2011 Photographic Year in Review

Grape leaves

What?! Another year in the history books? I say this every year, but time sure does fly. Especially when you're having fun. This year seemed like one of the busiest yet! Let's take a look back at my photographic year in review for 2011.

See previously, my photographic year in reviews for 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.

Quick notes: I probably stuffed way too many events and photos in this post. Sorry! Secondly, it's interesting to see how many square formatted photographs (courtesy of Instagram) that I have. It's my primary way of sharing photos these days.

January 2011

I started off the year trying to take a photo per day. Here, I walked town Divisadero in our old neighborhood and shot some random photos of the store front one night. This experiment lasted about 2 days.

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Street cars are one of the reasons I love San Francisco.

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Speaking of rides in street cars, I kept taking pictures of them / inside them and shot this iPhone panorama.

Street Car Panorama

In early January, Christmas trees are victims in San Francisco.

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Kerry took me to the Tonga Room in San Francisco for my birthday. It's a San Francisco classic. Pool in the middle of the restaurant with a boat and a band.

Tonga Room SF Tonga Room SF 2

Our friend Christian celebrated his birthday by scheduling a Mexican party bus to take us around town! Drinks, music, and late night pinatas in the park!

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Walking to and from work each day, I'm bound to stumble upon many of San Francisco's eccentrics. And then document them with my phone's camera (this is a trend I've noticed more and more -- I'm using my serious cameras less and less!)

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I also picked up this rad bearded beanie (because, you know, I can't really grow a beard).

Bearded beanie

To end the month, the group of our friends took off on a chartered wine tour of Sonoma through Terrific Tours.

Wine 1 Wine 2 Wine 3

February 2011

The first weekend of February was Super Bowl weekend! So, we mounted up in our vehicles to head to Lake Tahoe for a winter weekend at a friend's cabin.

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This means there was also some serious Settlers of Catan games going on.

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Also, the Starvin Marvin's BBQ Team decided to help out and provide some tasty treats.

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Thanks to a query from Burrito Justice, I went to the SF Library to dig up a research paper on prehistoric humans found while excavating BART in the 1960's.

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Mike Daisey came to town and gave an incredible performance on The Agony and Ecstasy of Steve Jobs. Here's the setup of the stage prior to the show.

Agony of Steve Jobs

Winters in California aren't too bad…

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A friend of ours had an 80's themed birthday. Dynamic Dave and Missouri Mike made an appearance.

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Kinetic Kerry and Dynamic Dave, 80's style.

Kerry and dave

Our cats continued to make me realize how easy they have it. Here, Tegan is thinking about all her worries.

Easy tegan

And a tweet of mine randomly appeared on Twitter's home page. Sweet!

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March 2011

It's been awhile since we've been wine tasting, so back to Sonoma we went!

Wine march 1 Wine march 2

Proving time and time again that we have the laziest animals in the universe.

Lazy cats

March also means the South by Southwest festival is happening. Off to Austin, Texas!

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Rachel and Kerry pose with the mascot from HootSuite.

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And then pose while riding some cheesy rides…

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Austin gets pretty crazy during SXSW.

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The Texas State Capital Building is pretty neat at night.

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The primary reason we were in Austin was for our annual gdgt live in Austin event.

Gdgt live in austin

While in Texas, Kerry and I apparently found one of Austin's classic "love photo" spots.

With love from austin

We extended our stay a few days and had a chance to check out the world famous Salt Lick BBQ outside of Austin.

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Don't forget about all the awesome music! Here, Liam Finn sings some tunes.

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After a week in Austin, we flew back home to our fair city.

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With BBQ season approaching, I hung out with the Starvin Marvin's BBQ Team while they practiced cooking some brisket.

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I can't stop taking pictures of the sky!

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April 2011

Baseball season begins!

Att park

Our friends Scott and Marcie ended up getting engaged! So we hung out at a wine bar to surprise them (courtesy of Scott setting this up).

Wine bar engagement party

For our friend Jeff's birthday, we went out to the East Bay and had a BBQ in the park.

Jeffs birthday park

Koa was there to keep us company.

Koa park

In late April, I ventured out to Kennedy Space Center for one of the coolest experiences in my life -- to checkout Space Shuttle Endeavour's last flight for a NASA Tweetup! It was the experience of a lifetime.

Kennedy space center

Here is the new Orion module on display at the KSC Visitor's Center.

Orion module

An full scale mockup of the Shuttle on display at KSC:

Ksc visitor shuttle

Credentials!

Nasa credentials

The VAB! Words cannot describe how crazy huge it is. This is where they put together vehicles that take humans to SPACE. And at one point, the MOON!

VAB

I'm posing in front of the world famous count down clock.

Countdown clock

We also got to go inside the VAB!

Inside vab

Sadly, due to a late thunderstorm and some technical issues that cropped up, the launch was scrubbed and I had to return home. This was the closest I ever got to seeing a Shuttle launch.

Endeavour

May 2011

May was a fairly inactive month for me. Went for a run down to the beach.

Beach

There was also a lot of standing around, as Off the Grid SF started up a weekly event at our office building for lunch!

Bw shoes

June 2011

Masquerade party at our friend's house.

Masks

Kerry and I moved to Oakland! One of the immediate and obvious differences between San Francisco and Oakland was the blue sky. That's right! No fog in the summer, baby!

Oakland skies

We immediately started checking out some of the neighborhood eateries. Our first stop? Homeroom! Specialty Mac n' Cheese!

Homeroom food

And here is some cute art on the wall at Homeroom:

Homeroom wall

I flew to New York City for a gdgt live event. I went a few days early to visit my sister, who had just moved back to New York City from Los Angeles.

Brooklyn summers:

Brooklyn summers

Checking out the High Line.

High line

It was pretty fun hanging out with my sister in NYC. I hadn't seen her in awhile!

Siblings

July 2011

In July, we went out to Yosemite National Park for a wedding for our friends, Meghan and Andy. It was a blast!

Yosemite 1 Yosemite chapel Yosemite Falls

Of course, I had to go for the standard post card shot of the valley.

Yosemite valley

Our friend Marcie took an awesome photo of Kerry and I while there.

Dave and kerry

I also borrowed a new camera, the Fuji X100. I had to test it out, so I used my standard benchmarking tool: the nearest feline.

Tosh

In mid-July, we went back to Austin, Texas for another wedding. This time for Jess and Adam.

Austin 6th Austin river

We end the month with some more baseball -- this time, the Oakland A's: a minor league team pretending to be a major league team.

Oakland as

August 2011

August! This time, we venture to Seattle for a gdgt live event. Before all the festivities, we stopped by the Sci Fi museum to see the Battlestar Galactica exhibit!

Bsg 1

Space Needle!

Space needle

In mid-August, we ventured northward to the Russian River for a good old-fashioned canoe trip!

Canoes Russian river Kerry dave canoe

Seemingly millions of people flocked to the Mission to taste food from a few dozen food trucks. Street Food Fest was amazing. Amazingly crowded!

Street food fest

My parents and grandparents came up to visit and stayed in Napa. So we went on adventure and rode the Napa Valley Wine Train!

Napa train Train view Napa

September 2011

We spend Labor Day weekend on the shores of Lake Tahoe.

Lake tahoe chambers Tahoe chambers Tahoe cabin

The other reason we were in Tahoe? Rib Fest!

Dave ribfest Reno ribfest Reno ribfest2

We managed to sneak in some hiking as well.

Forest Mountains Tahoe above

Off the Grid held an event in the East Bay at Golden Gate Fields. So, we went out and saw our first horse races. It was pretty fun!

Horse races

Mid-September, I went off to Chicago for another gdgt live event. It's such a pretty city!

Chicago 1 Chicago 2

More Oakland A's games! (Admittedly, baseball is always fun to see, no matter who is playing.)

More baseball

Random stuffed animals left around our neighborhood…

Teddy bear

Our friends Katherine and Tony got married!

Kkr tc

October 2011

Sadly, Steve Jobs passed away early in October. I swung by the local Apple Store to check out the memorial that fans and mourners were building.

Apple store memorial

Views from the office building: crazy people.

Crazy people

October means Fleet Week! Scott and I went out on a boat and watched the Blue Angels practice. We had pretty epic front row seats.

Blue angels 1 Blue angels 2

We ventured north to Sonoma for another wine tasting trip with friends.

Vineyards Making wine

For work, the team stopped by the SF MOMA to check out the Dieter Rams exhibit. It was pretty inspiring.

Dieter rams

Besides Fleet Week, October also means pumpkin patches!

Pumpkins

Dramatic mornings on public transit.

Macarthur bart

This is how we hack street signs in Oakland.

Oakland street signs

For our friend's Halloween party, Kerry and I dressed up as friendly TSA agents.

Tsa agents

November 2011

More wine!

More wine

And more Dave and Kerry pics after drinking wine!

Dave kerry wine tasting

December 2011

Santacon!

Santacon

We took a train ride down to Southern California on the Coast Starlight. That was a blast!

Coast starlight

The views were pretty epic, too!

Coast starlight views

Book Review: The Orphan Master's Son

The Orphan Master's SonThe Orphan Master's Son by Adam JohnsonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Orphan Master's Son follows the life of Pak Jun Do, a young boy who lives in a North Korean orphanage with his father, the Orphan Master.

What ultimately transpires is a pretty gripping tale following the life of Jun Do as he grows up and lives life under the oppressive totalarian regime of Kim Jong Il. He ultimately joins to military and is assigned to tunnel duty -- building tunnels for infiltration into South Korea. One day, he is visited by an officer and assigned a new task that will ultimately change his life, forever.

Some of my favorite chapters are written in an entertaining and light hearted manner -- providing well timed, nice (almost comic) relief from some of the heavier parts of the book. They make you feel as if you're listening to the latest daily propaganda dispatch from a nearby loudspeaker: "CITIZENS! Today is the Dear Leader's birthday! Help us celebrate by DOUBLING your output quotas! Remember, it's the only way to prevent a sneak attack by those imperialist aggressors!"

I don't want to spoil much more of the story. There are twists and turns in the plot that will cause your jaw to drop. There are other parts that will potentially cause you to tear up. You really do feel as if someone peeled back a curtain, and you're getting a genuine look inside North Korea.

This is a great book for any book club, as it has amazing potential for discussing fate versus free will, loyalty, love, fidelity, and courage. I often found myself laying awake at night, thinking about some of these central themes in the book.

My ultimate rating is 5 / 5 stars -- I debated giving it 4 as I read along, but I think some of the deeper themes of the book, and the fact that it was so thought provoking, makes me belive it's easily worth all 5 stars.

Forgive me for my hyperbole, but this was one of the most enjoyable books I've read since The Kite Runner. I highly recommend it!

View all my reviews

My top music of 2011

According to my Last.FM profile, here are my top artists (and number of times I've listened to their songs) for 2011.

  1. Bob Dylan (557 plays)

  2. Hot Water Music (556 plays)

  3. The Wooden Birds (502 plays)

  4. Daft Punk (433 plays)

  5. Johnny Cash (422 plays)

  6. Bad Religion (406 plays)

  7. State Radio (358 plays)

  8. Otis Redding (338 plays)

  9. Against Me! (329 plays)

  10. Amos Lee (325 plays)

It's been fun!

Gdgt office

Hey folks,

Today is my last day at gdgt. It's hard to believe that I joined the team almost 3 years ago. Time flies when you're having fun! It's been a wild ride, but it's time for me to pursue some new opportunities in 2012!

I want to thank the gdgt community for making my job an absolute blast and helping create something awesome! It's been a fun experience chatting with everyone on gdgt, on Twitter, and even in person at our gdgt live events. I've met a countless number of great people, and for that, I'm super thankful.

Thanks for the fun times and happy memories!

Until next time,

-Dave

Book Review: Steve Jobs

Steve JobsSteve Jobs by Walter IsaacsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I heard that Walter Isaacson was doing the Steve Jobs biography, I was quite excited about the potential. I loved his biographies on Albert Einstein and Ben Franklin (and his Henry Kissinger bio has been highly recommended). Needless to say, it was an instant pre-order.

The biography takes a look at the various parts of Steve's life, from his upbringing as an adopted child, to his care free lifestyle and travels through India, to starting a company, getting kicked out, and then ultimately coming back.

Overall, the book was an interesting read and had some fascinating nuggets of information. But I found myself disappointed as I read further and further into the book. Isaacson had unprecedented access to Steve Jobs. I was really hoping that he could get inside his head, pick him apart, and come up with what made him tick, his thought processes, etc.

Unfortunately, he really didn't. What we're instead left with is a superficial look at Steve's life in the first half of the book, and a look at Apple's various product launches in the second half of the book. As I write this, news comes out today that Isaacson is planning an addendum to the Jobs biography in the future -- adding more information and filling in some gaps.

Overall, the book was still an interesting read, and I think anyone who is a fan of technology will find it enjoyable. I just wish it was more fulfilling.

View all my reviews

Stop SOPA

I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit: http://americancensorship.org/posts/4757/uncensor

As ███████ who █████ for a ███████ ████ ██████, ████, and ████████ the ████████ and its ███████ ████████, it is █████ ████ we ████ ████. ████ ████████ ██████████ of the ████████. ████ me in ██████████ ████ ███████████████ and ███████ ████ ████ we won't █████ for ████.

Uncensor This

Extrapolating the screen size of Android mobile phones over time.

This piece was originally posted on gdgt. Check it out, here.

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Abstract: The latest Android mobile phone under Google's flagship phone line, the Nexus family, currently has a diagonal screen size of 4.65 inches (118.1mm). This follows a trend that Google started with the HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1 -- their first Android flagship phone. Released in 2008, it had a diagonal screen size of only 3.2 inches (81.3mm). Since then, screen sizes in Google's Nexus line have grown at an average rate of 0.48 inches (12.2mm) per year.

I. IntroductionIn 2008, HTC released the first Android phone, the HTC Dream on T-Mobile[1]. Known as the G1, this phone kicked off the Android revolution. At the time, it featured a screen size of only 3.2 inches (81.3mm) -- which is rather paltry by today's standards. Since then, subsequent releases of Android phones by Google and its partners have featured larger and larger screen sizes, culminating with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus[2], announced earlier this week in Hong Kong.

II. MethodsFor this experiment, we only used specifications data provided by Google and its partners to determine the screen size. We listed each of Google's flagship phone ordered by release date. Then we divided the total change is screen size by the total number of years.

From there, we're able to extrapolate the potential screen size of future Android phones.

III. ResultsHere is data from all of Google's stock Android phones.

  • T-Mobile G1 (2008) - 3.2 inch
  • Nexus One[3] (2010) - 3.7 inch
  • Nexus S[4] (2010) - 4.0 inch
  • Galaxy Nexus (2011) - 4.65 inch

We see that over the course of 3 years, Google's phones have gained a total of 1.45 inches (36.8mm). This factors out to an average growth rate of 0.48 inches (12.2mm) per year. With this result, we can now predict the screen size of Android devices over time.

  • 2012 - 5.13 inches (130mm)
  • 2013 - 5.61 inches (142.5mm)
  • 2014 - 6.09 inches (154.7mm)
  • 2015 - 6.57 inches (166.9mm)
  • 2020 - 8.97 inches (227.8mm)

IV. ConclusionOver the last few years, it's clear to see that the market has spoken with regard to its preferences over the size of mobile devices. Google has recognized consumer's preference for larger devices and has moved toward a "bigger-is-better" strategy for mobile phones. At the current rate of growth for Android phones, by 2022, they will eclipse the 9.7 inch screen (246.4mm) size of Apple's tablet, the iPad[5].

V. Footnotes

HTC Dream / T-Mobile G1

Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Nexus One

Samsung Nexus S

Apple iPad

Seeing this post on Gizmodo earlier today made realize something. Android phones are getting bigger and bigger. So, I decided to write this tongue in cheek "research paper" to highlight the increasing "screen bloat" of Android devices. Bring on the 9.7 inch phones, baby! 2022 can't come soon enough.

gdgt live in Los Angeles on October 28th!

Gdgt live in LA

At the end of this month, I'll be down in Los Angeles for our gdgt live event. It's our first time coming to Southern California. If you like gadgets and want a chance to play with some of the latest and greatest devices out there (and also win them), you should come out!

It's free, all-ages, and open to the public.

When: Friday, October 28th, 2011 from 7:30pm – 10pmWhere: Club Nokia, 800 West Olympic Blvd, Los AngelesWho: Over 20 of the hottest brands in tech. See who will be there!How: This event is free, all-ages, and open to the public. Invite your friends! RSVP here.

[more info gdgt blog]

Help save our friend Amit

Amit Gupta

Our friend, Amit Gupta, was diagnosed with Leukemia. He needs help in a major way.

I got a call from my doctor, who I’d gone to see the day before because I’d been feeling worn out and was losing weight, and wasn’t sure why. He was brief: “Amit, you’ve got Acute Leukemia. "You need to enter treatment right away." I was terrified. I packed a backpack full of clothes, went to the hospital as he’d instructed, and had transfusions through the night to allow me to take a flight home at 7am the next day. I Googled acute leukemia as I lay in my hospital bed, learning that if it hadn’t been caught, I’d have died within weeks. I have a couple more months of chemo to go, then the next step is a bone marrow transplant. South Asians are severely under-represented in the bone marrow pool, and I need help.

There's a few things you can do to help. Are you of South Asian descent? Swab! Or help organize a drive!

[more info Amit Gupta Needs You]