Friday evening, I headed up to the Apple Store on 5th Avenue to catch the insane scene surrounding the iPhone launch. There were tons of people in line and a huge amount of media on hand to cover it. The girl in the 3rd photo - who was 3rd in line - said that she knew what it was like to be homeless now. How would someone who bought two iPhones know what it's like to be homeless? Because she didn't shower for the several days that she was waiting in line.

Shocking as it may seem, I didn't get an iPhone. For now, I refuse to switch carriers for it. Once I play with it a little more, I wouldn't be surprised if I did get one though.

Posted by tien mao in NYC, Photos, Tech at 8:51 AM

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I keep forgetting to put these pictures up from last Saturday's Wiimbledon at Barcade. Shockingly, I did not play.

Posted by tien mao in NYC, Sports, Tech at 3:17 PM

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As regular readers may remember, there was a planned redesign of the website. Well, it's live now. There are still a few issues that we have to work out, but hopefully, we can fix those in the next day or so.

The images are now going to be even larger, which could prove problematic for people with smaller monitors. So hopefully you have your screen at the largest resolution it can do and you have a large monitor. If you don't, it might be time to upgrade. Just for me!

Feel free to comment here if you see any major issues.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 1:18 AM

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I've got my team of designers locked up in the basement designing a new look for this website. Here's a little preview. The photos are going to be bigger and the site is going to be 'heavier' (but that should be fine for frequent visitors). As you can tell, it will look a lot different (click the image to get a bigger look).

And no, I'm not quite sure what that 'Insight' tab will link to.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:21 AM

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Unfortunately, it's on the Wii. Also sad is that in real life I didn't manage to break 100 in three games this week. I'm so bad at real bowling. No photographic evidence of that, but why would I make something like that up?

But 10 strikes in a game and 9 in a row is pretty good, no? Of course I said I was going to go for 300 in the next game but fell short of the score pictured here.

And there's no way I can do this ridiculous feat (via Kottke).

Posted by tien mao in Sports, Tech at 7:48 AM

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Check the new shirt that I got. Thankfully this has yet to happen.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 8:42 AM

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Nothing like getting this message when you're firing up Photoshop in the morning. It's all fixed now though. If I could only figure out why CS doesn't like installing its updates.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:43 AM

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If there's one thing that's more amusing than actually playing the Nintendo Wii, it's watching people play the Nintendo Wii. It's like any other video game (facial expressions, sounds of joy/frustration) except amplified and exaggerated due to the nature of the motion sensitive controller design. In the Wii Sports title, boxing is pretty amusing to watch. Shannan defeated most challengers in the ring, except for one match where she lost to her brother. She even managed to K.O. someone on their first knockdown. The key to Shannan's success seemed to be punching as frantically as humanly possible without breathing until knocking someone down, being knocked down, or the end of a round.

Posted by tien mao in Friends/Family, Sports, Tech at 7:53 AM

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Last night I went over to Matty's for some Wii action. It was really a lot of fun. The motion sensitive controls definitely takes some getting used to (scratch your head, it makes your character move). I think I enjoyed playing the Wii Sports games the most. The boxing game is extremely tiring as you're actually punching with both hands, protecting, and even moving side to side in some way. At least you're not actually getting hit. Though I was doing actual golf, baseball, bowling and tennis moves, I could see how eventually people will just play sitting down.

Matty also had Excite Truck, Zelda, and Red Steel. The driving game was interesting with the Wiimote (held sideways) as steering wheel. I didn't play Zelda, but it seemed seemed as painful to play as all the new Zeldas. I did watch Matty make several attempts at jumping onto small platforms though. Red Steel seems kind of like a Nintendo 64 Bond shootout game. You have to use the Wiimote and the nunchucks together to control your movement as well as the direction your body is facing. That was pretty difficult to get used to and something that I never did master while playing the game twice (I did DESTROY Matty though).

It's safe to say that I now want a Wii. It was fun to play and it will increase my physical activity fivefold. The sad thing is that I'm experiencing a bunch of Wii related soreness right now. Some might say that I'm a Wii sore.

It's crazy to think that just yesterday afternoon I was using a typewriter. Yes, a typewriter. Insanity!

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 8:28 AM

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Immediately after hearing about Nike+, I knew that I would have to get it and try it out. The only problem is that I absolutely hate running. But, I also knew that if anything would get me to try and run, this would be it. After pre-ordering the shoes and kit you need, I finally got them yesterday. The biggest problem with getting them yesterday though was the insane heat and humidity. Nevertheless, I braved the weather and stepped outside after 9 p.m. when it was still 90°. While that might not have been the best idea, my goals were set pretty low. After all, I hate running and try to avoid distance running at all times.

So I ran one mile. Just one mile. While I wasn't dying or anything, I can't say that it was a pleasant experience. I think the heat and humidity played a big role in that as well as my obvious lack of fitness (though, that's improved a lot with kickball). My best mile pace was at the very end when I was on pace for a 8'45" mile. My worst was about 3/4 of a mile into the run when I had a pace of 9'42"/mile. Click on the image above for a very compact graph of my run.

I finished my mile in about 12'11" After further examination, it seems like I finished in 9'19" (with the nice voice telling me that I was half way done, had 400m left, 300m, 200m, and 100m left. If I only ended my workout before I stopped running, I might have had a more accurate idea of my time.

I also found that I need to refine my playlist for running. The same songs for walking around doesn't quite work for running.

Posted by tien mao in Sports, Tech at 7:36 AM

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So I was catching up on my NY Times archives (you don't need a library when you have the piles I have) and read an article on Sudoku's origins in a paper from last summer. As an aside, people say there is no reason to keep these old papers as I'm reading "history" and not news, but there are some articles that don't really have a timeline associated with them.

So after reading the August article, and completing the accompanying game, I determined it's quite fun. While I forgot about Sudoku for the rest of the day, upon returning home I was told that there was a Sudoku widget for the Mac. I've already played a few games and waisted about two hours of my life. I can see myself sitting in front of my computer for many, many more hours to come.

Stupid addictive games and widget developers!!

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:59 AM

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Towards the end of last week, I got a Canon 50mm f/1.4 lens and took some time to play around with it. One of the best things about it, besides its great speed, but its size. It's so much lighter than the 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens I usually use. It almost makes me forget that I'm lugging around a huge camera. Almost.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Tech at 7:58 AM

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After work yesterday, I hustled over to Hoyt-Schermerhorn to check out the MTA's newest subway car, the R160. Scheduled to roll out next year for testing, the only feature that is obviously different than the R142 (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) and R143 (L) is the new FIND system (Flexible Information and Notice Display). The display shows the next stop, nine after that, five more "further stops" which vary along the line, and the last stop. Below each station, the display also shows transfers, if there are any, and it shows handicap accessible stations next to the station name. A screen also shows the line the train is on and any other information the MTA want's to put on it. During the open house, various videos were running, including one with a race car. The best thing about the FIND is that if the train switches routes, all the information can easily change, unlike the current trains which are stuck with one map no matter where they run. The MTA employee that was explaining the display said that there would be three per car so people in each section could see the coming stops.

- SubText on the new train
- NY Times: New Subway Cars Promise All Kinds of Information
- R160 set on flickr

Posted by tien mao in NYC, Tech at 8:05 AM

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Below is a transcript of my "chat" with AOL Instant Messenger's new MovieFone bot. I'm not sure it's actually quicker than going to the site itself...but I suppose it could be useful. I also miss the days of calling 777-FILM mainly because I miss hearing that guy's voice. Rated 'R' was so much more exciting.

____________________
(09:10:01) MovieFone: Hi there. I'm the new MovieFone bot! I can find movies for you anywhere in the country in a fraction of second. All you have to do is give me part of the title, an actor or director's name. I can also send you alerts when your favorite films are opening. Type privacy anytime to review the policy. Type any movie you want to see or menu to get going.

======= Movie of the Week =======
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Movie Site

(09:10:12) tienmao: jarhead

(09:10:12) MovieFone:
- Movies for Today
1 -P- Jarhead: with Captions
2 -N- Jarhead
Type # next to movie to see showtimes, M to go back to the Main Menu or anything else to search again.
P=Past, N=New, S=Soon, F=Future

(09:10:43) tienmao: 2

(09:10:43) MovieFone: Enter a valid 5 digit zip-code.

(09:10:46) tienmao: 11222

(09:10:46) MovieFone:
- Showtimes for Today
Jarhead [opened on 11-04-05] is playing at
1 - New Center Cinema
2:05PM | 4:45PM | 7:25PM | 10:05PM
2 - Loews Cineplex Kips Bay Theatre
12:35PM | 1:30PM | 3:30PM | 4:25PM | 6:30PM | 7:20PM | 9:30PM | 10:20PM
3 - Loews Cineplex Village 7
12:05PM | 1:00PM | 3:00PM | 4:00PM | 6:00PM | 7:40PM | 9:10PM | 10:40PM
4 - Clearview First & 62nd Cinemas
1:00PM | 2:00PM | 4:00PM | 5:00PM | 7:00PM | 8:00PM | 10:00PM
5 - United Artists Kaufman Astoria Stadium 16
1:25PM | 2:35PM | 4:20PM | 5:30PM | 7:10PM | 8:30PM | 10:15PM

Type number to see all the movies playing in that Theater.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:11 AM

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After playing with various Canon dSLRs for more than a month, it seemed like it was about time to get my own. What I settled on was the Canon EOS 20D. While I didn't really need a new camera, the S70 was working very well, when was the last time I got something I actually needed? But with this new camera, think of all the improved food and cat photos I can take.

So far, the photos of the blue wall, BBQ NYC, and Sunday on Coney Island have all been with the new camera. While most of those could be shot with the S70, I could only get so close with that camera. That's not to say that I'll be abandoning the S70 because a small camera can be very useful at times. I'm sure there will be times when carrying the huge 20D just isn't practical.

And because I've heard the kit lens is quite crappy, I also got the EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 with Image Stabilizer.

It's a downward spending spiral that I'm in now. Oh so many lenses. Oh so unnecessary.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 8:02 AM

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Yesterday, I got my camera back. Back, you ask? Yes, back. I kind of broke it about three weeks ago when I essentially dropped it onto the floor from my shoulder. After that, the lens wouldn't come out of my Canon S70, the LCD wouldn't work, and there was this strange clicking sound when I would shake it. This wasn't exactly covered under the warranty.

So I sent it back to Canon with the understanding that it would cost at least $150 to fix and up to $350. With all that damage, I was thinking it would be on the higher end, but to my pleasant surprise, it only cost $150 for the repairs. What exactly did they do? Well, according to the service details, they "replaced dc/dc PCB, operate ass'y, switch ass'y, front cover, window LCD and finder unit, firmwear updated, cleaned, checked all functions." So they fixed that cover problem and the LCD and cleaned it! It really did need a good cleaning.

While the S70 was in the shop, Jake was nice enough to loan me his "backup" camera, the Canon Digital Rebel as I debated whether I wanted to get a digital SLR or not. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I have no need whatsoever for a dSLR, but I have this strange desire to get one. I don't need it for my food/cat photos or all the other I take pictures of, but I would certainly like one. The S70 is actually very useful for some of the things I take pictures of, like food. The macro function on it is really great and it's small enough to carry around every day without being a nuisance.

But...if I got a dSLR, say a Canon 20D, I would be able to...er...take slightly better photos, and funnel loads of income into unnecessary accessories like lenses and such. Wouldn't that be great? The downside, besides cost is the overall size and bulkiness of the dSLR. While using Jake's camera, I've determined that it's really not all that bad, but it's not great either. Since I already carry a bag, I'm kind of used to the weight. All I would have to do is thin out the useless crap that I carry around.

I've since calmed slightly from my "I want now" phase to more of a "I'll get it when the time is right" phase. I find this very surprising, since I'm a horrible impulse buyer. But to be realistic, I think I'll be splurging and buying the 20D in the next few months.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:55 AM

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About a month ago after reading an article on thin wallets in the NY Times about a month, I decided to ditch the thick leather wallet I had and ordered a new wallet. In the article, the writer's husband eventually went with an All-Ett, so All-Ett it was! I wasn't discouraged by the reported crackle of the nylon material because the thinness was just too appealing.

One month after getting it, I have to say that it's nice to lose that inch off my left buttcheek. I endured ridicule from friends and plenty of looks, but I think thin wins. All I need is some velcro and the wallet would essentially be the same as one of those wallets you had in elementary school. One of the problems I have is that it's almost too thin. There are times when I can hardly tell it's in my pocket.

In case you're wondering, it stores a lot. I have 9 credit card like objects with about the thickness of 4 credit cards in each of the four compartments. In addition to that, I have receipts and minimal amounts of cash.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:56 AM

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It looks like the giant PSP runs on Windows 2000 and it has issues. I saw it yesterday on Houston Street across from the Puck Building. With software like that, there's no way I'm going to buy a PSP. Besides, I have to spend all my money on wedding gifts and flights and such.

Oh, and sneakers...

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 8:07 AM

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People, people. Just because your phone can have a MP3 ringtone, it doesn't mean you have to subject everyone to that crappy one you actually select. I admit it, I have a MP3 ringtone, but it's not obnoxious when it starts up. There's nobody singing at volume 9 when someone calls. I've got that catchy song from The Life Aquatic that's really just beats.

Save us from your Destiny's Child with Beyonce singing when a call comes in. I can't think of any lyrical song that would sound good on a cell phone. And if you're going to have an MP3 ringtone, I think people should stick to instrumental ringtones (like me), but not God Bless America.

I think the only ringtone I can accept with words is Baby Got Back. Because if you have that and the first sound to come out of your phone is "I LiiiKE big BUTTS and I cannot lie," then I'm all for it because that would be the ultimate MP3 ringtone. Imagine yourself sitting at dinner and BAM! You like big butts and your fellow diners know it. Sitting in your office meeting and BAM! Your manager knows you like 'em thick and juicy.

Posted by tien mao in Rants, Tech at 7:20 AM

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(click to enlarge)

I don't really care what anyone else says. Macs are expensive, Tiger isn't great. Blah, blah, blah. Tiger is AWESOME! Can you boast a Hula Homer on your computer at your beg and call?? If I wanted, I could even have a Hula Jesus, but that's not nearly as fun because he doesn't have coconuts covering his boobs. I must have more widgets for Dashboard!!

Pictured above are the unit coversion, translation, yellow pages, dictionary/thesaurus, TV schedule, hula girl, alert level, stock tracker, Yahoo! local traffic, weather, and time widgets open. Must have more!! Will someone please develop a good Netflix widget?

Another great feature is Spotlight. I haven't had a chance to use all its powerful search features, but from what I've seen, it's going to come in handy.

I think I'll be having some fun playing with new features. Rock. And no, I don't know why I need local traffic data.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:04 AM

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Because I apparently have nothing better to do and because I just got an order of FreshDirect yesterday, I was chatting with Jen about doing a Flickr group. Originally, it was going to just be a FreshDirect group, but that might have been too exclusive, so Jen suggested "nyc groceries," which is obviously perfect.

Jen's description on her first group image:

After interrogating Tien about what he ordered from FreshDirect, I thought it would be funny if FreshDirect had a Netflix/Flickr-like functionality where you could see what your friends ordered, what they liked. He suggested I upload my Fresh Direct order. And there was talk of starting a group for all NYC grocery shopping. Let's see how this group goes.

We'll probably be bored of doing this in a couple of weeks, if not sooner. If you're on flickr, join on up! Plus, you know it's fun getting an idea of what people do with their time and what they buy.

My most recent order and my biggest order (really, not that big).

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Tech at 8:00 AM

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Without getting into too much detail about how I wipe my ass, I've got to say that Scott Tissues (for your ass!) lasts quite a long time. When I had my housewarming way back in July, Necia gave me a 12 pack of toilet paper and I'm finally on my last roll. Originally, I was going to use them as emergency TP only, but to get through 12 rolls, you would need quite an emergency. Instead, I made a temporary switch, abandoning my trusty two-ply Charmin for the one-ply Scott. I've always been a fan of the two-ply as it gives you an extra layer of security, both mentally and physically, and it's so soft. The only problem seems to be the lintyness, as Kleenex Cottonelle once exhibited with some commercials.

Well, the Scott TP is nearly gone and I'm going back to Charmin. It almost seems like a normal Charmin roll lasts about 1/4 as long as Scott, even though I probably use two times the amount of Scott to compensate for the one-ply action.

Also, somewhat related, do you fold or just take a fistfull of TP? I remember having this discussion once during my freshman year of college. I'm a TP folder. You can never be too safe. What if you just bunch it up and you're not sure of where the TP actually is? Problems, I say, problems.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:59 AM

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When I first got my new phone, I didn't have all the settings for it. I was happy with not knowing what they were and too lazy to set them up right away. But last night, I finally got down to it and set up my phone to send photos. Now, through the wonder of Flickr, those photos will have somewhere to go. The photo above is from January when I first got my phone. It's from a restaurant in Chinatown. I can't remember if one eventually became dinner or not.

To see all my camera phone pictures, check out my "cameraphone" tag. They include several photos from my old phone as well.

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Tech at 7:55 AM

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Last week, I got a new toy for myself, the Motorola Razr V3. I have absolutely no need for the phone, since I kind of just got one, but when you need to buy yourself a gift, you need to buy yourself a gift.

Oddly, Motorola flipped the green/red, on/off buttons from the V300, and I assume all their other phones. So just as I was getting used to the new positions, I get a new phone. I brought it upon myself. All I need to do to perfect this phone now is to enter all the T-Mobile settings so I can use every feature.

So, does anyone out there know the Razr settings for T-Mobile?

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:28 AM

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Wow, when did this feature pop into Movabletype? Admittedly, I'm usually using Safari at home and not doing much personal blog stuff at work, but could it be the combination of Firefox and MT 3.14? I just checked out a MT 3.11 install, so it must be 3.14.

That said, I don't usually use any of the buttons I did see. I might use the blockquote and the upload file though.

Posted by tien mao in Blog-ing, Tech at 9:12 AM

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Flickr is nothing new at this point. For those with blogs or photoblogs, it's something you have probably seen or heard of at this point. And then there was apparently a Salon.com article just the other day (I say apparently because those Salon bastards are douche bags. Revenue model. Psh!). I signed up with Flickr a little while back, but just haven't done anything with it. What with my laziness and all.

But I'm here to report that Flickr is super addictive. An addictive photo sharing community. As addictive as I imagine crack cocaine might be. You can have friends and contacts (similar to Friendster, another black hole of productivity - they actually compared the two), and you can share your photos for all the world to see. I share plenty of photos here, but Flickr can be used by all, independent of blog constraints. All you need is a camera or camera phone. My parents could even use Flickr (hint, hint).

Uploading photos is a cinch, especially if you've got the Flickr Uploader. So why not create an account? Upload some files, leave some comments, or even some notes! Notes are maybe the coolest, yet potentially the most annoying feature ever. You highlight the area of a photo and write anything you want in that area.

I only started uploading pictures over the weekend, and I feel like I'm hooked. The only problem is, I am already going through a Flickr identity crisis. Do I make it camera phone only, picture only, or a combination of both? I'll probably go with both, with some overlap with this site's photos. There are certainly a lot of novel ideas out there, and people browsing the photos can find anything they want. Photos can be marked with tags, grouping photos with the same tags together. Example - pizza tag.

Looks like there's yet another way for me to be more connected to the Internets while not at a computer. Sigh...life...down...drain. As you will notice, the camera phone is kind of crappy, and my most recent Flickr images are in the right hand column.

- My Flickr photostream

Posted by tien mao in Photos, Tech at 7:52 AM

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Woo, nothing quite like a new product!! At least I think it's new since I haven't been tissue shopping in quite some while. My mom brought over some of these new [to me] Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissues. They claim to kill 99.99% of cold and flu viruses. Fine print:

Virucidal against: Rhinoviruses Type 1A and 2 (Rhinoviruses are the leading cause of the common cold); Influenza A and Influenza B (causes of the flu); Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV - the leading cause of lower respiratory infection in children) In the tissue within 15 minutes.

Hmm...so if I blow my nose, the stuff inside will be killed in 15 minutes? What I should really do is cover my hands in this stuff while riding the subway and dispose of them afterwards with death to the germs in a mere 15 minutes!!

Pros, a blue dot pattern and 3 layers of softness. Cons, costs more than normal (how much? I don't know since I didn't pay!!). Also, I much prefer Kleenex than Puffs as I like the pull out type boxes more than the whole side open type box.

- Buy Kleenex Anti-Viral at Drugstore.com (apparently for $1.99/box)

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 8:04 AM

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Yesterday, I picked up a new toy, the Canon PowerShot S70. Why did I need a new camera? Well, my old one was falling apart so a replacement was needed. What do I plan to do with this camera? Hmm...more pictures of me eating of course.

I think this camera gives me more to play with, more flexibility after shooting - with cropping and such. Hopefully, I can take some better pictures with it, but it's never about the camera, but about the composition of the photo that makes the picture. There can obviously be a difference in the same photo when it comes to equipment, but in my mind, a lot of it is about the photographer's eye. So whether my eye will be much different remains to be seen.

Any why not a digital SLR? Well, I don't need it. For the lifestyle I have, a smaller camera is better. Even a camera the size of the Canon G6 is too big for me. Basically this camera gives me lots of options shooting with the flexibility to carry it around easily. Now, all I need to do is learn how to use all the features.

More information:
- DCRP review on the S70
- Steve's Digicams review on the S70

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:45 AM

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Hmm, is this coincidence or is Network Solutions sending me this because they figure Tien or Mao is an Asian name? If so, maybe they should have refined it to include a Chinese dude instead of a Korean one. If it wasn't targeted, did they just use an Asian face because we're so geeky?

Okay, okay...as much as I love conspiracy theories, I'm sure this is a mere coincidence. Slow day in the mind of Tien. Then again, they might all be slow days.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:07 AM

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Yesterday, my period of cell phone torture finally ended when my new cell phone arrived. Gone is the week long state of being in the dark about who is calling and not being able to call people because I don't know their numbers. I can finally have a working screen again.

If you're wondering, I picked up the Motorola V300, which is a camera phone, but we'll see how often I actually use the camera. I got it from T-Mobile for $150 (including rebate) and picked it over the Samsung E105 for two reasons. First, it has a camera (yes, even though I might not use it) and my mom already has the E105. Can't be getting the two phones mixed up. That would be bad. Thanks to Halo for some initial research.

I had a Samsung before and had to get used to one huge change. The green phone button and red end button are on opposite sides! I guess when I switched to Samsung from Motorola, I had to get used to this too though. The number buttons on this phone are also a bit different than your typical phone.

What I'm really looking forward to is the Motorola RAZR V3.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:30 AM

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As you may see, there have been some more changes on the site today. This is in addition to the upgrade to MT 3.11 earlier this week and then the updated look that essentially looked like the old site.

I struggled to get the comments working and MT Blacklist working. After pestering Corie and Greg Greenehouse about Blacklist, I finally figured it out. It wasn't misconfigured, it was just that I had my old version of it running. All because I wanted to make sure the new version worked. I'm still toying with the idea of requiring comment registration for the site and approval to non registered comments. So, if you want, go ahead and register with Typekey (it's free!) and you can comment at will on the site. If I'm making the changes, then unregistered people will have to wait for approval. Of course, this is only if I make that change.

Anyway, back to the changes in appearances on this site. The site is a little sleeker and a has a few more images, and a lot less white space. The biggest thanks go to Shannan, who basically redesigned my whole site. If anyone needs a newly minted expert in MT 3.11's stylesheets, let me know and I can put you in touch.

Posted by tien mao in Blog-ing, Tech at 7:26 PM

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I think my upgrade to Movabletype 3.11 is finally complete on this site. I still have to change the templates for the links section, but everything should be in working order. You'll see that when you click comment, there is no longer a pop up, but the whole page goes to the full entry. I can see both positives and negatives to this, but that's the way it's going to be now. Well, that's the way they built it and I'm too lazy to tinker with it enough to change it.

So test it out, play around. I'm still tinkering with the comments and wondering why I need to approve them even for people that are registered with Typekey. Strange. Drop a comment and let me know if you're experiencing any problems with the site as you are using it.

Another re-design of the site might be in the works as well.

Update:
If the site is looking very messed up, you might need to load the new stylesheet. Click here and then refresh the main page.

Posted by tien mao in Blog-ing, Tech at 12:18 AM

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Last night, I took advantage of some free time and upgraded this site to Movabletype 3.11. There seem to be a lot of new features, and I have yet to even scratch the surface, but so far, so good. I love the new, more robust, comment section of the Movabletype system. The same goes for the trackback section as well. Perhaps even better than both those features is that I can now schedule posts for the future. I can't quite figure out why that isn't working yet though.

Another new feature is the way comments are registered on the site. There is registration via Typekey, which I have yet to configure, allowing all comments or a delay for approval of comments. Right now, I've got it set for me , but if spam becomes too rampant, I can change that over. So if you comment and it doesn't show up, just know that I have to approve your comment first.

Posted by tien mao in Blog-ing, Tech at 7:24 AM

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I've used AOL's instant messenger for a long time, and it's made some nice improvements since I first used it, but there is still one glaring feature that's missing. Their message windows always popup over other applications. I've used Yahoo! messenger, MSN's, and iChat, which are all way less intrusive when you first get a message. Why can't AOL do the same? Is it that hard or bad to have your windows pop-under the screen?

I mean, how often does this happen? You're typing away, typety, type, type, type, and then bam! - a message pops up and you get some of what you typed into that message window. How annoying is that? Sometimes you can't even catch yourself, you're pressing enter for your excel sheet and you just entered 548 into your message.

I guess the way to counteract this is by having the message notification sound on, but that's not too suitable for work, is it. At least with the latest version, it makes a little click sound so if you're looking down you know something has popped up. Just because someone is on your buddy list, it doesn't mean you want their message popping onto your screen over everything else. I'm sure all it would take is a tweak or two of their software and they could make me happy.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:32 AM

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Because I just love video games so much, I had to have Madden 2005 and NCAA 2005. They are two very similar games, and both awesome.

I pre-ordered the game from Amazon and it arrived today. Good to know that I got it on it's official release date too. The only problem is that I just saw EA's National Madden Vacation Day forms. With a choice of either chicken pox or a regular sick day, I probably would have gone with the sick day. Although, if I said I had chicken pox, then I could take even longer off.

Bill Simmons pretty much covered why it's an awesome game, which is true of pretty much every Madden. I've gotten through only one pre-season game and that was a 31-10 victory over the Chiefs, who the Giants actually play tonight.

My defense was suspect in the beginning, but then I got a little better. If the game is anything like real life, the Giants passing game should be pretty good. The only thing is, I was playing the Chiefs who have a porous defense - true to real life.

Some details I've enjoyed and noticed already in one game:
- Kate of the Indianapolis Colts welcomed me to my first session with Madden 2005. There was some torso shaking going on, so I'm hoping I see Kate a few more times.
- The game is detailed enough that you can see tattoos. I'm not sure if this was in last year's version. I guess I don't remember.
- The hip-hop soundtrack that Simmons enjoyed so much also has some non hip-hop stuff. One of those is a song by Franz Ferdinand. Something Grambo would surely find displeasure in.

The only problem is that I don't know what I want to play more, NCAA 2005 or Madden 2005. Why do I feel like I might not see the sun this weekend.

Posted by tien mao in Sports, Tech at 7:10 AM

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I was just playing NCAA 2005 and blowing out the Washington Huskies. With little time left, I scored another touchdown to run up the score (hey, the called time outs), they did a "shot" of the UW crowd. Four Husky fans together and three that decided to leave the game. They made gestures like, "forget about it" and patted their other friend on the back.

Nevermind the graphics, but games have really made some progress. We've come a long way from Tecmo Bowl and it's 12 teams. From four plays on offense and four on defense. Guess correctly and you stop the play. That is unless you're playing with San Francisco and hit the end on the crossing play. And Lawrence Taylor with his uncanny ability to block any kick. And if you had the NES Advantage - forget about it. You could break any tackle in about 2 seconds.

I suppose progress is expected, but I want my next video game console to have some mind controlled action. Just slap on some helmet and I can transmit what I want the game to do. All this for $300 or less.

Posted by tien mao in Sports, Tech at 10:38 AM

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Say goodbye to AOL dial-up and connection speeds of 28.8 kbs; say hello to DSL via an Airport Card. To say that this is one of the best days of my life would be sad, but I don't know, I was pretty excited to finally have this connection up. After some issues in getting DSL service through Verizon, I'm finally connected.

My next door neighbor has DSL (yes, he does and I don't) and he was nice enough to share it with me. Even after moving my computer here and installing an Airport Card, I was unable to connect to his network. Except for a brief one hour period, I wasn't even close to picking up a connection. the instructions for the wireless card called for me to plug in an antenna that came with my G5, but I either never got it or misplaced it during the move (guess which). Thankfully, Apple sent me one after I called them and said it wasn't included with my computer and I just got it today - only two days after talking to them.

Never have I been so happy to be connected to the Internet - okay, there are times when it was better, but this was a damn good feeling. So sad, but so true. You don't know what you're missing until you try life on a dial-up connection after years of broadband.

What does this mean for you? Probably very little, except maybe some better, more thoughtful blogging.

Posted by tien mao in House and Home, Tech at 9:57 AM

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I went to Amazon.com last night looking for an antenna for my computer so I could try to share my neighbor's Internet connection. First thing I see is my Amazon Plog. Apparently it's a personalized blog for my shopping needs.

From the Amazon Plog page:

The Plog™ Service is a personalized blog. A blog is a straightforward and now widely adopted method of posting a reverse chronological diary on the Internet. Here's a list of some of the best and most popular blogs:

- Boing Boing--A directory of wonderful things

- Gizmodo--Reviews and charts the latest gadget trends

- MobileWhack--Energetic discussions of mobile technology

- Megnut--Evolving communication through blogging since 1999

- John Robb's Weblog--Thriving on rapid change

- Jeremy Zawodny's blog--Daily ramblings on life and technology

- www.lileks.com--The Institute of Official Cheer

- Gina Smith's BIOTECH--Tech/biotech journalist and author

- defective yeti--The musings of Matthew Baldwin, Pretty Okay Guy

- InstaPundit.com--The Blogfather

- Talking Points Memo by joshua micah marshall--A thoughtful contemplation of current affairs

- andrewsullivan.com--A respected intellectual columnist blogger

- Intel Dump--Near-real-time military analysis

- Daily Kos--Political analysis and other daily rants on the state of the nation

- Six Apart--Six Log is the weblog of Six Apart, the company behind TypePad and Movable Type

Your Amazon.com Plog is a diary of events that will enhance your shopping experience, helping you discover products that have just been released, track changes to your orders, and many other things. Just like a blog, your Plog is sorted in reverse chronological order. When we think we have something interesting or important to tell you, we'll post it to your Plog.

Hello?!? Where is the Mao love? I know it would be impossible to do, but how about saying, "We've noticed you have a blog, here's a plog for stuff you might like." Admittedly, that would be creepy, but it still would have been cool. Now that Amazon is telling the general public what people a blog is, maybe they will understand what they are.

Incidentally, I never did find that antenna, so if anyone has a recommendation for an antenna for my G5, I would appreciate it.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 7:33 AM

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Over the weekend, I stumbled upon a feature in Apple's Internet browser, Safari. Spell check! How great is that? For someone with poor spelling, and the occasional typo, like myself, it's a great feature. Too bad it doesn't have grammar check or anything, because I'm sure there was a run-on sentence up there somewhere. I don't think I've ever seen this feature before in any other browsers, but I could be wrong. Feel free to click on the image above for a slightly larger image.

If you're looking to turn it on, go to edit, spelling, check spelling as you type. Or you can select one of the other options. It seems like I stumble upon features a lot, the last one being the search function in Netscape/Firefox.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 10:46 AM

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I guess this picture was just too precious not to post, so here it is. There are other pictures out there where I'm doing some pretty bad things with food, but we'll just let those go. This picture was from last week while celebrating Christina's birthday.

The technical note is that I'm going to start having my pictures at a 450 pixel width. I've previously had them at 400, but I took a look at some site stats and I think very few of my regular readers use 800x600 resolutions. If you do, I'm sorry that the site might get messed up for you. I think my only concern is that eventually the images will take up more space, but I'm not even close to that yet.

Posted by tien mao in Food/Drink, Tech at 7:37 AM

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Can we come up with some sort of standard for the return call on cell phones? With all the dropped/disconnected calls, aren't there too many situations where people will call each other at the same time, both getting voicemail? There needs to be some sort of accepted standard, so there can be less confusion. I suppose everyone can get a Nextel phone like their commercials suggest.

I propose that the person placing the call should be the first person to make the call-back attempt. They were the original person to call, so if the conversation continued, the call would have been on their minutes anyway, so that makes sense, no?

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 12:04 PM

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I think there might be five people out there that use Netscape and/or Firefox, but I'm one of them - at home I use Safari. Anyway, I stumbled upon this feature where you can search for either a link or text within a page after pressing one key and then typing what you are looking for.

If you press the ' key and type a letter or word, you find links on the page you are looking at. By pressing the / key, you can search the words on the page. Very nice features for the few users of Netscape or Firefox.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 9:36 AM

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(click to enlarge)

This may have already made its way around the Internet, but I have yet to see it. Pretty damn funny if you ask me. For those afflicted with camel toe, it would make a great gift. Maybe an accompanying gift can be the Magic Cone. And if you need one of these, maybe you can meet up with this guy.

Thanks to Christina for sending this along.

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 5:04 PM

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Over the weekend, I was watching the news, which reported that 40% of Internet users in the United States were using a high-speed connection. Today, a Times article looks at some whackos that refuse to change to high-speed connections. When I first read the headline, I thought, "What the hell...given the option of switching, who the hell would use a dial-up?!?" After reading the article, I still think that.

The Times says these people are "consumers content to pay for a service that is less than optimal, and at times even frustratingly slow, because they say greater speed is not worth the trouble of starting over with a new telecommunications provider and getting a new e-mail address, even if the added cost is small." I read that and I see them as lazy. I mean really, getting a new e-mail address? Is it that hard to send all your friends an e-mail, saying you've joined the 21st Century? And the "trouble" in starting over with a new provider really isn't that much trouble (saying that is going to jinx me when I am getting DSL for my apartment).

If you don't upgrade your connection, think of all the things you're missing: illegally downloading music or movies, streaming porn connections, online casino games, and all the reading of news articles, sports columns, and of course blogs.

It's one thing if you're poor, and can't afford the connection or if they don't have it in your area, but if you can afford it and don't get it, all I have to say is
"People, people...get with the times!"

- NY Times: In a Fast-Moving Web World, Some Prefer the Dial-Up Lane

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 2:27 PM

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I've read all about it, and now I have it installed on my computer. What am I talking about? Quicksilver. Quicksilver is "an evolving structure for manipulating any form of data. The current modules include a launcher, a clipboard recorder, and a shelf." In English, it's a excellent way to find files on your computer that you need to use. Unfortunately for PC users, it only works for the Mac and only for OS 10.3.

How does it work? Essentially, all you do is use your hot key and then type what you are looking for. Files, applications, websites. It's just great. Any Mac users meeting the requirements should give it a try.

- Quicksilver
- Dan Dickinson's Quicksilver guide

Posted by tien mao in Tech at 11:12 AM

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