Sunday, March 23, 2008

 

Signaling, a lost driving habit

So annoying... have been victim three times when a driver cuts in front of me without signaling. Then the driver for some reason wants to get back on the previous lane and lo and behold the driver signals! And the funny thing is there are no cars on that lane.
Annoying that these three drivers think cutting someone off without signaling is ok, but signaling when there are no cars around is the right thing to do.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

 

Return of Condor Heroes - Hong Kong TVB 1983

Watched DVD version produced by HK-TVB
Has missing scenes despite completeness claim by HK-TVB

- Sword fighting scene in forest between Yeung Gor(YG) and Goo Goo(GG) against Kum Lun Faht Wong(KLFW) (names are Cantonese pronunciations)
- After some somersaults by GG and a landing by YG, GG lands perfectly on YG's raised left leg, they then mega-jump towards KLFW with their swords ready for action.
- Wife calls this the stacking scene
- KLFW, on the other end, also mega-jumps with his wheel weapons, one in each hand, and does a karate kick

- YG sees the Big Condor(BC) for the first time
- BC just did something and is now on top of a building doing some wing movements
- YG interprets it as kung fu technique and imitates the actions
- BC eventually flies away

Feels like there is more but it has been ages since I saw the original on tv, in fact on KTSF26

 

Quick Review: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Went to Costco and noticed game, decided to purchase
Was lucky to find one elsewhere because the display stand for it was empty

- Only played for around 20 minutes
- Game feels like Jump Ultimate Stars for DS
- Game menu difficult to use, was expecting on-screen pointer like most Wii games
- Stages are interesting, funny when fall off platform

Saturday, March 15, 2008

 

AT&T U-Verse Residential Gateway Nightmare

Cousin-in-law signed up for AT&T U-Verse

Problem
- Plan required new DSL modem: 2Wire Residential Gateway 3800HGV-B
- new modem has wireless router functionality which we don't want

Situation
- D-Link DI-624 wireless router handled network, connected to DSL modem: Efficient Networks Speedstream 5360
- wireless router placed in same location as modem
- D-Link 8 port switch connected to wireless router
- switch placed elsewhere
- Linksys WRT54G wireless router connected to switch to expand wireless signal
- second wireless router placed elsewhere

Wish
- Keep existing hardware, don't use new modem
- AT&T says not possible

Compromise
- Use new modem
- But also use existing networking hardware so configuration is preserved

Compromise Plan #1
- Turn off wireless router functionality in new modem
- Discovered wireless can be turned off but not router yet
- Make modem act in bridge mode only just like old modem
- AT&T installer accidentally took modem's CD which has manual inside
- 2wire.com useless, no drivers or documentation for 3800 series
- searches found some discussion about bridge mode possibility but only for 2X00 series
- discussions mentioned alternative interface @ http://homeportal/mdc but did not find anything
- later realized bridge mode not possible because modem is somehow always looking for three "HomePNA" devices with IP addresses already assigned
- so figured modem will always be in router mode

Compromise Plan #2
- Make main wireless router act as wireless access point just like secondary wireless router
- First turn off DHCP on main wireless router
- Next plug ethernet cable into any LAN port in new modem
- Then plug other end into any LAN port in main wireless router, doesn't work if plugged into WAN port, got bit by that
- Configured main wireless router's IP address to be same block as new modem
- Turned off new modem's wireless capability
- Success!

I felt very happy to get it working. He can get online with his devices just as before.

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

 

Thanks Redfin For The Open Homes Feature!

After getting responses from Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman on my previous post, I want to write feedback about their new open house feature.

Pros
- easy to understand icons
- no change in usage

Cons
- difficult to see all open homes and dates
- need to load specific home to see dates

Summary
I like this feature a lot. It's an outlet from having to use the clumsy interface of SFGate's Open Homes Guide.

I think however there is room for a slight improvement. What I pictured originally when I mentioned the Con in my previous post is a monthly calendar. I think having the monthly calendar would be very helpful to see the entirety of open homes and also to help control the search results. Each day in the month would show the amount of open homes and in turn would be an action to update the search results with just open homes for that day.

Anyway I'm sure Redfin already has ideas or is comfortable with it; I'm just an anxious software developer. :)

Extra: I read Matt Goyer's response to my Con about Redfin displaying "Undisclosed Address". I understand it's not Redfin's fault and apologize that it was directed that way. I forgot where I saw this but I remember seeing an online video interview Glenn Kelman had with Robert Scoble in which Glenn talked about some of the data that Redfin can't disclose due to agreements with MLS. Unfortunately from a consumer's perspective it's annoying to see missing data. I realized that the problem isn't quite with MLS but more with listing agents and/or sellers. For some personal reason or another, listing agents sometimes don't disclose the address or other information when they input the house on MLS. This however now becomes a problem for Redfin's new Open Homes feature. I have seen one listing on Redfin where the address is undisclosed and there is open house information. Where do I go? :)
Also on the price per square foot, I figured Redfin was displaying it to help consumers identify a bidding price. So naturally I thought the price per square foot should also be included.

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