Although Vancouver winter rains a lot, but the weather is actually very dry. Every morning when I get up, my throat and nose feel dry and awkward. I decided to buy a humidifier so that I can sleep better at night. I have used a few different humidifiers before, the typical old design either one of two types. One type is simply a kettle, boil water to emit vapor. It is hot and noise. The other type is a sponge with a fan. It is dirty and noise, the sponge is very disguising after a while and it may grow bacteria.

There is a new type of humidifier that ultrasound to vaporize water molecules from water into the air. Since it does not boil water nor has a big fan, this type of humidifier is very quiet. I bought a Air-O-Swiss 7144 ultrasonic humidifier from Home Outfitter last week and I am very happy with the unit. It has a very elegant metallic design. It comes with digital hygrostat and sleep timer. It can emit warm mist at room temporary (40 C) or cool mist when the heating function turned off. I turn it on before I go to bed and it maintains an optimal humidity (50%-60%) over the night. I have to fill up the water tank once every two days, which holds about 12L of water.
This humidifier is almost perfect except a minor down sides. The water tank is a bit inconvenient to refill, since it does not fit under the sink. I have to fill it up in the bath tub. It requires its own brand of Ag+ demineralization cartridge that need to be replace every year and its own brand of descaler to clean the deposit at the ultrasound surface every 2-3 months, which is some extra cost.

Now my throat and noise feel a lot better in the morning. I recommend this humidifier to those who hate dry throat and nose in the morning and cannot stand the noise from traditional humidifiers.

When I went down to San Francisco this time, the first thing I did was setting up Google Voice. There are some other nice features of Google Voice, such as a US phone number, a voice mail box with transcribing service, play back voice mail in gmail, etc, but the crown jewel is Google Voice Callback. With a Google voice number and using Google Voice Callback, now I can make free long distance call to any US and Canada number directly from my Canadian cell phone.

The setup is a bit long, but there are many guides out there teach you how to set it up and they are easy to fllow. First you need a US IP address to get a Google Voice phone number. There is a loop hole in Google Voice that it recognize 403 (area code of Calgary) as a US number. The next step is setting up a free 403 number with Free Phone Line. Since Alberta has introduced a new area code 587, it takes many tries to get a 403 phone number. Be patient, keep trying and eventually you will come across one. Once I have a 403 number, I can forward it to any Canada phone number. The final step is verify and link up the 403 number in Google Voice. Now the whole set up is done.

Google Voice Callback is an Android application that use data network to initiate the call, it will only use a few kilo-bytes per call. The app tells the Google Voice server what phone number you would like to call, then Google Voice complete the call by calling both the 403 number, which is forwarded to my cell, and the destination number. Since I have unlimited incoming minutes, using Google Voice to make long distance calls are essentially free.

I also set up a Toronto 647 phone number as well, so my parents can call my cell phone directly without paying long distance charge. Looking at the standard long distance charge from Rogers, it is really a rip off, comparing to the free offering from Google.

My old laptop mouse is falling a part, so I need a new one. A mouse is one small gadget that I use many hours a day and it is not very expensive. I want to buy the best mouse I can find. I have been a fans of Microsoft mouse for many years and actually Microsoft mouse is one of the few Microsoft products that does not suck.

The Arc Touch Mouse is the flagship laptop mouse from Microsoft. There are two unique feature about this mouse. First, it does not have a physical scroll wheel, it has a small touch pad instead. The touch pad supports normal scrolling with sliding, and support page up, page down and middle button with tapping. It has vibration feedback to mimic the sense of a real scroll wheel. No mechanical part means this mouse should be more reliable. It was the the scroll wheel of my old laptop mouse that makes me get a new one. Second, it looks cool and it is easy to put away. I can literally flatten the mouse and put it into my computer bag. The coolness factor of this mouse makes a good conversation starter in meetings. Almost everyone notice I got a new mouse when I walk into the meetings. The curve shape is pretty comfortable and the blue laser tracking is more accurate, but that’s just standard feature of any mouse nowadays.

One down side of this mouse is a narrower than my old mouse, but turns out to be a blessing in disguise. The mouse surface does not fit three fingers. I can’t use my middle finger for scrolling and ring finger for right click. I have to change my habit to use middle finger for both actions. Since the touch pad is flat, I don’t have any problem shifting the middle finger left any right, unlike a scroll wheel. When I was using three fingers, I have to move the mouse with my little finger and that cause stress to my wrist tendon. Now I only use two fingers to control the buttons and frees up my ring finger to hold the mouse, it puts less stress on my wrist tendon since the ring finger is stronger than the little finger.

This mouse is a bit pricy, even when it is on sales, it still double the price of a normal wireless laptop mouse. In my opinion, this mouse worth the extra $25. It is one of the best mouses I have used.

I like wearing boots. In fact I only wear two pairs of shoes 99% of time in the past 7-8 years, a Nike ACG leather hiking boat for the winter and a Converse All Star hi-top canvas boot for the summer. I had went through 6 pairs of Nike and 4 pairs of Converse and I just keep buying a new after the old one is worn. However Nike has discontinued the ACG series so I need to find a replacement. One day I came across a review of Palladium Combat Boots on Cool Tools and at once I knew it is the boots I am looking for.

Palladium Boots is both functional and fashionable. Their boots are famous for being worn by the French Foreign Legion and Isreali Army. The boots are also featured in various movies such as Will Smith’s “I am Legend”, worn by Hollywood stars and featuring in fashion magazines. I couldn’t find any stores in Vancouver carrying Palladium boots and I am hesitate order one from internet. After all, you can’t buy a pair of shoes without trying first. I bought my pairs of Palladium boot in Hong Kong at the Palladium store at The One in Tsim Sha Tsui, the only place that sells Palladium boots in Hong Kong

There are two unique features I like about the boots over Converse boots. The sole and the toe of the boot is mounted in one piece, this gives better protection of your toes and make the tip of the shoes more durable. There are extra support at the heel of the boot to maintain the shape of the back of the boot. Now I am totally hooked to the comfort and coolness of Palladium boots. I will still have only two pairs of shoes, but one will be Palladium canvas boots for the summer and the other one will be Palladium leather boots for the winter.

The chain connecting the toilet handle to the flapper is broken, I set out to Canadian Tire to buy a replacement chain. Instead of buying a $2 little chain, I end up buying the HydroRigth Dual-Flush system to retrofit my ordinarily toilet to a dual flush toilet. A dual flush toilet save water by adjusting the water flow depending on your needs. You don’t need a full tank of water if there is only pee in the toilet.

The installation is really easy. As the box claim, no tool is required. Just take out the old drop handle and flapper, drop in the new flush system and you are done. The box claims it can be installed in 10 minutes, but it took me almost 30 minutes to adjust the optimal water level for half flush and full flush. The mechanics of the dual-flush system is pretty smart. The full flush operation is pretty much the same as lifting up an old fashion flapper. The trick is on the half flush operation. It has an internal adjustable buoyant control for the half flush operation, when the water level drops below the buoyant, it will close the flapper automatically.

The dual flush system saves half tank of water for every half flush, that adds up to lots of water saving over a year. With the new dual flush toilet installed, I am proud of having a green and environmental friendly life style by using water more efficiently..

After I bought my Android smart phone, it is naturally that I am going to play mp3 and navigate with the built-in GPS when I am driving. Therefore I need to buy a phone mount to hold the smart phone inside the car. There are only two types of phone mount in the market, suction cup that sticks to the wind shield or flimsy clips that clips on to the air ventilation. I am not happy with both solutions, the former one blocks my view and the later one blocks the wind.

I did some search on eBay and Google and come across this one of its kind phone mount, the Mountek MK5000 that mounts on the CD slot. Since I no longer use the CD player, the space in front of CD player is pretty useless. It is the perfect place to mount my smart phone. It does not block anything other than the useless CD player. The MK5000 phone mount is very sturdy, it has an adjustable blade than I can slide inside the CD slot and lock it tight. The mount support vertical and horizontal rotation for easy screen rotation. It has spring loaded adjustable arms that fits devices of different size.

I have been using the mount for a couple of months and it works very well. Every day when I hop into my car, I place my smart phone onto the mount. The only disadvantage of the mount is its price. A cheap made-in-China phone mount costs less than $10, sometimes you can even get one as low as $5. The Mountek MK5000 is currently selling for $20 at eBay. Although it is more expensive, the design and the quality of the product worth the premiums price.

Since I have hooked up my old computer to my big screen TV in the living room, I have been facing a problem, how can I use the wireless keyboard while sitting comfortably in the couch. If I put the keyboard on my lap, I have to sit up tight or the keyboard will move around. Moreover, the position of the keyboard is too low to type and there is no place for the mouse. An alternatively solution is put the keyboard and mouse on the coffee table, but I then can’t lay back on the couch and defeat the purpose of setting up the computer in the first place.

Then I come across the LapGear Deluxe Computer LapDesk in Staples when it’s on sales for $24.99. The LapDesk is very comfortable, it has micro-bean pad on the bottom and the lap desk sits comfortably and stable on my lap. It has a large surface big enough for the wireless keyboard and a mouse. It also come with mouse pad on both side for right handed and left handed mouse users. It has two small pockets to store the mouse and some pens. Now I can sit back and relax on my crouch while I am surfing the net on my big screen TV.

In fact the LapDesk is so comfortable that when my friends visiting my place who has a similar setup at home, not one but two friends like it so much that they went out to buy one for themselves.

Product website

The “My Track” application in Android has put pretty good use to the built-in GPS of my phone. Today I went to Whistler for a day of powder ski. I turned on the GPS track of my phone to record my ski runs. The map at the end of the day is pretty interesting and gives me lots of statistics.

I only skied for 4 hours 40 minutes today, but I am only moving 2 hours 30 minutes. In total, I covered 31km of distance, but the actual skiing distance has to divided by two, since half of time I am sitting on the chair lift. My average speed is 12km/h and my maximum speed is 42km/h, I guess it must be when I am zooming down the hill right before I got whited out.

I have been using my old Creative noise cancellation head phone for a few years. It is starting to falling apart after all this years of good service and my abuses from 5 Indian trips. The wire connection is getting lose and sometimes the left side has no sound. It is time to get a new noise cancellation head phone for my yet another India trip.

I have been looking into buying a noise cancellation head phone for quite some time. The offering at Future Shop or Best Buy are limited. They are only selling Sony, Philips, JVC even Maxwell noise cancellation head phones. None of those brands are particularly great and they almost double the price I paid for my old Creative head phone. One day I was having lunch at Broadway and I came across into Headphone Bar, a small shop focus in selling high end head phones. It only sells brands well known among Hi-Fi fans but normally don’t available in chain electronic stores.

Headphone Bar has two new noise cancellation headphones from Audio Technica, which is a well known Japanese band, ATH-ANC27, a bigger cover the ear model and ATH-ANC25, a smaller model. The ATH-ANC27 is pretty expensive but the ATN-ANC25 is only $99, so I decide to give it a try. The moment I put it on, I already like the head phone. The ear mug is very comfortable and cancellation is good. One feature I like is the wire is detachable, so I can just wear the head phone in flight without the wire dangling over me. Since I am flying out in a few days, I don’t have time to order the head phone online or double check its review. I took my chances and bought it right on the spot.

When I got home I checked the internet to confirm my buying decision. It turns out the price I paid is the exactly list price on the web. I can find it less than $10 cheaper on eBay, so the shop does not mark up the price. Then I look at the online reviews, it turns out the ATN-ANC27 is the next generation of ATH-ANC7b and its quality almost on par with the Bose Quietcomfort 3, which is absolutely the best noise cancellation headphone. The ATN-ANC25 is the little brother of ATN-ANC27, the only difference is the padding size and the power of the sound driver. It also has very good review, it is the best noise cancellation in the sub $100 category.

I tried my new headphone on my flight from Vancouver to India. The noise cancellation is better than my old creative headphone. In the old headphone, the static pink noise was very obvious and the new headphone is much quieter. One feature I like is the wire has a volume control, so I can easily adjust the volume. The only complain is the 2-pins to 1-pin in-flight audio adapter is very flimsy. It is broken when I squeezed through the sleeping guy sitting next to me to go to the toilet. The adapter just a piece of cheaper plastic with 2 wires and I can get replacement in HK for less than $3.

Overall, I am very happy with my new noise cancellation headphone. Highly recommended for long flight, it will give you have a good night of quiet sleep.

My Palm Treo has reached the end of its lift, it is time to buy a new cell phone. I have been debating whether or not should I get the iPhone 4. iPhone 4 is sleek but I disapprove the control freak business tactics of Apple. Although almost everyone around me use a iPhone, I decide to go against the trend and embrace Android, a truly open platform compare to Apple’s walled garden. I naturally picked the Samsung Galaxy S, since it is the flagship Android phone and its specification is on par with iPhone 4. I used Rogers, so I have to picked up the AT&T version of Galaxy S Captivate. All Galaxy S versions are essentially the same under the hood, only cosmetic difference on the shell.

Galaxy S is actually slightly lighter and thinner than the iPhone 4. The Captivate looks like a Blackberry while the Vibrate looks like a iPhone. I must admit iPhone has better design of the shell, however that’s purely cosmetic. Galaxy S use normal SIM card, I just plug in my old SIM card it simply works. It comes with 16GB internal RAM and a micro SD card slot, so I can expand the memory if I ever need more, another point winning over iPhone. The screen and sound quality is top-notch, although the screen resolution is slightly less than iPhone 4. The battery is pretty good, I can watch 5 hours of video before runs out of the battery. In stand by mode with Wi-fi data enabled for background update and occasional short phone calls, it used about 20% in a day.

The contact and calendar links up to my gmail and facebook account. Since all the data is stored in Google’s server, I don’t have to worry about sync up with my computer and I can access my data anywhere. Transfer contact from my Palm is really easy, I just need to export the old address book to a vcf file and then import it to gmail, I got all the numbers and addresses into the phone in less than 30 seconds.

The haptic feedback of the screen is nice, every time I press a button or a key on the screen, the phone will vibrate to give me a freedback. The swype keyboard is definitely an improvement over iPhone. I don’t have to lift my finger when I type, I can simply trace the characters on the screen. I think with enough practice, I can type in swype as almost as good as using a real keyboard. The only complain is the stock OS does not come with Chinese input, I have to download the Chinese IME separately.

For most applications your found in iPhone, you can find the pretty much the same on Android. The Android apps market is the equivalent of the iTune app store. I can find most of the apps I need for free. I can also download paid software without paying from Applanet instead of download from the Google Market. iPhone boost to have many more apps than Android, but most of those extra apps belongs to the long tail that nobody really use. Android allows game console emulators, combined with the one stop game ROM download apps, I play virtually every single old games from the 80s and 90s on my phone.

iPhone has has a one stop sync up solution for music and video files with iTunes. Android does not come with any fancy sync up tools. Although Samsung has the Kies software but it is not very user friendly. For better or worse, a Android phone can just act like any other USB driver. I can easily copy files between my computer and my phone using Windows Explorer. I have a few options if I don’t want to plug in the USB cable all the time. I can either run FTP client from the phone to log into the FTP server on my computer or run FTP server on the phone and log in from my computer. The only problem is FTP cannot not handle Chinese character properly. Double Twist Air Sync comes close to a one stop solution, but its file database still has too much influence from iTune and does not let me control the directory structure. Web Sharing seems very promising, I can mount my phone as a network drive on my computer.

The stock Captivate comes with Android 2.1, so I decided to upgrade the OS to 2.2. Flashing the ROM of your cell phone is not for the fainted heart. I bricked my phone a few times before I get the new OS up and running. Instead of using the Samsung stock firmware, I used the Cognition ROM, which is better performance and has more features built into the OS. It double the speed of the stock ROM according to benchmark result. This is a major advantage of Android over iPhone, I can do whatever I want with the cell, including installing a complete new OS.

Android is not only a smart phone, but is really a full function computer inside your pocket. It just happen to be I can also make phone calls from this pocket computer. After all Android is Linux under the hood, with the root control I have complete control any feature of the phone.