5.6 Earthquake hits Southern California

Hello Everyone,

Just in case you're curious, everyone is ok and we survived a 5.6 earthquake today. The epi-center was in Chino Hills. It was a little scary because I was on the 9th floor in my building and we swayed back and forth for about a minute and a half. 90 seconds may not seem like much but it's like an eternity when it comes to earthquake.

I quickly drove back home to check if everything was ok. I then realized that my house is so messy that it looks exactly the same. In fact, I think the earthquake sorta move my stuff in a more orderly fashion. :-) That's bachelor living in socal and working 2 jobs.

Peace. Talk to you soon.

T.

Stephanie Makino and Kai Nagata E-Session

Today I had the pleasure of photographing Stephanie and Kai's engagement photos. They were so funny and photogenic which made it easy to capture great photos of this lovely couple. Unfortunately, we tried to capture a mixture of urban and beach front photos, but we ran out of time because we lost the light when the sun sets. No worries, I offered to do a 2nd part of their engagement session at another place and time. Keep your eyes peeled for the 2nd part of their engagement session. In the mean time, here's a sneak peek of their images today in a slideshow.

Bose Companion 3 Speakers Follow-Up Review

A week ago on July 4th, I purchased a Bose Companion 3 computer speaker system (comes with a wired remote and subwoofer). I finally hooked it up to my Mac Pro tonight, and it is phenomenal. It sounded even better than the ones in the Bose Showroom. As with previous experience in trying out speakers in the showroom, it always sounds better there because the showroom is acoustically controlled and design to accentuate the quality of the speakers. However, this speaker system delivered sweet melodic mid-tones, non-ear chilling highs, and a heartful deep bass. It's by far the best computer speakers I've heard. Considering, I almost bought the Companion 5 system. Now, I'm convinced I made the right choice because Companion 5 would be too much speaker for my purpose and the Companion 3 delivered the perfect blend for the money. Bravo to Bose Sound System!!!

Finally, the iPhone 3G in my hand!

Well, after trying 4 times since Friday morning including twice on Friday, and 4.5 hours yesterday morning at the Apples Store Pasadena, I finally got the iPhone 3G in my hands. Yay!

I have to say one of the nice new feature of the new iPhone 3G is that it comes fully charged right out of the box so that you're up and running as soon as the plastice wrapper is removed and the acitivation process is completed. It also comes with a soft cleaning cloth to dust off grit, dirt and grimes on the phone as well as the screen. However, I have not need for that because i promptly purchased the antiglare shield an a see-thru plastic case to encapsulate the phone to avoid damages scratches and keep it in as mint condition as possible. Can we say "nut-job"? :-) Actually, it's a good thing as I already dropped my iPhone 3G twice already. I have this theory, the newer the phone and the more pristine condition of the phone, the slipperier or my inability to hand on to the phone gets. At least, that's my theory. :-)

I have to say the new iPhone 3G seems and feel thinner than the first generation iPhone. I made a side by side comparison. It's the same length as the previous phone but it's about 2 mm wider than the older phone. That's why the crystal protection screen shield will not work for both phones. You have to purchase the correct crystal film for the phone.

I also noticed that the screen seems to be sharper and crisper in displaying images. However, it's slight warmer and it has a yellow tint to all screens, not just images.

The virtual keyboard seems to be more accurate as I am mistyping less often. Yes, after a whole year, I'm still struggling with the virtual keyboard.

The battery life which Steve Job boasts is a lie. It can't possibly last more than 24 hours without charge, unless the phone is in non-use mode. Currently, I have 3G and bluetooth turned on, and it's sucking up battery like there's no tomorrow. I might have to bring it back to exchange it if it's defective. The battery went out on me 3 times today. Fortunately, I had my old iPhone portable charger with me. I was surfing on 3G, watch a quick movie clip of the "Shooter", and the bluetooth was turned on to connect my wireless headset. Literally, I can see a quarter of the power status bar went down. That's within 10 minutes of time!

I also noticed my cell phone coverage under 3G is not as good as EDGE. I usually have 4-5 bars of signal in the San Gabriel Valley area, but now it's only 2-3 bars. I also noticed that I had a couple of dropped calls for the first time in the SGV area.

Although, I still can't copy and paste, but I with the new 2.0 software (older iPhone can download for free upgrade), it's nice to at least delete multiple emails at once. And also a complete delete all emails within trash, sent items, junk, outbox, etc. It saves alot of time maintaining storage capacity and not get cluttered up with unwanted emails.

Incidentally, just a side note, a year ago today I almost returned my first iPhone due to a number of issues. Click here to read that post.

The New Apple iPhone 3G is here today!

I got up bright and early and head over to the Apple store at the Grove arriving just after 8AM, which was the scheduled store hours for today. The parking lot was relatively empty and I thought I beat everyone there. To my surprise there were at least 250 people already on line. I guess, I'll have to come back as the line is not moving at all. They are only letting a handful of people in at a time.

Upgraded My Macbook Pro with a 250GB Hard Drive

I upgraded my Macbook Pro from 160GB to 250GB hard drive tonight... actually it's early in the morning. It was no easy task because I needed to remove over 24 screws and 4 of those are torq screws which required a special tool. After 45 minutes of surgery, I was up and running with my new hard drive. I now have 90GB free space.

The whole process begins with getting a SATA 2.5" hard drive enclosure. I searched all over including the Internet. Most of these enclosures costs approximately $100 or more. I found one surprisingly of all places at Fry's Electronics for $19.99. Yes, $20!!! It's made by Coolmax. It comes with a carrying case and it's own little screw driver to tighten those tiny screws. You don't even have to buy a whole precision screw driver set. You can even use your tool for future use. My favorite part of this external enclosure is that it comes with it's own USB cable. When connected to a computer, it draws power from the computer via the USB. No additional AC adapter required! This really streamline the use of this hard drive enclosure without hunting for an electrical outlet.

I then connected my new 250GB hard drive to my Macbook Pro by installing it into the Coolmax hard drive enclosure. I then downloaded a freeware called SuperDuper and duplicate my hard drive to the external 250GB hard drive This freeware worked flawlessly. Copying 145GB worth of data took several hours. I basically click the start copying button and went out for dinner. When I came home, it was all done. I then followed the long process of removing the screws to open the case to get into the internal guts of my Macbook Pro. It was a delicate procedure. The hardest part is keeping track of all the screws that were removed. I removed the 250GB HD from the CoolMax enclosure and replaced the 160GB HD. I then took on the arduous task of replacing all the screws and secure the Macbook Pro.

When I turned on my Macbook Pro, it just kept on blipping and a quick constant LED flash. I was nervous that I might have screwed up my Macbook Pro. Most of all, I told myself "Crap! I have to remove all those screws again to get to the hard drive!!! Argh!!!" Fortunately, I stayed calm and researched on the Web with Lan's Sony VAIO laptop and Googled the symptom. It turns out that all posts on the Web points to a loose memory module. I guess I didn't seat the memory module tightly enough when I had to remove it to get to the internal hard drive. I reseated it and Voila! The computer booted right away and I heard the familiar chime. :-) My Macbook Pro now has an additional 90+GB of freespace!

By the way, the Fujitsu hard drive is only running at 5400 rpm . It's not the fastest but it's only $99.99 at Fry's Electronics this weekend. I needed more storage space and if I needed more speed, I'll just move projects to my Mac Pro.

Bose Companion 3 Desktop Speakers

Today I purchased the Bose Companion 3 Speakers at the Bose Outlet at Cabezon, CA. I've been checking out this speaker for months. I couldn't decide between the lower model Companion 2 system (no subwoofer) @ $99 and the Companion 5 system @ $349.99. The good thing about the Bose Outlet store aside from the discounted price is that their demo station is side by side with the same music. I liked the Companion 2 speakers @ $99 but it's definitely sub-par to the 3 and 5 series. I found the Companion 5 is superb but maybe too much speakers for my need because if I really want superb quality sound to listen music and watch movies, I'll just turn on my home stereo system. The 5 series is perfect for those consumers who do no have a high quality home stereo system. That leaves the Companion 3 system which has low profile and footprint satellite speakers with a fantastic subwoofer for the low bass. It's like no other computer speakers I've ever heard. Just think the Companion 5 is even far better than the Companion 3 speakers. So, for those of you who do not have a home stereo system and want to listen to music or watch movies with your desktop computer, the Companion 5 system is the way to go. The Companion 3 and 5 system also features a remote volume control which also has a headphone jack and audio input jack for plugging in your mp3 player.

I've been lurking like a vulture for a sale for months. The retail price which never goes on sale is $249.99. It's finally the 4th of July weekend sale with an additional 10% off of the outlet price of $219. It's $197.10 before tax. It's such a good deal, I just couldn't pass up this offer even though these are considered refurbished models. It still carries the 5 year Bose warranty. Go check it out this weekend before the sale is over.

Happy 75th Anniversary SAG!

Seventy-five years ago today marks the birth of the Screen Actors Guild. We were watching a documentary at the AMPTP and it says the official date when the Guild was registered is June 30, 1933.

Who would have thought that exactly 75 years later that the Guild would be on its last day in Theatrical / Television negotiations with the studios at the AMPTP. The picture above was taken this morning while SAG was waiting for AMPTP’s counter (final) offer. This is a historic event as this contract agreement will not only affect the next 3 years’ 4+ billion dollar contract, but it will set precedence and impact the Entertainment Industry for decades to come. If SAG negotiation team gives in too much it will affect the lives of many working class actors.

Bridal Show @ the Pomona Fairplex

This morning my partners and I got up bright and early to venture all the way to Pomona or "Here Comes the Bride" bridal show. This is a picture of our booth. What do you think? :-)

We're showcasing our canvas prints. I'm not tooting my own horn... I think our images printed on canvases look fantastic. This is what differentiate us from our competitiors.

As a bonus, anyone who books a wedding with us today gets a matching engraved his and hers iPod Nano with their wedding slideshow. I have one in my hand and it looks great!

Outrageous Gas Prices!

This is insane! This is not trick photography nor very good Photoshop work. The display is correct. I just filled up my gas tank and it cost me almost $76! And I filled up my tank 5 days ago. That's an average of $18 per day to operate my car for commute. I gotta find another way to get to work.

BODA Dry Lens Bag Follow Up Review

Just a quick follow up with my review of BODA Dry Lens bag after a couple of months of use at weddings and engagement sessions.

All in all I like the system a lot because all my accessories and most use lenses are centralized to a single position on my waist. When I need something from the bag, I swing it forward and when I'm I'm done, I swing it behind my left buttock. This way, I don't walk around knock down things around me. The zipper and the ballistic nylon material is well constructed and not once, did the zipper caught onto anything and it was easy getting in and out of the bag.

However, the belt is not as rigid as the Think Tank belt or other belt system such as the Lowe Pro. Its lack of rigidity makes it uncomfortable to wear the bag on my waist throughout the entire wedding day. It slips and slide too much. To further add to the problem, the waist belt that I got was size medium. According to their website, medium fits 34"-47" waists. I'm 34 but I found the belt still a little loose and I couldn't tighten it any more. So, I've been looking to replace the belt with the small belt which is 26"-34" waist. This way, I can tighten a little bit more. The shipping for this $10.99 belt is $6 which didn't make sense to me because shipping is more than 50% of the cost of the belt. Finally, my business partner Allen decided to get the Boda bag as well after seeing me use it in action. So, I piggy back my order for the belt.

Much to my dismay, the belt is too short!! You say, how can it be? I say the same?? How can it be that my waist is in between 2 belt size? Impossible! Especially according to their website there's no gap between the 2 belts. How is it the longest length of the small belt is still shorter than the shortest length of the longer belt? I'm gonna contact Boda tomorrow to first complain and the inquire about their quality control of the belts. In the mean time, I still can't wear my Boda Dry Bag on my waist. My waist size falls right in the gap of the two belts!! :-(

New iPhone 3G announced today

A little more than a year ago, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone at the MacWorld 07 Conference. If you're a follower of this blog, then you would know that I have been using the Apple iPhone for the past year. Although I was not completely happy with the first generation iPhone in my initial review, I wanted the new 3G iPhone to improve on the first generation and I've been anticipating today's keynote address by Steve Jobs.

The new 3G iPhone was announced today at the WWDC (Worldwide Developer Conference) convention at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. This is a much anticipated and rumored announcement. For months, there are forums speculating the new iPhone of its features, design and cost of the phone. It's now only $199 for the 8GB and $299 for the 16GB version. It sports a 3G data connection. Basically, Apple finally addressed most of my gripes (and other iPhone owners as well) with the debut of this new iPhone. I'm happy to say, job well done. Watch the keynote below.

This is the commercial for the new 3G iPhone.

As you already know, this new iPhone has 3G data connection from AT&T which is not available to the iPhone until now. 3G was only available to the Blackjack, Treos, and Q. The old EDGE data connection was so slow that it wasn't feasible to use the iPhone for Web access unless you have a WiFi access near by.

The other new feature that I was anticipating is the Enterprise email connection to Microsoft Exchange Server. iPhone users can receive their company's corporate emails, data, calendar, contacts, tasks, notes, with their iPhone. They improved on their PDA portion of the iPhone

The new 3G iPhone has built-in GPS. It's not a big deal to me since I already have a portable GPS (Navigon 2100) and my Blackberry Curve has TeleNav. Nonetheless, it's one of the big selling point of the new iPhone 3G.

Finally, you will be able to download Apps right from the iPhone such as games, and other utilities.

SAG Rally Against AFTRA

SAG had a rally against AFTRA's decision to sign with AMPTP this morning. A number of celebs showed up to support this effort. I, of course was on site photographing the event.

Movie Review: "Kung Fu Panda"

This is by far the funniest animation feature film since "The Incredibles", "Toy Story", and "Cars". Jack Black was amazing as the adorable chubby Panda chosen to be the Dragon Warrior to battle against the evil Tai Lung. His epic journey from the day-dreaming kung fu master wannabe noodle shop seller to the hero of the movie albeit predictable. However, the characterization and the animated voice-over by the entire cast is just phenomenal. The dialog plus the comedic timing of Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman really kept me laughing in tears throughout the whole movie. Yeah, I know all you macho guys might be laughing at me for watching this movie... well I challenge you to go see this movie and walkout not laughing or think this movie is for kids only. As I recall, there were many men in the theatre with me and they laughed even louder than me! Now that's a feat in its own! So, don't miss it. It's a definitely a 2 thumbs up.

New Rackets

I'm so excited today. Lan ordered a pair of brand new Wilson K-Factor Tour 90 rackets for me and the order arrived today. This package came with 4 sets of synthetic strings, tennis bag, tennis stencil, stencil ink, and 12 grips. I'm gonna have this racket restrung Friday. Can't wait to try it out!

Chris & Julie's Wedding

Today, I was invited as a guest to Chris & Julie's wedding. A little
change of pace :-) Chris was on of my boy scout kids. I met him when
he was on 11 years old. Wow how time flies. It's 17 year's later and
I'm so proud and happy for the two of them.

Movie Review: "Indiana Jones in Kingdom in the Crystal Skull"

Lan and I wanted to catch the midnight show on Wednesday night of "Indiana Jones in the Kingdom of Crystal Skull" but we were a little tired even though I've been looking forward to this movie for quite some time now. Fortunately, we didn't stay up late and stand in a long line because this movie was actually somewhat disappointing. I guess partly because the previous 3 movies set the bar so high, and we've been anticipating the 4th movie for more than 19 years.

Harrison Ford's age actually showed as he didn't do any of his own stunts. He moved slowly. Too bad, his character was one of my childhood heroes. :-) The story was a little far-fetched, and a little weak. George Lucas' ILM's CGIs were fantastic as usual. That's a given. Moreover, re-introducing Karen Allen as Marion was a nice nostalgic touch. Also, early in the movie a quick reference to the original movie really added to this movie. Shia LaBeouf of "Disturbia", "Transformers", and "I Robot" did a magnificent job playing his long lost son. The tension between the characters showed throughout the movie and it made the movie somewhat dull plot to be more interesting. Finally, at the end a brief foreshadow that Shia's character would eventually take over as Indiana Jones was good tease to the audience.

All in all, Lan and I gave a small thumbs down. :-( Sorry "Indy".

Vancouver BC

Took a short weekend trip to Vancouver BC. This place is beautiful. Taking a short break right now to enjoy the scenery. The weather is perfect 70 degrees. The sun is shining and most of all the air qualityis superb. I'm almost hyperventilating from the high level of oxygen. :-)

San Marino High School's Production of "Cats" the musical

Tonight I went to San Marino High School to watch my niece, Tiffany, perform in the musical "Cats". Needless to say she was magnificent as she had many solo dances. She grew up so fast as I still remember holding her when she was just a baby. She showed maturity in her performance. Her pose and her lines were so perfect. I definitely noticed major improvement in dance expression from previous years' performances. I, being the proud uncle, was so proud of her that I was welled up with emotions... happy ones of course. Here's a slideshow of her performance.

Tennis: We're Sectional Bound!!!

Well, we did it this year! We're Sectional Bound for the 8.0 Mixed Team representing San Gabriel Valley! It will be the weekend of my birthday next month. From the beginning of this mixed season it is my goal to get the team to Sectionals after a tight lost to Hatty's team last year. We missed sectionals by a match lost. I'm so happy that we pulled it off despite all the obstacles we had in the past week. Two of my key players Tac and Judy were on the injury list. I had to leave work for a couple of hours to win with Beverly to clinch out berth to So Cal Sectionals!

Match summary is below. Who would've thought with 3 of my key players not on the lineup, we were able to pull it through losing only one match out of nine matches!!! That's phenomenal. It's much more than I expected!

Sat. 4/12 1PM vs. Santa Barbara
David and Sandy won 3-6, 7-5, 1-0
Tac and Beverly lost 7-5, 6-4
Alain and Lan won by default

Sat 4/12 4PM vs. Temecula Valley
Terry and Beverly won 6-4, 6-3
Lan and Alain won 7-5, 6-1
David and Sandy won 6-7, 6-2, 1-0

Sun 4/13 1PM vs. Ventura County
Terry and Beverly won 3-6, 6-1, 1-0
Lan and Alain won 6-3, 6-2
David and Sandy won 6-2, 6-4

Above is the team photo of all who played in the last round. Too bad, Tac, Raj, Linda, and Judy were not present. I'm sure we'll have another photo op at Sectionals!

P.S. Now I have a dilema. I wasn't expecting to have all 3 of my mixed team go to Sectionals. The schedule are directly conflicting with each other and at 2 different location. I'm gonna have to choose which team to play for. Perhaps, I can play one match with the SGV 7.0 team.