IDLE BLOGGER » Gadgets

Things that happened since I last blogged

Jagadish — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:22:28 +0000

As always, there are too many things to write and too less time. I really enjoy teaching a lot and I love it when I teach these kids new things and they are just amazed like I did some magic trick. The thing I hate about teaching is that it takes up a lot of time. It really does not allow me to do other things. I spend a lot of time making homework problems, solutions for them and grading. The grading part of teaching is probably the most aggravating aspect. You see the kind of blunders they make in homeworks after going through all the trouble of explaining things, it really pisses me off.

Anyway, a lot of things happened since I last blogged. A few things I really hated and a very few things I enjoyed. Just thought I’d make a list in no particular order.

Nadal lost
Federer won French Open. I kinda expected this would happen though
Deccan chargers have won the IPL. Chennai kings lost in semis.
My girlfriend bought me a macbook. I don’t know if I should cheer about this or not. I am a windows guy, not a great fan of Mac. But I will have to try to use it and see I guess.
Apple released a new iPhone which I really wanted to get. I even planned to get out of my contract with Sprint but really not a wise move considering AT&T has really bad network. Coming from a Sprint customer that is a huge insult.
Palm pre, the most loved phone since the original iPhone has finally been realeased, it is another phone I still want but I might not get it because I just don’t want to spend all that money and change my existing $30 SERO plan.
E3 has come and gone and soo much to cheer about .
Microsoft – great show, highly impressed with Project Natal but I doubt it would work as well as they showed it would. It is not going to be an easy task pulling it off. And honestly, Peter Molyneux should shut the fuck up. He has a big mouth and I doubt if Milo would work as well he touted he would. Artificial intelligence is a still thing of science fiction and we are far from it. This is coming from a guy who does programming for a living, you better believe it .
Nintendo – probably the most boring show of all three. I am a rabid Nintendo fanboy and even I couldn’t help but yawn a few times but the announcement of Metroid: Other M has completely offset everything. Also I heard that there is a new Zelda in the making, there was a trailor for Super Mario Galaxy 2 and finally Little Big Planet Mario style. All exciting things but Nintendo is still missing that one puzzle piece, Wii-HD. Get it done, Nintendo. Give us HD.
Sony – Sony came up with the regular stuff. They had a brilliant show and very entertaining as well. God of War 3 was amazing, the Last Guardian trailer was awesome as well. Have to say, their motion controller seemed very interesting too. But they only showed a bunch of tech demos and no games yet. This kinda proves that MS and Sony have finally adopted the Nintendo philosophy and they jumped on the bandwagon a little too late. It might still take them a year or two to pull it off but HD is one thing Nintendo is far behind, so unless Nintendo comes up with Wii-HD, MS and Sony will be moving ahead this generation.
India lost the T20 World cup. They didn’t even qualify for the semis. They have been winning a lot lately, so this was expected to happen one day. I had no interest to start with anyway.
Lakers WON!! Enough said!

I guess that covers everything. Maybe I will blog often now that I have gotten that off my chest

Pros and cons of a touch-screen Mac tablet | The Digital Home – CNET News

Jagadish — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:00:47 +0000

Can Apple succeed where Microsoft failed?

Since the advent of the new Millennium (2001 not 2000), Bill Gates has been touting that tablet PCs are the future of computing. Almost 10 years and his retirement later, we still don’t seem them very popular. These devices which have no physical keyboard and all the inputs are based on touch screen, were supposed to replace the laptops. Microsoft failed miserably mostly because the touch screen technology in those days was naive and dysfunctional, handwriting recognition was pitiful. Microsoft probably pushed the technology a little too early. In 2001, desktop PCs were the norm but now, laptops rule the roost. Even Netbooks which are tiny are selling like hot cakes. Touch screen technology is definitely much better now with the multi-touch and what not! I am still curious to see how apple will attach a keyboard to this thing. I mean there are already lot of complaints about the iPhone’s virtual keyboard, something like that will never work on a Tablet. CNET does a quick round up of all the pros and cons of a Tablet Mac.

It is surprising that there is so much attention being paid to speculation and rumors. But, this is supposed to be a “confirmed” rumor. So I guess this is all okay. I am not sure if this will succeed, but I have been wrong before

Pros and cons of a touch-screen Mac tablet | The Digital Home – CNET News.

From Voodoo to GeForce: The Awesome History of 3D Graphics | Maximum PC

Jagadish — Thu, 21 May 2009 04:17:10 +0000

I have always been a huge PC gamer all my life even though my humble beginnings as a gamer began on an NES. Even though, I played a huge number of games on PC and have been very well informed about graphics cards, I never really had a graphics card on my computer, sadly. I always had a desktop with integrated graphics card and a laptop which could not be upgraded with a new graphics card. But my computer was always well equipped to play these games at “optimal” level. Probably, this is the reason I could not get into the latest games because of the lack of the latest graphics card. Either way, I am not rich enough to keep up with the pace of upgrading my graphics card. They become obsolete every 6 months. So it is hardly worth the investment to play just a couple of games. I can see why the console games have become popular of late.

Anyway, all that whining apart, I have read this cool article about the history of graphics card and I thought I would share. Click the link below to read more.

From Voodoo to GeForce: The Awesome History of 3D Graphics | Maximum PC.

Motorola S9

Jagadish — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:55:06 +0000

I have been looking for a decent Bluetooth stereo headset for awhile now. A few things that always swayed me away from making a purchase was the bulkiness of the headset and most importantly, the price. Most of the stereo headsets available in the market were in the “$80 and above” price range. I was not ready to shell out that kind of money because I was more than happy to have a wire hanging from my ears to torso. I was never a proponent of Bluetooth technology because the bandwidth offered was not a lot. But Bluetooth 2.0 has made significant advances in the right direction with 3 times faster data transfer, lower power consumption and more.

When I saw Motorola S9 stereo headset for $40 on buy.com, I knew it would be a good purchase. The price was affordable and they looked nice and sleek. I showed the picture to one of my friends and his first thought was that they look uncomfortable. They were anything but uncomfortable. They were not a snug fit as they were kinda hanging behind my neck but there was no pain wearing them for long periods of time. The pairing was a breeze with my smart phone (Sprint’s HTC Touch) as well my laptop using a Targus Bluetooth adapter.

The call quality was also very good both inside the apartment as well as outside. I noticed that people found it hard to hear me when I was outside and I had to speak up a little. The call quality deteriorated considerably during windy conditions but that was expected anyway.

The range was also very good inside the house. I usually leave my phone on the table in my living room and moved around the house without losing the connection to my cellphone. It was a different issue outside the house though. Sometimes, I had to hold the phone in my hand instead of putting it in my pants pocket as the music would start breaking. This only happened during the early days and I haven’t really noticed this happening recently. Maybe its not a real issue, we will see.

The touch sensitive buttons on the side are also really neat. I have heard people complaining in their reviews that sweat activates them during a workout. I haven’t had that trouble really. I was not using my stereo headset at the gym, so I can’t comment on that. They respond very well and I have no complaints.

Overall, I think Motorola S9 is a great purchase for $40. I am sure the prices will reduce further as Motorola is introducing Motorola S9 HD into the market. If you are someone who loves to take your music on the go, this is for you. It has great sound quality, long battery life, comfortable fit and great looks. Buy it. I assure you, you will not regret it.

I-Movix SprintCam v3.

Jagadish — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:01:50 +0000

This is just amazing video. Watch it to the end, the way jelly jumps and floats in the air is just brilliant.

Source: David Coiffier

No related posts.