Friday, January 31, 2014

Tried Mobile Kingyo Sukui 2 (Mobile Goldfish Scooping 2) on Sharp Zaurus SL-C3100

I tried Mobile Kingyo Sukui 2 (Mobile Goldfish Scooping 2) on Sharp Zaurus SL-C3100 today. This Kingyo Sukui, or Goldfish Scooping, is a popular game in Japan where you try to catch a goldfish using a fish net made of paper. If the paper breaks, you lose, and if you catch the goldfish, you get to keep it.

Some people catch dozens of fish, although some goldfish scooping shop at the festival allows you to only keep several.

The game is very simply made, nothing like modern games on Android, but will be fun for killing time on the go. You can download the game here. The photos below were taken with 2006 Canon IXY Digital 800IS.




Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Superb Condition SL-C3200 on sale on eBay

I am selling a superb condition Zaurus SL-C3200 on eBay.
There are only very minor scuffs on body, and the screen has screen protector applied.

The
Zaurus SL-C3200 comes with battery, stylus,  and generic AC Adaptor.


Spec: 

CPU: PXA270 416MHz
HDD: 6GB Microdrive
RAM: 64MB
Flash: 128MB

weight: 298grams (0.65 pounds)

We will ship by EMS with tracking and insurance.

For those who are in other countries other than USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Mexico, please contact me if I can ship to your country, since there is restriction on shipping lithium-ion batteries overseas. 
We can ship anywhere in the world if we remove the battery.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Surface Pro 128 Review



So, now that I have been using the Surface Pro for over a week, I think now is a food time to start the review. First, let me say that I have been using it as a computer more than a tablet. To be more specific, a tablet PC, versus using Metro. I am going to call it Metro, as I sometimes still call a Micro SD card a Transflash card. Some people call it modern, some people Metro. In other words, if you want, read Metro as Modern.

Next, I want to make sure that anyone reading this knows that when I say Surface, I am referring to the Pro model, which runs Windows 8, and NOT Windows RT. This is also the original Surface Pro, and not the new Surface Pro 2. I wonder if I keep saying Surface Pro will make this review rank better on Google, and Microsoft will send me free things to review. If you are a Microsoft employee reading this, I could use a few things like the desktop dock, or a car charger.

Jokes aside, I want to start with some basic specifications, more can be found at the bottom of this review, or in the review itself. The Surface Pro uses an Intel Core i5 running at 1.7GHz. This is the only choice, but you do have a choice between a 64GB or 128GB model. Though it doesn't really matter, this is the 128GB model. You also get 4GB if RAM, and a HD display. Like I said, your one choice is the size of the SSD, and it is worth noting that this is NOT an upgradeable machine. If you choose the 64GB, then you will need to use the Micro SD slot on the side.

That also means that the RAM or battery are not upgradeable either, so if you need more than this, look at the newer Pro 2, which has an 8GB option, as well as options for 256GB and even a 512GB SSD. You would also get a Haswell Core i5, and a 2 position kickstand, so aside from extra battery life, speed, and space, you get the same screen. Now, it is worth noting here that the reason I got this model was the price. My model was on sale for 600, and does all that I need, so the price difference between the two was a major thing for me.

So, now that I have that out of the way, it is time to take a look at the hardware. You can see one thing very quick, or should I say that you don't see one thing very quick. There is not a lot of branding on the Surface except for two Windows logos, which I guess you can call Microsoft logos. You have one small one on the front, and a larger, but not by a lot, one on the kickstand.

The next logical step is to take a look around the Surface Pro. Starting at the right side, and going
around clockwise, we have your Micro SD slot, the magnetic power port, and a mini Displayport. Not a whole lot on this side, nor any side of the Surface really.

Moving along, we have a groove where the keyboard covers fit into. In the center, you have 6 more magnetic pins, flanked by 2 cut outs. This is where the keyboard attaches. Now, on the Surface Pro model, there are 4 pins not on the RT model. These pins are supposed to be for high current power, meaning an external battery like the upcoming PowerCover will provide.

So, on the left, we have the 3.5MM headphone jack, a volume rocker, and the only USB port, which is a USB3.0 port. I would have preferred to see a second port, even if it was only
USB2 but that wasn't up to me to decide.

On top, we have the power button and a microphone. Lot going on up here!

Now, one thing you might have noticed is there is a small groove, maybe 1MM wide, around the entire tablet. That is your venting to keep the system cool as well as let sound out.

Now, on the back, you have the kickstand, and at the top a camera. This isn't the best quality camera, but it does the job for a quick shot. There is a small LED next to the camera to show you when it is turned on.

On the front, we have the screen. It is a very nice 1920x1080 IPS display. On top is another camera and LED, which is the same quality as the rear facing camera. On the bottom, you have a Windows logo, which is also a touch button for the Start menu.

Now is a good time to talk more about this display. I think that it looks amazing, and it is Gorilla Glass from what I have read, but can still be scratched. I have a few tiny thin scratches from using the pen. One thing to remember is that the pressure will be much higher on the tip of the pen, so catching a piece of grit will scratch it, but I think that you don't have to worry a lot otherwise.

It does support 10 points of multitouch, which can be great for playing games with a second person. Something to note here is that this is a capacitive touchscreen, not that it should need to be
said now, since almost all but the cheapest budget tablets are using it. The reason I bring this up is that the pen included with the Surface Pro, as I said, is a Wacom pen, and thus won't work on just anything.

Now, something else I want to mention. This is something I consider a mixed blessing. The magnetic power adapter can be VERY annoying sometimes. I find sometimes it is very hard to get into position just right, and other times it can fall off very easy, but the good thing is it saves you form having a problem like a broken jack if the cord were to be tripped over.

Now, another thing that annoys me is there is no LED for battery charge. You have an LED on the adapter itself, but that only shows that it is connected, not the status of the battery at all. I think that could have done something like my HTC Flyer tablet did. This was also done by other companies like Palm and Dell before, so it is nothing new. I would have preferred to see an LED either under or next to power button that would be orange when charging and then green when full, or they could have even put it inside the plug since it already has an LED. That is how Apple has done, and to the best of my knowledge, still does.

There are a lot of things that I would change, but as a very good friend once told me, I want to change EVERYTHING. Some would be a second USB port, a full size SD card, but one that I would really love is a place to put the pen. Attaching to the charger port is NOT a solution! A simple slot for the pen would make it a lot better since it can fall off the charge port very easy, and if you need to keep it on the charger, there is NO WHERE to put it at all!

Speaking of the charger, something I would have liked to change. The charger has what I consider a much needed feature among ALL companies. It has a 1 amp USB port so you can charge a phone off it, or for me, a mouse or keyboard usually. Although it would have needed some extra pins, I would have liked to see a way to use this USB port for data as well, but I will settle for an extra port to charge stuff from since I have a lot of stuff I like to keep charged.

So, software side, it is Windows 8, which can be upgraded to Windows 8.1 for free. You get no added software really except a trial of Office. I would have loved to see Microsoft provide Office for free since the RT model does, but then again, for an RT model you can't buy Office right now.

In conclusion, I LOVE this tablet, even though it does get hot sometimes, but considering it has a Core i5 CPU and real Windows, it can be much more useful than my Nexus 7 is sometimes. There are different reasons to use the Nexus so if I am going somewhere I will take both with me. Side note, I will also have a keyboard and mouse review posted soon, which will be more of a follow up to this review, which will also mention the Nexus 7 and Surface Pro combination.

So, all in all, I would give this tablet around an 8 out of 10, since while it is an amazing tablet, it does have some shortcomings I am willing to ignore. The market has changed, so now a replaceable battery is sadly considered a luxury. I can personally get by with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD for a tablet, since if I need more power I have a laptop with 8GB RAM and a 1TB HDD, as well as a full SD slot so there will be times I carry my Lenovo G500s, my Surface Pro, and my Nexus 7, as well as maybe one of the phones I use as a PDA if I need something pocketable.

Monday, January 27, 2014

[Video] RSA Explained By the Co-Inventors

[Video] RSA Explained By the Co-Inventors (Rivest, Shamir, Adleman)

Do you know what is RSA?

Definition of RSA from webopedia

"An public-key encryption technology developed by RSA Data Security, Inc. The acronym stands for Rivest, Shamir, and Adelman, the inventors of the technique. The RSA algorithm is based on the fact that there is no efficient way to factor very large numbers. Deducing an RSA key, therefore, requires an extraordinary amount of computer processing power and time. "

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 and tcpdump

I managed to get tcpdump working on Sharp Zaurus SL-C750 with my WiFi card.

The tcpdump that works on Zaurus can be downloaded here.

I just cd to /mnt/card to my SD card with the uncompressed tcpdump and libpcap.a, and su for root access. Viva Zaurus and Linux!




Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Friday, January 17, 2014

Sharp Zaurus SL-C760 with Cacko 1.23 running Opera Browser.

This is a video of Sharp Zaurus SL-C760 with Cacko 1.23 running Opera Browser.

Surface Pro First Impressions



The other day, I mentioned that I picked up the Surface Pro, and you know that I also posted about the horrible experience getting it was. That was thanks to the idiot working at Best Buy, since switching out the bad ones for a good one should have only taken a few minutes. Well that is now over, and now I have a working Surface Pro, which I am typing this on now.

Using my Lenovo G500s, I hated Windows 8, but using it on the surface is actually quite different, and dare I say, quite a bit nicer. It should be optional to use Metro, which has been renamed to Modern UI, if you don't have a touch screen, since using it with a mouse can be more of a pain to me. This is my opinion, but I do know some people who agree with me there. This post, while mostly about the hardware, needs to at least mention Windows 8 a bit.

So, let's start with the software since that will be a little brief for now. I spend a lot of time using the desktop mode personally, but I do try to use Modern UI a bit. I am typing a lot of this up using the onscreen keyboard, which sadly works a LOT better when using Modern UI apps, so I have a notepad app that I downloaded. I think this is why having either a type cover or some other keyboard, such as the Bluetooth K810 I use from Logitech is really needed.

The problem is, when using a desktop app, let's say its Office, which I am using for an example because they do include I with the RT model Surface's and even some of the other tablets that used RT and died off. That is one thing I see Microsoft actually doing soon. The Intel Atom, also known as the BayTrail, is getting to be just as fast and good on the battery as the ARM based processors like the Tegra that they use on the Surface RT now. This makes me question why they even keep the RT model at all, especially when you can get something like the Dell Venue 11 Pro for around the same price.

Then you also have the newer class of 8 inch tablets that also use the BayTrail, so what is the reason to even keep around RT? I understand people did buy them and are quite happy with them, but they don't fit my needs personally. If given the choice between Windows RT, Android, and even iOS, I would have a hard time picking Windows RT unless I only needed office and maybe some games. The problem is that quite frankly, Android and iOS have now, and I think might always have more software for them. They are already established in the market and people who already have bought apps on either one will not want to switch.

But let's get down to the real reason yon are reading this, the hardware! The Surface Pro uses the Core i5 processor, versus the other models that I mentioned, like the Dell Venue 8 Pro, and the cheaper models of the Venue 11 Pro, which can be configured with an i3 or i5, but that is s different computer. The way I like to look at the Surface Pro is more of a computer than a tablet, or you can use the old term Tablet PC since it does comer with a stylus. The thing that should be mentioned here is this is an ACTIVE digitizer, which means the pen, which you can note I didn't call a stylus, is actually a Wacom tablet.

To those not sure what that is, the simple explanation is those drawing pads people buy for doing stuff like Photoshop and drawing things. This also means that the pen needs no battery, such as the one that I had for my HTC Flyer. This is similar to the one that Samsung Galaxy Note devices use if I am remembering right. This gives you the same things that a capacitive stylus, but gives you more options like a right click and eraser button.

It is quite a nice feature to have for sure, but the main problem with it is that there is nowhere to put it. Sure, you can put it onto the magnetic charge port, but that is hardly useful unless you are using it on battery. Even then, it is only good idea when using it on the stand, since it will fall off quite easy, which means that I end up leaving it on my desk more often than I take it with me.

I am going to end this here so I can start working on the review, since most of the things I want to say are hardware related and better left to the review anyway.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Surface Pro SSD Speed

Did a little speed test on the Surface Pro SSD today, which according to Speccy is made by Liteon.


Sunday, January 12, 2014

My bite of Raspberry Pi Part 2: VNC

The other day, I set up my Raspberry Pi Type B to enable VNC access via tightvncserver.

I wanted to try out the Wolfram Mathematica from my Windows 7 HP ML115. So, I installed TightVNC server on my HP ML115, and setup the tightvncserver on Raspberry Pi.

There is some lag of course when you drag the window, but other than that, it works perfectly on my LAN. Maybe I'll set it up so I can access my Raspberry Pi from the internet, but that's probably after I buy a case for my Raspberry Pi.



Day from Hell at Best Buy



I go to get my new tablet, a Surface Pro 128GB that is on sale, and I am feeling pretty good. First, the guy helps someone else though I was actually waiting there first, not a huge deal so I don't say anything. I am not really in a rush. So, he checks computer, says we have 4 in stock and goes to grab it for me.  I pay for it in cash, a total of $635.99, which will be a vital fact in a bit.

So, I stop at Home Depot for a few things, and head home. Pretty excited but didn't think to try it in the car to see if it worked. Well, take it home, put it on the charger and turn it on. Well, there's a dead pixel slightly off center in screen. Well, I figure after I just spent all this money, I want one that has a perfect screen. I go back to Best Buy, and wait in line for returns.

They do the return, pretty straight forward there. She goes and grabs a new one, scans it, and I am good to go after a few minutes of waiting. This time I open it in store and try it out. Well, looks like I see a crash screen on it, but there is no backlight on, so I think, maybe the battery is just dead. I go over to the Surface display models and plug the charger into it.

Of course, nothing happens. I try holding the power button, quick tap, all the normal trouble shooting steps. I am not an idiot when it comes to tech so I know the standard routine there. Go back to service desk, wait in line, and get a different guy.

Unlike the person before, he takes it out of the box and keeps playing with it. Trying all the stuff I just did. He takes out the charger and tries to plug it in, still don't work, nothing has changed. The unit was dead on arrival.

So now he finally says that it is bad. He calls for a replacement, and no one goes over to the case. Now, 3 people waiting and complaining, for 20 minutes, and yet this guy just sits there staring off into space. He calls again, still nothing, so this is when I have had enough, and call it quits.

I tell him to just give me my money back, I am done waiting for it. I told him I was going to go buy a new one, since it would be faster than waiting for someone to get me one. That was a hint, and he failed to take it. So, he spends like another 5 minutes on this. Still no money back, then he finally goes to get a manager. Well, turns out store policy is anything over 600 dollars, cannot be refunded in cash.

So, now I am left with the option of getting a check or a gift card, not once did he offer to get me the tablet I wanted. So, make a big stink, say the usual never shopping here again, lost a customer for life, etc. Well, this is just great. I have to wait a week to get my money back, by then I will probably be stuck with NOTHING at all.

So, I go over Lowes, calm down a bit, then go back in, and ask them if they can cancel the refund check and just please give me the tablet I came in for. Well, lucky for me, she says yes, and I get the tablet! For the first time, the manager tells the guy who was doing my refund before, to go get her keys. This is something that should have been done before I even left the store!

Well now that I have my tablet, I test it, and it checks out! Everything works as it should. Well almost everything. Now, the exchange is going through. Well this is great. It was saying that the refund amount wasn't enough to cover the new price. So, she refunds the second tablet to a gift card, scans it, and I buy the tablet again. Now I have a working tablet finally!

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

My bite of Raspberry Pi Part 1

My bite of Raspberry Pi Part 1

Today, what I've been long planning to do arrived. My first Raspberry Pi Model B came!

I will be doing a series of posts related to Raspbery Pi from now on, so keep tuned!



Mohawk Search Android app runs on Macbook Pro


Mohawk Search Android app runs on Macbook Pro using BlueStacks. I used the method described here to install the apk.