According to Reuters, Starbucks will start serving beer and wine at a few of their retail outlets in Atlanta and Southern California by the end of 2012. They have already tried it out in Seattle where apparently it has been a success.

Hopefully, there will be at least one Starbucks “Bar” in Los Angeles so I can try it out. These Starbucks company executives know how to make their customers into addicts. First, make us hyper with caffeine and sugar in the morning, then have us return after work for some alcohol to smooth out the caffeine from earlier. They got us coming and going.

If cocaine and crystal meth was legal, I’m sure that would be next.

The Prius c was shown at 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, January 10. The “c” stands for “city” according to Toyota, and yes, it’s lower case. Aimed at the younger urban market, it is ready for the North American market in the Spring 2012 time frame.

Toyota is boasting a 50 mpg combined highway/city mileage, which makes it the most fuel efficient vehicle to date, without a power plug. This low end Prius will have a starting MSRP below $19,000, making it about half the price of the upper end hybrids that are available on the market. Obviously, the target audience is the younger, price sensitive consumer who wants good mileage to save money.

The list of standard features is impressive for such a low price. Some of the standard features include automatic climate control, tilt-telescopic steering wheel with audio, climate, Multi-Information Display and Bluetooth® hands-free controls, and remote keyless entry with illuminated entry. Some of these are not standard on the original Prius models, although I would guess that they will be in the new versions.

The available exterior colors include three new colors:  Habanero, Moonglow, and Summer Rain Metallic. Not sure what those colors look like. Those new colors are added to the regular list of colors, Blue Streak Metallic, Absolutely Red, Black Sand Pearl, Magnetic Gray Metallic, Classic Silver Metallic, and Super White.

Originally, I started writing this article about a year ago, right after I got the phone. Then I totally dropped the ball on it, thinking I would wait for the next update of Android. It’s been 2 updates and now I’m finally finishing this up. A lot has changed since the phone first came out over a year ago.

In the first 2 reviews, I discussed the hardware of the Samsung Epic 4G.  This time, I’ll review the software, Android OS, and Google Marketplace.

Let’s start with the Android pre-installed apps that comes with the phone out of the box. Since Android is made by Google, it’s a no-brainer that it works great with Google Mail, Google Maps, Google Voice (more on that later), and anything else Google that you can think of. On the other hand, if you don’t like Google products for some reason, you are not going to like it.

The other usual apps are also included, like a calendar, calculator, memo, voicemail, and you can download the essentials like Sprint Navigation, Facebook, Twitter, and the like. Originally, it also came with an alarm clock but in the latest Android update (2.3.5 Gingerbread), the alarm clock is inside the clock app now. Of course, there are tons of free alarm clock apps you can download from the marketplace. There’s a free one called Alarm Clock Plus that works great.

When you get a call and they leave a message, you will get a text transcribed version of the message. Depending on the ambient noise, the caller’s accent, and other factors, the transcription can be anything from great to marginal.

Then, you can listen to the actual message or if the transcribed version is good enough, you don’t even have to bother listening to the original voice message. I really like this feature because this allows you to check your messages anywhere by reading and without worrying about who might be listening.

If you have Google Voice, it works very nicely with Android and you can set it up to prompt you to ask you which phone number to use when calling out or texting. You’ll see a message like the one below.

Google Voice

On my iPhone, I never used Google Voice because it was too hard to use but on Android, it’s a snap. And Sprint is also starting to roll out a feature where you can transfer your Sprint number to Google Voice or vice versa.

On the Epic, touch and hold the home icon at the bottom of your phone to bring up a list of recently used apps. This is the Android version of multi-tasking. Like the iPhone fake multi-tasking, Androids version is similar in that it’s not real multi-tasking. It’s more like easily switching between apps that are loaded and suspended while another app is running. Only the now sold-to-HP Palm WebOS had true multi-tasking.

But I digress.

Apps

If instead of touching one of the icons of a previously launched app, you touch “Task Manager”, you get a more detailed list of the “running” apps as shown below. Note that this screen capture is from the original version of Android that came with the phone. The new version looks slightly different but you get the idea.

Task

From this screen, you can end an app that you don’t need “running” and it will release that memory back to Android. You can also end all apps by touching “End All”. You don’t have to bother with all this techno mumbo-jumbo if you just want to use apps and not worry about the memory it’s using.

However, after a while, you will notice that things start to slow down and sometimes this causes some apps to crash because there’s not enough memory. I’ve noticed that in the latest version (Gingerbread), there seems to be more crashes than before where I have to take the battery out to re-boot because the power button is frozen too.

One of my biggest complaints I had with the original Android version was that the phone log did not tell you how long the calls were and you had to download a free app to do that. However, in the Gingerbread version, you can click on the phone call in the log and the detail page will tell you the duration of the call now.

Remember also that Adobe Flash does work in Android, whereas it will apparently never work on the iPhone. But Adobe has announced that they will eventually be  letting Flash die a slow death as HTML5 will replace it in the future.

One of the best features on the Epic is the built in version of Swype. In case you’re not familiar with it, when you are typing on the on-screen keyboard, instead of lifting your finger after each letter, you drag your finger to the next letter and keep going in this manner. This works so well, I hardly ever use the physical keyboard of the Epic. As a matter of fact, if the iPhone came with Swype, I would switch back again. More on Swype in the next post.

My biggest complaint about Android is the inconsistent user interface. Both Palm (now HP) and Apple are very picky about the UI of every single app that is being submitted for approval. Apparently, not so much with Android. Many apps work so differently from each other, it’s hard to get used to. It allows for some cool innovation but also can be confusing to some users.

One of the most frustrating aspect of this is that you can keep pressing the “Back” button to return to a previous screen, but if you do it once too many times, the application will exit. Some will ask if you want the app will exit, but many do not and simply dump you out. Very frustrating. Every time you press “Back,” you’re always scared that you might accidentally exit the app.

Finally, although the Apple store has more apps, the Android marketplace has tons of apps, many of them free (including Angry Birds). It appears that the developers have decided that iPhone users will gladly pay 99 cents but Android users will not pay, so it’s ad supported. In any case, for the most part, any good app that’s on iPhone will also be available on Android and I have no complaints with the apps that are available for this phone. I have noticed that sometimes Android apps will come out but it will not be available for the Epic right away and I’ll have to wait, while people with other Android phones are enjoying the new app.

All in all, I’ve been using the Epic for over a year now and have had no problems with the hardware or software. Some of my friends have moved on to bigger and better phones but I’ll stick it out a little longer.

Hopefully, you won’t have to do this anytime soon, but if a loved one passes away, Facebook has a way for you to memorialize their Facebook page.

First, go to their contact page for this purpose as shown below:

Fill out the form and submit it to Facebook for approval. You will get back a form letter like this:

That’s about it.

While I’m on this topic, if you are posting on a Facebook page of somebody that has passed away, follow these simple rules:

• Remember that family members are likely reading the posts so keep it clean and there’s no reason to bring out secrets that will hurt feelings or cause friction in the family.
• Please have some respect for the deceased. Post happy memories that will help heal the grief of others that are hurting. It’s a lot like going to the funeral or wake. We’re all hurting, so don’t be a jerk.
• I shouldn’t have to say this, but apparently I do. Don’t blame the victim of a violent crime. It doesn’t matter what her job was, or what she said or did. Nobody deserves to be murdered. Period.

Since the early days of the Internet, mailing lists have been used and one of the oldest open source free software for managing electronic mail discussion and e-newsletter lists is called Mailman.

Mailman is the one that usually comes free with your Unix/cPanel based hosting account. Although Mailman can be used for email discussions between subscribers, many people (including myself) just want to use it to send out mass mailings to my mailing list. However, Mailman out of the box is setup so when anybody on the mailing list sends out something, everyone will get this message.

If you only want the list owner (that would be you) to be able to send out mailings to the list, read on.

First, click on “Sender filters” as shown below:

Next, find the section titled “Member filters.” This should normally be at the top. Now, click on “Yes” for “By default, should new list member postings be moderated?” and either “Reject” or “Discard” for “Action to take when a moderated member posts to the list.” as shown below. This will make the moderated members posts rejected (they will get a rejection message) or discarded (no message). See below:

Now scroll down to near the end of this list to the option “Action to take for postings from non-members for which no explicit action is defined.” and set to “Discard.” This will throw away anything that a non-member posts. And if you don’t want to be disturbed by these non-member posts, check “No” for the next option “Should messages from non-members, which are automatically discarded, be forwarded to the list moderator?” as shown below:

If this is a brand new mailing list, you are done except be sure to add yourself to the list but turn OFF the moderation setting for yourself. If you already have members in your list, you will have to go to the “Membership Management” page, then scroll down to the bottom and click on “On” for “Set everyone’s moderation bit” and click “Set” toward the right of that, as shown below:

This will set the moderation bit on for everyone already on your list. That’s it. You’re done. Now you can send a bunch of email to those poor souls that gave you their email addresses.

After going to Hakata Ramen in Little Tokyo, I decided to stay with Ramen and checkout the new Yamadaya in Westwood. Yamadaya has moved into the old location that used to be Tenryoan on Westwood Blvd.

Apparently, this is their 3rd in their chain of 3 so far, starting with their 1st one in Torrance. When I worked in Torrance many years ago, there used to be some great Japanese restaurants down there. Not sure if that was because of the Japanese car companies being in that area or something else.

But I digress.

It’s interesting that I went here after going to Hakata because the formula is very similar. As with Hakata, you select the type of broth you want and what you want in the ramen. However, unlike Hakata, they actually put the side stuff into the bowl for you. The actual ramen is very similar, if not exactly the same as the thin ones at Hakata. I’m still not completely sold on this type of ramen noodles. I’m so used to the old thicker ones that it takes me a while to adjust to these new type of ramen noodles.

The good news is, if you like this type of thin ramen, it’s good. Unfortunately, the egg was still cold, even though it was in the soup. They don’t serve hot green tea so I just had water. The gyoza was nothing to write home about. I think it might have been pre-made and frozen. The spicy tuna roll was made creamy like tuna that you would have in your sandwich. I’ve seen this before and I don’t like it.

Overall, it doesn’t have the upbeat atmosphere like Hakata, but some people might like that it’s quite. There is counter seating but I’m not sure where you are supposed to park. Service is good and the ramen is very good, if you like the thin kind.

Come here if you’re in Westwood and you want ramen.

Ramen Yamadaya
1248 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
Mon-Sat:　11am-9pm, closed Sunday
(310) 474-1600
ramen-yamadaya.com

What was once a great sushi place called Izayoi has now been replaced by a chain Ramen place. I’m really going to miss Izayoi but it’s time to checkout this Ramen place.

The atmosphere of this place is like a sushi place where the workers all shout out “Irashaimasen,” which is basically “welcome” to our restaurant. But this place goes overboard and it sounds like somebody is getting attacked.

There is a big counter area surrounding the area where they make all the noodles. The extra items in the menu comes on a separate plate. So if you order eggs, or wan-ton, you get it on a small plate, then you have to put it into your ramen yourself. You’d think that if you’re paying for your ramen, they should at least put it in for you.

The actual ramen is a little different from what I’m used to. It’s a little thinner and maybe home made. It’s not as thin as Japanese somen, but a tab bit thicker than that. The soup is good but not the best I’ve ever had. I’m not sure if I ordered the wrong thing but my 6 piece Gyoza were microscopically small, but tasty.

There are better places for Ramen in Little Tokyo and elsewhere but for some fast Ramen, it’s a good place to go. Don’t come here on a date because it’s loud and you won’t be able to hear your date. Come here with a bunch of people to drink, eat ramen and make some noise.

Hakata Ramen
132 S Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 687-7108
shinsengumigroup.com

If you’ve been reading this blog, you know I’ve had bad luck with HP for years, including my current computer’s hard drive blowing up only weeks after I bought it.  Well, about a year ago, I bought a 2TB removable hard drive for my HP desktop. Well, not surprisingly, it has been making strange sounds for the last few weeks, and a few days ago, it died. Boy, HP sure makes good stuff.

Not to worry. I know HP’s excellent customer service will help me with expert help. In case you didn’t catch that, I’m being sarcastic.

First, I Google the drive I bought a year ago, only to find out that HP no longer makes it. To rub salt in the wound, about 6 months ago, HP had a blow out for this drive for $118 (after promo code) on their website, which still comes up in the Google searches.

The closest thing HP has left on their website is a different 2TB external drive. From the picture, I cannot tell if it will fit inside my HP Pavilion m9450f.

HP USB 3.0 2TB Personal Media External Drive

So before I order my drive, I sent out this email to HP’s wonderful customer service, pre-sale department, shown below:

“I previously (9/2010) bought the HP 2TB Personal Media Drive (Product #BK229AA#ABA) that fits inside my HP Pavilion m9450f desktop.The drive broke after only 1 year so now I want to replace it. I do not see the same drive online. Is the HP USB 3.0 2TB Personal Media External Drive (part # BR389AA#ABA) the same and more importantly, will it fit inside my desktop?“

The yellow highlighting was not in the email I sent. It’s just to show that I was concerned about how it would fit inside my computer. HP customer service sent back this following email:

“Please know that, the HP USB 3.0 2TB Personal Media External Drive is designed to work with any PC through USB 2.0 and the new USB 3.0 interface. It is compatible with any USB-enabled PC; backward-compatible with PCs that have USB 2.0 operating on Windows XP 32, Windows Vista 32, Windows 7 32/64. And yes, it will fit with your HP Pavilion m9450f desktop pc.“

Notice the wording in their email:  “fit with” and not “fit inside.” I should have red flagged this and asked again for clarification. But being the trusting person that I am, and the fact that I’ve had such good luck with HP customer service, I just went ahead and bought the drive.

There seems to be some type of language barrier here. This kind of reminds me of the excellent customer service I got from Hell, I mean Dell… where I almost had to kill somebody and the level of incompetence made me wonder how they can survive.

But I digress.

To make the story short (too late), when I got the unit in a few days, while I was opening the package, I already realized that this drive would NOT fit in my HP computer. Big surprise. Oh no. Now I have to return this thing.

Instead of being a dummy like when I called Dell and was on the phone from 4:30pm to almost 7pm, I used the live chat online to talk to HP via the Internet. I got somebody on there within 2 minutes and in a “mere” 14 minutes, got the RMA# and instructions on how to return the unwanted drive. They certainly are very good at taking care of returns. They are going to refund me the entire amount, even including the overnight FedEx charge. At least they’re good at something.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t solve my problem. I still need this discontinued drive from somewhere. Ebay here I come.

Since I was getting tired of the same restaurants, I decided to try out Sushi Stop on Sawtelle in West LA. There are tons of sushi places in this area and I’ve seen this place many times but was scared to try this cheap, I mean low priced place.

First of all, let me clue you into the fact that this one is near Mississippi, and not the one down the street. Yes, there are 2 of them within a block of each other. The other on has parking, but this one doesn’t so you have to park on the street.

It’s a relatively small restaurant and there is only sushi bar seating. All items are $2.75. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s like those 99 cent stores but for sushi. Yes, I know it doesn’t sound like a good idea.

Upon entry, the waitress will come over and ask want you want to drink and give you a form for you to use to check off the sushi, sashimi or other stuff you want. She gives it to the sushi chef that’s inside the bar and he starts to make your sushi immediately.

Not to sound too racist but I noticed that all 3 of the sushi chefs were authentic Japanese sushi chefs. This shouldn’t matter, but it makes me feel better. Yes, I know the difference so don’t try to trick me with some Mexican guy that looks Asian or Korean guy that can speak Japanese.

Normally, I don’t take pictures of each and every nigiri sushi that I order because it’s somewhat redundant. But in this case, I did this because for the price you are paying, I wanted to make sure you could see the quality of each and every piece. I was surprised that the Unagi was warm and prepared properly. I say this because I’ve been to low priced places where the Unagi was literally inedible.

The albacore was prepared with ponzu sauce which tasted as good as any ponzu I’ve had. All the fish was fresh and the only small complaint I have is that the rice was slightly dry and perhaps not enough sushi vinegar for my taste. Keep in mind that I’m being super picky here and comparing it to the way the top shelf sushi costing 2-3 times more would be prepared.

The rolls are cut and perhaps prepared quickly and not the best rolled job in the world. But nothing wrong with the ingredients.

So all the sushi pictured here plus my hot green tea, which I think was free, totaled less than $20. Now that’s really hard to beat at this level of quality. Yes, I’ve had cheaper but most of it was basically inedible. Not here. I’ve paid double this amount at fancy restaurants in Vegas for about the same quality.

But what I really liked about this place was not the price of the sushi.  It’s the service. Unlike Sugarfish, which has one of the best sushi in LA, but with the worst service, this place has one of the best service around. Between the waitress and waiter, I got my green tea re-filled 3 times without asking even once.

So between the cheap… low priced, good quality sushi and great service, I liked this place and will be returning.

Sushi Stop
2053 Sawtelle Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 473-3999
sushistopusa.com

Back in the 90′s, Hurry Curry was a great place to come for lunch or dinner. Then it was sold, and the quality went down. I stopped going there many years ago.

Recently, I decided to give the place another try. In keeping with my usual favorite here, I ordered the Tokyo Curry on pasta. I should have know things were not going to go well for me when the waiter asked me if I wanted to substitute brown rice for an extra cost. I reminded him that I was having pasta. Hmmm.

My order came quickly. The included salad was good, especially the dressing. But that’s where the food stopped being good. The pasta came with the curry in a separate container as usual but I could tell right away that it was very watery. In fact, it was so watery, it looked like soup.

This was so ridiculous, I called the waiter over and gently asked him what happened to the curry. His response was strange at the minimum. He told me that the curry was the same as it has always been and that he has been working there for 10 years. I wanted to say, “If you’ve been working here for 10 years, you should know the curry shouldn’t be soup!” but I just tried to eat the watery curry.

Basically, I just ate the pasta and left the soup in the container. When I asked the waiter for the check, he asked me if everything was alright. I told the waiter again that the curry was not supposed to be soup. This time he declared that it was just a “bad batch.” That’s probably true. But no restaurant should ever be serving their customers a “bad batch.” They won’t be seeing me again there for at least another 10 years.

Hurry Curry of Tokyo
2131 Sawtelle Blvd.
West Los Angeles, CA 90025
310-473-1640
hurrycurryoftokyo.com