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Frugal, Yet Fine Living

Michael Animation, Interactive, Photo July 23, 2018

Some handy projects* to elevate the city living while adding a bit of DIY fun:

  • Non-conventional AC installation:

    Imagining side panels generating little or zero drafts, we got customized, hand-crafted acrylic or poly-carbonate sheet glass panels, for all 3 air conditioners. Crisp clear view and double pane for winter-proofing! [Over 10 hours of labor though.]

Open to see the AC water drip noise muzzler in action


Not sure about the foam’s life expectancy, as in a couple of weeks there’s already a strip of dip along the dripping line.

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A Cheat Sheet on Citywide Gifted & Talented Programs in NYC

Michael Interactive, Photo July 20, 2018

It’s been quite a journey for us to finally secure a seat at one of New York City’s Citywide Gifted & Talented programs. It’s a success that has taken both hard work and luck. We are very proud for Evan Yoyo to join NEST+m and we cannot wait to see him further grow and learn while enjoying chess and other things the school has to offer.

Here below is just a cheat sheet to get an idea of some overall considerations while choosing which ones you like, or not. But there’s just so much more to what this table can present, even though it’s a good start. [Commute times below are calculated based on a Forest Hills area home location.]

Our best one-sentence advice would be: start the prep work and research as early as possible. If you can get your child into the Kindergarten of a G&T program, you have an astronomically better chance of getting in than trying first grade.

Last but not least, education is so much more than what a school can provide for children, although a good school means a lot in the equation. We know that this will be a learning journey for the whole family, and those who we will be having a role along the way. After all, it takes a village.

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Now US Open Kids Day Is About the Game

Michael Photo, Photo editing, Video May 19, 2018

Now that Yoyo has become a real tennis fan, mostly of Roger Federer of course, the US Open Kids Day will be more about watching the game rather than just hanging out with family and picking up some goodies from sponsors. Here are some shots showing how serious he’s about the game:

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Photos That Make Skier Look Amazing

Michael Animation, Michael's touch, Photo January 17, 2018

This past weekend has been my 6-year-old son’s second time in his skiing career, if we can call it one. He started to like it. He’s not as remarkable as I have heard about other kids of his age. In my eye, and in particular through my lens, he is a pro already. Alright, I admit, he looks much greater in these photos than he really is. But hey, that’s what photos are for right?

Yoyo elegantly dodging a fallen skier on his way down

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Tech Review: Facetune 2 Putting Photoshop on the Phone

Michael Michael's touch, Photo January 14, 2018

I’ve recently tried quite a few iPhone photo editing apps and Facetune 2 is my favorite, here are real-life case studies:

Tricks applied above:

  • Defocus (the holy grail that the iPhone has been trying relentlessly to emulate after – the shallow depth of field)
    [You may try the auto feature but I find it hit or miss and the manual is definitely much better, if not perfect]
  • Vignette (an oval shaped spotlight effect, with a subtle dark frame around the person(s), on your chosen area of focus)

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Yoyo Scroll

Michael Photo December 3, 2017

A picture every three months or so, since January 2012.

An ever evolving documentary project.

What I learned so far: capturing the right moments matters the most to the quality of the picture, not whether you have a backdrop or lighting and all those things. But a good lens does help a great deal. Also available at yoyozhao.me


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TD GIFs & Clips [data guzzler]

Michael Animation, Data & Graphics, Photo July 26, 2017

There is a little bit of buzz lately of China’s ascendance, even on innovation. And here are a couple of numbers from a NYT article about urban China leapfrogging on mobile payments (2016 data via iResearch):

112
United States ($ billion)
5500
China ($ billion)

This, below, is my personally preferred way of looking at this, thanks to GIF and data visualization and things that I love doing at TD Bank now:

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Air Quality Action Day? Worry Not, NYers!

Michael Animation, Data & Graphics, Photo, Video July 22, 2017

If you have never heard of an air quality action day, you are most likely a perfectly typical resident in the U.S. who is also lucky, the latter of which you may have been taking for granted. Because a hazy day like July 20, 2017 in Manhattan almost never happens. (Hazy is not the same as “foggy.”)

Manhattan skyline July 20 vs 21, 2017 seen from Queens

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GIFs: California Reservoirs From Drought to Deluge

Michael Animation, Data & Graphics, Photo April 20, 2017

A five-year drought in California ended spectacularly this winter, with the state emerging from one of its driest periods on record by enduring one of its wettest. Reservoirs, lakes, and mountainsides are now brimming with water and snow, though scientists caution that the unseen reservoirs—underground aquifers—are a long way from having the same bounty that is visible on the land surface. [Full post on NASA Earth Observatory]

Trinity Lake, the third largest reservoir in the state (after Lake Oroville and Shasta Lake). The artificial lake in northern California connects to the Trinity River and is part of the Sacramento basin. On April 29, 2015, Trinity stood at 59 percent of its historical average level for that date; by April 2, 2017, it stood at 114 percent.

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GIFs: Shanghai Adds 10 Manhattans

Michael Animation, Data & Graphics, Photo April 1, 2017

Before I did my googling and math, I couldn’t believe it but here it is: Shanghai has added as much land as 10 Manhattans over the past couple of decades. Here are some satellite images as witness:

The number of people living in Shanghai is not the only thing about the city that has increased dramatically since the 1980s. The amount of land available to its residents has grown as well. By building seawalls just off the coast to capture outflowing sediment, and by using dredging equipment that sucks up and moves large volumes of sand, Shanghai has added well over 580 square kilometers (220 square miles) of land to its shorelines since 1985.

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GIFs: Spanish Peaks Turn Tan (by NASA)

Michael Animation, Photo March 5, 2017

来自非洲撒哈拉大沙漠的沙尘千里迢迢洒在了西班牙的雪山上，山舞银蛇的景象不再，在滑雪爱好者眼中尤其大煞风景。【原文见NASA Earth Observatory】

Two days after it was lofted into the air over the Sahara Desert on February 20, dust blew north into Spain and Europe. As dust particles settled down en masse on the snow-covered peaks of Spain’s Sierra Nevadas, they left the mountains a very different color. [GIF shows Feb. 18 – Feb. 27, 2017. Original post on NASA Earth Observatory]

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图数汇~2017-02刊

Michael Data & Graphics, Photo February 14, 2017

每个小方块代表10亿美元，绿色部分是美国对中国的出口总额，红色为中国对美国的出口总额，2015年中美贸易顺差达到3650亿美元。 Read More

Numbers in January 2017

Michael Data & Graphics, Photo January 14, 2017

Share of time spent by US social media users by, respectively, smartphone | desktop/laptop | tablet (Nielsen, Q3 2016):

18-34 (millennials): 78% | 12% |10%
35-49:                         69% | 18% | 13%
50+:                            63% | 25% | 12%

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Red Alert for Beijing Air Looks More Like Orange on NASA Map

Michael Animation, Data & Graphics, Photo December 23, 2016

北京12月中的空气污染红色警报再次牵动了大家脆弱的心肺，但是在NASA的空气污染色阶图中，北京天津似乎也就是个橙色级别，再看看石家庄才叫红得骄傲呢。NASA原文及滚动条互动图点这里。

Smog was particularly bad in cities like Beijing, which declared a five-day pollution “red alert” on December 16. The Chinese capital reached dangerous levels of more than 400 micrograms per cubic meter. In Shijiazhuang, capital of the Hebei province, airborne pollutants surpassed World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines by 100 times on December 19. (A safe level is 10-25 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5, according to the WHO.)

Fine, airborne particulate matter (PM) that is smaller than 2.5 microns (about one thirtieth the width of a human hair) can cause lung damage. Industrial practices like fossil fuel burning and agricultural fires produce most PM2.5aerosol particles. Despite efforts to curb these emissions, China continues to struggle with its air quality.

From space, the smog appears gray. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured a natural-color image (top) of northeastern China on December 22, 2016. Heavy, gray smog shrouds parts of the country, while the brightest, whiter areas are likely clouds or fog. The second image shows the severity of haze as measured by satellite, with deepest reds indicating the most affected areas. The map is based on MODIS measurements of aerosol optical depth—how much sunlight the aerosol particles prevent from reaching the ground.

For full NASA post and interactive slider image tap here.

Take Your iPhonography to The Next Holiday Season Level

Michael Interactive, Photo December 21, 2016

There is really a ton of visual pleasures out there beyond our everyday naked eye sight. (Maybe our eyes zoom and pan and focus too well, don’t they?)

iPhonography 2016

Before iPhone 8 can do more amazing photography miracles, there are simple and inexpensive tools out there that will empower your already neat iPhone like those cool DSLR lenses. Above is what I got a few months ago and in this holiday season I am gonna use it to have a lot of fun. Here is a sample the iPhone took with it. Read More

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