Toddlers

One day, Little G didn't take his nap. He's much more stubborn compared to his older brother, M. Usually when I get home, their play area's a mess, so before dinner, I ask them to clean up to get ready for dinner. M said this to his little brother, "It's OK G, I'll clean up for you. You're tired because you didn't take your nap today."

Some people think Little G is "daddy's boy," while M isn't. When the little one was 1st born, I held him and fed him milk into the wee hours of the night until he'd finally fall asleep. This was in the 1st few months when you're totally sleep deprived. I think in doing this, G got pretty attached to me. Of course, M being older always wanted Mommy. Anyways, I love one just as much as the other even though it may seem I'm more affectionate with the younger one. Last night, M wanted me to carry him to his bed and stay with him until he fell asleep. That was like the best part of my day. I told my wife, "See! I don't favor the little one! It's just that M is more grown-up and independant."

Finally... we're expecting a new toddler to be in our family!! "Our family" being my sister and her husband are expecting their first child! Our gut feeling is that it will be a girl.

"Your Baby Never Looked Good In Blue"

Update: Well, just one week later, and HD-DVD has surrendered.


That is unless that baby is Blu-Ray high def disc.

Big sigh of relief here. Blu-Ray is going to win the high def disc war over HD-DVD. Netflix is not going to offer HD-DVD anymore at the end of the year. And BestBuy is going to push Blu-Ray exclusively now, though there may be still some HD-DVD stuff in the back somewhere. All this after Warners pledged to go Blu-Ray only, and halt HD-DVD releases in May 2008- all major movie studios save for Universal and Paramount are Blu-Ray only.

"What? There was a high def disc war?" Yeah. Most people don't even know there was a war on.

Anyways, I got a PlayStation 3 (60Gb) sometime last year b/c I traded in my original PS2 and a bunch of accessories at GameStop. And paid for the PS3 using a new Sony credit card which gave $150 cash back after the 1st purchase. So $599 Ps3 - $100 PS2 trade-ins - $150 Sony credit card offer = $350+tax!

I haven't had time to play games since getting married almost 7 years ago now. (Wow. Time flies.) So I got it primarily for the Blu-Ray capability, but at the time, the hd disc war victor was still undetermined. I did pick-up LEGO Stars Wars for PS3 a while back, but of course, haven't had time to play at all.

We're in S.F. at my parents on the weekends, so I've left the PS3 there for my dad to enjoy w/ his 55" Sony LCD projection set. And I watch a few scenes on Blu-Ray while folding laundry or reading the newspaper. Pretty pictures, baby.

When DVD first came out, my dad being an amateur audio/videophile got the top of the line $1200 Sony DVD player at the time. Still has it. Of course, that thing doesn't do all the things that a <$100 DVD player can do today like upconvert to 1080i, progressive can, HDMI out etc. It can't even play some CD-ROMs and DVD+/-R discs. Can't play MP3. My cousin, who worked at Sony at the time, helped us get it at the employee store, so my dad ended up paying just under $700 I think.

Now, my dad had the gaul to ask me what's the Ps3 good for since it costs $600. I was like, "Dad, dollar for dollar the Ps3 is a waaaaaay better buy today than that 1st Gen $700 Sony DVD player was back then." Plus I got it for just $350! Anyways, he's sold on the PS3 now.

My dad likes the PS3 b/c:
1. It streams his digital pictures and mpg movies from his WinXP across the home network.
2. It has memory card reader so he can just plug in his SD cards and view pictures.
3. It is also an upconverting DVD player now, after one of those software updates.
4. It's a Blu-Ray player.

Ironically, I thought the Blu-Ray part would be what he'd like the most. But funny thing is that's what he likes it for the least!!

It's also pretty easy to find Blu-Ray discs for pretty good discounts now...
Feel free to borrow:
Superman Returns
Mission Impossible 3
House of Flying Daggers (amazing colors)
Curse of the Golden Flower
Kung Fu Hustle
Ratatouille
Cars
Spider-Man 1, 2, 3
Casino Royale
LOST Season 3

Note that LOST is broadcast in 720p on ABC TV, but the Blu-Ray is full 1080p. It looks amazing compared to the already beautiful HD broadcast. Can't wait for them to release Seasons 1 and 2 on Blu-Ray too.

"Your Baby Never Looked Good In Blue" is a reference to an old Expose' song.

Lenovo ThinkPad T61 15" Widescreen

I finally got around to replacing the good 'ol T42, which is still in perfect condition, with a brand new Lenovo (bye Big Blue, hello Big Red) T61. IBM logo is gone. The T42 was 6 months out of a 3 year warranty and if anything happened to it that'd be it- IT won't support it.

So I've had the T61 for almost 2 months now...

The first impression is that it's thick and heavy. Carrying the bare laptop around (no case), it just feels bulky. The T42 size to weight ratio was so awesome, but I wanted more screen real estate so went w/ a 15" Widescreen which is the same height as the T42 LCD, but is wider. The screen is brilliant- like the T42's when it was brand new. The T42 screen is dim by comparison now.

Also, b/c of the size+weight, I realized that on family vacations the T42 will be the one tagging along since it's smaller+lighter. Usually this is just to Web surf a little bit and to offload pictures from camera memory cards each night. Then again, our Nikon D40 uses SD, which is so cheap now. Buying an 8Gb SD card would be worth not having to lug a laptop along. And for the Web, G has the iPhone. So, maybe the T42 will be keeping the T61 company now when we're away.

Design Issue #1:
Upon opening the lid, the bottom of the machine tipped up- the hinge is too tight! Need a lower static coefficient of friction there. My manager had the same problem on his new T61 14" LCD std. aspect ratio.

Design Issue #2:
Open lid. Screen turns on. Scan fingerprint to login. Screen turns off. WHAT? Hmm.
Close lid. Open lid. Screen turns on. OK now ready to work. Whew.
The fingerprint reader could be a little snappier.

I thought it was funny that you have to save at least two different fingerprint scans. You know, in case the Triads cut off one of them.

Battery life is amazing. The T42 was not Centrino, so the battery life was not so good. The T61 is Centrino Pro. So even w/ a 15" LCD cranked all the way up, Bluetooth and WiFi on, and NVIDIA graphics (not Intel bulit-in) and using only a 6 cell battery (doesn't protrude out the back like the 9 cell) plus the extra Adv. Ultra Bay battery, this baby lasts a loooong time.

Gripe: The docking connector on the T60/T61 is different from the T42. So my old docking station won't work. I think this is just a big ploy by Big Red to make Big Green by making us buy new docking stations, which aren't cheap btw.

Gripe: The power connector has changed too. Mo' Big Green.

The T61 shipped w/ Vista, but my Co. is still on XP. So IT had to wipe the drive and image XP. I wonder if that's why there are some software glitches.

Aside from the minor gripes, I'm thankful to have a brand new company issued laptop to use. Now G can use the T42 at home.