Browse by Tags

• Opinion
• Pictures
• Software
• Software development
• Tech Toys
• Vista
• WPF

• Opportunity and Sacrifice

  I don’t normally speak much about my personal life, or social issues unless they somehow tie back to technology. But I feel this is something that I must share with you my dear readers. Recently, my friend and former boss wrote a blog post stressing that... Posted Oct 25 2008, 02:29 AM by Brownie Points Filed under: Personal

• Something different for your kids’ Christmas gifts this year: Boomerang, the audio magazine

  This is something that has come back in popularity in my family recently: Boomerang, the audio magazine for kids aged 6-12. It’s a really interesting concept, in that it tries to introduce kids to “big ideas” through all kinds of interesting... Posted Oct 12 2008, 11:16 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal

• A Geekdad Experiment: What Gears Do On a Bicycle

  I did this the other day with my kids, and they thought it was a lot of fun. It’s a simple experiment to do with your kids when they ask what the gears on a bicycle do. You’ll need: A bike with gears Sidewalk chalk A measuring tape or stick... Posted Sep 27 2008, 05:54 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal

• Exemplary customer service at JanSport

  This is an example of how customer service is done right. We bought a JanSport backpack three years ago or so for use at school. A few days ago a buckle broke, so I contacted JanSport via their customer service web page. I explained the situation of the... Posted Sep 15 2008, 09:28 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal, Opinion

• CNet picks up BusinessWeek report, seems to do no independent fact checking

  Let’s see if anyone cares about this. CNet News.com posted something about how HP is trying to do an "end run" around Windows. The post seems to quote a BusinessWeek article from last Friday (online edition) and I wonder if anyone did any... Posted Sep 13 2008, 02:44 AM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal

• 5 Course Saké/Tapas Tasting @ Yama Japanese Restaurant — Bellevue

  Yama in Bellevue is having a great 5 course saké tasting with tapas on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008. It is $70/person, starts at 6:30 with the following menu: The saké will be: Kasumi Tsuru Kimoto Watari Bune 55 Shichi Hon Yari Taiheikai Tokubetsu Junmai... Posted Jul 08 2008, 04:45 PM by XamlXaml.com Filed under: Personal

• In Another Direction…

  My career has taken quite a few turns in the last year or so. I now find myself in the mobile phone industry. Software development for mobile devices is a whole other ball of wax than that for the desktop. While the purpose of this blog was originally... Posted Jul 08 2008, 04:25 PM by XamlXaml.com Filed under: Personal

• Maker Faire drowning in success

  I’m happy that Maker Faire in San Mateo is having great success, judging from today’s experience. Our family attempted to go today to take part in the clothing swap, mostly. But when we got there, all the parking lots were overflowing/closed... Posted May 03 2008, 07:07 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal, Opinion

• Inside the HP TouchSmart PC software: HP SmartCenter - Part 4

  This is part 4 of the mini-series on the HP SmartCenter software. Hear about the team’s reaction to the Engadget leak and the launch plans at CES 2007. If you missed the first three parts, they are here, here and here. — One of the really... Posted Apr 24 2008, 10:33 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: WPF, Vista, Personal, Software

• Inside the HP TouchSmart PC software: HP SmartCenter - Part 3

  Welcome to part 3 of this mini-series. Last time around you heard a little bit about the early prototypes and how things progressed from there. This time I’ll talk a bit more about some of the functionality in HP SmartCenter and some of the things... Posted Apr 17 2008, 10:30 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: WPF, Vista, Personal, Software

• Inside the HP TouchSmart PC software: HP SmartCenter - Part 2

  In the first part of this mini-series, I introduced you to the early planning stages of HP SmartCenter. This time you’ll get a little more information on the early development, including a few screenshots of prototpyes. — I hacked together... Posted Apr 10 2008, 10:12 PM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: WPF, Vista, Personal, Software

• Inside the HP TouchSmart PC software: HP SmartCenter - Part 1

  I thought some people might enjoy reading a little “behind the scenes” story about the most high-profile piece of software I’ve been involved with so far. I feel pretty lucky to have had the chance to work on a unique product and to... Posted Apr 05 2008, 01:23 AM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: WPF, Vista, Personal, Software

• Tom Chapin - Not on the Test

  Our family attended a Tom Chapin concert recently. For those of you with kids out there and who may not know him, he’s a great children’s singer/songwriter whose music you can take along on a roadtrip and listen to for days without getting... Posted Mar 31 2008, 12:07 AM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal

• The OLPC arrived - see what’s in the box

  I had almost forgotten about the OLPC give-one-get-one campaign I took the opportunity to participate in last year. Well, the thing finally came today. I wasn’t really all that anxious to get it, so it didn’t bother me at all that it took... Posted Mar 27 2008, 01:22 AM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal, Tech Toys

• Netflix WatchNow MediaError(1400): One solution

  Here’s a quick tip: If you’re a Netflix subscriber and are having problems with the WatchNow feature, take a look at whether you have any caching proxy servers between the PC you’re using to watch a show and the Netflix servers (yes... Posted Mar 03 2008, 12:32 AM by GeekTieGuy Filed under: Personal, Tech Toys