Ariane Slumbers
After an extremely busy 2014 as the most overexposed model of the year, even Ariane needs to slumber…in an Inspiration advertisement.
The LeBron 12 Lands
I’m not following the reasons for the NSRL (Nike Sports Research Lab) colorway of the newest LeBron James signature shoe, the LeBron 12. But whatever, the LeBron 12 has officially launched.
Seems like LeBron is shedding all kinds of weight in the offseason, not just him but his kicks as well. His shoes from years past were built like a tank, solid and heavy. Reading about the 12, it’s lighter by design and engineered for explosiveness. Speaking of colorways, there are seven variations already slated for release.
- LEBRON 12 NSRL. Launch: Oct. 1 in China; Oct. 11 globally.
- LEBRON 12 Heart of a Lion. Launch: Oct. 30.
- LEBRON 12 Dunk Force. Launch: Nov. 11.
- LEBRON 12 Instinct. Launch: Nov. 22.
- LEBRON 12 Six Meridians. Launch: Nov. 29.
- LEBRON 12 Trillion Dollar Man. Launch: Dec. 1.
- LEBRON 12 Data. Launch: Dec 20.
Check out this video of the upcoming releases.
I’m digging the matching ensemble for the NSRL. Them shorts and socks, man.
Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Surge Soda
Wow, just wow. Thanks to the social media push of the Surge Movement, Coca Cola is bringing back Surge for a limited time. From 1996, Surge battled Mountain Dew in the citrus soda space but eventually lost out when Surge was discontinued in the early 2000’s.
Available only from Amazon, the return of Surge was met with high demand as inventory is already wiped out. Surge is sold
Why include Surge on Pulpconnection’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide? Family nostalgia that’s why. I’ll let you in on a little secret. In past family Christmas parties, I made the punch using Malolo’s lime syrup, ice, water, sherbert, and my secret ingredient of Surge. Forget the uncaffeinated Sprite or 7-Up. Surge was the draw. It was a perfect complement to the drink and during those times, I would have several 2-liter bottles of Surge ready to mix with. Such memories. Maybe my Surge-powered punch will make a reappearance this holiday season…
Arashi Blast: Westbound Traffic
When I saw the horrid westbound traffic this afternoon, I wondered if another Exercise Urban Unrest was underway. The rationale being to observe the traffic crush to Ko’olina this weekend as Arashi takes the stage in their Blast in Hawaii concerts. That’s 15,000 fans headed to the west side for 5:30 concerts on Friday and Saturday.
But this was no drill with two separate auto fires reported, one coincidentally right by the Ko’olina area. Though the fire was serious, hopefully no major injuries afflicts the wounded driver.
Are You Ready for Arashi?
I am now that I know what or actually who Arashi is and what impact this boy band from Japan will have on Hawaii this upcoming weekend. 15,000 visitors are headed to the Arashi “Blast in Hawaii” concerts in Ko’olina on Friday and Saturday. Supposedly the Ihilani and Aulani are both completely booked so don’t even try.
And while many fans are coming from the continental US, many from Asia are also flying in. You think this might have an impact on local iPhone 6 availability in Hawaii? I don’t believe the iPhone 6 released in all countries so if these fans happen to be here for a concert AND the iPhone 6 is released, you think they might indulge? I think so, so don’t be surprised if you see several tourists waiting in line at the various Apple Stores, especially the Waikiki location where Arashi concert goers will be bussed to the west side.
Your iPhone 6 claimed by tourists coming to watch Arashi? Now that would be bittersweet.
Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Tivo Mega
Sorry, but I’m starting off Pulpconnection’s Holiday Gift Guide, 2014 edition with a product unavailable until 2015. This would be the strange Tivo Mega. Why strange? Who would use this beast?
The Mega has 24 TB of RAID5 storage and fits inside of a rack. That 24 TB of storage equates to 4000 hours of HD recordings. 4000 hours!! The price of the Mega hasn’t be released yet but it does include a free Lifetime subscription in case you were wondering.
The Holiday Gift Guide 2014 Pinterest board
Follow Gee Why’s board Holiday Gift Guide 2014 on Pinterest.
W(TH) 100 Degrees?!?
Really, I think our car’s thermometer was trying to say WTH 100 degrees, not West 100 degrees.
Even at night, it’s still atsui.
What’s Good at Costco?
What’s good at the Hawaii Kai Costco?
Lego Star Wars Microfighters in sets of three. Typically around $10 each, the set of three goes for $24.99. There are two different sets.
Motorola Surfboard Extreme cable modem SB6141. The cable modem I bought in 2013, but I remember paying more than $75. Looks like the white model from the box.
And if you lost anything while shopping, they have a lost and found box at Customer Service. Is that a gold Nintendo DS I spy?
Oh, and the Christmas stuff is starting to make an appearance…in September.
If You Live Maunawili…
You stay be affluent so says Business Insider. This is from data taken between 2008 and 2012 for an area with more than 1000 residents. During this time, Maunawili residents had a median household income of $137,143, reportedly the highest in Hawaii.
Disney Aulani Tips 2
Here’s my second set of tips focusing on food and dining while staying at the Disney Aulani.
Whoops, this post was in draft mode all this time, and I guess I forgot about it. So here it is nearly one year from my first set of Aulani tips.
Don’t Buy Bottled Water
Yes, the west side of Oahu is hot and dry, and you do need to stay hydrated. But this is the Disney Aulani where this basic necessity is provided to you. At the front check-in desk, you’ll immediately see the water containers perhaps with a fruity Mickey silhouette inside. Around the pool area, you’ll find more water dispensers brimming with ice cold water. These are out all day, constantly being replenished so you can always refill your own bottle or cup.
Tip: There’s also a water dispenser in the gym but that one does get empty often enough and while it’s there during the evenings, I believe it’s not available 24-hours like the workout facilities.
Dine on Kids’ Meals
The kids meals are pretty sizable. All the food is on the more expensive side, but the variety and convenience cannot be beat. While at the pools, you are literally surrounded by dining facilities – upscale to locale kine snacks, you name it.
Check Out Across the Street
Eating every meal at the Aulani will add up costs quickly. If you don’t mind a short jaunt across the street, you’ll find several eateries that’s more affordable. Don’t expect bargain prices since the tourists and guests of the nearby hotels are still a captive audience, but the price break is worth it.
My suggestion, make at least one reservation at the Monkeypod Kitchen at Ko’olina. The place is trendy and hip and the food is tasty though for the more mature palettes. There are kid options though. Get there early for Happy Hour special but be wary of the crowds during this time.
Starbucks Next Door
Although Starbucks and Disneyland have recently partnered, you won’t find the Seattle siren at Aulani. For her caffeinated song, you have to go next door to the Ihilani. Starbucks has a small spot in the Ihilani lobby but with big prices. Don’t expect local neighborhood costs, get ready for premium prices, but hey, you’re on vacation so go ahead. You can earn Starbucks Reward stars though I very much doubt you can redeem them at this location. If you can, do that to save yourself from a $6 mocha (that’s a slight hyperbole).
Resist the Shave Ice
All I can say is that buggah expensive. Convenient, yes, but not the best you can find. But then again, you would have to drive somewhere else for shave ice so if you want to splurge, you’ll at least save on driving.
The New Look of Pulp
Notice anything different around here? Actually, Pulpconnection has been different since the end of August, but I just didn’t have the focus to summarize the changes. So on a quiet Sunday morning with a cup of Nespresso, I’m motivated to list the changes.
New Look
First and foremost, you’ll notice the new look of Pulpconnection. For years, I’ve used the Thesis theme then added the Chronicl look. This was a fun, playful combination.
While I’ve been a fan of the Thesis theme since 2009, I wanted a fresh new look. Thesis is still awesome, but I didn’t want to spend the time building my own look using Thesis 2. So while wandering around the web, I came across On Topic by WooThemes. What struck me about On Topics was its “bigness.” Everything looks so big and easy to see. This readability aspect was the biggest motivator to switch. I love my blogging bling, but all those widgets become distractions. I still have them, but they’re on the bottom of the page leaving you the readers a less cluttered view.
Along with widgets only in the footer, On Topic features a header that moves. On the home page, the “header” is vertical, but on posts and pages, the header goes horizontal, allowing for more space for content.
Customization of On Topic is available though much more limited that with Thesis. Thesis still provides way more options to customize aspects of your WordPress site. I’ll miss that about Thesis. WooThemes includes lots of Google fonts with On Topic though I’ve seen strange characters suddenly appear. Not sure what or why.
I also changed Pulpconnection’s home page to show excerpts of blog posts instead of full posts like before. I like the way On Topic displays its excerpts with the featured image. Sorry, you need to click on the Continue Reading button to see the full post.
New Menus
I’ve changed up some of the menus since On Topic has less options for menus than Chronicl. I spent some time and filled out my Travels section including more trips from the past. I also started adding my annual Kicks Analysis series. The most interesting addition is in the Around Hawaii menu. Click on that to see a map of Hawaii along with geo-tagged Pulpconnection posts.
Favicon
Yes, Pulpconnection now has one. See that 16×16 pixel image of oranges in your browser bar? That’s the favicon for Pulpconnection created with the Favicon Generator. The green limes weren’t recognizable in a favicon size so oranges it is.
DreamPress
Like I already mentioned, Pulpconnection is now using Dreamhost’s DreamPress managed service. For its price, I don’t how you can compete with a VPS. I could never afford the 1.5+ GB of memory consumed by this site.
WordPress 4
To compound all the changes, WordPress 4 coincidentally released while all the above was going on. So why not make things harder? Yup, upgraded to WordPress 4.
What’s Left
As always, there are things to do. DreamPress includes Varnish, but I understand the simultaneous use of a caching plugin and Cloudflare is possible. Not sure if using all of these makes sense, so I’ll take this slow.
Lastly, I started looking into email subscription services. I haven’t made a choice yet since they’re different. WordPress’ JetPack includes an email subscription widget (which is in the footer) yet it doesn’t provide a simple URL link to sign up with. The venerable Feedburner has had email subscriptions forever and provides a link. Then there’s Tiny Letter. It’s like neither JetPack or Feedburner, allowing for email newsletters unrelated to blog posts. I’m gonna drag my feet on this one, trying to figure out the best pulpy answer.
And there we have all the changes making the new look of pulp.
Comparing Pics
Like many others, my smartphone has become my most used camera. The quality of the images is more than good enough, forget about zooming, and speed matters (speed of getting the camera ready and the speed of snapping pics). So let’s make some unscientific comparisons between the images from an iPhone 5 and the LG G3. While taking the pics, I pretty much stayed in the same location but did move the phone closer or further to better frame each shot.
Scroll over each image to see the source.
LG G3
iPhone 5
iPhone 5
LG G3
What’s obvious right away is the huge size of the G3’s 5.5-in screen while taking pictures. As a view finder, the large screen is easy on the eyes, but then again a tablet as a view finder is also easy on the eyes but goofy and clumsy looking. And taking a pictures with the LG is by no means inconspicuous. It’s too hard to hide the large form factor to take discreet, subtle pictures. You really can’t hide when taking pictures with the LG G3.
In general, the images from the G3 are sharper and has more detail in low light areas. The G3 uses lasers for its autofocus and yeah, I guess them lasers do work! Though I still think the focusing system of the G3 lags behind the iPhone 5. And hey, the iPhone 5 is two years old, so I hope modern technology surpasses that from 2012. But if I got the time, I wouldn’t mind using the G3 to snap some excellent pics.
My quick assessment – quality of images goes to the LG G3, but overall speed of use goes to the iPhone 5.