Tank with Tracks... Cool!

Information from Mintpass

This mini music tank seems awesome

-- ReviewGuru

Oyule Light Bulbs (Pretty sweeet!!)

Source: Gizmodo  by Dan Nosowitz - November 27, 2009 11:00am

Oyule Light Bulbs are filled with paraffin and use a wick instead of a filament, so basically they become what the light bulb replaced: A paraffin lamp.

To ensure they stay upright, there's a magnet placed in the base of the bulb that corresponds to one in the acrylic base. But if you're stylish and safe enough to have an open flame on your desk, you'd better be rich, too—there are only 66 sets available, selling for USD 650 each.

Great thing to have if you got the dough!!

--ReviewGuru

Boston, Black Friday, 2009

The Friday after thanksgiving is the time to shop for the holidays season to come, there are many sales happening throughout Massachusetts area, I decided that this year, my goal was to hit the Wrentham Premium Factory Outlets.

On this rainy night, after the 10:10p.m. movie "Ninja Assassins" I proceeded to drive towards the Factory outlets. As we were driving on Rte 9 in Brookline, we were pulled over because we were going 60km/h on a 50km/h by a Brookline Police officer.

Though we were let off with a warning, the 30 mins delay was enough to force us into a massive traffic. As a result of the traffic jam, many people are driving like "Massholes" and traffic was all over the place. People are overtaking and switching lanes for no reason at all.

Finally, at 4am, I arrived at Wrentham. It was still drizzling and I started to go to the targeted stores one by one. The following stores are my favorite stores in Wrentham in 2009.

Banana Republic - 50% off everything
Tommy Hilfiger - 40% off everything
Vitamin World - 20% off most items
Adidas - 30% off storewide
Reebok - 30% off most items

Nautica, DKNY, Timberland, Merrell and Gap seemed to have pretty good deals but Sony with one of the best deals in the area seem to be closed till 5am.

After 2 hours of shopping and discovering many great gifts, I moved to my next location of shopping: Electronics.

For electronics, I discovered several places with many electronics stores close by. In Fenway, You get Staples, Bestbuy and Bed Bath and Beyond. At South Bay, I would say there are also many Big malls close by, and I expected many people to be there just because of the location and the concentration of stores, and eventually, I decided on Arsenal Mall in Watertown.

In Watertown Mall, you get,
1) Bestbuy
2) Target

And across the road, you get Arsenal Mall,
1) Filene's basement,
2) Vitamin World,
3) Gamestop,
4) Radio Shack,
5) Olympia Sports, etc.

In BestBuy, there are so many "doorbuster sales" and many extremely popular items. However, my goal was the Sony Handicam DCR - SR47. This 720P camcorder has a 60 GB harddisk, and it can record up to 45 hours of video or 15 hours of HD videos. In BestBuy, it costs $249.99 or $299.99 with a spare battery and camera bag.

There are also many good offers on memory cards, and I figured the best offer is at Staples, but failed to get them at any Staples I visit.

The other great offers include Motorola Cliq at $79.99 in Radio Shack for a new 2 yr agreement.

Well, I've satisfied with my buys and gifts I'm giving and I'd love to go to the sales next year.

-- Iron Bowl

9 h - nine hours capsule hotel in kyoto

Came across this interesing article I'd love to share

9 h - nine hours capsule hotel in kyoto

9 h (nainawasu) is a new capsule hotel that offers luxury in a minimum living space. 
the 9 h capsule hotel and all amenities were designed by fumie shibata of design studio s, 
which she founded in 1994. with her team, she defined the elements necessary for a 
'minimal transit space' in big cities in japan. the product designer has been pursuing 
the 9h project as a creative director for 3 years.

the first hotel will opened in december this year, located in shimogyo-ku, kyoto, located on
teramachi street between department store fujii daimaru and convenience store AMPM,
two minutes walk from kawaramachi station. the building itself will be 9 stories tall, 
will host 125 capsules, locker rooms, showers, and a lounge.

exhibition at AXIS gallery

exhibition view

a comfortable place to rest ... 1 hour shower, sleep for 7 hours, have a one hour break / total 9h.
guests can spend up to 17 hours in a single stay - the price for one night is ¥ 4900.

each capsule includes panasonic's advanced system for good sleeping by computerized 
control lighting.

room environment by panasonic / matsushita electric works.
according to the time set, the light will wake you up.

the bed sheets are of the same quality as those that are used in a four-star hotel

rear view of capsule

side view

graphic design by masaaki hiromura

toothbrush

shampoo, conditioner, body soap

bottled water taken at the foot of mount fuji

amenity slippers

japan's first capsule hotel made its appearance in osaka in 1979, and was designed by
architect kisho kurokawa.

Source: designboom | http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/view/8111/9-h-nine-hours-capsule-hotel-in-kyoto.html

Google Announces Plans to Make the Internet Twice As Fast!

Google Announces Plans to Make the Internet Twice As Fast!

Google has announced plans to make the Internet twice as fast by replacing the old HTTP protocol with a new SPDY one.

"SPeeDY" is an early stage research project which at its core is an application layer protocol for transporting content over the web. It is designed specifically for minimizing latency through features such as multiplexed streams, request prioritization and HTTP header compression.

-----
We started working on SPDY while exploring ways to optimize the way browsers and servers communicate. Today, web clients and servers speak HTTP. HTTP is an elegantly simple protocol that emerged as a web standard in 1996 after a series of experiments. HTTP has served the web incredibly well. We want to continue building on the web's tradition of experimentation and optimization, to further support the evolution of websites and browsers. So over the last few months, a few of us here at Google have been experimenting with new ways for web browsers and servers to speak to each other, resulting in a prototype web server and Google Chrome client with SPDY support.

So far we have only tested SPDY in lab conditions. The initial results are very encouraging: when we download the top 25 websites over simulated home network connections, we see a significant improvement in performance - pages loaded up to 55% faster. There is still a lot of work we need to do to evaluate the performance of SPDY in real-world conditions. However, we believe that we have reached the stage where our small team could benefit from the active participation, feedback and assistance of the web community.
-----

Google has posted early stage documentation and current code in order to obtain feedback through the Chromium Google Group.

Source: iClarified | http://www.iClarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=6054 - Friday, November 13, 2009 2:11am

Camera Lens Compatibility. (Nikon DSLR)

I own a D50, and a D3x and I'm currently shopping for lens and I came across several charts and tables which I would like to share.

The following is a very useful link for a Nikon lens compatibility table. --> link <---

For me, I'd like to get good lens, however I have many different cameras and due to compatinility issues, I'd only get what is value for money.

If you are like me, a guy who is into photography since the days of Nikon FM2 and the Minolta, you may have several lens already. I currently own a Mamiya 645 as well, and I'm saving up for more lens and a digital back, however I'd still like to shoot with my trusty old Nikon D50.

I guess as I'd like to do street photography, some of which are at night, I'd need to get fast lens, and after researching, I feel that a manual focus F1.4 lens really does make sense.

in Nov, 2009, I've searched ebay, and the prices for some digital cameras have gone down, but some lens are still quite expensive.

For under $100, you can find a Nikon 50mm F1.4 manual focus lens which is very fast at night.

You can also get a Sigma 70 - 300 F4 - F5.6 for under $100 if you search hard.

DSLRs now are very affordable and great to own!



The table below outlines which lenses support which functions with which Nikon DSLR cameras. Please note, there are exceptions to this, for example certain fisheye lenses protrude too far into the camera body, and may damage the mirror/lens, lenses designed for the Nikon F3AF system may not work, certain reflex lenses may not physically fit and so forth. Please check the manual for both the camera and lens before trying to mount.
Also note, that not all features may be supported in all modes. For example, an AI-S lens mounted on a Nikon DSLR will either not meter ("no metering" in the table below, can be used in manual mode only), or if it will meter ("meter ok" in the table below) then only Aperture Priority or Manual modes will work.
Lenses marked D or G provide distance information to the camera, so all Nikon DSLR's will meter properly in all modes with these lenses.
AF-S lenses will autofocus with all Nikon DSLR's. AF Lenses only work with bodies that have focusing motors (all current bodies except the Nikon D40, D40x and D60).

Nikon DSLR/Lens Compatibility Chart:

	Manual Focus			Autofocus
DSLR Body	Pre-AI	AI, AI-S	AI-P	AF	AF-I, AF-S	Type D or G
D40, D40x, D60	Mounts OK No Metering	Mounts OK No Metering	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK No AF	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	Works OK
D50, D70, D70s, D80, D90, D100	DO NOT USE MAY DAMAGE	Mounts OK No Metering	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	3D Metering Supported
D200, D300, D700	DO NOT USE MAY DAMAGE	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	3D Metering Supported
D1 Series	DO NOT USE MAY DAMAGE	Mounts OK No Matrix Meter	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	3D Metering Supported
D2 Series, D3	DO NOT USE MAY DAMAGE	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	Mounts OK Meters OK AF OK	3D Metering Supported

Notes:

1. DO NOT USE: May cause damage to the camera body.
2. Mounts OK: Is safe to mount on the camera.
3. Meters OK: Basic metering works.
4. No Metering: Camera body supports CPU metering only, lens does not have CPU.
5. AF OK: Autofocus works.
6. No AF: Autofocus does not work, since camera lacks AF motor in the camera body.
7. 3D Metering Supported: Lenses marked D or G provide distance information, allowing 3D Matrix Metering to work.

--Reviews Guru

Air China Review

Not to be confused with China Eastern Airlines, which also provides cheap flights from Asia.

And not China Airlines, which is a carrier from Taiwan.

Air China has its hub in Beijing and it flies all over the world.

I did a little research on the Internet before choosing the carrier and when I search "Airlines" + "China" These images came up...

Of course, most of the pictures were from China Airlines, and so I booked my tickets and decided to try Air China which was a member of Star Alliance which gave me mileage on my United Miles Program.

Flying from Singapore Airport to Beijing was relatively fine, the food as expected is really terrible and the plane had no functioning reading lights. Overall, the seats seemed badly maintained and the food is really inedible. But since it was a midnight flight, I was not bothered much as I was just interested in sleeping throughout my flight.



Beijing Airport looks relatively new and clean, however, I don't understand why even as a transit passenger, I was considered "in China" and my passport was annoyingly chopped and I had to fill in immigrations forms just to be in Transit.

The airport however was pretty interesting and had nice designs which were rather photo worthy.







There are several restaurants to get some food during your transit, and they serve pretty decent food there. I tried the beer in Beijing Yan Jing Beer and it was ok, and cost only US$2.20 per bottle at a restaurant, not too bad at all.



Well having beer for breakfast was not really a good idea, but after the first 4 beers, it did not matter at all, and I had another 4 before getting on the flight to New York. (8 beers in 6 hours)



There are few stores that sell things, and they look awfully marked up. So much that after a few stores, which sold $10 tea for $50 and $20 shirts for $200, I decided not to shop at all!



There was a visit the villages fair and there are some interesting exhibits.











The Stool dancing by the villagers is very interesting, and never been seen outside China. I guess beside being a seat, and a weapon, it can also be used as a dance prop!



I watch the plane getting loaded with luggages and sat at the boarding gate. There were lots of people from China, and they all seemed to bring all their luggage with them onto the plane. All of them seemed to be carrying lots of heavy luggage up the flight, and they were crowding at the gates hours before the gate was open. They were very excited to get on the plane even when the seats were allocated, and there is no advantage on getting in early.

The conversations at the gate was loud and simply annoying. Everyone was on their phones and talking as loud as they could and even when they are all going to New York, they kept complaining about how American Culture was bad and they had a superior culture that will never cause the world's economy to collapse. They also blamed the US for causing climate change.

There was lots of chaos at the boarding gate before the flight and many people had special requests. I was upgraded to Business Class, and then downgraded again and the flight was finally delayed for 1 hour and no explanation was given.

During boarding, I was at the entrance and they asked if I transited. I said yes and stood aside for 30 minutes while everyone boarded, and later they "reconfirmed" my luggage and let me in. I was wondering if my standing there was necessary, and the crew just seemed incompetent as human beings.







On the flight, there was chaos again as the people who forced their way on the flight earlier, were seating randomly in the plane. My seat was taken and the person that took my seat had his seat taken. It was like musical chairs, but not fun at all. Everyone seemed to ignore the stewardess and I got my seat, but the confusion that continued lasted for more than 10 mins. Everyone was on the flight talking loudly on their phones here as well.

The people on board seemed to be flying for the first time and it took another 10 minutes to get them into their seat belts. Then the plane flew and when I thought the nightmare was over, when the immigration forms were given out, there was another outcry of help all over the flight and majority of the passengers needed help with the form.

Reading lights do not work on this flight again. There was generally chaos and randomness going on as passengers seemed to be up and walking about all the time, kids running around, out of control and even several men who attempted to smoke their "electronic cigarette" on the flight.

The food that came was basically awful. The sauce was too salty, and rice a little dry and mushy at the same time. There was no fruits and nothing edible there. I simply just had more beer. I was shocked to see passengers asking for more food and then keeping it in their bags. Then after dinner, as I was sitting at the emergency exit row (to stretch my legs) I just realized that 10% of the people go to the toilet without closing the doors. The men pee with the doors open and the ladies do it too! This was a culture shock to me as I approached them to tell them that the door is "close-able" and "lock-able", but after closing the door, they opened it again and said that it was too small inside!

Then came the kids who were like animals. They ran around, destroying things and pee'ed on the floor of the toilets. Their parents do not seem to mind and said that they were "just kids" and it was ok to litter or pee randomly. "WTF!!!" The whole culture talk that I heard earlier about their superiority in culture just went down the drain as their kids are throwing trash on the ground and peeing on the floor of the toilets!

The whole flight was really annoying and simply bad. Not because the staff was bad, but rather, the passengers were out of control and annoying. I don't even think the crew could do anything when almost everyone was annoying and not obeying the rules.

Finally when the plane was about to land, the crew had to make each of everyone sit down as they were trying to get their luggage before the plane landed. Then after buckling them in, they simply got up once they felt the plane had landed. Many rushed to the doors even before the plane stopped, and there was -- chaos again.

I had a very bad experience, and not entirely from the plane with the non-functional lights and the bad food, but mostly from the other annoying passengers on board!

My advice: the $$ saved... Totally not worth it. Don't fly Air China.

Score: 2 / 10

--Reviewsguru