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Gee Why

About Gee Why

https://www.pulpconnection.net

Posts by Gee Why:

Yes, Simply Yes, CleanMyMac 3

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Digital hoarders, help is here. Yes, I too have been living with daily messages that my startup disk is almost full. I love my MacBook Air with its speedy solid state drive, but at a mere 256 gigabytes, there’s only so much I can store.

Yes, I’ve gotten rid of music files, transitioning to the cloud via iTunes Music Match. I’ve pruned through my Downloads folder. Every quarter I offload my photo library to an external drive and start anew. But still available drive space got smaller and smaller. Even with 5 gigs of space at the start of a day, I would inevitably get a low space warning by the end of the day. What and why I’m not sure, but there has to be a better way.

Replacing my stock SSD with a bigger one is one option, but hardware surgery on an Air is not something I want to attempt. Instead, check out CleanMyMac 3. This Mac OS X app does exactly that – it cleans your Mac painlessly and thoughtfully. Start with the default Smart Cleanup and let the app scan your drive. The first run may take awhile, but trust me, you’ll be pleasantly pleased with the findings.

CleanMyMac categorizes its cleanup into six sections:

  1. System Junk
  2. iPhoto Junk
  3. Mail Attachments
  4. iTunes Junk
  5. Trash Bins
  6. Large & Old Files

After the scan is complete, you can simply click on the Clean button to recover much needed space. Or you can investigate the individual sections to get more comfortable with what’s getting cleaned.

I started with cleaning the System Junk that includes caches, log files, language files, and other miscellaneous app data. Then I cleaned out iTunes Junk that included things I didn’t realize. A partial iTunes movie download was taking up 2 GB of space and those old iPhone and iPad backups, wow. I had several of these that were over a year old – 8 GB right there! Poking through the Large & Old Files, I discovered I had an old Mac OS X update installer sitting on my drive taking up 1.2 GB.

While I haven’t cleaned through everything yet, I’ve already recovered 20 GB of space, and I’m simply amazed. And even better, while the app is not free, it’s currently 50% off at $19.97 for use on a single machine. Definitely well worth it, and CleanMyMac 3 also includes additional utilities like an uninstaller and routines to run through maintenance, privacy, and extensions. Yes, there are other apps that do similar tasks, but by far, CleanMyMac 3 is the most comprehensive and the most elegant.

You’re still not convinced? Download the free trial version and decide for yourself. The trial version allows full scanning of your Mac but will only delete 500 MB of cruft. If you want to be free of the gigs of junk, you’ll need the full version. Just say yes, simply yes to CleanMyMac 3.

Hilo Sight Seeing Recommendations from @hawaii

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When the family was going to be in Hilo for a few days, I knew I had to contact @hawaii aka Ryan Ozawa about his personal recommendations since he’s been talking about Hilo for years. This simple inquiry led to a flood of advice for a short, three-day visit.

Because his advice was so good, I had to republish it here for others to benefit from. Here’s a slightly shortened version of what Ryan had to say (links are mine):

Between the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center (my favorite official ‘attraction’) and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, that’s easily a full day already. Apart from that, there’s fun little things. Lyman is interesting to us but maybe not as much for kids. There is (was?) also a NOAA visitors’ center in downtown Hilo a while back that had kid-friendly exhibits all about the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument. You can check out Rainbow Falls right above downtown, too. Big Island Candies is basically a big store but a visitor attraction in its own way (often they let you watch them make cookies/chocolates).

If you’re able to venture further, you can drive north a little bit out of Hilo for Onomea Bay Drive (4 mile scenic drive and short hike down if you want), further still for Kolekole Beach Park (under a striking bridge) or further to Akaka Falls (which is now much easier to get to than it used to be!). Hell you could get as far as Honokaa and Waipio Valley look out (kind of the Big Island’s Pali lookout). But that’s a few more hours of exploring and a lot of driving.

Thinking south of Hilo (between Hilo and the volcano park), you could always visit old Pahoa Town (kind of like a little Haleiwa), though there’s not much actual lava to see. There’s the Lava Tree park, which is neat…

Oh, and food? It’s cliche, but I love love love Ken’s House of Pancakes. Open 24 hours, breakfast available 24 hours, kind of reminds me of the old King’s Bakery. Other frequent stops are K’s Drive In, Blane’s Drive In, Leung’s for Chinese, Suisan for poke bowls (a classic!), Cafe Pesto for fancier sit-down dining. We just went to Hawaiian Style Cafe for the first time (near Big Island Candies), and it was pretty good but busy. Next door is Miyo’s, Japanese, which is where we usually go in that shopping complex…

A weird one: Kozmic Cones (317 Waianuenue Ave), just above downtown. Simple ice milk cones (like old school McDonald’s kine), dipped in nuts. So messy. But an easy treat. And there’s a drive through, so it’s often our last rush stop before the airport. 🙂 Oh, and you have to see if you can get into (and get your hands on) Two Ladies’ Kitchen for mochi.

Our trip is now done, and although we didn’t get the opportunity to visit every one of Ryan’s recommendations, we surprisingly hit a lot of them. Stay tuned for more posts…

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Retrain Your Brain at Starbucks Kailua

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Not too long ago, the Starbucks location in the heart of Kailua town closed for renovation. That was then, this is now.

Regular patrons, what do you notice right away? Yes, you have to retrain your brain and walk to the far end to place your order. It’s no longer the drink pickup area that’s now near the entrance.

You now go counterclockwise and pass by the counter of goodies.

Not sure what’s so special about this special edition Starbucks card. The “renovation complete” commemorative edition?

The small interior tables have been replaced with a higher seating capacity counter.

And look at the newest edition, the first Clover brew in Kailua!

I like the main lighting in the store…

Along with the accent lights over the Clover.

The reclaimed wood look prevalent in other Starbucks is here.

 But something else is different. What is it?

Oh yeah, I know… There’s no longer a second doorway! The street facing entrance is now a picture window framing the condiment bar.

So go ahead and retrain your brain on your next visit.

Is Amazon Dash Button an April Fool’s Prank?

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Did you see Amazon’s latest release of their Dash buttons? You install these little physical devices around your household near consumable items. When you start running low on these items, push the matching Dash button and the item is magically added to an Amazon order for you to approve. 

Sounds like a nifty albeit prank of a product from Amazon. These buttons make sense for a certain audience, so I can’t tell if this is a legit product or something announced on the eve of April 1st. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can sign up for an invitation and see what happens.

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Kicks Analysis 2015 #3: Sweet 16

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The sweet, sweet sixteen of ’15 looks like this:
ucla-adidas

  1. Kentucky (Nike)
  2. Purdue (Nike)
  3. Notre Dame (Under Armour)
  4. Wichita St. (Nike)
  5. Wisconsin (Adidas)
  6. North Carolina (Nike)
  7. Xavier (Nike)
  8. Arizona (Nike)
  9. Duke (Nike)
  10. Utah (Under Armour)
  11. UCLA (Adidas)
  12. Gonzaga (Nike)
  13. N.C. State (Adidas)
  14. Louisville (Adidas)
  15. Oklahoma (Nike)
  16. Michigan St. (Nike)

Nike commands 62.5% (10 out of 16) of the field, Adidas has 25% (4 out of 16), and Under Armour is still holding on with two teams in the Sweet 16 (12.5%).

How does this compare with the start of the tournament? Nike lost ground going from a 75% showing down to 62.5% so that means movement for Adidas and UA. Adidas upped their numbers going from 17% to 25% and Under Armour getting a slight bump from 8% to 12.5%.

Kicks Analysis 2015 #2: Conference Sponsorships

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Like 2014, the Big 12 is well represented with seven teams in the 2015 tournament. But this year, the Big Ten tied the 12 with seven teams as well. The Atlantic 10 halved their conference representation going from six to three while the Pac-12 lost a deuce with four teams (but represented by all three kicks companies).

The Big West was bound to be represented by Adidas with either  UC Irvine or UH. But with UCI’s Big West tournament win, they got the bid with stripped big man, Mamadou Ndiaye.


A 1-2-3-4+ Morning

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This morning featured a major, six-plus car accident on the H1 westbound. Not wanting to be stuck in that snarled traffic, I sheltered at Starbucks in Kaneohe and snacked on a bacon, egg, gouda breakfast sandwich that earned me 3 bonus reward stars.

Checking Waze and Twitter for traffic updates, it still didn’t look good, so I killed more time at Ross. Looks like they had just restocked the men’s shoe department with shelves filled. What did I find? Nike Air Trainer SC II in black/volt-grey and a real surprise, the Air Jordan 4+ “Columbia.” And what these are going to be redone this year as well? Or are these the rereleases? I have to take a closer look later.

My steal of a deal #kicks #aj4

A photo posted by @geewhy on

So there it is, my 1-2-3-4+ morning.

My Inevitable Journey to the Apple Watch

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I’ve come to rationalize realize that the Apple Watch is in my future. The journey to this latest in wearable tech started back in 2005 with the advent of the Nike+iPod Sports Kit. The alliance of Apple and Nike, two of my favorite brands, materialized the idea of data-driven workouts for the masses. With a sensor in my Nike+ shoe and a transmitter connected to my iPod Nano, data about my runs was collected on the Nikeplus web site. From this, I knew I hit 100 miles run in 2008 and surpassed 600 total miles in 2010. But even then, my stats showed me that actually I slowed down in 2010. In 2015 as I approach 1000 walks ands runs, I’ve traveled 2417 miles in all.

Related to the Nike+iPod Sports Kit, I was an early adopter of the Nike Amp+ watch. This short lived product acted as a remote control for the iPod which made it more convenient to control your tunes while running, and hey, the Amp+ even told time (albeit poorly).

In April 2012, I had my next interaction with wearables, pledging to the Pebble watch Kickstarter project. Not completely convinced this watch could be become a reality, I became a believer.

Later in 2012, I took another step in my journey supporting the Misfit Shine project. I intended this activity tracker to capture more of my life, thinking I would more conveniently wear this tiny monitor. But after close calls almost losing the Shine and it being washed, I became more conservative with it, not taking it everywhere.

Over the years, most of my wearable tech has gone by the wayside. My Nike+iPod Sports Kit sits idle with the malfunction of my iPod Nano. Even then, my GPS-enabled iPhone 6 has improved and integrated geo-tracking, making the Sports Kit obsolete. My Misfit Shine is still with me, battery-less eating up CR batteries much too quickly. My Amp+ was a poor timepiece, ate batteries, and was eventually stolen. Only my Pebble watch remains viable, even gaining functionality with updates and apps.

Now, here comes the Apple Watch. At the low end price point of $349/$399, the Apple Watch is cost comparable to the first iPod, going for $399 for a 5GB model. With its functionality and growth potential, how can I not get the Apple Watch?



I Am an Older Asian Lady

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It’s official. I am an older Asian lady. What other stereotype drives around in a Lexus RX SUV and a gold one on top of that?

My older Asian lady namesake? It would be “Nancy.”

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The Local and Mahaloha Burger New to Kailua

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The new year has spurred on new small local businesses in Kailua with the opening of The Local and soon, Mahaloha Burger. Located down the street from the new Target, these businesses are poised to benefit from increased foot traffic in the area.

The Local is a hybrid store selling clothing items in one half and shave ice in the other. The shave ice is flavored with natural syrups such as Mountain Apple, Kona Coffee, Chili Peppa, and 4 Kine Lime.

I haven’t yet sampled their goods, but I want to pick up one of their shirts.

From The Local, head towards Target, and you’ll come across Mahaloha burger. Like The Local, natural is the motif of Mahaloha’s burgers. It’s a two-story location and construction looks well incomplete. Their signs advertise a loco moco burger which I’m surprised I haven’t seen done before.

So next time when you’re in the 96734, you have a few more places to check out.

Poor Radio Reception

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Any Lexus owners out there have poor radio reception with the stock deck? We got a used Lexus that’s newer than our (former) Toyotas, but the radio reception is so bad.

Driving my normal routes, the FM radio reception is staticky and even drops out at certain spots. This didn’t happen with the Toyota stereos. I figured this wouldn’t have been an issue for the luxury Lexus line, but it is, and it’s real bothersome. 

I talked with Bill at Progressive Auto Sounds in Aiea, and he said changing the deck wouldn’t necessarily improve radio reception. It may or it may not. An alternative is to stream radio broadcasts via a smartphone and apps like Tunein or iHeartRadio. But then, I’d still need to change the deck with a newer one that can connect to my iPhone. Guess I’ll be listening to static…

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