Category: Miscellaneous

Another Sony Eulogy

  • November 28, 2010

I feel like I’ve written about a few Sony deaths before on this site.

But this one is particularly sad.

06.21.09_0910_small_2sony

Yep, it’s dead.

It had been acting up a bit these past few weeks, taking a few attempts to start up, but today it just kicked the bucket entirely. It boots to the Windows log-on screen, and then everything (including the login program and task manager) fails to execute due to insufficient system resources. Sometimes it doesn’t even get that far. The research I have done online suggests a faulty core memory chip, or perhaps a failed hard drive (although I don’t know how it boots at all without a HD).

So, I think the day has arrived to say the old TR-1, which has lasted me many, many years – has bit the dust.

This little fellow has travelled with me to Australia (4 times), Hawaii, Japan (3 times), Puerto Rico and England. Every single vacation blog post you have read on this blog was written from this guy. I have used him this semester more than ever for doing all of my schoolwork including (especially!) writing my lectures, and I used him for about seven years do all my VB programming on for my simulations.

This latter issue is the biggest one. I can write lectures on my Mac, I can use other computers while traveling, but I currently have no easy way to replace this guy for VB programming. Last time I tried to install VB at school it wouldn’t run at all (ours is an old version), so I guess I have to find a solution – and quickly – especially if I plan on ever graduating.

Will that solution be a new Windows laptop? Ugh… I don’t really want one. But I may have to cave and buy a cheap one just for school use… and then somehow find out how to get XP software running in Windows 7 (Bernard, is this even possible?)

What a bummer 🙁

Monster Hunter Portable 3rd

  • November 28, 2010

Just before Thanksgiving Capcom added the opening cinematic to the new Monster Hunter game to their Youtube channel, and here it is:

I love how it shows a capture!

The game comes out this week in Japan. So far, there has been not a mention of an English translation, but I can’t believe it won’t happen. I just hope the PSP2 doesn’t get in the way…

  • Posted in Miscellaneous
  • Robert

Yes, I Still Love The iPad

  • November 23, 2010

It’s been more than seven months since we bought an iPad, and to say it has changed the way we use a computer at home is an understatement.  Almost 100% of our web-browsing is now done on the device, and I use it exclusively for email as well. I turn on my desktop rarely, and usually only to watch a video that is unsuported in the iOS (such as the new Ultraman movie trailer) or – ironically I realize – to update this blog.

That’s not to say I couldn’t do either on the iPad, it’s just that the WordPress app is currently woeful. Unlike the Books app, which in the last update turned the device into an incredible PDF reader. As you can see I made good use of this:

4

Yesterday was the long-heralded and greatly anticipated 4.2.2 update to the iPad OS. This gave the device several new features, including folders, multitasking, a new mail app, new browser functionality, the Game Center, wireless printing and a few other bells and whistles. I eagerly downloaded and installed the update, and here’s my impressions.

3

The shot above (the ‘desktop’ of our iPad) shows the new folders. To make one, just drag an app over another and hold it for half a second. They are an obvious feature that should have been there from the start, but I would have preferred had Apple gone even further with desktop customization. Such as adjustable icon sizes, ways to rearrange the grid or place items where we wanted (like Android does). Folders are a nice start though – the other features will come in time, I am sure of that.

Incidentally the background image of Sydney (click on the picture, I have included full-resolution screencaps in this post) was captured with the Maps app included with the iPad.

Frankly I don’t care about multitasking, especially since I rarely juggle between different apps. But it works and seems to work well. When I quit Angry Birds and switched to the browser before returning to the game had me exactly where I left off. A nice feature, but hardly necessary in the world of instant-start iApps. A bigger deal for the iPhone I reckon, for me multitasking just means a (new) slight pause every time I close an App.

The new Mail app is cool, and collects all your inboxes into one grand inbox. Thankfully this is entirely optional, especially relevant to micromanagers like myself that doesn’t want to cross the streams of my work and home inboxes 🙂

1

Game Center! What is this? Well, it’s a bit of an PSN for iPad, and includes achievements, friend lists, leaderboards etc. If you are using iOS, please send me – Richardjesperson – a friend request and we can compare our Angry Birds achievements 🙂

Now the big addition, for me, is the trivial ability to now search for words in-page in the browser. This has been my #1 missed browser feature since switching over to the iPad and I’m happy Apple not only added it but did in in an inobtrusive manner (since one goal of the iOS is to simplify everything). Here’s a shot:

2

To use it, just enter a word into the Search bar (upper right) and choose the new option to search on the page. Fantastic!

I haven’t used (or even discovered, to be honest) any of the other new features in the iOS, so I’ll end this review/tutorial here. I know quite a few of you use iOS on phones or the iPad, so I’m curious as to your opinions of the update (or the device in general).

For me the iPad has become all but irreplaceable, and 4.2.2 just makes a great thing better in my opinion.