Category Archives: Personal

iPhone Review

So… I couldn’t resist and got an iPhone – well, got it for a friend of mine in Brazil but obviously I’m testing it already before I take it to him 🙂
The interface itself, as everyone knows, is just the slickest phone interface out there… and it is fast… no waiting to go from one application or menu to the other… sure, the EDGE/GSM network is a lot slower than EVDO/CDMA data network but really, it’s good enough.
The beauty of it I think is that the improvements that can (and will be done I am sure) are all software tweaks. These are my 2 cents:

  • Copy/Paste functionality
  • External iPod controls (ability to change songs without taking phone out of pocket)
  • Be able to change the order of the main menu items
  • Phone links on web pages and emails should ask to call or SMS – now only calls
  • Mail – be able to create folders and rules
  • Rotate screen on all apps – only iPod, Photo and Web have it – would be nice to have it on mail as well
  • Week view on callendar
  • Auto text completion/suggestion not only wrong keyboard input correction
  • Scientific and unit conversion calculator
  • Foreign language support – basic accents
  • Select all, mark as read, and delete all in mail

Otherwise it is fantastic!!

Notes on Chinese Tea

Was looking through some stuff left from the trip and found this very interesting list of teas and their effects that I got while I was in Beijing (had to “translate” a little from the strange English)
1. Litchi Tea (Black Tea) – stimulates the appetite. Add rose bud tea to reduce age spots.
2. Green Tea – enhances memory, reduces alcohol and cigarette hangovers, postpones aging and resists cancer
3. Imperial Oolong Tea – warms up the stomach, improves blood circulation, reduces inflammations, add red dates to improve your blood quality.
4. Jasmine Tea – cools you down, improves live functions, improves the eyesight and makes you resistant to radiation(!!??)
5. Pu-erh Tea – lowers blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. Burns fat and makes you sleep. Add fresh ginger slices to treat arthritis.
Enjoy you teas!

Back in the US thoughts

So… back in NY for almost a week now… it is hot and humid here and all very familiar.
I think what strikes me the most, comparing the US to Asia (Japan mostly) is that everything is big here – the streets, the sidewalks, the cars, the food portions, and the people.
The subway though… ridiculously small, no air conditioning in the stations, and very old and dirty. Granted that it is one of the oldest subway systems in the world but in a world hub like NY you would expect a little more out of it.
I heard that the trains cannot run any faster because they can’t really tell exactly where each train is once they leave the station! In Japan they inform you on multiple LCD screens within the train, how minutes it will take to each station along that train’s path. They could probably tell you how many seconds as well!
In any case, I’m loving to be back… been hanging out at home mostly getting me jet lag off and organizing my photos, computer and starting to think about next semester at school and future projects 🙂

Last Day in LA

Well… Venice… hehehe… ended up not sight seeing in LA except for this last day where I got Burn’s car and went to Santa Barbara with Weber – another Brazilian who was visiting a friend there.
At night we all went out to a very animated Italian Restaurant on Washington and went back to Burn’s place for my “good bye” event 🙂

Venice day 3

Having a great time here with Burns… this was the perfect last stop for my trip… sunny beach and great people. Tomorrow I definitely have to go out and explore the rest of LA 🙂
Here are some pictures of the bike ride and the beach with Burn’s friends and a video of some parts of the bike ride.

Venice – first pictures

Almost over the jet lag… ended up staying awake for something like 30 hours… met up with Burns for his famous “innocent” beer… ended up going to Santa Monica pier where live music was being played and people were hanging out on the beach… followed by two or three other bars. Very interesting scene!