| todd.tokubo.com | swanktastic.org | peanutbuttermonkeyball.com | www.tokubo.com |
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| 26 Sep '05 |
Updates in progess normal_blog |
todd |
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Changes are in progress. New gallery program, new blogging
program. Trying it out, hopefully, this will lead to easier
updating overall in the future.
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| 24 Sep '05 |
Nightmares... normal_blog |
todd |
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I have offically ventured into the world of craigslist. I think the worst thing you can do is post something for free on there. I got over 10 emails in less than 30 mins for a crappy old exercise bike. Amazing. In the put your money where your mouth is department, I am finally looking at other blogging SW right now along with getting a new domain just so I can rant about how to make people really understand how to use their consumer electronics.
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| 22 Sep '05 |
Living with Tech rant |
todd |
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It is becoming increasingly obvious to the tech savvy, that there is
truly a tech divide. I opened a new checking account today and
had to sit there and watch the banker tell me how to create and account
and use on-line banking. Unfortunately, I realize why they need
to do this. Many people have a huge apprehension with technology. For example, my mother: it has taken her over 4 years to attempt to use the digital camera I bought her. 1) New technologies emerge every year. 2) They work very well for those who are daring with using new devices and have a little patience to learn how to use something new 3) All of these devices pretty much assume you know how to use a Windows PC and install software I think I'll write some tech tips from now on. At least I'll have something for my memoirs. Living with Tech Tip 9/22: Kodak and other development companies provide photo CDs for most modern cameras. Start your parents with these, so they can get the concept of files and how to view them and edit them. After that, get a digital camera that has a completely removable media (Kodak for example has 48 MB that you cannot remove). Then show them how to access the images directly from the SD or CF card. Buy a USB card reader, or most newer PCs come with the card reader built in. Buy them extra memory cards if needed.
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| 22 Sep '05 |
Fixing web things normal_blog |
todd |
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I have to be the worlds worst programmer. However, in the last three hours, I have reformatted two machines and figured out what is wrong with my brother's PC. Throw into that, the fact that I have also figured out why my archive wasn't appearing and now we're rolling.
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| 19 Sep '05 |
All kinds of crap normal_blog |
todd |
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It took me the better part of a day to get all the stuff transferred
over. I haven't even started to look at the USB drive yet. I'm such a PC packrat, I should start figuring out what I can just junk. One thing about the new laptop is that the keyboard is a lot quieter. I know Sharon will definitely appreciate that. The one dilemma I am now having is do I transfer all of the photo files for Tokubo.com over to something like Picasa? Over the last year or so there have been a ton of really cool easy to use photo to web programs, so I guess I need to re-look at the website in the near future.
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| 18 Sep '05 |
New toy normal_blog |
todd |
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Got my first PC in a while. A new Pentium M 740 (1.73 GHz) based
Gateway laptop. Radeon Mobility X700 videocard, 5400 RPM hard drive.
17" screen. Not bad. Seeing as how I play very few games (plus there are very few worth playing), it looks like this will be my system for the forseeable future.
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| 17 Sep '05 |
Yay... normal_blog |
todd |
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So... I will finally be taking a vacation week, and going nowhere. In other news, PSP finally has an accessory that makes sense. Now, you don't have to buy the DVD AND the UMD. You only need to buy one. But from the pics, there's an add on at the bottom of the PSP bezel. I hate being a technophile, but I love this thing. I saw one when I visited Apple yesterday. Tre' cool. After being out of the PC gaming HW loop for a while, I've realized what a silly game it is. A is better than B, B is faster than C, does C's 9.73452 billion pipelines really make it better than D? I realize, I haven't upgraded my computer for almost two full years. On top of that, I'm thinking of going mobile. It seems like such blasphemy for someone who used to be on the cutting edge. Wierd... Intersting concept, but weird...
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| 8 Sep '05 |
New Chance Pics normal_blog |
todd |
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He runs... he jumps... he dunks (on a 36" rim) New pictures of my boy I just got back from a lovely trip to Arkansas. Two hour meeting. 12 hours of travel split between two days.
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| 2 Sep '05 |
playing games normal_blog |
todd |
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I just realized I haven't sat down and played through a PC game since
quitting HL2 about half way. I've been occupying most of my time
playing PSP games, but again most of that has been on airplanes. I love video games. I do consider myself a hardcore game player and a (former) hardcore PnP RPGer. (Don't ask my opinion on LARPing...) I ran across this article yesterday. And it really struck a chord with me. The entertainment industry is fundamentally broken. The games industry is going down the same crappy path that the film industry is going down. However, the films have a secondary market of DVD retail sales. Games do not have such a luxury. I thought it was a good read, and pretty much gives a background as to why there really isn't anything good to play. I hope Sony does continue to allow homebrew gaming on all of their platforms. It will create this secondary market and allow for creativity in a market quickly becoming devoid of independent thought.
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| 18 Aug '05 |
Being sick sucks normal_blog |
todd |
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Had the obligitory illness after travelling today. 102 degree
fever. Probably caught the Asian Flu travelling while packed into
the China Air flight. I finished one more book, the Da Vinci Code. I feel kind of trendy reading the book. My thoughts, very much in the same vein of pseudo-real fiction as Michael Creighton. I really like Creighton's novels and Dan Brown's book went just as fast for me. The book seems a bit too movie ready for me. After the first few chapters, I thought I was reading the original script for National Treasure. Did I mention I still don't think there's any creativity left in Hollywood? Now, I am not a Christian / Catholic / Jewish, nor claim to be. With the assumption that the New Testament is indeed fact and not allegorical, then you might read The Da Vinci Code and be very offended. With the assumption that it is fiction the same way Jurassic Park is fiction, then it's a great book. There are two things I really brought away from the book. I think one of the ironies in Dan Brown's writing is that the whole book is about debunking the New Testament, Jesus, etc (realize, I am not at all familiar with the Bible). The other moral: eveyone should question the establishment once in a while, just to make sure they really are right. If they're right, then nothing changes. If they're wrong, you get a revolution. This lady has one of the best on-line resources for the book including debates. If you like Law and Order and other such mystery type shows, this is a good read. If you are easily offended by those that question the Bible, excercise your freedom of choise: please skip this one and don't go see the movie when it comes out. (Surprise Jean Reno as the French cop, who would have guessed?)
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| 10 Aug '05 |
Instant Reviews normal_blog |
todd |
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Plane flight: Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
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| 8 Aug '05 |
yet another trip to Asia in the summertime normal_blog |
todd |
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It's hot... like 32C hot... And muggy... someone remind me why I keep doing this? Oh yeah... it's my JOB. I nearly finished off Michael Lewis' Moneyball on the way over. I see this as much more than a baseball book. I really am enjoying this read. I'm a big sports fan, not a big baseball guy, but there are so many little things that competitive people can take away and use in life. It just shows what a little out of the box thinking can do against the establishment.
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| 28 Jul '05 |
Log In with my psp normal_blog |
todd |
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Sony released the browser for PSP today. Along with AAC support and
some other goodies. typing is a pain, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.
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| 24 Jul '05 |
Hot hot hot normal_blog |
todd |
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So, I had forgotten that there was supposed to be a Sharon/Todd
vacation this weekend. So Thursday night, I jumped on a flight to
LA. We then endured the 4 hour drive into AZ (Lake Havasu).
Man was not meant to live in the Mohave Desert. 120 degrees in
the daytime. Ugh... It was truly unbearable heat. Sharon's
friends had a boat which was good fun, but 8 hours of travel and a
scorching sun for a few hours boating hardly seems worth it. Anyway, GSM coverage out there sucks. It was better at night. I think the antennas cooled down then. Got a new phone. One of them swanky RAZR Motorola phones, lot of good it did me out in the middle of nowhere. Now, I'm sitting in the Ontario (CA) airport blogging over a horribly slow internet connection... Here's hoping this posts right.
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| 11 Jul '05 |
In Asia again normal_blog |
todd |
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It's hot and humid... I hate the rainy season here. Time to
rack up another 10,000 frequent flier miles and enjoy good sashimi.
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| 4 Jul '05 |
Never paying $10 again to see a movie rant |
todd |
Allow me to recap the movie that are supposed to rescue Hollywood this summer:
By the way, I can't remember the last original video game I played. In a similar vein of thought, it appears innovation is slowing. Well... Carlye destroyed HP labs and Lucent effectively killed Bell Labs, plus government spending is down for defense. Yes, I am thinking very techno-centric here, but those were three of the biggest drivers for "innovation" (got I hate that word). Let's just call them "practical use cases for new technology" instead. Every time I hear innovation, I think of Bill Gates referring to how innovative Microsoft is (at stealing other people's crap). Granted, 90% of the good stuff is one guy's great idea and 50 other people squeezing it for money until blood comes out of the proverbial stone. In other news Windows software is ugly, boring and uninspired. Also, American censors will be effectively destroying one great work of Anime art on Cartoon Network shortly. And imagine, I am not an Apple fanboy or apologist. :)
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| 1 Jul '05 |
Pics from the NYC and today's other links. normal_blog |
todd |
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I put up some pics from our NYC trip. We were using Sharon's 2 Mpixel Panasonic microcam, so some of the dark shots aren't so good. Looking at webmonkey's fun side project makes me laugh. Having travelled in Asia enough, this site kills me. I've seen so many of these kinds of signs, I wish it weren't true...
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| 26 Jun '05 |
Enjoying the time normal_blog |
todd |
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I actually took a vacation. It's the first real vacation I've been on except for the 3-day cruise with Sharon last year. Sharon and I went to NYC. Did the normal tourist things: Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Broadway, Times Square, etc. NYC is VERY expensive. Like Tokyo expensive. I was a little shocked at that. All the money we saved by getting a hotel in Manhattan was wasted on $20 + per person meals. We also ran off to the Tokubo family reunion. Now, I guess I really have to add some content to the main page here...
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| 9 Jun '05 |
Funny thoughts about mergers normal_blog |
todd |
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Apple has announced it will be using Intel for next year's Macs.
It said nothing about using the Pentium however. Branding is
everything to Intel, so the fact that Pentium was not noted, means
something funny is afoot. I ran across this blog which is the granddaddy of great conspiracy theories. Intel and Apple merging? Stranger things can happen. A company called BenQ has acquired Siemens' consumer device (cell phone) division. Siemens is actually PAYING BenQ to take the division off its hands. Funny times. I am a big AMD fan. I really like their Athlon64 processors. I'm not the biggest Intel fan since they are more a marketing machine than a technology company. It will be interesting to see if any of this would pan out...
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| 23 May '05 |
On Episode III normal_blog |
todd |
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So, I saw Episode III
tonight with Sharon. Whoever is saying it's the best of the
"prequels" is right in the sense that it probably belonged best with
the original 3 movies. The fight scenes were pretty. The storyline's presentation still sucked thanks to Hayden Christensen's in-ability to act and George Lucas' basic misunderstanding of romatic emotion. My problem with this whole series is, if someone were to watch episode 1 - 6 in sequence, there would be no suprise ("Luke, I am your father..." really holds no meaning if you already know it's true.) The fall of Anakin Skywalker is the basis for this movie and you can see many of the "foreshadowing" to the later episodes. Although, I really believe the fan fiction around the events before A New Hope really added a lot to the Star Wars mystique and now it's basically gone thanks to George Lucas and his special effects wizards. Everything is pretty much spelled out for you now. Everything is wrapped up nice and neatly. The other problem I have is the CG for the stormtroopers looked SO horrible. It looked like something from a video game. For all three movies, my favorite part is seeing the "good guys" in theRepublic slowly turn into the "bad guys" of the Empire. It's the most fascinating (andhorrifying) of the transformations in the movies. The pacing was good. The most suprising part was how graphically they showed Anakin's personality change. It would have been so much better if the role was paired with a real actor who could express grief, sorrow, concern... anything... Overall: 6.5 (7.5 if compared to the previous two movie only) Weak points: acting, over-acting, crappy CG, gratuitous use of Wookies. Strong Points: The portrayal of Anakin's corruption
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