LEGO Minifigures Series 4
Forgot about my Flickr images of LEGO Minifigures Series 4. Got a bunch at a discount from the Borders’ closing sale. Â I like the hair of the Mad Scientist.
Life
Happenin’ on Hipster
Yay, this pic from the Makapuu Lighthouse Trail made Hipster.com’s popular list!
Here are just a few more shots taken on the trail. Did I mention my visiting cousin from Oakland is a giant? Check him out holding the lighthouse.
Remembering Hackfelds
What do you see in this picture? Old timers will recognize the entrance to Hackfelds restaurant in vintage Liberty House Ala Moana.
I don’t remember if I ever ate at Hackfelds as a kid, but I must have at some point. I just remember this location being next to the downstairs bathrooms and a secret side entrance to the store. Since this restaurant is long since closed, there’s only one exit out of Macy’s ground floor.
Did you know the history of “The Liberty House” and the origin of its name “in response to anti-German sentiment” during World War I? The German Hackfeld family opened Hackfeld’s Dry Goods which became Liberty House and eventually Macy’s.
Signs of Hawaii: TheBus Holiday Style Part 2
Even though I blogged this last year, I forgot how Hawaii public transportation #1, aka TheBus, decorates its fleet over the Holidays.
Sorry, not the greatest picture but funny how the locations of this pic and the one taken in 2010 are in the same place!
How’s Your Winter Going?
So how is your winter going? Â The air is cooler here in Hawaii, but when the sun starts peeking out, it’s best to find some shade.
Just be sure not to use the rust-colored beach chairs at Ko Olina Lagoon #1. These belong to the new Disney Aulani resort and are for guest use only. It’s first come, first serve for the usage of the umbrellas, but these chairs are a different issue. And don’t ask the Aulani personnel manning the vacations booth. They know about the various vacation, travel, and lodging packages, but not about the use of the beach chairs. Be cordial to the Aulani worker whose job is to repossess Disney’s beach chairs, and the local boy might be cool enough to leave one for your use as a kamaaina.
Signs of Hawaii: Around Kailua
Need basic directions getting around the Kailua area. Â Here’s the sign for you.
Cereal Remix No Longer Mixing
Back in March 2010, Cereal Remix opened their doors in Aiea. Sadly, sometime in November/December 2011, Cereal Remix closed their doors, leaving behind this empty facade.
Getting the Sears Kenmore Elite Model 72053 in the Holiday Spirit
Yes, we know that stainless steel refrigerators like the LG LFX31925ST/Sears Kenmore Elite Model 72053 do not have magnetic surfaces, so forget that idea of sticking on notes, calendars, and kids’ artwork. But that smooth steely surface can help liven up the Holiday Spirit in your kitchen. How? Just add a handful of Christmas-themed “magnetic stickers.”
Kaneohe Christmas Parade 2011
Hmmm, I seemed to have forgotten to post these pictures of the annual Kaneohe Christmas Parade. My bad for not sharing the Christmas cheer. The best moments were Mufi Hannemann taking pictures of the parade using his iPad while participating in the parade and the fire dance near the end of the event.
Reading About 99 Titles and 40-GB Copy Protection
Just doing some reading about the 99 title and 40-GB copy protection on DVDs. Interesting ways to stymie copying of discs.
The #hadhc2011 Swag
Thanks to Hawaiian Air for the invitation to the Diamond Head Classic and thanks for all the goodies!
What I Learned About My MacBook Pro
So I have an older MacBook Pro, and only recently learned a thing or two about this trusty workhorse. This MBP is the first unibody design, designated “Late 2008.”
First the good news. When it shipped, this model supported 4GB of RAM. Then it was discovered that the machine was still stable with 6GB of addressable memory. This meant one 4-GB module paired with one 2-GB module, giving a total of 6 GB. Not bad, but when Apple released Snow Leopard, Mac OS X 10.6, they also supplied a firmware update for some machines. This firmware update had an undocumented change which consequently raised the RAM ceiling to a full 8 GB.
To replace the internal hard drive is easy since the drive is very accessible. The Late 2008 MBP can handle SATA2-speed drive throughput. But… don’t try to future proof the purchase of a replacement drive, especially if you’re looking at the newer Solid State Drives (SSD). Some SSD drives that operate at SATA3 speeds (6Gb/s) are not fully compatible with this MBP and instead of downspeeding to SATA2 speeds, these fast SATA3 drives run at SATA1 speeds! That’s a big waste of a fast SSD, so don’t do it. Go with the slightly cheaper SATA2 drives.
Besides the unfortunate SATA compatibility, the Late 2008 MBP has a well-known but unacknowledged hardware issue based on its graphics chip set. The problem manifests itself in random blinking of the top third of the built-in display. While not destructive, this bug is very irritating, and there’s no clear fix. On the Apple Support Communities, replacing the logic board is the usual course of action but that doesn’t always lead to a fix. In fact, several board replacements is sometimes followed by a whole computer swapout. I haven’t reached that extreme yet, but it’s sad there is no clear way to solve this.