I’m a gadget freak

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As people who know me may find out, I really love gadgets. An example is my purchase of the Sony HMZ-T1, which I reviewed Here. I love the quirky, niche gadgets and here’s a chronicle of my gadget obsession since I was young. In case you’re wondering btw, these recollections are all from memory, so don’t expect in depth reviews of something I had when I was 15.

2002-2006 Gadget collection
Cybiko

Cybiko

This is such a niche device. But I had one of these things. It was kind of like a PDA or a game boy, but not. It had a bunch of downloadable games, and this chat thing, which I guess the makers expected this to be really popular, because that chat was only to other Cybiko users. And eventually they realized it was a niche product and so the number of actual applications were really low. It was a cool device for the time though. ‘

Casio Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia BE300

Yay, the $300 PDA I had when I was a kid. You know, back before smartphones, people had these devices called Pocket PCs, which are like the precursor to today’s smartphones. And I had the Casio Cassiopeia, cause I was the nerdy kid on the block. It was a good device – it had a number of cool apps and games for it, and no other 15 year old kid had something like that. Unfortunately, it got bricked when I tried to root it and install another OS on it, lol.

Dell Inspiron 7500

Dell Inspiron 7500

The Dell Inspiron 7500 was my first laptop, which I got in 2003. It was quite powerful for the time, having a dedicated graphics card, and cost over $2000 I think. Ah yes I remember the days when 256MB RAM was alot, and everyone had a sound blaster card. I have good memories with this laptop, and especially the overheating issues, due to Intel having not invented mobile processors yet. The Pentium M hadn’t arrived yet, so it had a full Pentium 4 processor in it, which isn’t efficient, and often overheated the laptop. My dad and I had to put it on some homemade pieces of wood as a cooling solution, lol.

2006-2011 Gadget collection
I had several gadgets when I was in university, including several laptops. Among the ones I had was:

Gateway CX2724

Gateway CX2724

You know how all these Windows 8 convertible ultrabooks are coming out?? Well back in 2006, Gateway had a convertible notebook, the same kind!! 4 years before the iPad came out. And I was carrying this 7lb behemoth to classes. Despite the heavy weight, I loved using it. A screen that can rotate?? A Wacom digitizer?? That was cool stuff back then, and although it wasn’t particularly powerful on specs, it was a unique laptop.

Asus EEEPC S101

Asus EEE PC S101

My next laptop was when netbooks were all the rage… and this one really catches my eye. It only had 16GB of storage, sure. And had an underpowered Atom processor. But, the brushed aluminum lid and Swarovski crystals… they were a good touch. Ok, so I bought it based more on looks, but it was decent for what netbooks do – browse the internet. Netbooks have been replaced by Tablets and Chromebooks now, but they all serve the same purpose, to be mobile and browse internet.

Dell Latitude E4200

Dell Latitude E4200

My last laptop in college is still one of my favorites. This was in 2008, before ultrabooks came out. But this essentially is an ultrabook. A powerful laptop that is thin and light. It was only 2.6lbs!! and had a Core 2 Duo ultra low voltage CPU, which was good for its time, and I had a port replicator as well, so I could connect it with 3 externals and a 22″ Samsung display at home. It served me well – I gave it to my parents after I retired it, and I will always remember playing Starcraft 2 lagging the hell out of games with it on that integrated GMA 4500.

Archos 7

Archos 7

Yes, the same one I reviewed, and as I mentioned – 320GB of storage space, plays movies without a hitch, and recording PS3 gameplay, it still holds up to the tablets of today despite having an outdated TFT resistive touch screen.

Myvu Crystal

Myvu Crystal

Yes – I’ve had several HMDs before. The Myvu is actually quite good, when I hooked it up to my Xbox 360/PS3, I was able to play many games quite smoothly on it. Of course, my current Sony HMZ-T1 beats it hands down, but the Myvu was pretty decent for its time, plus the company is out of business, so they might be hard to find.

Samsung D900

Samsung D900

My cellphone of choice during university. Remember flip phones and slider phones? This was the slimmest slider phone when it came out, and its one of the best non smartphones out there. Sending text messages isn’t great as the iPhone of course, but it does its job well. And remember when batteries lasted weeks instead of days?? yeah…

Creative Zen Vision M

Creative Zen Vision M

This was my mp3 player of choice during university, and it stills holds up pretty well to the iPod Classic, even now. It stored 30GBs, which is actually more than most phones these days can store. Remember when people carried a dedicated mp3 player back before smartphones? Not to mention, it played alot of photo and video formats, could record radio and voice, and had some pretty good sound quality as well.

Canon Powershot 300

Canon Powershot 300

I recorded all of my old videos, and took all of my old pictures on this baby. Before I got my new Canon and iPhone. It was – and remains – decent at what it does.

2011-Present Gadget collection

iPhone 4S

iPhone 4S

What can I say? I went through 22 years of my life without needing this phone. And yet now I can’t live without it. It’s the perfect phone. I’ve never wanted an iPhone 5, or a Galaxy SIII or a Nokia Lumia, or a Blackberry, simply because the iPhone 4S has everything I need. It has a ton of apps, it has a small enough screen to be portable, its replaced my main camera, and its great at texting. I’ve never wanted anything more.

Sony HMZ-T1

Sony HMZ-T1

I reviewed this before and my thoughts haven’t changed. It’s a simulated 100″ screen with the best 3D you can get, and virtual surround sound. The only downside being the comfort and lack of two-player convenience.

Canon M400

Canon M400

I recorded all my videos and trips with this thing, and its pretty decent at that. Full HD res, multiple recording modes, and a better low light performance than many other video cameras out there. It continues to be my main video camera.

Contour Roam

Contour Roam

This is the camera I use for recording action footage – sports or events or scooter driving. It has a nice 170deg wide angle lens, and the picture quality is pretty decent. Shame its too heavy to put on a quad copter and too big to fit in my helmet tho.

HP Envy Beats edition

HP Envy Beats

My current main laptop. The one I use for everyday computing. Its my first laptop with a quad core processor and a dedicated video card (Radeon 6630) since my Inspiron 7500, and I loved being able to play games at high framerates again. Also, the beats audio is quite good when using external speakers or headphones. Its also got a hybrid SSD-HDD drive system which is great for fast bootup of applications, and I still get alot of storage space. I don’t really appreciate the low resolution 768p screen though, but it is what it is.

Nexus 7

Google Nexus 7

Had this for a few months before I gave it to my parents for christmas – but its probably the best value tablet out there. Quad core tablet for only $199!! really good value.

Macbook Pro Retina 13

Macbook Pro Retina 13

This is my first macbook – and its mainly used for work purposes. For many years I never got a Mac – but I realize its faster for development, and less riskier for viruses, so I’ve been using it as my main work laptop now. Its fast, the screen is gorgeous, and its a Mac – I wouldn’t say its better than windows, just different. I also use it as my main recording tool after installing Pro Tools on it – for some reason Windows just isn’t as good for audio recording and video editing as a Mac.

Asus Taichi 21

Asus Taichi 21

Just got this recently. Since I don’t have a tablet anymore, I found this one at the Microsoft shop, and it just blew my mind away. A hybrid ultrabook/tablet with Two screens??? and they can be displayed at the same time??? and both screens are 1080p???. I had to have it… this will be my go to device for travelling now, since it can used both for tablet purposes, and for presentation purposes, as well as normal ultrabook usage. Playing Magic Online with my fingers is gonna be fun on this… as well as drawing and reading of course.

Audio Technica A900

Audio Technica A900

These are my go-to headphones for recording, studio monitoring and anything else requiring little to no noise interference. They are excellent closed back headphones, and for the price of $150, very good value for what you get. They are one of the best sounding headphones I’ve owned (and I’ve owned many), so I’ll probably keep these for many years

Sennheiser HD558

Sennheiser HD558

These are the headphones I use for movies, music and gaming, and as an open-air dynamic headphone, it excels at that. Paired with my headphone amp and Dolby Digital processor, it is a great match for late night PS3 gaming. Also highly recommended at only $150

Audyssey Wireless Speakers

Audyssey Wireless Speakers

These are my computer speakers, and they are pretty decent at all around performance. I am impressed at the level of bass they offer despite not having any subwoofer. They are bluetooth enabled, so other than my computer, they also double as speakers for my iPhone and tablet as well.

Panasonic ST50

Panasonic ST50

Sorry Samsung, but Panasonic makes better Plasma TVs at the medium range segment, and hence I opted for them. This is a 3D Plasma TV, which means uniform viewing angles, deeper blacks, and pretty thin too… all in all, one of the better TVs I’ve used, though I wish the interface for youtube and video browsing was done better.

Samsung E450 Sound Bar

Samsung E450 Sound Bar

This is the soundbar for my TV, and its a pretty good value as well, being only $150. It takes in the regular HDMI and optical connections, but also comes with Bluetooth and AUX and a wireless subwoofer. Many soundbars at this price doesn’t have bluetooth, hence I went for this one.

Monitor2Go HD+

Monitor2Go HD+

This thing is pretty cool, its a portable second monitor that displays a nice HD+ resolution, and can be used in various configurations, standing up, swiveling, etc. It also supports being used as a secondary display for an iPad, iPhone, or anything with an HDMI connection. I’m currently using it paired with my Mac for work, and the DisplayLink technology works flawlessly.

That’s alot of gadgets eh??? Probably not the end of it either… once Google Glasses comes out, as well as the Occulus Rift (A VR HMD) and This awesome quadcopter (which I plan to use for recording) comes out, you know I will be getting them .

Accident, Updates, Korea, Food, Recording

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Edit: Boycott the Hangover 3!!! As many of you know, as long as people keep watching these movies that exploit asian stereotypes, they will keep making more, as I have explained my thoughts about this movie before. Don’t watch it else they will make more!

I posted my first video log about my updates recently here:

My voice is a little raspy here, so here’s the details:

-I got into a scooter accident (that’s a motorcycle, not one of those toys) because I was driving on wet tracks, fell and broke my wrist bone. Recovery time is 10-12 weeks.

-I got Pro Tools 10! So expect to see some better music and video recordings over the next few months as my hands heal up. Side note: I hate that you have to have an iLok usb in your computer at all times else Pro Tools will go nuts. Thats a bit overkill right…

-My California driving test is suspended for now until I can heal my wrist so I can drive again. I hope I don’t have to re-take the written exam…

-Yes, I’m making a Korean app on the side. I want to get a better Korean learning service up there and not have to rely on Google Translate or Naver all the time. Plus, I get to learn SASS, Handlebars, jQuery, Underscore, Backbone and Bootstrap. Expect to see some updates on my github on the next few months.

-Yes, I really want to go to Korea. I have posted before about this in the past, but there’s a reason why most of my friends are international students. I just don’t get along well with Westerners as well as I do with Asians. I mean, I don’t mean to be unfriendly or snobby or anything, I just don’t have a lot to say. Most Americans like to talk about sports or food or other such topics that I’m not interested in. I’d rather talk about programming, or gadgets, or video games. I’d rather shoot some pool, watch korean dramas, or sing karaoke, than drinking beer and watching football. If only Asia had a better work culture, then I would move there right away, its one thing Asians need to improve on. I don’t understand why they can’t just adopt our Silicon Valley culture of flexibility and openness. It would make Asia a much more tolerable place to live in.

-Speaking of food, one thing I noticed here in San Francisco is alot of people are “foodies”. They actively seek out the best places to eat, the healthiest food, etc. One thing people should know about me is I don’t really care about food that much. To me, its just sustenance, but its interesting to see people so into it, uploading pics of food onto Facebook everyday, or posting how much calorie content is in this versus that, or how much better this burger place is than that place. Honestly, I don’t care if its KFC or some fancy free-range hormone-free antibiotic-free grass fed meat, its all the same to me, only the latter is more expensive. Which is just as well, since I don’t gain weight. Seriously, I’ve been stuck at 135 lbs since high school and doesn’t matter if I eat ramen noodles or beef wellington, I’m not gaining or losing weight, nor does it affect my bodily functions. I ate pizza pops every day in high school, and instant noodles / canned pasta everyday in college, and my brain functions fine. I had a perfect attendance record in all my lectures and exams. I also found caffeine in general have no effect on my brain, so I don’t tend to drink coffee much. (Note that eating healthy is a relatively new trend in America; back in the 1950s, food didn’t even have ingredient labels!)

That’s my updates recently, hopefully North Korea won’t go crazy anytime soon…Oh and here’s pics of my recording gear (my living room doubles as my studio):

Focusrite 2i2o

Behringer C1, Audio Technica A700

Macbook Pro Retina with Pro Tools 10

Canon M400

Martin OMJM

Swart Atomic Jr, Behringer XM8500, Fender Strat

Casio AP220 Digital Piano

My Bobblehead (Limited Edition)

Bioshock, Archos tablet overview, Thoughts, Articles, Links

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Bioshock Infinite
Just finished playing Bioshock Infinite. It’s a good game, but not as good as reviewers say. There’s reason why I will list here:
1) Low quality textures – There’s some textures that are really low quality. Most parts of the game is fine, but on some small details like doors or small objects it is noticeable on my PS3.
2) Inaccurate voice casting – The main guy is supposed to be from New York in 1912. People from NY in 1912 did not talk with a modern day California accent, they spoke with a distinct New York accent (see: Franklin Roosevelt).
3) CPUs other than Elizabeth are not exciting. Irrational Games was good with the Elizabeth CPU – its cool that she doesn’t need to be told what to do, and she’s actively looking around in her environment. But what would take this further is having all the cpus in the game be like that. For example, when I steal a drink or food from the cart, I expect people to react. When I listen in on a conversation about a guy buying hot dogs, I expect him to eventually buy and eat it, not just standing around being scripted. That part needs some work. Fallout for example, does this quite well. I can easily interact with any NPC, and all my actions have consequences. Irrational should learn a bit from Bethesda in the NPC department. (but can you imagine them doing a game together? would be awesome).

Overall the game is pretty good, but once we have all the CPUs function exactly like humans do – randomly then thats the future of gaming I think.
4) The game is short, like 12 hours, with little replay value. Thats a general trend of modern games, and one I don’t like. What happened to games like Ultima or Prince of Persia where you could play for like 100 hours? But nope, these days companies are just shipping incomplete games and gouging customers on DLC or expansions instead (you hear that Blizzard? Starcraft 1 had all the campaigns in ONE game, and people weren’t forced to buy expansions to beat the game). Yeah.. and multiplayer is often half assed. Good old 90s dedicated multiplayer games like Quake III and Unreal tournament are way better than the tack on multiplayer you find on most games these days (COD and Halo are exceptions).

Companies using programming tests and self ratings to gauge candidates
I think I wrote before about this, but let me re-iterate this, companies who use programming tests to gauge candidates are crap. It tells you nothing about the candidate, how much knowledge they actually have, how he/she would function in an actual dev environment, etc. It’s one specific problem usually, its biased based on interviewer, and there’s no hard guideline or heuristics. What is this, SAT’s? Are they evaluated based on some arbitrary score? Another thing I dislike – when people ask ‘rate yourself on a scale of 1-10 on [blah]‘. What does that accomplish? An arrogant person may rate himself a 10 but is really a 5 and a modest programmer may rate himself a 5 but is really a 9. Its completely arbitrary and doesn’t tell you anything. Big companies are notorious for this.

As an interviewer, I would rather evaluate them based on white-boarding exercises (seeing the candidate do recursion in front of you is better than giving them a recursion exercise and having them google something), broad knowledge based questions (event bubbling vs event capturing), and having their number of years of experience using the language rather than a ‘rating’ of 1-10.

Archos tablet overview

I did an overview of the Archos 7 Tablet… I like this tablet mainly because it has alot of storage room, and it can record DVR videos from any A/V input source, something that tablets these days can’t do. Do check out my little PS3 demo.