Raining in LA

It's been raining non-stop for the past two weeks here in Los Angeles. The LA river is usually completely dry near my house, but now it's about as active as I've ever seen it.

If you are visiting from Italy, you should say hello :)

Dyson DC23

I'm not a vacuum enthusiast, but I am an enthusiast of well made and well designed products. And that's exactly what the Dyson DC23 is.

The DC23 Animal is designed specifically homes with pets and hardwood floors. Two things we have.


Just look at this thing. It means serious business. It looks like something out of Halo.


These tubes are what create the Cyclone vacuum, it's what gives the vacuum so much suction.


I've never had a canister vacuum before. Apparently they all come with a cord retract button. I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent a good 15 minutes playing with this.


It might sounds silly, but the power button is great. It's big. It's easy to find. It's low to the ground. And all those things make it easy to hit with your foot.


The canister is easy to remove, and so is the filter. Which supposidly lasts forever, it just needs to be washed every 3 months. Awesome!



Here's a video of the Cyclone in action.

Apple Mac Mini

There's been a lot of talk about Google TV lately. But as with all HTPC dedicated boxes, there's always one thing missing. iTunes and youtube seem good enough, but sometimes you just want to download a movie or tv show the old fashion way. About a year ago I canceled my cable and replaced it all with a Mac Mini...and it's been awesome.

Typical with Apple. It's minimal and beautiful.


Brushed aluminum unibody with a mirrored Apple logo.


The under neath is a tapered stand that gives the Mini the appearance that it's floating.


The biggest change to this current Mac Mini was including an HDMI port. I had a Mini before this, and I had to jerry rig a displayport to HDMI adapter.


On the botton is the stand, but also the access to the inside.


Just turn the white dot to the circle.


And it opens up revealing easy access to the RAM. Unfortunately no easy access to the HDD. The inside is almost as pretty as the outside :)


It fits perfectly next to the TV. And the best part, no matter how or where a movie, tv show, or music shoes up. I can find it. I don't have to wait for Just netflix, or just hulu, or just itunes. I can go anywhere.