Category Archives: Ed

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Ed, Jenn

Some new Mid-Year routines for 2012

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So as I figure out that I have some more free time here and there, I think it’s best to start blogging again. Hopefully it will help my writing skills and I can keep it up as a more regular routine.

Another regular routine that Jenn and I have started as of last week is a quick set of exercises that we do in addition to our regular workous/volleyball game time. This includes:

  • 50 body weight squats
  • 50 situps/crunches
  • 25 lunges
  • 25 pushups
  • 1 min plank

    • hopefully this improves some of my mobility issues with my knee and also adds strength conditioning to my regular volleyball practices. We’ve also added a little competitive nature to this workout whereby if the other person doesn’t complete it they owe $5 to the other person. Jenn has been good so far and I’ve missed only one!

    ASIA 2012, Ed, JED

    Beijing afterthoughts

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    After spending 10 days in Beijing, I have gotten the first spell of a stomach problem during this trip. It was after a night of a giant fish head and possibly too much bai jiu [Beijing’s famous liquor).

    Although having some downtime, I have some time to write my thoughts about Beijing. I have to admit, everyone said that going to China is going to be an eye-opener. This was quite true.

    There are a couple of key things to recognize about BJ:

    1) Cleanliness: It’s not that is very dirty, it’s just certain culture things are new to me. The sound of spitting/hoarking is something to get used to. The Chress game of saying “Awesome” when you hear it makes it more fun.

    2) Traffic – Cars will always have the right of way. As long as you understand that they will stop for you (or swerve around you), then you can get around Beijing pretty easily. The car-culture is something to talk about, since it is recognized back at home that asian’s maybe more “aggressive” , but to get around in Beijing you have to be aggressive.

    There are a ton of great things about Beijing which I think would still make it a great trip, cheap eats, cheap transportation (subway costs 2 RMB each time…that’s like 33 cents), and a ton of sights to see. I am glad that we visited under the help of Chress to ease us into the Beijing lifestyle.

    ASIA 2012, BAU, Uncategorized

    Our reliance on technology

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    So, I know I’m a Techno-junky, but We (JED) both realized how much we rely on technology. Forget having data all the time on your smart phone, but think of how much we rely on wireless internet. We had brought a laptop on the trip knowing we could use it for media, dumping pictures from the camera, etc. What we didn’t realize is when we got to HK there was a wired modem only. It limited to one of us using the laptop at once. His may sound “spoiled” but we are used to having our own device.We are also not known for our sharing either. So this became a very delicate situation without killing eachother. After one day of wifi deprivation, we caved and got a cheap wifi router.

    We also luckily realized that our hotel in Tokyo didn’t have wifi, which we got kind of nervous about so we decided to bring the laptop with us which added more baggage weight. This made us realize our travel/packing woes were more than we expected.

    Anyhow, wifiless-ism sucks

    Ed, Reviews

    My iPad 2 review and more

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    So I caved. I was going to wait for the iPad 3, and get that for the wife. But I caved. The perfect opportunity to get one on the day it came out [thanks @bennymoto] I took the leap and joined the tablet craze. I’m a die hard BB fan, but only because it meets my needs. I don’t truly hate on the iOS or any apple products, they just don’t meet all my needs of IM’ing, emailing and being always connected.

    So it’s been exactly 2 weeks [The Friday that I got the iPad I didn’t really exactly use it] since I have had the iPad and I must say that it truly fits the void of the tablet needs. As usual, the iOS interface is simple and anyone can easily learn it. The amount of free apps out there makes the device enjoyable at all times [paper toss is a great time waster]. However, it fills the void of what a tablet needs to be, but it doesn’t fully replace the desktop/laptop. As I write this blog post I am across the table of wifey “swiping” away. I don’t see myself typing as furiously or putting my full thoughts down using the iPad. I think I’d still also prefer to send an email with my Torch instead of the iPad. I have had talks at work in the “corporate”/”enterprise” level of bringing in iPads or Playbooks to replace the laptops for remote use and I still scoff at the idea. It is ridiculous to think that as any type of technical user, from an IT Administrator to a Software Developer can perform their day to day jobs on a tablet. I agree for certain jobs the tablets are resourceful and productive complimentary devices to the workplace, but will people actually get “more” done with having a tablet? No. Will it be easier to consume information on the go? Yes. The device is a great consumer of information from reading an RSS feed on Flipboard or browsing through tweets on Tweetdeck. This is where the niche will explode because there are a ton more people that are consumers rather than actual techie/nerd type people that need the full functionality of a laptop.

    The gaming industry will change too. I had the fun opportunity of playing with a 3DS briefly and I think the concept has a huge “cool” factor. But come on Nintendo, will people actually want to spend $39.99 on games anymore when I can buy a game for my iPad for $3.99? Once again, I am the minority of people that will probably still play computer games [Diablo 3 will be the next game on my list] and the majority of people out there are the “casual” gamers. The ones that will play angry birds and be satisfied with catapulting birds at unsuspecting pigs.

    The iPad was a game changer, I don’t know if the Playbook will survive as the BB is a dying breed of smart phones. I don’t foresee android taking over the world in 2012 as the intertubes proclaims, but I do see it giving Apple a run for its money.

    Ed

    I’m not a fanboy

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    I don’t proclaim myself as a fanboy. I don’t own an iPhone (I am an avid blackberry fan). I have owned almost every line of iPod (not every generation). I want an iPad (ok my wife does, but I wouldn’t mind playing with it). And let’s not get started on the laptops and desktops.

    What irk’d me yesterday was some fanboys (or that’s why I would call them) at work were not aware of the iPad 3 possible (rumor) release date. I don’t think I am at the cutting edge of tech news (so far 2 days behind on my rss feed), but I thought that would be pretty wide spread news. I thought rumors of nfc, retina display and 4g WWAN access were also known. Does make this me a fanboy?

    I was relieved to talk to @troysimpson who was not aware of the release but agreed of all the points of requiring an iPad 3.

    Am I now a fanboy?

    Ed

    Ideas for the everyday person

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    So lately I’ve been thinking apps that can be useful to everyone. And on my daily tech browsing, I’ve noticed that sometimes they can come true (re:). I swear I thought of this idea way before this was done. Now, I am going to record these ideas so that I have a record of when I came up with these ideas.

    My friend (@troysimpson) and myself were at Ikea (not for ther 99c meatball special, although we did partake in that gourmet dinner) were wondering why is there no mobile app that creates lists from the ikea catalog and store them on your mobile. You can also add to the list as you walk through ikea using your phone and scanning qr codes? Even the next step you can place orders for furniture pick-ups from your mobile as well? Pushed content like coupons, specials and “liked” items can be also sent directly to the phone. Going one step further, during pickup in the warehouse, from the list you know the exact aisles you need to go to and possibly an optimized path to follow. Also a crowdsourced portion for all the ikea followers to know whether your packaged furniture will fit in your vehicle (re: 99 civic can do wonders…if you have no passengers).

    The possibilities go on, and I think everyone would benefit from an app that was more than just a catalogue.

    Ed

    A social media site just about.me

    During my internet surfing, I came across a site that is so simple that it is magnificient. It is your social media resume, it is your one stop for profile pages. It connects to all the major sites [Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc.] and puts it in a clean cut presentation.

    Check it out http://about.me/edmondwong

    BAU, Ed

    Coffee good, wordpress updates suck

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    So after almost 3 hours of tweaking, troubleshooting and getting it back to where it should be, I’ve upgraded JED to 2.7.1. For a small point release, this upgrade was painful and horrifying. I would think for an application that has been around for awhile, they would have fixed most of the unix file permission issues when installing/upgrading/FTP’ing. However, I was getting error after error and with my limited linux knowledge it was quite frustrating. After almost giving up, I figured I would try re-installing a plugin manually [copy to plugin in directory, and activate] and voila! It works.

    Sigh…

    Note to self….never again

    Anyways…so my knees are hurting. I think I’m getting old. I’m trying random leg stretching/strengthing exercises and I don’t know if it is making things worse, or if it’s actually helping. Leg lifts at work seem like a good idea, however I think my head bobs up and down after each rep. I hope my co-workers don’t think I’m nuts. I think I need new shoes….

    Ed

    A happy X-mas and a merry New Years

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    So what has turned into a successful home theatre setup [impressive to my standards which may not be that of an audiophile/videophile], I have finally completed the htpc that I wanted. My X-mas presents to myself/Jenn/house this year was a new reciever [Pioneer VSX–1018 AH-K] and a set of 5.1 speakers [Energy Take Classic]. And boy does it sound good….Jenn may roll her eyes at me, but it’s nice to achieve surround sound on a good hi-def movie.

     

    New Years was fun, nothing like a guitar hero, drinks and good friends, resolutions for this year will be posted to be remembered once I figure out what they are…