Macbook Air 13 Unboxing

Macbook Air 13 Unboxing. 

Photos:

Dell Latitude E6320

Dell Latitude E6320

As a consultant, I am forced to/required to work with some Windows only programs and as such I've been given a Dell Latitude E6320 with an Intel Core i5-2520M and 4GB of RAM. As it's an i5 with Windows 7, the computer runs pretty well and handles most of the tasks I throw at it.

Design wise, it's not as asethetically pleasing as my Macbook Pro but for a Dell it looks rather good.  Dell has included a backlit keyboard in this business class laptop and for any roadwarriors it can be quite handy in the dark on a train or plane.  Ports on the laptop have been simplifed.  There's only one usb 2.0 port on the right but there is also and e-SATA port that can function as a second usb port.  On the left side of the laptop there's a VGA port and a headphone jack.  In the middle of the laptop there's an SD card reader slot to round out the ports.

All in all, I'd say Dell's business line of laptops is developing quite nicely even if the pricing is a little high for what components they use.  The plastic has a little more flex than I like and durability would be a concern of mine had I paid for it.  Asides from those issues, the Latitude is a pretty good workhorse and the 14in formfactor comes in handy when traveling with it.  Unfortunately, as it is an i5 battery life is a big suspect and the power brick is larger that I would like but not as ridiculous as the powerbricks that come with some of the i7 laptops.  Under normal use, the battery lasts about 2-2.5 hours.

Sony WX50

Sony DSCWX50 Review

Sometimes a point and shoot is just easier to deal with. 

For a long time I had a Nikon Coolpix S550 which I used as my default point and shoot digital cam that I could keep on me whenever I went out.  Its just not feasible to always go out with either a DSLR or even a 4/3 mirrorless camera like the Sony NEX or Nikon J1.

These pocket cameras are perfect for the random outtings with friends and capturing some of the day/evening's adventures.

After my Nikon died from a few years of abuse I put off getting a replacement as I have recently had some new toys to play with. 

I eventually did settle on the Sony DSCWX50 mostly out of impulse but so far I'm happy with it.  Is a 16.2 megapixel camera which is slightly overkill for a point and shoot pocket camera in my opinion but given the current trend to showing off megapixels its not a bad thing persay.

What I do like about the camera is the plethora of options and modes along with 1080i full HD video capabilities.  These days if you're going to spend money on a camera you might as well make sure that it takes decent HD video.    The sony is equiped with a panaorama mode which can be fun to play with.  3D shooting options are also availible as Sony has been pushing 3D hard but its a useless feature to me.  Lastly, this little workhorse is very little and quite pocketable yet produces decent photos.

Sony has stepped up its produdction of digital cameras in the past few years and that effort is being noticed across the board.  The menu interface is almost exactly the same as my Sony NEX-5N and is very easy to use.  I think Nikon and other competitors may need to start taking notice and adding some features to their lower end products if they wish to keep up.

The WX50 has a Carl Zeiss lens and produces standard crisp sony photos that are a little cooler than those of Nikons but I think that the end results come down to personal preference. 

Additional specs are availble at Sony's website: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&partNumber=DSCWX50

Sony DSCWX50

Back of the Sony DSCWX50

Sony DSCWX50 turned on with lens protruding

Brewerytown Food Truck Roundup

The Brewerytown Food Truck Roundup occurred on Friday, July 27th at the grassy plot on 27th and Girard.

http://www.phillymfa.com/roundup.html

There has been a resurgence in the food truck market in Philadelphia over the past few years.  You could even argue that this has been true across the United States. 

It was a nice, albeit rather warm, Friday event that started at 5pm.  Everyone arrived around 6:15 and sampled all the various food fare that included burgers, pizza, wraps, empanadas, arepas, sliders, pulled pork and other cuisine.  Ice cream, Popsicles and cupcakes were also available.  Beer and pineapple cocktails carved out of entire pineapples rounded out the selection.

Following the eating, we stopped by a few bars to check out the Olympics opening ceremony but my opinions on that will be reserved for another time. 

All in all, I think this event has the potential to grow into a bigger event that will draw a larger crowd in the future. 

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was released Wednesday.  I was busy eating and drinking at Center City Sips but when I came home, I logged into Apple's App store and plunked down the $19.99 needed to purchase this os x update.

The download comes in at around 4.37gb and took a while as Apple's servers were a little slammed.

The install will also take a while so I recommend setting aside some time to upgrade where you wont' need your mac for a few hours.

Everything came together smoothly with very little effor involved. 
The only caveat is that I run Windows through Parallels 6 and the OS X Mountain Lion upgrade breaks Parallels.  Looks like I'll need to upgrade to Parallels 7 at some point but for now I'm forced to run Windows with Bootcamp.  Luckily, I do most of my Windows work now on a proper Windows machine so this is not a major issue, just fair warning to those of you not on Parallels 7.  I've also heard through others that some versions of VM are not compatible either.

Apple allows you to install your copy of OS X Mountain Lion on all of the Apple Computers that you own so there is no need to purchase a copy per computer if you have more than one.

Overall the upgrade is rather painless and there are some new fun features.  For 19.99 you really can't go wrong.

Home Made Cherry Pie

Even though I enjoy eating out and going out on foodie adventures, I am also a fan of cooking at home.

With ripe cherries for the summer, a home-made cherry pie was made for the fourth of July.  Two of my friends came into town and are rather accomplished amateur chefs, having won a few food competitions in NYC.  This recipe was slightly simpler but still fun.  It was stolen from Martha Stewart and came out quite nicely.

We tried pitting the cherries with a paper clip as allegedly it keeps more of the cherry juices.  I think it was slightly better but I don't think I'll ever mandate that only paperclips be used to pit cherries.

For fun, my friend also made a berry tart from scratch with some berries we bought and I got to play with my knife skills to carve out an egg like watermelon after I failed in my initial attempt to make a watermelon basket with a handle.

Fresh cherries

Cherries pitted with paperclips

Cherry Pie from scratch

Cherry Pie Weave

Iron Hill Brewery (Media, PA)

Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant
30 East State Street
Media, Pennsylvania 19063
P: 610 627.9000 | F: 610 627.9150
Hours
Mon–Sun: 11:00 am – Close

Iron Hill is one of the staples in Media, PA.  There are plenty of interesting brews on draft at all times along with their standard staples that are availible year round.  Foodwise, they offer some standard appetizers and a decent burger.  This time around we sampled the mussels dish and was pleasantly surprised.  The broth was quite delicious and the mussels were yummy.  If you're ever in the area, I would recommend checking Iron Hill out.

Pita Bread with Artichoke Dip

Mussels with French Fries

Bacon Cheeseburger with Coleslaw

Trio

Trio
BYOB
2624 Brown Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215.232.TRIO
http://triobyob.com/v3-2012/

A few friends of mine was in town a few weekends ago so we decided to go grab dinner at Trio in the Fairmount/Art Museum area of Philadelphia.  The restaurant had been recommended by two of my friends before but I had never had the opportunity to go until now.

The restuarant was running a Bastile day (or week rather) special and offered some more French dishes along with their regular Pan-Asian, heavily Thai influenced cuisine.

The restaurant's owner and servers were very polite and gracious to have us join them for dinner.  It is also a BYOB which is always an added perk.

Pictures of dishes are below and the duck was quite fantastic.  The five of us split 3 of the 4 desserts availible that evening to round out our meal. 

Pricing is reasonable and I would recommend it to anyone as a fun date or nicer slighty more formal dinner spot.



Duo of Duck

 

Roast Duck Leg



Seafood Hot Pot with Glass Noodles

 

Yum

 

Hot pot was yummy



Flourless Chocolate Cake

Perch Pub - Center City Sips

Perch Pub
1345 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Northeast corner of Broad and Locust Streets
215-546-4090

Philadelphia's Center City Sips has been in full swing for a few weeks now and this week I ended up back at Perch Pub.

Having run around the city in previous weeks we settled on Perch Pub mainly for its beer selection.  The specials for sips have been rather bland and generic at most of the venues.  As nice as it is to get a $3 dollar miller high life or Yeungleung that's hardly enough reason for me to trek in.

Perch Pub offers half price all drafts, 4 dollar house wines, and selected 5 dollar mixed drinks/cocktails which I already forget as I went there for the beer.  There is a rotating draft selection that is always quite nice and varied.

Lastly, there's a back room area with seating with a pool table if the bar gets too crowded.  This is handy for meeting more than a few people out for sips.

Foodwise, the specials include half price fried mozzarella and deviled eggs.  Deviled eggs at a bar is a litlte offputting and weird but I've tried them and they're not bad, just not necessarily something I would think to order with my drinks.

There is a limited menu and one of their stars is their burger along with sides of fries and onion rings.  This time amongst my party we settled with mozz, onion rings, and a burger.  Pictures follow below.

Overall, I'd say Perch Pub is definitely one of my sips beer stables and generally a bar I would go to for their selection of quality draft beers.

Perch Pub - Fried Mozzarella

Perch Pub - Burger

Perch Pub - Onion Rings

Nikon J1

Nikon J1 with 10-30mm lens attached

Lately, compact, high quality cameras that claim to be close to DSLR quality have been all the rage.  Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Fuji, etc have all come out with their variations.  I blew some cash on a Nikon J1 kit with two lenses a few months ago and have had the opportunity to play around with it a bit. 

There was something striking about having a white compact camera but thats just my own personal taste.  It comes in a variety of colors for those looking to fashionably accessorize themselves with a camera.

Before the Nikon D5100 which I am currently "borrowing" I was using a Nikon D60.  Its probably one of the best beginner DSLRs out there and for purely photographic purposes its still one of my favorites.  There aren't as many fancy options to play with, there are still a lot but the D5100's menus and options can get in the way if you're trying to capture a photo.

Unfortunately, lugging around a DSLR isn't always an option.  Already as is I'm generally the person who's out and about with a camera but sometimes its just not feasible to go out drinking/adventuring/fooding with it.

Enter the mirrorless compact genre.  I've played around with the Sony NEX 5N (another mirrorless compact and for a true photography buff or someone trying to do more with manual options, that is recommended over the Nikon J1 but that will be in another post)

Strengths:
-The Nikon J1 is pretty compact and its lens locks up into a storage mode to make the profile smaller.  Unfortunately, even when the 10-30mm lens is locked up, it is not quite pocketable. 

-In daylight or bright lighting the camera takes really decent photos.  Nikkor lenses are known to be top of the line and Nikon does not dissapoint. 

-Autofocus and tracking are very quick and photos can be snapped off really quickly.  My biggest issue with the super compact cameras is the fact that sometimes it takes a while to get a photo off.  The J1 is defintiely faster although it still doesn't compare to a proper DSLR but it's close.

-HD Video:  This is one of the key reasons I like this camera.  It takes pretty decent 1080p HD Video.  Something my Nikon D60 can't do. 

Weaknesses:
-Dim, low light settings.  There is less control in manual mode than I would like.  As a $600+ camera you would expect to have much more control over the manual functions.  The options have been nerfed and designed for point and shoot clientelle.

-No manual focus.  The autofocus does a great job but some cool effects and shots opportunities are lost without a manual focus on the lens barrel.

-Lack of an external flash port.  The built in flash is the only flash that you can use on the camera.

-No viewfinder on the camera. 

Overall: 
The Nikon J1 is an expensive, trendy, fancy point and shoot that takes pretty decent pictures and great HD video.  For the average person who just wants to snap up some pictures and shoot some HD video it gets the job done pretty well but might be a bit cost prohibitive.  At least I get some comments from strangers when I'm out and about with it.

Side Profile shot of the Nikon J1 with 10-30mm lens

For size comparison: Nikon J1 next to my iPhone 4.