Who's excited about the Apple iPhone coming out tomorrow at 6PM?!?! To be honest... I'm not too excited. Yes, it is an AMAZING and revolutionary gadget, but its price is as outrageous as it is impressive. Not only that, it's not perfect (see CNET Top 5: Worst things about the Apple iPhone, for example) and future iPhone generations are going to be better anyway. Or perhaps I suffer from slight iPhone-envy... only slightly. The only way I'd be getting one now is if I was currently employed by Steve Jobs (he's giving all employees, permanent and temporary, one for free!), but unfortunately I'm not. So for those of us who will not soon be new owners of this device, here's what we're missing.

posted by che @ 4:29 PM [[ 0 comments ]]

Since it's almost 4th of July and there's talk about watching some fireworks, I thought some tips about photographing fireworks would be appropriate. Here are some tips from PopPhoto.com that I received via email.

Fireworks are a great subject. The light emitted by the streaking incendiaries is actually much brighter than most people assume, so act accordingly. Here are ten rules to follow for sparkling results.

1. Get a location with an unobstructed view.
2. Use a tripod.
3. Set your camera's ISO setting to 400 or higher. Experiment with 800 and 200, too.
4. Turn OFF the camera's built-in flash.
5. Shoot at 1/30, 1/15, 1/8 and 1/4 second shutter speeds at your largest f/stop.
6. If possible, use the Landscape Mode or Infinity focus setting.
7. Anticipate the moment of explosion before pressing the shutter release.
8. Use a remote release if you can -- or press the shutter button gently.
9. Include people in some of the shots -- silhouettes can be dramatic; buildings add scale.
10. Watch the wind -- it will carry the smoke and spark debris trail causing streaks.

posted by che @ 3:56 PM [[ 2 comments ]]

I've never been happy with my weight and I'm honestly not sure if I ever will, so naturally I'm always looking for ways to lose weight. The only problem is healthy food is not appealing to me and getting into the routine of working out is tough to do. That's not to say that I've never stuck to anything before and been successful. A website that has helped me in the past was SparkPeople, and it helps you track the calories you're eating, calories you're burning, etc. The main thing I liked about the site was that most of the food I was eating was already in the database and I didn't always have to enter in the nutrition facts, and you're not restricted to certain foods. You eat what you normally eat.

Well, it's been a while since I've used that site and it's around that time again to lose some weight. I'll admit, I have lost motivation to really do anything about any recent weight gain but mainly it's just because I've been happy ;P However, I came across another site that I thought would be interesting and useful: Diet Television. What I like about this site is that you could tell it what you want to eat and how you want to exercise and it will suggest diet and exercise plans that are fitting to your needs. It also will let you know when you'll reach your target weight and you can make adjustments to reach your goal earlier. Nutritionist and community ratings are also helpful when comparing diets. Overall, it sounds like a good jumping off point. We'll see :)

posted by che @ 11:11 AM [[ 2 comments ]]

It looks like Paris is free today. Three weeks really flew by, didn't it? Anyway, here's what she was up to behind bars.


I'm speechless. I don't think there's any crack I need to make at this. It speaks for itself, haha!

[via]

posted by che @ 8:42 AM [[ 0 comments ]]

I've been looking forward to my contract ending with Verizon by the end of this year because I've been wanting a new cell phone. My phone right now is a pretty good phone (Motorola e815), but after a year and a half I'm a bit bored of it. Plus, I've dropped it so many times that sometimes it's got problems. So for a while now I've been looking for phones that I could get internet access. I looked into Verizon's phones and plans and frankly it seems like it will cost a bit too much. T-Mobile and the Sidekick plans are comparable. The cheapest alternative seems to come from Cingular, but I'm not sure if I want to go that route. My sister redirected me to the Helio and although I've looked at it briefly before and dismissed it, I'm interested again.

Pros
All-in membership includes
- unlimited text messaging
- unlimited picture messaging
- unlimited video messaging
- unlimited mobile MySpace (although I hardly use it nowadays)
- unlimited web browsing
- unlimited HOT
- unlimited file transfer
- unlimited high speed 3G
- unlimited buddy beacon (I can find other Helio friends! But do I care most of the time?)
- unlimited GPS-enabled Google Maps (the COOLEST feature, I think)
- unlimited talk: nights + weekends
- unlimited talk: mobile to mobile
- you can share your minutes with any Helio A La Carte member
- if you need to return your device or cancel your service, they offer a full refund for returns within 30 days of purchase (and I think this includes all the expenses of canceling your previous contract with another carrier)

And the cheapest plan is $65/month and includes 500 minutes which is more than my current plan. See membership details here.

Cons
- I don't know anyone who has it who could vouch for its service
- the phones are not that cheap (or more like nice one I want is not cheap), however you get a deal as a new customer and possibly if you sign up more than one account

So has anyone heard anything about Helio? Anyone have some good advice and feedback?

posted by che @ 9:45 AM [[ 2 comments ]]

Some GEEKY fun... a marble adding machine!



Someone really had the patience to work this out. Amazing. ^_^

posted by che @ 12:30 PM [[ 0 comments ]]

I just got back from a lunch time seminar of Diversity Dialogue. The theme was "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" and it was sponsored mainly by our company's GLBTA organization. Other than the free pizza and training credit, my main reason for wanting to attend this talk was to see the keynote speaker, George Takei! He's best known for his role on Star Trek as Mr. Sulu. I'm not a Trekkie but I am a Heroes fan! Fellow Heroes fans will recognize him as Hiro's dad ^_^ It turns out that George is a community activist and Human Rights Campaign member. They spoke a lot of his background, and with his anecdotal speech it seems that he is very accomplished and has gone through a lot. He is also into historic preservation. It was an interesting session and I'm glad I attended :)

posted by che @ 1:17 PM [[ 2 comments ]]

FINALLY! A new layout... :)

It's not quite what I first envisioned, but I'm happy with the result. I extracted the ninja from a tokidoki picture and drew on an ipod for kicks. I hope you like it! :D

posted by che @ 9:56 PM [[ 2 comments ]]

It's been a while since I've updated, so here's a quick update...

Last weekend, B re-landscaped my yard and transformed it from its previous post-duck habitat state. I have pictures but have been too lazy to transfer them to my computer. Maybe later... but basically its got grass, a sago plant, some flowers and a small white picket fence :)

In shopping news, I decided to attend the Von Dutch warehouse sale last weekend. I got a few things, and some pretty good deals including a little hoodie for New York, hehe. I decided to skip today's Paul Frank sale in an effort to save money, however we checked out the sale at Bath and Body Works. Lots of good stuff!

New York is doing well. She can get feisty sometimes, but I guess it's normal puppy behavior. I taught her how to sit and jump, and it was actually unbelievably easy. The more complicated tricks may take some time since her attention span right now is fleeting.

I've also tried a few things in the past week. Jamba Juice has a secret menu just like most other chains. I tried "Pink Starburst" and "White Gummi Bear". Mmm... they were both delicious, but I highly recommend the former :D I have yet to try Sprinkles (I don't want to make the effort of driving out to Beverly Hills or Newport Beach at this time), but I found an alternative: Yummy Cupcakes. They have locations in Santa Monica and Burbank. SM is do-able for me :) They have their typical flavors as well as daily specials, so if there's a particular "special" you fancy, make sure you check the calendar before making your visit ;) I tried the "Yummy Cupcake".


Signature chocolate cupcake made with three types of melted chocolate, topped with pink vanilla buttercream, rolled in dark chocolate sprinkles.


B tried a June special, the "Chocolate Cappuccino". Both are rich, sweet, and delicious! I think next time I might want to try the Red Velvet :)

Tomorrow we're heading out to the Dodgers/Angels game with a bunch of coworkers. We're going to bbq at a park nearby before the game. It should be fun times!

posted by che @ 8:59 PM [[ 1 comments ]]

Last weekend was short and extremely busy. I'm still tired!

Thursday night I tried Father's Office with B, Mouse, and met K. I thought the burger was ok, but I'm not sure it was worth the effort of trying to get a table. The seating is free-for-all so if you want a table you better be pretty aggressive about it. Strength in numbers definitely works as an advantage here.

Friday, I went to work for a little bit but took the rest of the day off to take care of some errands before heading to SD that night. B and I decided to give the ducks away and lucky for us we found the perfect home for them. A friend of a friend of ours has many animals (chickens, turtles, fish, dogs, etc.) and his house is big enough that he was able to accommodate Donald and Plucky. Lucky for us, he did it with enthusiasm :) That day, we also added another member to our family.






B and I have been looking for a dog for some time now. She's not exactly what we were looking for, but we fell in love with her when we saw her. We were considering pugs, english bulldogs, puggles, and teacup yorkies. She's actually half teacup yorkie and half pomeranian. I'm not a fan of pomeranians but I figured if her fur starts growing long I could just groom her to be more like a yorkie :P She is sooo small, sooo adorable! She's pretty quiet, but she's very active and playful. Oh yeah... and we named her New York :D Why New York? Well, since she's part yorkie, and well... because she's a bitch (female dog), haha! B bought her a little dress this weekend. It's size xxs and it's still a little big for her, hehe...



i ♥ new york

posted by che @ 8:22 AM [[ 1 comments ]]