Goodbye Blockbuster Online, Hello Netflix

I never signed up with one of those movie-by-mail services until Blockbuster started offering their Total Access Online service. I liked the idea of being able to return the movies in-store and get extra movies immediately. Plus, they offered a coupon for an additional movie or video game rental each month.

I signed up in June 2007. However, after a few months, I found that stopping at the nearby Blockbuster was a real inconvenience. Also, I don't have much time to watch movies (or play video games), so the no-deadline deal is better for me.

A few weeks ago, I realized that they stopped offering the coupon for a free in-store movie or video game rental. That feature was a significant part of the reason for me to sign up with the plan (although I wasn't able to take advantage of the coupon very often). Well, at least I could still get up to four rentals each month with in-store returns. However, the other day I received an email stating that they are raising my rate from $5.99 to $7.99 per month. That is when I decided to switch to Netflix.

I don't like the fact that Blockbuster lured customers away from Netflix by offering better services at [almost] equal rates, then cut down the services and increased their prices. With my schedule, I can do without the in-store privileges at Blockbuster. I still have my regular membership with no monthly fee. So, I can still rent a video at the store if I wish. (I know that this would be a rare occasion.)

For now, I signed up with Netflix and loaded up my queue. I'll cancel my Blockbuster Total Access membership when my monthly term comes nearer to its end. It was a fine introduction to video-by-mail; but, I have to say goodbye to Blockbuster Total Access Online.

Gradually Moving Towards an Eco Home

While in most cases it would be impractical or infeasible to convert one's home into an eco friendly, toxin free one overnight, it is possible to make the switch one thing at a time. Even replacing some potentially harmful items with safer substitutes could pay dividends in the long run.

For us, we started with our plastic bottles (switching from polycarbonate #7 to HDPE #2), then our bed mattress (with latex foam core), some organic baby clothes, and some soaps and shampoos containing more natural ingredients. A few weeks ago, we started using a toothpaste from Trader Joe's that doesn't contain sodium laurel sulfate or saccharin. It still contains flouride, however.

I'm sure I'm leaving out items here. There are too many factors to consider to cover all bases. Our goal is to make simple changes that might have a high return, such as using personal care items with fewer potentially harmful ingredients. The cost is a bit higher in dollar terms, but the rewards are worth the added expense.

Fuzzi Bunz Are A Mother's Favorite

As it turns out, the Fuzzi Bunz pocket diaper turned out to be my wife's favorite cloth diaper. Part of the reason is that they use snap buttons instead of Velcro. This also makes it easier to care for. We'll be ordering more Fuzzi Bunz when Emma outgrows her size small diapers. We'll also probably buy a few more diaper covers--either Thirsties (Velcro) or Bummis Super Whisper Wraps (with snaps).

A Cloth Diaper Conclusion

Since my last post, I ordered a couple more Thirsties covers, a couple diaper doublers and I'm also trying a Bumkins cover. When Emma outgrows the small size diapers, I think we'll use a combination of the one size Bum Genius and Happy Heiney's pocket diapers and some Thirsties diaper covers. The one size diapers are very convenient and nice on the wallet. The Thirsties covers work well and are more affordable than many other options.

That settles that. Overall, we're very happy with cloth diapers. I don't think it's much trouble either. We do have to wash them every three days or so, however.

I'm glad I don't have to think about diapers anymore for the time being--until Emma outgrows the small diapers at around 15 pounds, that is.

A Plethora Of Cloth Diapers

I decided to order more cloth diapers to try other brands to have a better idea of which ones to buy when Emma grows into the next size up. The new order consisted of a Prorap Classic diaper cover, a Thirsties diaper cover, a Happy Heinys pocket diaper and three Bum Genius pocket diapers. The Bum Genius diapers were on sale because they're releasing a new model soon.

As for the Fuzzi Bunz from my last order, they work well except that using a single insert wasn't enough to soak everything at times. We'd probably need to use two or three inserts if we use them for night time. It's not really the diaper's fault. Overall, I like them. Amazingly, they did not stain, even when pooped upon! However, a disadvantage of Fuzzi Bunz is that they come in different sizes (versus one size fits all) and they are not cheap.

The Happy Heinys and Bum Genius pocket diapers that I ordered are one size diapers that can be adjusted as the baby grows. They seem to work well so far. They are very similar to the Fuzzi Bunz, except for the sizes and they use Velcro as opposed to buttons. They are also not cheap. But, at least they should fit up to 35 pounders.

It's hard to reach a conclusion without using the different systems a bit longer, although I have good impressions of the Thirsties diaper cover so far. However, Emma hasn't yet bombed the Thirsties cover like she did the other diaper covers and Fuzzi Bunz. The latter two have leaked somewhat. Unlike those, the Thirsties has double leg gussets. I'm hoping that it makes a difference. The diaper covers are not as expensive as the pocket diapers. The Prorap seems okay too, but it seems cheaper (which it is). I haven't tried the Prorap yet.

There's a lot to cloth diapering. It's been an adventure so far. It also seems to have eliminated Emma's diaper rash. Now we seem to have enough cloth dipes to last three days without washing. Not too bad. More updates to follow.

Got Flu Shot?

I got a flu shot today. Hopefully it'll help keep me from catching anything this year.

A Fuzzi Bunz First Impression

Our order of six Fuzzi Bunz cloth pocket diapers arrived in the mail today.  As soon as I got home from work, I washed them so that we could put them to use.  Cloth diapers are easier on the baby's bottom, since they aren't chemical laden like the disposable kind.  Also, they're better for the environment (I'd rather wash them instead of filling our landfills with diapers) and can offer a cost savings over time.  Cloth diapers do require a bit of extra effort, however.

After the diapers were washed, I waited for Emma to need a change.  When the time came, we fitted Emma with the sage colored Fuzzi Bunz with a single microterry insert.  Within 20 minutes, she bombed the diaper and needed another change.  At this age, her stool is soft and runny.  It almost escaped the leg and back openings; but, it did not.  It was a bit messy, however.  But, probably not messier than it would have been with a disposable diaper.

My wife washed Emma and instead of having Emma wear another Fuzzi Bunz, we put on a doubled-up prefold cloth diaper, a flushable liner and a Bummis Super Whisper Wraps diaper cover.  We'll try another Fuzzi Bunz tomorrow.  After the change, I removed the soiled Fuzzi Bunz insert from its pocket and rinsed the insert and diaper.  This smeared the stool over the fleece material and made it look almost worse than before it was rinsed.  After the soiled diapers build up a bit, then I'll wash them once again and see whether or not they're stained.

My current thought is that the prefold cloth and diaper cover combination is slightly preferable to the pocket diaper.  The diaper cover is easy to use and the cover can even be reused a couple times if not soiled or damp.  Pocket diapers are costlier and it's a bit more difficult to work with the inserts.  We'll probably know in a couple weeks which system we'll stick with.

Blogged with Flock

Flock the Social Web Browser

Today I installed a web browser called Flock.  Version 0.9.1.2 is currently included in the PCLinuxOS repository. Flock is based on the Mozilla browser engine, but it's customized for social networking integration.  I already added my del.icio.us account to the browser's configuration.  Now I can quickly access my del.icio.us bookmarks via the Favorites menu.  (I still prefer to add my del.icio.us page to my bookmarks toolbar, however.  Of course, this is easily done in Flock as well.)  I also added my favorite news sites to the RSS feed sidebar.  Now I'm posting this blog entry using the browser's Blog Editor.  It produces a new pop up window for ultra fast editing.  Very nice!  Maybe it'll entice me to write more blog entries.

Blogged with Flock

Recover from bad superblocks by editing fstab in Linux

On Sunday I was attempting to free up a partition on one of my internal hard drives for data storage. I previously had three Linux OS partitions in addition to Win XP. Since I'm running out of storage and I have little spare time, I figure I could do with two Linux partitions instead of three. That way, I can stick with PCLinuxOS (PCLOS) as my primary distro (for now) and play with another distro on the other partition that's set aside for Linux.

I used the PCLinuxOS Control Center to try to reformat the extra partition as a vfat32 partition in order to easily share data with Windows. (Right now ntfs write support in Linux is not entirely stable; but, it's almost there.) However, when I exited and rebooted, PCLOS gave a "bad superblocks" error on the hard drive containing the partition.

I eventually circumvented the problem by reformatting the partition using Win XP, then rebooted into PCLOS. Then when I encountered the error, I entered the root password to get to the shell. I then edited the /etc/fstab file to remove the lines with the obsolete partitions that were causing the OS to error. After rebooting again, the errors were gone and I was back up and running. It seems that the PCLOS Control Center did not update my fstab properly for some reason.

Remember to back up data when playing with hard drive partitions.

I'd like to note, though, that this is the first time I've had such a problem with PCLOS. So far, it's been a solid OS and the Linux distribution that I've been using for the past nine months or so.

A Family Day Out With Emma

My mom has been here in LA since Friday evening. It's great to have her with us! She's also been a big help with taking care of Emma. They're getting lots of quality bonding time. Yesterday, we had a full day out.

Regarding our mattress hunt, I found a company in Orange County called Custom Comfort Mattress that manufactures and sells their own mattresses. They focus on quality mattresses at low prices. On Sunday, we visited their showroom to try out their latex mattresses. We ended up purchasing a firm queen size latex natural/synthetic blend (70 percent natural) with box spring and metal frame. The surrounding fabric is made of bamboo fiber. I'm very happy with the deal. The bed will be delivered on Wednesday. We can't wait to replace our old mattress.

On Monday, Vernelle and Alan will be arriving from NYC. We look forward to seeing them!

We Live In A Toxic World

We're currently in the market for a new mattress. What I learned is that most conventional mattresses are made using a host of toxic chemicals. Some of these substances can be harmful to one's health. Knowing this, I can't find it in me to buy just any mattress for our bedroom. I won't go into detail about conventional mattresses here. Lots of information can be found on the web (including the article listed as one of the sources below).

After doing some research, I'm leaning toward purchasing a 100% natural latex mattress. They usually come with an organic cotton or wool cover. It's hard to find local retailers that carry latex mattresses, but I'd like to visit a couple showrooms when we can. For now, I ordered a natural latex pillow to try it (natural latex) out. One of my concerns is the possible smell of the material. Other advantages of latex mattresses are that it provides excellent support, it's durable (lasting 20 plus years), it's resistant to dust mites and mold, and it doesn't need to be turned or flipped.

There are benefits to buying other organic products as well. The fact is that we're surrounded by toxins. For instance, toxins are used in the production of conventional ("regular") clothing and furniture. Cotton as a crop is heavily treated with chemicals and then further treated as a fabric with things like formaldehyde to make them crease-resistant, for instance. Formaldehyde is also used in the production of things like plywood, particle board and carpet. Lots of furniture today is made of foam. Many types of foams outgas fumes that can be damaging to the body.

I think it's near impossible to avoid toxins altogether. But, I'm planning to be more conscious of my purchases and try to buy more "natural" goods. Sites like Debra's List or The Green Guide offer lots of resources on the subject.

My level of awareness of how many things are made with toxins has been gradual. However, several factors have recently accelerated my awareness, including becoming a father, hearing about recent recalls on children's toys and reading a few baby health books. Now I have a better understanding of why some people want to "go green."

Sources:
Is Your Mattress Making You Sick?
Toxin Free Home Guide

Nasal Irrigation

I first heard about nasal irrigation from my mom about four months ago. It's basically using a saline solution and a device to flush one's nasal passages. The aim is to alleviate sinus related annoyances such as dust and other allergens. I purchased a syringe from a local health store since I had a cold at that time. I was a bit scared at first, however. The thought of shooting water up one nostril and having it exit the other nostril made me a bit nervous. But, I figured the worst thing that could happen was that I'd swallow a little water or have some water go into my lungs. Either way, I'd survive. So, I just tried it and it wasn't bad at all. In fact, if the water is the right temperature, then I don't notice it much at all.

While I had the cold I irrigated my nasal passages twice a day. It felt the best a few minutes after irrigation. Then, my congestion gradually worked its way back after an hour or two. I think it helped me to recover quicker though. After recovering, I did the flushing once a week for a month or two. Then we had guests over and we were busy with other things (like having a baby), so I stopped for a couple months. Tonight I did it again though, because my sinuses were bothering me a bit today. Same positive results. Very nice.

Personal Accountability

The other day driving to work I heard about a proposal by some politician for a moratorium on building new fast food restaurants in her city. Her claim was that there were too many junk food restaurants and not enough healthy choices like family diners. She believes that this is causing Americans (at least in her city) to become obese. Never mind that the radio host pointed out that many fast food chains also offer healthy alternatives. Although she might mean well, I think she has it all wrong.

Perhaps there are lots of fast food restaurants because that's what people want. Even if they don't "want" many fast food restaurants, they are obviously supporting the chains with their dollars. Otherwise, the fast food restaurants wouldn't survive. We don't need more government rules and regulations to limit our choices. Will we still be able to call this a free country if we need government to make such simple decisions for us?

What people need is more education. Instead of creating more restrictions, government can launch marketing campaigns to teach people about food choices and their consequences. "These types of foods are good for you. Here's how to read the nutritional information label. Eat junk food and this is what happens to your health." This is not a new solution, but look at the amount of advertising the junk food companies do compared to "eat healthy food" marketing. Any additional exposure would help. Armed with knowledge, people can make their own decisions or pay the price. We need more personal accountability. Let's stop blaming others and try to be responsible for our own actions.

And in this fast paced nation, perhaps we need more free time. Take a breath from time to time. Work will be there when we return. Life, on the other hand, won't wait.

Celebration Lunch

Today, my team was treated to lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Ray to celebrate a recent product milestone. It was a nice little break. I currently work with a great bunch of people (including my boss). I feel fortunate to work with such a team. It definitely adds to my level of work satisfaction.

Gun Ownership and Violence

A Harvard study evaluated data from different countries to see if higher levels of gun ownership correlated with increased violence. They found that the opposite is true: More guns equals less crime.

Worldwide Data Obliterates Notion that Gun Ownership Correlates with Violence

This supports Dr. John Lott's previous study, which is detailed in his book titled "More Guns, Less Crime."

Baby Stuff

When someone asks me what I do in my free time, I always have a hard time finding an immediate answer. The reason, I realized, is that the answer is always changing--or evolving. In my younger days, I'd do things like play computer games, play guitar or play around with Linux. Go back even further, and you'd find me watching cartoons and reading comic books. Of course, every kid does those things though.

Ever since the Internet became mainstream around 1995, I'd have some topic to research on the web. Whatever grabs my interest at the time, I would obsess upon. Subjects have ranged from computer technology, politics, health, firearms, video games, finance, small business and snowboarding gear to name a few. Like that time not too long ago that I clicked high and low in search of the best videography howto site. Or when I spent way too much time filling my Blockbuster Online DVD queue. It should now take roughly four years to get through my movie list. I'm sure that many others can relate. The Internet is boundless.

Lately, I've been reading up on baby stuff. Besides searching the web for "safe" baby toys, I've been reading a few recommended books on raising a "smart" kid. They have nothing to do with quizzing your kids and having them memorize tons of facts. Parents employing the methods in these books will appear to be loving and nurturing parents, rather than mean school teachers. (Not that all school teachers are mean or anything.) One of them focuses on health issues. The other two are about reading to your children. I'll probably write a blog entry about these books when I finish the one I'm currently reading.

By the way, I still use Linux and like to keep up with the latest versions. After all, Linux is about freedom of choice as well as technology. And I think about playing video games occasionally. However, as I evolve, my priorities also evolve. It's a natural thing. Trying to find a balance is the key.

Germs in Babyland

Having a child has been a life changing experience. We now have a daughter who is with us 24/7. As her parents, it is our sole responsibility to love and nurture her. Since her stomach started out the size of a marble, she needs to eat frequently until her stomach grows and becomes more elastic. Until then, we'll continue feeding her every 2 to 4 hours around the clock. Between feedings, there is a constant barrage of poop. My wife, Alice, has instantly become an expert at changing diapers. I'm still a novice; but I'm not too bad considering. Actually, I've been more of a diaper changing assistant. In spite of all the feeding, changing of diapers and lack of sleep, it's totally worth it for our precious Emma.

As new parents, it's natural for us to worry about our baby's health. From reading and taking a couple classes at the hospital, we learned that it's best to limit the number of visitors while the baby is very young. The recommendation for length of time will vary. Most doctors suggest limiting exposure during the first one or two months. If visitors do stop by, they should wash their hands before handling the baby.

Our doctors informed us that if our baby develops a fever (over 100.4 degrees F), then we should take her to the emergency room immediately. The scary thing is that they will likely do a spinal tap along with some other tests. The reason is that when newborns develop a fever, there is a higher likelihood that it's caused by a serious infection or illness. I guess compared to the risk of letting something as serious as meningitis go untreated, a visit to the E.R. isn't so bad. It would be nice if more people were aware of the dangers. It's sometimes been an exercise in our people skills to educate family and friends who are eager to meet the new member of the family.

Along similar lines, a major toy manufacturer has just announced it's third wave of recalls on toys that were manufactured in another country. (I don't even need to mention names here.) Probable cause: Lead paint. For those who think that these things aren't cause for alarm, there was an article the other week about an Oregon family whose children have developed learning disabilities because their contractor used a torch to melt the paint off their walls. The paint contained lead. There are actually many toxic chemicals surrounding us in this day and age. Toxins can often be found in plastic baby teethers, second hand cigarette smoke, and treatment for wood found in playgrounds to name a few. To be fair, I understand that a number of toy manufacturers have been eliminating the use of toxic chemicals in their baby products. News like this makes me want to buy "natural" toys like wooden toys with safe pigments or stuffed animals made from organically grown cotton. As expected, these are a bit pricier than toys made of cheap plastic. But, isn't baby worth it? Also, it may be a good way to avoid buying an excessive number of toys to spoil our child. Another plus is that simpler toys (compared with high tech gadgets) are believed to better stimulate a child's creativity.

Speaking of harmful substances, a major popcorn manufacturer has announced today that it plans to stop using a flavoring chemical linked to lung problems in some of its plant workers. There is also reason to believe that the chemical might be harmful to consumers as well. A coworker who first brought this substance to my attention a few weeks ago said he's been popping his popcorn in a wok lately and it works really well.

No matter how hard we try, however, we will be exposed to germs and toxins. Fortunately, humans can often develop a resistance to germs. I don't think the same holds true for toxins. So, as far as germs are concerned, it's beneficial for children to be exposed to a "reasonable" amount of germs in order to develop their natural resistance. My wife and I are pretty careful when it comes to hygeine; but I'm certain that our daughter is still getting exposed to her share of germs (in reasonable amounts). So, I'm not concerned about her not having enough exposure to bugs. In fact, we plan to purchase an annual membership to the Los Angeles Zoo and try to make regular visits once Emma gets a bit older (maybe at three months). There are a couple studies that indicate that children with regular exposure to farm animals, especially within the first year of age, may see a reduced risk of asthma, eczema, allergies and inflammatory bowel disease. I'm hoping that the benefits apply to zoo-goers as well as farm dwellers even though there usually aren't any cows at the zoo. In any case, it'll be a good time to take lots of family photos.

Sources:
Vincent Iannelli, M.D., Babies and Infants with Fever
Kelly Marshall, Rob Kelley, Mattel announces third toy recall
David Perlmutter, MD, FACN, Raise A Smarter Child by Kindergarten, Sep 2006
Associated Press, ConAgra to remove popcorn chemical
Alan Greene, MD, FAAP, Cows, Cats, Siblings, and Immune Health

The Null Object

Today I read an interesting article about using a "null object" design pattern in object oriented programming to help avoid the NullPointerException. Rather than verifying that an object isn't null before doing something, as in:

if (myObject != null) {
   // do something
}

instead, create a special null object that implements the required interface(s) in a "null" way:

class NullObject implements MyObjectInterface {
   public String getLabel() {
      return "Null value!";
   }
}

Then, whenever you need to use a "null" default value, return your NullObject:

public MyObjectInterface getObject(String input) {
   if(input.equalsIgnoreCase("Apple")) {
      return AppleObject();
   } else if (input.equalsIgnoreCase("Orange")) {
      return new OrangeObject();
   } else {
      return new NullObject();
   }
}

Using this pattern frees us from all those if-statements to test for null objects.

Source:
Jeff Langr, http://www.developer.com/design/article.php/3697611

Sharing Photos on the Web

Today I created a photo album for my daughter, Emma, and uploaded it to Picasa. I had uploaded a mini album of nine photos on August 19th, but I didn't get to sit down and create a more complete album until today. The new album consists of 100 photos.

Since it's the first time I'm creating an album this large, I installed the Picasa2 software app on my PCLinuxOS system. I thought that I would be able to use it to easily upload bunches of photos at a time. Unfortunately, the Linux version of Picasa2 does not yet support posting to Web Albums. A rep on their forum says it may be supported by end of summer. However, from the same forum thread, I learned that I could use the Firefox browser extension called Firefox Universal Uploader (FireUploader) to post the photos.

Knowing this, I used Picasa2 to browse and edit the photos, then FireUploader to post them to my Picasa web album. Overall, this workaround worked out great!

Plastic Bottles and Containers

This probably won't happen often, but I'm going to post more than once today. As I'm sitting here at my desk drinking from my new Nalgene HDPE water bottle, I can't help but want to write about my recent discoveries in water and plastic. Both of these topics can go pretty deep. I'm just going to scratch the surface and summarize what I learned and what I did as a result.

Some people drink tap water here in Los Angeles. For me, it upsets my stomach if I drink too much of it (like at certain restaurants). Maybe it's because I grew up in Hawaii. Tap water doesn't seem to have an adverse effect on my insides over there. Anyway, we've been using a faucet mounted water filter from my mom for the past year and a half or so. It recently became unusable due to excessive leaking and I started buying bottled water by the gallon at the grocery store (I was buying six gallons at a time). Not only was this a hassle, but many people are against buying bottled water because of the amount of plastic waste created and there are debates over whether or not bottled water is any better than tap water (this also depends on the bottled water brand). However, my wife, Alice, was pregnant and tap water was not a consideration.

Due to slight concerns about drinking too many minerals in spring water, I wanted to buy distilled drinking water. (Pregnant women are supposed to drink a lot of water.) This limited the selection to choose from. After a few weeks of buying water jugs at the store, I wanted to get that water filter at home fixed. Meanwhile, to hold us off, I wanted to buy some containers to store the water that I could get from the leaky faucet filter. Since it leaked so badly, my plan was to detach the filter and only re-attach it while filling the containers. This led me to research water containers.

I felt we would probably go with some type of plastic container for it's weight, price and shatter resistance (if dropped). What I found was that most of those clear, colorful, hard plastic bottles leach a chemical called BPA when the plastic is heated, worn or cracked. BPA has been found to cause serious health problems in animals. Some argue that it's safe for humans. Regardless, we're not using #7 (polycarbonate) plastic any longer. I ended up buying a few #2 (HDPE) bottles from REI. I also tossed the sample baby bottle that we had, which was made from #7 plastic. The baby bottles we have now are #5 (PP) plastic.

Then I finally got around to calling the water filter vendor about the leak. They're mailing us $10. So, I went out and bought a replacement yesterday. Same brand, different model. And now I feel much better about our drinking water situation.

Introduction

Becoming a father 15 days ago has inspired me to start keeping better records of the happenings of my life and that of my family. The birth of our daughter was an incredible event. Although it would be impossible to capture every emotion in writing, I can at least try to convey some of those feelings so that many years from now we can look back and be a bit closer to remembering every small detail. Of course, I'd still remember what happened in general.. but, I could always use a written reminder.

Actually, who am I kidding? Given the amount of free time I have, I don't plan to write about things in great detail. My intent is to keep a journal of the things we do, things I'm interested in at the time, etc.

Since this blog will probably be all over the place (i.e., health, finance, technology, random thoughts), I'll create a separate blog to record everything about my beloved daughter, Emma.