Well... not really, still lots of Laker fans at yesterday's Clippers "home" game.
I've been a fan of the Clips since the Danny Manning/Charles Smith/Ron Harper era and I'm glad to see them have this type of success. The 17-game winning streak, getting over 50 wins and now the Pacific Division title (not to mention sweeping the Lakers season series).
It's going to be really hard for the Lake Show if they don't make the playoffs (which is going to be tough considering who they are playing and if Utah's opponents lay down because of the Lake-hate).
It would have been nice to see both LA teams doing well and it still baffles my mind that the Lakers are doing so bad but I'm not that torn up by it. Although I respect that Kobe is one of the most talented players in the NBA, I'm just not that much of a fan. I hope Dwight stays and when Kobe eventually retires, the Lakers are able to find the next big thing (Lebron to LA maybe?) so I can really like the Lakers again... but the Clips will always be my team.
Thanks Mr. Stern for allowing CP3 to go red/blue instead of purple/gold (not sure how he would have got along with Kobe anyways)... and bless the hops gods who gave Blake Griffin those leaps. That fast break dunk where he was going to lay it up and then turned it into a dunk was redonk.
Monday, April 8, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
HTC One... not enough to beat the Four (Galaxy S IV)?
So HTC announced their 2013 flagship phone, the One today... and while it has a nice design and great specs (1080p screen!)... I don't think it's going to be able to compete once Sammy announces their Galaxy S IV in mid March.
http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/htc-one-unveiled/
http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/19/htc-one-unveiled/
(picture from Engadget)
One glaring con for me is the lack of a microSD card slot. I still don't understand why they do that (as with Google's Nexus series). The explanations for controlled environment etc just don't counter the convenience of expandable and switchable storage. I think it's one of the reasons why Samsung's Galaxy series does so well because they still have microSD expansion.
HTC says availability is mid March... but since that coincides with Sammy's rumored announcement... I don't see people rushing to get a One when they can get the IV.
Friday, February 15, 2013
iWatch vs. Galaxy Watch
There are rumors that Apple is working on an iWatch:
http://bgr.com/2013/02/13/apple-iwatch-details-bloomberg-326158/
And that Samsung is working on a Galaxy Watch:
http://bgr.com/2013/02/14/samsung-galaxy-watch-images-rumor-327615/
Really? Based on those articles, wristwatch computing is a "major hole" in their product lines and these will fill it. I'm skeptical.
Myself and at least a few people I know stopped wearing watches because our phone tells time and does so much more... so why go back?
Now, I understand that these "watchputers" are supposed to do more than just tell time... but with such a small amount of space, how much more can they do without sacrificing size and battery life?
It might be kind of cool if it can function as a phone too so that you don't have to worry about pockets, holsters or armbands... but that kind of miniaturization has to be expensive and cost prohibitive. Even the Pebble Watch (http://getpebble.com) is $150 so how much more will these be (although if it has phone functionality, could get carrier subsidies).
I'm sure these will be more like vanity gadgets and the previous gen iPod Nano proved it can fit in that form factor but I don't think this will become a money maker segment.
I guess we'll see.. but I think the minimum features should be:
- Camera (video and still)
- GPS
- Expandable memory storage
- Bluetooth (to interact with your phone)
I'm still watiing for someone to get a 5-7" tablet with physical game controls right (Archos is close).
http://bgr.com/2013/02/13/apple-iwatch-details-bloomberg-326158/
And that Samsung is working on a Galaxy Watch:
http://bgr.com/2013/02/14/samsung-galaxy-watch-images-rumor-327615/
Really? Based on those articles, wristwatch computing is a "major hole" in their product lines and these will fill it. I'm skeptical.
Myself and at least a few people I know stopped wearing watches because our phone tells time and does so much more... so why go back?
Now, I understand that these "watchputers" are supposed to do more than just tell time... but with such a small amount of space, how much more can they do without sacrificing size and battery life?
It might be kind of cool if it can function as a phone too so that you don't have to worry about pockets, holsters or armbands... but that kind of miniaturization has to be expensive and cost prohibitive. Even the Pebble Watch (http://getpebble.com) is $150 so how much more will these be (although if it has phone functionality, could get carrier subsidies).
I'm sure these will be more like vanity gadgets and the previous gen iPod Nano proved it can fit in that form factor but I don't think this will become a money maker segment.
I guess we'll see.. but I think the minimum features should be:
- Camera (video and still)
- GPS
- Expandable memory storage
- Bluetooth (to interact with your phone)
I'm still watiing for someone to get a 5-7" tablet with physical game controls right (Archos is close).
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Continuum = Time Cop and assorted time travel stuff
Just started watching Continuum... a Canadian sci-fi TV show about a "cop" and some "terrorists" from 2077 who get transported back to 2012.
It's pretty good (the cop is Rachel Nichols, Scarlet from the GI Joe movie) but it reminds me of Time Cop (the TV series spawned from the movie of the same name). Or, if any of you remember, Time Trax, a TV show with a similar premise. The reason why Time Trax sticks out to me is it had this martial art called Mosh Ti and a thing that the protagonist could do called "time stalling" where he visually sees things faster than normal so it enables him to fight better.
All these shows have to deal with the idea of if you change things in the past, do you affect the future... or the whole Terminator explanation that whatever you think you change in the past, it was meant to be and is actually required in order for the future to happen as it does.
Time travel is always a tricky proposition, the Fringe finale generated some questions because they traveled to the future to change the future in order to change the past (huh?). Even Looper's explanation of time loops didn't really make sense.
I do like the neatness of Back to the Future where they explained that any divergence in the past breaks off and causes a new timeline resulting in multiple universes thus preserving original timelines.
But I'm not really on board with the multiple timeline theory (which was also a variant in the movie Timeline) so I prefer the whole Terminator paradigm, that changing the past won't markedly change the future no matter what you do (which was the case in the Time Machine movie with Guy Pierce). The Shatner Star Trek stuck to this theory ("How do we know he didn't invent the thing?" when Scottie gave the scientist the formula for transparent aluminum) while the new Pike Star Trek does not.
Back to Continuum, they tested that theory by targeting ancestors of the people who traveled back in time. They even killed the grandmother of one of them but he remained in existence, so I think they are sticking to the "can't change the future" paradigm although that effectively kills the endgame of the terrorists as their whole goal is to change the past to serve their needs.
Bah... time travel is a conundrum.
It's pretty good (the cop is Rachel Nichols, Scarlet from the GI Joe movie) but it reminds me of Time Cop (the TV series spawned from the movie of the same name). Or, if any of you remember, Time Trax, a TV show with a similar premise. The reason why Time Trax sticks out to me is it had this martial art called Mosh Ti and a thing that the protagonist could do called "time stalling" where he visually sees things faster than normal so it enables him to fight better.
All these shows have to deal with the idea of if you change things in the past, do you affect the future... or the whole Terminator explanation that whatever you think you change in the past, it was meant to be and is actually required in order for the future to happen as it does.
Time travel is always a tricky proposition, the Fringe finale generated some questions because they traveled to the future to change the future in order to change the past (huh?). Even Looper's explanation of time loops didn't really make sense.
I do like the neatness of Back to the Future where they explained that any divergence in the past breaks off and causes a new timeline resulting in multiple universes thus preserving original timelines.
But I'm not really on board with the multiple timeline theory (which was also a variant in the movie Timeline) so I prefer the whole Terminator paradigm, that changing the past won't markedly change the future no matter what you do (which was the case in the Time Machine movie with Guy Pierce). The Shatner Star Trek stuck to this theory ("How do we know he didn't invent the thing?" when Scottie gave the scientist the formula for transparent aluminum) while the new Pike Star Trek does not.
Back to Continuum, they tested that theory by targeting ancestors of the people who traveled back in time. They even killed the grandmother of one of them but he remained in existence, so I think they are sticking to the "can't change the future" paradigm although that effectively kills the endgame of the terrorists as their whole goal is to change the past to serve their needs.
Bah... time travel is a conundrum.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
iPhone XL?
While there are rumors of an iPhone mini or a budget iPhone... I think the next logical step would be to go the opposite way... a bigger iPhone.
Most of the Android phones coming out are 4.5" screens are bigger and Samsung has found great success with its big screened Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note/Note 2 phones, so it would make sense for Apple to get into that market.
While this may oppose what Apple has said about their iPhone being the perfect size... they (or Jobs actually) also said that they would not be making a smaller iPad.
This would also allow them to upcharge for a bigger phone (ie the Apple Tax) and open up several options for their iPhone line. The XL would be their premium/phablet line, the iPhone 5+ their main line and the smaller iPhone 4S form factor would be their budget line. And with LTE becoming standard, a bigger form factor would allow for a bigger battery.
Would you buy a bigger iPhone?
Most of the Android phones coming out are 4.5" screens are bigger and Samsung has found great success with its big screened Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note/Note 2 phones, so it would make sense for Apple to get into that market.
While this may oppose what Apple has said about their iPhone being the perfect size... they (or Jobs actually) also said that they would not be making a smaller iPad.
This would also allow them to upcharge for a bigger phone (ie the Apple Tax) and open up several options for their iPhone line. The XL would be their premium/phablet line, the iPhone 5+ their main line and the smaller iPhone 4S form factor would be their budget line. And with LTE becoming standard, a bigger form factor would allow for a bigger battery.
Would you buy a bigger iPhone?
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
What kind of gear do I have?
While I call myself a big nerd... I'm more "big" than "nerd". I'm a regular on different forums and there are people out there who used to be like I was back in the day where they know all the technical specs, performance details and mhz of technology gadgets. Back then, it was really only desktop computers and notebooks... now with tablets and mobile phones... it's hard to keep up. So while I don't get caught up in all those numbers any more and I don't have a gaggle of equipment that I tinker with (nor do I spend all my free time flashing ROMs), I do have a number of devices:
Main Computer:
Sony SE VAIO 15" i5 1920x1080 FHD (wish they still had 1920x1200 WUXGA)
It's a good deck... took me a while to get it but it was the first FHD computer that came in at about $1k (end of 2011). Since then there have been more and while this particular model suffers from OrangeGate (the screen renders reds more orange than red) but it works. I've been meaning to replace the optical disk with an SSD... but I really don't think the price warrants the speed benefit.
Mobile Computer:
Toshiba Portege Z835 (Best Buy version) 14" i3 1366x768 (what I call Bleh-tina Display)
When Intel announced their Ultrabook initiative, I was ecstatic. I used to marvel at how thin Apple notebooks and always wished PCs would follow. I even bought a 13" MacBook Air and put Windows on it... but interestingly enough, I ended up just using OSX and the browser. It was then that I realized that for my home use, I don't really need a high power machine (I don't play graphic intensive games), but just something that was very portable, so I sold the MBA and ended up picking the Toshiba as my first Ultrabook because it had the keyboard layout I wanted (dedicated Pg/Home/End buttons) and all the ports without using a dongle. The bonus was with discounts and sales, it ended up being only $699 when other Ultrabooks at the time (again end of 2011) were $1k or higher. There are more Ultrabooks now in the $700 range but eventually when I replace the Tosh, I think they will be in the $500s (late 2013/early 2014).
Tablets:
iPad 2 32GB
Had an Asus Transformer (the first one)... sold it.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 8GB
After using a 10" tablet and now the 7", I actually think a 5-6" is better for portability... which brings me to...
Phones:
iPhone 4 32GB
Moto Xprt
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (my newest toy)
The Note 2 is a great convergence device for me. It's not my main phone, so you'll hardly see me making phone calls with this gigantic slab on my ear (although it doesn't look that big next to me)... but using it as a 4G connected tablet (with pen input!) is its main function. I think the market for "phablets" is going to get bigger are more people combine phone and tablet usage.
I eventually want to get a Win8 convertible unit, tablet + notebook (I like that Acer and Asus both have keyboard docks that are 2nd batteries) and the iPad mini if they ever put a higher resolution display on it. I'll also probably upgrade to an iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 (whatever they come out with this year).
So what do you guys have?
Main Computer:
Sony SE VAIO 15" i5 1920x1080 FHD (wish they still had 1920x1200 WUXGA)
It's a good deck... took me a while to get it but it was the first FHD computer that came in at about $1k (end of 2011). Since then there have been more and while this particular model suffers from OrangeGate (the screen renders reds more orange than red) but it works. I've been meaning to replace the optical disk with an SSD... but I really don't think the price warrants the speed benefit.
Mobile Computer:
Toshiba Portege Z835 (Best Buy version) 14" i3 1366x768 (what I call Bleh-tina Display)
When Intel announced their Ultrabook initiative, I was ecstatic. I used to marvel at how thin Apple notebooks and always wished PCs would follow. I even bought a 13" MacBook Air and put Windows on it... but interestingly enough, I ended up just using OSX and the browser. It was then that I realized that for my home use, I don't really need a high power machine (I don't play graphic intensive games), but just something that was very portable, so I sold the MBA and ended up picking the Toshiba as my first Ultrabook because it had the keyboard layout I wanted (dedicated Pg/Home/End buttons) and all the ports without using a dongle. The bonus was with discounts and sales, it ended up being only $699 when other Ultrabooks at the time (again end of 2011) were $1k or higher. There are more Ultrabooks now in the $700 range but eventually when I replace the Tosh, I think they will be in the $500s (late 2013/early 2014).
Tablets:
iPad 2 32GB
Had an Asus Transformer (the first one)... sold it.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 8GB
After using a 10" tablet and now the 7", I actually think a 5-6" is better for portability... which brings me to...
Phones:
iPhone 4 32GB
Moto Xprt
Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (my newest toy)
The Note 2 is a great convergence device for me. It's not my main phone, so you'll hardly see me making phone calls with this gigantic slab on my ear (although it doesn't look that big next to me)... but using it as a 4G connected tablet (with pen input!) is its main function. I think the market for "phablets" is going to get bigger are more people combine phone and tablet usage.
I eventually want to get a Win8 convertible unit, tablet + notebook (I like that Acer and Asus both have keyboard docks that are 2nd batteries) and the iPad mini if they ever put a higher resolution display on it. I'll also probably upgrade to an iPhone 5S or iPhone 6 (whatever they come out with this year).
So what do you guys have?
Monday, January 7, 2013
Do nerds follow sports?
It's already known I'm an MMA fan but the NBA is actually my favorite sport. A group of friends have been doing Fantasy basketball for years... before the Internet and all these online leagues. I remember we had to compile stats from the newspaper each day and I even wrote a program to add up all the stats each week (this was before one of us started using Excel on Win 3.x/95 a few years later). I won our first year with a lineup of Shaq/Mourning (no one wanted to draft rookies) and Mookie Blaylock.
Much has changed since then and while we still have to do our stats partly manually (we compile by week rather than in total)... Fantasy basketball has been a great way to follow not just your local teams, favorite teams or favorite players... but all players. I guess because of all the numbers and stats, it's the nerd way to follow a sport.
I've long been a Clipper fan... since the days of Danny Manning, Charles Smith, Ron Harper, Ken Norman etc... so to finally see them succeeding is great. So stoked that Stern interfered and CP3 ending up in the Red/Blue than the Purple/Gold. I feel bad for Dwight over in LaLa land... and it's a bit weird that they can't put together more wins... but if the Clips can get to the Finals and win a ring... that would be awesome.
That would of course trip up LBJ's plans on multiple rings in Miami... but maybe that will spur him to move to SoCal in 2014 (fingers and toes crossed). I would become a Laker fan again if it was Dwight, Nash and LBJ and NO Kobe.
Much has changed since then and while we still have to do our stats partly manually (we compile by week rather than in total)... Fantasy basketball has been a great way to follow not just your local teams, favorite teams or favorite players... but all players. I guess because of all the numbers and stats, it's the nerd way to follow a sport.
I've long been a Clipper fan... since the days of Danny Manning, Charles Smith, Ron Harper, Ken Norman etc... so to finally see them succeeding is great. So stoked that Stern interfered and CP3 ending up in the Red/Blue than the Purple/Gold. I feel bad for Dwight over in LaLa land... and it's a bit weird that they can't put together more wins... but if the Clips can get to the Finals and win a ring... that would be awesome.
That would of course trip up LBJ's plans on multiple rings in Miami... but maybe that will spur him to move to SoCal in 2014 (fingers and toes crossed). I would become a Laker fan again if it was Dwight, Nash and LBJ and NO Kobe.
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