Simple Living

Topping off.  Early afternoon coffee break.  Not the same as fresh brewed, but it's quick and convenient. Couldn't find any other mug. Found this in the kitchen. Wow...looked it up.  This is a $75 Tiffany Cup.  Where did this thing come from?

Enjoying some Espresso this weekend.  Someday, I'd love to sip one in an Italian Street Cafe.  For now this will do.

Passed by the Swatch shop and after considering the Sistem51, decided instead for this one..the 'Faux Fox' model SUOB709. Paid Full Retail $70.  While online you can get it for $15-20 less, the savings is marginal. I rather like it and fills a niche between a classic analog dial automatic and a rugged G-Shock digital. - Something to wear and not worry.  Just a casual and comfortable watch.  Sadly, no water resistance so nowhere near the pool or water. I did want something more vibrant and bright, but after trying on various models...the more subdued, classic look just fits me better.  Can't argue with that.

Figure I do a roundup of my modest watch collection. My 3 and 3's. In no particular order: 1.  Rolex Explorer 114270 2.  Omega Seamaster 2531.80 3.  Seiko SSB003 - Quartz 4.  Casio GLX-5600-7 5.  Casio GLX-5600-4 6.  Casio DW-6900-1 I'm comfortable with what I have.  Sure more is great, but I've plenty of options and usually end up wearing one Automatic for most of the week and change up with a G-Shock when outdoors or doing some physical work. Recently took the white G-Shock to the beach and got it blasted by the sand and waves.  No problem. A dress watch might make it complete and the Nomos Tangente is the contender at the moment. To add some color, a quirky and colorful Swatch or a Casio F91WC has crossed my mind.  Although a 5600 in a bright color would do it too, I kinda wanna try something else.  Something light and carefree.

There are many watches similar and comparable to the venerable Rolex Explorer I.  Few automatics with decent specs and at an affordable price come closer than the humble Seiko 5 model SNKK35. These can be found pre-owned for about $50 (brand new they sell for below $80). I personally, owned both the SNKK35 (Black Dial) and SNKK33 (White Dial).  I loved them both for what they offered at such a fantastic price point.   There are many things to love about this simple, yet attractive watch that does have a passing resemblance to a Rolex Explorer I (but at a fraction of the price).  There are five (5) specifics on this watch that I wanted to discuss: Movement Dial Case/Crown Bracelet Overall Movement The Seiko 5 line use the standard 7s26/36 automatic movement.  It's been around for quite a few years and is utilized in nearly all their Seiko 5 watches.  The one noticeable feature lacking on a 7s movement, it doesn't have a hacking second hand, meaning you cannot

Enjoying a cup of coffee on a nice Saturday afternoon.  No reason in particular.  Totally free day.  That's the best.

Woke up early so figured...why not...go to Starbucks and enjoy a morning break.  My two faves..Cup of Joe and The Economist Magazine.  To make it even more fun...music and a good pair of headphones.  ATH-M50's next time around.

Seiko back on NATO strap.  All the pics of the gorgeous Tudor Monte Carlo made me look back at the Seiko Chronographs.  Much more affordable and equally functional.  For now..it'll have to do.  While bracelet and leather strap were adequate...it makes the Seiko more fun to wear it on a NATO strap.  I've accumulated a small collection of a half dozen NATO straps to interchange based on my mood.

Something to brighten my mood...single malt scotch.  While blended is nice and great for many occasions, single malts are reserved for special moments.  I was going to grab a Macallan, Oban or even something peaty...but saw this old standby on sale.  I couldn't resist.  While a watch would be nice.  Or even a PS4 and so many other things.  A good Scotch collection would be so much better.  It's been a while and why I gave it up in the first place eludes my recollection.  At least a half dozen bottles would suffice for a simple collection.  And in a year's time...grow it to a dozen bottles at least.

I purchased the Seiko Chronograph model: SSB003 about four (4) months ago in Nov 2014 and wrote a brief review about it then.  The stock metal bracelet is acceptable and comfortable to wear, but I prefer this watch on a leather strap.  My Hirsch Liberty strap is pulling duty on the SSB003 and contrasts well with the silver dial.  It's my 'poor man' Hamilton Khaki.   Flaws, but worth the price The watch has its flaws...primarily it's very difficult to read in poorly lit areas.  I would have preferred some luminescent materials on the hour markers and hands.  But for the price I paid...this watch has been great and it's perfect size suits me well. Casual Watch I prefer this watch when I want to dress down and sip a cup a coffee at Starbucks and not bring attention to myself.  While I could wear a G-Shock, sometimes it just doesn't suit the occasion.  It's also convenient when I forgot to keep wound the Automatics and need a traditional An

I was able to create a Linux RAID 0 Array with two (2) SanDisk 32gb Ultra USB 3.0 Flash Drives.  I opted for RAID 0 - Striping as it would give me one logical 64gb Drive with theoretically 'double' the speed. Due to the Linux Test Machine having only USB 2.0 ports, the theoretical max it could achieve is limited by USB 2.0 max speed of 480mbits/sec (roughly 60mb/sec).  Initial test of Single USB Flash Drive -- 30mb/sec Read Speed. Create RAID 0 I installed mdadm .  It was conveniently located in the Ubuntu Software Center.  Reviewed other users guides and none worked exactly as described, but after reviewing each one, I was able to piece together the necessary terminal commands and steps to take. Steps Taken: sudo -s Enter Admin Password mdadm -Cv /dev/md0 -l0 -n2 /dev/sdc /dev/sdd mke2fs /dev/md0 mount /dev/md0 /mnt/samsung I had to also mess around in disks to get things to work.  And then renamed the Lost+Found folder to 'USB Files' as that was

So here is my quick review on the SanDisk CZ48 USB 3.0 Ultra Flash Drives. I purchased two (2) 32gb capacity CZ48's and have been using one for several large file transfers.  Paid $ 17/each on Amazon (had I acted sooner, I might have snagged them for $ 14.99/each).   Very quickly...the Read/Write Speeds I've been getting: Read - 75mb/second Write - 25mb/second Optimized for Read Speed Only You can read the customer comments on Amazon and SanDisk makes it clear in their response that the CZ48's only optimized for Read Speed and don't expect much on Write.  25mb/second is still decent and faster than the 4-10mb/second I would get on USB 2.0 drives so it's bearable.  Considering they are priced about the same as a USB 2.0 Cruzer Glide of the same capacity...it makes sense to buy the CZ48 Ultra instead.  But if you want fast Write Speed...skip this drive and consider the Extreme CZ80 or Extreme Pro CZ88. Pros: Decent Read Speed Good Price - abo

It has been almost a year since I last purchased the Audio Technica MTH-50's and they are still going strong.  I blogged about them back around March 2014 of last year.  They still sound great and probably better.  I wouldn't necessary call it 'burn-in'  and think more you get used to how they sound and start to pick up more of the minute details that would be blurry or drowned out in a cheaper pair of headphones.  In hindsight, while the 'white' color seemed cool...they pick up dirt and crap a lot easier and especially the pleather headband is showing some wear and tear.  I can see this eventually peeling and cracking at some point.  This doesn't detract from the sound quality and they will remain usable for a long time.  However, I do wish they had invested in higher quality materials for the headband material. Recommendation? Would I still recommend the MTH50's?  Yes.  These are worth the money.  The only other pair I might consider in this range

Linux Distributions have improved from when I last attempted to install Ubuntu in 2009.  Lubuntu 14.10 was effortless in terms of installation and nearly everything is laid-out in a very intuitive manner.  I was literally up and running within minutes and in maybe two (2) hours completely running Linux on the Toshiba Netbook NB505. Specs The Toshiba is a very weak machine and spec-wise nothing amazing.  It has a puny Intel Atom N455 1.67ghz Processor, 1gb Ram and 250gb HDD.  That's about it.  Running it on Windows 7 Starter was a painful experience and while I got it tweaked where it was reasonably functional, there were certain things you just could not do such as watch a full movie or surf the internet.  Otherwise, some basic typing was all the Netbook could offer.  With Linux however, it has given the Netbook a new lease on life and while marginally faster on boot times and most other tasks, it did make watching a movie or surfing the internet more reasonable.  There