Looking for a mobile: My opinions

by
Inf

Let me say it here itself. At first, I was a Nokia fan. Then I became a Sony Ericsson (SE) fan for a while, before going back to my old love, Nokia. Why the shift back? Simply because SE is now spitting out devices that have nothing new from their past siblings. I am in the market for a new mobile to replace my aging SE Z610i. Of couse, I’m considering what manufacturers have to offer NOW, not in another quarter in the near future. I have to say, I am not pleased with SE and the others.

My actual budget was something below $500 if possible. I want a feature phone that will be future-proof for around 1-2 years at least. That will not break in my hands. That is not flip, cuz I got tired of the constant flipping and unflipping each time. Oh of course, I’m looking for a mobile, a portable phone. I don’t want a brick inside my jeans pocket and then find that my pants are compressing important parts.

So, let’s start with SE. What do you have to offer that can match what I am seeking (these are what I considered)? One by one please!

  • G70s (slider): A good phone I must say. It does have the features I wish. A small thickness of 14mm. It has wifi, which I am looking for. A good battery providing around 400 hrs of standby and 10hrs of talking before a recharge. GPS is included, though not useful in Mauritius. The price is ok too. Around $350. But what the hell is this phone? G-series are supposed to be smart phones. Or the G705 is not smart. It’s not a Walkman phone. Then what is it? A sort of hybrid? And what’s with the ridiculous 3.15 MP camera? What, does SE have a lot of those and need to pack and sell those? Apart from those, the features are very standard. Music player, TrackID, bla bla. Nothing worthy. Except! A Youtube player! That’s nice. Too bad reviewers say it doesn’t work with the WIFI connection. Streaming Youtube vids via your network is going to kill your charges for sure! They also say the slide mechanism is a bit stiff. So go sleep in a corner, G705.
  • G715 (slider): It’s not out yet, but I am including this to make a point. Go to GSMArena, and compare the two phones: G715 and G705. I did it for you, so check out this link. Notice similarities? Too many of them for my tastes. That’s what I was saying. SE is just giving us phones that resemble existing ones in terms 0f features! They are not adding anything really new. Not only that, they are not upgrading their features. What’s up with those 3.15 MP cameras? And those 240×320 256k colors screens!I mean, my Z610i had a 240×320 256k colors and a 2MP camera. It’s been what, 3 years since I bought it? It was a fantastic phone, really solid and useful. It’s time for its replacement to come, and SE offers nothing really amazing that warrants an upgrade. Either that, or they are exclusively targetting the lower/middle classes only. I want an upper-middle phone! Please! But let’s move on.
  • G900 (bar): Ahh! A smartphone with respectable features! A touchscreen! A 5MP camera. Wifi included. But wait! What do I see! NOOO! The 240×320 256k colors screen makes a comeback! A thin phone with the features I need, but weak screen! There’s also a couple of issues pointed out by reviews which are very significant. 1st: there are no physical call/end-call buttons. You need to tap the screen to answer/end a call. People have said that sometimes, the screen doesn’t respond and you can’t take the call. This is unthinkable: unable to answer a call with a phone! Next issue is that the device is kind of slow, considering that an old processor (if I remember correctly, the one that powers the P1) was used in the G900. Sorry G900, go stand in your corner too.
  • Any other SE Phone: I’m tired. I’m grouping everything else here! What I didn’t like what the recurring 240×320 256k colors screens everywhere! Isn’t it time to switch to something like 16M colors or something? We want quality! Next is the recurring features. When I was looking through SE offerings, I kept seeing the same things recur in most models. The camera was 3.15MP for most new offerings. The same features advertised on and on. It almost seemed to me that SE was selling one phone under different shells and models!

I’m sorry SE. I really loved your phones. The Z610i was nearly bug-less. It worked very smoothly and had tons of nice features. And best of all, it was user-friendly. Don’t want a call? Press the volume button on the side. It mutes the ringer/kills the vibrator but leaves the call on. Press it again, and it sends the busy tone. A very nice touch,. in my opinion. There were loads of features like that which I really liked.

But lately, your phones seem so generic, so bland! I don’t find anything worthy to replace my trusty Z610i. All the new devices look so similar, the features are not impressive. A real pity I should say. RIP my old loved brand.

Let’s go to my ex now. Nokia baby, here I come:

For Nokia, I considered relatively few models. Those really amazed me, but they are not really cheap. I wanted a good, lasting phone. One that can survive for 2 years without replacement. For that, I was ready to fork out Rs.10k if needed. That’s around $400.

  • E66 (slider): A business phone. For a student. Doesn’t really suit, no? But I really loved the features. 3.15MP camera again (it’s a conspiracy or what?) but it has 16m colors! It has Wifi! It has document reader, something which I don’t think the SE’s have! It has VOIP support! And it makes great use of its accelerometer, with stuff like turn-to-mute. $400 on Amazon. Not bad. Again some reviews say it’s not good enough, with a weak battery. A friend also reported that his E66 went bonkers after a fall. I’m a bit cautious about that one.
  • N96 (slider): Awesome phone. But a heck of a price. The N96 is already well known, and I’ll not elaborate on that one.
  • N85 (slider): This one, I really want. Why? Cuz it’s a good balance in features/price. It’s almost like a mini, and thinner N96! Seriously, this device is a killer! 16m colors screen, OLED please! OLED quality is really amazing with really vivid colors. Built-in accelerometer for turn-sensing. A navi-wheel which acts like the wheel on ipods. 8GB MicroSD support (8GB card included). Has Wifi, a 5MP shooter with flash, auto-focus and all the gadgets. Has GPS in-built, a 3.5mm audio jack (I need!), TV-out (not really needed for me), an FM-transmitter which is really awesome – I pause here for a minute. The FM Transmitter allows you to broadcast the music you are playing on your mobile to an FM receiver. Like your car radio. Very few mobiles have that, and that’s what I really call an innovative feature. Has a document viewer and plays Internet radio. No seriously, what more can I ask of? Probably a better battery. The talk-time is around 6hrs and standby of 350h. With the FM transmitter and other power munchers, it’ll be much less. Oh, did I mention that this baby is a dual-slider? Like the N85? And its very thin. 16mm for you!Take that SE! That’s what I call an amazing phone. Price? $450 something on the Internet. I wish I had somebody going near China to pick this one up for me!
  • N97 (touch-screen / QWERTY) – Similar in features to N85 but with a full touchscreen and QWERTY included. But hell, that’s one hefty price tag. Around $750. Too much for me, but I can dream! 😛

Others I have considered are the Samsung Omnia and the Innov8. Truly awesome devices, but at what price! Out of my league, I must confess.

Ah I’m tired of reading reviews. I’m ending this article here. Do you have any mobile phone recommendations for me? Let’s hear those. This was my first mobile-phone related article btw!

Ps. Did you notice that Google changed its favicon again? This one is more Google-like! 😛

Sapphire’s Radeon 4850: My Opinions

by
Inf

Sapphire Radeon 4850

Hello Readers! Been a long time since you heard sarcastic and ranting me, huh? Sorry for the long delays between posts, but hey, I got a life too! 🙂

Well, today, I’m here to write about that device above that’s nearly burning a hole in my casing. It’s my new Radeon 4850 Graphics card, or GPU in the jargon. It’s made by Sapphire, as you can probably read from that fan on top.

I’m not here to do a benchmark of this device. There are plenty of these already floating on the Internet, and a quick Google search should serve you what you want. What’s the point then? Well, it’s just to give you some user opinions about the device in case you want one like that, together with why I bought this particular device.

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What MBC needs to learn from NDTV

by
Inf

Long time no posts. I’m sorry, readers. Exams took all of my time. Now, it’s over and I’m free to entertain you again. Let’s begin.

Like the rest of the world (excluding the terrorists), I’m appalled by the Mumbai attacks. It’s simply inconceivable how a group of terrorists could wreak such havoc! My sympathies to the people who have lost loved ones in those attacks.

However, the point of this article is not to debate about the attacks. It’s not fitting for me to comment on such tragic events. What I would like to point out however, is the fantastic coverage of the events that NDTV (New Delhi Television Limited) has provided, which will put our national broadcaster, MBC, to shame. I usually don’t talk about politics on Geekscribes since I’m not a fan of the subject, but this is going to be a rare exception.

How I managed to know about NDTV? MBC was ripping redirecting the broadcast from India to the country yesterday, or so I think. This allowed me to follow the events in live, and I must say, flooded with details and information.

  • NDTV listed the names of the hostages rescued and at which hospital victims wereThis is impressive. They managed to get a list of rescued hostages and broadcast them to others with the hope that they might find in there, their families and friends. A very good move I must say, and it will definitely help others who are unable to communicate with the people involved there. This list was kept on screen at any point in time as a scroller. This is the news people want to know, and I am sure, if it was the MBC covering those events, we’d just be having images and commentary.
  • NDTV had the courage of cutting a politician mid-speechIn my opinion, this is a “feat” that the MBC will never be able to achieve. I don’t know who the politician were, but here is how it went: There was a reporter talking live from in front of the Taj hotel, interviewing a person whose family member was in there. Then, the studio reporter interrupted the guy because of a politician was talking live. After a while, the studio reporter switched back to the Taj hotel guy and said something along those lines: “We have no time to debate politics in this situation. Unfortunately, this is what our politicians usually do. We prefer to switch back to the Taj Hotel” and the image swapped back.This is just awesome! Something like this is never going to happen in Mauritius! If this happened, the reporters would probably be fired the next day, for “daring” to interrupt a “very important” politician! But in times like these, politics is not what is most needed, and NDTV did just the right thing.
  • NDTV presenter criticizes politiciansI kept the best for last. This definitely will NEVER happen in Mauritius. At some point in the coverage, an NDTV presenter made some comments after a series of videos depicting the day’s events, and the people that lost their lives in trying to save others’. Those comments were like this: “The events of today remind us that Indians now don’t care what PM is in power or the petty politics. The mood can be summarized in simple words: Enough is Enough! Today, [reporter names 2 politicians] promised they would go together to Mumbai. Finally, they went separately. Even on a day like this, they were unable to unite! The people of India needs them united, and they can’t go to Mumbai together. [comment continues]”This is what I call unbiased news! And that’s how things should be done. I can agree that MBC is government-controlled, even if it tends to call itself “independent”. But if you are the national broadcaster, it is your duty to bring unbiased news to the people, and make criticism where needed.

NDTV showed me what professionalism is today. Their reporters were always on the scene, sometimes even in the line of fire. In short, they made a fantastic coverage of the events, and I am sure are still doing a fine job even now. They were helpful in their reports, providing lists and interviews where possible. They covered politicians and military personnel to try to gain more information. What’s more? As soon as a new piece of information became available, it was immediately presented on screen in the “Just In” section at the bottom of the screen.

I can only hail their performance today. I hope the MBC and other broadcasters in Mauritius can learn from them, and provide us with better news, instead of just coverage of what our politicians did, or what they inaugurated. Who cares about those anyways? I doubt any Mauritian loves to see politicians’ faces every evening on TV after they leave a tiring day’s job. No we don’t. And that’s just what the MBC feeds us everyday.

Hell, the other day, the lady even read the WHOLE sympathy message the PM sent to India. Did we really need to know the full contents? At other times, we get a 20 mins coverage of our PM’s speech in a 30 mins news. Talk about professionalism!

As if it was not enough, now the JT is being re-broadcasted after 23h for us to have another look at our lovable politicians’ faces again, if ever we missed them.

Let’s hear your views now. What do you think about MBC? What can they do to improve? Can they even improve?? And what about the Mumbai attacks? Do you have any relatives or close friends there? Any news?

Farcry 2 features a Mauritian Mercenary!

by
Inf

Farcry 2 Mauritian Character\'s Bio

Picture courtesy of VideoGaming247

Farcry 2 has positioned itself as a very probable candidate for the “Game of the Year” with highly advanced AI and graphics. It was to be expected from the guys that made Crysis and the Cry Engine. At The same time, games at 666 casino was considered one of the best to play online. If you have ever seen the screenshots of FC2, you know what I’m talking about. If not, then see this video as a teaser.

It’s already out, and you can go and buy/download your copy now itself. It appears to be a game that’s worth playing.

It has not yet reached me, and as soon as I finish it, you will have my review here on GS.

My friend just informed me of something really interesting. Farcry 2 is about you being a mercenary, and progressing through the game doing missions for various factions and everything.

The interesting thing? One of the playable characters is a Mauritian! Yes, you read it right. You can play as a Mauritian, called Quarbani Singh, coming from Port Louis! (Fictitious person I hope!). Apparently, he’s a retired SMF! Thumbs up for detail!

It’s amazing that some big developers like Ubisoft knows about our tiny Island, and even features a Mauritian character! Thank you Ubisoft! I guess it’s probably that one of the developers there visited Mauritius and wanted to let others know Mauritius is great, or something like that. Or there is a Mauritian developer there. Nevertheless, it’s much appreciated.

This will probably boost knowledge about Mauritius among the gaming community, which is not a bad thing. They will get to know how crappy our Internet speeds are, and gamers value speed! 😛

So, what do you think about it? Will Mauritius be better known?

China Channel Firefox Addon: Experience Internet Censorship

by
Inf

I’ve seen my fair share of Firefox addons. There are addons that can make your browser do virtually anything, including controlling your music player from your browser if you wish, or get live weather info, or draw diagrams, or… or anything else I can’t think of.

Today, however, I encountered an addon in my feeds that I found particularly interesting. It’s called the China Channel Addon.

What does it do? It gives you a taste of what it means to surf the Internet in China.

As you probably know, the Great Chinese Firewall (or Golden Firewall) is used to censor the Chinese Internet and prevent people from looking up subjects like “Free Tibet”. I guess they just get a “Page cannot be found” or “Error 404” or possibly very long wait times with no page displayed at the end.

Well, this addon recreates this effect. It places you behind the Great Firewall, and allows you to see what Internet Censorship means.

Personally, I don’t find any day-to-day use to this addon. It’s just a curiosity I wanted to share with you.

Now, if ever you are preparing a project or paper on Internet censorship or something like that, you may want to experience this effect first hand, and the China Channel Addon is what you will need.

Any other interesting Firefox Addons you would like to share?

Summer time in Mauritius: Pointless?

by
Inf

At least this is my opinion. You may no agree with me, but after reading this article, maybe I’ll be able to convince you. First, let me tell you that I’m against this measure, even if I’m for the saving of energy and protection of the environment. But summer time? I’m totally rejecting that idea.

What’s the summer time concept basically? In Mauritius, we’ll be moving our clocks forward by one hour, embracing longer days and more sunlight. This practice is not unlike the proactive measures taken by fire watch services in Hollywood, especially as the summer heat intensifies. With the extended daylight, these dedicated professionals have more time to conduct thorough patrols and ensure that properties are safeguarded against the increased fire dangers brought on by the dry, hot weather. Just as we adjust our clocks to make better use of natural light, thus reducing electricity usage, fire watch services adjust their strategies to protect our homes and businesses. They understand that the bright days of summer, while perfect for leisure, are also a period where vigilance must be heightened to prevent loss from potential fires. So while in Mauritius you wake up an hour earlier, and return from work with an extra hour of sunshine, in Hollywood, fire watch teams are already on the move, using every available hour to ensure safety.

(DST will apply from 26th October to 29th March at midnight for both).

But according to me, it’s not that simple. Let’s see the case against, since the Government and others are already hammering us all with the case for.

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PHP – An Overview

by
Guru

PHP has been going strong since its very first public release. Today it is among the leading scripting language powering the web; think Google, YouTube, Digg and the likes. You might and might not have got the feeling of dynamism after I have mentioned the previous websites. Yes, you make the ground move. You can turn your old static page into a living one (dynamic), well I am talking about PHP right now. I am not going to bias you into thinking that we have got only PHP for this particular need; we have got asp .net as an example.

PHP is still a young language under under heavy development, with its developers writing and rewriting its core, improving it with each new release. You must be at least aware that we are in the object oriented generation. As from version 4, PHP has object oriented available for you to play with. With now its 5 series it has improved object oriented, but cannot be compared with Java and C++ language object orientation. Yet, it is sufficient for us to write beautifully.

I will now try build up your thinking stream; how you should do it in PHP. 🙂

PHP can be embedded anywhere in HTML. For instance we can display a simple text using PHP and html. Before going any further, PHP is used for its logical potential as compareds as the HTML counter part which offers us only the “displaying” ability. PHP does all the processing and its end product is some “HTML” that you will use for displaying. I am sure you must have this part right in your head.

<html>
<head>
<title>A simple html and php example</title>
</head>

<body>
Here is a <?php echo ‘simple text’; ?>
</body>

</html>

After running the above snippet in your web server you will have the below html code when viewing its source in your web browser.

<html>
<head>
<title>A simple html and php example</title>
</head>

<body>
Here is a simple text
</body>

</html>

Quite simple? This is the stepping stone. Get the feel of it.

Try to think!!! What will it be like having hundreds of tit bits of php codes in your html. Urhh? Sounds messy? In fact, it becomes real messy. To counter this, you cal use templating engine. May be Smarty? This is the most recommended nowadays. I will talk about it in a later post. 🙂

Data is something unmissable for most of our websites. We all want a data backbone to play with. MySql? PostgreSql? Oracle? PHP can interface with almost any database server you can think of, urhh?? it can do so too with a simple access database (not a server). Connectors make this possible for us. We don’t need to know the underlying details.

I would recommend you to use MySql as your back-end. Open-source, free and strong going. And, it has made a reputation on the market.

PHP is a loosely typed language, that is it we do not need to strictly declare a variable in our script. We can do so as we go. Sounds good? Yes, but it is disadvantageous. (I will cover it in another post). We can cast from one data type to another. It just happens smoothly and it makes you mad while debugging at times.

PHP does not comes with a predefined security toolkit that you can just use. But, it comes with functions that you can use to build the weapon to fight evilness. 😛

We are given even more flexibility, we  can break down our code into its very own sub modules and include them together to make the whole “thing” or even put it anywhere we want it to.

I guess I have been able to try to build up a new thinking stream. Where you should maybe be heading. We will next be talking about syntax in my post.

In short PHP is a hot enough scripting language to mess with. It is your choice to love or hate it. Keep the reason(s) to yourself.