It has been a while for me to write a new post, because I am occupied by three programming classes + Linear Algebra class. Therefore, most of my time have been devoted to write codes and do Math problems ( both of them have one thing in common; it is a pain in the ass).
Anyway, since I don't have time to write anything substantive, so I share this instead:
YOU DON'T NEED TO PAY TO WATCH STAR WARS
- as long as you wouldn't mind watching it in ASCII
In What? You may wonder what the heck is ASCII? Well,It is American Standard Code for Information Interchange. Simply put, it is just the characters you normally see on the keyboard. ( OMG, I can actually use something I learn from class.)
You can either click on this site to enjoy it or you open up a terminal (Linux user and possibly Mac user as well) and type: telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
Here are some other random cool features for using terminal for you from Niki Pixel: ( and some eye-candy as well )
I was just browsing on YouTube as usual and I came across with this channel that I found it rather interesting.
In this channel, there is an Australian guy who made a series of videos of his Mom trying out different OS on a desktop. He didn't just pick the most popular OS (i.e
Windows and Mac OS), he literally picked any OS you can think of, from the ancient MS-DOS to cloud-based Joli OS. To be honest, I haven't heard of some of the OS. His mom actions/comments on those OS are hilarious.
I find his efforts quite admiring. I tried to do a similar thing with my Mom to let her try MeeGo OS, but that didn't work out that well. It took times to find the right OS and set up properly on a desktop, particular the old OS. Also, it is really up to the Mom whether she is willing to be a good sport or not.
In short, those videos are funny and definitely worth your time to check it out.
So, I decide to talk about Map today. However, before I go on, please don't be mistaken by the picture nor the title I posted above. I have no intentions to talk about any navigation or map service on your mobile phone. If you are looking for story about some crazy glitch found on the maps from it-must-not-be-named or cool augmented reality enhancement on the mobile devices (like Nokia city lens on Lumia 920 or google augmented reality glasses ), then you are gonna be disappointed.
The next question that may came into your mind before you decide to stop reading this nonsense is that what I can possibly talk about. We human has been mapping the world since the beginning of the time. Mapping is old news.It is nothing controversial about it.
Wrong!
Okay, now you must think there is something wrong with me. Particularly, with the advancement of technology( there is around 3,000 satellite in orbit), no way in hell that we don't even know what the world is supposed to look like. Before you think I am one of those people wearing tin-foil hats, please give me two seconds to make my case.
Now, closed your eye and try to remember how the world map looks like ( no peeking)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
OK, I hope you come up with something like that:
- A screen-shot from Google Map
This map looks pretty normal, right? It is just like the map we learned at school (in fact, it is).
BUT
In reality, Australia is more than three and a half times larger than Greenland
In fact, *the world looks more like this:
-Gall–Peters projection
Than the one we are familiar with:
-Mercator projection
Why does it look so different? The truth is because the earth as we know of is a globe.In other words,the surface of the earth is curved. Since we like our map flat, certain distortions are inevitable. Therefore, no projections are 100% accurate. Different projections are chosen based on different purpose.That being said, despite its infamous inaccuracy, Mercator projection still retains its dominant popularity,because of its rather aesthetic appeal. When Mercator projection was developed in 1569, it was just made for sailing navigation. Now, you can basically see them everywhere.
Therefore, next time when you pull off your phone to check on the map. Just keep in mind that what you see is not necessary what it is there.
* Disclaimers: As of matter of fact, the Gall–Peters projection is not accurate either. As I am not an expert in Cartography, I heavily relied on the information from the internet, namely the Wikipedia. National Geographic has a very informative webpage on map projections. They have a video showing different kinds of map projection. If you are interested in learning more, click here.
In my last post , when I said about the problem we have nowadays is not about the lack of creativity, here is one of the example of it that still make you surprised by what can be done with mobile phone. Here is the company website if you want more details.
The first impression of this phone is that it actually reminds me of a "feature phone" I used to have before the "iPhone"-era which also happened to have a dual-monitor.
-The Samsung Upstage from sprint
I liked that phone ; it was one of the kind (I think it still is) that combine iPod like music device with a traditional phone with a keypad from the good o'day. That's pretty much the same reason why I fall in love with Yota phone. As you can see, I do have my fair share of using two monitors at once. So, when I tell you it is not difficult to get used to the switching, I know what I am talking about.That being said, it is still unclear to me how the switching experience of the Yota phone is like , such as, practicability: which apps can go on e-link and which apps can not and the smoothness of the transition experience (which I find it very important, as you don't want to miss a call when you are in the middle of reading).
Although I like the idea, I still have some reservations on the e-ink integration into this phone. Based on the demo and the couple others I watched on YouTube, I didn't see much of interaction on e-ink side. Most of the activities have to be done at the front side; I suspect there is no or limited touch capability on the e-ink screen. Also, my own experience with e-ink wasn't that great, as I found it rather unresponsive and slow, but it was couple years ago. The technology is definitely better by now (check out the kindle paperwhite and you know they ain't playing around). So, it is really up to folks from Yota to meet up the high expectation.
In all fairness, the idea of putting e-paper on the back of the phone is intriguing but the fact that they actually make it work is even more impressive. It definitely opens up a new venue for phone application and it definitely helps with people that can't read on a LCD monitor. I think this phone generates enough hype that there are plenty of information and coverages about this phone out there already, so I am gonna skip the fine prints and call it a day (the demo clip is also pretty much self-explanatory).
*One more thing to add is that not only they did a significant change on the hardware front, but they also did some changes on the software front. They modified the Android OS to make it a more gesture-based OS. That make me wonder if it is possible to port other emerging gesture-centric linux OS into this phone.
I really hope this phone is a hit, not so much because it is a great idea that deserves much of the success but mostly because it will make those major phone manufacturers wake the hell up and once again start making phones that people actually want to buy .
Well, I really should diversify my blog, instead of just fixating on ubuntu or mobile technology in general, but I really can't help myself. So here we go:
My first impression on new ubuntu mobile OS: Rants against lazy journalism from a biased view (Part I):
After the announcement came out, I have been closely followed (sorta) the news about the new OS. I didn't learn anything new except the hands-on demo from Engadget The majority of articles/news/blog from the "mainstream" tech media are pretty much saying the usual blah ,blah, blah (It looks nice but it is not gonna be big). Alright, I get it; I really get it. Nothing will triumph the god almighty IOS and Andrioid.
So, where can we go from there...? World domination? Totalitarian? 1984?
The audience who are interested in tech news are generally well-informed or at least know how to be well-informed. They didn't need someone to point out the obvious over and over again and they especially don't need someone to drag a so-called expert to reinforce the prevalent perception that media go over and over again. When people click on those websites, they want to know something "new". That's why they call it "news". Trying to imagine every time when Apple came up with the new features for Mac OS X, the author reminded the audiences that Windows dominated the PC market by a very large margin and the new feature won't make a dent on the market share (FYI, I don't have a Mac and I don't use Mac OS). Frankly speaking, it bores me to hear the news like that.
I understand the media have a duty to report what the most popular items are out there, but they are also obligated to inform the audiences there are new and exciting stuffs out there too. Particularly, this is very important for reporting news from the tech field where the innovation and creativity are valued the most.Taking the mobile OS as an example, there are certainly some shortcomings in both IOS and Andriod, just like everything else, in which some people are trying solve it from within, and some others just prefer solving by thinking outside the box and building something amazing from the scratch. It is nothing wrong with either choices. I believe those people who chose a different path are no idiots and know what they are getting themselves into. We should applaud and admire their bravery and dedication. They are willing to go where most of us will just stand still and whine about not being able to move forward.Of course, business is business. Risk is always there. Most of the time, taking risk is not rewarding at all (unless you take a very huge one, otherwise no one would bring a check with $700 billion to come to rescue).However, if no one goes out on a limb, we will have nothing. Simply bashing or mocking those people are not going to solve the problems.
The kind of negativity and skepticism that we see today in media is not healthy.When those tech media complain about the lack of innovation among the new products: the "me-too" products, they should really think about why would that be. Is it because people just become less creative? Or, is it because we have "me-too" media that rely on the major companies feeding them information?
p.s In all fairness, the general reaction to new ubuntu OS is not too bad: I would say cautiously optimistic. There is another point to make for such difference, but that's for some other times.
Alright then, I finally put some efforts to finish up a pet project of my own that has started two summers ago. Feel free to check it out: A Journey of Training My Mom to use Meego.
p.s Folks from Engadget did an article on the new Ubuntu mobiles OS and they have a hands-on video with the Benevolent Dictator himself aka Mark Shuttleworth. Check it out.
Ok, there are two things I want to talk about Ubuntu for today. Be mindful this is just a quick run-down for the stuffs I want to talk about before I have time to write something more in-depth and accurate.
First, Ubuntu finally unveils the mystery behind the countdowns on its webpage- another mobile OS in a already crowded mobile market. Despite the common consensus that there is no more space for another OS, Canonical begs to differ and develops their own mobile OS. Being an arguably long-time linux-based mobile OS user ( Maemo and later Meego), I am personally excited about the news, as I believe it will speed up the development for Qt platform. More competition, more innovation. With two exciting linux-based mobile platforms rolling out this year,the landscape of mobile platform for 2013 is going to be unlike (heads up, Jolla fans).
However, It is still early to say whether ubuntu platform for phone is a competitive player just yet. The demo on youtube looks promising and the OS interface looks very similar to the desktop counterpart. Because of the similarity, I expect the user experience of the mobile should be the same with the desktop version. Beside that, there aren't many new features that are unique to this particular OS. Yet again, I was just skimming the fine prints on the website, so I might miss something. Hopefully, more details will be given at CES on Jan 8 -11 at Las Vegas.
The second thing I want to talk about is less exciting. After being a Window user since I first learned of computer when I was a kid, I finally switch to use Linux (Ubuntu). It is true that I dabble in Ubuntu every now and then for my classes, but I never use it as my sole OS on daily basis. It is all new to me and I am still struggled to set up Ubuntu with working apps. I probably write more about my experiences later on.
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Here are some other random cool features for using terminal for you from Niki Pixel: ( and some eye-candy as well ) 
