeat that "Oh the screen is so nice" routine now!

Emmy cheats?

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 05:44:00 +0000

If this has happened before, I have not noticed until now: that cancelled drama series can compete a in different category for awards? Take Missing (2012) and American Horror Story (2011) for example. If they had their ways, and the money was there, wouldn't the producer have made that a long running series?

Don't get me wrong, I liked American Horror Story, a lot. If I have to guess, it certainly had the ratings to keep it going. But the point is, it wasn't meant to be a mini-series to start off with was it? Didn't they write up Tate's evil spawn just so they could continue the plot if they had to?

I think that's cheating.

Shrimp fancy

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sun, 12 Aug 2012 21:52:00 +0000

Don't think you are the only one who enjoys a nice round hiney. Shrimps do too.

Taken at a local chinese resturant.

London Olympics 2012 opening ceremony

noreply@blogger.com (1plaintext) — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 07:39:00 +0000

Several things I find odd in today's Olympics opening ceremony, no, nothing to do with the queen doing James Bond (although I also thought it was pretty funny)

NBC did not broadcast it live even though it was a day time event.
There were disproportionally lots of athletes of African decent in the French team.
There were disproportionally lots of athletes of European decent in several African teams (notably the flag bearer of the Kenyan team).
Britain's imperial past was skillfully excluded from the show, probably to avoid alienating... just about everybody.

The Sydney games saw the most amazing Olympics flame - it was a ring of fire raised from under a pool of water. In Athens they lit it with a bow and arrow. Beijing went back to the guide rail, which was a downer, but at least they hoisted a guy. So it's such a disappointment that London's flame is just... that...