Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

Nothing like going through a whole bunch of stuff that has been dumped into Hefty garbage guys to put a damper on your whole day. On the other hand, nothing like unloading a whole boxful of All Clad pots to lighten your day. It’s been one of those days 🙂 or 🙁 is completely a…

Sign of the times. Got a few bucks off the new MacBooks from MacMall 13″ 2GHz MacBook $1299 retail is $99 off13″ 2.4GHz MacBook $1599 off $10015″ 2.4GHz MacBook Pro $2000 off $25617″ 2.66GHz MacBook Pro $2800 off $1891.6 GHZ MacBook Air $1800 off $801.8GHz SSD MacBook Air $2500 off $130

What an amazing weekend. Went to Sundance Film Festival. Not often you get to do something that is so different. Glad I love movies for sure. And the weather has been perfect. Watching all these movies has been really fun. And there’s even skiing. Strange to be in Utah the day of the inaugural. Waiting…

I has been a long time since I could just listen to really loud music and enjoy it. Thank goodness for Aerosmith, Kanye west and all the speaker systems in the world.

Stuck waiting for a two hour flight that will now take seven hours to get there. How sad, faster to get to Tokyo than Salt Lake! Anyway, time to look through the latest at CES and also at the latest in projectors. AVSForum is a great resource for the high end systems Christie HD6K-M seems…

I’m an idiot. Major mail problems while traveling. My entire inbox and all folders were deleted. Blaming China Mobile, iPhone, Mac Mail. Turns out I was trying to build a Entourage rule to “erase” some people from my mail. Delete anything they would ever send me and I accidentally set it to all messages delete.…

Argh. Networks are such a pain. Conference call at 3AM then the network breaks. Traced to an old Linksys WAP54G which wouldn’t pass DHCP addresses. Of course, the Mac doesn’t warn you about this, so signal is strong, but you have to go to Preferences/Network to find out that you are not getting the right…

The first reviews are coming in on the 5D2 AnandTech: First Look: Canon 5D Mark II The base range of the original 5D is 100 to 1600 ISO with expansion to 3200. Canon appears to have succeeded very well in matching and surpassing the low noise and superb resolution of the original 5D. In fact…

So what if you want surround sound say in the family room, but don’t have any easy way to run wires to the back? Logitech has their Z-5450 which is 4 speakers plus a subwoofer. The rear speakers can be as far away as 8.5 meters (28 feet) and still work. It is also THX…

Well, I have a pretty good kit of lenses tuned for the APS sized sensor on the Canon 350D but now with a full frame Canon 5D Mark II, many of my favorite lenses don’t work: EF-S 10-22mm. I use this more than you think. On a small frame camera like the 350D, this is…

Wow, it sure ain’t warm here. Nice during the day, but at night, it goes from 1C to -7C, that’s quite a drop, from 33F to 16F and it is windy and no cabs. Wow, even my 800 down jacket didn’t stand up well. Nice hotel the Beijing Westin and there is a great hot…

Well it took two trips and a careful scan of a digital photo taken three years ago but I found the house where my dad was born and raised. Ironically I can see it from my apartment so must be good karma. Amazing the details that you can remember after 60 odd years. Like how…

Well, only taken a single set of shots, but first impressions: Wow, ISO 3200, man, does this change your life. The shots are grainy like say an ISO 800 on my Canon Digital Rebel XT EOS-350D, but that is four times less light. Previously my only decent shots were with a 50MM F/1.4 lense shooting…

Well just taking the first shots with this bad boy, but already there is a firmware fix. Apparently there are is now a firmware fix. The camera comes with 1.0.6, so this is the first update. As an aside, the Samsung A750 47″ LCD Panel is sure good looking. Just watched a movie on it…

Another example of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. I admit it, I love Hip Hop. The thesis is simple, its vaccous stuff. Nothing like Dylan, Springsteen, U2 or the Dead. But, I love it. Every since someone dear taught me to really listen to the lyrics, it is poetry. Kanye West is the classic example of…

Although it is easy to criticize the many hard things about airline travel, the fact is that it is easy to throw the baby out with the backwater. Am on flight to Asia right now and thoughts go back to a woman who was a customer service rep for United. She died last year and…

Well once in a lifetime, you get to buy a new toolset. I used one from my Dad and his old Craftsman lasted a long time, but what if you start afresh. Toolcrib.com and of course Consumer Reports is a good source, although Consumer Reports doesn’t rate handtools. Inthewoodshop.org has a good general discussion. Basicalyl,…

Ok, so what if you have a list of things you need for a house, here are some that short circuits things: * Ladders. Cosco 2061 is $80 and a good reasonable stepladder that isn’t too heavy. And Amazon Zshops has it for $100 or so including shipping* Irons. Most are good and work well…

This is just silly, it is nearly impossible to find multiplayer in Grand Theft Auto because getting there is actually in the game. GRAND THEFT AUTO IV – Multiplayer: Gametypes, Modes, Online To jump into a multiplayer match, you need to have the cellphone. (The cell, however, is given to you very early in the…

Well, a good summary of places to get the best cooking stuff: # Metro Kitchens. Best prices for All Clad Stainless Steel. Unbelievably expensive, but reviews show that this stainless lasts a lifetime. It’s really true. Also their 8″ non-stick omelet pan is recommended and reasonable compared with the French Omelet Pan.# BBQ Tools. Best…

I’ve been using Magazines.com for all my subscriptions as it is a nice central place, but the latest dip on Discover, National Geographic Traveler shows Amazon.com does have lower prices. The big difference is Amazon has 50% off on most magazines for a 2 year subscription. So discover is $12 for one year and $18…

How can you be mad at someone who has pushed you onto a new course. In the 2009 New Years wishes, everyone wants everything to be better. Spent a day climbing up a steep rocky shifting slope and looking down and seeing how far up we were, realized, wow you could really hurt yourself, so…

OMG, just got a notice from J&R that the camera is on its way! Means I had better get my act in gear and get accessories: UDMA Compact Flash card. The new cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II, EOS-1Ds Mark III, EOS 50D, Nikon D3, D300 and D700 and Sony Alpha DSLR-A900. Waht does…

An old friend said to me, “Happy New Year!” Like Merry Christmas, I sometimes don’t know that that means. 2009 has just arrived here and the fireworks are going like crazy, but I would say more accurately to all, I hope you have reflected on the last year and that you be more present, you…

Thank goodness, I knew what this is, on Bluehost, occassionally, the WordPress Options database will get corrupted. The tech guys said they had put some fixes into MySQL, but the fix, if you suddenly get the new blog install screen instead of your blog is that your wp_options table which gives configuration instructions to WordPress…

Calvin pointed out a great site that measure your Footprint on the earth. How depressing. If everyone used as much as I do then we would need 5.2 Earths to survive! Makes me want to renew my Terrapassto offset another 100,000 pounds of carbon like I did this year 🙂 You should too… Here was…

Wow, cool to have an indoor grill in the winter…Here are some good recipes for halibut and scallops. Main thing is to make sure the grill is well oiled so the fish doesn’t stick Soy Halibut Steaks – Grilled Halibut Recipe Combine all ingredients, except the halibut, in a small saucepan over a medium heat.…

Shawn was so nice to pick some great quality wines for me. Nothing like taking advantage of 20 years of experience. Particularly these rare Australians and an amazing online merchante, klwines.com 2007 Mollydooker “Blue Eyed Boy” Shiraz $49.99  $599.88 2005 Kaesler “Stonehorse” Shiraz Barossa Valley South Australia $22.99  $137.94 2006 Henschke “Henry’s Seven” Shiraz-Grenache-Viognier $31.99 …

If you go all out, you need something that has four USB ports by Rocketfish for $20. I got one from Best Buy that is clumsy but it works. Internet search shows not much but J&R has an Intek for $25 but these aren’t reviewed and the Amazon one by Dreamgear is pure junk.

For those of us without anything else to do, here is all the shopping you can do on a Saturday: * Ikea (601 SW 41st St, Renton, WA 98057). Saturday 10AM-9PM* Lowe’s (2700 Rainier S). Saturday 6AM-9PM* Macy’s (1601 Third Ave). Saturday 10AM-10PM* Costco (4401 4th Ave S). Saturday 930AM-6PM. So doesn’t open late, but…