Some Pics from the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail
Some scenic shots taken on the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail can be seen at my MobileMe gallery. Sorry, no pictures of meeting Tannya Joaquin.
Life
Where Robert Cazimero Sat
Long time Hawaiian music legend, Robert Cazimero, was at Kenny’s Restaurant at the Kamehameha Shopping Center the other day. Almost didn’t recognize him without his signature bandanna look, but I’m pretty sure that was him.
I didn’t get a picture as he was exiting the eatery, but this is the chair where Robert Cazimero sat (and that’s not him sitting in the chair in the pic).
And just for fun, here’s a picture of my daily special, teri beef king sandwich.
Does This Mean You’ve Been Naughty or Nice?
When you come to work and find that your coworkers did this to everything in your office cubicle, does it mean you’ve been naughty or nice this year?
Yes, these are real pictures, and the good wrapping paper was used too!
Pics from Dinner at Kai Market
Our annual holiday dinner brought the usual laughs and eats. This was the first time any of us tried out the buffet at Kai Market in the Sheraton Waikiki , and um, yeah, I don’t think I’ll be going back. Nothing wrong per se, but nothing right for $49 per adult. The desserts were the best part, featuring a few worthy creations from Satura Cakes.
The hottest grab bag gifts this year were a Nerf toy gun and a Starbucks tumbler that looked like a regular iced drink cup. That Snuggie got some looks though.
Heed the Warning!
Heed this very important safety warning from this toy.
When crash it with the main blades and then stop turning, When low in pressure or excess of charger or excess of push. And then helicopter battery will protect it automatically. It will appears phenomena of power off function and no function. Please re-open the on-off and will resume use it normally.
You think I was joking? Here’s the side of the box with the verbatim warning.
Barack Obama, Makapuu Lighthouse, Annual Traditions?
Just realized that President Barack Obama in Hawaii and hiking the Makapuu Lighthouse trail have been recent family traditions during December.
In December 2008, that Oahu-wide power outage precipitated the Lighthouse hike, and Mr. Obama was on the Windward side greeting people.
Better schedule these traditions for 2010 but skipping that blackout part.
Meeting Tannya Joaquin, Sorta
That voice. It came out of nowhere atop the Makapuu Lighthouse trail. The voice asking if I wanted a picture taken of the entire family with me, the photographer, in it. The voice telling her own personal stories of family members missing from pictures serving duty behind the camera.
Nah, no thanks was my simple reply to that voice, not wanting a picture of weary kids unamused by the glaring sun.
Then it registered, that voice. Sounded familiar, but from where? Visually, it’s amazing what a mask a pair of sunglasses can be.
Nah, couldn’t be… Or could it? Was that the voice of Tannya Joaquin from Hawaii News Now?
Are you Tannya? Yes, that voice was that of Tannya Joaquin.
Sorry, no picture to show. I was tempted to ask for a pic, but it was family time for both parties. Me with mine and Tannya with hers during the Holidays. No time for local celebrity fanfare. All in all though, this simple gesture from parent to parent for the sake of family reminds me why I trust the people of KGMB9 (now Hawaii News Now).
Update: Tannya also blogged about this random encounter on her Hawaii News Now blog, Ad-Lib.
Have You Ever Seen a Three-legged Dog?
The kids were mesmerized (and frightened) by a sighting of a three-legged dog on a hike up the Makapuu Lighthouse trail.
Props to the pooch for making it up the trail missing one appendage.
Look for New Running Shoes
After 72 runs and 209 miles, I think it’s time to replace my Nike Structure Triax+ 12 running shoes. These shoes were great but have recently started to feel soft and spongy like it’s not providing firm support or adequate cushioning. Maybe I’ll get another pair.
Or maybe I’ll take a look at the Lunarglides or Air Max 2009.
Bah Humbug Christmas!
A bah humbug to pass along this Christmas. You ever seen a Pyrex baking pan crack right down the middle? Now you have…
This is a 9×13 baking dish that we’ve had for awhile. No problems until yesterday when a dessert crust went kaput and the Pyrex dish more or less cleaved in half. There was a noise in the oven and when we went to pull out the dish, it simply broke apart. Luckily it didn’t shatter into too many pieces. There were some shards of glass, but it could’ve be worse with stories and complaints about exploding Pyrex products.
Observing a Heretic
Some general observations to round out my review of a Hackintoshed Dell Inspiron Mini 10v.
I wouldn’t consider this Netbook a multitasking machine. Sure, it can run several apps simultaneously, it’s just that I wouldn’t. The Netbook is built for the convenience of portability, not performance. So take it nice and easy.
The Dell Mini 10v actually looks decent. While it’s not an art masterpiece like Apple products, it doesn’t look cheap or cheesy. The black obsidian and silver combination is appealing, but the glossy top does show fingerprints too easily.
One irritation I have is you need two hands to open the Mini 10v when closed. I’m used to needing one hand to open up the screen, but since the Netbook is so light, you need one hand to hold the bottom of the 10v while the other hand props up the screen.
I haven’t upgraded to the latest version of Snow Leopard, 10.6.2. There were previous incompatibilities with Netbooks so I stayed at 10.6.1. I think the incompatibilities have been resolved though.
MobileMe works fine. I can access my iDisk and sync information which is a great and hassle-free way to copy needed information.
Startup time takes about 80 seconds and shutdowns are blazingly quick at about 5 to 15 seconds.
While video performance is acceptable for everyday tasks, the integrated graphics processor isn’t powerful enough for HD tasks. Watching HD content on YouTube is too choppy to be watchable. The standard definition versions playback well enough but not the HD renderings (I used the DWTS performance of Derek Hough and Joanna Krupa dancing a futuristic paso doble as a reference movie). And this is with the beta version of Adobe Flash 10.1 with hardware acceleration specifically for Netbooks.
So the obvious observation is to manage your expectations from a Netbook, and you won’t be disappointed. Don’t expect $2000 performance from a $300 machine, you know?
That wraps up my experiences with my Dell Inspiron Mini 10v running Mac OS X. I covered my reasons for getting a Netbook, the conversion process to Mac OS X, interfacing with a small Netbook, the software I installed, and my general observations. All in all though, for a $300 investment, a Hackintoshed Netbook definitely fills a niche.