wanja.com http://wanja.com Most recent posts at wanja.com posterous.com Sun, 24 Oct 2010 20:42:00 -0700 New square credit card reader http://wanja.com/new-square-credit-card-reader http://wanja.com/new-square-credit-card-reader

Square
The new square reader is thinner and slightly larger but apparently more precise. It's fun to be able to accept credit card payments. The other day Noah was selling boy scouts popcorn and a person mentioned she didn't have cash and Noah replied that he accepted credit cards. The lady was baffled, Noah smiled and closed the deal. The lady paid with cash after all.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:37:00 -0700 Hello World! http://wanja.com/hello-world http://wanja.com/hello-world

P70

This is my first post from posterous...I'm currently in the distortion field watching the new MacBook Air announcement ... 11.3/11.1 models

"One day all notebooks will be like that!" - Steve Jobs.

Biggest infomercial in the world?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:31:00 -0700 Vampires bite your Neck - by Noah Wanja http://wanja.com/2009/10/vampires-bit-your-neck-by-noah-wanja.html http://wanja.com/2009/10/vampires-bit-your-neck-by-noah-wanja.html
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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:39:00 -0700 iBlogger for iPhone http://wanja.com/2009/07/iblogger-for-iphone.html http://wanja.com/2009/07/iblogger-for-iphone.html Just bought iBlogger for iPhone...just to check out. It's nice to be able to do yet one more thing from the iPhone. I am trying out a few applications and will report soon from the ones I really use. The main one is Things, and I tried quite a few games during my vacations..some really good...some not so. Well, I am writing this from iBlogger and will check out the features it offers. Let's see if I manage to include a photo...

Mobile Blogging from here.

No, that first link was to add my location...would be nice if it was like in twitterific. Looking at their website and not hint there either. Found their forum and it seems that other users have the same issue.


I found a review online stating that posting photos to Blogger.com, which I use, is not yet supported. But that review was on ars tecnica from September 2008. And 10 month later iBlogger didn't add that feature yet. Please let me know if I am wrong. This would be a killer feature...but without that, iBlogger seems to work fine...but is just not as exciting. And while you are at it add video blogging support for the 3GS.

See http://illuminex.com


[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]


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Photo inserted via MarsEdit and not iBlogger :-(

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:12:00 -0700 44, Father's Day and Summer http://wanja.com/2009/06/44-father-day-and-summer.html http://wanja.com/2009/06/44-father-day-and-summer.html Wow, what a day. I turned 44, yea! and with 3 kids father day was a blast. It was a beautiful day in Denver for the first day of summer. We went to the pool. I had some good old friends come by, Didier and Elaine, and we just hang out, finished the day with on the terrace with a nice "Fondue Chinoise" and some really good wine. Of course I also did a quick ride on my new birthday present:

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It was a pretty good day indeed.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:20:00 -0700 "I feel good!"... My two guys trying to do lip syncing http://wanja.com/2009/06/feel-good-my-two-guys-trying-to-do-lip.html http://wanja.com/2009/06/feel-good-my-two-guys-trying-to-do-lip.html We went to the mall and Noah was fascinated by a DancingHeads booth, which allows to do green screen video recording. So we gave it a spin.

"I feel good!"... My two guys trying to do lip syncing from daniel wanja.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:54:00 -0700 Windows 7 http://wanja.com/2009/06/windows-7.html http://wanja.com/2009/06/windows-7.html It has been a long time since I used Windows. But couldn't avoid it any longer as I have to debug some JavaScript issues in IE8 so I downloaded the new Windows 7...and that's how I was welcomed:

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Thanks to Windows 7 I got a really nice flashback...Thanks, that was funny. I hope they have other improvements.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sun, 07 Jun 2009 04:33:00 -0700 Google Chrome for OSX. http://wanja.com/2009/06/google-chrome-for-osx.html http://wanja.com/2009/06/google-chrome-for-osx.html
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Several features are unavailable...Well, no Flash out of the box either. So o many website that show videos (news, screencasts, ...) are just not working. And many website I develop that integrate Flex and Javascript won't work either. So I'lll have to wait for the next version, to bad...it's a cool browser.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:54:00 -0700 Which Bike? http://wanja.com/2009/06/which-bike.html http://wanja.com/2009/06/which-bike.html This is the time in my life where I will go back to riding a bike. Yea!. Some may call it midlife crisis :-), my wife calls it crazy, I just call it fun. Now I was rinding on a engine with two wheels since I am 14. I had mopeds, two Vespas, a Suzuki GSX 750F, two Ducati's 900, and nothing since 2002 since I got married and moved to the US. One thing in the US you cannot just pass cars in traffic as the police will eagerly arrest you and you cannot race on the Autobahn as I used to when I did trips to Germany to test how fast the bikes can go without breaking any laws. So I need to find something more settled down. I found the following two bikes that caught my eye.


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The Triumph Bonneville is a retro styled bike with modern features. They call it Modern Classic. I saw one the other day, looks really good.


Another bike that caught my eye is the Honda Fury. I thought...That's a great bike for my morning commute.
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In the end looks it not everything, you gotta try them out. So I'll put my behind on each of these and will decide where to go. But first I need to pass my US driver license as my Swiss one is not recognized here.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:05:00 -0700 Verified by Visa - Activation During Shopping - Pain in the Neck. http://wanja.com/2009/03/verified-by-visa-activation-during.html http://wanja.com/2009/03/verified-by-visa-activation-during.html It's annoying that when you try to buy something and visa tries to sell you something, but you have no way to opt out. After completing the final step of the order, you click the "Place Order" button and expect to see the order confirmation screen...but no...You see a screen to signup for the "Verified by Visa" program for your own good. Hey, I am trying to buy something, please don't interrupt me...Did my order go through or not, I did push the "Place Order" button, so it's kinda gone through...but I didn't get a confirmation number yet, because I see the Visa signup form...but not way to skip that step. Now Visa tell it's for your own good, but hey...I didn't ask for it and I just want to see if my order went trough. So Visa, please make sure that merchant that will try to sell your service also place a button or link to skip the signup.

So Visa goes in great length to provide a description on the benefits of signup, faqs answer all the questions you may have...besides the one about skipping signup. Even their flow diagram doesn't show how to skip, simply because they want you to signup.

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Look at their FAQ ...no mention how to opt out.

http://usa.visa.com/personal/security/visa_security_program/vbv/verified_by_visa_faq.html
https://www.securesuite.net/csi/docs/faq.jsp

Update: 3/12

Well 2 days later I didn't get an information but I called Visa and they did put a hold on my card because I didn't complete the process above. What? No way to opt out and then you cancel my transaction. So I went to order the item again, and yes for sure same thing, once I pushed the "Place Order" button I was presented with the following dialog

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See a "don't opt in option"? Nope, this is a trap. Annoying. Well, I decided to go ahead and entered the information, then I was presented with the following screen...

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What? Already activated for another of my cards???? Well at least there is a Cancel button this time, and the dialog mentions that I can continue without "Verified by Visa". But pressing cancel presents me with a prompt saying that the transaction will be cancelled, hence I wouldn't be able to order the thing I want to order. Alright, let's try continue...I was presented with a screen showing the name of my wife and asking for a password. Hey, that was the other of my cards they just mentioned above. So know I just need to go find my wife, ask her password and we are good to go...

Yep, that worked. Could it be more difficult to buy something online. I guess Visa will find something new for next time.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Thu, 26 Feb 2009 03:50:00 -0800 tsrvideo.com http://wanja.com/2009/02/tsrvideocom.html http://wanja.com/2009/02/tsrvideocom.html
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Cool the swiss french television which had already a good online tv offering just improved the number and quality of shows. I can now even watch the Swiss weather report. I like to keep up to date what's going on in Geneva and was usually watching the news (19:30 Le journal). Now if only they could have it as a podcast on iTunes.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Thu, 19 Feb 2009 04:04:00 -0800 Anatomy of a Palm webOS Application http://wanja.com/2009/02/anatomy-of-palm-webos-application.html http://wanja.com/2009/02/anatomy-of-palm-webos-application.html I love it when you can start to read a book about programming a device before you can even put your hands on the sdk and even less on the device.

This is an image from the book "Palm webOS, 1st Edition"

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You can find out more on safari books



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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:33:00 -0800 Facebook now with face recognition http://wanja.com/2009/01/facebook-now-with-face-recognition.html http://wanja.com/2009/01/facebook-now-with-face-recognition.html Facebook just implemented serving adds based on the attributes of your face.
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Some other attributes they also recognize


closed mouth = bad teeth!

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facial hair = you try to cover something!

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shuby cheeks = ...I let you guess!

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sat, 10 Jan 2009 04:10:00 -0800 Xacti HD 1000 now work on OSX in 1920x1080 http://wanja.com/2009/01/xacti-hd-1000-now-work-on-osx-in.html http://wanja.com/2009/01/xacti-hd-1000-now-work-on-osx-in.html When the Xacti HD 1000 came out a while back I was impressed by the form factor and I just bought it. I knew there were issues playing in 1080 mode on OSX and you could only see a green screen in playback mode. There where a couple of workarounds that existed but where not satisfying and I ended up using the 720p mode which provides a superb image quality. So I didn't change modes since over six month, and my brother just told me that it works well in 1080. So to my surprise I just tried it and yea, it works!

Apparently you need a rather fast Intel process to get good playback. So I will use it in the 1080 mode over the next few weeks and will let you know what I find out.


  • Full 1080i HD Recording

  • 10x Optical (f/1.8) HD Zoom Lens

  • 4 Megapixel still photos

  • 2.7" Widescreen Display

  • Advanced MPEG4 AVC/H.264 Format

  • HDMI high-definition output

  • Records Directly to SDHC Memory Cards

It's fun little camera which just got better thanks to OSX. Now I can't wait to try out iMovie '09.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sat, 03 Jan 2009 03:51:00 -0800 October sky http://wanja.com/2009/01/october-sky.html http://wanja.com/2009/01/october-sky.html
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I was just going through some of my digital photos when some picture that where taken end of October catch my attention. This was taken from my balcony...amazing how Colorado can be pretty.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:32:00 -0800 Zooey Deschannel http://wanja.com/2008/12/zooey-deschannel.html http://wanja.com/2008/12/zooey-deschannel.html On Friday I watched two movies with Zooey Deschannel. Non, I am not a big fan nor did I know who she was before watching the second movie. In fact I was selecting a movie to watch at a redbox and didn't find anything I knew, so I decided to rent The Good Life and The Happening and though I would decide later which one to watch. I didn't know anything about the Good Life but liked the cover and I heard about the Happening as being from the same director than the 6th sense. I really like "The Good Life", note I like most movies, I liked the strange love story that unfolded inside of a very dark story-line playing in Nebraska.

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The Good Life


After watching it I decided to keep going an watched the second movie. The Happening starts really strong and is pretty weird and suspenseful. What shocked me is that suddenly the same actress from the first movie appeared in the second one. So I decided to look her up. I thought her performance was really better in The Good Life and was getting better at the end of the Happening.

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The Happening

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Thu, 11 Dec 2008 07:13:00 -0800 The future of film.. http://wanja.com/2008/12/future-of-film.html http://wanja.com/2008/12/future-of-film.html It's impressive what some can achieve with the new 5d Mark II...


TOKYO unreality the 5D Mark II filum from alan doyle on Vimeo.

Do you have another videos that impress you?

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:03:00 -0800 Snow In Denver for Thanksgiving week-end http://wanja.com/2008/11/snow-in-denver-for-thanksgiving-week.html http://wanja.com/2008/11/snow-in-denver-for-thanksgiving-week.html This was the view when I got up this morning at 7. Nice!

Snow In Denver for Thanksgiving week-end from daniel wanja.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:23:00 -0800 Using naked drives for backup. What do you use? http://wanja.com/2008/11/using-naked-drives-for-backup-what-do.html http://wanja.com/2008/11/using-naked-drives-for-backup-what-do.html I was listening to Adam from the maccast the other day and he mentioned a solution to use bare-bone drives to do backups. I thought I give it a try and I am sharing my findings in this video:


Using naked drives for backup. from daniel wanja.

Which solution do you use? Let me know.

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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja Mon, 17 Nov 2008 03:58:00 -0800 Cancelling Dishnetwork...took 20 minutes. http://wanja.com/2008/11/cancelling-dishnetworktook-20-minutes.html http://wanja.com/2008/11/cancelling-dishnetworktook-20-minutes.html With my wife we decided to try to go without a TV. I'm not too worried as I get most of my stuff online....pssst...don't tell her ;-). This said I knew it would be difficult to cancel as usually these big companies have a laborious process you need to follow in order to cancel your account. My hope was that they "improved" and I logged on online and was looking for a "Cancel Account" button, with maybe one confirmation screen...Nope. It did go like that (note I may have skipped some text, but it's pretty much how it went):

First I did login to their online system and looked for the option to cancel the account.

* Didn't find in the menus.

* Did a search using their search box...didn't find.

* Looked at the FAQ, found AskDish...

Yea...that may work...and the answer was: "We are sorry to hear that you want to discontinue your DISH Network service. Unfortunately ASKDISH is unable to fulfill this request. You will need to call our customer service center at 1-800-333-3474, if you decide to leave us.

Electronic Funds Transfer AutoPay allows you to automatically withdraw your monthly DISH Network bill from your checking or savings account. It’s quick, easy and you never have to worry about late fees! Coming soon, enroll online when you log into My Account."

Of course...that would have been to easy. And don't ask me what the second part of the answer has to do with the first.

All right, it's 8pm, let's call that number.

Automated New operator:"In a Few words..how can I help you?"

I say: Cancel Account.

Automated New operator: What do you want to cancel? service, channel, auto-pay, none of those?

Me: none of those.

Automated New operator:Please wait while we transfer your call...

2 minutes pass...

Automated New operator:Please hold for the next customer representative...

Operator:...music...and adds...

2 minutes...

Automated New operator:Thank you for calling DishNetwork. Please hold for the next customer representative...

10 minutes later... a real person

Operator: Can I have your phone number?

Me: (I provide the number and continue with) I want to cancel the account?

Operator: Can you tell me the reasons?

Me: No, just cancel the account.

Operator: We are having system maintenance...I am still trying to pull up your account.

Operator: We would really hate to loose you? We can arrange something? Is it about the bill? Is it about the programming?

Me: no, just cancel the account.

Operator: I need to transfer the call to an account specialist. Please hold on.

Me: ok.

New operator: My name is Marianne.

New operator: What makes you cancel the account?

Me: nothing, please cancel the account.

New operator: If it's technical, I can transfer you to a technician.

Me: nothing, please cancel the account

New operator: If it's financial, I can put the account on hold.

Me: nothing, please cancel the account.

New operator: Please hold I start the process.


couple of minutes go by.

New operator: (she start to read really, really fast a long message...didn't get most of it)... 10 days..30 days to return the equipment...2 receiver..3 remote...eye on the dish....Final bill. Can not give you the amount, you'll get a bill in a couple of days. Otherwise can...We are sorry to have lost you as a customer. Any questions?

Me: What's the reference number of the cancellation.

New operator: It's the number the operator mentioned at the beginning.

Me: What's the reference number of the cancellation.

New operator: (she provides a three letter code).


8:24pm. Pfuu...20minutes. Note bad. Once they get you, they really don't wanna let you go :-) Now let's see if that cancelled my account...or if it's just the start of a longer process.


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]]> http://posterous.com/images/profile/missing-user-75.png http://posterous.com/users/YS30I5J5ifL danielwanja danielwanja