Sunday, December 26, 2010

Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - ...

Amazing data visualization:

Jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 Untethered iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod touch with Redsn0w 0.9.7 [How to Guide] | Redmond Pie

The iPhone Dev-Team have just released their “backup plan” (Redsn0w 0.9.7) for untethered iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak. The just released beta version of Redsn0w will enable you to jailbreak (untethered) iPhone 4, iPad and iPod touch 4G on iOS 4.2.1.
Jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 Untethered iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod touch with Redsn0w 0.9.7 [How to Guide] | Redmond Pie

Thursday, December 23, 2010

One turkey a day

According to this article: WHFoods: Turkey, turkey is white meat (breast), high in protein, and good source for Omega 3 fatty acid.
One of the great advantages of turkey is that much of the fat can be easily removed making it a very lean source of protein. We recommend roasting turkey to keep it moist and bring out is best flavor. Turkey dries out quickly so it is important not to overcook it; it is also important not to undercook it. For more on the Healthiest Way of Cooking Turkey see the How to Enjoy section below. While usually associated with the holidays, turkey can be enjoyed year round. 
Food Chart
This chart graphically details the %DV that a serving of Turkey provides for each of the nutrients of which it is a good, very good, or excellent source according to our Food Rating System. Additional information about the amount of these nutrients provided by Turkey can be found in the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Turkey, featuring information over 80 nutrients, can be found under the Food Rating System Chart.
 
Turkey
4.00 oz-wt
113.40 grams
153.09 calories
NutrientAmountDV
(%)
Nutrient
Density
World's Healthiest
Foods Rating
tryptophan0.38 g118.814.0excellent
protein34.09 g68.28.0excellent
selenium36.40 mcg52.06.1very good
vitamin B3 (niacin)8.50 mg42.55.0very good
vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)0.64 mg32.03.8very good
phosphorus254.01 mg25.43.0good
zinc1.97 mg13.11.5good
World's Healthiest
Foods Rating
Rule
excellentDV>=75%ORDensity>=7.6ANDDV>=10%
very goodDV>=50%ORDensity>=3.4ANDDV>=5%
goodDV>=25%ORDensity>=1.5ANDDV>=2.5%

Make sure to serve turkey roasted and fully cooked. Wait 15-20 minutes before carving, and enjoy! 

Friday, December 17, 2010

How to swing like Rocco Mediate: 12 Nights at the Academy: Rocco Mediate and Jimmy Ballard - Golf Video | Golf Channel

The golf channel has the awesome "12 Nights at the Academy" series, especially this one 
12 Nights at the Academy: Rocco Mediate and Jimmy Ballard - Golf Video | Golf Channel, in which "Rocco Mediate and swing coach Jimmy Ballard will discuss with viewers how Mediate changed his golf swing and resurrected his game after nearly retiring due to lingering back injuries". Check it out since the tips in there is real and useful, not like the ones gave out by Hank Haney, which are completely useless. 
If you don't have to watch video, I'm summing it up here:
  1. Stand all and wide;
  2. Keep album, especially the left album connected with the body and keep it down;
  3. Push the right foot forward at the start of the down swing;
Some notes, though, even though everything Rocco and Jim said made sense, but changing swing is easier fo the pros, since their eye hand coordination, especially at impact, are almost perfect, that's why they are pros. The tip is for everyone, but not for everyone. For example, push the right foot could be diaster for some amateurs, since they'll move their body forward, rather than around. So the take home message here is that, the tips are all valid and useful, but you need to first understand how a golf swing should be,  before you can apply the tips. and fore......

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The AWESOME Automation Guide For Mac Users [PDF]-makeuseof.com

Every Mac user should read this guide, which is made up of easy-to-understand demonstrations and screenshots. Among other things you’ll learn how to:

  • Use smart folders to manage your files and folders
  • Using iTunes’ smart playlists to organize your music
  • Find the photo your looking for with iPhoto
  • Sort your email without any effort, using Mail.app’s smart filters and folders
  • Using Automator to script without any programming knowledge
In particular, it shows you how to create a smart folder, just like the one on Windows: Recent Places, which I don't think OSX has a default smart folder for it.

How to Use a Google Maps to See Nearby Rental, Sales and Foreclosure listings

Big picture shows you how to find foreclosure listing using Google Maps,
Google Maps Foreclosure Listings
1. Punch in any US address into Google Maps.
2. Your options are Earth, Satellite, Map, Traffic and . . . More. (Select “More”)
3. The drop down menu gives you a check box option for “Real Estate.”
4. The left column will give you several options (You may have to select “Show Options”)
5. Check the box marked “Foreclosure.” 
Actually, the feature has been around for a while now, and not only can you search for near by foreclosure listing, you can also search for real estate sales and rental listings. Especially the rental listing, which don't show up on MLS listing, and can help the landlords to determine how much he/she should list the rental for, or  for investor to see how much rental potential the property has.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Howto solve IE's Unknown Runtime Error in Javascript

OK, this type of error is really case by case, specific to IE, but in general, Internet Explorer, even though many users and developers don't really care for, is actually stricter on checking the HTML compliance, which is not necessarily a bad thing especially for javascript development. I came across this post when trying to debug this weird error: Unknown Runtime Error, when I'm trying to insert a custom dojo widget in the page. According to the post and discussions, this error could be caused by trying to manipulate innerHTML, or nested form tags, etc.. In my case, it was the nested form tags (thought I figured this out myself, but earlier comments already pointed this out). The rule of thumb is that once you see a "Unknown Runtime Error" from IE, there is something not compliant with HTML standards in your code. The practice should be, first, check your javascript code using JSlint.com to fix all the missing semicolons, or comma, that Firefox and Chrome would simply ignore, then, if the error persists, check to see if you're trying to manipulate innerHTML from within the javascript, or nested Form tags. Hope this will help!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Amazon or Costco or else

I've been ordering a lot of stuff lately from Amazon, from bluray movies, books, toys, to hair product, electronics and accessories, and even sub-woofer. Small or big, light or heavy, all came in within 2 business days by Amazon Prime free 2-day shipping, and no sales tax! Just about the time that I think I can buy everything from Amazon, I ordered a couple of the laundry detergents and fabric softeners. They are heavy shipments, all came in within 2 days, but the portions were much smaller than the ones I'd find at Costco or Target store at similar prices. OK, so I saved on sales tax, and a trip to the store, but paid more for less. That being said,  I think Amazon is changing the way people shop, the only advantage Cosco has right now is that they sell grocery, and Amazon doesn't and probably very hard to do so to compete. Movies, music, books, electronics, toys, etc., are perfect for Amazon shopping!

HowTo Jailbreak Firmware iOS 4.2.1 for iPhone 4

Redmondpie.com's has this very straightforward guide (Jailbreak iPhone 4 4.2.1, iPad, iPod touch with Redsn0w [VIDEO GUIDE] | Redmond Pie) to jailbreak your iOS device. According to the video, this instruction is suitable for 4, 3GS, 3G, iPad, and iPod touch. Written instruction is here.
You will need:

  1. iOS 4.2.1, which you can find the links here;
  2. iTunes 10.1 for Windows or Mac;
  3. Redsn0w 0.9.6b4 for Windows or Mac (if the link the zip file is broken, just google "Redsn0w 0.9.6b4", I found a link here);

First install Redsn0w, if you're using Windows, first scan the zip file with an anti-virus program (you should too if you use a Mac, and don't get me started on this), I use Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.46;
The video and written instructions are using Mac, but the Windows screen is almost the same, so just follow the instructions. One note though, this jailbreak is NOT a untethered jailbreak, which mean you will need to boot it to the "jailbroken state" and connected to a computer every time you reboot your device. I don't reboot my iPhone very often, but need to keep in mind though, the jailbroken iPhone is NOT as stable. I'll update the blog once the "untethered" jailbreak is available.



Thursday, December 2, 2010

Cloud computing? The internet is down!

Time Warner internet service has been down since 5:30pm pacific from Los Angeles to San Diego, maybe also other areas. Now try to cloud computing, :-). The big assumption for cloud compuinh is that the internet connection is as reliable as electrcity, but currently it is not! Thank god I still have my iPhone with me so I can blog this.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

How to re-create the Show desktop icon on the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows XP

I didn't think this would be this involving or hard as the task is so simple, but apparently if you can't find that "Show Desktop" file, you need to re-create it.

To re-create the Show desktop icon yourself, follow these steps:
Click Start, click Run, type notepad in the Open box, and then click OK.
Carefully copy and then paste the following text into the Notepad window:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop
On the File menu, click Save As, and then save the file to your desktop as 'Show desktop.scf'. The Show desktop icon is created on your desktop.
Click and then drag the Show desktop icon to your Quick Launch toolbar."

(From Microsoft support site)

Windows 7 is much better, you can just Ctrl-Tab to find the desktop