New Developments

Occupy Wall Street: A nerds analysis

2011-10-29T17:55:00.000-07:00

On September 17th people from all over convened in New York, on Wall Street, to demand a change in economic policy. Now the protesters are on their 42nd day and the movement has spread across the planet. For the first two weeks there was virtually no media coverage. On September 24th the NYPD attempted to dismantle the protest using brute force. Many protesters resisted and, as a result, were arrested. Over 2500 people nationwide have been arrested since the movement began. Between October 1st and 15th more occupations popped up all over the globe. With inequality running rampant around the world and a global economic crisis, people have begun to stand and demand a new model.

The police in many cities have resorted to brutality. Macing women in New York, shooting veterans with tear gas canisters in Oakland, and firing rubber bullets in Denver. The police seem to be dressed in riot gear, although there is no looting or rioting happening. As the media has finally begun to cover this, they only seem to cover the extremists. Fox News is demonizing the protesters while MSNBC is glorifying many of them. However the Media coverage has been shotty at best, while attempting to break the movements message down into sound bytes and talking points.

So that's the basic rundown of the movement so far, Police brutality, Main Stream Media propaganda and a disconnect from our own government.

So now for what's on my mind. We finally have a movement that is sparking public debate about the inequality issues in our country. The large scale fraud that has taken place in our financial sectors and government. The disconnect we feel from our publicly "elected" officials. The wars across the globe. The Media blackout and then subsequent propaganda campaign. Fox news has called the Occupiers filth, parasites and people with no message. I have been to an occupation camp myself. The areas are clean, the people are organized and their message is clear. However the population has been conditioned to believe that without a leader, a group cannot succeed. Without a figure head we cannot have direction or a message. These Ideals are false. These ideas have been burned into an entire generation.

The internet has helped fuel uprisings around the world. Social media has been a tool of the downtrodden. While the old guard attempts to propagandize this movement, the people are more and more turning to the internet for real time information. For the first time and entire population can communicate in real time, without the message being controlled or distorted. The regimes in the middle east are learning what kind of power the internet is giving the people. They have watched their fellow dictators being chased out of their countries and dragged through the streets amd eventually executed.

The hypocrisy of the American Government runs very deep. While condemning dictatorial regimes in the middles east for using force on peaceful protesters, they stand idly by while their own people are beaten, maced, shot (with rubber bullets and bean bags) and gassed in the streets. One protester in Oakland has been hospitalized with a skull fracture due to this police brutality. In New York City they chanted, "Show me what police state looks like... This what a police state looks like!"

Cyanogenmod. Taking over the World?

2010-04-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

So this morning I woke up and took the day off. I then realized I had 4 completely different Android phones running Cyanogenmod. So I figured the next natural step would be to add to all my boot videos on Youtube. So here you are, the Nexus one, Droid, myTouch and the G1 all running Cyanogenmod. Cheers to all you devs for all the hard work just to make our lives a little better. Ii hope you know how much you are really appreciated.

Android Corner

2010-04-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

So last night we had a great show. As usual Brent Fishman of alldroid.org joined us along with our in person guest, Antonio Edward, the founder of IAmAt.Mobi. We discussed the issue with Apple and gizmodo along with the the announcement of our new night and time.

As I looked at IAmAt.mobi, I started to realize, this is not a location service, this is a review service, at least in my opinion. Adding Microsoft Tag to this service I think is whats going to give IAmAt the advantage over other reviewing websites.

We also discussed the community at large. The Cyanogen vs. Blackdroid issue, where we are finding out that blackdroid may, not confirmed at all, but may be eugene373. We talked about who is and who is not making a difference in the community. When it comes down to it, Cyanogen, Koush and Manup (and many more) are top notch in my book. Unlike others who I will refrain from mentioning at this time.

So if you missed this weeks show here it is. Our new night and time is 7 PM PST on Sundays. We made this decision to accommodate our days off and to be available to our east coast fans.

Please excuse my amateur broadcast, as time goes on, the quality will improve!

04/21/2010: The Mcafee Virus Hit the Web

2010-04-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

So last week was a very interesting week, we had what I like to call, The Mcafee Virus hit the corporation I work for very hard. We had a huge impact over here, disabling possibly 5,000 - 9,000 PC's countrywide. The amount of work this created was insane, I would have wrote this article earlier, but after the tech support nightmare I endured I decided to take a quick trip to cali to unwind.

We are talking about an issue here that takes 50 minutes to walk the user through on the phone. In the end we had to dispatch a small army of nerds to manually battle it out with each disabled PC. So, now we are back to normal capacity, I think, still not sure what we will see rolling in after all this mess.

So after last week I am now ready for the up coming Android Corner. Brent Fishman from Alldroid.org will be joining me once again as we discuss the latest in Android news, community and hardware. We never know what's going to happen on the Android Corner. We will also be announcing the new official time of the Android Corner.

Day and Night

2010-04-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

So tonight we will be broadcasting the Android Corner on our, current, date and time of Wednesday at 9 PM on Ustream. This week Brent from over at Alldroid will be joining me as usual along with the founder of TheBrokenApple, Mike, with some insights about recent actions from Apple. We will also discuss the latest Google and Android news and whatever comes across our plates.

So get ready because anything can happen with myself and Brent on the show!

Greydonsquare Gets an iPad

2010-04-18T00:04:00.000-07:00

So I was sitting at home and low and behold our friend Greydonsquare showed up with the recently realeased Apple iPad. I must say Greydon was thoroughly enthused with his new purchase. I got a chance to ask hime a few questions about Apple vs. Google while he was here and he had some interesting insight.

So there you have it. The iPad in all it's glory. While I know other iPad owners are not as satisfied, Greydon believes it is a viable new medium that will enhance your computing experience. We all know I am a google fanboi, but I do like the hardware and the form factor, can we get android running on this? Maybe... One of the days...

UPDATE: Greydonsquare popped by again and let me know that he got his iPad Ghost Armored. I also have my own Nexus One and G1 Ghost Armored. Be sure to protect your investment and skin your gadgets.

CyanogenMod, Ultimate Droid and being Kanged

2010-04-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

So I woke up to a twitter frenzy this morning, the trending topic amongst the android community, UltimateDroid violating the unwritten rules of giving credit where it is due. Cyanogen has even gone as far as to call out Ultimatedroid and Droidforums.net in defense of himself and Koush, who are actually working from Android Source. What the developers see as a problem is that Ultimatedroid is stating that he is building this from source, however when looking through the code it can be seen that this was pulled from Cyanogens Github. So now we have an all out war growing between Droidforums and Alldroid/Cyanogenmod/Teamandroid. So Cyanogenmod went as far as to confront Ultimatedroid on Droidforums and in response Droidforums have been deleting his posts and eventually banned his IP. Although Droidforums denies the act of banning Cyanogens IP address, Cyanogen says it happened. They deleted a post of my own and have also been deleting Kmobs and Wootroots posts. Cyanogen has even stated that the code is opensource and free for the taking, however he has expressed his distaste over Ultimatedroids failure to recognize where the code is coming from.

Cyanogen from Twitter:

"I just got banned from droidforums.net! I just fell out of my chair laughing"

"Yeah, Ultimate Droid 10 was built from CM source, all while dissing us. Pathetic

So let's see where this story takes us, We will definitely be discussing this on Thursday night at 9 PM on my Android Corner with Brent Fishman, Founder of Alldroid.org.

The Android Corner

2010-04-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

Once again we had a wonderful show. We talked about android fragmentation and it's effects on the consumer. We also discussed recently released phones like the EVO on Sprint and the Motorola Devour on Verizon. We also discussed the delayed release of the Nexus One on Verizon Wireless, and the greatness that surrounds the G1. I also got a chance to to chat with Bruce Willke. Bruce was very knowledgable and added some great content. As I said before as time goes on I will be fine tuning the show as experience comes to me. Hopefully I can wrangle a few more interviews or even gain a regular co-host.

From the Nexus One to the Motorola Droid get your Android news and discussion, Thursdays at 11PM on Halfsights Android Corner. Soon, to come, Phone demos and proof that the "Average Joe" can root their phone with a little reading and a video tutorial. If you would like to call in jump into chat and we can get together on Skype.

Debut of HalfSights Android Corner

2010-03-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

So last week we saw the debut of My own Android Corner and we had a very productive show. I was joined by b9nez (Brent Fishman) the founder of alldroid. Also joining me was Kmobs and thedudesandroid. I was almost overwhelmed by the response and I would like to thank everybody who joined me.

As the show progresses and I become more familiar with broadcasting the content will become more organized. As for now it is just a review of the weeks android news and upcoming development from the android community.

The 3G Wars: We Have A Winner!!

2010-03-23T20:19:00.001-07:00

So we all remember Verizon's, "There's a map for that!", commercials last season. But when it really comes down to it who has the best network. Well the research has been done and Verizon really is the heavyweight when it comes to good connections. I personally have T-Mobile with my Nexus One, and I am quite satisfied with the service I receive. AT&T even went as far as to sue Verizon for it's map ads, and with Sprint rolling out 4G, things could get ugly.

Last week I went on a road trip through California for vacation. I thought that this would be an excellent opportunity to see my T-Mobile service compared to the missus Verizon service. Just as advertised, Verizon definitely came in for the win. While T-Mobile bounced from 1G to HSPA+, Verizon held steady on 3G in most of California. Now T-Mobile did hold an HSPA+ signal in all Major Cities we visited, Verizon really only got weak when we started to get into the Sierras. The Verizon 3G on the Motorola Droid was strong enough to do video chat and watch Youtube.

So hopefully Verizon announces the Nexus One soon so I can get up on some of that sweet nationwide 3G.

Motorola Devour, Android Light Weight?

2010-03-08T11:50:00.001-08:00

So I have recently started a side job representing for a technology company in Fry's electronics. I figured this would be a good way to run into new technology in general. So I was working at Fry's and I ran into a Motorola rep and he just happened to have a Motorola Devour in his Pocket. Being the nice rep he was, he went ahead and let me give it a once over. The first thing I noticed about this phone was the keyboard, a beautiful G1'esque design. I managed to snap a couple shots while I was checking it out.

The next thing that caught my eye was the Sensor Pad. It worked pretty well, and I also noticed the the phone was quite responsive. I believe a lot of people are going to try to pit this phone against the Droid, but I really don't think it was made to compete with the Droid. Coming out of the gate with Android 1.6 Blurred up by Motorola and a 3 MP camera, this little guy is no match for its older brother the Droid. Although its keyboard may be its saving grace. The devour will be a medium end phone, and perfect for the budget Android shopper. If you are in the market for a more powerful phone, grab the Droid or the Nexus One when it hits Verizon. But if you need a basic, nice looking android phone, I would say go for the Motorola Devour.

This Week Has Been Crazy, Android Crazy!

2010-03-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

First I would like to say thank you to all that joined us on the Greydon Square Show. It was very productive and brought forth lots of interesting conversation about the Smart Phone market in general. Just to recap we discussed the Apple patent challenges against HTC and Googles Role as an HTC handset AOSP partner. We also discussed the benefits of a non locked down smartphone like android compared to the DRM ridden iPhone. I would also like to thank the founder of Alldroid.org, Brent Fishman, for visiting us and taking the time to discuss the community at large. Brent was very insightful and knowledgeable when it comes AOSP and the Android Community.

IN OTHER NEWS:

We just got word from the guys over at AndroidandMe that the new Motorola Backflip being released on ATT is going to be the most locked down phone on the Android scene. Not only has ATT removed all Google components and replaced them with Yahoo, but they have also removed the 'Unknown Sources' option for installing Non-Market applications on the Android phone. Then to add insult to injury they are also putting uninstallable ATT apps on the handset. So let's add Bloatware to the list of things people don't want, but ATT wants to force onto people. I think this is just another example of ATT bowing to Apples distaste of Googles competing phone OS. Really, ATT, good luck with this one, I am sure all 10 people that buy this phone will be semi-satisfied

Nerd Analysis & Alldroid on the Greydonsquare Show! 3/6

2010-03-05T23:44:00.000-08:00

We are very excited about tonite. The show will air at roughly 10:30 PM and we will interview Brent Fishman at 11:00 PM. Tune in and check us out. I will follow up with some questions for Greydonsquare about his upcoming album and past influences. Be sure to check in at Alldroid and join the ever growing Android community!

Be sure to check out GreydonSquare at Myspace Music. I would also like to say thank you to Jasen Designs for the Nerdanalysis facelift.

UStream.TV Broadcast This Weekend

2010-03-02T19:30:00.000-08:00

Some of you already know that I have been doing a small broadcast on Saturday nights with rapper Greaydonsquare. We have discussed everything from innovation in electronics and science to litigious companies that use the broken patent law system to defend bad sales. The show is very fun and generally random when it comes to structure.

This weekend I get the oppurtunity to interview the founder of Alldroid.org. With a revitalized look and a variety of content, Alldroid has proven to be a contender in the ever growing Android Developers Community. Boasting over
7,000
8,000 members since it's inception the website is all inclusive when it comes to Android Phones. Unlike other websites that cater to only HTC or Motorola phones only. Not only does Alldroid offer a vitual playground for flashers and phone modders, but as a developer they will give your own forum to post your work.

Be sure to keep an eye on these guys and tune in on Saturday for a full interview with founder Brent Fishman and talk with Greydonsquare about his upcoming album.

Nexus One With the HTC Desire ROM

2010-02-23T06:20:00.000-08:00

So it has been an exciting couple of weeks in Android. With the announcement of 2 new phones from HTC, the Desire and the Legend, which will both be running HTC's SenseUI on Android 2.1. As I mentioned in my last post, we have multitouch now, well yesterday I noticed Google Earth on the Market and when I was trying this out, multitouch is fully enabled.

So I went ahead and took a trip over to Modaco and I bought the Ad-Free Subscription for about $15 for one year. This give me access to build my own custom ROMs in Pauls Kitchen for CyanogenMod or Modaco SensUI. Another bonus is that Flash seems to be enabled on this phone. Allowing me to view videos from more sites than just youtube. However I do not believe this is a full version of flash as some people have pointed out in various forums.

So here is the video of the Nexus One running Android 2.1 w/ SenesUI from Modaco.

And here it is running flash, playing Mafia Wars on Facebook.

Google Nexus One Getting MultiTouch

2010-02-02T14:22:00.000-08:00

So the buzz on the internet is that the OTA update from the googles will bump the U.S. Nexus One to Multitouch. Is this in response to Steve Jobs supposed google bashing at a recent Apple town hall meeting? Is google bringing this to let Apple know that they can run but they cannot hide? Or maybe google just heard the cries of a thousand Nexus One fanboys.

Next on my questions list is when will Cyanogen be adding this update, we already have the Multitouch Browser and the High Memory Patch, but when will this update be added as CM 5.0 Beta4 was just released last night. So far Cyanogen has held it up with stability and extra features just as suspected. I look forward to the Cyanogen Leeloo Dallas Multitouch Addition.

UPDATE: Simon Walker from Androidspin just confirmed this update from his twitter. He said the developers have it, so let's hope for a quick update.

SimonNWalker
Nexus One OTA update CONFIRMED and recieved by developers. Lets hope for a quick integration. #nexus@androidspin

See more about the updates here.

Fix Your G1! Read Closely

2010-02-01T22:25:00.000-08:00

Did you soft brick your phone, if you can get into recovery by starting the phone and holding the home button. Then follow the instructions below. You can recover your phone to cyanogenmod.

Make sure you have a full charge for this.

1. Go here and download the OTA Update file.

2. Now go here for the latest Cyanogenmod update.

3. Save these zip files to your desktop.

4. Now hold down "home button" during power up. This should take you to a screen with a black background and green letters. Now go a head and choose the USB Toggle Selection, or MS USB Toggle. This will engage the USB Drive.

(The screen you are looking for looks something like this.)

5. Once connected to the PC copy the files that you saved to your desktop to the removable storage, your G1. DO NOT PUT THESE IN A FOLDER. Just drop the "signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-ota-14721.zip" and the "update-cm-4.2.14.1-signed.zip" onto the phones SD card. You can even take the sdcard out and do this manually.

6. Now that the files are on your SD card either turn off your USB Toggle or reboot the phone into recovery once again, either way works.

7. Once you are at the main recovery screen and you KNOW that the files are copied on your phone, choose "apply any zip from sd".

8. Now pick the signed-dream_devphone_userdebug-ota-14721.zip. Press the home button to apply.

9. This will finish and DO NOT REBOOT

10. Choose the "apply any zip from sd" option again and choose the cyanogenmod rom and press the "home button" to continue.

11. Once this has finished reboot your phone, if all went well you will be booting into an openbox mode.

12. If it goes back into a screen that says formatting cache just reboot again.

13. Just wait a while, it takes time to boot on a fresh install.

Hope this was helpful.

Nexus One with CM 5.0 Beta3

2010-02-01T15:33:00.000-08:00

So I have had my phone for a few weeks now and I am thoroughly enjoying the robust features. I have gone through all the motions of rooting and installing recovery and now running a custom ROM from Cyanogen. I also know that Enomther has a working ROM over on the XDA Forums for Nexus One development. I have also recently joined the Nexus Nation and have been loving the forums and features they have over there. They have news, themes and reviews and great information for all you nexus one owners. As for all those faithful to the G1, I am still modding them and yes Cyanogen is still developing for this little wonderphone. The new update, 4.2.14 has the new clock worked into it. So reset your alarms so you are not late for work!!

I have also manged to fully root the Moto Droid. This one is a beast and can currently be overclocked to 800mhz with the Smoked Glass v3.1 ROM. Running at 800mhz it is very comparable to the Nexus One. See the video below for boot times.

Negativity about the Nexus One

2010-01-20T08:47:00.000-08:00

So I have been reading the forums and the news and I have never seen so many outlets trying to perpetuate the failure of a product. Horrible 3G connections? Bad Touchscreen? I have had no issues with 3G or the touchscreen. I have not dropped a call. I have not experienced any issues aside from a wave of news that there are major issues. Not sure how T-Mobile is in other areas of the country, but AZ connections are great!

If you are having 3G issues try this. Found it on the HowardForums.

"I have no idea if this will work for other Nexus One owners that are in a 3G coverage area and stuck on EDGE, but here’s all I did. In “Settings,” I went to “Wireless & networks.” Look for the “Mobile Networks” option at the bottom of this listing. The next screen has a “Network Operators” section — tap it. Your Nexus One will search for compatible GSM networks in the area. Once it’s complete, you’ll see the choices, which will consist of T-Mobile and/or AT&T. You’ll also see a choice to Select Automatically — tap it and your phone should say “Registered on network.” That’s it. That’s all I did and I immediately saw the phone jump from EDGE to T-Mobile’s fast 3G network."

For Fun:

My Nexus One

2010-01-16T13:48:00.000-08:00

So I ordered my Nexus One at about 4:45 pm on a Wednesday and I got it at about Noon on Friday. The 1st 24 hours have been awesome. This phone is great. I haven't had any 3G issues and it runs smooth. With the 1 Gig processor it flies compared to my G1. I have already rooted it and installed the updates and expansions from Cyanogen and Enomther. The rooting process was about 10 minutes out of my life, not like the G1, myTouch or Moto Droid that took upwards of an hour or more.

I was able to walk right into a T-Mobile store and add Asurion insurance to my phone without hassle, just told them that I got it yesterday and they set it up, they didn't even ask for my receipt. The only disappointment was when I went to get it Ghost Armored, they didn't have the "Cut", and I have to go back next Saturday, but I get a 10% discount.

All and all I am very satisfied. This phone is sexy and super easy to root for instructions on rooting and the files to do it with go here. It is seriously, ridiculously easy.

Net Neutrality

2010-01-08T20:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a little blurb I found about net neutrality that really clears thing up:

Net neutraility as a law makes sense. “Net neutrality” is about whether a telecom can charge different companies different rates to carry internet packets.

Explained:

Think about Netflix. It has unlimited streaming movies now. Comcast has streaming movies too, at $4 per movie. What if Comcast tells Netflix “unless you pay us the equivalent of $20/user per month we are going to put you in the slow lane and your users won’t be able to stream.” NetFlix’s streaming business will be crushed. Comcast, Verizon and AT&T want Congress to allow them to do exactly that, and this is why net neutrality legislation is so important.

This isn’t a result of a fertile imagination. This actually happened 100 years ago. Imagine the year is 1900. I run a steel company and you run a railroad. I sell steel for $50 per ton and you ship it for $3 per ton. I have two major competitors. I come to you and offer you $10 per ton for shipping if you agree not to carry steel for the other two. That number will give you far more profit for far less effort so you say yes. You’re happy. My two competitors cannot move steel from Pittsburgh to Kansas any other way (what, by horse and wagon?) so they go out of business, or a least their business is limited to local purchasers.

Then I raise my steel price from $50 per ton to $75. The steel buyers have to pay because they have no other choice. The competition is gone. I make huge profits. I’m happy. You make huge profits. You’re happy. The consumers and my competitors aren’t happy, but who gives a flying f*** about them?

This is the history of the railroad business in the late 1800s. This scenario played out again in the 1920s in trucking. Both times Congress mandated that any shipping company must charge identical amounts for all customers, based only on size, weight, and transit time.

We have 100 years of success with “net neutrality.” It’s working pretty well.

Nexus One

2010-01-05T07:58:00.001-08:00

So google is poised to release the Nexus One today. The price tag comes with a hefty pinch of $530 though. I would love to try one of these phones, with the t-mobile contract it is $180. This phone has already been rooted by one of the devs too. I am sure that XDA will have this working with custom ROMS in no time. So keep an eye out, would love to see a hands on review of this phone.

UPDATE:

SO the rumors were true. The prices are what I said. Damn google! http://www.google.com/phone/?locale=en_US&s7e=

Taken from wired

Android 1.5 SenseHERO v1.4

2009-12-27T18:22:00.000-08:00

So I went through trying a couple different ROMs today. I tried the SenseHERO and I must say that I am impressed! It runs smooth and the effects are excellent. I love the widgets, the messaging widgets especially. Messaging and email widgets are very usable. The social networking integration is very nice. Screenshots tonight!

1. Download here.

2. Wipe data/factory, Dalvik and EXT.

3. Flash ROM.

4. Reboot.

Android 2.0.1 v1.3(manup456) Droid for HTC G1(Dream) - Amazing!!

2009-12-20T20:57:00.001-08:00

O.K. So there has been some really good activity in the dev community for android lately. 3 devs in particular, Cyanogen, manup456 and eugene373. What we have from them is a new ROM for G1 that allows us to run Android 2.0.1. This ROM runs absolutely beautiful. I don't experience what we like to call "lag" or any major issues. This comes complete with Car Home. The only major issue is the lack of camera drivers, but the devs are working to resolve this. I can live without a cam for now, that's how good this rom is.

Installation:

First your need the rom, see step 1. If you don't have it already, get the danger SPL, this can be flashed like any other zip. You can get this here.

1. Download the ROM, there are to flavers, Original or Nexus One (shout out to Ace42)

2. Reboot and hold home.

3. Wipe EXT, Dalvick Cache and data/factory

4. Apply Android 2.0.1 Image

5. Reboot.

To get back to Cyanogen 4.2.9.1, go through the steps to flash the HTC OTA rom and the 4.2.9.1.

MotoBlur ported to G1

2009-11-04T19:27:00.000-08:00

Well the devs did it. Moto Blur from the Moto Cliq is around the webs for the G1. I am running it now. I have to say that I am impressed. But even with apps2SD it's a bit choppy. I even followed the directions too. Its just a bit dicey. Little slow, but the features are nice and it does work.

So basically I wiped my phone, I repartitioned my SD card. And there is an easier way yes, you need the Aman-Ra Recovery Image with the automatic partitioning. But we'll go over that another time.

But anyway, once you have a freshly partitioned SD card. Apply the Motorola Blur/S-Blur_1.06.1. It will take a minute to reboot, and you have to have your SIM in the phone or you cannot get online. Because WIFI doesn't work yet. But I give Cheers to these devs for all this hard work. Wish they could port the messaging and widgets to Cyanogenmod.

I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR BRICKED OR DAMAGED PHONES. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A FULLY CHARGED BATTERY AND READ THE INSTRUCTIONS A FEW TIMES BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT THIS. IF YOU COME HERE AND TELL ME I BROKE YOUR PHONE, i WILL LAUGH AT YOU.

1. Reboot and hold home.

2. Wipe EXT, Dalvick Cache and data/factory

3. Apply Moto Blur Image

4. Reboot.

You are good to go!

To get back to Cyanogen 4.2.9.1, go through the steps to flash the HTC OTA rom and the 4.2.9.1