Maui - Stream

This was on my first full day on my visit.  The plan was to hike inland up the valley to see how far we can go.  Our guide was Chris B. who has lived on this island for over 25 years and has intimate knowledge of the land but it was his first time on this trail.

It was a great hike going up and down the valley and following the water supply line to it's source.  Even though we went a good ways in we were not able to finish the trail as it ends at a hill with a tunnel that has been locked.  It did give me an opportunity to test out my new camera toy, a new Hoya ND x16 filter.

There was a small stream at the end of the trail and I followed it up to see if I could take something nice but this is all I ended up with.

[caption id="attachment_368" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Stream deep in the valley.[/caption]

I know this photo doesn't do the FULL resolution justice as I currently have it as my desktop wallpaper (1920x1200).  I guess to make it easier I have cropped the image down to focus on the main subject.

[caption id="attachment_367" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Cropped - Maui Stream with Mosquito Swarm[/caption]

What is not shown here are the thousand of mosquitos that are swarming me.  I usually always carry bug spray in my camera bag but due to TSA regulations I had to leave the canister at home and being my very first morning I haven't had the chance to buy a new bottle. To compound the whole problem I was in shorts and cut off shirt.  As expected I was badly eaten up while I was taking these photos and could only hope that they will turn out well for all the trouble that I had to endure.  At the end of it I believe it was worth it but it still makes me cringe and very itchy thinking about the swarm of mosquitos buzzing all around.

Facebook plug-in for Wordpress

Completing the Facebook Plugin installation is no easy task as the last part is to submit the 'Publish' action to allow Wordpress to auto publish posts. If you're having trouble here is :

How to Publish to Timeline

Review the official instructions from Facebook first: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/opengraph/tutorial/

There are additional instructions here that helped me. http://onlytipsandtricks.com/facebook/how-to-publish-actions-on-timeline/

However, the code used in there did not work for me and failed.  After many hours spent playing around with the code I have the following:

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" dir="ltr" lang="en-US"
      xmlns:fb="https://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml"> 
<head prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns# fb: http://ogp.me/ns/fb# article: http://ogp.me/ns/article#">
  <title>OG Tutorial App</title>
  <meta property="fb:app_id" content="[YOUR_APP_ID]" /> 
  <meta property="og:type" content="article" /> 
  <meta property="og:title" content="Sample article" /> 
  <meta property="og:image" content="http://nopenonlytext.tnguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/maui-2012.jpg" /> 
  <meta property="og:description" content="Sample object Publishing" /> 
  <meta property="og:url" content="http://nopenonlytext.tnguyen.com/test.html">

  <script type="text/javascript">
  function postPublish()
  {
      FB.api(
        '/me/Publish',
        'post',
        { article: 'http://nopenonlytext.tnguyen.com/test.html' },
        function(response) {
           var msg = 'Error occured';
           if (!response || response.error) {		
              if (response.error) {
		msg += "\n\nType: "+response.error.type+"\n\nMessage: "+response.error.message;
              }				
              alert(msg);
           } else {
              alert('Cook was successful! Action ID: ' + response.id);
           }
        });
  }
  </script>
</head>
<body>
  <div id="fb-root"></div>
  <script>
    window.fbAsyncInit = function() {
      FB.init({
        appId      : '[YOUR_APP_ID]', // App ID
        status     : true, // check login status
        cookie     : true, // enable cookies to allow the server to access the session
        xfbml      : true  // parse XFBML
      });
    };

    // Load the SDK Asynchronously
    (function(d){
      var js, id = 'facebook-jssdk'; if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
      js = d.createElement('script'); js.id = id; js.async = true;
      js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js";
      d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(js);
    }(document));
  </script>

  <h3>Sample Object</h3>
  <p>
    <img title="Maui" 
         src="http://nopenonlytext.tnguyen.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/maui-2012.jpg" />
  </p>

  <br>
  <form>
    <input type="button" value="Publish" onclick="postPublish()" />
  </form>
</body>
</html>

You can see the complete code also here from when I created the test page.
http://nopenonlytext.tnguyen.com/test.html

I hope this helps but feel free to ask me any questions.

As I'm having issues preserving the HTML code I have in this post since switching to "Visual" from "HTML" reformats the HTML code. I have attached the HTML code for reference when I find that it's all mangled I can revert it back.
html-code-for-post

Expanded Layout to 900+px

I didn't realized that manipulating this layout would be so difficult.  I spent many hours doing image manipulations and CSS just to increase the layout by 200 Pixels. I can't imagine trying to do it again in the future as it's so troublesome.  In honor of my new layout I would like to share my most recent photo from my trip to Maui.

[caption id="attachment_337" align="aligncenter" width="900"] On the way to Lahaina just outside of Kahului on Kuihelani Hwy[/caption]

Transfer Compact Flash (CF) Card Photos to iPad

If you've read my other posts about transfering photos wirelessly to your iPad I've mentioned how wonderful it is and at the same time how unreliable it is if your camera uses CF and not SD.  This is my workflow process of how to transfer files from my CF card to my iPad.

Why am I going about this laborious method?

1. The Eye-Fi card is too unreliable when using SD to CF adapter.  I constantly get errors when writing and reading to the card.  Did I just lose all my photos? WTH just happened? Why can't I see my photos! It freaks me out when doing important photoshoots!


2. The Eye-Fi is too slow when writing to the card. The camera has to buffer the images and I have to wait for the write to finish. I have the Canon 5D Mark II card, a basic Raw image is already 20MB+ not including JPEG processing.


3. On important shoots I like to take RAW+JPEG, when inserting the CF card into the iPad the OS sees both RAW+JPEG and thus downloads everything.  That's about 30MB - 50MB a photo, I don't have that kind of space in the iPad or the TIME to wait!


4. This is the most reliable way for me to transfer images from my CF card into the iPad without any hick-ups. Works every time. I don't have to wait for Eye-Fi to transfer or look for the wireless pairing or care about read/write errors. I don't have to worry about running out of space. Worry free every time.


5. Peace of mind knowing that I still have all my photos.

When using the CF card and iPad CF card reader the following is displayed



iOS knows that I have taken RAW+JPEG together and will therefore import both files and not just let me import the JPEG fail.  See above description of why it's a fail.

 

NOTE: This only works for JailBroken iPads and you have the CF reader.  As of this writing this worked for JailBroken iOS 5.1

To circumvent the above issue I prefer to use shareware app called iFile since it gives me the exact file structure and ability to read from my CF card.

Here are the steps to transfer files from the CF card using iFile.

Step 1

 I open iFile and click on the 'Shortcuts' at the bottom and select Flash Drive which will show the files from the CF card.

Step 2

If the files are not grouped click the Preference button and 'Sort by Extension'.

Step 3

Hit the 'Edit' button at the top left and select the JPG images.

Step 4

Click the 'Clipboard' icon and select 'Copy/Link'

Step 5

Navigate to directory /var/mobile/Media/DCIM/101APPLE

You can also use tabs in iFiles note the '3' in above image, it showing that there are three tabs, see below. It helps with traversing between different folders.

Step 6

Click on the 'Clipboard' icon again and 'Paste' the previously copied photos.

Step 7

Navigate to /var/mobile/Media/PhotoData

Step 8

Click the 'Edit' button at top right and select the Photos.sqlite and PhotosAux.sqlite file.

Step 9

Delete the selected SQLite files.

Step 10

Now open up the photo app and it will regenerate the SQLite files and generate the thumbnails again.  If the photo app is already opened close it out and restart it.

From there you should see your photos.  Thanks for reading!

Getting in Shape

Last year when I read the following post: http://www.bootcampkzx.com/bodytransformation/

I really got inspired to get back into shape again.  During college and even the first few years after I was still in fairly good shape.  However in the past 2 years I have let myself go a bit.  Only occasionally going to the gym to push a few weights and running to the fridge for cardio.

The following is my one year dedication to the process, how I went about trying to get in shape and staying in shape, along with my injuries.

The Process

SHORT VERSION

I will summarize the process I went through.

1. At first I did alot of cardio, running in the morning and the evening for no more than 2 miles.  When I say 'run' I really mean 'jog', usually at 11 to 12 min/mile pace.


2. I cut/reduced my carb intake.  I basically did something that is basically sacrilegious for asians, I gave up rice.  It wasn't that hard. However, I could not give up noodles. I ate it about once a month, 3 packs!


3. I still occasionally drink, I booze it up, with beer, liquor, wine, mixed drinks, whatever, booze it up and then snack. I call those my break days.  It happens about once a month, maybe more?


4. With consistently working out, running, and doing 'Insanity', I injured myself occasionally
   
   
   
   1. Shin splints first two weeks of going too hard too fast.  Had to take a 2 week break to let shins heal. Bought Vibrams to reduce heel strike and pronation.
   
   
   2. Chronic lower back pain. It hurt more and more as I increased my daily running distance up to 5 miles. Had to stop cardio or any high impact movement for 2 months. Visited Chiropractor and Acupuncturist to help with the healing.
   
   
   3. Rib injury causing me to go lighter on the weights and minimize any cardio.
   
   
   
   


5. Keeping a constant routine and go at it hard when I'm feeling healthy.


6. Workout buddies! Someone to motivate, push you on, and make you feel wimpy, yeah it really does make a difference.

UNABRIDGE VERSION

The beginning (1-3 months).

I started by simply trying to curb my carb in-take and doing cardio.

Running every morning or as often as I could and working out at the gym.  I ran 1 to 2 miles (more of a 11 to 12 minute mile jog) during the morning and some more in the afternoon after work.  I got painful shin splints after the first two weeks of running.  Doing too much too fast.  I had to stop for at least 2 weeks.  I just walked around instead to keep active.  To compensate for this issue I bought Vibrams.  It helped with how I pronate, remove or minimize heel strikes and helped with my posture.

To increase the intensity of my workout I also started doing 'Insanity'.   After work I would do 'Insanity' and then run 2 to 5 miles, with a total of about 2 hours of cardio and 1 hr of weight training at the gym at work.

The diet was the most difficult part as I had to adjust my eating habits.  I basically stopped eating rice.  The hardest part was cutting out noodles as I love it so much.  I was just now more aware of how much carb I was eating.  Besides that I ate very much the same.

I loved how I was building up my running endurance where jogging 2 miles was easy and could achieve 5 miles without any extra strain.  However, those prolong running times caused my lower back pain to be more agonizing.  I would have iced my back or taking better care of stretching more but I did not.  I blocked out the pain knowing that I was making great improvements in my running abilties.  I've achieved an all time benchmark by running 10 miles!

The Middle (3 to 9 months)

After consistently exercising everyday and eating well my body was changing and not all for the better, it was starting to feel the stress!  Neglecting my chronic lower back pain caused more problems.  By the 6 month mark I was going to the chiropractor 3 times a week for almost 4 weeks.  He stressed that I needed to stop running and doing high impact exercises.  Something I wasn't willing to do completely, but I did stop running as often as I did.  I changed my routine around to doing more weight training and cardio to 3 times a week.  Monday and Friday 'Insanity' and a jog Saturday morning, weight training Tues, Wed, and Thur.  Sunday veg out!

Even with the chiropractor my back pain did not go away.  I tried an alternative by going to to acupuncturist. He said he could fix me.  All he ended up doing was emptying my pockets to help make my wallet lighter and telling me I shouldn't try to put a brick in my back pocket. That was a waste!

My progress became stagnant because I couldn't continue to run and my back pain made me have to take things easy.  I believe it was a two month period were I doing very little cardio.  Things started to change when I was able to have workout partners from work.  We were able to motivate one another and really kept our routine.  It also helped me increase my intensity.  I believe in a 3 month period from late January to March I received the most gain as you can see from my Day 240 mark.

The One Year Mark

With work constantly getting in the way of working out I fit in as much as possible.  I know that diet would trumped any exercise, thus, I made sure to keep my calories and junk food intake to a minimum.  I also started doing something in the 11 month that I been waiting to do for so long, joined a self defence class.  The cardio in these classes are intense and for once made me have to eat more carbs.  It was this slight increase in more cardio that I started to tone down a bit more.

Continuation

I still haven't reached my goal of being really toned but I'm happy with the results so far. I just have to continue what I'm doing and maybe reduce my body fat down to 8%.  I know it'll be a tall order for me but nothing as been easy so far.