A recent study has shown that compared to a similar study conducted 12 years ago, America's youth is suffering strokes at an alarming increase: in the age group 5-14, strokes increased 31% in males and 36% in females.
Lose some goddam weight, fatties!
Friday, February 11, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Logitard
After digging around on the web, I finally found out how to reconnect this wireless Logitech MX Revolution mouse with its receiver. It doesn't have a reset/connect button on it, so instead this is what you have to do:
- Turn on mouse
- Hold left button down while turning off mouse
- Continue holding left while turning back on
- Continue holding left while clicking right exactly 5 times
- Release left
WTF? It has 7 buttons and 2 wheels, and they couldn't put a fucking connect button on it?? What were they thinking?
- Turn on mouse
- Hold left button down while turning off mouse
- Continue holding left while turning back on
- Continue holding left while clicking right exactly 5 times
- Release left
WTF? It has 7 buttons and 2 wheels, and they couldn't put a fucking connect button on it?? What were they thinking?
Friday, February 4, 2011
Review: Velocity Cruz Micro R101 Android-powered e-reader / tablet
So I bought this thing... here's their little commerical for it:
So what do I think about it? Well it's more than an e-reader but less than a tablet. Some weird area in betwen. But the price was right, so I'll keep it around.
Cons:
1. Well, my first and biggest complaint is the screen. It even says in the user manual, that the screen uses the old resistive touch technology instead of the newer heat-sensitive touch technology you get with things like Droids, iPhones, iPad, etc. So you have to push much harder to get your touches to register. And that filmy touch-sensitive layer makes the screen a little more cloudy and not so crisp.
2. So far I haven't been able to get an SD card to work properly with it. It has a standard size SD card slot. I currently only have micro-SD cards with adapters to make them full size. But trying them all in the Cruz, it just keeps saying "Card blank or unrecognized format. Do you want to Format the card?" I dont know if this is because it's actually a micro-SD in an adapter, but I would think it shouldn't matter. But then, if I say Yes, format the card (hoping this will make it usable with the Cruz), it just does nothing and never formats the card.
This isn't a huge issue since it has 4 GB internal and books are small, but 4 GB wont last long if I want to put movies on there.
3. This is the biggest complaint of Cruz owners: They dont allow the device to access the Android app market. Instead they only give you limited access to the "Cruz Market" with only a handful of lame apps. So the only way you're going to put good apps on it is if your techie enough to figure how to download them through other means (piracy, underground sites, etc) and manually transfer them to the Cruz via cable or SD card. Even then, the apps weren't written for the Cruz specifically so sometimes they wont install properly. I've had hit-or-miss success with this.
4. The only movie format it will play is MPEG. If you download movies a lot, you know the most popular format theyre in is Divx. So you have to run your movies through a converter if you want to play them on the Cruz. I did have luck converting them using Total Video Converter 3.11 (search torrents) to convert Divx to mp4, which the Cruz will play. But with a full-length movie, this conversion process takes a long time. *angry face*
5. It only comes with one e-reader app, the Barnes & Noble one. If you want to read epubs, guess what? You'll have to load a different reader app. I had to try 3 before I got one that would properly read epubs. I'd recommend getting the apps: "FBReader" and "txtr"
6. There's other little annoyances that I'll glob together in this bullet-point. You can add the typical Android widgets to the desktop... one of these being an analog clock. But the clock is off by an hour... yet the system time at the top of the screen shows the proper time! Why does it have one clock wrong and one right? It's not like there's any options to set the time on the analog clock, it's supposed to get the time from the system. So why is it getting the wrong time, when the system has the right time? Whaterver.
Also if you just put the device in standby, I'm finding in about 5 minutes it turns itself back on! Just barely... you have to take it into a dark room to see that the screen is just barely back on, but it is. And it won't seem to turn back off on it's own. So when Im done using it I have to totally power it down instead of just letting it standby so it doesnt kill the battery. This is annoying because it takes a good minute or so to boot back up.
Some of the reader apps take a good 30 seconds to open a book. Once it's open, you're fine, but expect an initial wait.
There's no way to access the battery. When it gets older and doesn't hold its charge as well, I'd like to be able to replace it, but no such luck.. looks like they took the Apple approach here.
Pros:
- Well, it's got Android. The OS is powerful and fast.
- Battery life does seem to be what they boast, at least while it's new. They claim a half-hour charge gets you 10 hours. So far, it's delivering. I read some other review where someone said they even made it play a looping movie till the battery died, and it did last about 10 hours. Nice!
- Speakers aren't bad. Loud enough for one to hear a movie comfortably. Has an earphone jack also.
- Being able to read in the dark is a plus for me.
For the buck, it's not bad. But if I had known about the cons listed here, I'd probably would not have gotten it. Instead I wouldve spent a little more for a device with a heat-touch screen and access to the app market for starters.
So what do I think about it? Well it's more than an e-reader but less than a tablet. Some weird area in betwen. But the price was right, so I'll keep it around.
Cons:
1. Well, my first and biggest complaint is the screen. It even says in the user manual, that the screen uses the old resistive touch technology instead of the newer heat-sensitive touch technology you get with things like Droids, iPhones, iPad, etc. So you have to push much harder to get your touches to register. And that filmy touch-sensitive layer makes the screen a little more cloudy and not so crisp.
2. So far I haven't been able to get an SD card to work properly with it. It has a standard size SD card slot. I currently only have micro-SD cards with adapters to make them full size. But trying them all in the Cruz, it just keeps saying "Card blank or unrecognized format. Do you want to Format the card?" I dont know if this is because it's actually a micro-SD in an adapter, but I would think it shouldn't matter. But then, if I say Yes, format the card (hoping this will make it usable with the Cruz), it just does nothing and never formats the card.
This isn't a huge issue since it has 4 GB internal and books are small, but 4 GB wont last long if I want to put movies on there.
3. This is the biggest complaint of Cruz owners: They dont allow the device to access the Android app market. Instead they only give you limited access to the "Cruz Market" with only a handful of lame apps. So the only way you're going to put good apps on it is if your techie enough to figure how to download them through other means (piracy, underground sites, etc) and manually transfer them to the Cruz via cable or SD card. Even then, the apps weren't written for the Cruz specifically so sometimes they wont install properly. I've had hit-or-miss success with this.
4. The only movie format it will play is MPEG. If you download movies a lot, you know the most popular format theyre in is Divx. So you have to run your movies through a converter if you want to play them on the Cruz. I did have luck converting them using Total Video Converter 3.11 (search torrents) to convert Divx to mp4, which the Cruz will play. But with a full-length movie, this conversion process takes a long time. *angry face*
5. It only comes with one e-reader app, the Barnes & Noble one. If you want to read epubs, guess what? You'll have to load a different reader app. I had to try 3 before I got one that would properly read epubs. I'd recommend getting the apps: "FBReader" and "txtr"
6. There's other little annoyances that I'll glob together in this bullet-point. You can add the typical Android widgets to the desktop... one of these being an analog clock. But the clock is off by an hour... yet the system time at the top of the screen shows the proper time! Why does it have one clock wrong and one right? It's not like there's any options to set the time on the analog clock, it's supposed to get the time from the system. So why is it getting the wrong time, when the system has the right time? Whaterver.
Also if you just put the device in standby, I'm finding in about 5 minutes it turns itself back on! Just barely... you have to take it into a dark room to see that the screen is just barely back on, but it is. And it won't seem to turn back off on it's own. So when Im done using it I have to totally power it down instead of just letting it standby so it doesnt kill the battery. This is annoying because it takes a good minute or so to boot back up.
Some of the reader apps take a good 30 seconds to open a book. Once it's open, you're fine, but expect an initial wait.
There's no way to access the battery. When it gets older and doesn't hold its charge as well, I'd like to be able to replace it, but no such luck.. looks like they took the Apple approach here.
Pros:
- Well, it's got Android. The OS is powerful and fast.
- Battery life does seem to be what they boast, at least while it's new. They claim a half-hour charge gets you 10 hours. So far, it's delivering. I read some other review where someone said they even made it play a looping movie till the battery died, and it did last about 10 hours. Nice!
- Speakers aren't bad. Loud enough for one to hear a movie comfortably. Has an earphone jack also.
- Being able to read in the dark is a plus for me.
For the buck, it's not bad. But if I had known about the cons listed here, I'd probably would not have gotten it. Instead I wouldve spent a little more for a device with a heat-touch screen and access to the app market for starters.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Ugh. People fucking annoy me. I know this is something that shouldn't get to me, but I'm just irked how people are sometimes.
So I bought this Android powered tablet the other day from TigerDirect, and they sent me a fucking refurbished model. I didnt see that anywhere on the item description page when I bought it, but moving on... they didn't even format it. It still had shit leftover from the previous owner, including some of her emails! Furthermore, it still had here email password saved into it, which was apparently still correct because it was actively downloading NEW mail for her. Normally, I would allow this to continue since I'm mischievous and this was like a free break-in into someone's email. But they were all just so boring! About crafts and chuch choir and dresses....blah blah blah. So I deleted the account. I googled the chick's email address and found she's part of this military-spouses club.
Then I got the wild idea of emailing her to tell her I had the tablet she once owed. I dont know, I would think it's cool if someone did that to me... kiud of like a message in a bottle, or wheregeorge.com ... you know, it's cool to see how an object travels and whose lives it comes in contact with. Whatever.
So I write her...
"Honey, honey, I got an email... from a man, a stranger, honey, it's a man that's isnt my husband. You better come reply to this. God forbid I write back to another man, even though it's just a conversation about a dumb gadget."
I know, maybe she deferred to her husband because she isnt technical enough to explain it or something, but I just keep seeing the above scenario in my head instead. These people annoy me.
So I bought this Android powered tablet the other day from TigerDirect, and they sent me a fucking refurbished model. I didnt see that anywhere on the item description page when I bought it, but moving on... they didn't even format it. It still had shit leftover from the previous owner, including some of her emails! Furthermore, it still had here email password saved into it, which was apparently still correct because it was actively downloading NEW mail for her. Normally, I would allow this to continue since I'm mischievous and this was like a free break-in into someone's email. But they were all just so boring! About crafts and chuch choir and dresses....blah blah blah. So I deleted the account. I googled the chick's email address and found she's part of this military-spouses club.
Then I got the wild idea of emailing her to tell her I had the tablet she once owed. I dont know, I would think it's cool if someone did that to me... kiud of like a message in a bottle, or wheregeorge.com ... you know, it's cool to see how an object travels and whose lives it comes in contact with. Whatever.
So I write her...
From: DavidI should have known better... knowing I was emailing a religious military wife. I got this reply later that night..
To: cindy
Subject: Hi
Hi there,
I'm David.. you don't know me, but apparently I just bought the Velocity Micro tablet you used to own. I just bought it from tigerdirect.com and it came with some of your emails still on it. Don't worry, nothing personal, and I already deleted them.
I'm quite sure I ordered a new one, not a refurbished one, so that's weird. I'm taking it up with tigerdirect now. I'm also surprised at them for not factory-resetting it to blank everything out. Usually tiger is a very good and reputable company. Anyway, can I ask what was wrong with it that you sent it back? And how did you like it overall?
From: WayYes, that's really his name lol. Anyway, what makes me scowl is I could almost just see how this went down at their churchy household on the military base...
David,
The error of my wife's emails still being on the tablet is mine. I guess I did not wipe it correctly. It was purchased as a gift and recently returned to TigerDirect. I have usually had good results from TD, so I am just as surprised as you are that they did not do a factory reinstall.
The reason that it was returned was that it was not supported by the official Google Android Marketplace; making many of the apps she wanted to run unavailable. The system would not support the newer version of the Nook app, forcing me to find an older version through a list-serve that would run on the Velocity Micro. It seemed to be fast, but too limited. We returned it, bought her a Toshiba Netbook; and she is much happier.
I bought a MID Android tablet through a different company and I am much happier with it than she was with the Velocity. It runs all the official apps and is quite fast. Battery life is always an issue, but it lasted in airplane mode non-stop coast-to-coast last week so that is fine with me.
Thanks for deleting the emails and letting her know.
Way
"Honey, honey, I got an email... from a man, a stranger, honey, it's a man that's isnt my husband. You better come reply to this. God forbid I write back to another man, even though it's just a conversation about a dumb gadget."
I know, maybe she deferred to her husband because she isnt technical enough to explain it or something, but I just keep seeing the above scenario in my head instead. These people annoy me.
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