Back in November last year, I read about this Kickstarter project on Uncrate via Flipboard app on my iPad.(I think). I’ve been looking for a waterproof cash container for a while and all the one I can find on Amazon are either too small (designed mainly for medications) or not cool enough, or just not what I am looking for.

The Ti2 Sentinel however, is perfect. It has multiple sizes to choose from in both lengths and diameters. It’s made of titanium so it should be very durable. It’s waterproof so cash or any legal documents should not get wet. And most important of all, the prices are affordable and in exactly the right range for me. Oh and it’s hand-made in USA. What more can one ask?

I pledged my money for a S6M since looking at the schematics I didn’t think the S6S will accommodate cash notes. The S4L will but I want something with large enough diameter to store decent amount of cash. The project owner, Mike Bond, provides detailed updates on the build process, which was very reassuring for the backers like myself. After waiting for 3 months and just a couple of weeks after the original delivery estimate, my S6M arrived yesterday. It is exactly as described in the Kickstarter project. Beautifully handcrafted. The square thread is particularly impressive attention to details. It is definitely something that is “use and forget” which is important as part of the emergency kit.

Ti2 Sentinel in plastic package
In plastic package
Ti2 Sentinel out of the package
Out of package
Dissembled into all three parts
Dissembled into all three parts

Synology DS1512+ benmarks

Here are some very unscientific benmarks using Xbench.

Internal bootup disk – Western Digital Green 500GB

Results 73.10 
 System Info 
 Xbench Version 1.3
 System Version 10.7.4 (11E53)
 Physical RAM 8192 MB
 Model MacPro1,1
 Drive Type WDC WD5000AADS-00S9B0
 Disk Test 73.10 
 Sequential 119.99 
 Uncached Write 117.65 72.24 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Write 101.81 57.61 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 Uncached Read 133.10 38.95 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Read 133.29 66.99 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 Random 52.56 
 Uncached Write 20.06 2.12 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Write 218.70 70.02 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 Uncached Read 72.85 0.52 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Read 125.53 23.29 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Synology DS1512+ (2 x Seagate Barracuda 1.5TB + 1 x Western Digital Green 1.5TB, SHD)

Results 52.87
 System Info
 Xbench Version 1.3
 System Version 10.7.4 (11E53)
 Physical RAM 8192 MB
 Model MacPro1,1
 Disk Test 52.87
 Sequential 30.86
 Uncached Write 12.50 7.67 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Write 54.58 30.88 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 Uncached Read 40.95 11.98 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Read 145.74 73.25 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 Random 184.25
 Uncached Write 71.69 7.59 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Write 219.30 70.20 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 Uncached Read 1316.45 9.33 MB/sec [4K blocks]
 Uncached Read 409.62 76.01 MB/sec [256K blocks]

Sparrow – Improvement from Mail.app?

I finally have enough of Mail.app this week. Mainly because I’ve been spending more time using it constantly last couple of weeks and notice many small things that bug me. So I start looking for alternatives and ran into Sparrow in the Mac AppStore so I decided to give it try.

Disclaimer

I’m not a huge email person. I’m more a face-to-face or Twitter person. I don’t get many emails a day, nor I create many new emails. Partly because I use email for communication only and not for other purposes. I don’t use email as my repository of information, I use Evernote for that. And I don’t use email as a to-do list, I have Remember The Milk. I also apply “Inbox-zero” approach to my emails so they are either actioned pretty much straightaway or they are deleted/archived.

I’ve used Sparrow for only 2 days so my opinion may (and probably will) change in the future.

Continue reading “Sparrow – Improvement from Mail.app?”

First full day with Windows Phone 7 and only that

Despite Google Voice continual refusal to work with my AT&T pre-paid number, I decided that today will be a good day to try using my Windows Phone 7 exclusively for the day. My wife, Leah, is still in the UK and my parents who are visiting me here in NY will be with me all day. So no one in particular should be calling me, and I set the call forwarding on my iPhone to the LG.

Continue reading “First full day with Windows Phone 7 and only that”

Windows Phone 7 – First Impression

I recently decided to expand my mobile experience horizon and acquired a Window Phone 7 from Brian Henderson, who I met a few years ago at the Seattle Alt.NET conference. Brian got the phone from this year Microsoft PDC and it is a LG Optimus 7 (a.k.a. LG-E900 outside North America). Having spent about four days with it, here is my raw first impression.

Disclaimer: This is not intended to be a hardware or software review. For that you can find them on the web easily. Here I would just point out things that stick out to me, especially comparing against the iPhone 4/iOS.

Continue reading “Windows Phone 7 – First Impression”

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