The Status Quo Fugitive

HTC Evo

2011-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

I got an HTC Evo the beginning of September giving me about 4 months to give a good review on this phone. The Evo isn't my first Android phone. It replaced my Samsung Moment which was a very good phone for me. Transitioning from a phone with a physical keyboard to one without gave me a few moments hesitation but I made the upgrade after convincing myself that the added features were worth it - I wasn't disappointed.

A disclaimer to this review is that I have my phone rooted with a custom rom (Myn Warm 2.2 RLS4). My experience may differ from someone with a stock Evo.

Screen

The screen size and quality is great. Most comments I have seen regarding the screen are related to how it's too big and is bulky to cary. I have large hands so that might prejudice my fondness of the screen size but I love having such a big screen. I can do most things on my phone that I would have used my computer for when it comes to entertainment and browsing the internet. With the built in kickstand, movie watching is great. Since my phone is rooted, I have a modded version of Flash Player and can play Hulu through the phone which has been pretty cool when I have been really bored. I have no difficulty reading the screen in full sunlight if the brightness is turned up all the way (the Android power settings toolbar makes changing screen brightness a couple easy taps)

Audio

The built in speaker is powerful for both speaker phone and music/movie enjoyment. It's definitely one of the loudest speakers I have experienced on my many handsets. The actual speaker for call audio is decent as well. Sometimes I have to have it up all the way if the caller's audio is low or I am in a loud environment but that's to be expected. While I have a headset with a built in mic, I like the fact that you can use a regular set of earphones to make calls using the phones microphone, a feature that some phones don't have.

Keyboard

I do miss the physical keyboard some but the HTC auto correct keyboard is pretty good and I don't have much trouble sending text messages. I have a modded keyboard that takes the arrows away from the bottom of the HTC keyboard which always caused trouble for me. You also have the option of adding Swype or other text entry programs. Google has a voice to text feature that works pretty well if you are in a quiet environment however, it doesn't do punctuation so it's really only good for one line texts or internet searches.

Signal

The Evo is on par with all the other phones I have had and might have a slight edge but it's definitely not bad. I have 4G where I live and it's relatively fast. I did a speedtest and got 3.5mbps download speed which is not really close to the speed touted for 4G but it's way better than 3G.

Battery Life

Again, I have a modded phone which has been tweaked to allow better battery life but unmodded the phone is about as good as your average smart phone. I have been able to milk 1.5 days out of one charge by turning off data when I don't need it and light texting, calling and surfing. An average day for me though is about 14-16 hours till I need to charge.

Camera

One of my favorite things about this phone is the camera. I know it's a phone and if I wanted to be a serious photographer I should get a good DSLR but I don't want to carry a bulky camera everywhere I go so the 8MP camera on the Evo is great. I have taken some amazing photos with this phone. The only complaint is that it's pretty grainy in low light but most digital cameras suffer from this.

I took both of these photos on the Evo.

The amount of features that the phone has makes it my favorite phone that I have ever had. The only thing that would make it better is if I could add some kind of a hardware keyboard case to the phone for sending long emails etc. I'm not going to go into the app store because this isn't an Android review but I have apps for pretty much everything I could want to use my phone for. I can't see myself upgrading for a while unless they come out with a phone that is twice as fast (I don't really have any issues with the speed) and gets much better battery life. Unless you have to have a physical keyboard, the Evo is my recommendation for anyone wanting a non-iPhone smart phone.

iPod Nano 6th Gen = WIN

2011-01-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

I had typed a comment on a message board to a bunch of people trashing the new iPod Nano (6th generation) but when I hit post they wanted me to sign up for an account so I said "screw it. I'll post it on my blog." Here goes.

All the people who are hating on the new Nano must either be old or just need to dump on everything. I just got one a few days ago (I also own an iPod Touch) and I love it.

1. It's a lot lighter than the Touch and it clips on to my clothes and as soon as I get the watch band I ordered it will be secured to my wrist. I listen to a lot of podcasts and I much prefer to have the Nano on me than the Touch.

2. The voice memo feature. If you have a headset with a mic or one of those small mics that just plug in (like $2 on ebay) then you can use the Nano to record lectures, spy on someone, make a note for yourself of a good idea etc.

3. It's really not hard to use. I have large hands (I can palm a basketball) and find no problem using it or reading the display.

I don't think I would ever watch a movie on it if the capability was added but I would like to be able to at least see what the teacher was talking about on my iTunes U classes. It's kind of pointless to just hear the audio from some of the classes where they are demonstrating stuff. If video out was enabled along with movie playing, I could hook it up to the monitor in my car when on trips so I suppose I would like movie playing added. I could also see how calendar events could be useful to someone who doesn't have a smart phone with that capability already.

It's a great device for the cost and size. Stop whining about how stupid the Nano is and get a life.

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That's it. I haven't posted anything in a while because I have been too busy and lazy (kind of an oxymoronic combination but true nonetheless). I acquired and HTC Evo a few months ago and will post about it soon.

Android - Samsung Moment redux

2010-06-21T18:18:00.001-07:00

After a week with Android on my Samsung Moment, I have to recant some of the complaints in my earlier post. Android is a very customizable operating system that I have been able to customize through apps to do what I want/need the phone for.

I had an issue with the Moment not having a notification light to alert of text messages and emails. A program called FlashNotify solved this by flashing the screen every ten seconds. Another issue was battery life. When I first got the phone it would barely go 6 or seven hours with minimal use between battery charges. I download Task Manager by Apollo and today after 9 hours some texting and a little talking, the battery is at about 70%.

The keyboard took some getting used to but I am starting to like the size of it and the fact that it has dedicated number keys. On the topic of text entry, let me just say - Swype is amazing. I was able to get the beta package and I love this invention. I never use the built in software keyboard because the hardware keyboard and Swype are so much superior. I am glad I got the Moment for my first Android phone because I was seriously considering getting the HTC Evo as my next phone but now I am going to wait till the Samsung Galaxy S Pro comes out and see how it reviews.

ADW.Launcher allowed me to customize the home screen and app launcher drawer to my liking. The default home screen would not switch to landscape mode after updating to Android 2.1. ADW.Launcher allows portrait or landscape viewing of the home screen and app drawer. The other thing I like is that you can make the app drawer have multiple swipe screens like the iPhone. I wasn't a fan of scrolling vertically on one big screen.

One thing I don't like about slider phones is that they are hard to protect with cases. Snap on cases have tabs that hold them on which break if you have to take them off more than a couple of times. I have a silicone case on order that is supposed to be great but we'll see once it comes in.

I never thought I would go for a slider phone over a candybar phone but if the Galaxy Pro has video out, I will probably be sold. Please release it soon Sprint.

Swapping: WebOS for Android

2010-06-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

After owning a Palm Pre for almost a year and having it replaced three times, I decided to give an Android phone a try. I had considered getting an HTC Evo when it came out but decided to wait for a few reasons:

1. There have been a few reports of the top glass separating from the Evo screens. I am going to wait a few months to make sure there aren't any other manufacturing glitches that need to be worked out. The Pre had several problems at release and it was a pain dealing with them.

2. 4G isn't available in my area yet but supposedly will be in the next couple of months. Currently Sprint is charging a $10/month premium for 4G on the Evo regardless of whether you live in a coverage area or not. I'll save my $10/month until it's out in this area.

3. There are still rumors flying around that the iPhone may have a CDMA release towards the end of this year. If that is the case, I will gladly drop all of these phones and go with Apple.

I was able to find a Samsung Moment for a reasonable price out of contract and have been using it for the past couple of days. My initial impressions are mediocre. So far the Pre and WebOS win for me on several fronts.

1. Customization - The Pre had so many things you could customize due to the OS being based on CSS. I loved all the tweaks I could do without much difficulty. While Android can do some amazing stuff, I have yet to find solutions so some simple things such as no home screen landscape mode in 2.1 (this worked in 1.5). If this was a Pre, I'm sure someone would have found a solution.

2. Keyboard - I am finding the hardware keyboard on the moment hard to get used to. While I have only used the phone for a couple of days, that may wear off but I doubt it. The keys are actually harder for me to hit the right one than on the Pre and the space bar is too small. Sometimes when I hit the space bar it doesn't register which can be annoying. Even though the keyboard is laid out like a computer keyboard, I find it off-putting. The software keyboard is decent and I am almost wishing I had skipped the hardware keyboard and gone with a HTC Hero but I heard too many bad things about dust getting under the glass, and no camera flash is a deal breaker. I loaded Swype last night which is working out great so far. In fact, I can easily see myself rarely using the software keyboard and just sticking to Swype.

3. Multitasking - Android does multitasking but not like the Pre. I liked how WebOS allowed you to see all the cards at once and close the ones you didn't need any more. When you long press the home button on Android, the list of apps only shows six of the last apps used. I would much prefer that it only showed stuff that was open.

4. App launcher page - I wish I could mash together the WebOS and Android app screens. I love being able to put stuff on the home screen in Android but I don't like that when you click the app launcher, it's one giant scroll page. WebOS would have a hard time putting icons on the home screen with the current card setup but that could be easily fixed if the had a card bar across the top of the screen with mini versions of the open cards that would magnify/pop out if you long pressed on it.

5. Battery life - I haven't used the Moment enough to confirm this but the battery life seems to be about the same - shitty.

6. Browser - Hands down WebOS wins. No multi touch on the Moment. I know some of the other Android phones have multi touch so I'm not going to blanket trash Android internet browsing. Copy and paste from web is super easy on WebOS - I haven't figured out how to do this on the Moment yet.

7. Build quality - The Moment and I would dare say all Android phones, have better build quality than either of the WebOS phones out there and herein lies my biggest problem. I use my phone so much and take it everywhere, that I need something that isn't going to fall apart. As witnessed by having to get a 4th Pre, they are not up to snuff. I treat all my possessions (especially electronics) with great care so my Pre problems are not due to carelessness. If Palm had contracted HTC to make a WebOS phone, I would probably still be with a Palm product.

8. App Store - Android blows WebOS out of the water as far as apps. No contest here.

This is a pretty negative review for Android but my opinion may change over time using the Moment. My goal really was to give a different OS a shot and see how it went. I have several months before 4G is rolled out in Los Angeles so I can take my time deciding if I really want to use my upgrade to get an Evo. Who know, in the next few months the iPhone may be announced for Sprint release or HP/Palm may announce a better made WebOS phone - anything can happen. For now, I'll stick with the Moment and see if my opinion changes.

Apple iPad = iFail ?

2010-01-27T21:07:00.000-08:00

I have a love hate relationship with Apple. They have a history of making amazing technology, but with that, a consistent retardation of features to insure future model marketability. This plan is smart but extremely annoying. The iPod and iTunes combo - brilliant. iPhone = revolutionary for the mobile phone market. iPad? Who needs it?

With a base price of $500, the iPad is a whole lot cheaper than many speculated it to be; however, can it really compete with all the $200 netbooks? Let's compare the features:

Feature Generic Netbook iPad

Built in keyboard Yes No ($69)

Webcam Yes No

Touchscreen No Yes

Read Ebook PDFs Yes Yes

Video out Yes Yes

Optical Drive No No

USB Yes No

SD card reader Yes No

Print Yes ? (most likely requires paid app)

Adobe Flash Yes No

Internal Storage 160GB+ 64GB max

When you compare the features, it's easy to see that the iPad doesn't really measure up to most of the netbooks on the market even in the $200 range. While I think the iPad is cool, here are some things that I believe should have been changed.

Webcam - with the addition of a webcam, the iPad could have been an excellent business device. They built in a microphone assumably for voip - why not throw in a camera? The only logical guess would be that they will include a webcam on future models.
Swype for text input - If you don't know what Swype is, check out http://www.swypeinc.com/ to get the full low down. Basically, it's the next innovation in text input. Swype is "finger tracing text entry". If you want to see Swype in action you can check out the video below. Not only would Swype have taken up much less of the iPad screen but I believe it is a whole lot less awkward than the iPad's QWERTY keyboard. Granted, this is based soley on conjecture, but I have a hard enough time typing on a netbook keyboard with tactile feedback. I can almost guarantee my iPad writing would look about the same as a monkey's.

Gesture area - Apple should have used the ridiculously thick bezel on the iPad and taken a cue from Palm to make a gesture area on the iPad. I find the gesture area so much more intuitive on my Pre that when I use an iPod touch it takes me a second to adjust.
Flash card slot - If you are going to use the iPad as a photo frame, why not make it a whole lot easier and throw in a flash card slot? Additionally they probably could have made it a lot more inexpensive had they not included all that flash memory and left that part up to the consumer.
Computer to sync - The last point sort of leads into this: While iTunes is great and the iTunes store on the iPad is cool, you are still going to need a computer to sync the iPad with. You can't just get a bunch of songs, movies, photos on a memory card and pop it in. Ok, I know in theory you could just go and download each song and movie from the iTunes store, but that would be a pain in the ass and again, what about your photos?
No USB - I know the dock connector functions as a communications device, but it would be nice, if you are selling a quasi-computer, netbook competitor, that you would allow the attachment of at least some USB peripherals.

My biggest problem is that Apple could have turned this into something that every major company in America would have bought for their employees. The system admin could load apps onto the iPad that were approved and it would essentially be locked down unless an employee hacked it (which could happen to any computer). A webcam goes without saying in today's business world. The fact (at least to my current understanding) that you will have to buy a special docking station keyboard, further jacks up the price. They could have allowed USB keyboards, mice ethernet adapters, etc to allow you to plug one cable into a hub at work and go.

So again, who needs one of these? iPad doesn't exactly compete with a regular netbook unless you buy the $69 keyboard. It's rather expensive as a video player compared to a portable dvd player ($70) or an ebook reader (Kindle $200). There are lots of cool games for the iPod, and now the iPad, but do they really compete with PSPs or Gameboys? It's hard to play a lot of games without a physical controller. If someone comes out with a game controller, I could see the iPad taking precedence over the current hand held games on the market.

The iPad rolls several devices into one but I doubt a majority of consumers will want to pay that much, especially when it's kind of an inconvenient size. My prediction is that the iPad will take off enough to warrant future models but not in the way it could have, had Apple not had their head so far up their own ass.

White Collar is back! - Hard Sell

2010-01-21T23:57:00.000-08:00

White Collar, (USA Network) is back and this episode is as good as all the others. Before the winter hiatus we were left wondering about which side Peter was on. The last scene we saw was Kate meeting with Peter in a hotel room. Peter was wearing the same ring that was on the hand in the photo of Kate.

The episode centers on a group of stock brokers who are falsely driving up the price of stocks by getting lots of people to invest in them and then selling out their own holdings just before everyone else realized that it was a sham. Neil is tasked to break into the group by posing as a stock broker looking for a job. Of course in Neil fashion he nails the interview, a hard sell to Peter on a redirected phone call, and starts making connections.

While discussing the case at Peter's, Neil goes upstairs to use the bathroom and discovers a picture with Peter wearing the ring assumed to be worn by Kate's captor. He confronts Peter and Elizabeth where they explain that it's a 10 year ring that all FBI agents get. Neil apologizes for doubting Peter and leaves. Elizabeth asks Peter when he's going to tell Neil about his meeting with Kate. He replies "after this case is over, then I'll decide".

Peter goes undercover as well this episode for reasons that aren't all that important. What is important is that both he and Neil are at Avery's (one of the partners in the brokerage) when goons show up with the mole in the organization, one of the secretaries. Both Neil and Peter realize that things are going to end badly for her so Peter outs Neil as they mole. They sell it by claiming that Neil was hired by Avery's business partner. Neil then goes to Avery's partner (Reid) and claims that Avery hired him as a spy. It's a big game of pointing fingers to get information.

Reid tells Neil that Avery holds all his incriminating information in a ledger book. The task now is to find where the ledger is hidden. Avery has a state of the art vault to protect his comic book collection and that is where Neil and Peter assume he must keep the ledger. There's one problem, getting the ledger without activating the security system - a system that includes sucking all the air out of the room to suppress a fire.

Neil sneaks into the vault only moments before Reid shows up and starts letting Avery have it. After a few moments they both realize that they have been played against each other and Avery grabs a shotgun to go after Neil. Peter runs ahead of Avery and gets in the vault just as Neil grabs the ledger to activate the bullet proof door, protecting them from Avery's shotgun discharge. Neil gives Peter his 5 minute air tank and they both look for the kill switch. Neil finds it and passes out. Peter has the choice to let Neil die and hope the cavalry comes to save him or open the door and risk getting shot by Avery. He pulls a pistol from his waistband and hits the switch. With impeccable timing the FBI show up and he isn't forced to shoot Avery.

Neil is fine and Peter tells him about the meeting with Kate. We see the flashback and discover that Kate is just using Neil to get something, it appears, for both her and Fowler. Neil is dumbfounded and doesn't want to believe it. He tells Peter that he will get what Kate/Fowler wants: a music box. The episode ends with Morris talking to Neil about the music box. Neil tells him that he never had the music box.
Neil - "Everyone assumed that I took it and I never corrected them".
Morris - "It did make you appear super human."
Neil - "Image is everything"
Morris - "Now what?"
Neil - "Now I find the music box."
Morris - "And steal it?" (Neil smiles) "Welcome back"

Project Runway Season 7 Ep2

2010-01-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

All That Burlap

"She's so beautiful she would look good in a burlap sack" is the premise of this week's challenge. The designers were driven out to a farm to meet the models and "shop" for their materials. Models doubled as clients for the challenge and also were allowed to choose their designer. Mila was left for last by the models and had a little hissy fit about it wondering in her confessional "am I chopped liver?" Good grief - someone has to be last. It doesn't mean everyone hates you.

Only fifteen minutes were allowed to confer with the models and shop for materials from the bins in the farmers field. The contestants then headed back to the workshop to begin working on the outfits. Tim came to check on the progress and gave Jesus a slight verbal lashing for "skirting the challenge". Jesus' garment was a burlap skirt entirely covered with ribbons: hardly innovative. Ping continues to be eccentric but this week she is actually using her mannequin.

During the fitting Mila continued to stew over the supposed snub from her former model. Someone needs to take the phrase "it's just business" to heart. The workroom was a little crazier than normal with several designers attempting to dye their fabrics on plastic sheets strewn across the floor. Anna had a really cool idea to use a potato as a stamp and imprint a design on the fabric.

- The Runway -
Bold = Winner, Red = Loser

Jay - Stunning. I can't believe it was made from burlap. - Judges impressed "looks expensive"

Pamela - It looked like something a 15 year old made for the 4-H fashion show - Judges "too short and too tight. not sophisticated. A plain potato sack would probably look better."

Anthony - So Hot! At a quick glance, I thought the model was Angelina Jolie.

Ping - Again WTF?!?!?!?! I really don't think that Pamela's dress was worse than Ping's. In fact I think Pamela's dress was slightly better. It seems like the producers like her and are protecting her.

Ben - Fabric looked like he used the same dye as Anthony. Dress was cute but a little plumping.

Mila - Sexy. Amazing for what she had to work with - Judges "farm to the future - fantastic"

Anna - I'm not a fan of the color but I like the design and the use of the potato stamp on potato sack was kind of poetic.

Emilio - Dress was simple design but it fit well. I loved the pattern though, the colors popped.

Jesse - Looked like a riding suit - ehhh.

Seth "The Magician" Aaron - Sick design! This looks like something you would see on a professional runway.

Amy - I was going to say it was kind of weird but at second glance, I found it kind of cute.

Janeane - Looked like a frumpy red carpet dress. Almost good.

Jesus - I thought it was ok except for the fact that it used so much ribbon and the asymmetry over the ass.

Jonathan - Looked a bit like lingerie with all the black lace down the front.

Maya - Beautiful mix of colors, her background coming through on this dress quite clearly.

I like the episodes where they have an unusual material to work with like the newspaper challenge in season 6. It really shows who has the most creativity and innovation. Another good episode.

WebOS Patch - Name Launcher Pages

2010-01-18T14:19:00.001-08:00

I have been using the Palm Pre for about 6 months now and for the most part I really like it. I have been very tempted to switch to an Android phone but what I'll probably do is just wait till the prices come down on a Nexus One and buy one to mess around with.

WebOS works ok out of the box but it really kicks ass once you start to customize it through patches. The easiest way to load patches is to install Preware through WebOS Quick Install. Once Preware is loaded you can install patches OTA on the Pre or Pixi. I was excited last night when I discovered a patch that I had wished for when I first got my Pre. The patch allows you to label each launcher page and navigate to each page through a drop down menu without swiping.

As you can see I have 7 launcher pages denoted by the small vertical lines in the bottom right corner. There is a label at the top of the launcher page that says "Main". This is the label for my first launcher page filled with the items I use the most. I also have a patch installed that resets the launcher to the first page whenever I open it.

When you tap on the title bar at the top of the launcher if drops down a menu to choose which page you want to navigate to. This is great for someone who likes to organize things as much as possible. I don't have to swipe multiple times and wait for it to animate the scrolling. Just tap and go.

Project Runway Season 7 Ep1

2010-01-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

I love to watch cooking shows and Project Runway and I'm straight (sue me), so I was happy to see that another season of PR was already on the air. Season 7 will have all the drama of the previous season if not more. We have a contestant, Janeane, who has cried about 10 times already in the first episode; the producers love her guaranteed. The cast is varied 8 men and 8 women of several ethnicities. A couple of characters seem the same as contestants from last season, Mila (Louise), Ping (Malvin), Janeane (Christopher). Some of them look the same while others fill the same character roll as previous seasons contestants.

I have to just take a side note to say that Heidi Klum is looking HOT HOT HOT and is currently pregnant in this season. Moving on.

The challenge was to grab a bunch of various fabrics laying around Central Park and then sort through those to fit whatever you really wanted into your bag. Contestants then had to make a look that best represented them. Most designers seemed to have a pretty clear idea of what they wanted to do and got to work. Ping is unique because she doesn't use a mannequin since she never uses one at home. Emillio was making a very complex pattern by hand sewing strips of one fabric onto another. Tim was very concerned that Emillio would not finish his dress completely, something that has never happened on Project Runway. Jesus made a leather short dress but after realizing how tall his model was after meeting her, he tacked on an additional foot and a half or so of leather to the bottom of the skirt. Needless to say the seam was quite visible and a bit of a put off.

All the dresses can be viewed here

Amy - decent, not too blown away by but good. Not sure what the deal was with the right boob. It looked like she forgot to put a pad in the left side or something.

Anna - Well made dress. Simple as far as colors and fabric go but it was pretty and I could easily see many women wearing it.

Anthony - The whole thing seemed kind of 90's to me which I am not a huge fan of. I don't understand the gigantic atrocity attached to her left hip. Makes the dress unwearable in my opinion.

Ben - Nice personality with the dress and seemingly well made. The model, however, sucked. She looked like she had never walked a runway in her life. I hope she shapes up or they give her some classes.

Christiane - I don't know why but I kind of like hers, or at least I want to like it. The colors are nice but it was obvious that it was hastily made. I am sure she is great at what she does if she has enough time.

Emilio - Seriously impressed from a "not sure if this is going to happen" to winning dress. Very beautiful. I would want my date to be wearing something like this on a night out. Well deserved win.

Janeane - For all the crying and stressing, I don't think she did all that well. It looks like something that many Hollywood women would be seen in paparazzi photos wearing but I'm not a fan.

Jay - The colors and shape of the outfit are great but I can't stand the hideous flowers attacking this dress.

Jesse - Looking at the picture again on the website, I have become more of a fan of this dress. It looks like something from the 50's which seems to be coming back into style with the likes of Mad Men etc. The red shirt poking out of the jacket top was done very nicely.

Jesus - My comment before Michael Kors said it was "it looks like a freakin' crocodile coming down the runway." Would have been much better if shorter but probably would have rocked if it was a different material.

Jonathan - I could see this for sale in a store window. It's not as eye popping as Emilio's but still a good piece.

Maya - Really not impressed. The dress was more or less a fairly simple tube dress that looked like it was being attached by a giant fabric ruffle. The dress wouldn't have been impressive without it but with the appendage it just looked aweful.

Mila - Looked like something a hot 35-40 something would wear. I'm digging it.

Pamela - Pretty but it kind of looks like a maternity dress. The back though was a downer because it looked like she could have turned her sleeves into wings and flown away. Kind of retarded.

Ping - WTF!!!! This is the worst excuse for a garment that I have seen in a while. Well really since last season when Malvin made his bird outfit. I cannot believe the judges liked this and that Nichole Ritchie would actually wear it. When I saw this come down the runway I said "she looks like a gypsy". I think it's extremely unfair to judge Christiane on her sewing when Ping sewed next to nothing. Maybe more when into it than it looks but from all appearances, she grabbed some fabric, scrunched it in a few places, let it hang in others and then put some stitches to hold it all together. I wish I had two more hands so I could give this dress 4 thumbs down.

Seth Aaron (who will now be referred to as the magician because that's what he looks like) - Super hot and sexy! I am thinking that he should have won but am still happy with Emilio's win. The only thing I didn't like were the straps that pulled away from the dress on the front. I would have liked them sewn to the dress but otherwise I love it.

I loved Emilio's and The Magician's dresses and would be very happy if my wife could wear either one. Good judging with the exception of Ping who I hope goes home very soon.

This season should be just as good as all the others as long as Ping's design aesthetic doesn't wear off on the other designers.

Fox's 24 Season 8 Premiere

2010-01-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

There isn't a whole lot to say about the 24 premiere. It was standard Jack Bauer saving the world while being misunderstood and impeded by red tape. This season starts with Jack about to leave NYC with Kim, her husband and their daughter to go back to live in LA. His packing is interupted when an old informant comes to him for help. The man has been shot by members of the seasons terrorist group and says he has information about the plot.

There are the usual demands for immunity in exchange for information, moles in organizations, bad guys holding innocent people hostage in exchange for help with their plot - nothing too new.

I am sure I'll catch the rest of the season but most likely on Hulu. I don't really feel compelled to watch something I can fairly easily predict and be bound to 9 o'clock on Monday nights. Reading a good book at that time is probably a better use of my time.

Hopefully this is the last season of 24. While the show has been pretty good throughout, it's getting a little ridiculous and hackneyed.

Fox's Human Target "Preview Event"

2010-01-17T23:55:00.001-08:00

When I first saw a preview for Fox's new series Human Target I was excited to see it. After seeing a couple of other previews, I started to wonder if it was going to be any good. Since the 24 2 hour premiere was directly after Human Target's hour I decided to just have an evening of TV premieres.

Human Target stars Christopher Chance (Mark Valley) a body guard with a knack for blending in to draw out the would be assassins. His business manager Winston (Chi McBride) is a rather no-nonsense type of guy who doesn't seem to like people going off book or being too unpredictable. Thrown into the mix and apparently come to stay is Guerrero (Jack Earle Haley) a hacker, informant type who Winston has a strong dislike for. Each episode is a new client Christopher has to protect by assuming a different role.

The preview episode has the group protecting a high level employee of a train company who was desiring protection after her mechanic found a unexploded bomb in her car. Without spoiling the episode it was entertaining enough but I found it a little lack luster. This might have been due to the fact that I have a feeling like the show won't make it and I don't want to get invested in a show that is going to be canceled. Unless a story arc is introduced that ties each episode together such as the conspiracy behind Michael Weston's burn notice in USA Network's Bur Notice, I don't see the show going very far. In the current network TV climate I don't think a show can get enough ratings without something to suck you in. The one exception to this is a comedy. While Psych, also a USA Network show, is a crime drama it is also a comedy. I don't care about the fact that there is very little that ties each episode together.

Christopher and Guerrero both give off a bad-boy, "I don't care about consequences or your opinions" type of vibe. I generally like this type of character; however, I think that I might have to pass when it comes to this show. Typically for that type of attitude to work you need another character to balance it out which usually adds good comedic and/or dramatic elements. I don't see Winston as being the right type of character to pull that off. Currently the shows seems a little one dimensional

I'll give it a B+ since I enjoy action shows but they will need to seriously impress me in the next few episodes before I drop it from my viewing roster.

Smoke Free Movies

2010-01-11T17:03:00.000-08:00

The anti-smoking advocates have really lost it. The NY Times published an article about anti smoking ads being run in retaliation for all the "free tobacco advertising" that James Cameron's latest movie Avatar provided through Sigourney Weaver's character. An organization called Smoke Free Movies is paying for the ads with money from a 1998 lawsuit against the tobacco industry.

America is turning into a bunch of fucking retarded morons. We can't have smoking in movies now? What about all the movies with excessive drinking or drug use? Or how about murder? I find it an odd paradox that liberals in America claim to want tolerance but they are so intolerant toward their little pet issues. NEWS FLASH - No one is completely tolerant unless they are completely apathetic!

The whole smoking thing really pisses me off because everyone knows it is bad for their health; however, illicit sex for example, is also hazardous to your health but loads of movies promote screwing around and no one but religious "nuts" protest against it. Liberals believe they are some how enlightened to the way life should be because they are intellectual and "care". It's all a load of horse shit.

Tolerance is ruining America - plain and simple. I believe we should love everyone but love doesn't = tolerate. A parent loves their children but it they have any sense they won't tolerate bad behavior. You have to draw the line somewhere and America is fast losing perspective as people cry to stop drawing lines. When you decide to stop defining what you want life to look like then someone who does care will come and define your life for you.

Hand-Rolled - 3 Minute short script

2009-11-28T12:15:00.000-08:00

With the holidays around the corner, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I decided to write it all down in a script format with a free program called Celtx. This is my first script and I don't know if I did everything right so be forgiving.

It's a PDF so you'll have to download it here. It's rated R for language and smoking.

Verizon vs The World

2009-11-26T21:39:00.000-08:00

It appears that Verizon is taking on the major US cell carriers one at a time. First it was the 3G coverage maps debacle with ATT. ATT complained that the ads were misleading because many viewers took the maps to be overall coverage when they in fact cover most of the US with 2G Edge. ATT was shut down in the effort to stop the commercials because the maps are true and the court didn't deem Verizon to be purposefully misleading viewers.

Now Verizon has set its sights on Sprint for claiming to be "America's most dependable 3G network.". The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus asked Sprint to stop using this slogan because a Nielsen study claims that Sprint users have a higher percentage of dropped calls than Verizon customers.

Here's the rub - the Nielsen study should be thrown out unless phones in the study were forced to only use 3G for the calls made. Both Verizon and Sprint only cover certain areas of the country with 1X which Verizon probably bests Sprint in coverage.

Verizon, it's a double standard to claim that you only are trying to point out the difference between 3G coverage with ATT and not imply that the map is the extent of their coverage - but then you mix it up with Sprint over 3G coverage but include data not related to 3G.

Verizon's customer service is sub par. Their service is over priced. The coverage for me is worse than Sprint's even in one of the biggest cities in the country. It's time for consumers to realize that Verizon is run by a lack luster group of executives, and jump ship. Sprint customers need to make youtube videos, blog posts etc. debunking all the bad press out there.

Giving up on the Pre - WebOS 1.3.1

2009-11-22T23:13:00.000-08:00

I updated to WebOS 1.3.1 last week for my Palm Pre and have been experiencing several issues. First of all and most annoying are the random resets where the phone shuts off and takes 2 minutes to start back up. Secondly the phone is a lot slower opening apps and scrolling through pages on the launcher.

On the plus side you can now forward texts without having to apply a patch - Whoo hoo! Not really worth the resets and slowdown. I like to take care of my phones especially when they are as poorly constructed as the Pre; however, the snap on cases are ok but if you have to take them off to pull out the battery and reset the phone (which I have had to do several times after the update), then the tabs that hold the case on will break and there goes $30.

I am seriously considering going back to the original Samsung Instinct for a few weeks to see if I can make the adjustment back after having a true smart phone for several months now. I am starting to come to the conclusion that I should just have a phone like the Instinct and just get a netbook for internet surfing and watching movies. I want a phone with a battery that lasts longer than a few hours. Some netbooks can get 10 hours with the lower end being 4 hours. I carry a backpack of some kind around most places so I can easily bring a netbook with me.

With the increase in demand for performance from cellphones the batteries aren't really able to reasonably keep up. Until they come up with a cellphone battery that charges in 5 minutes or lasts for 24 hours of talk time, then I'm probably going to stick with something like the Samsung Instinct.

Droid Reports - "It's All Good"

2009-11-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

I have been keeping up with the reports and reviews that have been coming in since the big Verizon Droid release yesterday. So far the results are positive. A friend of mine bought the Motorola Droid and he is thrilled with it. He said it's "Blazing Fast" and "Ridiculously Customizable". I am slightly disappointed that Moto Droid docking station doesn't not pull any A/V data through the USB port. That's kind a fail in my book but it has so many other plusses that I will have to consider it.

I like to be able to put silicone skins on my phone and have never liked the cases available for slider phones. After having the Pre for 4 months and then using my friends iPhone the other day, I don't think I really need a physical keyboard. I can type just as well or probably better on the virtual keyboard so I am going to be keeping a close eye on the HTC Droid Eris. My Verizon contract is up in March 2010 so that will give me time to consider dumping Sprint and keep reading reviews.

Moto Droid (Sholes) vs. HTC Droid (Eris)

Form factor:

- Slider vs Candybar

- Candybar easier to protect with skins and has less moving parts.

Keyboard:

- Physical vs. Virtual

- HTC has the best virtual keyboard out there and the d-pad on the Moto Droid seems a little pointless to me. They should have done a mini mouse pad like or something. Again, less moving parts.

Screen size:

- Sholes 3.7"

- Eris 3.2

- Doesn't matter too much for me. I can read everything perfectly fine on the Pre which is 3.1" so I'm not too concerned about screen size.

Processor:

- Sholes - OMAP3430 – 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 + PowerVR SGX 530 GPU + 430MHz C64x+ DSP + ISP (Image Signal Processor)

- Eris - Qualcomm MSM7600 processor operating at 528MHz.

- I Really don't know how these chips stack up against each other but I would guess that if the HTC Eris doesn't have a GPU it's going to be slower opening programs and web pages. I have watched some review videos of both phones and neither one seems laggy.

- Sholes - Android 2.0 w/ Google GPS!!!

- Eris - Android 1.5 with Sense UI.

- This will be one of the biggest factors for me is whether or not the the Eris gets 2.0 in the next couple of months. If the Eris were on Sprint then I wouldn't care about Google GPS because Sprint Nav works quite well. Sense UI is pretty nice though but without any kind of GPS Navigator I wouldn't go for it over the Sholes.

These are the most important factors for me and currently with the exception of the OS difference, I am seriously leaning toward the Eris. I don't really like the Sprint Hero physical buttons for Menu, Search, Back and whatever the other one is so that is why I am kind of tempted to go with the Eris.

My carrier situation is as follows:

Verizon family share contract with 500 min - contracts ends March 2010, 90% of family is on Verizon, I like the Eris better than the HTC Hero.

Sprint single Simply Everything account $200 ETF. - I have used 1700 minutes this month with about 3 days left in this billing period. That is actually low for me with the top end being 2400 in a month. I get better service with Sprint and with the Everything plan I can roam on Verizon.

I'm trying to figure out if I should just stick with Sprint or just can them and keep Verizon and get MetroPCS for unlimited calling. I'm probably thinking about this way too much but I really don't like to waste money especially if it is going to Verizon.

----

On a side note, my Pre just shut off as I was writing this because of low battery. The last time I used it an hour ago it had plenty of battery left. It's probably due to some homebrew app or tweak I have installed but I find the Pre pathetic without tweaking and homebrew. My infatuation with the Pre is officially over.

DoubleTwist - an iTunes Alternative

2009-10-30T19:18:00.000-07:00

With Apple relentlessly breaking the iTunes syncing with the Palm Pre and having no support for any other devices, I have been looking for an alternative when the day comes that Palm decides to give up the battle; or when I switch to an Android phone. doubleTwist is a free program available to sync music, photos and videos with media devices.

doubleTwist requires you to sign up for an account (free) which I found kind of annoying but not really a big deal. The latest version now has a built-in music store through Amazon.com to acquire new tunes. Also in the new version is the ability to copy playlists from iTunes and sync them to your device.

I can't really say that the program is a polished as iTunes but it's pretty decent especially considering the fact that it is free. I hope Google buys the program and makes the Android integration perfect with doubleTwist the inclusion of their app store.

WebOS or Android? A Palm Pre tale

2009-10-22T17:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in while for several reasons but hopefully I'll get back into the swing of regular writing. Most of my post before my blogging hiatus were related to cell phones: specifically the Palm Pre. After now owning the Pre for about 3 months I have somethings to report.

I think a big point of note is that I am on my third Pre. My first Pre developed a crack around the charging port identical to the one pictured (not sure if you can see it in the picture).

I also had a fairly severe "oreo" twist on the slider keyboard when closed and several dead pixels on the screen. I took the phone to a Sprint store to get a new battery to fix the random shut downs (the phone also had a problem where sometimes if you slid it shut, it would turn off completely). I told them about the "cosmetic" defects which they didn't even bother writing on the support ticket. They did give me a new battery which fixed the problem and told me that in the event that the problem continued, to wedge a some paper in between the battery and housing to keep it tight. Needless to say I wasn't impressed.

If I pay $350 + for anything, I expect it to be worth it. The next step was to call Palm and was pleased to have them send a replacement phone to me. The replacement was great with one exception - the ringer volume at full blast was barely audible. This time the Sprint store techs decided this was worthy of a replacement.

I received my third phone and everything was great. Before I left the store I checked it for bad pixels, ringer volume, "oreo" twist etc. and everything checked out ok. A week later the phone is still fine but I now have one or two dead pixels which I find rather annoying.

Another thing I don't like is the fact that I feel like I have to be super careful because of the poor construction quality. I usually get a silicone case for my phones but they don't have anything that I have been happy with yet. I bought one of those snap on cases for slider phones but the tabs that hold the case on all broke after 2 weeks.

All that said, the phone has been kind of cool to own. I have owned a WM phone on Verizon (with no data plan) and the Samsung Instinct S30 on Sprint so this is the first full featured smart phone I have owned in conjunction with a data plan. I really enjoy being able to surf the web and read/respond to emails efficiently. WebOS is a decent OS but I have my phone seriously tweaked so my experience may be different that most. It's not as fast as I wish it was but I do remind myself that it's a phone not a laptop.

The card multi tasking feature is cool but it should work differently where there was as a bar you could bring up at the top with small icons of open programs. That way you could have several home/widget screens. The wallpaper is pretty but kind of wasted space since I can't put anything on top of it.

This leads me to my title "WebOS or Android?". After owning the Pre for a while and being both frustrated and pleased with different elements of the phone and OS, it has made me consider the possibility of switching to an Android phone. There are several companies making Android phones so you aren't limited to one company doling out sub par hardware. I have used the Sprint Hero and honestly I would probably switch to it if the Samsung Moment wasn't coming out so soon. While both WebOS and Android are customizable, Android has a larger developer base and community - probably partially due to the fact that Google is it's creator.

I would love to have your feedback on WebOS vs. Android. I can't afford to switch phones at the moment but I am going to be keeping my eye on the various Android phones coming out. I am even excited about the Motorola Droid on Verizon which is saying a lot because I hate Verizon with a passion. If the Droid is as amazing as they act like it is, there is a very slim chance that I will cancel my Sprint contract and renew with the numbskulls at VZW.

iPhone vs Palm Pre | 5 Major Points

2009-07-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

After using an iPhone for a while and now having a Palm Pre I feel like I have narrowed down the biggest deciding factors between whether you should get the iPhone or Pre.

1. Do you need a physical keyboard? I like having it but I hope they add the option of a virtual keyboard on the Pre.

2. How app crazy are you? The iTunes store has a gajillion apps to the pre's current 30; however, there are many duplicate apps and completely idiotic apps for the iPhone. I am doing fine with the current app store for the Pre.

3. How much is the plan price point a factor? I have the simply everything plan for $99/mo. The equivalent plan with Att would be about $160 (and does not include TV. Not that I ever watch it). Coverage is probably going to be better with sprint because with the everything plans, you roam on Verizon's towers. I actually have better service at my home with sprints towers than I did back with vzw.

4. Do you care about style? The iPhone certainly is more stylish but it is also heavier.

5. Do you need to multi-task? The multi-tasking ability of the Pre is amazing. I find it very useful but I guess that is more a Web OS thing than a Pre specific feature.

If you read most of the comparisons between the pre and the iPhone, they don't take into account the fact that the iPhone has been out for 3 years now. There has been plenty of time to work out the bugs. It may appear that I am slanted toward the Palm Pre. I don't mean to be and tried to offer what I consider to be the main feature points that would cause you to choose between one phone or the other. Honestly, I love the iPhone: I am one of those people who does care about design and style to a certain point.

These discussions of Pre vs. iPhone will soon be irrelevant when every phone has multi-touch capacitive screens. I think what will make the deciding factors will be:
1. What OS does the phone run (Android, OSX, Web OS or some other proprietary shit.)
2. Physical keyboard and/or the ability to at least connect one via bluetooth or a dock.
3. Removable memory and replaceable batteries.
4. Support of Flash. (The app store concept will be almost irrelevant if phone adopt flash)

I would add carrier to the list but that will probably be a moot point soon as well if the government has it's way. In case you haven't heard there is a move toward making it illegal for handset manufacturers to make exclusive agreements with carriers. Click to read more

2 Weeks with the Palm Pre

2009-07-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

After using my Palm Pre for 2 weeks now I have a lot better feel for the devices capabilities, strengths and weaknesses. My 2 biggest complaints initially were design quality and battery life.

- Design -
I still feel the design quality could have been a little better but comparing it to the iPhone isn't a fare comparison since the iPhone doesn't have a sliding keyboard. The slider has become a little looser with all the opening and closing which is nice because it's not so stiff anymore. I am really not worried about the slider falling apart but if it does I would expect it to happen within the one year warranty so I'm not concerned.

- Battery -
There are tips all over the internet on how to optimize the battery life on the Pre. Basically they involve turning off all background processes like location services and IM and using WiFi whenever possible. I have been able to go through about 8 hours without too much difficulty if I am on WiFi.

Many people are dogging Palm about the battery life; however, it's really unfair. The Pre is a computer with a phone built into it. Most laptops only last about 2 1/2 hours on battery but no one complains about that. It's also not that hard to plug the phone into your computer, cigarette lighter, or AC outlet during the day. I can't imagine many people being in a scenario where they would be completely without one of those power sources and have to use the phone intensely all day. The other thing is that the battery charges quite fast. I don't recall any of my other phones charging anywhere near as fast. It seems to be about 75 to full charge for me.

If they come out with a battery that will last for a couple of days I will certainly buy it for the sake of convenience but it's not a necessity.

- Sprint Shout out -
I just had to give a shout out to Sprint. It really pisses me off to hear all the people online rip Sprint apart. They all talk about how shitty Sprint's coverage is but I am getting way better coverage with Sprint than I ever did with Verizon. Their customer service has been great so far as well. I didn't bought the Pre off of someone who got it as an upgrade so it's not like it came with my new contract or anything. Sprint called me today to make sure I didn't have any questions about the Pre or my plan. I never can recall Verizon doing something like this. They were just a pain in the ass.

That's about it. I am very happy with the phone and all my other issues with the phone are software related which I know can be fixed by Palm or hackers. The great thing is that the phone is open to hacking unlike the iPhone where they are pissed of at jailbreakers.
Enough said...

The Land of The Free - Because of the Brave

2009-07-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th! I just wanted to pay my respects to all the soldiers that have fought whether they have lived or died in the protection of this country. My prayers are with all the families of soldiers killed in combat. Even if you don't support the wars and conflicts that our country is involved in, you should still support the soldiers.

God Bless America
May You have grace on our land
to guide and cover in this new era.
Presidents, Red and Yellow, Black and White
are in your oversight.
Give wisdom and protection to our President and his family.

Show us the way we should go, humble in our successes.
United as a nation standing for what we believe.
Lifting up the oppressed but not oppressing the blessed.
Unapologetic to those who disagree with our convictions.

Keep our faces turned to You.
The creator of man and the giver of life.
May America bless God.

Farewell Samsung Instinct S30

2009-06-24T14:07:00.001-07:00

I finally sold my 2 month old Samsung Instinct S30 because I got the Palm Pre and don't need the Instinct anymore. This has been my favorite phone to date (and I have owned a lot of different phones). For anyone who doesn't know, here is a rundown of some it the Instinct's features.

Phone features:
- Touch screen
- Favorites screen - gives you instant access to your favorite programs or TV/Radio station. It even lets you set a contact for text messaging; you just click the button and start typing the text message. (I wish the Pre had a favorites screen. It is genius)
- App store - Download games, wall paper etc.
- GPS - The turn-by-turn GPS is great! It give you a trip overview with voice navigation and traffic status.
- Music/Video Player - Upload you favorite music and videos to the removable memory card.
- Sprint TV - Watch live TV including NASCAR races and NFL games. You can also watch shows on demand.
- Sprint Radio - Listen to a variety of radio stations from different genres through the internet.
- 3.5mm headphone jack - One of my favorite features of this phone is the ability to use any regular headphones and listen to music or the other person during a call. The headset that comes with the phone is equipped with a microphone so you can converse hands free.
- Speed dial screen - This is another feature I wish my Pre had. When you click the phone button (right of the home button) you are brought to a speed dial screen. You can immediately click on a contact and call them. That way you don't have to remember the speed dial number - it really came in handy for me.
- Voice dialing and search - You can do voice dialing as well as do a search based on your location for business etc. via voice commands.
- 2MP Camera - The camera is pretty good if you have light. It does record video as well. You can instantly upload you pictures and videos to Facebook, Youtube or some online photo album.
- Battery Life - Battery life is pretty good. I never took notes but it seemed like I could charge it every couple days if I didn't talk for hours. I think talk time is like 4 or 5 hours.
- Expandable Memory - Used up to 16GB micro SD cards in the phone.

The Pre has been a great phone so far I just wish I could marry both phones and make them have a baby. Now that would be the perfect phone.

Palm Pre - My Review

2009-06-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

I have had the Samsung Instinct for about two months and really loved the phone other than the fact the it had a resistive touch screen instead of the capacitive touch technology that the iPhone and now the Palm Pre sport. When I first heard reports about the Pre it was supposed to have a resistive screen like the Instinct so I didn't pay any attention to it. Last week I happened to read an article that mentioned the phones capacitive touch screen. I did a double take and thought "what the hell?" After writing a post about the impossibility of an iPhone killer without a capacitive multi-touch screen, I had to check out the Pre.

In the following days I read many articles and watched several videos on youtube. I then went and waited for 45 minutes at my local Sprint store to check out one of the representatives Pre (someone broke the stores demo). After using the phone for a few minutes I knew I had to have one and searched craigslist for a good deal. I ended up getting one from a guy for $360 yesterday and have been playing with it a lot since. Here are my thoughts -

- Touch Screen -
The screen is very bright and I love the fact that it adjusts to the light conditions where you are. I could read the screen very easily outside in bright sunlight even with the brightness set almost as low as it goes. The Instinct was almost impossible to read in the sunlight without putting the brightness really high.

The touch sensitivity is really good and rivals the iPhone in my opinion. Occasionally I have to tap things twice but I had that problem when I owned an iPhone as well. The only thing I have trouble with is tapping the battery in the top right or the menu in the top left. They are a little small and it normally takes a couple taps. Not a big deal but can be a bit annoying.

- Gesture Area -
The gesture area is genius! I love how you can swipe back instead of tapping a virtual button. I also like how you can switch to the next open app with a swipe across the whole gesture area. You can also bring up all the apps with a swipe up starting in the gesture area. To make the menu disappear you just swipe it down. I don't find myself using the center button all that much which I kind of like.

- Call Quality -
Call quality is excellent. I have no complaints. I love the fact that you can hook up any headphones and use them as a phone headset (you still have to talk into the phone mic unless the headphones have one built in)

- Web Browser -
The browser is great. It renders pages quickly. The home screen is convenient with the bookmarks that you can immediately click on.

- Physical Design / Keyboard -
I'm not a huge fan or the design quality of the phone. I wish either the slider mechanism felt more solid or the keyboard was just always out like on a BlackBerry. The slider feels a little loose and I am slightly paranoid that it won't hold up but if it doesn't I'm sure there will be a class action lawsuit and Palm will fix every ones. The keyboard buttons are a little small but as my experience with the Verizon Blitz proved, you get used to it in very little time and can fly through messages. I hope they add the option for a virtual keyboard in a future software update to keep the slider action to a minimum.

- Battery Life -
OK - Battery life SUCKS!!! I turned off all GPS location services, IM clients and set my email to only check once per hour. Whoever creates a battery that will last for the whole day or longer will make have a lot of customers. With all the services turned off, the phone barely lasted from 9:45 am - 7 pm. I did make several phone calls, use the internet and listen to a podcast and some music so I can't say it's unusable. Just make sure you plug it in whenever you have an hour or two of time near a USB port or AC outlet.

- Camera -
The camera takes good pictures if you are outside. With the flash you can take a picture that is about on par with my Sony digital camera on flash.

- Misc. / Software -
The WebOS software is really cool. Palm really hit a home run with the OS. Being able to switch between applications has already proved very useful. Copy + Paste functionality is cool and the ability to do a screen cap from the internet is nice as well. Sprint TV is much better on the Pre than the Instinct and the GPS navigation is a bit better due to the touch screen technology. Google maps is also helpful as ever - a good alternative to firing up the Sprint GPS if you just need to quickly look at a map or search nearby.

PC World and other sites are dogging this phone like crazy for no good reason. I am a fairly harsh critic of almost anything and this phone only has a couple things I would change; however, none of them are deal breakers.

Changes:
Virtual keyboard option
Better organization of Podcasts
Marker to let you know if you listened to a podcast.
Playhead for music and podcasts instead of only a FF and RW button
Video Recording
Better slider mechanism or fixed keyboard - I think the best option would be to have a dock port that you could clip a keyboard onto if you wanted one.
Video out - Also need a dock for that.
Expandable memory.

Most of these changes can be made through software updates but some will have to be addressed on future models. I really hope that Palm doesn't release the Pre to other networks and that Sprint can get the boost they need. Sprint really is a decent network especially for the price. There is some kind of Apple fascist conspiracy to try and kill Palm and Sprint it seems like. Tech writers who should be objective have been trashing Palm and Sprint much to the outrage of most of the readers. I read one article by some PC World douchebag where over 700 readers gave the article a thumbs down and only like 50 gave it a thumbs up.

Go check out a Pre if you can find a store that even has one. They are flying off the shelves - a sign I hope of good things to come.

TV | FM Jammer

2009-06-20T15:15:00.000-07:00

- Disclaimer -
The following description can be illegal depending on how you use the device. I am not responsible for any trouble you may get in from improper use etc.

It's always fun to play jokes on people and considering how much people watch TV these days and listen to radio or iPods connected to the radio, a TV/Radio jammer is a great prank. I had tried to make a jammer when I was younger without much luck. The circuit was very unstable and very discouraging. I have since come across two jammers that both work excellently.

Here is the link to the jammer I show in this post. This is the download link for the other jammer plans that uses one IC and a variable capacitor. Both perform about the same except the IC one uses a lot less parts and is easier to construct. I decided to make the more complex jammer to see if it has any benefits over the IC version. The only benefit I can determine is that if I ever wanted to turn this jammer into and emergency transmitter, it wouldn't be all that hard. I tried it with the IC version and I was able to transmit an audio signal but it had a lot of extraneous digital noise on the signal which made it fairly pointless.

You can see in the picture at the top that it's a pretty simple setup. There is an antenna hole (attaching an antenna can make this illegal), the tuning hole and the power jack. I decided to use and coaxial power jack instead of just hard wiring the 9v battery clip. This will allow me to use an AC power source it I ever want to do some long term jamming or emergency transmitting. The small white thing is my tuning tool. If you use a metal screwdriver it throws off the tuning so I took a nylon spacer, sawed a notch in the bottom and glued a piece of a hair pin into the notch. It works quite well as a home made tuning tool. I glued the circuit board to the case with Gorilla glue and as you can tell, I went a little overboard with the glue.

- Operation -
I have cable TV but if you are sitting a few feet from the TV you can still cause some disruption on the screen with the jammer even with double shielded coax hook up cables. I haven't tried it on broadcast TV but I am sure it will completely mess it up. It is a little hard to tune and get exact since the capacitor doesn't exactly turn smoothly. FM jamming is decent but the range isn't more than about 10 feet so you have to be pretty close to the radio to accomplish anything.

Have fun and don't get in trouble.

Wii Remote on Mac or PC - DIY Sensor Bar

2009-06-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

You can find this info other places on the web so I certainly don't claim to be posting new information - just my experience with using the Wii remote on my Mac.

The Wii remote uses bluetooth to communicate with the Wii which many computers these days have built in. If you don't have bluetooth on your computer, you can buy a bluetooth adapter for under $20. With a program called DarWiin Remotes (click link to download) you can connect your Wii remote to your computer quite easily. The only problem is that to use the controller as a full fledged mouse you either have to master using the accelerometer to move the mouse pointer (not an easy task) or you can buy or build a sensor bar like the one that comes with the Wii.

The sensor bar is just a few IR LEDs separated by about 7". The Wiimote uses some form or triangulation to determine where the mouse pointer needs to be based on it's position related to the sensor bar. It then relays that information back to the computer via bluetooth. Since I wanted to use the controller with my computer, I figured the best way to power the sensor bar would be my USB hub.

The IR LEDs I purchased had an operating voltage of 1.5v with like 15mA current draw. I connected three LEDs in series which made the voltage required 4.5V which leaves only half a volt to deal with. There are numerous calculators online to determine what value resistor you need for LED arrays. I used this one and came up with needing a 22 ohm resistor. I ended up using a 26 ohm because that's all the store had and it works fine.

I glued the circuit board into the case with gorilla glue and used 24 gauge hook up wire to connect the two boxes.
This is the whole thing closed up and plugged in. I tried it out and everything works but I have to experiment with the distance between the two boxes. I made the connecting wire a little long just to mess around with it. When I tried it out the pointer jumped around a lot but as I adjusted the distance, it became more accurate.

One note about the bluetooth connection: sometimes I have issues with the connection dropping but I think that may be the DarWiin remotes program. There are other programs that work with the Wii remote but you have to pay for them.