Trevin Chow: misc

And you thought Seattle drivers were bad...

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 06:15:45 GMT

Here I was thinking that Seattle drivers were bad in the snow, and Greg sends me a link to some nice traffic in Portland. Watch the entire video, you won't believe your eyes!

http://www.king5.com/sharedcontent/VideoPlayer/videoPlayer.php?vidId=114054&catId=231

Refundplease.com to get money back from Amazon

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 07:34:30 GMT

Refundplease.com is a great little website that will monitor specific Amazon items and email you when the price goes lower than when you originally purchased it. In their own words:

"There are a number of online retailers that offer to credit buyers back cash on past purchases. For instance, if the product you purchased at Amazon.com within the last 30 days has dropped in price they will credit you back the difference"

Before stumbling upon this site, I never even knew that Amazon had a 30-day price protection policy. When Refundplease.com notifies you of a price drop, they give you a direct link to the Amazon customer service contact page making things all that much easier.

I entered a bunch of purchases in that I made leading up to the holidays and yesterday I was notified that one of the items was cheaper! I contacted customer service per the instructions and here was the email I received from Amazon within 24 hours:

"Thank you for writing to Amazon.com.
The discounts we offer for items on our web site do vary from time
to time. I've checked your order, and found that we now offer a
greater discount on " A Photographer's Life: 1990-2005 (Hardcover) "
than at the time you placed your order.
Since this item was shipped so recently, I have requested a refund
of $0.01 to your credit card. This amount reflects the difference
between the price you were charged and the discounted price. The
refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a
credit on your next billing statement. "

Yes, you got it. I actually requested a refund for 1 cent :) Frankly, I'm shocked Amazon is processing a refund for such a low amount, but this shows that they live up to their 30 day guarantee :)

PMI is now tax deductible

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 18:48:17 GMT

Aside from booth duty, I unfortunately still haven't been able to hit the CES 2007 show floor due to work I'm doing from the hotel room and conference calls with Redmond :( Hopefully I'll be able to hit it before my shift this afternoon, or tommorow during the day before my flight. I'll be hugely disappointed if my only exposure to the CES gadget love is through Engadget or CNet.

One piece of big news I found out this morning that Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is now tax deductible. Whether you like him or not, President Bush signed a bill that could positively affect over a million homeowners this year.

This is huge news for homebuyers, since previously, there was significant impact when you chose home financing where your primary lender was providing a mortgage of more than 80% LTV (e.g. 90/10 or 95/5). When your primary/first-mortgage lender provides more than 80% you must pay PMI and that payment is not tax deductible. PMI is essentially insurance payed to the lender for taking on extra risk by financing more than 80% of your loan. Once your equity in the home exceeds 20% (your downpayment + increase in property value), PMI no longer applies. In other words, you can eventaully cancel PMI assuming your property value does not decrease at a higher rate than your payments. Traditional ways of avoiding PMI is to seek a HELOC to couple with your down payment seed for 20% (and thus the primary lender is still at 80% LTV).

Why this was important in the past was because paying PMI meant that that a portion of your monthly payment was not tax deductible, and can be anywhere from 0.23% to 0.78% of the total loan amount (amortized over the loan period).

Buyers were left with 2 decisions:

Take higher LTV than 80% (e.g. 90/10 or 95/5) and incur PMI hit. Result is that PMI portion of monthly payment is not tax deductible year-end.
Take 80% LTV, and combine own funding with alternative source (e.g. HELOC) for remaining 20%. This avoids PMI and thus more of your monthly payment is tax deductible. One downside of this option is that the HELOC is almost always at a higher rate than your primary mortgage.

The difference between options 1 and 2 above were usually obscure enough to ....

My blog has moved! To see the rest of this entry, go to the new perma-link at: http://trevinchow.com/blog/2007/01/10/pmi-is-now-tax-deductible-2/

Marvel mania

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 19:20:16 GMT

T-1000 meet the Fantastic 4 :)

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/fantasticfourriseofthesilversurfer/

I am Spiderman

Fri, 05 Jan 2007 18:11:09 GMT

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

5 Things People Don't Know About Me

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 01:55:14 GMT

Turns out that Mike tagged me with the equivalent of a blog ~~STD~~ chain-mail. Against my better judgement, I'm feeding into this since I think this is actually fun :)

Here's my list of 5 Things (most) People Don't Know About Me:

I hate talking on the phone. Everyone who knows me knows me as a gadget freak especially with cell phones. I've gone through 4 phones in the last 8 months! Despite this, I hate talking on the phone. The phone to me is a tool, to arrange face to face meetings or to exchange shorts pieces of info. I also use it heavily for SMS and Email because it fits in the latter category. Something about talking on the phone at great length kills me. I guess this dooms my dating life? :)
I used to be 25 pounds heavier than I am now. During my senior year of college my diet was complete garbage and my workout schedule was erratic to say the least. After moving to Seattle, I was able to eat better and workout regulary and I dropped 15 pounds in 3 months without even trying, then the other 10 in the next 8 months. I never thought I needed to lose weight before coming to microsoft, but given how I feel now, I should've lost the weight far far earlier.
I love modern movies but hate classics. Everyone that seems to love movies always cite the "classics' from back in the day as their favorites. I have a distaste for those classic movies and thrive on what I consider "modern" movies. This is surely to do with the fact I never watched any of those classics when I was younger and watching them now is almost comical -- equivalent to comparing the original Star Wars to something like the Matrix. Some of my all-time favorites are Gattaca, Closer and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
I am an in the closet Guns 'n Roses fan. I love this band. I had their tapes when I was in grade school and still rock out to Paradise City, Welcome to the Jungle and Sweet Child 'O Mine regularly. I am a complete rock star in my shower.
I was engaged. Past life included a long term relationship and an engagement. Ultimately it didn't work out, but I'm definitely better off and I'm sure all my close friends agree. Not much other detail is required here, move along :)

Tagging other folks to do this is getting harder since my regular blogging circle has already been tagged by either Mike or Dare. Not sure if these folks will do it, but I'm going to tag them nevertheless with this ~~STD~~ chain-mail. Craig, Niels, Bryan, Mark, Jeff and Colene you're up!

i lit 62878 on darfurwall.org

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 01:48:41 GMT

Darfurwall.org was created to help create awareness and raise money for the on-going armed conflict in the western region of Sudan. I think it's an ingenious way to raise money and awareness.

For every $1 you donate, you "light" a number up on the Darfurwall.org website and 100% of the proceeds are donated to charity. I lit up 62878 (my birthday).

If you're not familiar with this issue, check out the information on Wikipedia on the Darfur conflict.

Rule #1 of Fight club..err.. coffee shops

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:22:49 GMT

Seattle has 2.5 coffee shops per 10,000 people and even though we don't have the highest number per capita (honours go to Anchorage), that's a crap load of coffee shops. We must, however, have to the highest number free wifi coffee shops per capita in the known universe. Probably even the unknown universe.

Even though I'm willing to pay for wifi, something about free is always better :) It's even better that I have trouble working from home -- something about the mental shift of working away from my TV, Xbox and home PC makes me more productive. Surprise, surprise?

When you find yourself working at these coffee shops, you realize there is an unwritten etiquette about these communal spaces. This is even more relevant right now given that I'm sitting in a Starbucks in Lower Queen Anne due the power problems in Seattle including the Microsoft campus.

Here are the rules of free wifi coffee shops:

1. Don't be a mooch. That is, at least buy coffee, tea, pastries, etc to support the coffee house. The real estate your butt is consuming isn't free.

2. Be space efficient. All coffee houses have an assortment of 2 and 4-seater tables (sometimes more). Don't be a lone person and consume a 2 or 4 person table and block anyone else from sitting down. This is a shared space doofus.

3. Don't be a loud talker. Coffee houses are social places, I get that. Just be considerate at either (a) how loud you're talking, or (b) how annoying your voice is. Example: the 2 women sitting next to me right now make me want to a jab my eyeballs out.

4. Don't be a cell phone dink. We understand that you love talking on your cell phone. Just be considerate while in the shared coffee house love. Limit your calls to less than 30 seconds or go outside to talk. I don't need to hear about (a) how much you enjoyed last night with your girlfriend, (b) what you're planning on doing for dinner or (c) what your holiday plans are with your brother. In my case, I've heard all 3 things from the guy across the table from me. Oh yeah, see #3.

5. Invest in basic hygiene. I don't want to have to explain this. Please.

My pig personality

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 11:26:37 GMT

Okay, something completely random for the day. Let's find out what my personality is given how I draw a pig.

http://drawapig.desktopcreatures.com/

Right about now you're saying "Huh?" and I don't blame you. Given I'm still going on 2-3 hours of sleep right now, I found this downright hilarious. I can't take credit for this lunacy on my own -- thanks to Didi for the hilarity.

This was the pig I drew:

Here was the assessment of my personality based on my drawing:

"Toward the middle, you are a realist.
Facing left, you believe in tradition, are friendly, and remember dates (birthdays, etc.)
With few details, you are emotional and naive, they care little for details and are a risk-taker.
With 4 legs showing, they are secure, stubborn, and stick to their ideals.
The bigger the better. You drew small ears, you are an OK listener
The length of the tail indicates the quality of your sex life.
And again more is better! You drew medium sized tail"

Go take the pig personality test and hit me up with your results in comments...

Update: Looks like Samim did it. Anyone else?

$64.41 and the United Way

Sat, 25 Nov 2006 10:44:50 GMT

busk /bʌsk/ [buhsk], verb (used without object)

a person who entertains in a public place for donations

Craig and I decided it would be in true holiday spirit to stand on the street corner earlier today to raise money for the United Way. Craig was equipped with balloons, and me with my camera. We ventured over to Westlake Center, and setup our sign and the donations started flowing in. A huge line of people of all ages formed around Craig, with balloon requests ranging from pink swords to kitty cats. I was in the periphery snapping photos like I usually do. This was the first time I got to use my brand new Canon 30D and 17-55 f2.8 IS lens. I'm blown away by this combo so far -- This setup is definitely my favorite so far. THe combination of ISO 3200 and wide angle proved to be infinitely useful in the tight crowds. We managed to raise $64.41 in donations, which Microsoft will match for a total of $128.82. Not bad for 1.5 hours of work!

The Fray in concert!

Mon, 20 Nov 2006 09:53:53 GMT

Saw The Fray in concert tonight at the Paramount, and all I can say is "wow!". What a great, great show. Along with most of their popular songs from their How to Save a Life album, they also played 2 new songs and also a great solo acoustic song by their lead singer, Isaac Slade. The demographic of the audience was definitely skewed to the teen-girl segment, but hey, I guess I fit in?

They closed out the night with their hit song, How To Save a Life, with the crowd belting out their chorus until the dying seconds.

Often times, bands in concert will disappoint. The Fray definitely lived up to the hype. One of the best concerts I've been to in a long time.

UCLA Student gets tazered repeatedly by Police

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 11:00:23 GMT

Came across a story in the UCLA Daily Bruin which is just freaking nuts. Quotes:

"UCPD officers shot a student several times with a Taser inside the Powell Library CLICC computer lab late Tuesday night before taking him into custody"
"As the student was screaming, UCPD officers repeatedly told him to stand up and said 'stop fighting us.' The student did not stand up as the officers requested and they shot him with the Taser at least once more.

'It was the most disgusting and vile act I had ever seen in my life,' said David Remesnitsky, a 2006 UCLA alumnus who witnessed the incident.

As the student and the officers were struggling, bystanders repeatedly asked the police officers to stop, and at one point officers told the gathered crowd to stand back and threatened to use a Taser on anyone who got too close. "

(Full story here)

It's hard for me to know the complete story, but it seems a bit crazy to repeatedly tazer a guy and continually ask him to stand up. While I've never been tazered, I can't imagine getting tazered 5+ times in 2 mins makes it easy to stand on your feet.

Reading the story alone doesn't do this justice. You have to watch, and be appalled, at the video someone snagged using their cell phone:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g7zlJx9u2E&eurl=

On top of all the mania going on with this student getting tazered like 50 times is at the 6:40 mark in the video where the cop says to a student "Stand over there or you're going to get tazed too".

Holy sh*t.

(Thanks to Sanaz for the tip)

8 recommended books

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 07:55:47 GMT

I have the odd tendency to not completely finish books that I've started and to also have several going on at the same time. Here is a list of 8 books I found either educational or entertaining and thus worth recommending. Consider them to have the "Trevin Seal of Approval".

The first 6 books are some I've read (or started) within the last 8 months whereas the final 2 were pulled from my list of all-time favorites ;)

Ugly Americans -- simply written, entertaining story. Same author as Bringing Down the house, so if you've read that one, expect the same type of writing style.
Complete Digital Photography -- the definitive bible on digital photography covering everything from picture taking to workflow. I just started this book but so far it's living up to the hype.
The World is Flat -- if you haven't heard of this book I want to know the rock you live under.
Perfect Digital Photography -- another great book on digital photography. Not as comprehensive as Complete Digital Photography but these 2 books compliment each other nicely.
Freakonomics -- Fantastic read, very enlightening. A brilliant economist applies economics to dissect 'real world' topics. Sure fire water cooler talk the next day after you finish this book. E.g. "Why do drug dealers still live with their mothers?" and "What makes a perfect parent?". The answers will surprise you.
Agile Project Management with Scrum -- heard of the latest craze and buzz words like "agile development", and even more popular, "Scrum"? This book explains what Scrum is in a nutshell and how it applies to project management. Even if you don't apply Scrum or agile development after reading this book, you will be better off for having read it.
The 80/20 Principle -- Relatively quick and easy read, explaining how Pareto's famous 80/20 principle about the predictability of the distribution of wealth. The 80/20 principle has much more meaning than just applying to wealth, but even matters of sales, consumption and even the stock market.
Macroeconomic essentials -- This was the text book from my Macroeconomics class back in College (go Econ 105!) and the author was also my professor. This book was one of the books I enjoyed most at SFU. I still use the information I gleaned from this class (and book) to this day.

The best job posting. Ever.

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 21:15:45 GMT

If only I had the right skills for this job.. dang it!

(click to enlarge)

Stop calling me!

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 04:53:15 GMT

This is what I want to yell each time I answer the phone and there is a telemarketer on the line. It's even worse these days since it's local election time with all the offices of the local politicians calling to garner my vote. I guess they overlooked the fact that I am not an American citizen and I cannot vote?? If you can't even spend the time finding out who is able to cast a vote in your district, should anyone believe

that you'll spend the necessary time on other, more important tasks?

Coincidentally, Seth Godin even takes a swipe at these types of phone calls but is annoyed for a different reason. Seth is annoyed from the marketer's perspective which isn't a surprise given his career :) The kicker is his last sentence (bolded below) which aligns with my previous rant about due diligence:

"The point, folks, is that with all these strangers calling me, interrupting my day, giving me unanticipated, impersonal, irrelevant come-ons, not one person I know personally has called me. And not one of the callers has tried to enlist me to call my friends.
One call from a friend is worth 100 calls from an Academy-Award winner on tape.
The mistake politicians, like most marketers, make is that they think that what they are doing is way too important. Too important to leave to citizens. Too important to leave to ordinary people who happen to be big fans with organic, authentic networks of trusted friends. Too important to respect social boundaries.
If you're in too much of a hurry to build a real network, you're probably in too much of a hurry to get elected."

Vegemite banned in US?

Thu, 26 Oct 2006 21:23:35 GMT

In a strange move, the US has banned the beloved Aussie favorite, Vegemite. Apparently Vegemite contains Folate (aka Folic acid), which under USDA regulations, can only be added to bread, cereals and rice. Has me thinking what is stranger.. that the US actually banned it, or that I like the stuff!

The Last Kiss

Mon, 09 Oct 2006 07:18:23 GMT

4 words: Go see this movie.

Goodbye Leah!

Tue, 03 Oct 2006 20:09:49 GMT

It's always sad to see a co-worker leave, but even more sad when it's also a friend. This month, a good friend of mine leaves not only Microsoft, but the Seattle area for a new opportunity down in San Francisco. Goodbye Leah, you will be missed and good luck!

Ring around the friendship circle

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 05:55:38 GMT

What's been great this summer is the feeling of my life finally taking root in Seattle for the first time in the 5 years I've lived here. A lot of it has had to do with me spending less time on the road, and investing in time to expand my social circle. Despite all the new friends made and activities I've started, my old friendships that started when I first moved here are coming full circle. This is the truly the highlight of my summer.

Craig was a college intern on my team at work back in 2002 and we instantly connected as friends. We're very different, yet similar in so many ways -- our friendship was just meant to be from the start. After his internship, Craig headed back to finish his senior year at his college and ultimately came back to Microsoft to join the Windows Security team. After he moved to Seattle, we unfortunately drifted apart since I was spending tons of time out of town and letting other life stuff get in the way as an excuse (Yes, I'm a bad friend).

Middle of last year, Craig and I reconnected due to unfortunate circumstances. I was going through a really rough patch in my life and he was one of the few people to really help me through it (in addition to my fantastic sister).

Fast forward nearly one year later, and Craig is again one of my closest friends. The same reasons we became friends 4 years ago, are the same reasons we're still friends now. He's really one of the few friends I have in my life that I can tell anything to. Thanks Craig -- I'm truly lucky to have met you back then, and still have you as a friend now. Now go tie me a damn balloon race car!

My sister all grown up

Tue, 25 Jul 2006 08:53:46 GMT

I guess it's the peril of being "big brother" but I somehow missed memo, and my sister grew up. Without my permission and without even telling me!

This last weekend I was up in Vancouver visiting my family and to hook up with Fiezal and Sabrina who are on summer break from their MBA program in Paris. I was shocked to realize that it's been a full year since I saw Fiez and Sab last. It really takes getting reunited with friends to remind you how much you miss them. But I'll save that sappy realization for a future blog post.

Back to my sister.. ah yes, the grown up part. This weekend, I realize that my sister grew up. Not in a bad way, but a fantastic and wonderful way. She's grown up into this amazing woman that I not only admire, but appreciate much more than I ever have before.

She's one of my closest friends who I can say anything to, whether it be about work, crazy new hobbies I'm taking up or about my too often crazy personal life. Not only does she listen, but she gives the best advice and the same crazy (and funny) commentary that I would probably give myself if I were to have an out of body experience :)

2 years ago I would have called you crazy if you said I'd be able to confide in my sister this way. However, everything changed almost a year ago when I had a fundamental life change happen and that really shook things up. Glad to say it shook it up on a great way.

People often say they wish they were closer to their family. I'm glad to say that I am.

Colene, if you're reading this, thanks for everything. And no, I still get to call you "Chow" even though you claim to hate it :)

The best 4th of July

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 20:07:32 GMT

This last 4th of July was hands down the best one yet in all my years living in Seattle. Add one part close friends, one part Entiat Cabin and one part hot weather (95+ in the shade!) and you have a recipe for a great time. There's nothing like tubing on the back of a speed boat or laying out in the sun to really help you relax and unwind. Windows Live couldn't have been more distant in my mind :) Thanks to Gillian for providing the acommodations!

My photos from the trip are up on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevin/sets/72157594190336760/

Some of my favorites from the set are:

Things you didn't know about Pork

Fri, 16 Jun 2006 19:38:37 GMT

Pork. The meat that everyone loves to avoid because of its reputation for being fatty and disease ridden with trychinosis.

I follow a great blog on food written by Rob Novak, titled "Rob's Kitchen Kinesis" where he writes about various aspects of food or food related matters. His most recent post covers why pork should make a come back and really be part of your diet.

Excerpts:

"Pork in the USA has improved to the point where trychinosis is virtually unheard of, and even the USDA admits that really, a pork roast can be cooked medium-well and be safe. Plus, it's got more flavor than today's chickens"

"Also - here's something that goes against what one would consider sanity. I don't like ultra-thick pork chops. Why? Well, in order to get really good flavor all the way through the meat, they need to be brined or marinated for a few hours at least. Besides, the idea here is to have a meal that cooks quickly and is still plenty tasty, and thick chops take a lot more time to get done."

Interestingly, after doing a quick Live.com search, I found the Chicago Meat Authority website, which states:

"Over the past 20 years, the efforts of America's pork producers have resulted in pork with 31% less fat and 14% less calories. In fact, eight cuts of pork have less fat than the skinless chicken thigh."

Who knew?

Interview with the designer of the Fedex logo

Tue, 06 Jun 2006 07:42:02 GMT

Very interesting interview with Lindon Leader, who is the creator of the ever famous Fedex logo. Apparantly the Fedex logo has a "hidden" arrow in the space between the "e" and "x" that implies the directness and speed of the Fedex service. To tell you the truth, I've never notice the arrow before this interview :)

Excerpts:

" I was studying Univers 67 (Bold Condensed) and Futura Bold, both wonderful faces. But each had its potential limitations downstream in application to thousands of FedEx media, from waybills and embroidered courier caps to FedEx.com and massive signage for aircraft, buildings and vehicles."

"...I took the best characteristics of both and combined them into unique and proprietary letterforms that included both ligatures (connected letters) and a higher “x-height,” or increased size of the lower-case letters relative to the capital letters."
"An arrow, in and of itself, is one of the most mundane graphic devices in visual communications. Truly, there is nothing unique or particularly strategic (marketing-wise) in using an arrow as a brand identifier."

Read the full interview here.

200 litres of coke and 500 Mentos!

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 18:19:59 GMT

This is insane.. reminds me of crazy crap I did as a kid without the knowledge of my parents. The difference is these guys are grown adults and this is way cooler than anything I did as a little runt.

Watch 2 guys re-create a bellagio fountain like display coordinated to music with the help of 200 litres of diet Coke and 500 mentos.

The Extreme Diet Coke & Mentos Experiments:

What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? It's amazing and completely insane.

The first part of this video demonstrates a simple geyser, and the second part shows just how extreme it can get. Over one hundred jets of soda fly into the air in less than three minutes.

It's a hysterical and spectacular mint-powered version of the Bellagio Fountains in Las Vegas, brought to you by the mad scientists at EepyBird.com

(Thanks to Greg for the tip)

The rules of moving

Wed, 31 May 2006 17:35:03 GMT

Hallelujah! I've finally completed my move over to Queen Anne from Redmond. Along the way I thought I was going to die and either (a) throw all my belongings over the 520 bridge into Lake Washington, or (b) give everything to goodwil including the clothes on my back.

Lots of peeps have been asking how my move went by email and IM so here is my move summarized and "rules" for my next move (and maybe yours):

Never plan a move over a holiday long weekend. Even though it gives you an extra day, all your friends that said would help you move will be "conveniently" out of town
The 1 friend that comes through to help you move is a gift from the heavens.
Be prepared for very little sleep. In my case, one night went to 5am just to re-start at 10am the next morning. Ugh.
Avoid painting and moving in the same weekend. There's something to be said for being ambitious, but in this case, set the bar low for your own sanity's sake. Unfortunately I learned this lesson only after making the mistake.
I have so many more possesions than I every imagined. You do too. Trust me on this one.
U-Haul likes to nickel and dime you to death and love doing it in the process.
- They advertise "$19.95 per day truck rental for in-town moves!". Little do they tell you that despite advertising this on every truck in their fleet, this applies to the smallest truck they have (which is useless unless you only live in a small sub-600 sq foot studio).
- They charge 27 cents per mile which adds up quick if, like me, you had to pick up the truck from a sub-optimal location due to availability problems. The drive to and from the U-Haul location could add $7-$12 in mileage alone.
- They charge a $50 fee if you are late returning the truck even by 1 minute
- The trucks don't include a dolly or furniture pads. Who the f* rents a 14' truck and doesn't want a dolly or have any furniture that needs protecting?! Add $7 for the dolly, $10 for 1 dozen furniture pads.
Just buy boxes and don't be a cheap a**. It makes life so much easier.
For in-town moves forget the wardrobes boxes and just zip-tie the tops of all the hangers together (with clothes still on the hangers) and wrap garbage over your clothes. Thanks to Mike for this tip.
Find the right balance between packing everything neatly in boxes and being "efficient" and chucking stuff in. For an in-town move, sometimes packing ghetto-style in laundry hampers and garbage cans can work wonders.
It takes a long, long time to unpack a 14' U-haul truck with only 2 people and 1 dolly.
Use the Goodwill and/or Salvation Army to get rid of your old stuff you don't want anymore. You'll be doing a service to the community and your local landfills :)
Even after you think you've packed everything, you'll find sometime you missed. In my case, it was my home office chair which was comical because currently, this was the only seat in my new place since I sold my couch and kitchen table+chairs. Nothing like realizing that you have nowhere to sit at the end of the day :)
Make sure you assemble your bed as soon as possible. Even if you don't unpack all your boxes (which is highly likely) you can seek solace in the fact you are able to sleep normally in your own bed.

I'm now left swimming in a sea of boxes at my new place and a million things to do to catch up on work. Thanks to the Live ID team for giving all of us a "bonus" day off around Memorial day weekend. That extra day came in handy! If you're reading this and didn't help me move, I'm expecting a nice house warming gift :)

Trevin the monk

Wed, 24 May 2006 03:42:49 GMT

In preparation for my move in the next few weeks, I've been selling stuff like crazy on Craig's list. I tried using Windows Live Expo like a good Microsoft cog, but Craig's List just has such a bigger audience and is way more effective. I've sold over 35 items in the last 2 weeks alone!

Things that I thought didn't have much value (or would be OK giving to goodwill) fetches decent coin on craig's list. For example:

1. 20GB hard drive that is 5 years old. Sold for $11 to a guy who drove from West Seattle through rush hour traffic. Bought me lunch for 2 days!

2. A picture and frame that I bought from Ikea for $12 in the "as is" section and sold for $15 :)

There are disadvantages to using Craig's list though:

1. Constantly being contacted for western union scams on electronic equipement

2. People telling you they want to buy your item, then never show up.

3. You agree on a price, the buyer shows up and pretends that he can't remember the sale price and tries to re-negotiate

4. Craig's List UI sucks in a major way. Have they not heard of client side caching or UI elements? As much as I hate hearing the words "Web 2.0", I wish someone at Craig's list heard of Web 0.1.

Please Expo, I pray that you get a user base that is much larger so I can stop dealing with Craig's list. All I want to do is sell my goods, and will use whatever service that helps me do that as fast and efficiently as possible.

Help me on my trip to NYC

Tue, 16 May 2006 08:13:56 GMT

I'm headed to New York from Wednesday to Sunday this week for a friend's wedding and to also visit Amir. I haven't seen Amir since the last time I went to NYC back in '04 so this will be a great mini-vacation. Last time I went, I wasn't there for that long and didn't have much time to explore the city. However, I did get to see:

- Empire state building

- Times Square

- Ground zero (but I'd like to go back)

This time however, from Wed to Friday, Amir is working during the day so i'll need some suggestions of what to do since I really haven't done any homework on touristy things to do in the big apple. I'll definitely have my camera in tow, so suggestions that align with photo ops are encouraged.

Drop me a comment (or two, or three) and let me know what your best suggestions are and any good recommendations for lunch spots.

Greg Hughes, the man, the legend

Tue, 16 May 2006 07:55:02 GMT

Today I finally got to meet Greg Hughes, who has been an online acquaintance for a number of months. It all started when I got the heads up from a co-worker about Greg's coverage of the Password Quality feedback meter that I PM'd awhile back.

Turns out that Greg was up in the Seattle area taking care of some personal business and he shot me an email to meet up. Thank god for Messenger's hotmail mail notifications otherwise I would have missed the email completely. I gladly took him up on his offer and managed to squeeze a quick 30 min coffee meet up with him on campus.

Glad to say that Greg is as great of a guy as I thought he was prior to meeting him face to face. He's a bright guy working in the digital identity space as well, and we have a lot of similar personal interests. I encourage everyone to read his blog which is chalk full of interesting info on a variety of topics. It's made my bloglines subscription list :)

Greg, coffee is on you next time! :)

Thanks mom

Sun, 14 May 2006 23:36:29 GMT

Ocassionally I forget how wonderful my mom is and how lucky my brother, sister and I really are. My mom has the unique capability of driving you bananas with non-linear stories that go on tangents so that the original story never finishes.

At the same time, she also remembers every single detail, and all the little things she does reminds me how much she really cares. Case in point -- when I first moved to Seattle 5 years ago, my parents came to visit. My mom and dad were both at my apartment while I stepped out for a 1/2 hour to buy some groceries. We then spent the weekend together, and after they left, I tried to make dinner and couldn't find anything in my kitchen. Turns out that my mom re-arranged location of all things in my kitchen to "optimize the layout" (so she told me on the phone). Frustrating? Yes. But you gotta love her :)

My mom, probably like everyone else's, also has the uncanny ability to track my body weight no matter how much time has passed. If I've lost even a few pounds and go home to visit, the first thing my mom will do is poke and prod me as she yells at me for looking emaciated. Then she proceeds to feed me all weekend (not that I"m complaining). Heck, part of the reason I go home is to have home cooking by mom!

Love ya mom! Sorry I couldn't be home this weekend :(

the Philips Bodygroom

Fri, 12 May 2006 18:05:56 GMT

This is absolutely hilarious.. one of the funniest product promos I've seen in a LONG time. Say hello to the Philips Bodygroom.

David Blaine the human fish

Thu, 11 May 2006 08:07:43 GMT

Somehow I missed this on TV the other night, but someone was kind of enough to put up David Blaine's attempt to hold his breath for 9 mins. I always questioned the legitimacy of these David Blaine stunts, but after seeing him fail at the 7 min mark you gotta believe that he really attempted this :)

Vancouver and center turn lanes

Sat, 06 May 2006 02:22:51 GMT

I just spent the last 4 hours drivings from Seattle to Vancouver, Canada in some of the most horrific traffic that I remember in the last year. You wouldn't believe (a) how much traffic there was, and (b) how poorly the other drivers on the road were driving.

My friends back home in Vancouver might say I'm an agressive driver, but I've got nothing on Americans. It was shocking to me when I first moved here how aggressive the average driver was in Seattle. And to think that cities like New York are exponentially worse (or better depending on your perspective).

As much as I love (and miss) Vancouver, I can't stand that we don't have center turn lanes anywhere. Aside from flashing green stop lights (which confuse all my American friends), the lack of a center turn lanes it both annoying and humurous at the same time.

This trip back, I never realized how different I have to drive in Vancouver. It's a constant game of "drive in the faster left lane as long as possible, then as soon as someone wants to turn left, dart into the right lane then back into the left lane". I'm not kidding.

If you don't do this maneuver, you will never get anywhere in Vancouver. You will either be stuck behind a Mac truck or a bus in the right lane forever, or you'll stay in the left lane constantly stopping as people turn left. To make matters worse, so many drivers in Vancouver have not heard of the turn signal etiquette -- that is, that it might be a good idea to turn on your signal BEFORE you actually want to make the turn.

Okay, enough ranting, I'm off to Sushi with Shawn.

Colbert roasts Bush

Tue, 02 May 2006 05:16:50 GMT

Funny stuff... takes a little while to get going, but watch Colbert from Comedy Central roast George W. Bush:

Part 1: http://youtube.com/watch?v=lcIRXur61II

Part 2: http://youtube.com/watch?v=HN0INDOkFuo

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJvar7BKwvQ

The best line of his impression of Bush is in the first part:

"I believe in America. I believe it exists. My gut tells me i live there"

Canucks fire Crawford

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 09:19:38 GMT

I guess this was easier than firing the entire first line. Talk about the ultimate knee jerk reaction, but I can't say I'm surprised considering we finished 9th this season and missed the playoffs the first time in in 6 years. You can't imagine how depressing it is to see playoff hockey without my hometeam in contention... sigh.

Whistler ate me and spit me out

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 02:02:29 GMT

Just got back from an insane weekend getaway to Whistler for a last ditch attempt at getting some boarding in before the season (at least for me) comes to an end. Summer is where golfing and roadtrips consume my life, and frankly, I don't enjoy summer glacier boarding that much :)

Thanks to Brandon for letting me snag a ride with him (as always).. Despite wanting to leave much earlier on friday, work pushed us to leave around 5-ish and we didn't get up to Whistler until about 10:30pm. The ride was fun, well at least from what I remember while I was awake! ( I'm notorious for falling asleep on any type of roadtrip).

We got up nice and early on Saturday and were on the gondola by 8:45. First run of the day is where the fun began -- within 15 mins of the first run, I take a brutal spill and twist my knee :( Being the ironman rambo I think i am, i continue to board all day :)

Highlight of the day was definitely the Blackcomb glacier which gave the most ideal conditions I ever had. Who would have guessed late April boarding would be so good? We did a bunch of mini hikes up some hills to get more powder.. one word -- WOAH. Totally mind blowing to carve through a foot of soft, soft powder. Nothing like it.

About 1:30pm is where my knee decides to quit on me. I had take a break at the Blackcomb basecamp where we ate lunch, and luckily, Amber decided to sit out with me. Lucky for me since I would have been bored out of my tree sitting there with (a) no ipod, (b) no reading material, and (c) surrounded by sweaty skiiers scarfing down their overpriced fat laden lunches.

After about an hour, Brandon and the rest of the crew finished a few double black runs and Brandon joined me and Amber to head back down the mountain. At this point, my knee is totally throbbing and I think i can make it all the way down the mountain. Little did I realize that while I'm rocketing down the mountain as quick as possible, my head was filling with thoughts of "what the f am I going to do if I take another spill...? it's probably going to hurt like hell". Luckily I made it down without incident.. took us about 20 mins to get down with a few stops along the way to rest the knee.

Needless to say I sat out on Sunday, but admittedly, i did contemplate whether or not I would be able to board for some of the day :) When common sense finally set in, and Molly giving me crap about taking ibuprofen & resting it, i realized it was a good choice to just chill in the Whistler villlage. How can anyone complain about a day where you wake up at 11am, cruise around in 70 degree sunny blue sky weather and have the best people watching on the planet? Not me!

This was one of the best impromptu trips I've taken in a long time.. I can't wait for the summer to full on set in and I can take a multi-leg roadtrip from Seattle to Vancouver to visit my family, then head to whistler.

Note: Pictures are forthcoming.. just have to ferret through them and upload to Flickr.

Just say "no" to the fanny pack

Tue, 18 Apr 2006 01:34:00 GMT

This is why I've always ranted about why my cell phone needs:

1. Way more storage -- Forget about this 64MB built-in and leaving it to me to shell out bucks for a measly 1GB miniSD card. Show me the love and give me 4G+ so I can have my tunes and my outlook data (email, calendar, contacts) with me at all times.

2. Longer battery life -- admittedly battery life is light years ahead of where it was when I got my first analog cell phone, but in reality, if i start using my phone as an iPod replacement, the battery is going to get worked. If my iPod video can get ~14 hours of playback, my phone has got to be 24+ hours to account to battery drain due to data sync'ing. Point is that it has to last a complete day without requiring a charge.

3. Use a standard 3.5mm headphone jack -- What is it with manufacters and using 2.5mm headphone jacks? I understand the phone is small, but do you really need me to buy special headsets and headphones? A 3.5mm jack is even more important if it replaces my iPod since I'll want to use my Ultimate Ears headphones without the inconvenience of carrying around a 3.5mm-->2.5mm converter.

If the stars aligned and I got all my 3 wishes granted, I could finally eliminate my iPod altogether and be certain that a man purse would never enter my life.

Road trip with the Canucks?!

Tue, 11 Apr 2006 07:49:06 GMT

Some of my closest friends, Sabrina and Fiezal are living in Paris finishing up their MBAs. I've been following their travels on their blogs and the best/worst post came from Sab today. Her sisters won a ROAD TRIP PACKAGE to travel with the Vancouver Canucks. WTF?! Here's the exact text from the letter they received:

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!
ROAD TRIP WITH THE TEAM
The bearer of this letter is entitled to two (2) tickets to watch the Vancouver Canucks take on the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in Anaheim on Sunday, April 2, 2006 and the Los Angeles Kings in Los Angeles on Monday, April 3, 2006. This offer includes return airfare on the team charter plus accommodation. All meals and additional expenses are the responsibility of the prize holder and guest."

How lucky can they be and how much more jealous can I be? In Sabrina's own words:

"isn't that unbelievable? lucky beyatches"

I couldn't agree more :)

Nelson Mandela Mis-quote

Fri, 07 Apr 2006 19:50:45 GMT

This has always been a favorite quote of mine:

"'Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?"

I always thought (and have been told by many, many others) this quote is from Nelson Mandela during his 1994 innaugural speech. If you do a search for this quote on MSN Search, you'll actually find many sources that cite the same source.

During a recent training event for work I was on, I discovered that this quote isn't actually from Nelson Mandela, but rather from Marianne Williamson!

Transcripts of Nelson Mandela's 1994 innaugural speech is found here: http://www.anc.org.za/people/mandela/index.html

It doesn't change the meaning of the quote for me, but it's disconcerting to know that I've been wrong for so many years :)

50 best indie films

Mon, 03 Apr 2006 15:50:29 GMT

Empire Online posted up the list of 50 Greatest Independant films. A 50 movie list isn't discerning enough for my tastes -- a lot of crap makes it :) Being a modern movie lover, here's my top 10 indie list:

10. Gross Pointe Blank

9. Being John Malkovich

8.Terminator

7. Run Lola Run

6. Cube

5. Memento

4. Clerks

3. Reservoir Dogs

2. Swingers

1. The Usual Suspects

If there's any movies in my indie top 10 that i missed, let me know. I'm always up for discovering new movies :)

Reunited with snowboarding

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 03:48:03 GMT

Brandon and Amber managed to convince me to go snowboarding with them to Stevens Pass last sunday. I'm SO glad I went as I had a blast. Technically I've been snowboarding for 10 years, since 1996. Truthfully though, I haven't been boarding in over 3 years, and in the previous 7 years I've only been less than 20 times in total.

Not only did I have a blast with my buds, but when I got onto the board, it really was like riding a bike. I set a goal of falling at least 10 times and I managed to fall 16 times (yes I kept count). It's all about goals I tell you.

The day started off with decent snow quality, but right before we stopped for lunch it started to dump like crazy. It must have snowed at least 2" while we were eating lunch. Needless to say the snow quality was kick ass after lunch. We managed to get some great photos and videos that I'll post up soon (I have to nag Brandon about getting the photos as he aggregated them from 4 different cameras).

In the meantime, you can enjoy a video of me in my debut after a 3 year hiatus. This is my Canadian Midget Snowboarding video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CD6tBi485U

Christman light mania

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 10:07:22 GMT

Okay, this is completely out of left field (as was my post on ways to tie your shoelaces), but deserves a mention anyways. I'm all for celebrating the december holiday season, but this is ridiculous:

http://www.compfused.com/directlink/1022/

The first rule about Fight Club is...

Sun, 05 Mar 2006 01:31:38 GMT

Well all know how that this sentence ends. (If you don't, you have missed one of the best movies in the last 10 years). Thanks to Greg for the tip on this.

I guess it was inevitable, and frankly, I'm surprised it took this long to get mainstream. It turns out that some high-tech geeks in silicon valley have started their own fight club. Rounds last 1 minute, and they even get to use weapons like rolled up and taped Oprah magazines, cookie sheets and plastic dinner knives. Yes, plastic dinner knives. They even mentioned a Hello Kitty toilet seat!

The ironic part about this is these dorks are breaking the first rule of the iconic film, and no less with coverage by CBS. Greg says it best with:

"Someone should go find these guys and kick some @*$ for real for breaking the first rule. Where's Tyler when you need him?"

However, despite this, there is something funny and gratifying about this. Thinking about those long stressful days at work right before a major release. Perhaps someone like Sanaz would like to partake in this. Seems like her days are getting more and more stressful :) How much fun would it be to crack some dude over the head with a cookie sheet? Okay, maybe not. But I can at least joke about it :)

30 ways to tie your shoes

Sat, 04 Mar 2006 21:28:37 GMT

Like me, you probably didn't know there were 12 ways to tie your shoe laces, let alone 30. Don't ask how I stumbled upon this, but I did. They even have the ways that US Paratroopers tie their laces for their jump boots. Woah. Check out Ian's 30 ways to lace your shoes.

Be a National Geographic photographer

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 17:20:02 GMT

To all photoheads -- how cool is this -- http://www.ngm.com/yourshot ?

Be a National Geographic Photographer

Take your best shot—and send it to us. Your Shot features editors' selections from the first 5,000 photographs submitted online each month. Each month features a new theme. The first, for photos to be published both online and in the June 2006 print issue, is "Where I Live."

Thanks for the hit and run

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 01:54:24 GMT

To whom it may concern,

Thanks for hitting my car in the parking lot and not leaving a note. Now I'm left to pay for the repairs to my car via an insurance claim. Much appreciated.

From,

Trevin the disgruntled and really PO'd Program Manager

PS -- I know you drive a yellow car, since you left half your paint job on my bumper. I'm looking for you!