For Halloween 2002 Justin was this cute bumblebee! Here we see Auntie Pina carrying Justin with Alvin Lam's mom in the background. Thanks to Corrina for letting Justin borrow what was Alex's old Halloween costume!

Happy Halloween! Here we have Katie Lam (chickee duck), Lauren Ho (leopard), our little Justin (bumblebee), and Alex Lam (dinosaur) ready to go "trick-or-treating" at the Lam's apartment complex. Next year baby Kaitlyn Ho will also join in on the fun! Thanks to Corrina Lam for organizing the fantastic Halloween party! Too bad Alvin missed out on the festivities with the kids too!

Just upgraded Movable Type from version 2.21 to 2.51. Process involved downloading Movable Type 2.51 Upgrade Version, uploading files to my server's mt directory (replacing old files/directories), setting permissions of *.cgi files to 755 (chmod 755 *.cgi), deleting mt-upgrade*.cgi files (rm mt-upgrade*.cgi), then rebuilding site. Important: For extlib directory, transfer over contents of that directory — don't just replace entire directory. Full upgrade instructions are here. Not sure what new features I can take advantage of yet... Local blog search would be nice. Will see...

Oh, before I upgraded, I exported all my entries to a text file (Utilities => Import/Export button) and I FTP'd over the db directory on my server to my local disk as backup.

If you use Mac OS X and you always want to be able to see your Mac's network and hard disk activity, I highly recommend DiskSpy Solid. The US$5.00 shareware puts 2 indicators — 1 for network activity and 1 for disk activity — in your menubar. The indicator on the left is network activity and the indicator on the right is disk activity (in snapshot above, network is 3rd icon from left and disk is 4th from left). The indicator tells you whether network data is flowing in or out (or when data is being written to or read from disk).

You can customize the look of the indicators (or use your own) simply by using different TIFF files in the program's resource. Instructions and 9 sets of indicators (the author calls them "themes") are provided. I am using the Arrows theme but I swapped the DiskSpyRead.tiff and the DiskSpyWrite.tiff files so that when data from the network is flowing in, the arrow points down (default is to point up) and vice versa. DiskSpy (no "Solid") is freeware but only shows disk activity.

This photo is a couple days old but today, Justin for the first time is crawling quite steadily — not falling on his face as he had been doing earlier, at least!

Just tonight he started doing this — sucking his UPPER lip! About a month back, for a few days, he was into sucking his LOWER lip! Is this a sign he's teething?

Here's just a cute picture of naked Justin behind his beach ball. Taken on October 22, 2002.

When Justin wakes us up at 5:30am to 6am every morning, these days this is often how we'll find him — peeping out of his crib, wide awake and trying to figure out what we're doing (sleeping, of course!). Amazing how babies learn to roll over on their tummies, sit upright, and then stand up on their own.

Justin surprised us on October 19, 2002 when he stood, balancing on his own without any support for about 20 seconds! He didn't get up and stand on his own but he was able to balance on his own for quite that long while.

We use the excellent PaperPort Deluxe 8.0 software for scanning and management of our scans. PaperPort software is US$99.00 and works with just about any scanner (any with TWAIN drivers) but sheetfed ones work particularly well.

I recommend Visioneer's sheetfed scanner + PaperPort Deluxe bundles for US$199.99.

PaperPort has its own compressed file format that supports multipage scans: MAX. There's free PaperPort Viewer software for both PCs and Macs that can open these MAX files. Two other common formats used for multipage scans are multipage TIFF and Acrobat PDF. Note that TIFF supports several compression schemes so there are a number of TIFF formats.

Well I compared these 3 file formats (MAX, TIFF, PDF) to try and find the best one for multipage scans. We basically want a file format that produces highly compressed files that are readable with the least amount of hassle on both PCs and Macs.

Here are the results of the quick comparison I did:

Software: PaperPort Deluxe 8.0
(Adobe Acrobat needs to be installed in order to save to PDF format)
Scan Mode: Fax, Filing, or Copying (1-bit, 200dpi, text imaging mode)
Test Document: 9-page b/w text document

MAX = 227KB
TIFF multipage-group 4 = 198KB
TIFF multipage-class f = 341KB
TIFF multipage-uncompressed = 4.49MB
PDF = 287KB

Conclusion:

• TIFF multipage-uncompressed is clearly the one to stay away from.
  
• If you're sharing your document only with PC users, TIFF multipage-group 4 is best because most versions of Windows (95 or higher?) include the Imaging application that opens these files. And this file format produces the smallest files. (Mac users can install the US$15 shareware Tiff-Sight to view multipage TIFFs.)
  
• If you're sharing with PC and Mac users, PDF is the way to go since these days, just about every PC and Mac has Acrobat Reader already installed for viewing. A big issue with this, however, is PaperPort's requirement that the US$249.00 Adobe Acrobat be installed in order to save to PDF format.
  
• If you can get the users you share scanned documents with to install the free PaperPort Viewer software, the MAX format is good choice. (PaperPort Viewer is available for Windows and Mac OS 9 but not Mac OS X, though.)

CONGRATULATIONS to Rob and Janey Ho on the birth of their new daughter, born just yesterday, October 20, 2002! Here's a photo of Lauren with her new little sister!

I got a real kick out of this: This morning a colleague of mine reported that his monitor was broken. His Mac CPU was on but the LED on his monitor was out. Normally this is the result of the power cable coming loose, usually on the end that plugs into the monitor. But not this time — his monitor was truly dead! That was no biggie. The kicker was when I found out how old his monitor was. His AppleColor High-Resolution RGB Monitor, serial number 5099986, was manufactured in 1988 and put into use some time in 1990... And it lasted until today, October 21, 2002 — 12 years old! Now THAT's amazing!

This is a far cry from today's Apple CRT monitors and LCD displays. Starting from about 4 or 5 years ago, 90% of all the Apple monitors our company bought died within 2 years. Needless to say, we don't buy Apple monitors anymore.

I still have my Apple Mac Quadra 700 CPU and although I haven't fired it up in a few years, I'm quite sure it still runs.

They certainly don't make 'em like they used to!

Over the weekend I upgraded the firmware on our Axis 2100 Network Camera from version 2.30 to 2.32. The upgrade process is pretty easy but certainly not user-friendly and can get hairy. Some of the snags I ran into this time:

1. After FTPing the upgraded firmware file to the camera and issuing the arp -s <camera IP address> <camera Ethernet address> <my PC IP address> command on my Windows PC to assign an IP address to the camera, pinging the IP produced only timeouts. I retried the commands multiple times but same thing. I had to cycle the power to the camera 3 times before it started working. That was the hairiest part!
   
2. When I connected to the camera using my Web browser, I could see the initial screen with live video but when I clicked on the link to reconfigure settings I got prompted for a username and password. I understood that all settings got wiped out during a firmware upgrade so I followed the original instructions which is to use root as the username and pass as the password. But NO, that didn't work! I eventually figured out that the camera retains the root password if you had changed it (you're supposed to and I had). Thank God I remembered what I had changed it to!
   
3. So when I finally could access the various configuration settings, the first thing I did was go for the network settings to correct the subnet mask setting which defaults to 255.0.0.0. That incorrect subnet mask causes connectivity with the camera to be flakey — reachable for 10 seconds then unreachable for 10 then reachable again and on and on. I had to change and save the setting — which requires the camera to reboot — 3 times before the correct setting of 255.255.255.0 would stick.
   
4. Lastly, although the usernames for any users I had added previously are retained, the passwords and access privileges are lost. So I just had to reenter passwords and reset privileges.
   

I am hoping that by me documenting all of this here, the next time I upgrade won't be so hairy!

Justin only likes sleeping like this on mommy. When mommy tries to put Justin in his crib... WAAAAA!! So mommy has to keep Justin in this position until he's really in deep sleep. Sometimes this can take 2 to 3 hours! Yep, Justin the spoiled sleeper really tires mommy out!

Justin is now into standing up, bracing himself on our footrest or the couch or his baby crib's railing. He gets up all on his own too. His crawling still isn't too good though. He tends to move forward by pushing with his legs but then falling on his face! Better arm coordination with his legs is in order. This is okay now since he's almost always on a mattress we have laid out in our living room (or on our bed). At some point though, he's going to have to learn that on a hard surface, his technique is painful!

Been researching video conferencing solutions lately. Polycom seems to be the global leader for professional TV set-top box solutions that support ISDN and a ton of other features. For lower-end Internet video conferencing, of course there's Microsoft NetMeeting for Windows PCs. Yahoo Messenger supports very basic video conferencing (well, at least video exchange) and their solution works between PCs and Macs. I have come up with the following list of Internet video conferencing solutions that I'll be testing with Eric Lin, our IT manager in Taiwan:

1. Microsoft NetMeeting
2. Session
3. iVisit
4. SquidCam
   
5. iSpQ VideoChat
6. CUseeMe
7. Yahoo Messenger
8. VideoLink Pro
   

There are probably many more Internet video conferencing solutions but I've tried to find ones that work with both PCs and Macs (NetMeeting and CUseeMe don't).

I have also been researching webcams to use with the above software as well. And since I'm using Mac OS X, I've been trying to find ones that work on that.

2 sources for Mac OS X webcam drivers:

1. IOXperts
   
2. macam
   

FireWire (rather than USB) webcams seem to be the way to go. Video quality is better.

I love the looks of the iREZ KritterDigital but unfortunately it's impossible to buy in Hong Kong or online and it's very expensive. Also, the company seems mainly focused on the OEM market.

Orange Micro's iBOT seems the most popular FireWire webcam. Apparently it works well and was one of the first FireWire webcams in the market. Sadly, it's so ugly! The standard model is selling here for HK$1180 and the Pro model is selling for HK$1380.

Right now I'm leaning towards getting the PYRO 1394 WebCam by ADS Technologies. This is selling for HK$980.

Oh, there's also Unibrain's Fire-i FireWire webcam. Specs look good and it has 2 FireWire ports. Cost online is US$119 which is cheap for a FireWire webcam. It doesn't look to pretty though!

Unfortunately for me, prices here for those webcams are 30-40% more than online prices.

UPDATE 20021019@2:48pm: After reading several poor reviews on Epinions.com of the iBOT webcam and PYRO 1394 WebCam, I've decided not to buy any of the existing FireWire webcams on the market. Given the consistent reports of only mediocre image quality, the over-US$100 price tags don't seem worth it. Faster video but same quality video as USB webcams costing less than half the price? No thanks.

UPDATE 20030814@10:20pm: For a TON more info on Mac OS X video conferencing I refer you to John Kenn's excellent Mac OS X Videoconferencing page. I'm sad to learn that Apple's new iChat AV (Public Beta) video conferencing application only works with FireWire cameras. I ended up buying a Logitech QuickCam for Notebooks Pro camera which is USB-based but is high quality, looks cool, has OS X drivers, and works with Yahoo! Messenger. I'd certainly purchase Apple's new and very cool iSight camera if I didn't already have the Logitech one!

UPDATE 20030815@12:05am I just got my USB-based Logitech camera to work with iChat by installing iChatUSBCam (US$9.95 shareware with 7-day trial). Would love to do some testing soon. Too bad iChat only works with Macs.

Today is very dark, wet, and stormy here in Hong Kong... but TGIF!

I've already put up photos from our full day today (well, technically, yesterday):

saturday, october 12, 2002 album - 27 photos

Gwen and I had a good time but Justin was pretty tired so he was a bit laid back and grumpy, not much in the smiley mood.

Monday, October 14, is a public holiday, "Chung Yeung", so we'll be enjoying a long weekend. I'm not sure exactly what Chung Yeung is but think it's related to paying respects to your ancestors.

Tomorrow (well, actually today), we're meeting Andreas & Tina Moellmann, who are visiting from Germany, for a late lunch (2:30pm) at Jade Garden in Star House, Tsim Sha Tsui. Mutual friends, Sau Ling Kan and Jonathan Slosberg, are also joining us. Both Andreas and Tina used to work in Hong Kong. For dinner, we're meeting Christina Fang, Rob & Janey Ho, Richard Li, Hoe Lui, and Angela Wong at "Ling Po" Chinese restaurant in Lan Kwai Fong, Central. Yup, a pretty full day!... I wonder how Justin will handle being out for so long. Well, it'll be similar to our days in Singapore on vacation, I guess.

Boy, am I tired!... Well, no wonder — it's 3:20am! Time to hit the sack.

3 new photo albums:

1. stanley market outing - 19 photos
2. singapore vacation - 82 photos
3. justin at 6-and-a-half months - 28 photos

129 new photos total!

http://justintom.com

I now have a total of 16 albums and exactly 500 photos. Amazing that by coincidence I'd have exactly 500 photos! Gwen will hopefully add entertaining and informative captions later.

Gorgeous weather in Hong Kong that started yesterday. Here's the view today from our office on the 35th floor of Dorset House, Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay (Hong Kong Island East). Temperature is a very comfortable 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit). Still a tad bit of haze in the distant mountains in the New Territories.

Finally got around to trying Yahoo's latest version for Mac, Messenger 2.5. They have finally caught up to most of features that the Windows version has had for a long time. They added a pop-down menu of smileys (which the Windows version has had) but the coolest new feature is Webcam. I hooked up my Sony DCR-PC115 DV video camera (using FireWire cable) and Messenger instantly worked with it. On my Windows 2000 PC and with Yahoo! Messenger I was able to view the video from my Mac without a hitch. (I did have to upgrade Messenger for Windows to version 5.5 to be compatible.) The Mac version still lacks audio chat though.

Just bought a Bluetooth USB adapter, Mitsumi brand (model WIF-0402C). (I didn't get the D-Link one because it didn't have any Windows drivers and it looked uglier! I also passed on one by LevelOne because it was just so plain — black color and rectangular shaped — even though it was slightly smaller and had an LED!) Cost was HK$390 (US$50). With it I was able to backup the contacts on my Ericsson T68 mobile phone wirelessly to my PowerBook G4 using Mac OS X's built-in Bluetooth support and the US$10-shareware Ericsson Client application. Worked well!

Above: Justin and Shiu Shu at the doctor's office today. 15 years later and it'll be the girl he's after and not her shoe!

Gosh, lots of changes since I last wrote about Justin. He had 2 immunization injections today and didn't like that at all — he cried and screamed his eyes out! We went with our Korean neighbor "Seung-ah" and her 7-month old daugher "Shiu Shu" to see Dr. Natalie Lee in Causeway Bay. Justin's statistics today:

Weight: 8.17kg (18.01 pounds)
Length: 67cm (26.38 inches)
Head Circumference: 43cm (16.93 inches)

Justin's a lot more expressive and responsive to stimulus these days. He shows his excitement, happiness, frustration, irritation, displeasure, boredom, and tiredness through smiles, giggles, laughs, cries, whines, frowns, yawns and peddling his legs.

We started feeding Justin solids at around 5-1/2 months. From 6 months he was "seriously" eating solids. (He's 6-1/2 months old now.) We've been feeding him pears, carrots, cauliflower, and organic rice and oatmeal cereals. Just after we got back from our Singapore vacation (about a week ago), we got a scare when Justin didn't "poo-poo" (move his bowel) for 4 days. He poo-pooed on the 5th day and boy was mommy relieved when that happened! He also had a couple cases of constipation but nothing serious. To help with that, we've been giving him Apple-Prune juice. Today, Dr. Lee also gave us a dose of "Microlax microenema" just in case he has a serious case of constipation.

Here's the view of the China National Day fireworks over Victoria Harbor from our apartment tonight. Fireworks started at 9pm and lasted for about 23 minutes. Justin was only mildly interested! Sadly, this is likely the last year we'll see fireworks from our apartment due to a new building coming up (note the 2 cranes already obscuring the view).