Feb/100
Revelations! Part 1
photo credit: Desmond Kavanagh
Boardgames! Tens of thousands of boardgames you’ve never even heard of!
There’s a sub culture of board game lovers who aren’t playing Monopoly or Scrabble. Check out the top rated board games at boardgamegeek. I just found out about this from my coworker, Phil. He and his friends have a new board game to play pretty much every week. w0000000000000!
You can change a BoltBus reservation!
I booked my return trip from Maryland for next Sunday and then remembered that I have Monday off for President’s Day. Well it turns out you can change a BoltBus reservation by calling up customer service. A $3 booking fee + $0.50 transaction fee later, you’re back in business 
This is a nice surprise because Bolt started out with no phone number, non-transferable, non-refundable, etc. Sure beats spending an additional $20-$25 on another bus ticket. Try doing that on China-town-bus. #bolting!
Them doctors are crooked vultures!
This is not a sweeping generalization. I like most doctors. But somehow, the only people on this earth who I seem to have disputes with are certain specialist doctors. I now know to question everything at the dermatology office on 57th street IF I go back there.
Vulture: “Would you like me to clean your pores while you are here?”
Me: “What does that entail?”
Vulture: “Oh, nothing much…I’ll just apply some pressure, it only takes a minute.”
[And then I bill your insurance $170 for "acne surgery", they pay part of it and we bill you for the rest... but I won't mention that part because I don't want to spoil the surprise]
Feb/101
The best thing about Time Warner Cable is that it’s close to Shake Shack!
When I cancelled my Time Warner Cable TV service last month I dropped off my cable box at the Time Warner Center on 23rd street. Since that’s just up the block from Shake Shake, I had the opportunity to snag a delicious burger for lunch! In the winter there’s almost no line whereas waiting 45 minutes is standard in the summertime. They have outdoor space heaters so it’s not even that cold.
In addition, Madison Square park is home to some of the most fearless urban wildlife in the city. All the little squirrels, rats and pigeons are so cracked out on shake shack leftovers, fear of humans is the last thing on their little critter minds. I took this picture with my cell phone, no zoom, just got right up next to the furry French fry eater.
Now I’m just waiting for my Tuner Box to come in the mail so I can get Network TV over the air for free with an antenna. That, along with Netflix should do the trick.
Feb/100
AVG Free is not the best AntiVirus program. McAfee and Norton are worse.
A couple of weeks ago my PC got a virus. AVG Free didn’t detect anything suspicious but my web browsers were redirecting me to spammy sites. MBAM (a free malware scanner) found something and removed it but my web experience was still funky so I reinstalled windows for peace of mind.
Since AVG let me down I decided to search for alternatives. A lot of people in forums like Alwil Avast and Avira AntiVir. A respected site for ratings of AV programs is http://www.av-comparatives.org/. According to their reports the big brand guys like McAfee and Symantec (Norton) do not have very good detection rates. Apparently those companies are more skilled at marketing than they are at virus detection. Avira has the best detection rates but also has a lot of false positives and I’ve read that the free version will nag you to upgrade. Microsoft recently released its free Security Essentials product which looks like a solid option as well.
I decided to try Avast free. Although its detection rates are less than Avira, it’s lightweight, doesn’t detect many false positives and doesn’t nag much. When I ran a file scan, Avast detected the virus in a program I had recently executed before the infection, the one that AVG missed. So far Avast has been great and my 5+ year old computer feels faster than ever. I also haven’t reinstalled iTunes (that bloated behemoth), Java or Adobe Reader. More on that later.
Feb/101
Secret GChat Emoticons
photo credit: somegeekintn
Ever wonder why Google’s GChat only has 12 kinds of emoticon buttons while Gmail has many more? Well, taking a page out of Skype’s playbook, GChat actually has a lot of hidden emoticons that you can employ by typing in certain combinations of characters. Here’s the list of secret / hidden emoticons for GChat.
Here are the secret emoticons for Skype. And here are hidden emoticons for Yahoo Messenger.
Dec/090
Nikon D5000, DSLR Buyers Guide
I’m an amateur photographer buying my first DSLR. I don’t claim to be an expert but I have spent many hours researching and I’ve decided to share all the useful information that I’ve turned up in the process. This post is centered around the Nikon D5000 which ultimately was my first choice.
Top Entry Level DSLRs
photo credit: heliosphan
Comparing entry level DSLRs can be a daunting task. Here are some of the best choices on the market right now. Most if not all of these cameras are highly recommended by dpreview.com and other reviewers. Prices based on current street prices for new camera with kit lens (as of Dec 3, 2009).
- $440.00 – Nikon D40 (which is being discontinued and replaced by the D3000)
- $469.00 – Nikon D3000
- $569.95 – Canon Digital Rebel XSi (650D)
- $642.46 – Nikon D5000 best price
- $719.00 – Canon EOS Rebel T1i (500D) *
- $1,032.99 – Nikon D90 *
* You might assume that a higher number indicates a better model but that is not always true. It seems that the camera manufacturers like to keep us on our toes.
Find them at Amazon… and if this post is helpful to you then please show your thanks by clicking on my link to get there, especially if you might buy something. –> Click Here to go to Amazon.com
Nikon vs. Canon
photo credit: Steve Tolcher
Nikon and Canon are the top two brands today. The general consensus is that Nikon and Canon both make excellent entry level DSLRs and you really can’t go wrong with either brand. Most people recommend that you go to a large store where you can demo the specific cameras, hold them in your hand and see which one you like better.
Nov/091
Is Google Wave Just a Glorified Chat Room?
I overheard this hypothetical conversation at Google HQ:
Developer: I have a new product idea. Imagine an online tool for real-time communication between groups of people!
Colleague: You mean a CHAT ROOM, a technology that’s been in use for over 20 years?
Developer: Yes but now imagine mashing in more features like embedable Youtube videos!
Colleague: So it’s a bloated chat room?
Developer: That’s right. Except that we won’t call it a chat room. We’ll call it a WAVE_-_-__ and pass it off as an entirely new concept that’s going to revolutionize the world!
Colleague: A bloated and glorified chat room. Brilliant!
Nov/090
Google Maps NYC Subway Map could be better
Google Maps has had a “Transit” layer for some time and it used to be empty for New York City. Not surprisingly, they’ve recently added the NYC subway map illustrating where the different lines run. It works on maps.google.com as well as Google Maps Mobile on your phone (read about it here).
I’ve been using the subway map from onnyturf.com/subway for years and while that is basically the same thing, a NYC subway map layered over Google Maps, there are some differences. Below I’ve included a comparison of each map showing an identical area around times square.
Oct/090
The Notwist are Something Wonderful
The music we listen to is the soundtrack of our lives. I’ve spent years branching out and exploring lots of different music, 160 gigs / 1,700 albums / 22,000 songs if you count what’s on my hard drive. The process of music discovery has been a fun and rewarding one. But lately I’ve been showing all the signs of something… and just now have I put it all together and realized what it means.
Sep/091
Color Changing Bookmarklets for Your Browser
(cc) photo credit: lepiaf.geo
These days, the vast majority of computer documents and web pages are displayed in dark text on a light background. As a result the majority of your computer screen ends up being white space.
Since your display is most likely back-lit, using the computer is a bit like staring into a light bulb. So if you’ve ever stared at a computer screen all day, or every day as the case may be, you may have caught a case of CVS (Computer Vision Syndrome). Symptoms are generally mild and may include eye fatigue, difficulty focusing, blurry vision and headache.
To alleviate CVS you could quit your job and go outside or spend a chunk of change on some fancy pants computer glasses infused with all sorts of made-up technology. But before you run off in a panic, allow me to present some more reasonable solutions to the problem.
Sep/090
Chrome 3 is better, less ugly than before
Chrome is quickly becoming a very good browser. As of Sept 15 version 3 of Chrome is officially stable. This release come with notable improvements in speed and stability as well as the addition of themes.
Now those of us not using the default Windows XP theme can finally shed those obnoxious blue colors from our desktop. I’m personally finding the “Greyscale” theme to be much more harmonious with the rest of my desktop. To get themes navigate from the wrench icon > options > personal stuff > “Get Themes.”
In other good news, extensions are are just around the corner. The development release is already extendable.
