I love the look on Corbin’s face in this photo.
It shows a hidden dark side as he plays with his friend.
I think he’s planning to feed the squirrels.

A couple of co-workers think he’s sneaking a beer (in violation of San Diego’s Booze Ban)

For the record, he’s drinking organic apple juice. His children’s juice box was missing the straw, hence the cup. Similar Posts:

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Corbin’s Dark Side

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Shark spotted at La Jolla Shores

Voice Actions are a series of spoken commands that let you control your phone using your voice. Call businesses and contacts, send texts and email, listen to music, browse the web, and complete common tasks, all just by speaking into your phone.

Send text messages

Say “send text to [recipient] [message]*”
e.g. “send text to PhotoJulia Running late. I will be home around 6:37″

Listen to music

Say “listen to [artist/song/album]”
e.g. “listen to Styx”

Get directions

Say “navigate to [address/city/business name]”
e.g. “navigate to the The Roy Rogers, Dale Evans Museum” or “navigate to 15650 Seneca Road”

Call businesses

Say “call [business name] [location]*”
e.g. “call Sanfilippo’s Pizza Le Mesa”

Call contacts

Say “call [contact name] [phone type]*”
e.g. “call Raymond J. Johnson Jr. home”

Send email

Say “send email to [recipient] [subject]* [body]*”
e.g. “send email to Adonis How’s life in Canada treating you? The weather’s beautiful here!”

View a map

Say “map of [address/city]”
e.g. “map of San Diego”

Go to websites

Say “go to [website]
e.g. “go to archshrk”

Write a note

Say “note to self [message]”
e.g. “note to self grocery list banana milk eggs pizza”

Search Google

Say “[your query]”
e.g. “pictures of Corbin Beard”

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Tell me about it, big boy

First, I am happy to report that I was among the first to get the official update for the Droid phone. Many people, like me, have patiently waiting for the official OTA upgrade (instead of downloading the unofficial version and roting rooting my phone) and to have to wait while others were upgrading would be quite frustrating. It’s like being at the back of the line at Yogurt Mill on a hot summer day.

Now on to the features I so looked forward too.

Exchange support had no effect on me but I had set up my work email and calendar to sync with my phone (just in case). The first thing I noticed was that my office calender and my Google calender merged into one calender. Useful, yes – but I suspect there are a lot of people who would like to keep them separate. I’m sure this can be done but I think it’s odd that it did it automatically.

Home Screen improvements are nice. I like having the ‘phone’ and ‘web’ buttons on all 5 screens plus the navigation between windows is better with the addition of ‘page dots’. So you can slide from one screen to anther or tap the lower corners to move between screens. Also, the apps screen is a lot better looking. The pitch black background seems to make things look cleaner and sharper in contrast to the dark gray background from the previous version.

Camera and Gallery changes are nice. Having the camera options right there on the screen means I’m more likely to make on the fly changes but I most likely will stick with auto settings. Still an improvement, though.

Portable hotspot and USB tethering was the biggest disappointment. Verizon says that the Droid simply doesn’t have the hardware capability to support the WiFi hotspot feature. While this may be true technically, people have been able to do this already with apps like PDAnet – but this method requires software be installed on your computer, which may be the difference. And USB tethering appears to be an extra service you have to pay for. This is NOT cool. I’m sure this will be changed pretty soon as the uproar is likely to be quite loud.

Improved performance is noticeable but somethings took a while to load the first time. I chalk this up to internal syncing/caching. I haven’t really tested this out or don’t proper comparative speed analyses but I’m sure it will become more evident the more I use it. Of course, I’ll quickly get used to the speed and begin to find it too slow before too long.

Flash 10.1 support is not automatic. Apparently, the Flash 10.1 support is part of another upgrade.

Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 for Android 2.2 has been released to partners.

The upgrade path for your phone depends on the specific device, manufacturer, operator and the region you are in. If your device has already received Android 2.2, Adobe Flash Player will be coming soon.

I’m sure there’s other features I haven’t tapped into yet (and I may never) but as I find them, I’ll let you know about it.

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Froyo no-no

Exchange support
To be honest, this one has little to no affect for me just yet as my office is a little behind on the upgrade path. We just upgraded from 2000 to 2007 and are moving our email to “the cloud”. I can already sync my office email and calendar with my phone, which may or may not be a good thing. The big plus is that I’m able to check which days we have a Lunch-and-Learn so I don’t have to pack a lunch. Exchange Support itself is more for those corporate big wigs who need a lot more integration (I guess)

Home Screen
The Phone, applications Launcher, and Browser now have dedicated shortcuts on the Home screen, making it easy to access them from any of the home screen panels which went from 3 screens to 5. This is a big plus as these three items are probably the most accessed and shouldn’t be confined to one screen, especially now that you have five screens to place shortcuts and widgets.

Camera and Gallery
Since I haven’t seen this one in person (or in video) I will have to rely on the propaganda regarding the camera/video enhancements until i have a chance to play with it myself. One change, is Gallery now allows you to peek into picture stacks using a zoom gesture which is nice, but only if it’s faster. The new on-screen camera buttons provide easy access to a new UI for controling zoom, flash, white balance, geo-tagging, focus and exposure from the camera while, the Camcorder provides an easy way to set video size/quality for MMS and YouTube. I also hear you can use the LED flash as a camcorder light but I doubt that will have much practical application as the flash is only so strong.

Portable hotspot
This is probably one of the coolest new features and one everybody is likely to find useful. Certain devices like the Motorola Droid can be turned into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared with up to 8 devices. And all Android-powered phones can be used as a 3G connection for a Windows or Linux laptop by connecting the phone to the computer with a USB cable. Think of it as a personal, portable modem. While the speed may not be lightning fast (like at home) it sure beats waiting to get home before connecting to the internet.

Improved performance
This improvement is bound to be a boost to everyone regardless of the other features you use, after all – performance is performance and nobody uses a smart phone just to make calls – especially Apple iPhone4 users (hehe). I won’t get into the technical aspects of the performance boost (because I don’t understand them) but needless to say, it will be a welcomed upgrade as load times can never be fast enough.

Performance of the browser has been enhanced using the V8 engine, which enables faster loading of JavaScript-heavy pages.

Dalvik Performance Boost: 2x-5x performance speedup for CPU-heavy code over Android 2.1 with Dalvik JIT.

Kernel Memory Management Boost: Improved memory reclaim by up to 20x, which results in faster app switching and smoother performance on memory-constrained devices.

Flash 10.1 supported
This is one of the most sought after changes for the Android platform as Flash is used on virtually every major site anyone, anywhere has reason to visit. From videos to games to image galleries and everything in between. Now many will tell you that Flash is on the way out (much the same way as the dinosaurs) but even if nobody used Flash to create anything new again, there is far too much Flash content already out there to ignore.

So while I finish upgrading my phone and play with all the new features, check out this Android 2.2 Official Video from Google. I’ll let you know all about it when I come back.

Benefits of System Update
Benefits of downloading and installing the new software enhancements.
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Dancing Pigeons – Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.

OK, so maybe this isn’t a clip from Avatar: The Last Air Bender but I bet Amrit Maharaj wishes it was. Regardless (notice I didn’t say irregardless*) it is a very cool video (no pun intended).

Now I know what you’re thinking – “Aren’t those the guys from LOTR, you know, Smeagol and his brother?” No, Adam Speers and Phil Zimmerman are not Andy Serkis and Thomas Robins. By the way, Déagol was Smeagol’s friend, not brother – but I digress.

The point is that this video, while merely a short film with some nice music does a great job of telling a story that makes you want to learn more (that, and a flame thrower) without giving it all away. Part of me sees a deeper struggle between these two men that simple violence can not satisfy. They must battle in extremes to quench what ever anger exists between them.

The high speed filming makes the elements their own characters and builds up the suspense in a way few films can any more. The other characters cause you to question what their role (if any) is in all this. Are they simply there because this encounter was by chance, or were they specifically brought to witness (or even participate) in the mighty showdown.

Sadly, this seems to be nothing more than a cool (yes, very cool) ad spot for Diesel, an Italian design company specializing in the young adult market (aka the Über Chic**). I was going to show you a sample of their ad campaigns, but this is a family friendly site . So here’s Vin Diesel instead.

*…you simpletons.
**read: NOT Über Cheap

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Jim Henson produced a series of eleven TV commercials for La Choy from 1965 to 1969. The series included 6 sixty-second commercials and 5 twenty-second commercials. A 5½ minute presentation reel was also created in 1966.

The star of the campaign was Delbert the La Choy Dragon. Loud and clumsy, the Dragon bullied his way through the ads, proclaiming the virtues of La Choy products, and cooking everything with bursts of dragon fire (which, in some cases, set the filming studio on fire).

There were two sets of ads produced for the campaign. One set featured a hand puppet version of Delbert, interacting on a studio set with Mert, a timid Muppet in a suit. In the other set of ads, a large full-bodied Muppet version of the dragon interacted with real humans. – Muppet Wiki

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Making Money (the fun way)

And expand I did.

Since I couldn’t afford to pay retail, I did the only thing I could – I tuned to Craigslist. And I wasn’t disappointed, well, not entirely.

So here’s what I found. The Imaginarium Sound & Light Railroad Train Table – that’s right, I said train table.

“But archshrk, don’t you already have a train table?” you ask.

“Why yes, yes I do” I reply.

“How many train tables does one kid need?” you continue

And so on, and so on. But here’s the deal. I picked up this table, complete with train set and all accessories (minus the motorized engine) for a really good price. A really good price. So good in fact that I was able to re-sell the train table by itself for the same price I got everything. Yup, the train set was free.

And what a cool train set it is. It has segments of track that make various sounds when the train passes over them (tiny buttons in the track grooves), an elevator for various wooden cars (included), a boat, helicopter and plane, as well as several train cars, a working crane (similar to the one he already has) and misc accessories to create a city (buildings, street signs and lights, and of course – trees) This train set has everything I could want – except the one thing I wanted.

This set has zero switch tracks. Switch tracks are those Y-shaped track pieces that allow you to split one track into two tracks which can add diversity to any layout without adding too many track pieces. I also wanted a couple adapter pieces that allow you to connect two male ends or two female ends (comes in handy with some layouts).

So the hunt is still on for these pieces but if you’re feeling generous, you’re more than welcome to get the Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway – Figure 8 Set Expansion Pack. Corbin would really appreciate it.

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Train Table 2.0

Flansburgh & Linell perform Why Does The Sun Shine at The Royal Festival Hall with pirate accents and a James Mason impression. June 26th 2010

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where hydrogen is built into helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees

Yo ho, it’s hot The sun is not
A place where we could live
But here on Earth there’d be no life
Without the light it gives

We need its light
We need its heat
We need its energy
Without the sun
Without a doubt
There’d be no you and me

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
Where hydrogen is built into helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees

The sun is hot
(It is so hot that everything on it is a gas – Iron, copper, aluminum, and many others)

The sun is large
(If the sun were hollow, a million Earths could fit inside and yet, the sun is only a middle-sized star)

The sun is far away
(About ninety-three million miles away! And that’s why it looks so small)

And even when it’s out of sight, the sun shines night and day

The sun gives heat
The sun gives light
The sunlight that we see
The sunlight comes from our own sun’s atomic energy

(Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine The heat and light of the sun come from the nuclear reactions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and helium)

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
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Where hydrogen is built into helium
At a temperature of millions of degrees

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