Archive for General

Aug
09

Wish you were here!

Posted by: celso | Comments (0)

… but this is probably the next best thing! :-) Took some panorama shots of the front and back yards today. It’s been a while since I’ve done my last panoramas, so it’s almost like learning from the beginning once again. Anyway, here’s the result and pardon some of the photo misalignments.


Frontyard


Backyard

Note:This requires the Flash Player to view the panoramas. For more information about Flash Player, please visit http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/about/.If you cannot view the panorama, please download and install the latest version of Flash 10 player.

Categories : General
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May
25

Skydiving video

Posted by: celso | Comments (0)

Look what I did last weekend! I went for a tandem skydive at Pepperell, MA on May 24th, 2009. What a rush; it was an awesome experience!

See full post to see the movie.
Read More→

Categories : General
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Dec
08

Screen Size vs. Viewing Distance

Posted by: celso | Comments (0)

The following is a rule of thumb on the minimum viewing distance for a certain screen size:

Display Type Minimum Viewing Distance
16:9 HDTV 1.5x Diagonal
4:3 HDTV 1.8x Diagonal
Analog 3x Diagonal
Categories : General, Notes
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Sep
06

401K and IRA Limits

Posted by: celso | Comments (0)

The maximum pre-tax amount one can contribute each year to 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans as determined by the IRS:


         Year        Age<50        Age>50
        2005        $14,000          $18,000
        2006        $15,000          $20,000

After 2006, the maximum pre-tax contribution limit is indexed in $500 incrememnts for inflation.

Traditional and Roth IRA Limits:


         Year        Age<50        Age>50
        2005        $4,000            $4,500
        2006        $4,000            $5,000
        2007        $4,000            $5,000
        2008        $5,000            $6,000

The contribution limits presented above for traditional and Roth IRA are scheduled to expire Dec 31, 2010 unless legislation is enacted to extend them.

Categories : General, Notes
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Dec
13

Biko Recipe

Posted by: celso | Comments (0)

This is a modified version of one of the most favorite Christmas noche buena dessert in the Philippines. The recipe is basically modified for those transplanted Filipinos whose only coconuts they can find comes in a can.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can coconut milk (400 ml)
  • 1/2 c water
  • 1 1/2 c brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 c sweet rice
  • evaporated milk (optional)

Procedure:

  1. Get the sweet rice cooking in a rice cooker.
  2. Mix the coconut milk, water, and brown sugar in a sauce pan.
  3. Heat the sauce pan with all the mixed ingredients until all the water has evaporated and it is caramelized. This is now called the “latik”. You have to keep stirring otherwise it will overflow and you’ll create a mess and your wife will kick you out of the kitchen. It will take a long time for the solution to become caramelized (latik), so you better not be doing something else. Now here’s the secret trick. To determine the proper consistency of the latik, take a glass of water from the faucet. Drop (just a single drop) of the solution you’re stirring into the glass of water. If you see that the “latik” settled to the bottom in whole (coagulated), then the latik is done and deserved to be called a “latik”.
  4. Mixed the cooked sweet rice and the latik in a bowl. You have to do this little by little to coat every grain of rice with the latik. What I do is take a little bit of rice, pour a little bit of latik, and mix them together very well. Put it aside in a baking pan, and repeat until you finish all the rice. Don’t worry if you end up with extra latik, you can also eat your biko, while drinking latik on the side.
  5. Once you have all the rice coated with the latik in a baking pan, you can optionally coat the top with some evaporated milk and bake it at 325 degrees for 15 minutes or until the milk forms a crust at the top.

There you have it. Enjoy your biko either with Coke or tea. Merry Christmas!

Categories : General, Notes
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Apr
23

VIN Decoder

Posted by: celso | Comments (0)

Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) encodes information about a car, such as the maker, model, where it was made, and as to what number car is it to roll out of the manufacturer’s floor for that year. And here’s the url for it: http://www.analogx.com/contents/vinview.htm

Categories : General, Notes
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