So my door actuator just failed on my third generation Prius and I found Steve’s excellent post on how to remove the door panel (here) and used it to get me half way there. Here’s a “Part Two” for anyone wanting to go to the next step and fix their actuator themselves. First of all, it’s pretty easy. And I…
Quick Update and What I’ve Been Up to
It has been a while since I posted an update to this blog, I have no other explanation other than that I’ve been extremely busy in all aspect of life: career, family, friends and relative’s weddings, showers, kids’ birthday, etc. The good news is we are expecting a boy early October, our first baby. My wife is currently 19 weeks…
DIY: How to Change the Cabin Filter in Your 3rd gen Prius
Here’s a short DIY article with instructions on how to change the cabin filter in your Prius. You can literally change the cabin filter in less than 5 minutes. As a matter of fact, I changed my cabin filter while on my 10 minute break at work and it took me a little over 3 minutes. Parts Needed 87139-30040 – Element,…
How to make your Samsung HT-F5500W Blu-Ray Home Theater System Region Free
I haven’t made a lot of technology posts, or any post at all lately, but figured this may help folks who own a Samsung HT-F5500W 3D Blu-Ray Home Theater System and would like to make their Blu-Ray player region free. This all started when my wife was eyeing The Big Bang Theory Seasons 1-8 boxed set from Amazon. Only problem is it’s…
Review: Ninja Coffee Bar by SharkNinja
First post in a while, because married life, house hunting and work! We recently saw a late night infomercial about the Ninja Coffee Bar and decided to give it a try; impressive warranty and return policies, why not? Let’s face it, coffee at the local Starbucks and pretty much any boutique coffee house make great tasting coffee because they have…
1st week MPG update: From the Inland Empire to the South Bay
Today marks the completion of one week’s worth of commute from the Inland Empire to the South Bay and I must say that while there is definitely a traffic jam to and from, it is not nearly as bad as I’ve anticipated. I have co-workers that commute from Diamond Bar and the commute takes 2-2.5 hours. Also have an acquaintance…
Looks like I’ll be taking a micro road trip everyday
We’re moving from the South Bay to the Inland Empire this month solely for the purpose of shortening and alleviating my wife’s work commute at the expense of increasing my commute by 900% (from 5 mile drive to work to 50 mile drive). We’re also exploring options to buy a new house in the area so we’ve signed a 9-month lease with a…
Review: Custom Bobble Head Dolls by Bobblemaker.com
During the wedding planning process with the wife, I not only wanted to add something that is fun and unique to the mix but also place emphasis on the small important details that compliments our character and values as a couple. My wife picked up a flyer at a bridal expo which she recently attended that depicted custom bobble heads. The idea is to send…
DIY: How to Install Winter / Snow Tire Chains On Your Prius
It has been a while since I had to install snow tire chains on a car, but driving up to Vancouver, B.C. in late December, and doing multiple side stops along the way, I figured I grab a pair for those “just-in-case” moments (even though Vancouver is known for mild but wet winters). This article illustrates the basic of how…
Winter Road Trip to Vancouver, B.C. With Stops
Every year, we try to embark on one road trip. I’m not talking about a regular 400+ mile round trip road trip to the Central Coast (i.e. San Luis Obispo), I’m referring to a road trip that would last over 1,500 miles. For 2013, we drove from Los Angeles to Palm Desert, to Monterey, to Sonoma County, to Reno before returning.…
Prius with stock wheels lowered on TRD springs, comparison
I often receive a lot of questions regarding Prius lowered on TRD springs with stock 15″ wheels and tires, such as number of inches lowered, request for before/after photos, etc. Today I had the opportunity to snap a pic of such while installing parts on a buddy’s Prius. My Prius is lowered on Prius PLUS Performance Sport Lowering Springs by…
Our account of Coron 7 weeks after Typhoon Haiyan, Yolanda
When one searches for “Coron Palawan Philippines” through popular search engines, the search result yields a vast media coverage of the typhoon and its immediate aftermath. Many of the resulting articles are dated mid November 2013 or earlier. My post will concentrate on our personal accounts in and around Coron, Palawan, Philippines 7-weeks after Typhoon Haiyan (also known as Yolanda) made landfall from…
Tutorial: How to update the firmwares on your IP Camera
EDIT: I no longer own this camera and recently have upgraded all my cameras to Nest Cam IQ indoor and outdoor cameras. This is a follow-up to the article on how to set up an IP Camera on a Mac OS X machine. Rather than discussing hardware as in the original article, this write-up will provide instructions on how to…
T-Mobile’s Free International Data Roaming and Unlimited Text
I recently traveled to the Philippines with my fiancé and both of us took advantage of T-Mobile’s free international data roaming and unlimited texting. Between the two of us, we used up a total of 2.8 GB of data and sent 165 texts in a two week span, from December 21, 2013 through January 2nd, 2014. Of course, the numbers…
Create a photo book from your iOS device with Mosaic
While browsing the news feed of my Facebook account one day, I encountered a “suggested post” (advertisement) from Mosaic (heymosaic.com), a photo book printing service. I was intrigued by the message of the ad, “$20 for a printed, bound photo book with 20 photos of your choice straight from your iPhone and $5 shipping.” I clicked on the link to download…