Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

Went to terrific party but was a great reminder of how much i like learning new languages. It is Tết in vietnam and i should at least learn to count and say Happy New Year. Btw for geeks, wikipedia says The name Tết Nguyên Đán is Sino-Vietnamese for Feast of the First Morning, derived from…

The latest news. Apple doesn’t like Google anymore. And for purchasing, here are things to know: 1. iPhone HD. The new version is happening, so if you can hold off purchases until mid 2010, then do it. It is rumored to support Verizon (hurray!) and have an HD Camera. 2. The new MacBooks are coming.…

Well, there are many tools to do this and I haven’t kept up. Podworks is something that Ars Technica like which is just $8 for the Mac. iRip is the Windows product they like.

Omg Mactumors.com cover it, but I have to have one (probably three) of these things. With it, I’m not sure why I need a laptop anymore. Most of email readin gis reading and the virtual keyboard is a good solution. It is sooo cheap. Only $829 for a 64GB 9.5″ display plus it has both…

An amazing place. Thanks to Guy for setting up. Nelson is at the top of the southern island. Monaco Nelson is a cool hotel with cottages. Each room has a sitting room. On the water. Strikeadventures.com is run by Zane. An incredible guide. What they call small here is truly amaZing. Next year have got…

Post Christmas shopping means I need: PSP Analog Stick Replacement. I’m not even sure what to call these, but these are the little tops on the original PSP. $5 from Gamestop or online. Model rockets. Cool new passion. Fun to get a kit from Estes, but lots to learn from Hobbyspace.com where you can get…

Best Video I’ve Seen Today Will Make You Smile – Songs around the world – Gizmodo. Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around The World from Concord Music Group on Vimeo. This cover of Stand By Me was recorded by completely unknown artists in a streetvirtual studio all around the world. It all…

Having fun in Seattle…the Sorrento happy hour is indeed great. The lamb chops are terrific. The Union is sadly closed. 🙁 http://www.seattletravel.com/seattle-happyhour-downtown.htm

Avis Discount Codes – Page 66 – FlyerTalk Forums Avis AWD’s for the U.S. (and if noted, international, too!)A074800 – Citicorp Leisure TravelA108300 – Cosco – international, too!A113400 – Florida Empolyee (proof required)A153700 – Avis Employer (DO NOT USE!!!) – NOTE: A153700-A153799 will always be questioned !!!A177232 – Citifinancial – international, too!A177232 – USAA frequent…

Anyone else confused by United booking codes? The order is defined in United’s contract of carriage. * First class: F, P, A * Business class: C, D, Z * Coach class: Y, B, M, E, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, K, L, G Booking Classes (UA) – FlyerGuide Wiki By alphabetical order *…

Here are some cute Chinese nicknames of Athletes http://www.nba.com/features/chinese_playenicknames_070329.html Team Player Chinese Nickname Translation of Chinese Nickname Explanation Chicago Ben Wallace 大本钟 (Da Ben Zhong) Big Ben Wallace’s size and ability to defend Cleveland Zydrunas Ilgauskas 大 Z ( Da Z ) Big Z Da means “big” and Z is the first letter of his…

Forget Apple TV, Stream to Your Xbox or PS3: If you’ve already got an Xbox 360 or PS3 (who doesn’t?) there’s no reason to bother with another media streamer, even if you’re ditching Windows. The programs Connect 360 and Rivet will stream music, movies and photos from your Mac to your Xbox for $20. For…

10.5: Set up Time Machine on a NAS in three easy steps – Mac OS X Hints Here’s a three-step process to create a Time Machine backup on a network-attached storage (NAS) unit. Create a sparsebundle image on your local system. Create and set permissions on your network share. Copy the sparsebundle to the network…

you want to convert the .flac files to .mp3 to take with you on your iPod or MP3 player. This tutorial will walk you through the steps to do just that, using OS X. Read on .. First things first, make sure you’ve downloaded and installed xACT and iTunes, both of which are free. Actually…

Previously mentioned Songbird, the open source, Mozilla-powered, supposedly iTunes-killing media player has updated to 1.4.2, bringing a host of new features, including AAC metadata support, a new feather (skin), CD ripping, and support for many mass storage devices. Apart from the snazzy new purple feather, the biggest features in this release are definitely CD ripping…

Ever since the release of Apple’s multi-touch Magic Mouse just a few months ago, one of the primary complaints from users has been a lack of support for Exposé and other functionalities given the limited options available in System Preferences for configuring the mouse. Addressing these issues, Gizmodo today points to a new menu bar…

See Final Mac Ripping Workflow | Tongfamily Website as it is still the best way to get a high quality MP3 encoding on your Mac. You basically use a free tool called iTunes-LAME instead of iTunes itself and then you use two widgets Harmonic to find lyrics and Amazon Art Finder to find album art.…

This would solve a huge number of problems. Get a box that gives you 3G in your home. Amazing that AT&T wants us to pay for it, but its the only game in town with the iPhone right now ;-( AT&T 3G MicroCellâ„¢ AT&T 3G MicroCell acts like a mini cellular tower in your home…

Lifehacker has put together their list of the 15 Most Popular Free Mac Apps of 2009. Keep in mind, these are Mac OS X apps, not iPhone apps. The list is based on the popularity of apps they’ve covered in 2009 and don’t represent total download numbers. Here are some of their choices (in no…

AppleInsider | Apple offers free taste of iTunes LP format with ‘Holiday Sampler’ Apple is promoting its new iTunes LP format with a free downloadable selection of 20 holiday songs from a variety of popular artists. The free iTunes Holiday Sampler download includes a variety of artists from wide-ranging genres, such as Toby Keith, Weezer,…

So sad when a company tries to defend itself. Much better to say, we are working hard to do a better job and to actually do a better job. For myself, the idea of a universal chipset that does CDMA or 3G would be great as would be using Verizon. The sad thing about coverage…

Apple Set to Sell 10 Million iPhones This Quarter? – Mac Rumors A DigiTimes report about growth in smartphone growth for Taiwanese component suppliers is gaining a fair amount of notice this morning for its citation of a market research firm’s claims that Apple is set to sell 10 million iPhones this quarter, well ahead…

Kind of frustrating, there seem to be runaway processes. But I switched to 1.6.6 and it all went away. So upgrade if you are Mac now 🙂 Happens on both Firewire and iSCSI on both Mac Mini and iMac. Seems to be related to the Drobo Dashboard and they are recommending downgrading to 1.5x or…

Mac Rumors: Apple Mac Rumors and News You Care About TechCrunch reports that Apple has rolled out a new feature through its iTunes Facebook page allowing users to create customizable digital gift cards. The feature, which is currently limited to U.S. iTunes Store customers, allows gift givers to choose from six digital gift card designs…

MacRumors iPhone Blog: AT&T Releases ‘Mark The Spot’ Application to Track Network Issues AT&T yesterday released AT&T Mark the Spot [App Store, Free], a new iPhone application allowing users to alert the company to problems with its wireless network. The application takes advantage of the iPhone’s GPS receiver to pinpoint the user’s location and allow…

coffeegeek.com review, Well, it is freezing in Seattle and lots of need for hot drinks. So, when Calvin ask, do we have a Thermos for hot chocolate. I realized I haven’t bought a thermos in so long what’s the state of the art. Here it is, the Nissan Thermos. Kind of cool looking too. Briefcase…

9 to 5 Mac | Apple Intelligence Today we learned that new iPhones were found using apps with tracking software in the San Francisco area. The news is not surprising since the same thing has happened around this time of year for the past few years. This is the traditional time that Apple starts testing…

Handbrake version 0.9.4 adds 64-bit support | iLounge News Popular open-source DVD to MPEG-4 converter Handbrake has been updated to version 0.9.4. The new version offers a host of improvements, including speed, size, and quality improvements taken from the x264 project, support for 64-bit and parallel builds for added speed improvements on 64-bit capable machines,…

iPhone users complain of ‘searching for service’ bug | iLounge News A number of iPhone users are voicing their displeasure over a bug in iPhone software 3.1.2 that sees the phone randomly start searching for service. According to a thread on the Apple Support Discussions site, the problem appears to be software related, as users…

Handbrake version 0.9.4 adds 64-bit support | iLounge News Popular open-source DVD to MPEG-4 converter Handbrake has been updated to version 0.9.4. The new version offers a host of improvements, including speed, size, and quality improvements taken from the x264 project, support for 64-bit and parallel builds for added speed improvements on 64-bit capable machines,…