Checking in. Again. New Developments

In light of how many hits this blog gets, despite the fact that I haven't posted on it in almost a year, I feel I should say something.

I haven't really had the blogging bug until about 20 or so days ago, when I started my other blog Chronicles of a Casual.  It's obviously about World of Warcraft, so it's not for everybody.  I've been enjoying posting content and getting responses from the Warcraft community.  The blog its self doesn't get a lot of comments, but I feel I'm slowly integrating into the Twitter/Warcraft blogging community.  That's fun for me, so I hope those of you who are anti-WoW can take this at face value.

All that being said, I'd still like to contribute here as well.  Warcraft (thankfully) isn't my entire life and I feel certain subjects should be partitioned from each other.  I'm going to make an effort to post here for those of you who continue to come check this journal out.  Thanks for coming and I hope to contribute more here soon.

Just checking in

Dear blog, don't worry I haven't forgotten about you.  I'm not going to do a real post today because I'm working on Christmas shopping!  Yay!  I'm going to be so happy when I'm all done (which wont be today.) 

Noteworthy complaints: websites bugging out when I'm trying to buy stuff; outrageous shipping costs; still not having real present ideas for some people; still not being able to provide present ideas to some people.  I suck at wanting stuff I guess.  My Mom doesn't know it yet, but she's getting me a $70 hoodie that's being shipped from the UK.  Note: $25 of that $70 is shipping.  Frown.

Hopefully I'll post something in here worth reading sometime soon.  I'm currently in the middle of a week long vacation from work.  My attempts at productivity have so far been pretty pathetic.  I think I'm actually going to leave the house today.

-Colin

The Ultralinx

www.TheUltralinx.com is a site I stumbled upon a month or so ago while looking for wallpapers for my phone.  The site is pretty much a shrine to minimalism, which is what keeps me coming back.  Oliur Rahman (aka: Ultralinx) is the site owner and creator.  He's a 17 year old guy who lives in the UK and he has a keen business sense and a good eye for aesthetics.

A few nights ago I was asking him about something unrelated to this post and he actually asked me if I'd like to contribute to the site.  I accepted and have done so over the last few days.  Being part of somebody else's project has so far been interesting and fun.  Both of my posts received snide comments from some anonymous troll.  Ignorant motherfuckers abound.  Apparently the content I posted wasn't good enough for this guy so he decided to poo all over it.  E-thugs probably wouldn't be so flippant in person I'm guessing.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to putting more stuff up and hopefully getting some positive responses.

Colin 

Bookless

If anybody has been keeping track, over the last few weeks, I've been reading a book called The Passage, by Justin Cronin. Tonight I finished it up and I sit before you bookless as bookless can be.

The Passage is a sci-fi-esque, post-apocalyptic page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire story. As a whole, it feels a lot like Stephen King's The Stand, but upon closer examination the story exhibits it's own distinct personality. It's not just another vampire book, even though the primary foe(s) is likened to a vampire. Cronin's writing style is straight forward, eliciting vivid imagery without excessive wording. After my Terry Goodkind marathon, JC's flavor of prose hit the spot. Apparently The Passage is part of a trilogy to come. I cant wait for the next book.

On a related side-note, I would like to take a moment to point out that this genre is probably my favorite. There's something about the prospect of a cataclysmic, sudden end (or near end) of civilization that has always captivated me. I keep mentioning The Stand because it was the first book of this type I ever read. It most surely stands near the top of my list of favorite reads. Prior to reading The Passage, the last book I sampled from this subject vein was called The World Without Us. I actually came away disappointed because it wasn't what I was expecting. Initially I thought it would be a story, but it was not. The author ends up presenting a perspective on what would happen to the planet if mankind simply vanished. It was an interesting book, but it ended up a tad preachy. Don't get me wrong, I love hugging trees as much as the next guy, but I was expecting a plague, or zombies, or something as a pretense for the book.

Anyway, what I cant decide is why I like stories where civilization is wiped out. My good friend Joe has labeled me a misanthropist on more than one occasion, which I think could be indicative of something. Maybe, despite all our progress, deep down I think people will inevitably find such an end. The idea that something so small, like a virus, could unwind the rich tapestry of humanity in the historical blink of an eye fascinates me. Maybe that's morbid, but whatever.

As a secondary side note, I've been considering writing a short story. Don't ask me what about, because I don't know. I've never been a strong fiction writer, but maybe that's because I don't try enough. Stick around, maybe I'll write something that isn't just aimless opinions. Maybe.

-Colin

Just an example of "complication."

Want to know how to root your android phone, install a custom ROM and a custom kernel? Read:

P.S. I wrote this from memory of doing this process myself.

***!!!THIS TUTORIAL IS ONLY FOR WINDOWS USERS!!!***

The List of Root and Rom:

Applications/Files Needed:

-su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip (flashable root) from the bottom of: http://modadroid.com/showthread.php?t=43

-CWMRecovery.tar from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=788099

-Odin3 v1.3.exe from: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=788099

-Samsung USB Drivers from the top of: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=779238

-Android SDK (Good to have, not necessary for these steps.)

-Rom Manager(download from market)

-Titanium Backup (download from market)

Process:

1. Install Samsung USB Drivers on your computer. Now is a good time to back up your contacts.

2. Install Odin on your PC, download the cwmrecovery.tar file. Open Odin, put the phone in download mode (battery pull, hold volume down while plugging in the USB cable. Should see a bright yellow display indicating DL mode.)

3. Odin will indicate device recognition by displaying a yellow bar with a com port. If this is the case, in the lower right quadrant of Odin, click "PDA" and locate the cwmrecovery.tar file you downloaded. DO NOT USE "PHONE," "CSC," OR "PIT" TO FLASH THIS FILE. Press start. The phone will reboot.

4. Place the su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip on a folder somewhere on your sdcard.

5. Battery pull, reboot into normal recovery (hold the volume up AND down buttons while you power on.) In normal recovery, flash the update.zip. This will put you in CWM (Clockwork Mod Recovery.)

6. Now you need to flash the su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip file in CWM. In the main menu, select "install zip from sdcard." Navigate the menu with the volume up and down. Make selections with the power button. From that menu, pick "choose zip from sdcard." Navigate to the folder where your su-2.3.6.1-ef-signed.zip is, select it, flash it. Use the "go back" option in the menu until you see the "reboot" option. Select it.

7. Download Rom Manager from the market.

8. Open Rom manager to verify root. A popup should appear, asking you to grant it "superuser privileges." If this happens, the root was successful. In Rom Manager, select "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery." Be sure to pick your phone from the list. After this, reboot to recovery. If you recieve an error, dont fret. applying the update.zip in normal recovery will send you to CWM.

9. Download and install Titanium Backup from the market. Open the app, hit the "problems" button (bottom, center) and do the Auto-upgrade for BusyBox. After that is complete, hit the menu button, select "Batch," hit "Run: backup all user apps."

10. Open Rom manager. Select "Download Rom." Download your rom of choice, preferably on Wifi. Check the options to backup the existing rom, and wipe data and cache.

11. Rom manager will reboot into recovery. You may need to select the "apply update.zip" to initiate the flash of the rom. Once it does this, let it do its thing, it will reboot when it's done.

12. The phone should reboot, looking totally stock. All user apps and data will have been wiped. Re-rooting isn't necessary. Install Rom Manager from the market again. Head to the Download rom menu again, select a kernel. Download and install it. Check the "backup existing rom" option again, but dont wipe data and cache. The phone will reboot to recovery again. You may need to apply update.zip again. Flashy flashy, then wait for a reboot.

13. Now you're running a custom rom and kernel. At this point you want to rebuild your system apps with titanium backup (TiB.) You'll need to download it from the market again. Run TiB (do the busybox part in step 9 again), hit the menu button and select "Batch" liike you did last time. Run: restore user apps. You'll have to babysit it if you're running the free version.

14. After this point, you should make a backup. Go into Rom Manager, hit the "backup existing rom" option, name it something WITH NO SPACES (example:SUPERCLEAN1111.) The phone will reboot to recovery. Again, you may need to apply the update.zip to initiate the backup. It'll reboot when done.

15. From here, rebuild your phone as you like, and enjoy.

Android update

Remember that long post about Android phones? The one that was basically an iPhone vs Android comparison? Well, this is an update to that.

Along the way to finishing that entry, I came to the conclusion that the Android phone lives and dies by the amount of freedom it grants the end user. That freedom comes at the cost of added complexity. I think the moral of my previous rant was that Android is an awesome and viable alternative to the iPhone, but it's far from perfect.

Well, I've had some time with this phone now, and I think I can really start to explain why I like Android better than iOS. In principal, both are solid operating systems. The difference is that the learning curve for Android isa little steep. This fact is probably a boon for cell carrier tech support gurus, as it keeps help-seeking customers in ample supply. Since Android is slightly less user friendly, people who are technologically impaired would be well advised to either stay away from the Google powered devices, OR be sure to have a techy friend/relative around to help you learn. That being said, what follows is why I think Android is pretty awesome.

As previously stated, Android's strength lies in its flexibility. Of important note to this attribute, a lot of that comes from the fact that Android is open source. If you remember, open source means that the code for the operating system, as well as the phones that are being produced, is available to the public. This one little fact, in my experience, is the salvation of the Samsung Fascinate.

Experiences like mine aren't limited to this one device, but I feel it's a pretty poignant example. Over the course of my ownership of this Android powered smartphone, I've experienced a wide range of emotions. Upon first playing with the phone, my mind was blown by how awesome it was to have portable internet, a music player, a phone, all wrapped up behind a gorgeous 4" screen. From there, i started to encounter quirks of the device. Samsung made a mistake, a lot of Android geeks say, with one of the technical details of the Fascinate. If you're familiar with what a file system is, in relation to a media storage device (i.e. hard drive, usb drive, sd card, internal cell phone storage, etc.,) Samsung goofed. Certain file systems are considered better than others in the world of smartphones. Think of the file system like a transmission. A lot of the transitions and actions taken in a smart phone involve different files in different locations. The way the file system is configured will affect everything from the smoothness of the device to the stability of the entire system. Going back to the transmission analogy, Samsung did the equivalent of putting a 4 speed automatic transmission from the 80's in a modern Ferrari.

This is the part where the awesomeness of open-source and the Android community came to save my phone from its maker. There are people, whom are referred to as "developers," who devote their time to the optimization of Android devices. Oh, here's a little detour...

Now, before I go on, I want to state clearly that any problems with the Samsung Fascinate are not because the phone is running an Android OS. My axe to grind is with Samsung. By gimping this device with a clumsy file system, and a far from optimized kernel (the set of instructions by which the operating system communicates with the hardware of the phone), Samsung messed up. Some might point out that were it not for the open source nature of Android development, Sammy wouldn't have had the opportunity to mess up the phone (let alone develop one,) and that wouldn't be completely unfair. Cell phone manufacturers and cell carriers hold sway over details in Android phones in a way that AT&T does not have with the iPhone. All I can say is that you have to take the bad with the good. Since every hero needs a dragon to slay, the developers of the Android community would be mighty bored without devices like the Fascinate to "fix."

Diving this deep into technical issues with the phone is warranty voiding. It's extremely risky and the learning curve for this stuff abruptly heads for the stratosphere. The reason tinkering on this level happens is two fold: first, it's because if you give a bunch of nerds the source code to a shiny gadget, they're going to mess with it; second, neither Samsung nor Verizon can help you with this kind of stuff. The support just doesn't exist for "my phone is laggy as shit and has poor battery life" type of problems.

Enter: the Android developers. My knights in shining armor. These individuals do a lot of this work for free. We're talking hours and hours of scouring code, doing experiments that destroy their devices (also called "bricking",) all just because they enjoy it. Read that again. There's a community of people working, for free, to make YOUR phone better. Faster. Stronger. Suck it Steve Jobs, that's the coolest part of Android and the main thing Apple can't touch with the iPhone. Sure, there's a community of devoted nerds standing behind the iPhone. Ask them to get you the source code files for iOS, or the kernel for the iPhone 4. The tweaking capability of Android devs is on a whole different plane of awesomeness. Below is a series of images representing a visual transformation my phone has undergone since the day it came out of the box.

These images represent a completely stock Samsung Fascinate. As it was, the phone ran decently. The thing I most wanted to improve upon was speed and stability. A stock Fascinate is, in my opinion, too laggy for a 1ghz pocket sized computer. That lead me to the Android community and the flock of developers eagerly tweaking this phone. My phone. They had the same gripes as me and more. In addition to finding hordes of people who wanted the phone to perform to its hardware potential, I found an endless supply of visual modifications to play with. The whole "when there's no limit to what Droid gets, there's no limit to what Droid does" thing, despite it being a chest-pounding-chevy commercial gone Android, is pretty apt. If the developers are the heart and soul of Android, the applications and widgets that make up the not insubstantial Android Marketplace are the personality and looks of the OS. Below is a pretty good representation of what is possible with some simple downloads, and a little trickery:

To put it simply, such a visual metamorphosis is completely impossible on an iPhone. This degree of customization definitely isn't played up enough in the current Android marketing scheme. Regardless, with the right resources and help, doing the above to your phone isn't really that difficult. If you run into problems, or run out of solutions, there's an army of people on the Internet that can and will help you make your phone as awesome as it should be.

Aside from the visual changes to my Fascinate (which I love,) I've also given those systematic shortcomings I mentioned earlier a kick in the pants. A single developer was able to conceive two creations (called a ROM and a kernel) to completely transform the performance of my phone. While the installation is complicated, instruction guides and helpful Android users abound. On more than one occasion, I had a complete stranger spend hours (hours!) of their own time helping me understand the right way to do some of this stuff. The abundance and eagerness of the available support is staggering.

I know what you're all probably thinking: spending hours doing "warranty voiding modifications" to a cell phone isn't something the average user will do. You're right. The basis of my iPhone vs Android is still validated, regardless of the amount of people who flash a custom ROM or try an optimized kernel. The community and it's creations validates Google's open source philosophy. It's both it's greatest strength and it's boldest act of defiance against Apple. You don't have to utilize this vast resource of creativity to enjoy your phone, but if you do, the ability to completely transform your device is there. iPhone users aren't so lucky. That is why I'm finally and truly glad that I went Android instead of iPhone.

I hope you enjoyed,

Colin

Another new look

Yeah, still trying to find something that fits. I think this one is pretty easy to read, which is nice. I also added a "now reading" area. So far The Passage feels a lot like The Stand, which is a compliment.