TypeZero3

TypeZero3 tag:typezero3.com,2011-08-26://5 Movable Type Pro 5.12 The Lost Art of Shaving: Tools of the Trade - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.34 2011-11-13T08:24:33Z 2011-11-13T09:15:12Z

This post probably won't appeal to many of my readers, but I decided to write it anyway because I've spent an extraordinary amount of time testing, recording and publishing two YouTube videos on my razor reviews.In any case, the...

Ryan

In any case, the first video is a review of the Feather Double Edge Razor - Popular model. Overall, it's a great starter razor, but it's plasticky handle and neck may turn off some buyers. The second video is a comparison between the Feather, the Gillette Fusion and a Panasonic Wet/Dry Electric Shaver.

I'm also thinking of doing some reviews on other shaving related paraphernalia (ie. shaving creams, brushes, aftershaves) but wanted to see what the response to this was before I scare away any more readers.

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Here's the second video comparing the 3 types of shaving tools:

In any case, thanks for watching, reading and I hope you enjoyed it.

]]> Toys for Girls - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.33 2011-10-21T07:10:24Z 2011-11-11T21:25:56Z

Ryan

I'll get straight to the point, I need some help...If you haven't already guessed by the title or the picture in this post, I need some suggestions on what kinds of toys to get for our little girl of 18 months. Some of you may be wondering why it took us this long to buy gender-specific toys for her, but I suppose deep down inside I was hoping she wouldn't be a "girly-girl."

The other reason is that I wanted to be sure that any toys we bought would be used and not just tossed on the side. In any case, this all started because lately we've been noticing that our little girl really enjoys wearing accessories (hats and especially shoes) and cute outfits. The icing on the cake for me was when we went to my cousin's house and there was a baby doll on the ground and she started playing with it (trying to feed it and put a blanket on it).

So now I turn to you my friends, what are some basic toys that a 18-month-old girl might enjoy? I'm thinking baby doll and can't think of much else...So chime in and help our little girl out...Thanks!

]]> Dear Steve, (and what Apple means to me) - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.31 2011-10-06T15:30:28Z 2011-11-11T09:12:37Z

I have been and always will be a Mac. In fact, you might even say that I'm an Apple. I can proudly say that my very first computing experience was with an Apple IIe and I enjoyed every minute of...

Ryan

I have been and always will be a Mac. In fact, you might even say that I'm an Apple. I can proudly say that my very first computing experience was with an Apple IIe and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I cherish those times immensely. I can remember spending hours on that IIe, swapping disks, loading programs and studying how it worked (probably harder than in school) - only to be interrupted by dinnertime.

In short, that single computer, your creation, inspired a lifetime of choices: taking up graphic design, journalism, web design, starting an ISP and even programming.

Subsequently, I went on to owning more Apple products (e.g. Mac LC, original iMac, eMac, a powerbook and most recently, almost all of the iOS devices)

I've stuck with the Mac through thick and thin - through the crashy, extension-ridden & preemptively multitasking operating systems 6 - 9 (btw, Mac OS 8 was a long wait...) to the highly evolved OS X. I happily bought every single version of OS X, from it's beta form (Cheetah) to Snow Leopard (Lion soon, hopefully) and experienced the shift away from IBM-based (PPC) CPUs to Intel-based CPUs.

At times it was tough, I witnessed it all firsthand: the industry & peer discrimination, the media constantly calling Apple beleaguered, the Mac market share dropping below 4% and Apple almost going bankrupt in the 90s. It was heartbreaking, and yet, when one looks at the Apple of today, having the greatest market cap in the world (near or exceeding Exxon), it's very easy to forget the past...But, I won't and can't because I know how hard you worked as the iCEO, then as the CEO, to grow the company to where it is now. I know how much of your heart & soul you & so many other countless employees gave to making it insanely great.

In so many ways, you have been a such a huge influence on my life. You've taught me perseverance and patience at the same time.

Thank you, Steve. Thank you for inspiring me in so many ways and being such a positive influence on my life.

P.s. And although I never had the chance and honor to meet you in person, your passing has touched me in a deeply personal way.

Amitābha

]]> Tech on Tuesdays: MovableType - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.20 2011-10-04T16:00:00Z 2011-11-11T15:17:13Z

As it's already 9:40 p.m. on Tuesday, I'm not sure I'll be able to finish this post today but if I do, it'll get published it late tonight...but Tech on Tuesdays is another kind of regular post that I'd like...

Ryan MovableType.

In some ways, if you know how to use one CMS, you can easily learn another one...the conventions are all pretty much the same (listed a few below):

Pages (sections of your site - ie. home, about, contact, etc.)
Entries (Posts that you've written or are being written)
Assets (Media files - pictures, pdf, mp3s, etc.)
Tags (Words that describe your post)
Comments (Readers input on published posts)
Design (Change the look and feel of your site)
Settings and Tools (Site management options)

So, why chose MovableType over other platforms (ie. WordPress, Typepad, etc.) that have more themes, plug-ins and extensions available to them? I felt MovableType was more flexible and more importantly, I needed a system that could "manage" multiple sites from one point of entry...and MovableType fit the bill. I am aware that WordPress does have a multiple site feature, but in my testing, the WordPress install seemed very picky about how it was installed...Basically, I just didn't want to deal with it...

In any case, I'd like to dive into this further as we go along, but this entry is just meant to be a quick introduction to MovableType.

]]> Parenting, Discipline & Consistency: Setting Routine Sleeping Patterns - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.29 2011-09-29T17:00:00Z 2011-11-12T10:01:04Z

Ryan Disclaimer: Before I begin, I'd like to say that I'm not a professional or do I claim to be one and the views that I express in this post are just my opinions. Please feel free to leave a comment or suggestion or tell me that I'm flat out wrong...discussion is good and I can't possibly think of all the angles...That being said, here we go!

I originally started composing this post a few weeks ago and the intent of the article was to discuss how hard it is at times to come to an agreement about "parenting style," however, I think I'm going to keep the tagline "Parenting, Discipline & Consistency" and change the sub-topic as the content of the article changes.

In any case, as you've probably already guessed, today's topic is sleeping...Now before I go any further, I just wanted to say that while I realize each child's sleep needs are different, the strategy we've established seems to be working pretty well. For example, in our case, our two kids (a 44-month old and a 17-month old) are in bed pretty consistently by 7 p.m.

]]> Hint: it's always easier in the winter months because it gets dark earlier, but even during the summer, the time doesn't change...consistency is key :) And yes, I know that there are times they don't fall asleep right away, especially if they've had a long afternoon nap, but we've always felt that as long as they're relaxing in bed, it's ok.

With bedtime out of the way, let's move on to naps during the day...we have a little harder time keeping these consistent, especially for the little one...For half of the week (read: Mon., Tues., Wed.), we get her up at about 5:15 and almost like clockwork, she'll take her first nap at 8:30ish and take an afternoon nap at 1:30ish. That's what we'd call ideal, however, on the other days (read: Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun.) nap times are skewed an hour later and there may be times when she only gets a morning or afternoon nap... :(

On the other hand, our older son, gets only 1 nap a day during the week (IINM, 1.5 hours a day) and on the weekends, we let him "rest" a little longer (2 hours). One of the things we learned with our son is that sleep is really important and if he doesn't get enough of it, he can be really hard to deal with: irritable, grouchy and whiny - not a fun combination. Lack of a nap seems to affect our daughter in a similar fashion, but thankfully, for a lesser amount of time.

I think that covers just about all aspects of our sleeping schedules, but please feel free to comment about your own experiences or even make suggestions that might make things smoother for us.

]]> iPhone 5 Launch Event...Confirmed - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.28 2011-09-27T15:44:38Z 2011-11-09T00:36:07Z

Well, today Apple made if official...There will be an iPhone 5 launch event on Tuesday, October 4th at Apple's Cupertino headquarters. The event is slated to begin at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. I think it's going to be a huge...

Ryan

For my thoughts on what MIGHT be unveiled, have a look at one of my previous posts: "Regarding the iPhone 5 Oct. 4 Media Event Date."

]]> Tech on Tuesday: Update on "Reducing My Spam Target" - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.27 2011-09-27T14:45:00Z 2011-11-12T07:55:07Z

Maybe I was naive when I started this blog, but one of the things that I underestimated was the sheer amount of spam I'd receive once I started publishing posts regularly. A few readers, (ie. Thanks to @tokidote and @champuru)...

Ryan

So, with their advice, I looked to see if Akismet was available for MovableType (this site's content management system of choice) and sure enough, it was. As I was about to install it, I wanted to take a quick look at what MovableType had baked into their installation. Well, it turns out their default spam catcher is a plug-in set called SpamLookup. SpamLookup attempts to filter out spam by referencing blacklisted domains, links and keywords. Users can set the filter from 1 (the default, probably filtering out nothing) to 10 (filtering out everything), so I chose 7. I figured 7 would be a good start and I could always increase it if it didn't work well enough.

So after a few days of enabling SpamLookup, I can happily say that the time I spend moderating comments has decreased significantly and now only the occasional yahoo, gmail or hotmail account spam gets through...I suppose I could try to decrease the tolerance of SpamLookup, but I don't want to filter our actual comments (yet) hehe just kidding.

Anyway, if you have any questions about SpamLookup, Akismet or Karma, please let me know, I'll try to help as much as I can.

]]> What's up with the Chicken? - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.26 2011-09-27T08:33:01Z 2011-11-03T12:10:41Z

Since I launched this blog, several readers have asked me what the banner with chicken means...I wish I actually had a profound answer, but the truth of the matter is that I haven't found anything suitable to replace it with...The...

Ryan

Rest assured that our dear friend Mr. Rooster will be replaced by another banner in the near future. I'll probably get around to making some minor design changes. I think I want to add a tag cloud and some other fun plugins. If you have any favorites, I'll be glad to hear them.

Thanks and have a great week

]]> Regarding the iPhone 5 Oct. 4 "Media Event" Date - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.25 2011-09-23T15:45:22Z 2011-10-25T20:22:43Z

Ryan

Ever since the news broke about the iPhone 5 announcement rumored on October 4th, I've been thinking about the timing of it. But, before we talk about that, let's talk about the what we "think" we know. The news media and various tech blogs out there would like us to believe that they have some insider information about what will be unveiled that day.

Based on supply channels, prototype cases and artists' wishful renderings, the common denominators seem to be:

Two iphone models will be released:

iPhone 4s (same iphone 4 form factor with an A5 SOC "System on a Chip" design)
iPhone 5 (new "tear drop" form factor, wider, bigger screen and an A5 SOC)

Speech recognition integration by Nuance
8 MP back camera
Near Field Communications (ie. Google Wallet functionality) capability
and lastly, the addition of Sprint as an iPhone 5 carrier. (Unfortunately, T-Mobile seems to be left out)

Ok, now that we've got that established, let's talk about the timing of the announcement. Since 2007, almost like clockwork, a new iPhone would be announced and sold at around the same time each year (June/July timeframe), this year, however the announcement seems three months late. If we continue on the assumption that the announcement is on the 4th, would retail availability be on the 17th?

Which brings me to the question on my mind, will the carriers let customers who bought the iPhone 4 last July upgrade early to an iPhone 5? If you feel that the carriers won't let users upgrade early, who in their right mind would upgrade to an iPhone 5 in July 2012 when the iPhone 6 should be coming out in three months. Want to know my guess? My guess is that the carriers will be allowing subscribers to upgrade early to an iPhone 5 because if they don't, come July 2012, they could be afraid of massive customer churn. (ie. people moving carriers, etc.) These next two weeks can't go by quickly enough...

Anyway, I'd like to hear your thoughts, chime in and tell me what you think...

]]> Potty Training: That pesky last diaper - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.23 2011-09-19T15:58:41Z 2011-10-18T07:29:16Z

Ryan

One of the non-negotiable requirements for admission into preschool was that all incoming students have to be potty trained. I gotta tell you, we were cutting it pretty darned close. If I had to make a guess, I'd say that when lil A entered preschool three months ago, he was about 90% potty trained. In other words, he was able to use the bathroom when we reminded him, but if we weren't careful or forgot to take him to the bathroom, the occasional accident did happen.

I think part of the problem was that he was being stubborn and didn't feel the urgency to graduate to underwear. (ie. why change to underwear when you can pee in your pants and just keep on playing?) Luckily for us, things mostly came together right before school started and we crossed our fingers that peer pressure would take us the final 10% of the way. (The last 10% being that lil A would be able to tell us when he wanted to use the bathroom.) If you were wondering, the first few weeks were a little rough, with accidents happening during nap time, but nowadays, that doesn't seem to happen any more.

So, fast forward to our current situation...I'd say things are going very well, we don't have any accidents during the day anymore (watch us have one next week lol), however we still change lil A into a diaper at night just "in case." It's a routine that's worked for us in the past, but I know that some time in the near future, it'll be time for us to make the leap to wearing underwear 100% of the time. One of the ways we know that lil A's just about ready is that in the morning when he wakes up, his diaper is pretty much dry; then, when we take him to the toilet, the shi shi comes out really fast. :)

Now, I suppose the timing is right to think about strategies to get rid of that final diaper. In many ways, we're a bit hesitant to take that leap - maybe it's just that we're afraid of having to clean up lil A's sheet and blankets yet another time...I suppose for starters, we could get lil A up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, but that might might cause a disruption in his sleep patterns...lil A needs his sleep to be on his best behavior :) That being said, before we make any kind of change, I turn to you for suggestions and tips on how we can make this transition as easy and clean up free as possible...

I'm looking forward to your creative ideas...ttfn & enjoy your week!

]]> Reducing my spam target - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.24 2011-09-15T07:00:24Z 2011-10-18T20:48:42Z

The ever increasing amount of spam that this blog receives as comments has recently been quite a distraction...It started out with one or two a day, then slowly creeped up to about five and this morning, my inbox consisted of...

Ryan

Now, I'm willing to be real about it and I know that all blogs receive spammy comments, but I'd like to know if the amount of spam I'm receiving is about average or not...So, if you have a blog and accept comments, I'd like to know how many comments you have to sift through daily or if you know of a way to limit the amount of spam coming through without making it too hard for actual people to comment on your posts, please let me know...Tips are always welcome

Btw, we're more than halfway through the week, keep it up... :)

]]> The Daily Grind: It's what's for Breakfast - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.22 2011-09-12T16:00:00Z 2011-11-05T22:17:17Z

Ryan

As boring as it sounds, we've settled into a routine for breakfast. I guess in a way, it's less "disruptive"...the kids know what to expect, they seem to like it and we hope that maybe they'll pick up some good eating habits along the way. In any case, each week, I make a full week's worth of oatmeal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't sound very appetizing, but along with the soy milk base, I mix in cinnamon, honey, frozen berries and raisins. Let me tell you, I've made this concoction so many times, it's not even funny...I know cooking times, microwave power levels and so on...I don't measure anything and yet for the most part, it comes out pretty well...I think...maybe I should ask the kids one day :)

Anyway, I think I've been doing this for at least the past 3 years and I started off making it in a pan (as they recommend), but it took soooo long and you have to constantly monitor it, it is a pain in the you know where...I've refined and refined and I think I'm at a point where I consider it to be most efficient..if you have any tips or techniques I could use to improve, please let me know :)

]]>

Now, for the good part...I've documented the steps to make this oatmeal on YouTube and if you're interested, please feel free to try it out yourself. I'll be happy to answer ANY questions you may have about making the oatmeal. I'm warning you in advance, even with the microwave, it's an involved process, so if you don't have at least 30 minutes, you should wait until your schedule allows for the preparation and cooking.

I've broken up the videos into part 1 and part 2 because at the time, I wasn't able to upload any videos over 10 minutes long...Now, I think I can and maybe one day I'll "re-upload" it. In any case, please feel free to leave a comment and if you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them...Enjoy, thanks for watching and be healthy :)

]]> The Accidental "Let them eat cupcakes" review - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.21 2011-09-08T16:00:00Z 2011-11-03T06:43:40Z

Disclaimer: I am not a professional food critic nor do I claim to be one, I just play one on this blog. With that out of the way, here goes my review :)The saying goes, "A little planning goes a...

Ryan Disclaimer: I am not a professional food critic nor do I claim to be one, I just play one on this blog. With that out of the way, here goes my review :)

The saying goes, "A little planning goes a long way," but this time, having a spontaneous ideas turned out to be one of the best one...Take yesterday for example, yes it was my birthday, but I didn't want to make a big deal of it, especially at work (it just gets messy with everyone trying to treat you to lunch, etc...wait, what am I saying, I'm Chinese, right...) Anyway, the point is, I didn't really mention anything to anyone in the office. However, I did want to get some fresh air with a co-worker, so we decided to take a quick walk around town. Normally, we walk to Chinatown and back, but for some reason, we decided to walk to the Fort Street Mall area to check out some of the eateries around there. As we were walking up Fort Street Mall (near HPU) I happened to see a guy carrying a box of cupcakes. *Light bulb* - so now, I'm on a mission to get some cupcakes. I ask my co-worker where to get cupcakes around this area and he proceeded to take me around the corner and on to Beretania street.

]]>

So, we start walking down Beretania and then we came across it...or more specifically, we arrived at "Let them eat cupcakes." Walking in the door, we were greeted by a feast for the eyes, there were so many colorful cupcakes and the brightly-painted walls added to the effect. Then, of course, there was the beautifully hand-drawn chalkboard menu...props to the artist who took the time and effort to list all the "regular" and "specialty" cupcakes...

But, before we get too far off track, let's get back to business and talk about what I ordered. Let me tell you, there were so many pretty cupcakes, it was hard to choose. In the end, I chose 6 cupcakes, three more than I had intended to buy :) When they say, "You eat with your eyes," it's really true...

Ok, ok, ok, you've made it this far, so enough with the teasing, here's what I ordered:

From left to right, starting with the box on the left and then continuing on to the box on the right, here's my order: Oreo, Double Chocolate, Red Velvet (I just had too :)) Dobash, Carrot and Guava. The owners (I'm guessing) were super nice and accommodating, when they heard it was my birthday, they threw in a candle for me...I know it seems like something small, but it's those small things that count, right?

Now on to the actual tasting, can you believe I got to try them all? Don't worry, I shared with my co-workers and family (You should see how hard it is to cut a cupcake into thirds...). Anyway, I really enjoyed the cupcakes. Off the bat, I noticed that the cake portion was firm and yet moist (which baking-wise, I imagine is harder than it seems). Also, of note, IIRC, the orea cupcake had a cookie on the bottom and the guava cupcake had filling.

Moving on to the frosting...as I stated before I'm not a professional food critic or claim to be one, but I do know that the frosting can make or break your cupcake. In this case, I consider it to be the coup de grace :) It wasn't overpowering and in my opinion was paired pretty well with the flavor of the cupcakes (sweetness-wise). Which was my favorite? If I had to choose, I think that the Oreo would be my choice - it may have been unusual looking but I'm sticking with that.

I hope that my review gave you some kind of insight on what to expect from "Let them eat cupcakes." In no way do I think it can it replace an actual visit to the store. So, give yourself a treat, tomorrow's Friday, you made it through the week, treat yourself to a cupcake. I hope you enjoyed my review as much as I enjoyed writing it.

]]> The Daily Grind: Getting to work... - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.19 2011-09-06T09:30:50Z 2011-10-18T04:47:23Z

Ryan

Since about March, I've been working in town. For the most part, town is good because it means a shorter commute, but of course, the downside to town is, as we all know, the parking. For the first two months, I parked in an "open air" parking lot that looked really seedy (near the Cooke street Fisher)...And, at $80 a month, was considered quite reasonable. Yet, I was thankful for each day that passed by without my car getting broken in to.

Anwyay, fast forward to my current situation...I now have a more legitimate parking area, it's still not covered, but it is a WHOLE lot safer (IMHO). The bad part about it is, that it's just under a mile away...Using Run Keeper, I GPS'ed (is that even a word) my "hike" to work and it clocked in at a little under a mile - ONE way. I guess I should've known better, because it was taking me approximately 13 minutes to get to the office from the car and back every day. On top of that I'd be sweating like crazy once I completed my trek.

At this point, I knew something had to change...Ideas of using a scooter popped back in my head and along with that, came images of me falling head over heals while riding (Yes, I've done it before and thankfully I didn't get hurt) - then it came to me, we had a folding bike! Yes it was a no-name bike and was heavy as hell, but who cares, it would get me to and from work and that's all that mattered.

Now, I ride the bike to work daily (except on days that it is raining) and it's quite a bit faster, it's cut my time in half. Not only that, I get to work and to the car a whole lot less sweaty and for that, it's really worth it. I can't even imagine why I was walking all those days, I wish I had started this sooner. The only thing I am dreading is the day that the bike breaks down, it does have a lot of rattling, etc and when that happens, you can be sure I'll post my shopping for a folding bike adventures here...have a great week!

]]> Comments Testing... - Flying Lentils tag:typezero3.com,2011:/flying_lentils//6.18 2011-09-04T08:38:51Z 2011-11-11T14:55:58Z

Hi guys, gals,Thanks again for visiting and reading my posts. Believe it or not, I am slowly going through the site and making improvements here and there. This weekend, I really wanted to work on the commenting system MovableType uses...several...

Ryan

Thanks again for visiting and reading my posts. Believe it or not, I am slowly going through the site and making improvements here and there. This weekend, I really wanted to work on the commenting system MovableType uses...several people have wanted to make comments on my posts, but didn't want to become a MovableType member.

I looked at a few of the plugins and options and they all seem to require some kind of membership with some social network. While I do realize this can be a good thing, especially when trying to limit spam, but it can also be a pain in the "you know where" if you want to make a quick comment on a post.

In any case, I've updated my commenting system, but I need some help testing out how well it works. I know, I know, it requires you, the commenter to memorize yet another login and password, but lest I risk being spam-bombed, let's try this method for a while.

If you still have problems posting comments, let me know on my @typezero3 twitter account or message me on Facebook.

Here's to hoping this works out for everyone :)

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