The smartphone revolution

Over the last couple of years, I’ve come to believe that the way we connect to the world will be through our phones. Other countries, like Europe and Japan, are already ahead of the States in this aspect. With the great push of the iPhone and Driod, already most of our civilized cities encompass and encourage this technology. Now, the choice becomes, which smartphone is the “best”?

Let’s start with a quick history lesson in mobile technology, we going back back to the turn of the 21st century. A now defunct little company, called Palm, took over the market of portable digital organizers with their flagship and self titled Palm devices. The early models could sync with your PC and connect to the internet on their own via additional modem hardware (since the majority of the internet clients were still using “dial-up” connections). As high-speed, wireless, and Bluetooth technologies evolved, so did the Palms allowing for more mobility and usability. At this time, Microsoft took a stab at the technology with the introduction of the Pocket PC built around their Windows CE technology. Pocket PC and Palm changed the way the world saw the internet. Now, through a simple wireless connection, you could view your calendar, email, and some websites all from the palm of your hand. In addition, you no longer had to connect your little device to your PC (thanks to innovations in Microsoft’s Exchange Server email system). At this time, Microsoft, as they so regularly do, changed the name from Pocket PC to Windows Mobile. Shortly thereafter, Blackberry entered the market with the first devices that integrated your cellular phone and your digital organizer. Microsoft soon followed suit with another revamp of their Pocket PC OS, called Windows Mobile for Smartphones. Due to cost (whether they were manufacturing or just greedy profits), these two devices were originally only available to the financially elite or businesses. Unfortunately, Palm entered the market too late. They hung for a while, but eventually lost to the Windows giant and Blackberry. This brings us to Apple’s emergence into the industry with their now highly sought after iPhone. The iPhone’s hardware and OS has introduced a new change in the mobile technology. Now integrating a simple digital camera, camcorder, digital organizer, full internet browser, email, and a slew of social “apps” and games, you don’t even need a PC for your day-to-day internet tasks. Admittedly, Microsoft had already achieved this by Windows Mobile 6, but never on the scale Apple did. Leave it to Mac users to start a trend. With the internet giant, Google, hot on Apple’s trail releasing their Android OS (commonly referred to as Driod) and Microsoft back in the race with their completely revamped Windows Phone 7 OS, Blackberry is now a dead company. Will anyone else take up the race? Who knows; but they better have an astounding device and PR department. Well, maybe this wasn’t quite a short history lesson.

On to the competitors. Personally, I want a completely autonomous phone that doesn’t even need a computer. What do I mean by that? Well, here are the requirements:

1. email, calendar, etc, must function with my existing email accounts (whether they be work or personal) and should be accessible no matter where I am. Applications on the phone should be able to integrate these. Screw viewing it through a web browser.
2. I prefer a completely touch screen device with the ability to zoom in while viewing objects (like web pages, pictures, etc). As a bonus (but no required), the phone should have a very usable “dual thumb” keyboard. Not one of those crappy half keyboards where you end up pushing 2 buttons instead of one.
3. The device must be of decent size. This means not to large to fit in my pocket, but not so small that you have issues typing with the on-screen keyboard.
4. The device should be able to download and install miscellaneous applications via the cellular network that can keep up with my mobile life, such as social website access, online banking, simple games for entertainment, electronic books, references for “trivia” questions, etc.
5. Have a decent digital still/video camera in case I want to photographically document and share/brag my mobile life.
6. A fully functional web browser that can view real web pages, not just mobile-friendly ones. This includes videos, animations, and scripts (forms).
7. The phone should be able to get any updates it needs for the OS or applications via the cellular network.
8. Oh yeah, it needs to be able to make phone calls, too.

I’ve had the luck of being able to use the iPhone, Driod, and Windows Mobile (not the new 7 ones) devices. Over the years, I became partial to Windows Mobile. Currently, I have a HTC Driod Eris. My only downfall with the Eris is it’s slightly smaller size; this can be remedied by replacing it with the Motorolla Driod X (if I only had the funds). The Eris also tends to go into a huge lag when trying to place or answer a phone call. I think that’s a problem with the Andriod OS, though, as the wifey has the same problem with her LG Ally. I was able to tinker with an iPhone 3GS for a while. I would still be using it for work, but the cell program we’re using doesn’t have any more allocations for the “special” iPhone data plan (which irks me to no end that it requires a data plan different from AT&T’s other smartphones). Also, the fact that you must initially set the phone up and apply updates through iTunes really boils my already overfull pot of “things I don’t like about Apple’s proprietary methods”. As for Windows Phone 7, I don’t know what to expect. The devices I’ve seen so far (in pictures only) seem a bit small, so I’m waiting for them to get through their initial consumer wear and tear. Like Apple (now on their 4th generation), I’m sure there will be much more to offer in future revisions. I’ll hold my opinions and stick with my Windows Mobile 6.5 Samsung Jack for now (even though I don’t care much for the physical device) until I can actually test drive 7. Hopefully, some time early next year.

For now, outside of the iTunes requirement, the iPhone has impressed me the most with its smooth transitioning OS and perfectly sizable hardware. Overall, Andriod is a more fully-featured OS. The Driods are 2nd in my book only because they annoyingly lock up (drag) in certain scenarios and require an app for memory management. Like installing Windows 7 on an old computer, until the hardware manufacturers catch up, memory usage will continue to be Andriod’s downfall. As for Windows Phone 7, it was a much needed upgrade to the now antiquated Windows Mobile. However, let’s see if Microsoft can make the same or better innovations by the time they’re on their 4th generation devices. If you’ll remember, the iPhone still lacked quite a few features in it’s first incarnation, and though it was older, I still strongly stood by my Windows Mobile when Apple first released them.

 

BTW, I think it’s time to finally let this blog die. Between married life (yes, as of Oct 23, the GF/fiancé became the wifey), work, and projects around the house that need completing, I just don’t have the time or desire to play on the internet anymore. Unless I get a huge hair to rant about something, you probably won’t be seeing anything new here. I don’t even socialize on Facebook much anymore. Sorry, but real life has just gotten in the way of my internet socialization (god forbid).

 

l8rz, and maybe see you in the next incarnation of the interwebz…

On the barstool and ranting…

Yup. I’m back at Taco Mac again, and here’s a quick writeup on the two latest games.

Halo Reach. Yes, midnight release. All next day play. It’s still the same engine used for Halo 3 and ODST, but Bungie has tweaked it a bit to expand the Haloverse to MASSIVE environments. Well, maybe not as massive as Fallout, but pretty darn close. What can I say other than it’s Halo. Go get it. You’ll love it. Well, I do. New multiplayer maps and modes (yes, I’ve actually played a few). New story. New hero. And, you’ll just have to play it for yourself to find out who’s origin it is.

Metroid Other M. Next to Halo, I’d have to say Metroid is my next favorite series. Well, maybe third to Gears, but Metroid is the longest running besides Mega Man. This latest installment goes into Samus’ background, which has never been explored by Nintendo. So far, it’s excitingly not what I expected. The gameplay is like nothing the Metroid fans are used to (and impressive). The lack of camera control can be a bit awkward at first, but I’ve yet to be in a situation where it can be a problem. The 3rd person gameplay has added a whole new twist. If you have a Wii and know anything of Metroid’s history (all the way back to NES), you must play this. I miss the nunchuck control from the Prime Trilogy, but the simplified controller has come to be a huge bonus over the GameCube plethora of buttons. Oh, and you no longer have to collect energy and missile refills from your enemies. Just lift the controller vertical and press A for a recharge. Nice!

Well, time to part. The Taco Mac manager just opened a special tap of the Heavy Seas Cannon Cask that I must try. Yay for Fridays!

 

l8rz!

Now, time for teh game on.

The dust has settled (back on the racks), updates have been implemented, new machines installed, and accounts created. Time to get back to gaming!

I'm finally able to enjoy a calm weekend by myself since the soon-to-be wifey is off visiting her family. Ah, there's nothing like listening to the cicadas backgrounded with drunk Mexican karakoe at midnight. Did you catch the sarcasm in that statement? The neighbors are throwing down again. I guess if I went inside, I wouldn't have to hear it. :P

So Dante's Inferno finally came in. If you've ever tried to read Virgil's "Dante's Inferno" or "The Divine Comedy", you know they're not easy stories to follow due to the language. The game is roughly (and I'm serious about "roughly") based on The Divine Comedy. It's much easier to follow the story, and a whole lot more entertaining. However, I'm a bit dissappointed. I was expecting this awesomely over-hyped game to be something new and fresh. What I ended up playing was a God Of War remake. Now the graphics were fairly well done, but there could have been more. I was pretty downed by the FMV sequences as they were rendered less detailed than the actual gameplay. The backgrounds were pretty well done, but the camera control (which there was none) sucked. I hit one section where I kept jumping off the ledge because the camera was at such an odd angle, I couldn't see where I was supposed to land. The gameplay, however, was well done. You can choose to either violently punish or absolve your enemies from a grab. And I mean violently. This is no kids game. You are in hell, and the characters/enemies show it. The squemish wouldn't like this. I, however, reveled in and awed at the developers depictions. It's how I would view it. In all, a fun and gorey play. But, save your pennies for Halo Reach when it comes out 9/14. My inner fanboy is giddy with excitement for the midnight release. Yes, I have my copy reserved (regular, I don't do collector's editions anymore). :D

I really should come up with some sort of rating system if I'm going to keep doing this.

l8rz!

Late night Linux brain spazisms

Sometimes in the evening, when I'm trying not to think about work related stuff, my mind goes into overdrive with weird projects. Sitting on my back porch slowly enjoying a Crown and Coke and mucking with my Netbook, tonight has become one of those nights.

It started with a simple decision to find the "fastest" OS for the Netbook. So far, Fedora Moblin has won, but I'm having issues with getting the wireless to work (Red Hat-based distributions are my preferred). Ubuntu Netbook Remix has come in at a fully functional second, but I'm not that familiar with Debian-based Linux. If I can't fully manipulate the OS from a termial (or Command Prompt), I'm not satisfied. Windows 7 Starter Edition is what came with it (and is functionally the best), but has it's slower moments (hence the desire for something faster). In my spare time waiting on ISOs to download (CD images for you computards out there), I started thinking about the 3 Playstations (the original - two grey boxes and one white "PSOne") I have downstairs collecting dust. "Hey, I wonder if you can put Linux on one of those?" Why in the hell would anyone want to put Linux on such an underpowered piece of hardware? Just to say it's been done. After sorting through the Google and Bing searches, parusing through multitudes of forums, and following nothing but dead links (websites that are no longer available), I found the Runix project. However, files from this attempt can no longer be found. It was a neat idea, but because of the PS's hardware limitations (no HDD, a 512K ROM, and only 2G RAM), I'm guessing it never got off the ground. So sad. It would have been fun to try. There are Linux projects out there for the PS2 (non-slim since it won't take a HDD). But, I'm not ready to throw in the towel on my PS2, yet. I don't have a PS3, and from what I've read, the software PS2 emulator on the current PS3 (the first models had a hardware chip) is crap. Also, Sony killed the PS3's ability to dual-boot with Yellow Dog Linux in a recent firmware update. Bastards. They just keep compiling reasons for me not to get one. I love my 360. Maybe when I get my original XBox back from Pops, I'll see what I can do with it. I remember reading where you can turn one into a massive Media Center. Oh well. At least I have some other Linux projects on the mind from other thunkings (like creating my own arcade console and home automation to name two). Those require a little financial backing that I'm just not ready to invest in. However, I will make them a reality at some point.

Oh lookie, my drink is empty. Time for another. ;)

l8rz!

Down with the Nazi regime!

Ugh it’s been a busy two weeks. Trying to get any game time in has been a chore at best. Oh, and the house still hasn’t been vacuumed in 2 weeks. This is not a fun thing to deal with when you have to readily shedding pooches. Two game updates this week:

Yes, I love fighting Nazis. Read my previous posts if you haven’t realized that already. After collecting dust on the table for almost 2 weeks, I was finally able to play and finish ID’s Wolfenstein. If you’ve never heard of the Wolfenstein name, then you are either too young or never play video games. If the latter, then why are you reading this? j/k NEwayz, the Xbox360 reincarnation puts our hero, B.J. Blazkowicz, in a whole new story. Without giving away the story, there’s not a whole lot I can say. The weapons you find along the way are pretty frikin cool. Especially once you get further along and can start upgrading them at the Black Market. My Panzerschreck (rocket launcher) and Leichenfaus 44 (particle disintegrator) were pretty unstoppable (as long as I had ammo for them). Considering the game was built on a modified version of the Doom 3 engine, the graphics weren’t too bad. The characters aren’t overly realistic like Modern Warfare. However, the immense environment was was pretty detailed especially once you start using the Thule Medallion to move in an out of the Veil (something you will be doing quite frequently to survive). There are 3 modes of gameplay to keep you entertained for many many hours along with some online multiplayer modes. Overall, not a bad rent. And, if you can find it in the bargain bin, not a bad buy. I will be looking for a decently priced gently used copy myself (no, I haven’t hit eBay, yet).

The Xbox Summer of Arcade has started once again this year, and they have games on the docket that I’m after. Over my many years of gaming, I’ve accumulated quite a few consoles. Some of those consoles (the Sega Dreamcast) I purchased (very cheap, mind you) for a few specific games. I’ve been able to replace most of them through the Xbox. Dead or Alive 2 I replaced with the Dead or Alive box set for Xbox (the original). Soul Calibur has been available in the Xbox Live Arcade for some time, although I haven’t forked out the Microsoft Points for it, yet. Last week, my last Dreamcast title was finally replaced. Good thing, too, because the cd reader puked about a month ago. Hydro Thunder Hurricane. I’ve been waiting for years on this one. Now, I’m a happy camper complete with a graphics upgrade and some new tracks added from the sit-down arcade version (at Dave and Busters the last time I was there). Time to start looking for my old NES favorites in the Wii Arcade.

The four weeks at work is going to be crazy busy so I’ll try to get at least part one of the automated Windows 7 install up this weekend.

 

Happy boating (racing)! l8rz

Automating a Windows 7 install

Lookie! I’m ranting about computers now!

Ok, so for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working with Windows AIK, scripts, and Windows PowerShell to come up with a fully automated Windows 7 install for work. Mind you, I’m extremely anal when it comes to computer procedure and writing scripts. This is why I’m not a programmer. I probably would have finished this a week ago were it not for my OCD-ism.

It took a couple of days to learn the WSIM (Windows System Image Manager) interface. Once you get used to it and understand the different passes in an install (this is something new that started with Vista), it’s actually pretty intuitive. Between this and Sysprep, creating an automated install has become so much simpler than it was during the .ini file early days of Windows NT to XP. I’m starting to really like XML (eXtensible Markup Language).

To save from having to do a bunch of stuff by hand (I have some “geniuses” I work alongside that don’t follow written and verbal directions very well), the install calls some registry tweaks and does a few other things in the “post-install” phase. In the past, I accomplished this with another coworker via .cmd scripts. Now that the responsibility has fallen solely on me, I’m trying to broaden my horizons by leveraging more powerful and secure tools in the Windows environment. Most of the computer’s configuration settings are accomplished via Group Policy Objects (GPO’s) via our domain environment. I L-O-V-E GPO’s! However, GPO’s have their limitations and scripts are still required. Eh. Why can’t Windows be simpler like Linux? WSH and VBS are still the primary scripting languages in Windows with WMI and WinRM (Windows Remote Management) being the primary form of system management. However, Microsoft is highly touting and pushing the PowerShell environment. Now learning PowerShell is a pain. PowerShell a collection of Windows Scripting Host (WSH - Windows’ primary scripting language along with Visual Basic Scripting - VBS - and Javascript), Windows Management Interface (WMI) calls, and Command-line scripting (“BAT files”, for the old computer literates) all in one. It’s an extremely powerful tool to have in your management tool bag. Like learning any new “language”, it takes time. I’ve been cheating and modifying scripts off the web for my own usage. I’ll write my own and learn the contexts some other time.

Now that I’ve introduced you to my carefully crafted baby (and extreme headache), I’ll try to break down each of the parts in a tutorial, of sorts, for you to apply to your own environment. Hopefully this will allow you to have your install ready to test and push to production within a couple of days instead of the couple of weeks it took me. Stay tuned for the details.

 

l8rz!

Bayonetta…

Is this porn? I thought I rented a video game.

So the premise is, you are Bayonetta, the supposed last surviving Umbra Witch who was outcast and has lost her memory. She’s taken up lot with the Hellspawn over the last 20 years, as she fights (and kicks some serious ass) the minions of heaven all the while popping in and out of Pergatory (everyday Earth) to harass some schmuck who’s chasing after her to get revenge for the death of his father.

The Applegeeks guys hit the hammer on the nail with their Lite strip:

Button punching. There are so many different combinations of buttons to push in this thing… My thumbs are sore. To be honest, I expected a whole lot more from this game based on marketing. Once I got into it, I wanted a whole lot less. Once again, this is one of those titles from Japan that leave me wondering, “what the hell is wrong with you people?” Anyone who watches anime is familiar with “fan service”. Well, this game is loaded with it, and I’ve never really cared for it. To give you a good example, think Najica Blitz Tactics.

Outside of the annoying ecchi (who in the hell would think up using your hair as a “uniform”?), the gameplay elements are pretty fun. You go around beating the snot of stuff and laying some serious smackdown. Graphics are awesome, and the sound effects are really cool assuming you have a DTS audio setup. If you can get past the retarded fan service, the story has some hilarity to its entertainment value and it’s worth the play. Give it a rent, at least.

 

l8rz.