Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

For everyone that is considering to buy the new Sony a7 camera – you may want to wait a little bit since Nikon is rumored to announce a new full frame hybrid camera with the following specifications: Nikon FM2 like design 16,2MP 36×23,9 full frame sensor (same as in the D4?) SD memory card 2016-pixel RGB image…

I don’t normally think of Google as a responsive company, so see my surprise when I got this note from a map correction we just did… From: Google Maps Re: Your report near Luritja Road in Petermann (10/8/13 7:13 PM) Hi Rich, Thank you for reporting this problem. We’ve reviewed your problem and you were…

I just loaded the latest build (3.2.3) and it basically works which is amazing, to actually get it running right takes a few tips and tricks: There is this funky thing called HDMI-CEC (what a name!) which let’s the Samsung remote control the XBMC on Raspberry Pi. This sort of works and XBMC says HDMI…

One of my favorite sites just did (photoreview.com.au) of the A7 (but not the A7r yet). It is sad as an aside that even the guy who runs canonrumors.com is buying one (and Canon has no more announcements planned until April of next year!). Here are the interesting facts: The Sony A7 is about the…

Suddenly there is a file /mach_kernel visible. This is probably the actual kernel of OS X as it uses Mach as its basis. It’s easy to fix as you don’t want to delete it, just make it invisible by starting Terminal and typing in: sudo chflags hidden /mach_kernel

Well, my Canon i9900 (which has been working for over ten years?!) has finally had a real problem. It is a 1403 Print Head issue. As Fixyourownprinter.com says, it is probably the print head which is clogged after all those years of use. The main point is that this happens if you don’t print for…

Well just finished ten days of using the Olympus OM-D EM-5 and I have to say it has been the best experience so far, but still not quite perfect. Lensrentals.com is a great site for trying things and here are some of my initial impressions: Wow, the combination of a 14-35 f/2.8 and 35-100 f/2.8…

Argh. I’m so stupid. Left my toiletries in a United bin and someone is now using my toothbrush and enjoying my glasses I’m sure 🙂 Here are the replacements: Sonicare. They charge an insane amount for their toothbrushes, but we are trapped. We have all the heads. Normally this is $80, but Amazon has just…

Been using the OM-D E-M5 with the Panasonic 12-35mm f/2.8 Pro and 35-100 f/2.8 Pro lense for a little bit. These are amazing lenses. Accorinding to photozone.de, because of defraction, this lense is actually sharpest at f/4 and declines significantly at f/5.6 (this is the defraction effect which occurs much earlier than with other lenses).…

Pretty cool idea, start with Accor and then get matched with Best Western and IHG Rewards. If you do after October 1, then you get it all the way through 2013 Some of these promotions may require you to be an elite member with IHG Rewards Club. You can always get Platinum Le Club Accorhotels…

Well as Rennie says, the main issue are the quality of the lenses (and I have a 16MP OM-D MD5 I’m trying righ now and it is tiny!), but Sony is working hard. They are naming their interchangeable lense full frame cameras, the A7 and the A7R and will announce on October 16th it is…

OK, here are the ways to get XBMC (and its various Airplay, DLNA input drivers) on: Raspberry Pi. RaspXBMC needs a hard-wired network connection and I have an EDImaxx USB wireless dongle. Argh. But at least it boots. OpenElec  needs a .img image on an SD card. Mrpfister has some great hints including how to…

Well if you are hunched over in your dorm room, it’s time to realize your back is going to really hurt, so here are some suggestions: Separate keyboard and mouse/trackpad. So that you can have them at lower spot than the laptop A laptop stand. This move the laptop up about 4 inches. We use…

Been trying to convert from Mac Mail to Thunderbird in the quest to get to more open source. Here are the issues: Thunderbird has this automatic identification of mail servers, but it doesn’t go to SSL encryption automatically, so you need to go to Tools/Account settings and change to SSL/TLS and this will switch the…

Bluehost offers a whole set of things that you can do to reduce spam. Here is what you do: Logon to yourdomain.com/cpanel Goto the mail section and enable Spam Assassin Then enable Spam Box Now create a folder called Spam in your email folders so that Spam Box can put Spam Assassin mail there Turn…

I’ve been on a campaign to use as much open source as I can and the next change is the switch from Mac Mail to Thunderbird. Here are some of the tips and tricks: With bluehost, the ssl that you use for el cheapo sites uses the bluehost SSL certificate. Thunderbird doesn’t like this and…

Nothing like starting all over again learning how to program. There are so many great free tutorials. Thanks Ray! And it is so cool that XCode is a simple download and it syncs with Github. How cool is that. I’m going to start with basic iOS and then try some tools like Xamarin. But can’t…

Super frustrating, but if you get your Trackpad in a wierd setting, it won’t pair. The trick is to hold the On button the *entire* time that you are pairing, see below: How to force a reset on Magic Trackpad: Apple Support Communities If you hold down the button for on the side of the…

You can do this automatically with Linux, but with Mac OS X, you still need to do graphical installs it looks like (or until I make a script for it all). Here are the things I need as a list with the goal to get as much open source software running that is inspectable and…

But you have to make sure to start Find My iPhone or it doesn’t work. iOS 7: Activation Lock secures your device in case of theft (Updated) | TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog Activation Lock improves Find My iPhone by preventing a person from disabling Find My iPhone without knowing both the Apple ID…

Got a trip coming up and it seems like a good chance to test the Olympus OM-D MD-5 (before the MD-1 comes out 🙂 The next question is what lenses to try. DXOMark has a list of lenses it likes as does Cameralabs, so here are some conclusions: Panasonic Lumix G 7-14mm F/4. A little…

Wow, the prices have really comes down, in looking at Amazon, you can get an SDXC 64GB UHS-1 R40 (is that a mouthful, basically means 40Mbps read and SDXC breaks the 32GB barrier for SDHC) from Sony for $37 or $42 now. The Sandisk is about $66 and probably better build quality and the Transcend…

Been shopping a bunch for this (and despite the fact that my computer has crashed twice now while taking notes), here are the conclusions from reading Amazon reviews and Cnet. There doesn’t seem to be a good source of action cam reviews: GoPro Hero Black 3. Despite the names, the Black, Silver and White are…

Well now that it is really pouring, time to see what the right jackets are: Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer. You have to see this rain jacket to believe it. Weighs just a few ounces. Expensive at $165, but wow, what a think to carry in your pack. Mountain Hardware Ghost Whisperer Down Jacket. They put…

Yikes, amazing how computers can just kind of fail when they are not tended to. Here are my problems: The Synology DS-1812+ lost a 3TB Seagate hard drive. Amazingly Seagate has a warranty program and for the cost of shipping one way you can get a replacement. However, I only had a 4TB spare (you…

If your Bluetooth device connections seem flakey, or if your Apple wireless keyboard or Magic Mouse isn’t as responsive as you think it should be, there’s an easy way to check Bluetooth signal strength and then make adjustments accordingly. Open System Preferences from the ? Apple menu and click “Bluetooth” Press and hold the Option…

Here’s how to change the signal strength indicator with a number rather than a signal bar: Launch the Phone app Dial *3001#12345#* Then tap on the Call button, which will launch the Field Test app (or enter the field test mode). You’ll also notice that the signal strength indicator has switched to a number from the…

Been buying a ton of 4TB drives lately, so good to see the reviews, the performance is about the same, but the big issue has been reliability. The new units are jusst out with Seagate HDD launched June 2013 and this is what I’ve been using (despite many notes in Newegg about reliability). Western Digital…

Alaska is really tough to qualify for. For MVP gold, you need 40k real miles. They don’t have multipliers for things like first class. Delta on the other hand for its golf program is 50k but they have a 50% multiplier for international business. Net net since delta codeshare so much it is easier to…

Now that everyone is concerned (at least me!) about privacy, what about the various things we depend on. What’s safe and also private: Password Managers. Of course this is the motherlode, if you can hack into a password manager. Agilebits makes 1Password and they have been open about their security zero-knowledge. It does cost $49…