Tag Archives: iPad

While I’m waiting for Summer 2012 Anime… (We’re recruiting!)

  By Halfey Halphstein | June 30, 2012 - 10:22 pm | , , , , , , , , ,
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Picture probably unrelated but it's Christina so there should be no problem.


Picture probably unrelated but it’s Christina so there should be no problem.

Many things happened since last week. First Microsoft announced their first “in-house-made PCs” or more specifically tablets named “Microsoft Surface Pro” and “Microsoft Surface RT”. They look beautiful to me and the most important thing is they don’t look too similar to iPad. The tablets invited mixed reactions where some (including me) appreciated it while some others hate it for various reasons. For me not knowing the price, the battery life and the launch date is not a reason to hate it as I can always wait and see. Besides just announcing doesn’t hurt my pocket and my planned purchase.

In the last few days Google on the other hand announced their take on tablet business by launching the ASUS-made “Nexus 7″ which immediately made available for purchase after the Google I/O event. For me Nexus 7 is more like a competitor to the existing 7″ Android tablets like Amazon Kindle and B&N Nook rather than iPad. Alongside that they also announced another Nexus-branded product which is the “Nexus Q” streaming media player, together with the recommended premium-priced Triad bookshelf speaker. I’m not interested in that player but if I got the money I’d get the speaker for sure.

With both Microsoft and Google already have their own tablet hardware let’s not forget about another company that is new to this tablet business. Vizio, one of the major household names in the US when it comes to LCD TVs are making their own PCs that look as beautiful as Macs if not prettier. For the first time I feel Macs now have a serious competitor that even longtimers in the PC business failed to achieve that reputation. They are also making tablets but so far the focus is more on their laptop and desktop offerings. Now I wonder if they would make their way to this part of the world.

And the tech thing that happened to myself this week is I was offered a broadband speed upgrade by my ISP (TMnut) to 4Mbps. I accepted the offer but not after I trolled them good for about 10 minutes, citing their various failures like the capping in their UniFi packages. They told me so far none of their existing customers have exceeded the allocated download volume limit ever since the introduction. I told them that’s bullcrap because if the ‘higher’ product (UniFi) comes with a limit that it’s ‘lower’ counterpart (Snailmyx) doesn’t have then it means the product isn’t worth getting for.
Oh do you remember sometime last year and earlier this year where I wrote about customizing my own smartphone and tablet? Well now I have another new interest to add to the list, which is to play with the reduced-sized ARM-powered computers, now that ‘toys’ like Raspberry Pi, FXI Cotton Candy and Pandaboard are getting closer to my hand. I hope more of these ARM ‘PC’ being made so that Microsoft would reconsider their decision of not selling Windows RT (ARM version of Windows 8) as a standalone purchase, unless they don’t mind Android dominating that market too.

About anime, yeah most of Spring 2012 titles have ended this week and we’ll be watching Summer 2012 anime starting next week. This spring I enjoyed titles like Tasogare Otome x Amnesia, Sankarea, Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, Acchi Kocchi and a few others, including titles carried from winter (Aquarion EVOL). Titles like Shining Hearts and NazoKano will end this week too (the finale for those series is not available yet by the time of writing). Other than that, Mouretsu Pirates, another title carried from winter will have its finale aired by tonight and I’m going to see Chiaki-chan again (^_^)

Speaking of ‘pirates’….. for now I’m happy with me being able to watch anime almost as the same time as it was airing in Japan. Earlier this week Apple has launched iTunes music store in my country after so many years waiting. The only problem is I can’t purchase anisongs from it without registering to the Japanese iTunes music store. Of course I could always register by using the iTunes prepaid card and use a random Japanese address but it shouldn’t have been that tedious! Record labels nag about piracy but then they never make it easy to get although I’m willing to pay! Bullcrap!

By the way do you have a blog? If you do then I would like to have a link-exchange with you. If you don’t have any then I’m inviting you to become a co-blogger at my blog. Currently I have only one co-blogger and I’d like to expand that number. I don’t set any particular requirement to become my co-blogger; as long as you’re interested and passionate about it then it’s enough. You may also give it a try by becoming a guess writer first so if you’re thinking of joining my team then reply to this post and I’ll guide you to the next step. Note: you may write about things other than anime/manga/games.

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[Not anime] The surface of the surface (This month in tech)

  By Halfey Halphstein | June 27, 2012 - 11:01 pm | , , , ,
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surface_05


If I were to list down the hottest tech trend in June I’d spontaneously say “Microsoft Surface and Vizio PC”. Yes, both companies that are known for something else has just ventured into a business a bit different from what they used to do before. Microsoft known with their software (mainly Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office) ‘upgraded’ their hardware business by making their own computers while Vizio, know for their LCd TVs are making computers as well.

Microsoft is no stranger when it comes to making their own hardware but all these times it was about making computer peripherals and not a full-fledged PC itself. I have nothing against it because, say what you want but the Surface is beautiful to my eyes, it didn’t fool me into thinking of it as an iPad, and more importantly I’m ready for the Metro UI no matter how suck you think it is. I even used Metro UI on Android phone thanks to some launcher apps for bringing it to Android users.

According to Microsoft, they’re aren’t really happy with some of their partners (OEM PC makers) included crapware in their products which resulting in “bad Windows experience” to the end users. I’m not sure whether this was true or sincere but I could think that Microsoft has always had to allow it or otherwise Windows won’t sell. The truth is Windows sales come mostly from OEM so it’s understandable if Microsoft always tried to keep a good relationship with OEMS all these times.

Now that they are making their own computers Microsoft can have full control in delivering the “Windows experience” to the users as what they intended it to be. With that said they would be facing Apple as another company that is senior in tight OS-hardware integration, something that Apple has done extremely well. Now if only Microsoft could give it a right price and at the same time not locking out DIY-ers I’m pretty sure these Surface tablets would take the world by storm.

So how about Vizio? I must say for the first time in my life that I feel a non-Apple PC maker sporting a PC design comparable to the beauty of Macs, if not better (I personally think they’re WAY better than the half-assed efforts shown by Dell Adamo and the likes back then). Too bad by the time of writing the page for computer in Vizio’s website was down (and I don’t want to use images found outside of their website) so there’s no sample image to be found here.

Before I end this I’d like to announce that Google+, the social network I primarily use now will be having its first anniversary which is just around the corner. I can’t remember the exact date (despite being one of the first few earlier adopters), and despite how awesome it is if compared to Facebook, I must admit that it is still a ****ed-up social network in many aspects. It’s not a failure but if they keep up with their stupid censorship policy then I wouldn’t mind if they’re doomed to fail either.

Dear Google, make this your doodle on G+’s anniversary. Thank you.

By the way sorry for 2 weeks straight without Hyouka review. I’ve explained why I didn’t write one last week but for this week’s episode, despite it was a good watch I found that there wasn’t any scene worth taking snapshots (I’ve always maintained that I need awesome snapshots to help in my reviews). I’m no fan of that smaller-eyed senpai and I’m not a fan of Chitandawg either so I had to give it a pass but I promise I’ll write a review again provided that the next episode has awesome scenes.

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[Interpost] The new iFad

  By Halfey Halphstein | March 10, 2012 - 7:13 pm | , , , ,
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Apple on Wednesday have revealed ‘half’ of the stories about what they call “the new iPad” (instead of “iPad 3″). However what’s so great about “the new iPad” anyway? Without expandable storage the tablet ain’t going to be a post-Mac (sorry, not post-PC) device. Sure we have cloud storage now but computing isn’t supposed to be an online experience alone. I believe we have to be able to get access to our files regardless an internet connection is present or not. After all we’re still far away from  a super reliable and free internet. Not to mention with all those efforts to censor our not-so-free internet that we still need to rely on.

With the last 2 generations of iPads I always thought “there are still room for improvements” yet the only thing I see improved are stuff that I don’t need. Apple still hate ports, slots and buttons.

“The new iPad” is not all bad. However I’ve never liked Apple’s closed ecosystem to begin with. Although there’s a thin possibility I’d need to jailbreak the iGadget, chances are there are even a lot more things I found too restrictive. For example I don’t see any reason in not allowing drag&drop file transfer and force users to use the iTunes.

I remember having earlier generations of mp3 Walkman where although drag&drop was possible for music files, those files weren’t playable unless you were using the SonicStage software to transfer them. In the end SONY stopped using that following user complaints and chose the conventional-but-works drag&drop. Now I can’t understand why Apple would like to force iGadget owners to use it as if they haven’t had enough control on the ecosystem. I found that there’s no excuse for not to allow drag&drop file transfer because it’s not that it’s not technically impossible. It’s also the most widely adopted method of transferring files to mobile devices so this just makes Apple look like some arrogant companies.

Now do you think you should or should not get it? I’ve set a few guides here and decide by yourself.

Reasons why you should get it:

  • You have ridiculous amount of money to spend and nothing to regret about it later.
  • You naturally love Apple and not realizing you’re being used all the time.
  • You’re happy to be in a jail-less jail.
  • You’re bored of your ‘old’ iPad 2 already, or rather the arrival of “the new iPad” made you think that you no longer need your ‘old’ iPad 2.
  • You’re clearly an Apple loyalist no matter how Apple ignore you.

Reasons why you should avoid it:

  • You know Apple is being dick all this time.
  • Apple hates you and your money.
  • You think Android tablet is still a better option despite having lower display resolution (who needs retina display anyway?).
  • Apple were deceptive in telling people that “the new iPad” is a quad-core device although the truth is only the graphics chip is quad-core (at least Android tablets are more honest about their offerings).
  • You believe that just because it’s Apple doesn’t mean it’s good.
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[Interpost] Add another 5 inches to your current size!

  By Halfey Halphstein | February 28, 2012 - 10:36 pm | , ,
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Sorry, I’m not talking about penis enlargement pills, but how is the title above relevant to what I’m going to write? Because we call pills ‘tablets’ and yes, I’m going to write some more about tablets like I did sometime ago.

Initially there was only a 10″ iPad (not really 10″ but 9.7″ is close enough). Believe it or not the first serious contender against the iPad were 7-inchers. Samsung Galaxy Tab was among the first ones. I could even say 7-inch tablets are the most abundant tablet species on earth right now.

Now we have 5-inchers too. No thanks to HTC popularizing their 4.5″ and 4.7″ devices, as well as the popularity of Samsung Galaxy S II, it has gave birth to the new 5-inch breed. Let’s call this new kid as “phablet”, a hybrid of both phone and tablet. I’ve written about Samsung Galaxy Note with its huge 5.3″ display and how I hate it (the extra .3″ is the reason). I’ve written about Lenovo LePhone too and how I wished it had the radio. Now 2 other members of this 5 incher family are about to be born. You may reserve your welcome greetings to LG Optimus Vu and Viewsonic Viewphone 5e (ironically ‘Vu’ is pronounced like ‘View’ as in Viewsonic).

What makes these 2 phones quite stand out from Galaxy Note and LePhone is both of them sport quite unusual features. Optimus Vu, despite its 5″ screen has this 4:3 aspect ratio, while Viewphone 5e sports dual-SIM solution. At the time of writing there’s no complete specifications available for both phones. Let’s cross our fingers as they’ll come out anytime soon before summer (as promised).

LG Optimus Vu

I think Optimus Vu is perhaps the closest to what I need right now, but like the rest of 5-inchers out there, FM tuner is missing too. While the 4:3 aspect ration is not everybody’s cup of tea, with resolution of 1024×768 like the iPad but with half of iPad’s display size, I can’t ask for more. I mean I don’t mind getting a phone with such ‘unusual’ aspect ratio screen when the resolution can match my 12 years old 15″ CRT monitor.

Viewsonic Viewphone 5e

About Viewphone 5e, I have mixed-feelings about it. If it was in 2010 a dual-SIM solution might appear very appealing to me as I was using separate call plan and 3G plan at that time. Now that I no longer use 3G it would be very little point in getting one. I used to have 2 call plans too but maintaining 2 numbers is hard for me especially when I’m not the type who make call that much. About 3G, it’s not like I terminated the plan because I wanted too, but more like I was forced too due to extremely sucky 3G service here. Extremely suck that even landline, with the expense of mobility feels way better.

I think it’s just about time for HTC to release their own 5″ phablets too. Not to mention notable Chinese players like ZTE and Huawei might have something up their sleeves too. Now can I have a radio for these phablets please?

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[Interpost] Why it’s not a problem if Android tablets would never beat iPad sales

  By Halfey Halphstein | January 11, 2012 - 8:02 pm | , ,
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(Written in response to “Why Android tablets failed: A postmortem“)

English: Zinglife 10" Android Tablet

What is an iPad if you ask me? I’d answer it’s a device that is like an iPod Touch but bigger, and it can do everything that iPod Touch can do and nothing else. I could also say the same thing for Android tablets. Can you see the problem there? My statement itself is not the problem, it’s the truth. It’s a true problem and not just exaggerated.

I was close to get a tablet December last year (it was either Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet) but I managed to convince myself that it’s not the device I’d need, at least for now. If the only advantage that I could get from a tablet is having 2, 3 times larger display than my phone’s screen then there’s not much stuff worth paying money for. After all (apart from making/receiving calls and texting) I only do browsing/social networking on my phone and nothing else. If the need for the 7″ or 10″ display is enough to justify the purchase then I must say it’s an immature decision.

Having the 7″ or 10″ only allows more stuff in an app to be displayed at a time, as opposed to the need to swipe between screens on a phone to change panels. With a display of that size, it eliminates the need to swipe between screens by displaying all panels side by side. For example, if you’re using a twitter client on a phone you’d need to swipe left or right to switch between timeline panel and mentions/lists panel but on a tablet all of them are displayed next to each other. For me not having such feature is not a big deal, again, not for now.

As and Androidian myself, I think most of us Androidians are comfortable with having the phone only, unlike those Apple fanboys who tend to have deep pockets and more money at their expenses. Yes, for those Apple fanboys who have iPhone/iPad, there’s a big chance that they already have at least a  Macbook/iMac. Because they usually have more money, they’d usually failed to justify the ‘want’s and the ‘needs’ and easily deceived into thinking that having the iPad is necessary. In other words, they already have the love (“pre-love” a.k.a. fanboyism) to justify the ‘needs’ for such tablet as ‘valid’.

iPad maybe good but not good enough. Other than just being an oversized iPhone, it doesn’t carry more features as compared to iPhone (and it also shares the same restrictions as the iPhone). As a “religion” that preaches to people that tablet is something that everybody who doesn’t need a PC should have, Apple is a “religion” that only people with extra money could afford to embrace.

Apple committed one big mistake. Not everybody needs a PC, and not everybody needs a tablet either. If it was a future of tablet computing most people would have afforded one, and Android tablets sales would have rocketed but that didn’t happen because the ‘need’ for a tablet is simply a lie, a successful lie told by Apple.

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[Interpost] Forgetting Steve Jobs

  By Halfey Halphstein | October 7, 2011 - 3:27 pm | , , , ,
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IN MEMORIAM

Steve Jobs is dead. Everybody knows that (should be by now). While most websites since the last 2 days went for “Remembering Steve Jobs” I chose to use the opposite. No, it has nothing to do with demeaning/belittling or not respecting the dead. Apologies if the above title and picture offend you.

I have stopped hating the man after I survived life-threatening condition August this year. After escaped death I started to become more tolerant towards 2 things I hate the most before, moe anime and Apple, but that doesn’t mean I’ve completely stopped hating.

In the past I only have hatred towards the man but after the accident I began to have some respect too. You could say I revere the man too though not as much as normal (non-hater) does. Anyways I’m not writing this in tribute to the man but to grab everybody’s attention back to the one thing that originally deserves it, Apple itself.

The demise of Steve Jobs is pretty much expected to me with news and statements of his deteriorating health. His ‘reign’ was pretty much over at Apple since last year but Apple had still managed to be ‘arrogantly’ successful without his regular presence. And by ‘arrogant’ I mean I still hate the company’s “arrogance” of manipulating people’s thought into thinking of them being special and owning an iProduct is cool as if it’s a status symbol.

Sure having an iDevice is not a bad thing per se but it’s the brand that makes it unique and great although it is by no means inferior to the competing products in terms of hardware power/price. Just now I came across an article about the reason people hate Apple. I’m not saying that it’s badly written in terms of language but it fails to explain why are there Apple haters in the first place as well as why is hating Apple is right or wrong. It’s not biased but it looks like it’s written solely from Apple’s POV instead of a pure neutral ground, and it’s written in such a way to make Apple appears as if it’s a victim and IS innocent.

For me there’s always a VALID reason to hate Apple. It doesn’t necessarily moral or ethics related but more of something genuine. I know Apple vs. everybody else is an ongoing war that’s never won by anybody so it’s wrong to say that it’s “so decades ago”. Apple’s advocate (READ: FANS) has always argued that the haters are jealous, citing that “haters are trying to get in the way” (I wonder whose way? Steve Jobs’ way?). Instead of really looking the reason behind the hatred they resorted to ‘forgive’ and giving excuses on behalf of Apple for defects/inferiority, which is something they wouldn’t have done if it was some other rivaling companies.

They forgot the best way to shut the haters’ mouth is not always to do things as demanded by the haters but in the case of to gain more buyers and the possibility to ‘convert’ those haters into potential customers it IS the only way.

So what can Apple do to turn hate into love? Actually it’s easy, and the only thing that would get in the way is, again, Apple’s own arrogance. Here are my top 2 suggestions for Apple to get more love and reduce the hate:

1. Reduce price
Apple’s products have always overpriced and that is the reason Macs didn’t really take off but only popular among existing fans. It’s a good thing that Steve Jobs realized that with Macs they wouldn’t be able to go anywhere thus he decided to sell something that is not Mac but can do things that a Mac can, albeit underpowered than a Mac and priced lower too. That thing is known as iPad today. Yes, Steve Jobs stopped relying on PC sells and started to fool everybody that the PC era is over and now it’s time for the so-called “post PC era”. I mean he wanted to kill Macs, something that he started but he didn’t want to do it immediately. Instead he chose to poison it slowly by diverting people’s attention to iPods and iPads so they would eventually forget about Mac. The most important thing is those iProducts are being sold at a fraction of the price of a Mac so if people wanted to get an Apple product but can’t afford a Mac they could always get the iDevices. However selling cheaper iProducts alone wouldn’t automagically turn hate into love. Apple would still need to market those products at a more competitive price.

2. Stop being an asshole
Yes. If there’s a company that can be called asshole, it would be Apple, and both started with the letter A. I’m not saying that Apple should turn itself into a philanthropy company that do charities all over the world but they should make clear judgment onto things that justifies the price of their products. For example the iPod. For its price they could pack more features into it to make it more value for our money but they keep sticking to their design arrogance, ignoring what users want and openly tell them “No, this is what you want and you don’t need anything more than this” and start making people believing that anything that’s not Apple is shit. I admit that iDevices look pretty but what’s the point of having pretty gadgets if they’re useless? The only thing that makes iOS devices great is because we can install apps inside, of which without those apps, things like the iPod touch would do no better than the classic iPods.

I’m sorry if this post sounds like a pissed off, raging statement but I can tell you in the past I’d have done worse. I could keep going forever on this but I chose to spare you because some of you are my friends and Steve Jobs himself would have been my friend too if I ever met him.

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Steve Jobs: From Apple To Nokia

  By Halfey Halphstein | September 1, 2011 - 4:36 pm | ,
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Steve Jobs showing off his vision of Nokia's future.

Cupertino, Thursday: After coming up with the unexpected resignation from Apple’s CEO position last week, Steve Jobs has made another shocking remark by announcing that he is moving over to Nokia.

“I’ve been a fan of Nokia phones for an awfully long time. Don’t tell me that you thought I was using the iPhone since I returned to Apple. Excuse me, the iPhone only launched in 2007. What do you think I was using before that? Nokias of course!” explained Steve passionately when we met him outside of a public toilet when he was about to take a leak.

After the recent resignation Steve said that he’d remain as an employee and the chairman of the board. However the decision to leave Apple only been made following the report of iPhone 5 prototype being stolen from one Apple engineer in a bar.

“I am disappointed with the loss of the prototype. I mean how stupid people can be? Looks like those lab guys never learned a lesson from the similar incident with the iPhone 4 prototype. I don’t remember allowing any of them taking iDevice prototypes out of the lab. Even a kindergarten kid knows that a bar is the worst place to take a prototype. Anyone can take advantage of you being drunk. Well now that I’m going over to Nokia I’ll leave the matter to my successor to deal with.”

Asked about his comment for leaving what he had started (the iPhone project) he said the iPhone was an “accidental success” and never really intended to become a dominant smartphone platform.

“The only reason I came up with the iPhone was to alert Nokia that they’re doing it wrong. I was hoping that they would get my message but I was wrong.” he added.

Then Steve expressed that Nokia’s failure to get the message forced him to make such decision because he can’t stand it any longer.

“Up to iPhone 4 and they still didn’t get it. Even with iPhone 5 is just around the corner, the best thing they could do to match it was to roll out the ill-fated Symbian Belle! Not to mention that we still don’t see any WP7 coming from the Finnish phone maker anytime soon! I decided that I should not wait any longer and must convey the message to them directly!” expressed the determined Jobs.

Asked about whether he would replace Stephen Elop as Nokia’s future CEO, Steve Jobs refused to elaborate the details but hinted that he does not hesitate to do things “his way” (what people would call as “Steve Jobs’ way”).

“I’ll walk-in into the Finnish company as an employee. It’s up to the management whether they would make me into the board or remain as low-paid worker. Anyways I have unlimited visions for Nokia like how they could become the next most valuable computer maker. I mean they made the Booklet 3G. Of course it was nothing compared to the iPad but an experience is still an experience and that’s all I need.”

“We could rewrite the Symbian OS and might even licensing it for iPhones!” he added before rushing off into the toilet.

(Disclaimer: The “news” above is just a joke so don’t believe any part of it except for the Steve Jobs’ resignation from Apple’s CEO.)

Does hating iPhone iPad iPod automatically makes me…

  By Halfey Halphstein | April 21, 2011 - 3:11 pm |
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Does hating iPhone/iPad/iPod automatically makes me an Android fan? No, that kind of logic is FAIL. In fact I’d still hate iXXX even if Android wasn’t there. The truth is I have issues with Android too like it’s not fit to carry the Linux label and incapable of running Linux apps (despite the much bragged point of being based on Linux, open source, etc), as well as some other stuff. However I have greater issues with iXXX. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just Apple but also all other elite brands that claim to be the best, keep talking big and refused to admit/recognize/acknowledge it when ‘cheaper’ brands surpassed them (in a better way) in many terms.

So what would I do if there was no Android? Of course I’d root for Symbian. No, I won’t go for WinMobile (or WP7 for that matter) as I have similar issues with WinMobile as I do with iXXX. If there was no Android and people don’t like iXXX of course Symbian would be the king as those people would go for it, boosting its development and sales, unlike the current situation.

So if I care so much about Symbian then why do I hypocritically root for Android today? No, it’s not about being hypocrite, it’s about which one has a brighter future. I’m a practical person. I know iXXX has a bright future too but for it to force its users into a closed ecosystem is not something that I can live with. At least BlackBerry doesn’t have similar ecosystem, which is why I’m more compatible with BB than iXXX.

BTW I might have liked iPhone if it was a classic-iPodish looking phone rather than the touchscreen one. I understand Apple want to make it more than just a phone, hence the smartphone moniker but I think it was overkill on that time. I hope the rumor about Apple making a budget iPhone is true, and I hope it will have physical keypad just like a normal phone. After all I have a hard time to call a phone without keypad as a phone, even if it’s Android/Symbian.

The good thing about iPhone is it has only 2,3 form factor that 3rd party manufacturers have no problem in designing complementary devices/accessories for it. Well, it can be a good or bad thing, just like how the availability of different models/specs of Android phone becomes a good thing for different target groups. Anyways, I think for Linux (the real one, not Android) to conquer tablets as well, the software (apps) need to be touch optimized too. In other words, Linux needs to be less dependent on CLI and improve the GUI into touch interface.

So the question is not about what I love when I hate another.

I’m making my own slate/tablet (I’m not joking)

  By Halfey Halphstein | January 23, 2011 - 12:34 am | ,
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Image representing iPad as depicted in CrunchBase

Image via CrunchBase

I’m tired of people talking about tablet/slate is the future of personal computing. I mean I’ve built my own PCs all this time so why don’t I start making my own slate if that is really the future?

Many people think iPad is the best tablet so far. I beg to differ. It’s probably the worst since it has no USB port, it does not use desktop OS, and it has no memory card slot. So you’re asking why does using a full-fledged desktop OS matters to me? Read on.

Before I go further, I’d like to tell you how important to have at least one USB port on a slate. Imagine this; we should already know by now that iPad in 2 versions; the 3G and non-3G. People with money would normally go for the best their money could buy. For poorly paid public servant like me, it’s just normal to opt for the cheaper one, which is in this case the non-3G one. Practically it’s cheaper to buy the non-3G and then plug my existing USB 3G modem (or even 3G-enabled phone) and I’m good to go. Besides, even if the slate does not have a memory card reader, I can always plug a USB card reader too, should there’s a need to do so. Not to mention the freedom to directly connect my other devices such as phones, digicam, mp3 player, etc. without the need of a PC as a mediator. It would also allow me to expand the built-in memory by plugging in USB flash drives. See how cool it is to have a USB port? The presence of USB ports on some Windows slates makes them the winner over iPad.

Talking about connectivity, the non-3G iPad would only benefit home users, provided that the house is equipped with wi-fi. Travelers and road warriors would be happy with the 3G version, but that’s it, they’re restricted to 3G only. Since many new ISPs have started rolling out WiMax services, even the 3G version of iPad is out of luck, as there is no way to plug in USB WiMax modem to it. That’s why I’d like to stress out that having USB port is as important as having the core of the tablet itself. Not only it allows the slate to have extra features, it may also doubles the existing features.

Now, into the OS as I promised earlier. I don’t mind if people prefer to put/use a specially developed mobile OS for tablets. However I can’t accept it if people think tablets must use mobile OS instead of desktop OS, citing issues like battery life, “overkill”, etc. I’m not really sure about the “overkill” part as I never think desktop OS is too much for a tablet, because even netbooks can accept them. However when it comes to battery life, actually it’s the goal of all desktop OS to become most power efficient and it doesn’t have to be for mobile OS only. Besides the battery life is usually determined by the CPU. That means even if the OS is power efficient, if the CPU is power-hungry then even a tablet with power-optimized mobile OS would have it’s battery juice drained in no time. For an analogy, imagine comparing a 3GHz Intel Pentium-powered PC with a 3GHz Intel Core-powered PC. Install both PCs with Windows 7 Ultimate and I’m pretty sure the latter would be the winner for consuming much lower power despite using the same OS.

For me, no matter how people want to push the usage of a mobile OS in a tablet, a tablet must be powerful enough to support at least Windows 7 in it, should there are people who want to use it in a tablet. People should not think that “a slate is a smartphone+ and it should have similar battery life to a smartphone”. It is a ridiculous idea to believe that way. Sure it’s welcomed to see a tablet that can run as long a smartphone does but it’s still pretty much unrealistic and just a wishful thinking. A tablet is good enough if it could run continuously (with 3G/wi-fi on) for 6-8 hours with single full charge.

Actually what you do with a tablet is all that matters, not the OS inside it. If tablet is really the future of personal computing then doesn’t that means it would need the OS of personal computing know to everybody (Windows/Linux/BSD/OSX/etc.)? Really most people have fallen victim to the illusion made by Apple that now they believe the reason iPad is popular is because of its OS. They’re totally wrong. iPad was popular because it was from the “new” Apple (Apple under Steve Jobs management). Just a matter of fact, everything that comes from Apple since the return of Steve Jobs would sell, no matter how feature-poor they are.

I believe people would still buy the iPad even if it was loaded with OSX instead of iOS. Likewise, I don’t think Fujitsu’s tablets would become as popular as the iPad too, even if they had some mobile OS pre-installed. After all, reputation helps a lot here. Many people don’t know the truth behind the OS selection for iPad. The initial plan was to use OSX but they had a hard time to re-scale OSX’s kernel for lower-powered mobile use. Therefore they went to recreating/redesigning the OS again, and that explains why the earlier versions of iOS were all “unfinished products”, rolled out prematurely to meet its users with no copy-paste, no multitasking, etc.

Talking about reputation, since I’m anime fan too, I’d like to touch a bit about anime as well. It was reputation and hype that helped popularized Panty & Stocking anime a while back. People have known GAINAX for a long time, and people have known them for their good works. However I bet P&S would be as popular as we know it today if the exact thing was made by some American cartoon studio or even by some Asian animation studio outside Japan. Instead it might have ended up being known as yet another cartoon with Powerpuff Girls style animation, and wouldn’t make it to either Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon but would be aired in the midnight adult slot in some US TV channels due to its dirty jokes. In other words, people who have fallen for P&S is just like those people who have fallen victim of the illusion created by Apple as I explained in earlier paragraph.

What I’m Avoiding

  By Halfey Halphstein | September 4, 2010 - 4:06 am |
1 Comment


Generally speaking, I hate anything that gets in my way. Although I tend to avoid everything that I hate, if those things that I hate are happen to get in my way I'll face them because I feel like it. I'll keep harassing them until they get out of my way or until they follow my way. But all that has nothing to do with what I'm avoiding as per what explanation below.

Chuck Norris (1)

20 things that I'm avoiding:

1. Chuck Norris

He is the sum of all fears. Nobody in the right mind would voluntarily face him unless you're ready to be roundhouse-kicked out from this universe to another dimension. By the way he is the only one here that I avoid not because I hate him but rather because he's too awesome.

2. Gays (that includes lesbos, yaoi and yuri)

Because I'll never know when they will assault me. Actually all gays should never be born in the first place because it's hypocritical if you are happy for being born but you yourself will never reproduce with your same-sex partner.

3. Atheists (and/or free thinkers, but not including pagans)

All they're doing is bitching and complaining and whining about God laws governing them, such as restrictions for gay marriage. Heck! Marriage is a religion thing to begin with so why must they being noisy about it when it has nothing to do with what they believe?

4. iFags (a.k.a. Apple fanboys/loyalists)

They think they are special just because they own a Mac/iPod/iPhone/iPad. Well, I'm not stylish (or stupid) enough to own iProducts. Even my T-shirts are bought from roadside stalls where I can get 3 for only 10 bucks.

5. Facebook

Although I used to be a Fagsbook user too it doesn't mean I love it to the point that I will never leave it. With tons of online doppelgangers inside it can be too annoying when people keep mistaking me as their acquaintance.

6. Feminazi

I don't mind with feminists if they keep it to the moderate level but most of the time those extremists feminazis will relate everything that seems not favoring their kind as "discrimination against women" even if it's just a simple thing like a guy trying to correct his girlfriend's mistakes by telling her what she's supposed to do (purely from his point of view, without resorting to any violence at all).

7. CLI (it stands for Command Line Interface, not the cli that you know)

I don't see any reason to prefer CLI over GUI (Graphical User Interface) when GUI is available. It may be faster and easier to code than GUI but with only a few milliseconds difference, coupled with the fact that computers today are powerful enough that some of them reaching the point of being overkill, it doesn't make sense anymore for power user to keep relying on it.

8. Bustin Jieber, Gady Laga, Ciley Myrus, Ladam Ambert (blahblah! You name it)

The words are not enough for me to describe just how "hate-able" those people are that I have to 'avoid' writing their names properly. Perhaps it's enough if I just say that by default all American artists deserve a rejection from me. Of course there are a few exceptions but this is only applicable to those who are exceptionally good, though that kind of artists are endangered species that are as rare as chicken's teeth.

9. Korean entertainment

It's not that I hate them by default but I can't easily forget how they steal everybody's attention while people are still enjoying Japanese entertainment (not limited to J-drama and J-rock/J-pop songs). If not people might have better terms with anime today. And I can't understand why there are significant number of anime fans like them as well when they have nothing to do with anime in the first place. Maybe those people are just confused between Korean and Japanese?

10. You

Yes, you. I hate you and I found that everything about you is "hate-able" like your musical preferences, the anime you watch, your friends, how you speak/write, your reactions towards me and even the websites you visit. I hate you too much to the point that I have to avoid writing down the names of all of you here, so it can't be helped. However you should feel 'honored' for being hated by me, because it's not easy to get my hate. In fact some people are dying or even died just for trying to get me to hate them. Yes, those people just love to be hated by me, and in return, along with the hatred, I respect them too for struggling for my hate and living up to their masochistic nature.

"HEY HALFEY WHERE ARE THE OTHER 10 DAMMIT?!" you asked? Sorry but I hate them too much that I have to 'avoid' writing them here as well.

(13/30 people avoid me for no apparent/real reason or simply just because they can't afford to face me alive)

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