At first, I was thinking to just scrap the ol’ blog, but then I figured that I might give it one last try. But instead of duplicating what’s already happening on the social networking sites, I am simplifying philomyth.us back down to the basics of blogging. I still haven’t decided what I’ll be posting, but I am leaning towards more long-form open-to-the-public articles that need a home.

Design-wise, I went with Yoko, an HTML5 theme which is more adaptable to different screen presentations (monitor, mobile or tablet). I got rid of most of the extra social widgets. But I included some social links in case people wanted to use them.

Over this period of time, WordPress has also been updated to version 3.3 with greater usability on the front and back-end.

Here’s hoping that this cleaned up direction will lead to some more actual blogging in the year to come.

The past few years, I have been using a combination of flickr (photo hosting), vimeo (video hosting) and WordPress (self-hosted blog) to share our family’s pictures and videos. I had a pretty good workflow going for a time there. But after waiting forever for flickr to allow more customization, I decided to consolidate everything to SmugMug. You can see the work in progress here at er-fans.smugmug.com.

I had been looking at SmugMug over the past couple years, but always felt that it was too “professional” for what I needed. But after looking at it again and with some ‘arm-twisting’ by Alex, I realized that SmugMug could host both our family photos and videos (with HD) all together on one site. And with a little bit of customization, I could get it to replace most of the functions of our family WordPress blog.

There were some tools that I was able to use to help migrate most of our pictures from flickr, but unfortunately, it didn’t handle transferring video very well. So I am still in the process of uploading all of our videos. And also, since SmugMug is not a blogging platform, I have had to transfer all the post content over to SmugMug manually.

For the photo and video side, everything works really well, considering that’s what SmugMug was designed to do. There are some things that I wish it did better, like how links are shared, but the great thing about SmugMug is that the developers are much more responsive to fixing or improving the website, with an active discussion and support forum.

The main downside of choosing SmugMug to host everything is that since it is not a blogging platform, the customization is not as easy to do and also the publishing tools are pretty limited. But there are some workarounds.

Let me know if you see anything that’s not working right on the smugmug site. I am still not completely sold on not using WordPress on the side, so I for now, I’m holding off on moving our family domain, ER-Fans.net.

Nowadays, I do most if not all of my reading electronically or online. And sometimes this makes it difficult when I want to go back and reference something I have read previously, whether it is an article, website or book.

The simple method of using a browsers built-in bookmarking doesn’t provide enough context and accessibility. And so I’ve been using web-based bookmarking resources for a couple of years now. But I have run into some limitations that has caused me to update the tools I use and how I use them.

For normal bookmarking, I am still using Delicious which gives me the tagging and cloud-based access tools. But since Google Buzz has come out, I have started using that for more miscellaneous bookmarks that I just want to record having visited but not necessarily to keep for future reference.

I have been using Google Reader pretty extensively in keeping up with different news and information sources. And while starring works to mark articles for future action as I am scanning feeds, I have found that I needed a more mid-term “bucket” for those articles that take more time to catch-up on. This is where Read it Later has come in handy. With the Firefox add-on, I can mark articles for later reading directly in Google Reader, and read them offline or even on my Android phone via Paperdroid.

For more serious web research, I continue to use Diigo for online highlighting and archiving, including snapshots which comes in handy as websites change their access policies to older articles. (update: unfortunately, Diigo has started charging for the snapshot function)

Posted from Irvine, California, United States.

For all the time that I was with Microsoft’s mobile platform, although it was not really an open platform, a fringe developer community (centered around xda-developers) filled the gap to make modifications and “improve” the user experience. However, as Google has pushed Android to be a viable mobile operating system and a more open development platform, it was time to make the jump.

In a nod to HTC smartphone success, I was originally trying to maintain my loyalty, but they were taking too long to come out with a high-end Android device on ATT. So after seeing the Samsung Captivate in action, and hearing Samsung’s announcement that they would be limiting their Super AMOLED screen to their own devices (i.e. no AMOLED for HTC), I made my choice.

The Samsung Captivate is a part of Samsung’s Galaxy S family which is a big push using the Android operating system into mobile communication and multimedia devices across multiple carriers. In addition to the awesome 4-inch screen, the Captivate with Android has some other cool features that I like:

• native Gmail, Contacts, Calendar support (push, stars, labels), including Google Apps accounts.
• strong apps and widget development and support via Android Market.
• open user development environment (xda-developers, still my favorite)
• Gorilla Glass for screen protection
• nice hardware touches: sliding USB port door, clever and secure access to battery and rear slots

However, there’s no such thing as perfection. So here are some gripes and dislikes, some are Android-related which have workarounds and eventual solutions while others are hardware-specific limitations:

• fail to filter My Contacts (stupid Samsung customization) [xda-dev]
• no default select of Google Calendars for new events [xda-dev]
• no native Google Docs support (come on, Google)
• no camera flash (limited indoor and night shooting)
• no front-facing camera (do I really need video calls)
• camera rotation tagging (annoying landscape/portrait fail)
• slow GPS lock (supposed fix coming)
• [update 9/14/2010] no way to designate default gmail account on sharing intent

After using the Captivate for almost a  month, I’ve pretty much settled on my current installed apps which are listed on AppBrain. Here is a highlight of those that I use more regularly:

• FBReader: ebook reader
• Google Maps: full featured maps, navigation and places
• Cubed (3): music player
• mVideoPlayer: video player, duh
• Astrid Task List: syncs with Remember the Milk
• Google Listen: podcast player (streamed and offline)
• LauncherPro: customizable homescreen
• JustPictures!: photo viewer (local and flickr)
• Profile: sound and settings by profile
• Google Voice: full integration and control
• AppBrain: application manager integrated with Market
• Yelp: restaurant reviews
• Root Explorer: file manager with root access

For some of the apps that are more web-based, it will be interesting how they come up with offline support when you are off the grid. Another wishlist app is something that can do automatic background cloud-storage syncing, whether for photos, docs or any other files.

A note on tablets. When Apple first came out with the iPad, I bought into the idea that tablets were going to be a new viable form factor. At the time, I was thinking that Android would be a great platform, and there are quite a few Android tablets launching in the coming months, including one from Samsung. But after using Android on the phone, it seems that any tablet based on Android would still feel like a big phone. This is not a dig on Android, but more like a recognition of how well Android works in the smartphone form factor. And just as the iPad is limited by iOS, I think the right platform for tablets would be a full-fledged operating system like Google’s Chrome OS. Regardless, it’ll be cool to see how this plays out in the coming year.

I started out reading on my Windows Mobile device and continue to do so because the one thing I have with me all the time is my phone. The e-reader software that I used back then was Peanut Press, which was later bought buy Palm, and then bought again by Barnes & Noble.

Lately, I have been testing a free program called Freda, which uses the increasingly more common and popular ePUB format [wikipedia]. With all the e-reader and tablet talk these days, there are a lot more options for accessing ebooks and ebook libraries as well as new hardware form factors.

For now, I’ve settled on managing my ebooks locally (rather than in a proprietary marketplace). I have found a couple tools that help make this easier. The first is a desktop e-reader application called Stanza which can also do some basic format conversion. They have since been bought by Amazon (you see the M&A theme going on in this marketspace) and development seems to have stalled since the Big A have their own Kindle platform to promote.

The other application that I have been making good use out of is Calibre which is a library management application. The real power of Calibre is its ability to convert ebook formats intelligently with pretty good results. It is also able to sync and manage all your ebooks, but I haven’t really gotten into those functions yet.

Lately, the INOi MH720 that we use in our living room to watch movies has been showing its age, having trouble with new audio/video codecs and subtitle formats. I had been considering getting a new media player, but after looking into, figured it might be a better deal to get a nettop to use as a media center and as an additional family computer.

I finally settled on the AspireRevo 3610 and got lucky picking up the last one from our local Fry’s. It came equipped with 2GB RAM (enough for basic needs), 160GB hard drive (no big deal since using externals for storage) and an NVIDIA ION chip for graphics (hardware acceleration for HD video), along with an HDMI port out for both audio and video (easy HD connectivity to home theater).

The nettop came installed with Windows 7, which has and once again turned out to be a good upgrade. At first the network folder sharing was throwing me off because I was used to the previous Windows method. But after I got the hang of using HomeGroup [how-to geek], everything came together nicely. No more long USB cable running along the floor to transfer shows

For the media player application, Boxee came out with their latest beta, which does a nifty job of integrating local and web content to make a more complete browsing and watching experience. Basically, Boxee scans local folders and then displays the multimedia files with additional descriptions from the web, along with web-based episodes. It can even grab subtitles directly from opensubtitles for both movies and TV shows. Also, to keep from drowning in kids’ cartoons, I created a separate Boxee account to manage their content.

As for the remote control, the nettop came with a wireless mouse and keyboard, but that’s not very user-friendly for regular media use. I wanted to stick with our trusty universal remote URC-200 which has worked fine all these years, even with the different component upgrades. Unfortunately, the nettop didn’t come with an IR port. So I got a cheap media center remote with an IR receiver included. I used the media center remote to program my universal remote with the basic functions. Then, I found a program called Intelliremote which allowed me to control multiple applications with customized functions for each.

On a side note, I got to try out AmazonBasics when I ordered an HDMI cable. It was a good deal, came quick with Prime, and nice not having to wrangle with clamshell plastic packaging.

Of course, not everything is perfect particularly when on the “bleeding edge”, so here is my list of issues with the current setup:

• Boxee’s latest version does not have the ability to manually add, correct or update media files and descriptions.
• There’s some occasional strange resolution behavior when turning on the HDTV with Boxee already running in background.
• Annoying ads on web episodes, but nothing to be done about that.
• Flickr App on Boxee has been running slow, hopefully just a beta glitch.
• BBC App limited by geo-location (what’s with cold-war era borders).
• Easier customization of Boxee Homepage.
• Latest Boxee beta broke support for embedded subtitles (i.e. anime not working)
• Stronger parental controls on Boxee to limit content access.
• The current remote setup has limited mouse and text input ability.
• Windows 7 Homegroup folder sharing not backwards compatible with previous Windows versions.

In the earlier part of December, I went on another business trip to Asia. This time together with my dad. It was a meeting-packed couple of weeks, with a few Christmas parties, and even one wedding banquet. Suffice it to say, there was plenty of eating going around. As usual, most of the pictures that I grabbed with my phone were of tasty food items.

Keeping with my latest travel posts, here are some things I learned this time around:

• If your suite doesn’t have a wall/door partition, it doesn’t really make a difference (knew this already, just a reality reminder).
• Extra large binder clips work great to close curtains tight to avoid annoying light distractions (particularly when overcoming jetlag).
• Charismatic Methodist churches do exist, and yes, they do speak in tongues.
• When a morning meeting is scheduled, confirm if food is involved, otherwise, you WILL end up being a hobbit and eating two breakfasts.
• When shopping for clothes in Asia, try EVERYTHING on. You may be of Asian descent, but it doesn’t mean anything will fit like it is supposed to.
• Earthquakes in Taiwan are common. What’s annoying is when they disrupt the HSR schedule and you are stuck in another city away from your hotel room and luggage.
• I involuntarily (see previous point) confirmed that I still get violently dizzy when riding on Taiwan’s bus commuters. Next time, can we just get a room for the night.
• I may be wimpy, but Yong Kang’s beef noodles are too greasy and spicy for my taste.

In response to recent accusations that I do not like any romantic movies, here is a list of ones I do like and the “reasons” why (in no particular order):

• Heat
  Both Al Pacino AND Robert DeNiro with love interests!
• Shrek
  He may be an ogre, but he still has feelings.
• Bicentennial Man
  So what if he’s a robot, he has feelings too.
• WALL-E
  He’s a robot too, is there a theme coming through here?
• The Princess Bride
  Fred Savage was right, they could have skipped some of the  “mushy, kissing parts”.
• Sabrina
  Who doesn’t like Audrey Hepburn.
• Atonement
  This may be the only true romance in the list, but I think it’s a good one.
• Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
  Kings and warriors have love interests too.
• The Story of Us
  Must have been the soundtrack by Eric Clapton.
• So I Married an Axe Murderer
  Sure, it’s a comedy, but how many serious movies do you see Mike Meyers in.

After complaining for over a year about IX Web Hosting, I finally got off my butt and did something about it. Over the course of a couple of months, I have consolidated most of my domains over to GoDaddy and have transferred all my blogs over to DreamHost. I am hoping that this serves as a more reliable and stable setup than IX, which had constant security and stability problems.

Of course, all these changes are in the background, so if it worked (unlike last time), you guys shouldn’t notice anything except hopefully faster load times and perhaps less downtime.

Here’s a list of reminder notes for the next time:

• One-click Installs are cool, except when they forget to tell you that they use customized database prefixes which don’t match previously backed-up database pointers.
• Mirrored domain pointers and temporary database hostnames are helpful in transition but have to remember to clean them up and not leave any broken “links” once you go live.
• Webshell on IX turned out to be a blessing, saved time on backing up the complete blog directories.
• Apps used: Filezilla for FTP and PSPad for code editing.

I have had my Thinkpad T61 for over 2 years, and for the first year Windows Vista worked just fine. But in the last few months, I have been having annoying performance freezes. At first, I thought it was the battery going bad, then I tried changing the hard drive (thanks, Chik) which worked great for a while but then it started to hang again.

With all the hype about Windows 7, I was looking forward to making the switch. After running for a week now, everything is working great, even with the “unclean” install (more on that below). Almost all my applications installed without any problems, there were only a few that had to be run in “Compatibility” mode.

Here are some some lessons learned:

• “Clean Install” in Windows 7 does not include formatting the old partition [technet]. This was a bit of a shock when I found my original TEMP directory intact and after rooting around a bit found a folder called WINDOWS.OLD that kept the data from the previous install. Next time, choose “Custom Installation” and re-create the drive partition [engadget].
• Using Google Docs as an online notepad works great when re-installing systems. I could pull-up my documentation from any system without having to look for the actual file on disk. Gotta love the cloud.
• With more apps and files based off the web, there is less junk to install and backup/restore on a new system.
• Sometimes, Microsoft can still make good software .

And a list of leftovers:

• Videolan has a known driver bug in Windows 7 which causes pixelation (not limited to 64 bit installs). [Update 11/13/2009: VideoLan came out with fix in 1.0.3]
• Not sure if this is because of my “unclean install”, but folders and drives that I have renamed will revert after a restart. [Update 11/13/2009: I suspect this was SongBird over-aggressively managing external drive names and folders]
• Some programs with the option to launch at startup have to be manually added to the STARTUP folder.
• Old screensavers don’t seem to work properly.