Tong Family (richtong.org sync)

It is an interesting to see how the market has stabilized for computer monitors, the 27″ 2500×1400 category has stabilized and the new UltraHD are not quite affordable yet. So here are some choices. Going through  Anandtech and TNTCentral as technical site, then  Amazon customer ratings for reliability and having…

We have so many of these little AA and AAAs around it is incredible to me that we ever need to buy any new ones. But sadly, the cupboard is bear (and we want to get these for work as well). So what to get? The LaCrosse BC-700 is a…

I’ve had my Speck Smartflex Case for a month now and I have to say it is super convenient and I haven’t lost my wallet. The main things that are sad are that it completely hides the very nice gold iPhone underneath and you have to be careful with just…

LensRentals.com – Good Times with Bad Filters. Is a great example of how filters affect image quality. Most folks I know don’t put a filter on top of the lense. I put them on all of mine because one scratch and your $$$s lense is well not so nice. In…

Wow, it is always complicated (and rewarding to get points). Looking for the superb Canon 15×50 IS binoculars. The lowest price is on Amazon, but if you shop a little with Chase Rewards Mall, you can find them with 1 extra point (worth about 2 cents per dollar) on Rakuten.…

We are using Git’s version of Markdown for most of our documents. A big advantage over a regular Word file is that this is easy to diff and edit and manage. But while the syntax is nice, it certainly isn’t WYSIWYG. It would be nice to find something that is…

The latest iMovie appears to hate NAS drives. It looks like Apple is now checking to make sure this is a true Apple file system (why???!). In any case, if you want to use a NAS or something else, you have to hack through this workaround: 1. Create a custom…

This is a terrific VPN. It costs $39 per year and it works on iOS and Macs perfectly. Seems extremely fast as well. Their own application seems a bit buggy, but the Tunnelblick which is an open source VPN works great. You do have to download the beta to get…

The Sony RX-100 seems to have started a trend. Amazingly high quality 1″ sensors. Now the Mark III has an EVF and a much faster lense, but others are catching up: Lumix LX8. Rumors about a 1 inch sensor compact and fixed lens Panasonic LX8 camera are floating around the…

The 8×32 Leica’s really are magnificent. They are tiny and easy to carry on a day hike. The 8×26 Vortex are perfect for taking to the Opera or for ultralight backpacking. But what if you really want to see what is happening during a sailing regatta. The traditional method is…