garyfong1's Xanga

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 06:29:53 GMT

WE SAW AVATAR 3D

This is a must-see film. It completely redefines entertainment. In fact, if 3D movies continue to be this good, I think I sniff a market for designer movie glasses. These don't look as dumb as the red/blue cardboard glasses, and I know they went for the Ray-Ban look, but when you try to fit one size of glasses on the entire population (for example, Denis Reggie and Allison Clutterbuck would be two different ends of the head-size spectrum) you have to make generalized glasses.

Even without the amazing effects, the story is well done. It's kind of a direct blow to "Blackstone" and Cheney and the Iraq War. Notable quotes, "when they have something we need, we make them the enemy" and calling these peaceful leaf-people agents of terror. Not nice!

About ten of us all went as a group and took the entire row. I wish we had a group photo of all of us in our glasses!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:09:12 GMT

THE LUCKIEST HOLIDAY SEASON OF ALL

When the hospital told us that my uncle was not going to survive, we all flew to Seattle to say our goodbyes. We didn't bring any funeral clothes, we just couldn't bear to do it. But we all came to say goodbye.

He made an incredible turnaround. I was so in shock over the thought of losing him that I hadn't processed it. I just wanted to be with my Auntie who is hands-down the most wonderful, sweet person one could ever meet. Melissa just loves her so much. We were in shock. And we're equally in shock now. We've returned to the ranch, and my uncle is ready to go home in a few days.

The night we arrived, he was in an oxygen mask in ICU. It was very scary. The next day, we were all gathered around in his room, he was in a recliner, and we were all having fun playing with his new great granddaughter.

My uncle is 87 years old, and these are bonus days for all of us. Having the family all gathered to celebrate his good health rather than mourn his loss was a holiday miracle.

NEW LIGHTSPHERE INSTRUCTIONS!

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:03:21 GMT

This is way easier to do for me, and faster to print! It's going in all of our boxes.

lightsphere collapsible install
brought to you by Livescribe

GaryFong präsentiert Lightsphere Collapsible Blitzdiffusor

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 19:19:36 GMT

Monday, December 21, 2009

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:16:59 GMT

My Aunt and Uncle

I come from a very small, very close family. I cannot believe how lucky I am to have the family that I do. When Melissa met my relatives, she said, "well, I know where you got your sweetness from..."

My uncle is in his 80's. He still has his marine tattoo on his forearms for serving the U.S. forces. My childhood memories are filled wit h uncle in the basement, lifting his barbells or reading a newspaper while smoking his pipe. Downstairs was his man-cave, and with his crew-cut and athletic lifestyle (swimming, ballroom dancing, weightlifting) he just seemed like he was going to go on forever.

I got the call this morning from my dad that Uncle's big heart attack was really serious, and the whole family was meeting in Seattle. Melissa and I dropped everything at the ranch and hopped on the plane for the 1 hour flight back to Seattle. My dad arrives tomorrow. We leave tomorrow back for Canada.

Tonight, when we got there, Uncle was on Oxygen and all of his vitals were scoped at the ICU. He apparently was feeling better because, after seeing all of the family gathering at his bedside, he asked for a pen and paper so he could write a note. It said:

"go home" In this photo is my auntie laughing.

That is my uncle for you. I only have one Uncle and one Auntie in the whole wide world, and I grew up with them. I hope he pulls it off. They've been married for about 60 years, and are an example of love gone right. Living to old age together, I just hope he has more years to share with us.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:01:04 GMT

I'M A MAC, AND WINDOWS 7 WAS MY (DUMB) IDEA - or -
here's what happened when I tried to install Windows 7 on my Mac...

Here at the ranch, we all chuckle when we see the ad campaign, "I'm a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea".

Usually when you say something was my idea - I don't know it's normally to apologize for some dumb thing like, "putting egg yolks in the shampoo was my idea".

I'm on a Mac, and maybe some of you don't know this, but you can run Windows seamlessly and flawlessly on the same machine in switchable windows. I'm still running XP because I tried Vista and hahahahaHAHAHAHAH-HAHAHAHA!!!

So, running Mac's beautiful "Snow Leopard" interface with WinXP made XP look so dumb. I wanted the smooth interface and goodies of Win 7, so I got the upgrade.

OK to the right is what I had to do to remove the disk after - oh - about a 1/2 hour of diagnostics to see what type of install I should do. Then it says put in the disk. The disk was SO BADLY WARPED that it wouldn't read, and trying to eject it, it got stuck in the innerds. So, I had to take the whole damn laptop apart to pry the stuck (warped) Windows 7 out of the laptop. The process to save my laptop from the stupid Windows 7 disk was about 2 hours.

I'll just have to take this thing to Best Buy and say that it is warped. They'll probably go, "how do we know you didn't make a copy of it first?" to which I would follow up with - look at this CD sideways and tell me if I was able to run it?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:54:29 GMT

BRITTANY MURPHY DIED OF A HEART ATTACK?

I just heard this about a minute after we found out my uncle has just had a big heart attack. We are heading to Seattle.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:45:57 GMT

I CAN'T FIND MY IPHONE, DON'T MISS IT EITHER... HERE'S WHY MAYBE:

I don't hate the iphone, but there are many reasons I prefer the droid after having the two side-by-side for a month. I still will use my officially unlocked iphone in europe, asia, but in North America: it's the droid

Report: Google Android Challenging iPhone in Smartphone Market

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on December 18, 2009 - 9:59am.
Reston, Va. - Though only a few months old, Google's (NASD: GOOG) Android smartphone operating system already is making a significant impact on the U.S. mobile market, according to a new report from Internet audience measurement firm comScore. (READ MORE)

GOATS MAKE GREAT PETS

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:40:11 GMT

I heard on the radio the other day that Pygmy goats are awful pets. I know for a fact that this isn't true. Meet Otis. Otis the Goatis.

He's Jesse's goat, and he's so dang cute. From his dry, grey horns to his weird "lizard" looking eyes and those strange gullet things hanging down his neck, nobody finds it routine having a goat walk around your kitchen.

He is really needy and he loves Jesse. Whenever he is in an unfamiliar place, he is literally glued to the hip to Jesse.

He rides in the golf cart, he also rides horses! I have to find a picture somewhere but Jesse took one where Goatis was riding on a horse.

It is nice to be home.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:08:06 GMT

DROID VS. IPHONE AFTER 30 DAYS - which is better?

I have had my droid for about 30 days now, and have been carrying it alongside the iPhone. It is a pain carrying two phones, and I'm ready to carry only one. It's going to be the Droid.

PROS TO THE DROID: 1) It has a replaceable battery. That is a huge benefit. I got a little tiny battery-only charger at the Verizon Store, and so I can swap batteries like changing ammo clips in an Uzi. 2) GPS Navigation with turn-by-turn: blows Apple's compass-guided maps away. With Apple, you could rear-end the car in front of you. With the Droid, you don't have to even look at the screen, it gives you Garmin-like turn-by-turn. In fact, it's (other than the creepy voice) exactly like the Garmin or Magellan GPS's. 3) It's Verizon, not awful AT&T 4) Once you get used to it, Navigation is actually faster than the iPhone. It has a great home-screen nav. 5) It has a built-in flash for the 5MP photos (however, the image quality is lame, so I shoot in BxW mode, which is pretty dang cool looking. 6) Since it is Google, it ties in directly with the awesome Google apps. For example, I can push a button and say, "Office Supplies". It will bring up all of the office supply stores nearest me, I can click the link to navigate, and go right there. It's amazing.

PROS TO THE IPHONE: 1) It has my iTunes Library for Music and Movies. 2) I can use my officially-unlocked-by-Apple iPhone (purchased in England) with SIM cards.

CONS TO THE DROID: Image quality is not as good as the iPhone in color mode, and it doesn't offer selective focus and exposure. Also, to "zoom" you can't split your fingers on the screen like you can on the iPhone (patented by Apple)

CONS TO THE IPHONE: AT&T Network in the USA, poor battery life.

Answer: Droid is better.

below: photos done on the DROID in BxW mode: