| Title |
Excerpt |
Author |
Date |
Total Comments |
Recent Comment |
| Not So Smart Advice On What Not to Buy in 2010 From SmartMoney |
Two of the ten items on the “don’t buy” list I vehemently disagree with are external hard drives and compact digital cameras. With respect to external hard drives the author suggests that because of the convenience and cost of online backup services like Carbonite and Mozy, there’s no reason to… |
Jake Richter |
01/20/10 |
0 |
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| Windows 7 Security and Mapped or Network Drives |
The issue is that the default “protect the user from his own stupidity” settings for Windows 7 result in default network drive mappings being done in a non-Administrator mode. What that means is that any application being run as an administrator, such as pretty much any installation program, will not… |
Jake Richter |
01/11/10 |
0 |
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| Sidekick LX 2009 is Disappointing |
Newer models over the years have become smaller, added additional communications bands (quad band now), better camera capabilities, and occasionally better connectivity. The Sidekick is developed by a company called Danger, and manufactured by Sharp. However, Danger was acquired by Microsoft in the last year. I don’t know if this… |
Jake Richter |
06/03/09 |
0 |
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| Bonaire Launches “Spring Into Summer” Promotions |
The promotional campaigns include an on-line effort in the form of participation in electronic newsletters published by Sport Diver, Scuba Diving, and Caribbean Travel and Life magazines, as well as an on-line contest and home page lead on Caribbean Travel and Life’s web site. The on-line campaign highlights special tour… |
Jake Richter |
05/15/09 |
0 |
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| New Weekly Non-Stop Flight - Miami/Bonaire |
The weekly flight will take place every Saturday throughout the year. Insel Air flight #7I 907 will depart Bonaire at 11:55 a.m. arriving into Miami at 3:05 p.m. The return flight #7I 908 will depart Miami at 4:25 p.m. arriving into Bonaire at 7:35 p.m. Insel Air will use either… |
Jake Richter |
05/06/09 |
0 |
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| Missing E-Mail Notifications of Bonaire News |
In any case, we are very pleased to report that after extensive research and effort, we have both located a new (and hopefully more stable) service provider for the auto-notification function, and have also successfully rewritten the program for our mailing list system to resuming redistribution of notifications to our… |
Jake Richter |
11/02/08 |
0 |
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| ASUS Eee PC 1000H - Quick Review |
At first blush, the Eee PC 1000H is pretty much what I was looking for. It’s got a 6-7 hour battery life and it boots (and resumes from hibernation) in about 15-20 seconds on average. Plus, I was easily able to upgrade it to Windows XP Professional SP3 and get… |
Jake Richter |
10/02/08 |
0 |
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| Commodity Obsolescence - Hewlett-Packard z565 Digital Entertainment System |
We figured this would be easy to resolve, so we contacted Hewlett-Packard’s support department via on-line chat, got the part number in question, and then discovered that the power supply for the z565, a machine which was less than two years old, had already been discontinued and Hewlett-Packard no longer… |
Jake Richter |
10/02/08 |
0 |
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| Best Buy’s New Premier Black Service Already Lacks Quality |
Talk about a tease. The promise was that my Best Buy Premier Black Concierge could help me get out-of-stock items - and I’ve been looking for a third Wii Fit without success (this one’s for my neighbor). Guess I’ll have to try more ordinary routes. Turns out I’m not the… |
Jake Richter |
09/03/08 |
0 |
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| Facebook Is a Sad Reminder of Age |
Imagine my surprise and disappointment as I’m scrolling through the list of 1985 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduates to find that most of them look old. Some are balding, some have white hair, others look a fair bit older than “distinguished”, and a couple downright geriatric. Granted, we all graduated 23… |
Jake Richter |
09/03/08 |
0 |
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| GeoPic II Geotagging for Nikon DSLRs |
I ordered mine from B&H Photo for just under $300 and have been playing with it a bit for the last week in New York City and have some pros and cons to share. First and foremost, using a GPS geotagging device in the canyons of New York City is… |
Jake Richter |
08/27/08 |
0 |
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| Buenos Aires Cafe - Good, Quick, and Inexpensive Dining Downtown |
The Cafe offers both on-site dining in an attractive wood covered patio - including table service, and also has take-away (which we opted for). There’s also a counter/bar area where food and beverages can be ordered and eaten. In order to properly sample the variety of offerings at Buenos Aires… |
Jake Richter |
07/07/08 |
0 |
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| Restaurant Reviews - Barcelona |
For now, I just wanted to note I have blended my review methodology (The Richter Scale) from this site on the other site in reviewing several Barcelona restaurants: Txapela Iggy El Choquito Restaurante Brasserie Flo Barkeno Cocina Mediterranea |
Jake Richter |
04/21/08 |
0 |
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| Comic Book Creator 2.0 - Cool tool with many possibilities |
Once we overcame the Vista difficulties with the assistance of Planetwide’s excellent technical support service, we played with the software a bit to see what we could do. You start off by selecting a format for your comic book using supplied templates, most of which focus on letter size pages.… |
Jake Richter |
04/14/08 |
1 |
09/07/08 |
| Save Windows XP - Sign the Petition |
In short, Microsoft Vista is the bane of our networked computer existence here at Richter Scale central. So much so that when I was shopping around for a new ultra-portable notebook last month, I ended up foregoing the Sony TZ series I really wanted and instead chose the Fujitsu Lifebook… |
Jake Richter |
04/14/08 |
0 |
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| Amazon’s Media Downloads - MP3s and Unbox |
The library of music content at Amazon is very extensive, with even brand new content available upon release by the record labels. And the prices aren’t too bad either - generally cheaper than the same music at iTunes, especially when you buy music by the album. I found album prices… |
Jake Richter |
04/14/08 |
0 |
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| Apple TV Invades My Bedroom |
The Apple TV was a breeze to install, as I opted for the direct-wired Ethernet connection instead of connecting to my slower WiFi network. The iTunes software installation on my notebook immediately recognized the Apple TV and started moving content over to it as well. One glitch I ran into… |
Jake Richter |
04/14/08 |
0 |
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| A Little Early - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! |
The above image is composed using the bark of a coconut tree, flower blossoms (including that of a Plumeria/Frangipani on top), and shells of small cowries found while wandering the beach, as well as a cork we found). The result is our Tropical Christmas Tree. With that, we’d like to… |
Jake Richter |
12/18/07 |
0 |
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| New Art Inspired By Fiji Trip - Fijian Spotfin Lionfish |
One of the many different (from Bonaire) and new (to me) creatures I found underwater were lionfish. I saw two different species here, one of which was the Fijian Spotfin Lionfish. The colors and textures of the fish were so impressive that I felt inspired to create a new piece… |
Jake Richter |
12/05/07 |
0 |
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| The Traveling Richters |
That site is located at http://www.TheTravelingRichters.com. Please check it out. All travel related posts and reviews that would have otherwise gone here in this blog will now appear there. I will continue posting technology comments and reviews here, however. |
Jake Richter |
10/22/07 |
1 |
11/30/07 |
| Halo 3 at Midnight? Atmosphere is Underwhelming… |
There are about 80 other people in line with me and my daughter, and I am pretty sure I am the oldest human here (at 43). It’s all a pretty sedate crowd too. No one is wearing Master Chief uniforms or looks (much) like an alien. About half the folks… |
Jake Richter |
09/25/07 |
0 |
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| Travel News: American Express Platinum or Centurion & Admiral’s Club |
This parallels similar club access already offered to higher level AMEX card holders for Continental, Delta, and Northwest airport clubs. Kudos to AMEX and AA for working this one out (although I already have my lifetime Admiral’s Club membership, so it doesn’t do me much good). Unfortunately, the new relationship… |
Jake Richter |
08/14/07 |
0 |
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| E3: The Big Three Console Makers - Style Over Substance |
Attendees fill the Microsoft Press Briefing. (Photo by Jake Richter) Microsoft As has been the tradition, Microsoft went first with a press briefing, this time held at the Santa Monica High School Amphitheatre. To help reduce butt pain from sitting on stone benches for nearly two hours, Microsoft was kind… |
Jake Richter |
07/16/07 |
0 |
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| The new E3 - Smaller and … |
After the 2006 show, several key exhibitors indicated they would not return if the show format remained the same, and thus the old E3 ceased to exist, and from its ashes was born the E3 Media & Business Summit - this year’s “new and improved” E3 show. A three-day event… |
Jake Richter |
07/16/07 |
0 |
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| Review: Honest Technology’s IPTV & CAM Anywhere Deluxe |
I’ve used the IPTV & CAM Anywhere Deluxe on and off for the last few months and find it an interesting product. I have also seen a number of features added and fixed via the built-in automatic update system (very convenient). Because the IPTV & CAM Anywhere Deluxe includes the… |
Jake Richter |
06/21/07 |
0 |
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| Planet Earth on Blu-ray Disc - Too Much “Noise”? |
I finally got the package in recently and the family and I settled down for a viewing, and found, yes, that the footage was incredible, but equally incredible was the horrific amount of shimmer and static noise that appeared in many scenes. I was appalled that what was being called… |
Jake Richter |
06/08/07 |
2 |
08/12/07 |
| Necessary Guide for Living With the Dutch |
The book is called The UnDutchables, and it’s a humorous dissection of Dutch culture as well as the drivers and motivators behind observable Dutch behavior. While The UnDutchables has an obviously strong link to mother Holland and activities there, and is intended primarily for English speaking expats living in The… |
Jake Richter |
06/07/07 |
3 |
08/21/07 |
| Review - Dragon’s Lair on Blu-ray Disc |
Dragon’s Lair was effectively an interactive cartoon, where at particular (and frequent) points you needed to use a joy stick and indicate which direction the protagonist - Dirk the Daring - should go in order to avoid impending doom. You typically could choose one of four (or less directions) for… |
Jake Richter |
06/06/07 |
0 |
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| New Bonaire WebCams |
View from the new Bonaire Pier ReefCam View from the updated Bonaire Wreck ReefCam The new Yellow Sub PierCam The above are images from these various cameras. The Pier ReefCam is an interesting design. I used a waterproof NTSC bullet camera (so named because of its shape), encased it in… |
Jake Richter |
06/06/07 |
0 |
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| Bonaire Tourism Statistics for 2006 |
The report provides very detailed statisical information regarding the various data points that TCB collects data on, as well as an analysis of what those numbers mean in the context of prior years and various other happenings on Bonaire and elsewhere in the world. The complete report can be found… |
Jake Richter |
05/25/07 |
0 |
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| Planon’s DocuPen RC800 Color |
The $299 DocuPen RC800 looks like a pen on steroids, although perhaps the term “wand” might be more appropriate. The DocuPen needs to be bigger than a pen though, so it can scan an 8.5” wide piece of paper in one pass. The DocuPen is lightweight, has an integrated battery,… |
Jake Richter |
05/16/07 |
2 |
06/06/07 |
| Halo 3 Release Date Announced |
In conjunction with the ramp up for Halo 3, the open multiplayer Beta of Halo 3 kicked off today. For those who had early access, there was a patch issued this morning for the game - content unknown (at least to me). Incidentally, I did notice that in single user… |
Jake Richter |
05/16/07 |
0 |
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| The Halo 3 Beta |
It’s also possible to play split-screen with a second local player in one of the training modes offered through the Xbox Live set-up. Playing with more than two local players in an on-line game is not enabled. The Xbox Live live lobby set-up is a bit tedious, as you spend… |
Jake Richter |
05/15/07 |
0 |
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| Film of Bonaire In The 1950s |
The film can be found here. Once you pull up the page at that link, click on the link in the left column which says “BONAIRE: Eiland van rust”, and a window will pop up. The first time you pull up the video page, you will be asked (in Dutch)… |
Jake Richter |
05/10/07 |
1 |
05/17/07 |
| Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance Welcomes Special Guests |
In an unprecedented move, in December 2006, after a visit to Bonaire, the Dutch reigning monarch, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, took the decision to become a patron of DCNA, and she reaffirmed her patronage in writing earlier this month. The visit of DCNA’s special guest is due to the… |
Jake Richter |
05/10/07 |
0 |
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| Our Annual New Year’s Day Party - Cancelled Indefinitely |
This past New Year’s Day pot-luck marked our 22nd year of having an annual pot luck event. It first originated as the Wing-Ding-A-Thon (due to my addiction to Buffalo Wings) held each October starting in 1985 for a few years, and then evolved into the “Yeah! It’s Summer Party” (and… |
Jake Richter |
05/07/07 |
0 |
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| Bonaire Bird Count Scheduled for Sunday, May 13th |
The bird count is one of a number of activities organized as part of the Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival, and its intent is to determine the population of Yellow Orioles and Troupials on Bonaire, as the numbers of Yellow Orioles is believed to be in decline, threatened by the non-native… |
Jake Richter |
05/07/07 |
0 |
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| Photos From My Trip To Japan & Taiwan |
The original plan had been to visit Tokyo for a full week of both sightseeing and business prospecting, and then head home to Bonaire. However after I had already made all my plans I was informed I needed to go to Taipei, Taiwan, for a business meeting, right in the… |
Jake Richter |
04/30/07 |
2 |
05/14/07 |
| Bonaire’s Culinary Team Holding Fundraiser Dinners |
Fund raising dinners are planned for the following evenings (all of these are Sundays): May 6, May 13, May 27, June 3, and June 10. All fund raising dinners will be held at the Chez Nous teaching restaurant which is part of the SGB (high school). Seating is limited to… |
Jake Richter |
04/30/07 |
1 |
02/06/08 |
| Xbox Live Account Management and Support Needs an Overhaul |
When the Xbox 360 came out, I got two separate Xbox Live Gold accounts for similar reasons (and thanks to Xploder’s Xbox 360 Cheat Saves I can actually use the same Xbox Live Gold Gamertag on two different Xbox 360s, so my third Xbox 360 shares with one of my… |
Jake Richter |
04/26/07 |
5 |
05/02/08 |
| The Perfect Alarm Clock For Teenagers |
The folks at Hammacher Schlemmer are selling something they call the Flying Alarm Clock (pictured above). This $39.95 clock offers a rather unique feature - a rotor which is launched into the air when the alarm goes off, and which needs to be retrieved and reinserted into the clock to… |
Jake Richter |
04/19/07 |
0 |
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| Windows Vista Is A Disappointment |
Using Vista itself was a bit different, obviously, than using Windows XP, which we have all gotten comfortable with. Vista is flashier and prettier - that’s for sure. But on the whole, I still much prefer Windows XP. Here’s why: - Vista’s prompts asking if I’m sure I want to… |
Jake Richter |
04/19/07 |
2 |
05/03/07 |
| On the Go With iGo Power Solutions |
As anyone who travels with lots of gadgets know, you generally need a separate charger for each device, which makes for a lot of extra bulk in one’s carry-on luggage (I don’t know about you, but I would never check vital chargers in my checked luggage). About four years ago… |
Jake Richter |
03/21/07 |
0 |
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| Live Blog Visuals - The Bloglines Image Wall |
The Bloglines Image Wall is a 6x4 grid of images, generated dynamically, showing the latest images from blogs that Bloglines has indexed into their databases. And it changes while you watch. And if you want to see what blog a particular image comes from, just click on it to go… |
Jake Richter |
03/09/07 |
1 |
04/16/07 |
| Should Bonaire Worry About Chavez? |
The various blogs are: - Strategy Page - The Dutch Defend Their World Empire - The Dignified Rant - Dutch Treat - Strategy Page - Might Venezuela Looks for Justice - Pito’s Blog - What Would Happen If Venezuela Invaded Curacao In reviewing the above blogs, it appears the primary… |
Jake Richter |
03/08/07 |
3 |
03/15/07 |
| The Wiki Presidency |
Other discussions at that conference included ones dealing with the impact of electronic communications on print media, and my aging brain slowly put together all sorts of disparate pieces. The result of my ruminations was a question: “Can the people of the U.S. elect a President with the same tools… |
Jake Richter |
03/08/07 |
0 |
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| Blu-ray Disc Versus HD-DVD - What Sony Should Do With The PS3 |
That compares with just a few hundred thousand HD-DVD players in the same time frame - about 262,000 in 2006 (170,000 standalone units per the HD-DVD group, and 92,000 HD-DVD add-on Xbox 360 drives), and some relatively equally smaller number in January 2007. For argument’s sake, let’s say that by… |
Jake Richter |
03/02/07 |
0 |
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| Fair Use Irks The RIAA |
"Fair Use” is a long standing doctrine under U.S. copyright law, which permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission from copyright holders for scholarly efforts and review. The fair use doctrine has also been applied to the right of consumers to make backups of software they have purchased. Under… |
Jake Richter |
03/01/07 |
0 |
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| Jake’s Video Game Work-Out Plan |
Since being on the diet, I’ve dropped a lot of weight (was down around 205 pounds, but am now holding steady around 210), losing the jowls, man breasts, and enough around my midsection to drop from a 38-40 waist to a 32-34 waist (and a whole new wardrode). And my… |
Jake Richter |
02/28/07 |
0 |
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| The Family Which Plays Nintendo DS Together, Stays Together… |
However, last week while on a partial vacation in Santa Fe, New Mexico (where we had three wonderful dinners with with old friend Ed Bott (a CNET blogger and author of one of Amazon.com’s top selling computer books, Windows Vista Inside Out) and his wife Judy), we discovered a new… |
Jake Richter |
02/28/07 |
0 |
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