My friend sent me this website that’s selling Hello Kitty wine.

“Sweet Pink” wine. I wonder if they’ll have these at restaurants around town. I guess since they sell Hello Kitty vibrators and bikinis, it’s not too surprising that they have wine. Next up, Hello Kitty cigars.

See a list of online sellers at: mwcimporterforhellokittywine.com

There are new high tech parking meters in downtown Los Angeles that take credit and debit cards. You simply slide and pull out your credit card, just like at the gas station, then use the blue “+” and “-” buttons to add or subtract time to enter into the meter. Of course, you can still use coins.

There are green and red LEDs on the opposite side for the meter-maids to see when they drive by. On the user side, there’s an LCD and 4 buttons to control usage. The unit gets power from a solar panel on the opposite side, but I’m not sure it’s not getting some power from the grid also. Somehow, the meter checks your credit card and authorizes or rejects your card. I’m not sure how it’s doing this but it’s pretty fast. Not sure if they have WiFi or underground wires.

So far, I haven’t tried using a bad card but I assume it’s really doing the check. One thing I don’t like is, when you put your credit card in, the amount defaults to the maximum ($2) and allows you to reduce the amount using the minus button. However, it will time out automatically and charge the maximum if you do nothing. This is a problem if there’s something wrong with the buttons and you cannot enter anything. In that case, you will be charged the maximum automatically. I guess with LA’s budget crisis, they have to do everything they can to make a few extra bucks.

Be sure not to use your credit or debit card if you’re going to commit a crime. They’ll be able to trace you down to your exact location from your card.

Update 6/14/2010:
I just found out that the balance on the debit card that I was using at the meter was zero but the parking meter accepted it. Either the “Authorizing…” message is fake or I’m going to get a letter from the city.

This looks like baby sized condoms but actually, it should be used for the “shocker.”

One of the great features of the Palm Pre on Sprint is the turn-by-turn navigation app. The 3D graphics is done pretty well and it’s just as good as any stand-alone navigation device. In case you’ve never seen it in action, here’s what it looks like when it’s working properly.

Screen capture of Sprint Navigation app

But after upgrading the firmware recently, my Sprint Navigation app started giving me this error message shown below.

Account expiration error

Since the error message seemed to indicate that my account had expired, I called the TeleNav number. TeleNav is the company that provides Sprint with the app. The TeleNav call was very short. They told me that they were aware of this problem, because many other Sprint users were calling about this problem, and that the best thing to do was to have Spring 3 way call them with me on the line and they would talk them through the fix.

Armed with this information, I put a call into Sprint’s technical support. There was a lot of confusion and plenty of waiting on hold while the tech support people checked their manuals and on-screen instructions. I told them that TeleNav had told me to have Sprint do a 3 way call to them. However, the Sprint tech told me that they are not allowed to do this. You can see in my OomaVOIP status that the first call was about 1 hour when I gave up.

After trying a few other things myself by doing some Google searches and experimentation, I gave up again and decided to call Sprint back again for a second call. This time I was determined to get them to do the 3 way call to solve my problem. Unfortunately, Sprint does not have a “reference” number type customer service system and each time you call, you basically have to start from scratch. It took me another 42 minutes to the same point as the last call where they told me that they cannot make the 3 way call.

Frustrated, I asked the Sprint tech if it would help if I went to the Sprint store instead of calling. They told me that the store has less access to my account but that they might be able to make the call to TeleNav for me while I was there.

When I arrive at the Sprint store, there is nobody there. When I say nobody, I mean no customers or workers. It was completely empty. I guess Sprint’s not doing so well.

In any case, the tech guy finally came out and tried to help me. Unfortunately, he told me that the Sprint tech support has the access to more information and that he was not allowed to call TeleNav himself. The only thing he was allowed to do was call the Sprint tech support number for me. WTF?!

This situation totally reminds me of how PC hardware and software companies keep telling the user to call the other company.

The only thing I can say is that everyone that I talked to, on the phone and in person, were super friendly and wanted to help me but none of them were allowed to do the one thing I was asking them to do. If the no 3 way calling is really the policy, this needs to be changed. Why can’t the Sprint store tech guy call TeleNav? Very strange.

The bottom line is, my Navigation app still doesn’t work. That was one of the big features that I loved about the move to Sprint because I had to pay monthly on Verizon. But I guess you get what you pay for. Since it’s free on Sprint, there’s no incentive for them to try to fix it for me.

Luckily, Verizon now carries the Palm Pre Plus.  Maybe I’ll be moving back to them again.

Downtown is really becoming upgraded by all the action from the Nokia Center and LA Live. Because of all the new commotion, I decided to checkout Katsuya at LA Live in downtown.

They have other branches in Brentwood, Glendale, Hollywood and others opening in Vegas and Miami, according to their website. I’ve never been to any of the other branches so take that into consideration as you read the review of this new branch.

The ambiance here is your usual upscale, hip-fusion Japanese Restaurant that can charge a lot. However, the strange thing was the chairs were cheap plastic chairs that you would have outside for your kids to play on. On top of that, they had tiny tables where they would seat 6 people! The table was so small, at other restaurants, you would seat 2 people and putting 4 would be pushing it. Very strange.

Sushi Bento - $36

My friend ordered the Sushi Bento because it comes with a futomaki roll, which she loves. Don’t ask. In any case, it also comes with nigiri sushi, miso Cod, sunomono, inari sushi, albacore meatballs. The Futomaki is the huge roll closest to the camera and the inari are the “footballs” you see next to it.  The miso Cod was excellent. Almost as good as the cod at Mori Sushi.

However, the albacore “meatballs” were not edible. I don’t use that phrase lightly. When I say “not edible,” I literally mean it. If I bought it at Ralphs, I would return it for my money back. This should not be served anywhere, especially not at a high priced Japanese Restaurant.

Sushi Sampler - $30

As per my usual technique, I ordered the Sushi sampler which comes with the usual assortment of nigiri sushi: tuna, albacore, yellowtail, salmon, halibut, shrimp, octopus, fresh water eel, and egg, and California roll. As you can even see from the picture, the California roll was falling apart and not properly made. Although everything was fresh, all the sushi showed inexperience in the sushi chef’s technique. I’m pretty sure Mr. Katsuya was not part of the creation of these pieces by any stretch of the imagination. It was more like his intern’s helper made them.

We complained about the horrible “meatball” and the waiter told us that other people have complained about it. I guess it doesn’t matter what their customers say, they are going to serve it no matter what. The waiter also warned us that on busy nights, service is very slow because it is so packed and therefore, the restaurant should be avoided. After seeing the food, no problem. At least we were there early and the service was good.

All this wouldn’t be completely horrible if the price was not so inflated. I guess with the name of the restaurant, and the supposed upscale LA Live location, the over inflated prices are to be expected. To add insult to injury, the green tea is $5 here. Yes. That’s right. No, for one person. And everyone that reads this blog knows that in my opinion, any Japanese Restaurant that charges for green tea is not authentic.

At least they validate your $5 parking at LA Live. It can always be worse. You won’t be seeing me there again.

Katsuya
800 W. Olympic Blvd. #A 175
Los Angeles, CA 90015
sbe.com/katsuya/
lalive.com/dining/katsuya

Recently, I was trying to make reservations on Southwest Airlines’ website using Firefox. For the life of me, I was not able to make it work. Yes, I’m using the current version of Firefox. Maybe that’s the problem.

All I had to do was switch over to Internet Explorer and everything was right in the world again.

I really don’t blame the Southwest website designers for this problem because I know how hard it is to keep your website working for all versions of all browsers on all platforms. It’s a real headache.

Have you seen the Oreck ProShield™ Plus Air Purifier with Helios Shield™ infomercial on TV? I did too. And since I’m a victim of advertising, I decided to order it and try it out.

The unit is approximate the size of a small desktop computer and can be placed flat (like in the photograph below) or vertically like a tower PC. The design and look is pretty good and I like the blue lights. The model I ordered is the middle priced unit and comes with a tiny remote control.

Oreck XL Air Purifier - $399.95

The control buttons are on the left (or at the top in tower mode) and there are 3 power settings. In low mode, it’s very quite and you can barely hear it in a quite room. In regular mode, it’s louder and just loud enough that it may disturb your TV viewing or music listening experience unless the unit is far away. In high mode, it’s very loud and should only be used when smoke or other impurities must be taken out of the air quickly. The lights indicate what mode it’s in and can be seen from across the room.

Close-up of control buttons

Personally, I don’t suffer from Asthma or severe allergies so the purpose of my purchase was just to keep the air cleaner since I live in LA and the air is basically dirty all the time. From what I could tell, it did seem to keep the air cleaner as advertised. It’s also supposed to kill viruses and germs but there’s no way for me to know if it’s really doing that. What I did notice is, it did take away odors pretty well. It takes a while but if you leave for work and come back, that’s enough time for the odor to go away.

The first few weeks that it was in use, the air did “smell” different. Actually, there’s no smell at all. Whatever “smell” was present is just gone and it’s strange. In fact, a friend of mine who works in the medical field said it smells like a hospital. I’m guessing that hospitals also use the same kind of unit to kill germs and viruses. After a few weeks, I got used to the non-smell environment and forgot it was even there.

After a couple or 3 weeks, the “Collector Cell” light comes on, indicating that it has to be cleaned. To do so, all you have to do is open the top and remove the collector cell.

Cleaning Light On

Here is the collector cell in my sink under water. After a few minutes the water turned gray so I know that it did “collect” something. It’s disgusting what I’m breathing into my lungs. Next, just take the cell out of the water and air dry it. It’s a very simple procedure. If I can do it, anybody can.

Collector Cell In Sink

The Purifier also comes with a free refrigerator air purifier that’s about the size of a coke can and uses 4 “C” batteries. You can set it for “Hi” or “Lo” mode. Other than the blinking light, it makes no sound so you really don’t even know it’s there. Frankly, I cannot rate this unit because I don’t have enough stuff in my frig to make any type of comparison.

Free Refrigerator Air Purifier

On top of the free refrigerator air purifier, you get to pick yet another “gift” from a list on their website. You can choose from one of: Floor sweeper, car vac, speed sweep, or cordless speed iron. I decided to get the free car vac, which turned out to be a bad choice. First, I didn’t realize that it was corded and although the cord is pretty long, it really gets in the way and there’s no good way to store it in your car.

The car vac really works well sucking up the dust and dirt but unfortunately, the design is bad and once you pop the unit open to clean it, it’s very hard (or nearly impossible) to close it again because the latch is not constructed properly. I literally used it once then threw it away at the gas station. You get what you pay for.

Free Car Vac

Instead of offering all these free crap, I wish they would just lower the price of the purifier. So far, it’s been a good product for me. Do I need it? I’m not sure but it sure makes me feel like I’m doing something good for my body. Which is more than I can say about my eating habits.

So it’s been 3 years since I originally reviewed the Buffalo TeraStation NAS RAID drive I got. As you can see from the picture below, the red light indicates a drive failure.

The firmware automatically found the error and indicated the error on the LCD display, and of course turned on the red LED so that it was obvious that there was a problem.

To launch the Admin Web interface, launch the NASNavigator2 app for the device. Go to “Menu,” then “Properties,” then “Launch Web Admin.”

This will launch your browser which will be connected to the NAS device and will be presented with a login screen. Enter your username and password. Because of the drive failure, the status will indicate that the drive will have to be fixed. Click on the link to fix the drive and the process will start automatically.

The fix will take a while so you can just let the procedure run overnight. The instructions tells you that you may not get back all the data depending on the severity of the error. After the procedure was finished, I looked around on the drive and it appears that everything was restored but it’s impossible to tell for sure.

All in all, it was relatively painless and I didn’t even have to call customer service.

Have you gotten bored with the same old Kit Kat bar?

Well, if you go to Japan, or find a store that has Japanese imported Kit Kats, you can get the Strawberry flavored version.

Is it just me or does the strawberry look flesh colored? By the way, it pretty much exactly what you think it will taste like. Not very good.

Wakcano has several locations in Los Angeles and I’ve been meaning to try it out for a while, so when I got the chance to checkout the Santa Monica branch, I decided to try it out.

Sushi Deluxe - $25.95

The first thing I noticed was the nice ambiance of this place. I’m sure it gets pretty crowded on weekend nights. The entry greeting “center” looks like a I.T. control center with about 4 LCD monitors all around with some type of seating application running on them.

My friend got a roll, but I decided to get the standard nigiri combination called “Sushi Deluxe,” which comes with 9 nigiri and a tunu cut-roll as you can see above. Although the sushi was fresh, there was nothing very exciting about it and it’s a tiny bit pricey for what you get. Compare this to something like the combination at Izayoi and you’ll see what I mean.

This place is a Asian fusion type place so don’t expect the perfect sushi here. They do have chicken and plenty of other non-sushi dishes which I think I’ll come back and try.  This is more of a meet & greet, lounge than a sushi bar.

Wakcano, Santa Monica
1413 5th Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401-2401
(310) 458-3080
wokcanorestaurant.com