My random banter....

Good Perl Links

2011-04-28T08:55:00.000-07:00

http://perldoc.perl.org/
http://www.perlmonks.org/?node=Tutorials

Awesome how to to remove purple fringing from photos!

2011-04-26T10:27:00.001-07:00

http://www.great-landscape-photography.com/remove-purple-fringing.html

19 Simple, Do-It-Yourself Snacks

2011-02-24T14:33:00.000-08:00

This looks awesome!!:

Making your own snacks to have at home or take with you is usually far more nutritious -- and economical -- than relying on packaged foods.

Here are some snack suggestions:

- Guacamole (look for the 100-calorie packs in the refrigerator section) or small can of bean dip and baked snack chips or toasted whole wheat pita bread, broken into chips

- Low-fat microwave popcorn tossed with Parmesan cheese

- Trail mix ingredients: 1/4 cup each: whole-grain cereal, raisins or dried cranberries, and 2 tablespoons each: sunflower seeds or chopped nuts

- Low-fat ice cream topped with fresh fruit

- Snack size (8 ounce) box of low-fat plain or chocolate milk and whole wheat pretzels

- Whole-grain crackers, string cheese, and mango slices

- Cooked or raw vegetables with low-fat ranch dressing, and a hard-boiled egg

- Instant oatmeal made with milk in the microwave with 1 teaspoon cocoa powder stirred in and topped with sliced raspberries or strawberries

- Whole-wheat pretzels with peanut butter, almond butter, or sunflower seed butter

- Cherry chocolate smoothie: Combine 1 cup low-fat milk, 1/2 cup vanilla low-fat yogurt, 1/2 cup frozen or fresh pitted cherries, and 2 tablespoons dark chocolate chips in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth.

- Bowl of whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk

- Edamame

- Small container of Greek yogurt

- Mini bagel spread with low-fat cream cheese and strawberry jam, and low-fat milk

- Hummus and whole wheat pita chips

- Half a sandwich and glass of orange juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D

- Slice of pizza

- Hard-boiled egg and whole-grain roll

- Pistachios in the shell and glass of chocolate milk

Sourced from: WebMD:
https://www.webmdhealth.com/nl/nlv.aspx?id=gbf7sLIjlyw=&s=30141

OMG! Thank you whomever wrote this article! How to disable the stupid-@#%* Automatic Update restart notification on windows XP mahines

2011-02-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Srsly. from the bottom of my heart. Thank you!

http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/disable-restart-now/

(If you work in engineering and support and are on the systems all day, its quite annoying to work on a webex session an have a stupid @#$*^@ popup about the updates come up every 10 minutes.) How about turning them off completely? Yes! It works and it is A W E S O M E!!

Pre- and Post-Workout Meals in 15 Minutes | Active.com

2011-01-25T14:58:00.000-08:00

Pre- and Post-Workout Meals in 15 Minutes | Active.com

30 Mile base-mile ride :)

2011-01-16T23:31:00.000-08:00

30 miles, ~ 2 hours, burning 2200 kcals and a wonderful day to enjoy the weather :)

Untitled by anthony.rojas@gmail.com at Garmin Connect - Details

3 Keys to Your Offseason Diet | Page 2 | Active.com

2011-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

3 Keys to Your Offseason Diet | Page 2 | Active.com

nything Goes Granola
Makes: About 9 cups
Time: 30 minutes

5 cups rolled oats or other rolled grains (not quick-cooking or instant)
3 cups mixed nuts and seeds such as sunflower or sesame seeds, walnuts, pecans, almonds or cashews
1 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, or other spices to taste
1/2 to 1 cup honey or maple syrup, or to taste
Salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
1 to 1 1/2 cups raisins or chopped dried fruit
1. Heat the oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts and seeds, coconut, cinnamon, sweetener and vanilla if using; sprinkle with a little salt. Toss well to thoroughly distribute ingredients. Spread the mixture on a rimmed baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or a little longer, stirring occasionally. The granola should brown evenly; the darker it gets without burning, the crunchier it will be.

2. Remove pan from oven and add raisins. Cool on a rack, stirring now and then until the granola reaches room temperature. Put in a sealed container and store in refrigerator; it will keep indefinitely.

Not Your Usual Ratatouille
Makes: 4 to 6 servings
Time: 30 minutes

1 medium or 2 small eggplants (about 8 ounces)
Salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into florets
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped
2 medium tomatoes, cored and chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 cup chopped basil leaves, for garnish
Good vinegar or freshly squeezed lemon juice, optional
1. Trim the eggplant and cut it into large cubes. If the eggplant is big, soft or especially seedy, sprinkle the cubes with salt, put them in a colander, and let them sit for at least 30 minutes, preferably 60. (This will help improve their flavor, but isn't necessary if you don't have time.) Then rinse, drain, and pat dry.

2. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

3. Put the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in the pan and add the cauliflower. Cook, stirring occasionally until it loses its crunch, about 4 minutes. Add the onion, garlic, and red pepper and cook and stir for another minute or two, until soft. Add the tomato and thyme and cook for another minute until the tomato just starts to release its juice. Return the eggplant to the pan, along with basil leaves. Give a good stir, taste and adjust the seasoning, and serve hot or at room temperature, with vinegar or lemon. The ratatouille will keep for a couple of days, covered and refrigerated.

The road back to a lower BMI always includes peaks and valleys...

2010-12-28T08:02:00.000-08:00

This is week two of being on the road to being healthier-- Good news and not-so-good news-- Good: The weighing/BMI scale is awesome, and I was able to squeeze in two 1-hr sessions last week for cycling on the trainer. Not-so-good: There's enough Holiday leftovers to feed the People's Republic of China :-/ We may need to rethink the food stockpile strategy for being World-War III ready.

Hello BMI Peak. Let's start the descent to a lower value, any time now ;)

Tomorrow begins the start of a healthier diet and exercise reigmen. Ugh.

2010-12-15T20:14:00.001-08:00

It's been awhile since I was able to consistently exercise and eat right-- Vacation, Overloaded work schedules, and have knocked me off course from my path to healthy living. The result? A weight of ~230 and BMI of 33. Ouch. Reality Hurts. And it is also motivating. Enough to start the same thing I did the beginning of 2010, just a couple weeks earlier :)

This year was the year of Travel and food: Philippines, Europe, China, Hong Kong, Macau. Next year will be the year of savings and internal refinement starting right now. Let's do this how I know best, Geek-style.

A weight management scale that can track daily weight readings and BMI is on its way to the house. I'm already armed with the gadgets needed to view my progress on an excel spreadsheet or through pie charts and bar graphs. Channel that with the motivation to do the unthinkable-- Get back healthy again. I did it once and I can do it again :)

How to Eat Healthy - wikiHow

2010-12-08T10:55:00.000-08:00

How to Eat Healthy - wikiHow

Ask the Experts: Mental Training | Active.com

2010-12-08T08:50:00.001-08:00

Ask the Experts: Mental Training | Active.com

6 Tips to Tackle Any Terrain | Active.com

2010-12-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

6 Tips to Tackle Any Terrain | Active.com

Build A Stronger Knee: Injury prevention tips from Runner's Worl

2010-12-08T08:49:00.000-08:00

Build A Stronger Knee: Injury prevention tips from Runner's Worl

How to flash .img file on Mac OSX

2010-10-24T13:23:00.001-07:00

Command Line Interface
==============
1. Download the desired .img file
2. Open a Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities/)
3. Run diskutil list to get the current list of devices
4. Insert your flash media
5. Run diskutil list again and determine the device node assigned to your flash media (e.g. /dev/disk2)
6. Run diskutil unmountDisk /dev/diskN (replace N with the disk number from the last command; in the previous example, N would be 2)
7. Execute sudo dd if=/path/to/downloaded.img of=/dev/rdiskN bs=1m (replace /path/to/downloaded.img with the path where the image file is located; for example, ./ubuntu.img, /dev/rdiskN is faster than /dev/diskN). If you see the error dd: Invalid number `1m', you are using GNU dd. Use the same command but replace bs=1m with bs=1M.
8. Run diskutil eject /dev/diskN and remove your flash media when the command completes
9. External USB disc drives

Installing a public key on a linux box

2010-10-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

1) Prep the linux system for remote access:

mkdir $HOME/.ssh
chmod -R og= $HOME/.ssh

Note: file must be mode -rw-------

2) Run puttygen.exe on the client to generate a public/private key-pair.

3) Save the private key locally on the client
4) Copy the key directly from the output window of puttygen
5) Paste into the file $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys as a single line.
6) Under putty, locate the SSH -> Auth -> ensure to select the proper private key file for authentication

How to get Juniper Networks' VPN client (Network Connect) to work in Snow leopard

2010-09-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

After a couple weeks' worth of searching, finally found out the commands to setup Network connect to work with my Mac at home, instead of lugging around all the stuff from work:

- install the Network Connect client.
- run it once. It *will* barf. Just clean up with a paper towel
- Drop into bash, and run the following:

bash-3.2# chmod 755 /usr/local/juniper/nc/6.*/
bash-3.2# mkdir /Applications/Network\ Connect.app/Contents/Frameworks
bash-3.2#

And that's IT!

Some useful Linux bash tricks – Simple Help

2010-09-22T08:40:00.001-07:00

Some useful Linux bash tricks – Simple Help

Europe Log day 1 of many :)

2010-06-19T13:05:00.000-07:00

Places we went to:

In Switzerland:
Baden - walking around the city and window shopping
Schenznach - Schenznach Bad Hot Springs
Ehrendingen - Light Hike

Tomorrow:
Off to Southern Switzerland and Italy

Links to Synergy Network-KVM software and their how-tos

2010-06-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

For those who have multiple systems and only want to use a single keyboard and mouse:
Synergy links:

http://tinyurl.com/38ux79v
http://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynergyHowto
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/ho

This stuff is as bad-ass as wheat toast with butter *and* jam :)

Carnaval SF 2010 Pictures posted on Flickr!

2010-05-30T22:52:00.000-07:00

Hi folks! Feel free to checkout this link for photos taken today during the Carnaval Parade in San Francisco!

Link to Slideshow here

Enjoy!

Cmds to fix Sony Reader Software on Mac OSX

2010-05-23T16:20:00.000-07:00

Sourced from here: http://superuser.com/questions/58305/sony-ebook-library-for-mac-no-longer-displays-its-window

rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/Sony\ Corporation/Reader/
rm ~/Library/Preferences/fsk/1/com.kinoma.fskin.ktStart-kBook.xml

Late-night weekday banter....

2010-05-20T23:15:00.000-07:00

Good evening folks,

Looks like I'm still waiting for the remaining laundry so I can finish packing for tomorrow morning's trip, and a good time to update the blog.

Health and Exercise Updates:
Since spring is here and summer is fast approaching, charity and weekend exercise events are here! Since the last post of the tour de cure, I was able to complete the I Care Classic 65-mi ride through the hills of Morgan hill, the Bay-to-Breakers in San Francisco, and of course the walk down the street to the local safeway to get groceries. On the positive side, I'm now able to last up to ~ 13 miles jogging at a mild pace, cycling up to 80 miles, which are both personal bests. When the mindset back in 2007 was to quit smoking and get into shape, I didn't think I could achieve this. Wow. It's a great feeling and quite inspiring :)

As far as my health, I've been doing quite well. I eat breakfast on a daily weekday basis, that includes fresh fruit, cottage cheese, oatmeal, and an occasional hard boiled egg-- Lunch has also been kept to a mostly veggie-type of meal, with the occasional burger and outing here and there :)

Technical mumbo-jumbo:
I hate Acer with a passion. I picked up an Acer Aspire NAS awhile back, and didn't find out until after purchase that it did not support true raid-5-- it has a WHS version of "load balancing" which includes a proprietary method of balancing data distribution on the drives in a method called "folder duplication". Ummm yeah sure, that sounds reassuring. Just one question-- How in the heck would I be able to find files if one of the drives blew? Can we say, needle in a haystack? Anyway, so I was migrating data off the NAS when WHS decided to reboot because of an important windows update that needed to restart the system. I mean cmon.... right when I'm performing file copies?? two thumbs down for Windows Home Server (WHS). This sucker is going on craigslist as soon as I'm done.

Work / LIfe:
Vacations rock. Plain and simple. In the time I was working at my company almost 3 years ago, I have not taken vacation longer than 2-3 days. I also realized that I was throwing away days each year after not using them as we max out at a certain limit-- This year, for my health, sanity, and recreation, I have actually scheduled and taken vacation. I always told myself that one day I would love to travel, and this year I'm doing so -- North Carolina, Philippines, Switzerland, and hopefully Australia / New Zealand. Pictures speak a thousand words, and that is what I look to do when on vacation-- Enjoy the sights and sounds of foreign places and capture them in a photo :)

Also, when was the last time you were able to wake up early, watch the sunrise while jogging on a white-sand beach? :)

Tomorrow I'm off to vegas-- Talk to you later!

Tour de Cure 80-mile ride tomorrow! Woo hoo :)

2010-05-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

Here we go! The ride for 80-miles tomorrow in beautiful Napa Valley!

2010 Napa Tour de Cure 80mi/120km route
Find more Bike Rides in Napa, California

Worldly Wanda Tour de Fremont, 60+ mile ride completed! Details here!

2010-03-28T22:54:00.000-07:00

For my second year in support of a good cause, I signed up for the Worldly Wanda Tour de Fremont. Both supporting a non-profit group based locally in Fremont that helps promote gender equality, and allowing to ride a challenging path, Saturday was quite an event :) Sometimes it can be tough for some folks to be able to wake up early on a Saturday morning, cycle to Lake Elizabeth and being a beautiful journey Touring the Tri-City area and San Jose, however this brave soul did ;)

I met a lot of friendly folks along this journey, each one of us sharing a common goal-- To finish in one piece. All shapes, sizes and genders were participating in this event, and they even had events for the less crazy-- i.e. 4 mile, 10, 20, and 40 for those who are building up their endurance. One thing to note was their path this year was modified from last, which included less populated roads = good thing (last year I felt myself competing with the 4-wheeled, all-metal bumper cars)

All in all, it was a great tour, a wonderful test of my endurance, and a breathtaking view of the Bay Area during springtime-- What more can one ask for? It was an opportunity for one to find peace within themself, with the surroundings near them, and with the energy all around us-- It felt mutually satiating :)

After all that hard work and climbing up hills (which is another topic I would like to write about sometime in the future), the treat of fresh made, piping hot chili with cheese and onions was awaiting at the finish line, back at the start line.

This is something so wonderful to be a part of, physically rewarding, and beneficial for the local charity-- a win-win situation. Count me in for next year's 60-mile and beyond!!

PS: Here's the link for all the Garmin details (including my health stats and GPS map of the trail) located here:

Garmin Connect -Activity Details for Untitled

more geeky info....

2010-03-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Specifics about the linux filesystem and filesystem refresher (IBM):

http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-linux-filesystem/

Information on what an inode is:

http://www.linfo.org/inode.html

How I feel at the moment:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/funny-pictures-cat-waits-for-meatloaf1.jpg

Post-Sierra thoughts

2010-03-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

We hit up Sierra-at-Tahoe this morning with a group of good friends. For the old-schoolers, Sierra-at-Tahoe used to be called Sierra Ski Ranch back in the day ;)

Sierra has a special place in my memory, as the first place I learned to hate skiing and snowboarding :P Especially since the "easiest" run was the almighty Sugar-and-Spice, which they should aptly rename it to "Leg torture and hatred for all beginners" or something of that effect-- Anyway, I'll save the Sierra war-stories for another time. Some memories of how terrified I was as a beginner at Sierra some 15+ years ago, and how the perspective has changed since then.

Today-- I was accompanied by some good friends who were practicing their 'leafing' (going down the mtn in a side to side motion keeping on one side of the board) as well as carving; They were able to keep up their own with going down the Blue squares :)

The weather was great, not too hot (like last time), not too cold, and the snow was just right-- Not too much powder, and no ice = happy campers. All-in-all, it wasn't a record-breaking number of times we took runs, however what we lacked in quantity we comped for quality-- These were a great group of folks to board with, especially when goofing off!

Maybe the next time I head up I'll try a black diamond once or twice, remember how it was like to once fear it, now have some capability of being able to conquer it one run at a time :)

Back into the swing of things tomorrow, start of a new week, and a Monday. Hopefully I can make it up the stairs at work :P

Good night folks -- Ant

Post-Kirkwood thoughts

2010-03-01T07:55:00.000-08:00

Good morning folks,

Just thought I'd share my experience from skiboarding yesterday at Kirkwood. If you're like me, skiing, snowboarding, skiboarding all take a toll on the legs. Most of the backside runs yesterday tied out my calves, hamstrings, and quads to the point past LT (lactate threshold) and basically had jelly legs.

In preparation of the remaining part of this season and into next year, I'm looking forward to build more leg endurance. Came across this site and thought I'd share:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/legpower.htm

It doesn't look easy; Then again nothing that is good for us ever is ;-)

For now, cardio, cycling, lunges, squats, and now one-legged pistols are chalked on the list of exercises to do.

We'll see how things progress...

Random thoughts....

2010-02-23T22:54:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I posted anything significant on my blog-- Well go figure; I'm probably not the most exciting person to read about . Well I'm just an average joe who what some would call a 'late bloomer'. Yeah it took me forever and a day to figure things out, however, I know which direction I'm heading now, and its definitely no longer on the path of self-destruction. For those who may have known me for some time, I have battled some issues that I have finally ironed out and come to peace with :) For those who don't know me so well, I 'm on my path to keeping a basic lifestyle of health and happiness, and that first comes from within :)

f you ever come across me, just say hello, and we can start from there ;)

Migrate a Time Machine backup

2010-02-05T15:15:00.001-08:00

Migrate a Time Machine backup

Move to a larger disk without losing your existing backups

http://www.macworld.com/article/146085/2010/02/migratebackups.html

Update regarding xming

2010-01-29T14:18:00.000-08:00

custom.conf file edit:

[root@kona gdm]# cat custom.conf
# GDM configuration storage

[xdmcp]
Enable=true
MaxPending=4
MaxPendingIndirect=4
# the default of MaxSessions seems to be 1 !?!
MaxSessions=16
MaxWait=15
MaxWaitIndirect=15
DisplaysPerHost=2

[chooser]

[security]

[debug]
[root@kona gdm]# pwd
/etc/gdm
[root@kona gdm]#

Foood!

2010-01-25T11:18:00.001-08:00

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/grilled_spicy_citrus_ribs/

2010-01-06T09:14:00.001-08:00

Greetings folks! Its been a busy end of 2009 and beginning of 2010!! Here's a quick update and rundown for what my 2010 plans are so far! I'm heading out on a Mini-Vacation to CES in Vegas!!

CES is short for the consumer electronics show, which is geeky by nature and is a closed-show event (although will probably be jam-packed with *hella* people)
I'm looking forward to having a great time with my co-workers and friends. There's some folks we'll be meeting down there and will also be looking forward to hearing from them. Have a great week everyone see you guys when Iget back!

Winter updates coming soon!

2009-12-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays, folks! Its been a busy holiday season, and apologize for the lack of activity on my blog-- However, all is not lost; The winter season is upon us and so is the snow season! Pics and trips to be planned to hit up the snow is in the works, so stay tuned!

Geno's Baptism Pics posted on Flickr!

2009-12-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyclingphotographer/sets/72157622958271566/

50-mile trek today: Iron Horse Trail, Dublin, CA

2009-11-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

Link to Iron Horse Trail

~ 25 miles each way, Lots of level ground, and no traffic :)

Here's my performance data:

Mac OS Startup Key combinations for Intel-Macs

2009-11-03T20:16:00.000-08:00

Keystroke	Description
Press C during startup	Start up from a bootable CD or DVD, such as the Mac OS X Install disc that came with the computer.
Press D during startup	Start up in Apple Hardware Test (AHT), if the Install DVD 1 is in the computer.
Press Option-Command-P-R until you hear two beeps.	Reset NVRAM
Press Option during startup	Starts into Startup Manager, where you can select a Mac OS X volume to start from. Note: Press N to make the the first bootable Network volume appear as well.
Press Eject, F12, or hold the mouse (/trackpad) button	Ejects any removable media, such as an optical disc.
Press N during startup	Attempt to start up from a compatible network server (NetBoot).
Press T during startup	Start up in FireWire Target Disk mode.
Press Shift during startup	Start up in Safe Boot mode and temporarily disable login items.
Press Command-V during startup	Start up in Verbose mode.
Press Command-S during startup	Start up in Single-User mode.
Press Option-N during startup	Start from a NetBoot server using the default boot image.

Freeware CD/DVD burning software for Windows

2009-10-26T14:02:00.000-07:00

http://cdburnerxp.se/

Exercise Day 2: Not too bad

2009-10-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

(My last goal to aim for from Exercise Day 1 was:)
- 25:00 Running consistent @ 6mph (without cramping)
- 40:00 Total (with 10-min warm up and 5 min cool down)
- 500 kcals
- 3.0 Miles

What I actually did:

- Woke up early on a *Monday* to make it to work early enough to run (wooo hooo!!!)
- 20:00 Running consistent @ 6mph (without cramping, Yess!!!!)
- 40:00 Total (including 10-min warm up and 10 min cool down)
- 467 kcals
- 2.9 Miles total

How I feel: Great!!

Vacuuum Parts for the old school bagless vacuum

2009-10-25T17:48:00.000-07:00

OMG I would never though I could find the specific part, but I did, and here are the websites. Useful if you need parts for your vacuum. Speaking of which, if you have one, when was the last time you changed the vacuum bag/filter?

http://www.totalvac.com/parts/eureka_upright_vacuum_filters.html

http://www.vacuums24x7.com/eubosuse4040.html

2009-10-23T22:06:00.000-07:00

"Thinking of you today,
and how you make
the world a nicer place
from all the special ways
you care about your family,
to the thoughtfulness
you show others…
And sending you this wish
filled with loving appreciation
for your warm heart, your kindness,
and all the other qualities
that make you so very special" --

Rest in peace Mama Josie, and I hope we will all be together again someday soon.

Definitely somewhere to try!

2009-10-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.ilovetortas.com/

1. Camaron (Shrimp) Asado Fries
Golden Fries, Plump Shrimp, with Nacho Cheese, fresh salsa, guacamole and our special Cilantro Lime sauce.
2. Torta Ala Diabla
Steak and Onions sauteed in a special fire hot Diabla sauce served with tomato, mayo and beans to cool you down!
3. California Burrito
French fries, Carne Asada, Avocado, fresh salsa, nacho cheese and our special green and red sauces

Open everyday from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm

La Torta Gorda
300 Willow Street
San Jose, CA 95128

Exercise Day 1: Beginner's "almost" 5k

2009-10-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Good morning folks,

I was able to get up early this morning to exercise before work. Usually I post this on facebook, however due to the amount of teasing and probably posting spam, I have decided to post all my exercise stuff on here. Usually I try to collect as much information as I can, as the geek that I am likes to make working out "fun"-- i.e. collecting stats and making graphs and visually seeing my progress from barcharts and what not-- (It's a lot more exciting than looking in the mirror and weighing scale :P)

Here's today's stats:

- N0-HR monitor (HR chest-strap needs a new CR2032 battery, hello $20 markup from Radio Shack)
- 36:10 (including 10-min warmup and 5 min cool down, with another 10 min-post stretch)
- 16:10 Running consistent @ 6mph (without cramping! Yaaaay!)
- 443 kcals burned (calculated at 223lbs exercise weight)
- 2.76 Miles covered.

Goal for tomorrow:

- 40:00 (including 10-min warmup and 5 min cooldown)
- 25:00 Running consistent @ 6mph (without cramping)
- 500 kcals
- 3.0 Miles

How wonderful family can be

2009-10-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today was the final vigil for my grandmother who passed away last week. Amidst the hurt, sadness, and grief from family and friends attending, I saw something that made me smile--it was my nephew asking my niece for a tissue because he needed to pick a booger. I found that to be a genuinely funny :). Got to love kids, and especially when their family :). Thanks Brandon and Katie for bringing a smile to my face :)

-- Posted from my iPhone

Ideas for using cottage cheese

2009-10-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Pepper:Sprinkle cottage cheese with a few dashes of fresh crack pepper.

"Tapioca" Pudding: If you like tapioca pudding, try this low-carb alternative. For each ½ cup serving, mix in ½ tsp vanilla flavoring and 1 packet artificial sweetener.

Summer Fruit: A few strawberries, blueberries, diced peaches, chopped banana, or pineapple chunks sprinkled on top go a long way with cottage cheese. Stick with the berries if you prefer low-glycemic fruits. If the fructose is a concern, try using dash of tropical or strawberry-banana flavored sugar-free drink mix as an alternative fruity flavoring.

Morning Preserves: Add 1 tbsp sugar-free or reduced sugar preserves per ½ cup cottage cheese.

Chocolate Mousse: Add a ½ scoop of chocolate flavored protein (or 1 tsp of cocoa + 2 packets artificial sweetener), 1 tbsp sugar-free chocolate instant pudding mix and whip in blender (you may need to add a little water or milk to thin it a little bit). Top with diced walnuts or almonds if desired and chill until set or ready to eat.

Some places to eat:

2009-10-12T19:43:00.001-07:00

Some places I came across while watching TV, etc.....

Tommy's Joynt

www.tommysjoynt.com

1101 Geary Blvd
San Francisco, CA 94109-6815
(415) 775-4216

My Birthday!

2009-10-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today is my 32nd birthday :) Per one of the few moments in my life, I feel like I understand. (When you grow up having a hard time being able to understand where one fits-in the world, it is difficult to know how to implement a path, when the destination is unknown) I now know that to understand where one is going, acknowledging where we have been and remembering what we were and help shape where we will be. Someone once mentioned that it is helpful to state things, even the obvious, so here I go:

Hi, my name is Anthony and I am 32 years old. I know that I am a nerd, an engineer, a curious person by nature, who likes to cycle. I appreciate all things in beauty, and look forward to living a minimalistic lifestyle, one without a lot of complications or *things*, whatever they may be. I am fortunate to have a wonderful direct family who are supportive of one another, along with great friends who would do just the same; I have a good career, and I get paid to do what I love-- technical support for a great product! I enjoy photography, travel, and cycling, which all help provide balance.

Balance which is key to being in good health and happiness, which are two wonderful gifts :)

-- Anthony

How to enable Time Machine Backups on a Windows Share

2009-10-08T22:00:00.001-07:00

Adapted from here

1. System Preferences -> Sharing -> Computer Name (*rename to something simple if necessary, like 'MacMini')

2. System Preferences -> Network -> Ethernet -> Advanced -> Ethernet ID (save without :)

3. Run command in terminal: hdiutil create -size 120g -fs HFS+J -volname "TM_{ComputerName}" "{ComputerName}_{EthernetID}.sparsebundle"

4. Copy the sparsebundle to the Windows share

5. Run command in terminal: defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1

6. System Preferences -> Time Machine

7. Click Choose Backup Disk and pick network share

8. Click Use for backup

9. System Preferences -> Spotlight -> Privacy -> + -> Select window share under devices

Getting back in the swing of things :)

2009-10-04T12:44:00.000-07:00

After my alarm went off this morning ~ 9:00am I had the intent of going to the gym.

Originally I set the alarm for 7:30, then 7:45.... and those didn't work :P So 9:00am I got up and assessed my body's condition to see if it was ready to start working out again. (Earlier this week, my roommate mentioned to be weary of my food consumption, especially since I was home-bound this past week, due to doc's orders-- I had to ensure to not go overboard on the comfort food) Since this was day two of having my hand splint off, I was also particularly attentive to the condition of my hand muscles. Anyway, I was able gear up for the gym and off I went :)

Initially I warmed up for about 10 minutes, building from 2.0 mph to 4.0 mph in .5 mph increments, to allow my leg muscles to warm up and become more pliable. After the 10 minute warm up, its up to 4.5 mph for the next 10 mins. Afterwards, HR is good, ~ 130bpm or so, so increased the pace to 4.8, then to 5.0. About 35 mins into the run/jog, I started to feel my legs complaining, so I cut back to about 4.8, then 4.5. All was well until about the 40 min mark. My quads started to cramp up, dropping my speed down to 2.5 then 2.0mph. After not trying to push too hard, I completed a quick cool-down, burning 400 kcals (no HR meter used) travelling 2.75 mi.

I guess its not too bad for starting to jog from being stagnant since last Monday.

If todays pace was set roughly at: 40 mins, 2.75 miles, @ 4.8 - 5.0, I'll try tomorrow's pace @ 4.5 mph max, and see how well I can do.

Happy Birthday Drew!

2009-10-03T11:08:00.000-07:00

Today is my brother's birthday :) If he was still around he would be turning 35. (We're all getting older ) Sometimes I forget what it is like to have a brother; other times I feel as if my brother lives on with the the friends and family I have-- Sometimes I feel blessed that I have the best of friends and family :)

I miss my brother with all my heart, since he passed 12 years ago, I hope he is at peace and joined with our other relatives together. Happy birthday Andrew :) I hope you're enjoying the afterlife, and we miss your company. We will all be together again sometime soon; until then, I will look forward to enjoying what each day brings.

-- Anthony

Before I forget.... the route taken during my ride today

2009-09-27T17:45:00.001-07:00

Details on today's ride:

32-miles

2700 kcals

Total Travel time 2 hours

Avg speed 17 mph

Avg cadence 86 rpm

Relaxing Sunday :)

2009-09-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings folks,

Just a quick update regarding my weekend..... Was on-call Friday evening until Saturday evening, which wasn't too bad, other than the calls that came in at midnight till 2 am , but that comes with the territory. Chinese food was the comfort food for dinner, and makes great leftovers!

Sunday rolls around, I woke up early and happy (no work-related calls in the middle of the night = uninterrupted sleep of 8+ hrs!!!!) and was looking forward to a great day. Weather report shows that the temps will be in the upper 80's in Alameda Country, which usually results in +5 degrees higher in San Jose..... so I biked anyway, to help add more contrast between my already bad tan lines LOL.... In short, I was able to ride to run my family errands, which = no gas being spent, and 32 miles of relaxing, riding pleasure (with the exception of Evans road in Milpitas, which has some hills) burning ~ 2700 kcals. Which isn't too bad, except did I mention that I also had the Greek omelette from The Country Way on fremont? Yeah so that goes the caloric deficiency--- I think I broke even :P

I spent some quality time with my pops, which was cool, as we were able to catch up on things, as well as plan what we will be doing for my birthday-- Dinner at Harry's High Life; a great place for Ribs and steaks :)

Well tomorrow starts the beginning of a new work week, so I should probably finish tuning the bike and completing laundry for this week.

Have a great evening folks, Happy Sunday!

My wallboard at work...

2009-09-22T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd share my exercise accomplishments with you since I started in Nov '08:

Here's what I have accomplished so far:

11/23/08: Silicon Valley Turkey Trot (5K Run / Walk, San Jose CA)
2/1/09: Kaiser Permanente SF 5K and 1/2 Marathon (5K Run, SF CA)
3/28/09: Breakaway From Cancer (25-Mi Bike, SF CA)
4/18/09: Worldy Wanda Tour de Fremont (50-mi Bike, Fremont, CA)
5/3/09: Tour de Cure (75-mi Bike, Napa CA)
7/26/09: Wharf-to-Wharf (10K Run, Santa Cruz CA)

Windows - Alt Key Numeric Codes -- For those who type in foreign languages :)

2009-09-22T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here's a great site that shows a quick recap of the ASCII keyboard codes. (Anytime you need to enter in a punctuation mark or non-english symbol, find the corresponding symbol and its ASCII numeric equivalent here:

http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/accents/codealt.html

Then hold down the [Alt] key, type in the 4-digit code and then release the [Alt] key.

For example, if you need to say use the upside down exclamation mark in Spanish, you can type in the following:

Hold down the [Alt] key, type in 0161, and release the [Alt] key. You should now see the ¡ symbol.

Check the site for other cool punctuations and accents on the page :)

Banter about events this week

2009-09-17T19:07:00.000-07:00

Good evening folks,

Thought I'd care to share what has been going on with me for the past couple of days. Monday night, I was fortunate to attend my first-ever Raiders vs. Chargers football game up in Oakland. May I say that the Raider Nation is a force to be reckoned with-- Both in the parking lot among all the BBQers and drunk folks, as well as inside the stadium. They are quite a large group who are quite vocal about their beliefs, and sometimes monotone as well. It was an exciting game to watch; the game kept us on our toes (I went with both Raiders and Chargers fans) and the Raiders finally lost by a few points, mainly because of some terrible calls by the ref. Anyway, I enjoyed the game with wonderful company, my coworkers, and also completed the monday night football experience by going to grab some Chicken and Waffles post game. Mmmm..... So we get back home ~ 2am with work the next day. Ouch. Looks like no cycling on Tuesday either.

Tuesday: work then home and sleep.

Wednesday: The option to go to the Shark's infamous Teal and White kickoff was tonite, however I passed up due to being a little too FUBAR after work. Also noticed that I could probably do better in terms of climbing if my gearing was a little different. Up front I had a 54/39 or equivalent. Decided to upgrade to a SRAM RED compact, wth 50/34 instead. We'll see how that goes :) Also met my teammates I will be riding with on the Triathlon this sunday. They are great folks, and I'm excited to be participating and part of their team. Time to go home and sleep.

Thursday: Cycled to work!!! It felt GOOD. Performance metrics weren't out of the ordinary, but today was one of those times where it was fun, felt good no matter how good or bad the time was. I did notice that I can now go up the same overpasses without having to change from the big gear in front, and can maintain at least 15mph going up. Not too shabby ;)

Our triathlon is in two days. Excited and nervous. We'll see how it goes. Last day of training tomorrow.

My Review of Think Tank Shape Shifter, Photographic Backpack

2009-09-14T12:48:00.001-07:00

Adorama

Think Tank Shape Shifter, Photographic Backpack

Worth every penny!

The Cycling Photographer Fremont, CA 9/14/2009

Pros: Adjustable Harness, Comfortable, Accommodating, Roomy, Fits under airplane seat, Strong Construction, Room for small gadgets

Cons: Heavy when loaded

Best Uses: Storing Gear, Transporting Gear

Describe Yourself: Photo Enthusiast

I have recently used this bag for travelling. I had the following gear loaded in the shapeshifter:

- Sony A900 DSLR
- Sony 24-70 2.8 Zeiss Lens
- Sony 70-200G 2.8 Telephoto
- Sony 70-400G 4-5.6 Telephoto
- Minolta 50mm 1.7 prime
- Sony HVL-58AM Flash
- 13.3" Macbook
- Nintendo DS (in case I got bored)
- All connecting cables, memory cards and power plugs, including chargers

Although it was rather heavy, considering most of the weight came from the equipment itself, it wasn't very difficult in managing through the airport. It fit underneath the airplane seat and I flew by TSA security without any problems. If you are looking for a case that can carry all this, is airport secure, and can compress down to just hold the macbook when needed, then this is the case for you.

()

My Review of Flashpoint F-1428 Carbon Fiber Tripod

2009-09-11T23:42:00.001-07:00

Adorama

Flashpoint F-1428 Carbon Fiber Tripod, 4 Section Leg Set, Supports 26 lbs., Maximum Height 72".

Enough to handle semi-pro gear

The Cycling Photographer Fremont, CA 9/11/2009

Pros: Sturdy, Case can fit ball head, Good Stability, Lightweight

Cons: No leveler, Meager instructions, Rubber feetspike design

Best Uses: Stabilization, Photography, Reducing Noise (ISO Reduction), Long Exposures

Describe Yourself: Semi-pro Photographer

I was looking for a good quality tripod that can accommodate all the gear that I have. So far, the unit has met all my expectations. It is a solid and lightweight tripod that I consider semi-pro. Original specs state the tripod can stand over 6.5ft tall, without needing to extend the center column. I am about 5'10, and with the extra height added, this allows me to keep the last section of the tripod legs retracted for added stability. I bought this unit to hold the following combination of equipment:

Sony A900 DSLR
Sony VGC-90AM Vertical Grip
Sony SAL-70200G 70-200mm f/2.8 Telephoto lens
Sony SAL-70400G 70-400mm f/4-5.6 Telephoto lens
Sony 2470CZ 24-70mm f/2.8 lens
Sony HVL-58AM Flash

As some of you who are familiar with the SAL70400G lens, it can extend longer during zoom, and can throw off the center balance. This was not an issue when mounted on this tripod :) Total max weight of my gear can be up to ~ 8 - 9 pounds. This tripod held it steady without any issues. This was used in combination with the Flashpoint F-3 Ball Head.

The soft carrying case can also accommodate the tripod and the F-3 Ball head without any problems (unlike the reported lower models) and also has a smaller inside pocket to hold the allen key and small wrench)

Drawbacks of this unit are regarding the missing leveler, as well as the foot design. It includes the spike already integrated with the tripod leg, and if needed, a rotation of the outer rubber part of the leg end extends out and over the spike changing the end into a rubber nub. However, I can see over time the rubber nub wearing down and eventually exposing the spike again after some outdoor use.

()

Weeklky Geeky Entry: Remote Xwindows login GUI

2009-09-11T15:40:00.001-07:00

Good article Written by Ajo Paul to get this configured:
http://ajopaul.com/2007/11/23/remote-login-to-linux-from-windows-non-vnc/

Windows software:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/

2009-09-09T19:46:00.000-07:00

This evening's ride back home burned 1147 (4631) kcals, covering 14.87 (59.49)mi in 1:03:00 (3:55:08). Today (cumulative total)

BTW: Flat tires suck as much as replacing them.

Day 2 of 9 training

2009-09-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

I started training for the SC triathlon coming up on Sept. 20th in Santa Cruz. I'll be participating on a relay team with a couple of folks from my company :) As the date comes closer by, I have started to build up my base mileage to prepare for the event. My goal is to complete 9 days of commuting to work via bicycle. So far, I have completed 1.5 of 9 days. We'll see if I can keep this up this week and next week, so far so good :)

Post-ride thoughts yesterday

2009-09-07T18:09:00.001-07:00

Sunday afternoon was great, who could ask for more? I was able to meet up with some frat-brothers for a Labor-day BBQ. Good food, great company. Afterwards, we headed out to meet with a co-worker to go mtn. biking. We cycled around Arastadero Preserve, near Palo Alto, CA. After biking ~ 5.8mi, we called it a day. Interesting though, with what we saw there. We say a Maroon-red Tesla drive by, a pair of llamas that we being walked along the trail. Interesting day. topped off with a trip to a Taiwanese restaurant where I was introduced to this dessert pictured above. It was shaved ice served with a brown-sugar syrup and includes up to 5 toppings. I chose red-bean, green-bean, lychee, and condensed-milk. It was wonderful! It was similar to Halo-Halo, a Filipino dessert dish, although this one had a good twist.

If you know of a place that has one, I would definitely recommend to try it, especially after a hot day. (Thanks Rex!)

WTF is up with Apple? / Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-05T10:13:00.000-07:00

I realized today that a pair of headphones I bought before my trip to NC last week was pretty much a useless buy-- I purchased the following headphones: The Apple Earphones with Remote and Mic (pictured below):

thinking I would be able to have volume control on my iphone. Turns out the volume controls are not supported unless you have an iphone 3G S. If you ask me, I think Apple could have done a better job and being able to openly provide better acknowledgement about this problem. (A part of me also thinks its a subliminal way to upgrade your phone eventually to the 3G S). In short, the headphones do not support volume controls on any iphones less than a 3G S, and was a waste of $$$. Oh well, live, learn, and tell about it ;-)

Anyway, on to this weekend's events..... Its Labor Day weekend, the last weekend of the Summer, and I am looking for events to attend. Some would say just relaxing at home would be nice (which it is), although I'm also looking at doing something out of the ordinary and find some special events to attend this holiday weekend. I will be heading over to this spot sometime this weekend: the Kings Mountain Art Fair in Woodside, CA.

Hope you have a safe and relaxing Labor day weekend!

[Edit] Addition to the previous pst

2009-09-01T08:15:00.000-07:00

I also wanted to say many thanks to Erica G. and Jay C. in NC for allowing me to experience first-hand what the cycling experience of rolling hills are. I felt the burn, and it felt good :D You two have rekindled my spirit for getting up early in the morning and cycle :)

Hope you guys kick some major butt in the upcoming MS200!

Finally!

2009-09-01T07:31:00.001-07:00

You know those occasional mornings when you can wake up before you need to? Today was one of those days. I was able to get up early enough to have breakfast (Chocolate Rage GU) gear up for work, and cycle :) < 45 mins travel time (50 mins total) covering 14.5 miles, and burning close to 1200 kcals. Feels good for catching up to last week's vacation :D

Also we have the Santa Cruz Triathlon that our company will be participating in on Sunday Sept. 20th. I'm excited and honored to be competing and representing Data Domain in a corporate health function. Imagine, someone who had a terrible un-healthy lifestyle now getting into corporate competitions!! Even if I come in last place, it is an honor and an achievement by any stretch of the imagination to turn my lifestyle around 180-degrees.

I would love to reach out and thank those who have been supportive of my BS especially since they already recognized how was hiding how I truly was, a adult kid without direction in life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I now know that I don't have to be afraid of who I am, what I am or where I will be; I am in the driver's seat and set my own goals and aspirations.

I hope that my actions can truly mimic those I look up to and provide inspiration for others to follow suit-- All it takes to get on a good path is baby steps :)

Have a great week everyone :)

-- The cycling photographer

Post NC Trip thoughts and ramblings

2009-08-30T20:17:00.000-07:00

In a nutshell, a word to describe this weekend was "Wow". From taking a red-eye flight, rooming with the celebrants, to road cycling, then becoming an unofficial photographer for Danniel's baptism, this weekend was quite jam-packed with memorable events.

I visited a coworker and meet her family-- her two kids, Kaiya, and Aiden. After a great 30 mins of enjoying their great company, we (Erica, Jay, and myself) set out for a challenging 30-mile trek on roads filled with rolling hills near Wendell, NC. It was a beautiful ride complete with great company. I have only to look forward to meeting folks locally who are just as fun and entertaining.

On to Friday. Friday rolls around, we were able to visit Tyler's workplaces, both the movie theatre (that does dining as well), as well as his firehouse. Beautiful spots, both of them. Photos will be included.

Saturday comes along. The big day for the little one, Danniel's baptism. What a great kid :) He is such a people-oriented and friendly person-- inspiring and cute.

Sunday sneaks around the corner, with our flight departing from RDU at 6:15 am. (In PST timezone, that's 3:15 am. Ouch.) We pull an all nighter, head out to RDU and make it on the first flight. Our stopover was at Minneapolis, MN for about 2 - 3 hours. What a great place! The airport was more like a mall rather than the other hectic transfer points like ATL or DFW. (Those two are another can of words meant to be opened on a nother day)

All in all, what a wonderful and perfect time to have taken a vacation. Good memories, great company, and memories that have been recorded.

PS: Cookout grill and Bo'Jangles are the bomb. Cheddar-style burgers with a peach-cobbler shake rock!!!

Arrived in Atlanta, GA on our way to RTP, NC.

2009-08-27T04:12:00.000-07:00

Wow... interesting flight. We flew from SFO to ATL, and midway through the flight, we heard a dog. WTF????? Anyway, I was amazed that this dog was travelling first class..... had a better seat than we did. Wow, the life of a dog, and their wealthy owner. More power to them.

Anyway, I found it interesting how chippery folks are here in the morning... After red-eye flights, my interactive vocabulary with other folks has dwindled down to single-syllable responses.

1 more hour until our next flight departs, then off to RDU. More updates to come.

All packed....

2009-08-25T22:43:00.000-07:00

Heading out to North Carolina tomorrow.

... All my gear packed, and ready to go.....

Time to go to sleep.

2009-08-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

Unix Rocks!

My first blog. Ever.

2009-08-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Greetings folks! Welcome to my first official blog/banter entry.

Current thoughts: Great Jazz music playing in background. I am looking to find a venue to post my random occurrences that I can call my own. Separate from myspace, or facebook, just somewhere I can post my portfolio, and anything that I come across..... applescripts, quotations, anything noteworthy or cool. One thing I figured is that we have a multitude of tools available to help document our day to day lives creatively, in my case, I would like to accomplish this digitally, with photos, cohesive sentences, and posts.

I hope you find this as an exciting journey as I am.

Hope to see you around during a photo or cycling adventure!