Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

Well, I spent years a long time ago on Weight Weenies figuring out how to lighten a bike. I remember sitting in meetings calculating the cost per gram for lower weight. Sometimes I went too far when a handlebar broke, but by and large it worked and I got down to a 15 pound bike…

Of course a dedicated bike computer has a longer battery life than an iPhone particularly for long rides, but if you are just going out, it is possible to use the iPhone as a computer as long as all your devices support Bluetooth LE (as long as it’s a short ride). Here are the things…

Well, if this summer you need some heavy iron to train models, here are some tips. The main issue is that both AMD and Intel are in a transition, so availability of the really cool hardware is delayed. TL;dr So you have two choices, one is to stick with the last generation CPU and use…

If you have a bunch of photos and just want a random slide show to appear on a TV, what’s the easiest path? If you are lucky your TV has a built in player, that is when you stick a USB key in, it knows how to read the slides and play it. Our Samsung…

Synology has really made it easy to get yourself into trouble. We have a 12 drive Synology at home and a 8 bay plus older Drobo 8 bay and a Drobo 4 bay. Somehow we’ve ended up with terabytes and terabytes of storage, but I’m always running out on one volume or another, so here…

There are two ways to make this happen: Sign up for Netflix with Chase Ink, this will give you the equivalent of 11% off if you have a Chase Sapphire card and can use the points. Buy a bunch of iTunes gift cards and use them to pay for your Netflix. This works, but is…

One thing that has been bothering me is that two of my bikes have quick release skewers and disc brakes. Although unlikely, it is possible that the QR can come loose. Most folks are shifting to through axle which is more reliable. However, it turns out that you can convert from QR to thru axle…

Well this had lots of parts but is pretty cool. Basically with the older Ultegra Di2 system, you need to add a wireless transmitter to update it and for it to give you gear and other information. It’s not really documented how to make this all work, so here’s a quick guide: DN101 Battery. First…

Seems like we are always needing more of these, so once again, let’s take a look at ultralight gear for tents, trekking poles and water purifiers, so the ultralight list at Outdoor Gearlabs is super helpful Tents Well, there is a tradeoff between lightweight and being sturdy, but we have the Big Agnes UV 2…

OK I’ve never quite figured out the many settings that Adobe Photoshop has for printing as I barely ever do it. First a few notes: If you want to print some favorites out of an Apple shared album, this is actually pretty hard. There is a like button for instance, but in Mac Photos there…

Well Synology has just been awesome with compatibility and updates, but hitting the first signs of obsolescence. It looks like Synology systems older than June 2014 have an 8TB hard disk limit. I know, I know, that seems like lots of capacity, but it’s not well documented if you look at the Synology compatibility lists you…

Wow these are some lenses, thanks first of all to lensrentals.com, they are just awesome. I needed these lense for shooting a sailing regatta that was probably 1km away, it’s tough to get shots like this, but at least the boats are moving slow, so I could use ultra high resolution bodies (the Canon 5DS…

OK, I’ve been updated to a new bike and here are some notes: The recommendations on tires have changed quite a bit. I used to ride 23mm at 110 psi, but now folks are recommending a wider 25mm at 90 psi, apparently it’s about the same footprint on the road and much more stable. Heart…

The Points Guy. Can anyone tell we are back to the geekfest. A great list of flight apps. Flightradar24 is cool. I loved it when united had their ATC channel now it’s free. Finally Windy is good as is Tripit (president version free every the Amex card). Also use a Flightview as it has where…

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/9to5macToys/~3/PMN-xAleGhw/ the LG 55 C6 is an incredible OLED screen. At $1400 it’s expensive but nearly 40% off its initial price. It’s kind of the perfect gamers screen. Talk about immersive! Main issue is getting one that has a defect. Amazon is awesome because they will just pick one up and give u a new…

https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2017/06/the-comprehensive-ranking-of-the-major-uv-filters-on-the-market/ everything you need to know about filters to protect your lense front end. I normally get the B+W MRC Clear Transparent which is a nice $50 choice. It maybe shouldn’t be surprising but if you want to protect your front end, you need at least a $50 piece of glass and not an el…

Seems like every year (?!) when I do print, I have to remember how to get the profiles right. With an old Canon iP100, the question is how to get a nice color, so here is the mapping: The Paper codes They have a two digit paper code system from lowest to highest quality MP.…

Well the fragility of MacBook Pros has me looking for new laptop recommendations. I by the way did tweet to #tim_cook and apples executive support tram responded awesomely fast.  The main news is that there is no recourse from what level 2 tech support says through that channel. Warranty decisions are made at the descretion…

Ok, I’ve had three cases now of MacBook Pro 2016 which have screen cracks from things that is should not. The repair cost is $700 and they will not cover it under AppleCare Closing your laptop on an Ethernet adapter. This will totally crack your screen and this is called accidental damage. Closing your laptop…

Man I’m sure sad Yakima is discontinuing the whispbar. More expensive and not as strong but they really are totally silent and have essentially no impact on gas mileage.  We have whispbar on a 2013 Honda Fit and it is terrific. We have the new jetstream on a 2016 fit and it’s super noisy. May…

A zillion years ago, the old Campy computer told you what gear you were in. How much work is it to get back to that. Also Shimano is introducing synchronized shifting. That is, one shift and the bike computer decides when to move the front derailleur. Pretty handy. But getting it on an existing bike…

Well, I think that keeping a drone investment safe is pretty important, so for about 30% of the cost of a drone, here is what you can do: Insurance $99 DJI Refresh. This is like Applecare, you buy at the DJI Store and then within 48 hours of activation type in your drone serial number.…

OK more strange accessories: Be careful when you plug a modular connector into a power supply. There isn’t a standard. So if you lose the bag of connectors, don’t just find a random one. It is expensive to buy replacement cables ($50 for cables when the power supply is $120 feels like highway robbery), but…

Well the gig or outsource economy is in full swing and since it is impossible not to interact with it, I thought I’d note the last three and make some observations: Buying with e-certificates at Lowe’s. This shows why competing with Amazon is so hard. They offer huge discounts vs Amazon. Beside free shipping, if…

Ok for the truly nerdy, did you know that if you sign up for earny.co it will track your purchases and if you have a chase or Citibank card, it will take a 25% commission, but will automatically handle the refund process. A pretty good deal. If you want to do it manually, then Chase,…

OK, for a long time this was one of my favorite brands, but then they bulked out and got less athletic, so I don’t normally buy their stuff anymore, but if you are lucky enough to have a discount on them, here are the best things in their line: Mens’ Stretch Ozonic. The best thing…

Well it is nice to have an actual working controller. First a hat tip to B&H Photo Video, they have a 30 day return policy and it is really just a phone call and you get an RMA. As I said before for things like this, you really want to use a local store because…

OK, feel free to skip past this post, but it took an evening, but right now I feel like the worlds expert on toilets and all things modern (and no there will be no yucky talk here). But here’s the scoop: TL;dr We’ve been using the Toto Drake II 1.28GPF which is a “flagship” model at $350…

Man, I can’t count how many $$$s I’ve lost with expiring rewards points, but with a disciplined use of 1Password, so at least I know what accounts I have, plus a subscription to Awardwallet, hopefully this will be a thing of the past. Some notes, (by the way I was dumb, the old price as…

Well there isn’t any doubt that DJI has the best drone on paper with the Mavic Pro, but here’s what to watch out for: Hardware issues. Out of the box, the brand new Mavic controller would not pair with the drone. I’m sure they are selling like hot cakes, but this is the first time…