Tumblr Fails as My Blog Replacement

I tried. I really tried. But Tumblr just didn’t meet my blogging needs.

Tumblr was supposed to make my life easier by allowing me to post content quickly. I also wouldn’t have to worry about upgrading any server software, something I worry about with a WordPress self-install. Best of all Tumblr is free.

Where Tumblr failed me

But Tumblr failed me in the simple act of posting when I want to post. I post a photo at least once a week (see GPOMW). This is often a “scheduled post”, meaning it posts on a specific day and time. Also, I often “queue” items that I set to post 3 hours apart. Unfortunately, Tumblr has failed me on both of these types of posts. In fact, it’s happened several times in the past few weeks. Once, Tumblr decided to publish all my posts in the queue. This is, in turn, slammed my Facebook feed. Nobody wants to see 10+ items posted by the same user on their Facebook feed, all within a matter of minutes. Also, at times, I couldn’t do a simple post on demand.

At times, my Tumblr Dashboard takes forever to load. I don’t think it’s my Internet connection, as I am able to get to other sites quickly. P I did a traceroute to Tumblr’s servers and, well, let’s just say I wasn’t receiving good results at the time.

Perhaps they’re going through a growth-spurt issue, acquiring a lot of users and using up so many resources. If that’s the case, they need to correct these issues soon. If it’s just a problem with me, then I guess I just need to live with the fact that Tumblr is not for me - for my blog that is.

I have to say this though: getting my content off of Tumblr and back onto WordPress wasn’t easy. I ended up using the simply elegant Posterous to import my Tumblr account, then I imported from there back to Wordpress.com. Oh, then from there to my WordPress self-install. A lot of work. And you know what? Many of my Tumblr posts don’t have titles, which WordPress doesn’t particularly like. Luckily, I only had to correct fifty posts.

For now, it’s goodbye to Tumblr as my main blogging solution. Sometimes free isn’t the best solution. I may continue to micro-blog, but I won’t devote full blog posts there until things get sorted out.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - My Review

Netflix Synopsis:

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) and rebellious computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) team up to investigate the unsolved disappearance of wealthy Henrik Vanger’s (Sven-Bertil Taube) teen niece (Ewa Fröling), only to uncover dark secrets about Vanger’s powerful family. Niels Arden Oplev directs this Swedish thriller based on the first novel from Stieg Larsson’s best-selling trilogy.

My Take:

I haven’t read the book, a synopsis of the book, or even a synopsis of the movie before renting it. I thought the title was interesting enough to warrant a rental. What was I expecting? From the title I was expecting an action film a la Angelina Jolie in Salt. What I got instead was a compelling hardcore drama-mystery-thriller.

What was difficult to handle in this film is not the subtitles, but the violence against women. There is graphic violence against the “Girl”, Lisbeth, in the title of the film, as well as referenced violence against several other females. The dialog, and descriptions of what happens to certain characters, are also difficult to stomach. It is like watching a hardcore episode of Criminal Minds or Law and Order: SVU. But then Lisbeth is one smart tough girl. She is not afraid of the pain she goes through, and certainly is not shy in dealing out a violent barrage if need be. Her complexity - a product of what she’s been through - is alluded to throughout the film. I’m sure it’s dealt with more thoroughly in the book(s).

I hear they are doing a US remake of this film. I would be hesitant to see it. But then I hear David Fincher is helming the remake. Either he or Christopher Nolan would do a worthy remake worth, at the least, checking out.

Rating: Full Admission

Four Weeks

It has been four weeks.  In the quiet times, when there is a chance for reflection, time seems to have passed by rapidly.  At other times, especially during the crying spells, time seems to move glacially.  Either way, it still amounts to four weeks. Mia is now four weeks old.

Things Learned

There are only so many books you can read and so many stories you can hear from others who’ve been through it, to prepare you for a child. I’m sure what we’ve learned is contained in a book, a web site, or a friend’s story, but nonetheless here are a few things we’ve learned:

  • Crying doesn’t always mean she is hungry.  Sometimes she just wants to be held, especially at 3am.
  • Baby acne just happens. Seriously, it wasn’t the gangly beard I grew that caused her face or arm rash.
  • Changing one diaper can rapidly digress into changing three diapers.
  • During a diaper change, if her butt is angled correctly, she can project a poo stream a good foot away. Yeah, it happened.  Luckily I was to her right when it did.
  • She’s not cross-eyed.  She’s just trying to focus at something far away. Whew!
  • Hiccups happen.  It seems to not bother Mia as much as us.
  • It’s probably wise to do a load of laundry a day, both for yourself and the baby.
  • Amazon.com is a great site.  It is especially great for subscription services. You can subscribe to diapers, wipes, etc. It’s convenient and saves some money as well.
  • Another good site is Diapers.com. I had to call their customer service because of a missed shipment.  They were very quick in correcting the issue. They also ship as quick as Amazon does.
  • The Baby Geek app for the iPhone / iPad has been very helpful.

The Cuteness

There are many cute things Mia does. I’ve tried to capture the moments on video, but sometimes it’s not possible.  Here are a few that I don’t want to forget about:

  • After she sneezes, Mia lets out this exhaustive sigh, as if the sneeze took every ounce of energy she had.
  • When Mia wakes up, she stretches multiple times, contorting her body in an “S” shape, getting the most out of each consecutive stretch.
  • She can lift her own head when doing the over-the-shoulder burp. This makes it difficult to hold her at times.
  • From time to time she makes an “O” shape with her mouth as if she’s about to say something. As long as it’s not crying, it’s good.
  • She sleeps with her arms raised as if she’s crossing a finish line.

I’m sure the future holds more to come, both in learning and cuteness.

Green Lantern Movie Poster

Oh man! This does not look good.

I’m not liking the Green Lantern movie posters.  I got a bad feeling about this superhero film as well.  I hope I’m wrong.

Red Cliff

The Netflix synopsis: When a warmongering prime minister (Fengyi Zhang) advances his armies against two rival kingdoms, he unwittingly prompts his adversaries (Chen Chang and Yong You) to work together in this martial arts action-adventure. The ensuing conflict culminates in the epic battle of Red Cliff, a struggle by the sea involving more than one million soldiers.

My Take: A John Woo film without guns isn’t bad. And it doesn’t hurt to have Tony Leung in the cast. I was captivated by the story. But I wished it was fleshed out more. I then realized there is a longer two-part original version available.  Albeit it is four hours long, versus 148 minute for theatrical version I watched. I think the trade-off would be worth the extra effort, especially on blu-ray.

Rating: Matinee

Whiteout

Kate Beckinsale in Whiteout Kate Beckinsale

The Netflix synopsis: “The lone U.S. marshal at a research station in Antarctica, Carrie Stetko (Kate Beckinsale) stumbles upon the continent’s first murder victim. With only three days left until the sun sets for six months, Carrie races to solve the complex mystery before darkness falls.”

My Take: Unfortunately, Whiteout was a weak mystery-thriller where you could predict the culprit(s) in the first 10 minutes. The only saving grace of the movie has going for it is the Antarctic setting and the Kate Beckinsale shower scene.  I’m guess the latter was added due to the overall dullness of the movie.  The source material must have better.

**Rating:*Cable TV

Warranties

I seem to be having problems with the appliances lately. Last week, the Sony LCD television we bought just last year has decided to go on the fritz. Weird horizontal lines started appearing in the image, as well as ghosting. And just a few days ago a small part of our Whirlpool dryer, also purchased last year, broke. The part is key in enabling the door to latch closed.

Luckily both are still under warranty, but just barely.

I was surprised how (somewhat) easy it was to get help with the Sony television. In Google, I put in “Sony television repair” which took me to Sony’s online support. I filled out the relevant questions and was given one of two choices: (1) have an authorized Sony repair person come out to service the set, or (2) receive a similar replacement via UPS. Sony’s site was pushing the latter option, so I took it. A refurbished replacement was sent and received - a Sony XBR9 versus the XBR7 it was replacing. It’s a nice television set.

But now I think it was a mistake to go this route.

I have to now box up the old television set, and lug it down to UPS to send back. I have a deadline of 15 days to do this in or I will be charged for the replacement set. It sounds like a good deal. But boxing up the old television wasn’t exactly easy. At least televisions nowadays don’t way 50 plus pounds like an old Sony set we have in another room.

Getting the dryer fixed was a straightforward service call. It wasn’t great being on hold for 10 minutes before anyone picked up the phone at Whirlpool. but at last we have a service call scheduled. The part looks small and simple to replace. I’m hoping it doesn’t turn into something more than it appears to be.

Of the two methods to receive service for a product purchased, I think I prefer online support than over the phone. Filling out an actually form, and being able to print out the results, made me feel more confident in getting proper service than actually calling someone. Plus, Sony offered a ticket number and a follow-up toll free number to call if I had further questions. Whirlpool’s support didn’t appear to be anything more than a poor ticketing service. I wasn’t so confident giving my details to the person on the other end, who repeatedly asked me to spell every bit of information I gave him.

Clean Start

Given the recent changes in my life, I decided to make part of my online life easier on me. I’m moving the blog off of a self managed web hosting account once more. What I enjoy most about having a self managed web hosting account is full control and access to what I post. But I no longer have time to maintain a server, which requires updating the Wordpress software when patches become available. (Though this has been easier in the last few versions of Wordpress.)

Going with a free hosted is the next best option, that is if I still choose to post blog entries. Moving this way gives me the opportunity to clean up a few things - mostly due to circumstance. The main blog entries will be posted on Janella.com still, which will be hosted for free on the great tumblr. Unfortunately, or fortunately, tumblr doesn’t allow importing of Wordpress. At least there isn’t a clean, simple, easy way to accomplish this. So only new posts - from July 1, 2010 and going forward - will be available on Janella.com.

Old blog posts - those written Before Child(ren) or B.C. - are available on my Wordpress.com account at verbal.wordpress.com or accessible through the “Previously” link off of Janella.com’s home page.

Let’s see how this works out.

Imogen Heap @ The Mountain Winery, Saratoga

The last time we saw Imogen Heap perform was at the Warfield. She was ill during that show, battling a cold. But the effects of the cold didn’t hamper her performance. She sounded great that evening. During this Friday’s concert at the Mountain Winery, Imogen didn’t need to battle being ill, but rather she fought the cold windy night. She was able to deliver another solid performance.

We haven’t been to a concert at the Mountain Winery since the remodel. Prior to the remodel, we saw two concerts and a attended a wedding there. It’s a great venue with beatuiful views. The drive up can be harrowing for some, as the roads and can get narrow and windy. The remodel helps to define the concert area, which if I recall, was previously one-level plus a bleacher or two. Now the venue has tiered seating which provides a great view of the stage from almost any seat. Parking is the standard steep price of $20.

We caught the last few songs by one of the opening acts, Geese. Interesting act, but not our cup of tea. They would later support Imogen during her performance.

Imogen came out swinging this tube-like object for the song “The Walk”.

The setlist included (not in order):

  • The Walk
  • Swoon
  • Come Here Boy
  • Wait It Out
  • First Train Home
  • Little Bird
  • Canvas
  • A-Ha!
  • Breathe In
  • Earth
  • Improv
  • Bad Body Double
  • Speeding Cars
  • Let Go
  • Just for Now
  • Goodnight and Go
  • Headlock
  • Tidal
  • The Moment I Said It
  • Hide and Seek

Imogen did something interesting with one of her songs, Earth. She has a contest in which the winner would come on stage to perform the song with her. The winner for Saratoga is shown below in this YouTube clip:

My Short Review of Iron Man 2

We were finally able to watch Iron Man 2 the other night in Cupertino.  I know its been out for some time, but we’ve been a little busy these last few weeks.  The baby fun is just starting, right?

In short, Iron Man 2 is worthy sequel. The movie introduces a few villains and heroes.  Also a character from the first film played by another actor.  It contains as much story depth and deep character development as they first movie - I write sarcastically - and plenty of action sequences.  My favorite sequence was the scene at the race track. 

Rating: Matinee

Baby Shower Weekend

Baby Shower in Cuesta Park

We had our baby shower this weekend in Cuesta Park. Luckily the day was warm and sunny, a welcome break from the unusually raining weather we’ve been having here. We cannot say thank you enough to our family and friends who helped put this party together. They did so much work to put this amazing celebration together.

We are equally thankful to our family and friends who were able to share this day with us. You can find tons of photos from the party here. If you need the password to access, please email either Farrah or I. Or you can send an email to feedback [at] janella dot com.

Initial Impressions of the iPad

I wanted to write down my thoughts about the iPad, after using it for a few days.

The Good

  • It was fully charged when I unpacked it. This made it very easy to start playing with it.
  • Feels solid and durable. It is not as heavy as I thought it would be.
  • The screen is bright. It works like the iPhone screen, adjusting the brightness depending on the environment.
  • Simple to sync with iTunes, just like an iPod or iPhone.
  • It’s easy to find iPad apps via the App Store link on the iPad.
  • Works like an iPhone/iPod Touch. If you know that system, then this is second nature.
  • Sound from the speaker is good for both movies and music. I don’t know how it would do in a noisy room, but it works in a quiet room.
  • Battery life has been 10+ hours so far.

The NOT So Bad

  • The screen does get fingerprints on it after hours of use. I didn’t notice the fingerprints while looking at the screen directly. But looking at an angle you notice the prints. Easily cleaned with a lint-free cloth.
  • Looking for iPad apps on iTunes - via the computer - is painful. This has since been corrected.
  • The ABC iPad app kept crashing on me while trying to watch a program. This has been addressed by an app update. Though there is a new screen orientation issue.

The Ugly

  • So far it’s good for writing short emails and tweets. But I don’t like doing long blog entries on the touch keyboard. I may need to get a bluetooth keyboard for it
  • Some apps have a single download that work for both the iPhone and the iPad (e.g. Evernote) while others require separate apps to download (e.g. NYTimes ), and others can have three different versions (e.g. 1Password)! Confusing, isn’t?
  • Re-buying addictive games that you have on your iPhone, such as Plants vs. Zombies, can be costly.
  • Buying accessories - a new case, headphones, keyboard - can add to the expense as well.

So that’s my 2 cents for now.