unwittinglyrad » General

HTC Desire: Life after the iPhone

Rad — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:41:35 +0000

After being shown the HTC Desire by a friend over dinner, I was rather impressed by the speed of the device. Eventually, the temptation was too great and I managed to get myself one through work.

Previously, I owned an iPhone 3G on the Optus network here in Australia. After approximately 14 months of use, it left little to be desired. heh, i used a pun. It became sluggish, unresponsive at times and in general it was quite slow on the Optus network.

A few months ago, I met up with a friend for dinner and he pulled out his HTC Desire, placed it on the table at the restaurant which promptly grabbed my interest. I asked if I could have a play with it and that proved to be a dangerous move. I was impressed with the speed of the device and how quickly everything loaded on the Optus network.

With the iPhone 4 slowly approaching, I was left pondering which direction I should go in. Sit patiently and wait for the iPhone 4 to arrive or venture in a different direction and try the Desire? Well, I guess the decision was apparent.. I chose the Desire and I was lucky enough to score one through the company I work for.

So, what do I think of the Desire?

Well, I quite love it. In a nutshell..

The Android platform took a few days of getting used to, but is quite user friendly like the iPhone OS is. I like the way notifications are handled, you simply swipe your thumb down on the menubar (similar to SBSettings) and you get a list of what’s happening or has happened. You can add a simple widget which controls the toggling of WiFi/Bluetooth/GPS amongst other settings.

The display is vibrant and crisp. The touch input is very similar to the iPhone, so it’s quite easy to adapt.

One thing I absolutely love is the browsing and download/upload speeds this phone offers. 99% of the time it uses HSDPA to send and receive data, so it’s very quick.

Battery wise, I get a day out of it, sometimes two depending on how much I use the phone.

Life after the iPhone

Do I miss the iPhone? Well, to a certain degree I do. I like the GUI of the iPhone as it is similar to Mac OS X, even more so when it’s Jailbroken and has custom App icons used.

I purchased quite a few applications during the period I owned an iPhone and the quality and level of these applications are generally far better than those on the Android platform. However, in saying that I haven’t really found the necessity for similar applications since moving to the Desire.

Another thing I also miss is the ability of using the iPhone as an iPod for when I do my workouts in the afternoons. Apart from these two things, I can’t say I really miss much more of the iPhone.

NBA LeaguePass International

Rad — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 05:35:33 +0000

Should really be called NBA Buffer Pass International, because this product provided by the NBA is utterly useless. Not to mention, it’s not even HD as they have labeled it.

Here I was thinking this season I’d be able to watch all the NBA games that I’d miss on TV due to the time differences and being at work, but no.. load up a live game and it just buffers every 15 seconds. Archived games aren’t too much better. It’s not like I have a slow connection either; I’m on a 22Mbit connection at home which is plenty of bandwidth.

I guess this may sound like a bitching session to some, but, I wanted to post this to make other people who may want to potentially purchase it next year to really reconsider, especially when games can be obtained via other methods, much faster and in better quality. Not that I am condoning this type of activity, but the options are there.

IPB: Pinned Topic background colours

Rad — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 05:10:25 +0000

So, through necessity I’ve figured out a way to highlight the background colours of pinned topics for Invision Power Board 2.3.x and thought I’d share my solution with everyone.

Getting the pinned topics to highlight is quite a simple procedure and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. It involves editing two template files found in Forum Index, these are: render_pinned_start and render_forum_row. Code edits are highlighted in blue.

Step 1

Involves adding a style="background:#;" to the td in render_pinned_start. This will overwrite the background property that is defined in the darkrow1 class. This edit adjusts the background colour for the Important Topics title.

style="background:#fbf2ca;">{$this->ipsclass->lang['pinned_start']}

Step 2

This is the more time consuming part and involves adding some if, else statements and style code to render_forum_row. What you see below is pretty much the standard code duplicated in order to use the functionality of if, else statements.

Open your favourite text editor, then simply copy and paste the content from render_forum_row in it. Then duplicate the code from to within your text document. You then want to add your-topic-id || $data['tid'] == your-topic-id"> at the very top of your code. Replace your-topic-id with the pinned topic ID’s off your forum (you will find them if you view source).

The example in my code shows two ID variables because I have more than one pinned topic. You will need to add an additional || $data['tid'] == for each topic ID.

Where the first ends and second begins, between these two you want to place an statement. This basically tells IPB how to display topics if the ID’s from the if statement don’t match. At the end of the second , place an , this will close off the if statement which you started at the very top of all the code.

From here, all that is left to do is add style="background:#;" with your own colour code to each of the td cells above the line of code. My final step was to add style="font-weight:bold;" to pinned topic title so that it stands out more.

The final result, complete code:

your-topic-id || $data['tid'] == your-topic-id">

style="background:#fffbe9;" id='tid-folder-{$data['tid']}' onclick='return topic_toggle_folder("{$data['tid']}", "{$data['state']}");'>{$data['folder_img']}
style="background:#fffbe9;">
style="background:#fffbe9;">

{$data['_rate_img']}

{$data['go_new_post']}{$data['prefix']} {$data['attach_img']}style="font-weight:bold;">{$data['title']} {$data['PAGES']}

{$data['description']}

style="background:#fffbe9;">
{$data['posts']}

<{BC_QUEUED_POSTS}>

style="background:#fffbe9;">{$data['starter']}
style="background:#fffbe9;">{$data['views']}
style="background:#fffbe9;">{$data['last_post']}
{$data['last_text']} {$data['last_poster']}

ipsclass->member['is_mod'] == 1 and $inforum == 1 and $data['tidon'] == 1">
ipsclass->vars['img_url']}/topic_selected.gif" alt='' />

ipsclass->member['is_mod'] == 1 and $inforum == 1 and $data['tidon'] == 0">
style="background:#fffbe9;">ipsclass->vars['img_url']}/topic_unselected.gif" alt='' />

{$data['folder_img']}
{$data['topic_icon']}

{$data['_rate_img']}

{$data['go_new_post']}{$data['prefix']} {$data['attach_img']}{$data['title']} {$data['PAGES']}

{$data['description']}

{$data['posts']}

<{BC_QUEUED_POSTS}>

{$data['starter']}
{$data['views']}
{$data['last_post']}
{$data['last_text']} {$data['last_poster']}

ipsclass->member['is_mod'] == 1 and $inforum == 1 and $data['tidon'] == 1">
ipsclass->vars['img_url']}/topic_selected.gif" alt='' />

ipsclass->member['is_mod'] == 1 and $inforum == 1 and $data['tidon'] == 0">
ipsclass->vars['img_url']}/topic_unselected.gif" alt='' />

On Facebook quiz results

Rad — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:24:52 +0000

When a friend initially sent me an invite to join FaceBook, I was rather skeptical and held off for a few weeks. Great, another Myspace site I thought to myself. After eventually caving in and seeing what the fuss was all about, I thought it was rather good. A more adult version of Myspace, without all the stupid custom backgrounds, music and images people were able to add to their profiles.

Over the last few months FaceBook has been allowing some stupid things to happen. One of those being, allowing idiots to access the developer program. Which, in turn has further allowed more idiots to make quizzes about almost anything.

From seeing useful or interesting posts from my friends, I’m now seeing quiz results every second or third post. Seriously, I could not give a shit what your quiz result was. The worst thing about it is there is no big ignore all button. So I’m forced to sift through this crap everyday, fix it developers of Facebook!

If anyone has found a way to automatically hide quiz results without using GreaseMonkey for Firefox, please leave a comment.

Tropheus Duboisi

Rad — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:34:10 +0000

Over the years I have owned many pets which has embedded me with a strong passion and fondness for all kinds of animals. A few months ago, I took on a new project and hobby which is fish keeping. To be more specific, I’m keeping a variant of Cichlid’s called Tropheus, which originate from Lake Tanganyika in Africa.

I’ve always liked fish, but hesitated from keeping them as I never thought they really had personalities so to speak. I was proven completely wrong and blown out of the water when my colleague (and very close friend) who is an avid Tropheus keeper showed me his Tropheus Ikola →. As soon as he walked into the hallway, the fish broke away from their general habits and came to life swimming frantically in the corner of their tank. They would follow him from end to end of the tank and even let him scoop them up in the palm of his hand, something unbelievable and totally absurd for a fish that was caught from the wild and air shipped thousands of kilometres.

After seeing all this, I was converted. Not to mention all the nagging from my colleague, when are you going to get your fish?, so, are you going to get fish yet?, Have you decided if you want to get fish yet?

I initially was going to start off with a smaller tank and get Lake Malawi Cichlids, but after seeing the Tropheus I thought I’d take the plunge and go with them, after all I had an experienced keeper which I could seek the advice of if I needed help.

And so my research and question asking began. The ideal species for a beginner Tropheus keeper seemed to be the Duboisi. To my luck, my colleague has a strong friendship with a Tropheus breeder who keeps Duboisi. Before I knew it, 25 young fry were on hold for me.

Unfortunately, as with anything I seem to do, something always is bound to go wrong. I picked up a second hand cabinet and 4x2x2 foot tank which was in average condition for a fairly decent price. Not to mention the free external canister filter that was thrown in, sweet! I thought, deal of the century. This proved to be far from it. The external canister filter sprung a leak from the lid, I’m assuming because of a worn out gasket. A day or two later the tank started seeping water from one of the corners. I went from 0-to-frustrated in around 10 seconds, this wasn’t the start I was hoping for.

Back to square one, the next day I had a think about what to do. I figured it wasn’t worthwhile fixing the second hand tank as it was in a pretty average condition. So, off to St. George Aquariums I went and ordered a brand spanking new 4x2x2 foot tank with sliding lids. They have a good reputation for making high quality tanks and seeing as they were only a 15 minute drive for me, it was only logical to go there. $330 later, I had a tank being made up. Next was a new filter. I didn’t want to risk keeping the external canister I was given in case it sprung a leak again.. I’d feel stupidly guilty if it leaked when I was at work, coming home and knowing I let 25 fish die a slow death. I was so over things going wrong and with price not really a concern at that point in time I went on the hunt and purchased a Fluval FX5 multistage external filter off eBay for a great price of $400. I was back in business!

The next step was setting up the water in preparation for the fish. I used a method which probably would be frowned upon by many Tropheus keepers, that is.. putting the fish in the same day the water was put in. Why did I do it? because I was given 2kg of matrix filter substrate and a large sheet of aged filter wool from my colleagues sump which would have a lot of the required good bacteria cycling a tank creates. So in theory, I was putting fish into a properly cycled tank. Duboisi are known to be more tolerable of unfavourable conditions (to a certain degree), so this worked to my advantage a bit too.

So, before you cringe your teeth thinking, what is this idiot doing? I’ll tell you the outcome.. the fish were fine! The night they went in they were scared and kept in a group, the next morning they were swimming around happy as could be. To this date, the fish are happy and growing at a steady rate.

How am I buffering my water?
I use a DIY method which is proven to work and keeps the costs down greatly. I use Bicarbonate Soda and Epsom salts which keep my kH levels at 18-20 and gH between 11-13 respectively. pH is kept above 8 using coral bone in my filter along with coral sand in the tank.

How do I feed my fish?
I keep them on a strict diet of Spirulina Flake and NLS Cichlid formula pellets (1mm). They are kept to a strict feeding routine as well, a small pinch in the morning and in the evening. The rest of the time they graze on algae that covers the background and rocks.

How do I complete my water changes and how often?
I’m lucky with my setup, it takes me approximately 40 minutes with a total of 50% weekly. The Fluval FX5 filter has a “purge valve” which allows me to drain the water quickly and easily. I age my water in a large 220L drum where I add my Bicarbonate Soda, Epsom Salt and solution that dechlorinates the water. Then I just pump the new water back in.

A big thanks to my colleague and close friend Marc who has helped me countlessly with getting my project off its feet, not to mention his generosity with equipment and parts. Check out his website dedicated to Tropheus and general fish keeping →. Also, if you’re into Tropheus keeping, why not check out the Tropheus Fanatics → community.

iBomber

Rad — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 12:06:15 +0000

I admit it, I’m an iPhone game junkie. So today when I had a browse through the AppStore, I came across iBomber, which is an arcade styled bombing game based in the Pacific Ocean during 1943 where you are tasked to bomb key targets.

I initially watched the game preview on YouTube → and was intrigued by the style of game play. From there I proceeded to immediately press the purchase button in iTunes. This game doesn’t disappoint in my opinion. I love the graphics and animations, the style they remind me of is the XIII game → from a few years back which I thought was unique at the time. The loading screens are cool too, very WWII style. The soundtrack is enjoyable, a mix of military style with a touch of funkiness similar to the Great Escape movie tune.

The game play takes a bit of adjusting to.. a whole, I dunno.. 5-10 minutes? After the first mission you’ll get the grasp of it all. You can speed up or slow down your bombing runs, upon destroying specific objects you get various bomb power-ups which all require a different speed to accurately hit targets, so this makes it challenging. My only gripe so far is the controls/movement in relation to the iPhones accelerometer position. Sometimes you really need to be at an awkward angle to pull off a manoeuvre, unless I’m just holding the phone wrong. Hopefully a setting will be added in the options menu in a future revision.

I’ll be looking forward to further missions and power-ups in the future. You can grab iBomber on iTunes →

So long, PS3..

Rad — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 06:28:37 +0000

Well, today I’ve finally decided that I’m going to be selling my Playstation 3 and the games I’ve purchased for it. So much for trying to adapt to console gaming, I lasted less than 6 months.

What’s to blame? Well, I think a few things can be factored in. Firstly, game review websites come to mind along with developers previews. The graphics look great in the previews, reviews and screenshots, yet when you run the game it’s not entirely the same experience. The only game that I came across that was close to looking very good on the screen was Street Fighter 4.

One thing that is severely lacking in console gaming is anti-aliasing. I cannot stand jagged, blocky edges. If I wanted to see blocks, I’d play with some Lego. Considering the Playstation is meant to be such a powerful gaming console, why the hell can’t I turn even 2xAA on?

Secondly, I’ve been a PC gamer for many, many years and as much as people want to argue about it – PC gaming is better. There I said it. To me, the graphics are more advanced, have more room for adjustments and are better quality, best of all you can use anti-aliasing!

In saying that though, I understand the merits of console gaming. You have the ability to buy a game, put it into your console and your off gaming – no hassles and you know it’ll definitely work. Sometimes not exactly the same scenario for PC games as the quality outcome can be very PC hardware dependent.

Anyway, so long PS3.. it was fun.

Escape From City 17

Rad — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:59:53 +0000

I came across this video on YouTube entitled Escape From City 17, based around the Half Life 2 computer game which was a pretty big release a few years back. I was such a fan I even bought the special DVD edition that came with the Half Life 2 logo on a black t-shirt.

So what’s Escape From City 17 about you ask? The Escape From City 17 short film series is an adaptation based on the Half Life computer game saga by Valve Corporation. Originally envisioned as a project to test out numerous post production techniques, as well as a spec commercial, it ballooned into a multi part series. Filmed guerilla style with no money, no time, no crew, no script, the first two episodes were made from beginning to end on a budget of $500.

For a $500 budget, I found the result pretty decent. I especially like how they integrated sound effects from the game and the way they did the blood spatter, it looks pretty much like it was lifted right out of the game. I’ll be keeping my eye out for the future films. Check it out here: Escape From City 17 – Part One. Don’t forget to press the watch in HD button to see it in the best quality!

See Mike draw

Rad — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:59:41 +0000

I somehow stumbled upon this cartoon oriented blog, I think it must have been through a google image search. But I’m not exactly sure..

Anyway, See Mike Draw is where Mike shares his cartoons with the world. His style reminds me a lot of Gary Larson’s, The Far Side. Check it out for a good laugh and to kill some time. One of my favourites is easily the Lego prostitute, probably because I’m a big Lego fan.

I’m cheap, buy me now!

Rad — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:27:11 +0000

Today I decided to go into JB HiFi to have a quick look around. I’ve constrained myself from going in as much as possible because 9 times out of 10 I’ll end up needing a third or even sometimes a fourth hand to hold all the DVD’s I’ll buy. Today was no exception, how can I refuse when the I’m cheap, Buy me now! sticker is catching my attention everywhere?

So what did I pick up today? Green Street Hooligans with Elijah Wood, giving us a look into the world of English Football Hooliganism. Borat, Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, while I’ve hesitated on this title for many months, mainly because I didn’t find it as funny as the TV episodes – at the price of $12.98, why not.

I also managed to grab The Running Man with one of my favourite actors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cliffhanger with Stallone (The season’s over, asshole! – classic line from when Tucker was getting his ass kicked on the mountain edge) and last but not least, Donnie Brasco with Pacino and Depp. All these titles were under $15 with most under $10, an ideal pricepoint in my opinion.