Flickr

It’s been a while. I know.

I was actually happy to see that people have actually been reading my blog, and leaving comments too! Thanks to BOTH of you!

An update is soon to come, but for now, I leave you with another aspect of my life: my love of photography. The following link is to my flickr page. Leave comments, tell me what you think. Hate it? Love it? Makes you remember your lost childhood? I want to hear it!

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenfulmonkey

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Bat Cave not included.

This is probably what I’ll be getting to meet my gadget obsession in my family years. I’ll be shopping for a new home, thinking of the kids, making sure there’s enough room for everyone, decent sized bed rooms, and my own personal drawing room. What happened to the drawing room anyways? Once the intimate personal corner reserved for the man of the house, accompanied by a wet bar, the perfect place to read a book in silence or jam to some jazz LP’s.

And then, I’ll see this closet. Yup. An open closet, perhaps near the back of the large majestic living room. A large closet the size of a small office. My secret abode. Before the family sees it, I’ll have the contractor on the phone, spitting out my plans for my most awesome gadget-related conquest yet.

The secret passage.

Late at night when the kids are asleep as I stumble in from a late night at work. The wife is upstairs reading in bed. I walk into the kitchen for a bowl of late night cereal. In mid-crunch, I peer around the corner, up the stairs, checking if the coast is clear. I bee-line to the living room.

Gazing over at the massive bookshelf where this large closet once opened at, I look over the hundreds of books I’ve collected over the years. Ahhh, yes, here it is. A vintage encyclopedia Britannica. Tilting the book towards me, I hear the faint and familiar “snap” of a lever and the smooth sound of hydraulics pumping. A short gasp of compressed air puffs out as the massive bookshelf begins to swing open horizontally towards me. Inside awaits a dark room lit only by the soft white hue of computer screens, and the faint sparkle of a decanter, filled with my favorite midnight drink.

Get yourself one here.

Organize.

Three things I use on a regular basis plug in.

My phone.

My iPod.

My digital camera.

Often (and because I don’t care), the wires all get tangled, either on the floor, my bedside stool, or work area.

The Ding3000 charge box organizes and gives me a stylish solution to my charging needs by offering a minimalist and simple docking station for my power usage needs.

NY cabs refuse GPS implementation

I was reading on Gearlog the other day that in a recent article by Metro NY, Taxi cabs in New York were refusing to hook up GPS receivers in their cars. While the Bloomberg administration wanted to implement all cabs to require a backseat screen that would play ads, news, credit card payment, and of course, GPS navigation, Taxis were not to thrilled at dishing out up to seven grand for a 3 year service.

I think it’d be great, but to the Taxi’s discretion. How many times have you been in a cab and had to meticulously dictate the route, because you know you’ll get charged $15 for what you know is a $7 ride? I’ve seen cabs with GPS modules like Garmin or TomTom. Wouldn’t that be enough? Do we really need to get advertising in there?

mercy.

How did I miss this?

Nokia announced a new keyboard integrated smart phone complete with wifi connectivity? Whaaa? Massive, but damn if it isn’t sexy. Th E9 will be released at some point when it comes out (What? As if these companies actually release their gadgets on time…)

Check out gsmarena for more pics of the fabulous Nokia E90.

Does Christmas come early?

I was in the DLSR market. My original intent of buying my first DSLR was more and more settled by the Nikon D50. But, as technology has always had a knack of crushing my dreams after realizing them, Nikon releases the D40. Well, as technology has the trend of improving itself after releasing even the latest of its line, Nikon releases the D40x.

Click on this link to read Engadget’s hands on review.

This better be it. I really want one. Nikon, please don’t release anything more for me to drool over. Please?

Perfect Rissoto

When I used to work as a food runner at this authentic Italian restaurant back home, I had the pleasure of tasting some of the finest blue cheese rissoto in the world. Melt in your mouth goodness. It’s a lot harder to actually making it then tasting it however. More lengthy than anything, the secret lies in the constant stirring.

I found this real good recipe a friend recommended to me that can be found at epicurious.com

I’ll post some pictures as soon as I find some nano rice. It seems virtually impossible to find it here in Richmond.

Shake this one.

I was never a fan of snow globes. I did think that the scene in 3 Kings when they crack the snow globes to drink the fresh water was pretty cool, but apart from that, I just see them as tourist junk. They always look the same, like either someone stuffed a cheap plastic Christmas ornament inside a globe, added water, and flakes of snow.

I found these amazing snow globes…design globes if you will. They’re pretty bad ass. The incorporate the beauty (beauty?) of snow globes and eccentric scenes using miniatures you’d fin in a high end model railroader set. Click on the link to see the rest of the collection.

Balcony.

I’m a big fan of minimalist design, especially when it comes to dealing with space management. I’m a big fan of just walking into a bookstore like a Barnes and Nobles and just sitting down and leafing through those interior design books for small spaces. I love it. Wallpaper is another favorite publication that will often dabble in small space interior design.

Check out this cool design, from Hofman DuJardin, integrates a free standing balcony that swivels out of the window. ingenious.

Hang Up

Childhood memories meets modern age functionality.

Remember being in kindergarden when you had your own individual clothes peg, the kind of symbolic responsibility and ownership before you matured into the “locker stage.”

Maybe I was the only one.

This appeared at moco loco from designer, Luca Nichetto. I’m a big fan of minimalist design using clear-cut finishes. I’m also a complete gadget junky, so the functional pod at the top to store my ipod, cell phone, and DS works out well. Dig?