Saturday 20 December 2014

Thanks. I'm moving.

Dear all,

Thanks for the support over the past 2 years. I know that I have not been here for quite a while. 8 months. but today, this blog has to go.

You may have noticed that some blog posts have been deleted. It's some personal issues that requires me to delete them, and I can't tell you the details because it's quite private to me and a few other people.

I will be starting a new blog very soon, but I still have not decided where to host it, or whether I will be continuing using technology as the main theme.

Consistency was an issue here, and I will make sure that I will learn from my mistakes.

Although I will be gone, this blog will be still here, if any of you want to read it or make fun of me with it.

Again, thanks for all of your support.

Larry Poon
20/12/14

Update: Here is my new blog. Yes, it's Tumblr.

http://techandbus.tumblr.com/

Just forget my creepiness in the past here. Who cares about the past anyways. I mean, who cares about this blog??

Have a great Christmas everyone! Goodbye!

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Sorry, long gone, but back!! Some updates.

Hey everyone..

Sorry... It's kind of my fault.  I didn't post here since ages ago. I was kind of being laughed at for posting things I wasn't supposed to, so I kept quiet for a while. Also, I didn't manage my time properly. Now, when things are better, I'm back. Yes, I mean this is my real comeback :D

First of all, I would like to say thank you to people who took time to look through my blog briefly, which I have noticed this blog comes up on Google. I am getting quite consistent views everyday, even though I haven't written here for 4 months....

Just want to follow up on the stuff I am using now, I recently got a Samsung Galaxy R, and flashed it with Cyanogenmod 11. Pretty cool stuff eh? I left my old phone (Samsung Galaxy W) behind for spare, which also ran Cyanogenmod 11 (Thanks to acro68 for all his hard work on XDA developers)

So, where should I start?? I'm not going to be like before and go through everything that happened in the tech world, because the list would probably take too long to read (I don't want to torture you guys XD) so I'll just stick with the important ones over the past year.

Android 4.4 KitKat along with the Nexus 5 came along a few months ago. All I can say: A lovely device. I tried it out, because one of my friends had one, and it was fantastic. As I am a current user of KitKat (Technically Cyanogenmod 11), I am very impressed with KitKat. I love the tinted status bar, the direct Google Now by swiping, and using 'OK Google' hotwords. I am also impressed with it's buttery interface, so far haven't even experienced any type of lag. Just a few bugs on the camera and the battery life, but other than that, it's a masterpiece. I also praise Google for finally making new versions of Android for 'Low Ram' devices, such as the Galaxy W I used before. It's quite a big breakthrough of the Android Development team to do that.

Windows 8.1 came around few months ago. It was a large improvement over Windows 8, which made things easier (Did I mention I hook up my desktop on a big TV screen?) and, things were easier to use. I rather say I am hoping the Windows 8.1 Update 1 can really fix things that people didn't like, such as clicking 3 times to shut down your computer. I know that Windows 8.1 Update 1 is coming around the corner in April, which is pretty cool, and I'll give an update of how that works out.

The Surface 2 came along with Windows 8.1 as well, with performance and battery improvements, but I rather say it's not much of a big difference that its predecessor, so I'm not going to write too much on that.  

Samsung continues to dominate the smartphone industry. The Samsung Galaxy S5 was announced a few weeks back. Just a little tweak from the Galaxy S4, with a health sensor, and competing with the iPhone 5S, a fingerprint sensor. The thing I am finally proud of Samsung is that they finally stopped using glossy plastic and used rubber material instead, because the glossy plastic annoys me somethings. I rather say other than that along with some hardware upgrades, there isn't much of a big difference than the Galaxy S4, so I don't have high hopes for that.

The Galaxy Note 3 was released on September last year. It wasn't as good selling as the Note 2 did the year before, and since I have a lot of hate on Touchwiz, I don't really like the Note 3. But I am quite impressed with the specifications.

The iPhone 5S, along with a cheaper variant, the 5C, came along on September 2013. It was the first time a fingerprint sensor was introduced on a popular smartphone, which was on the 5S which caught quite a few attention. Apple played along with something new, which was called the '64 bit system' which changed the infrastructure for iOS. iOS 7 came along with that, with a brand new 'flat' design, removing 'skeuomorphism' from their designs, which Scott Forstell used to like a lot. (He left after the absolute failure of Apple Maps) As Jony Ive took over iOS development and design, it was already predicted that they would change the interface of iOS.  I don't generally support Apple, as I disagree with their direction. But I rather say they are daring to try out something new, which is always a good thing. However, the 5C was a big flop, literally barely anyone bought the 5C. I rather say Apple should really rethink on the 5C, as I think it's not working too well.

Apple also released its new computer operating system 'Mac OS X 10.9' known as 'Mavericks'. They finally gave up on using vicious animals as their naming system, rather than start using names of places in California. I quite like the new system, although I didn't have the chance to try it (I broke my Macbook by accident :P) but I rather say it's a improvement over Mountain Lion.

One of the biggest turning points for internet surveillance programs in the United States: PRISM, the NSA, and the CIA. On May 2013, Edward Snowden, a contractor for the CIA, became a 'Whistleblower'  and flew all the way from Hawaii to Hong Kong (Where I live). He gave a lot of information on the surveillance program, which one of them is known as 'PRISM' which gathers and analyses user data from major multinational internet companies, such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, and many more. This has caused a public outrage towards the NSA, and as Snowden is now in Russia (which is known having a bad diplomatic relationship with the United States) he will continue to release more details. Anti surveillance groups have formed around world, hundreds of petitions signed (One of the by Mozilla) and the Congress got involved. Now, what everyone can do is buy a bag of popcorn, and watch more things happen.

Lenovo has done a great job last year, in my opinion. More and more laptops are coming through, and I can see that they are now trying to break through in the smartphone market. Our school has decided to introduce the Lenovo Thinkpad X240s for our current Year 7 and 8's, which they are already using. I quite like the design, but a bit disappointed with the graphics.

HTC's phones are always buried under Samsung's phones, but, I quite like the HTC One. It's a great phone, but I think the reason why it's not doing too well because people already assume 'Samsung is Android' which is not true. Although it's camera is a bit dodgey, but I rather say I quite like 'Blinkfeed' and also its specifications. They also improved a lot on HTC Sense, which many people quite like that change.

The game 'Flappy Bird' literally took over the smartphone gaming rankings for 3 weeks last month, before it was taken down by Dong Ngyuen, which was the developer of it. A very frustrating, yet addictive game. Hated that game though. XD

Just one last thing, the Oppo N1, which is not really been focused on. It is the first commercial smartphone that came with Cyanogemod (Which is also Android), which I think it's a massive breakthrough for Cyanogenmod, as they used to only focus on creating custom ROM's for phones. I first knew about the N1 in Thailand (0.0) which when I was on holiday during Christmas, there was advertising of the phone everywhere. It depends on the future on Cyanogemod, if they are willing to make another breakthrough in the smartphone industry.

Want to follow up on my personal life. I have been doing well, just a bit of stress on work. I actually decided to work on time management, which made it easier for me to write here now. Things have been going well in school. My teaching group became my form group, which I think made things better.

I will follow up next month on Windows 8.1 Update 1, and any new things that will happen in the tech world. See you guys soon!

Sunday 13 October 2013

Not dead, just gone for a while

Hey guys,

Its been a while (8 Months!) since I have been here. I was real busy since February (Work etc.) I don't know how many things has been new (Galaxy S4, Galaxy Note 3, iPhone 5S, 5C, Sony Xperia X1, Surface 2, Windows 8.1, new Lenovo Thinkpads and much more)

Just want to let you guys know out there I'm not dead (XD) I was just busy.

Windows 8.1 and Surface 2 lineup is coming in about a week's time, I will follow up on that later.
I am fine with other things, not depressed etc. Its fine :)


Thanks,
Larry

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Why Windows 8 is awesome, but it sucks in the meanwhile.

Hey Guys,

Haven't postde for a long time, because my workload is crazy. Now I spent quite a while doing this, which I will be doing a in-depth review on Windows 8.

Windows 8 was announced very early on, in April 2011, when the developer preview came out. It introduced Metro Interface and live tiles. Today, in the final version of Windows 8, there are huge differences, and its not the Windows 8 I tried out in November 2011.

I've been using it for a month now, and Windows 8 is generally good, with it's pretty creative Metro interface, and some kinds of brand new functions, including Windows Defender (Formley Microsoft Security Essentials) Metro apps, Windows store and countless feautures.

It is based on tablets, which means it's not really mouse and touchpad friendly, and meaning it makes it very hard to use some of its functions for example, snapping apps by the side of the screen. I need to hold left click, and drag the screen on the left or right of the screen, rather than pulling my finger across the screen, because my screen is not a touch screen.

The main part of Windows 8, or you can say spotlight, is actually the Metro interface. We've never seen that before in any previous Windows systems (Obviously) Which I find pretty creative. It keeps me up with updates, for example, I can see my new mail on the start screen, and preview the new mail right from the start screen. I can see the weather right from the start screen, I can see the news, and sports and tons of new things, and it is all in one place. 

The desktop didn't really change much, it's still pretty much the same.

Windows 8 has been trying to intergrate a tiny bit of Xbox features into Windows 8, with Xbox games and Xbox music. I personally don't use them, because I don't have a Xbox 360, but I think that it's pretty useful to some Xbox players where they need to check the Xbox Live account on their Xbox. 

A lot of things that is actually different in Windows 8 than in Windows 7, making some users very hard to adjust to Windows 8. I think the main thing that is bugging users is the Start Button on the desktop and how you cannot jump to the desktop immediatly, rather than stuck in the Start page, and clicking once more to enter the desktop. I see the problems, although I am pretty much used to it, but I think people are just too used to the start button and the desktop.

Another huge thing that bugs people is that the power options. Before, for example Windows 7, you only need two clicks. Start menu, Shut down. Now it's different, Any corner of the screen, wait for bar the come up, Settings, Power Options, Shut down. From 2 clicks to 4 clicks. Some people even have a hard time shutting down when they first use Windows 8, as they couldn't find the place where they shut down.

Generally, if you are those people who don't want to spend time to figure out how to use a new operating system, and want to stick to Windows XP or Windows 7, don't upgrade.

There's something I don't really get what the developers in the Windows team are thinking. Why they need to have a seperate 'PC settings'  rather than putting everything in the Control Panel?

Some people think that Windows is making a step backward, meaning it has become more tech geek friendly rather than usual users friendly, for example my mom.

Currently, Windows 8 only takes up the world market by 3%. It's nowhere near Windows 7 in this period of time. The sales, which everyone says, is pretty dissapointing. Everyone thought that Windows 8 will beat Windows 7 's sales, but I think, and the sales show it's not very powerful.

The main reason why people are not upgrading because people are already fed up of upgrading. A lot of users upgraded to Windows 7, and when they finally know how to use Windows 7, Windows 8 comes out.


The conclusion: It's controversial.

Depending on if you like it or not, or you used it or not, it's your opinoin. In my opinon, it's generally good, but it needs some more transparency in different aspects, for example teaching users to shut down.

Generally, it's good.

Wednesday 6 February 2013

Some tough reviews on the Microsoft Surface Pro

Hey Guys,

The official launch of the Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro is 2 days away from today, and a few press companies got hold of the tablet and published reviews, including Engadget, The Verge, Time and so on. I read The Verge's and Engadget's, and I think that it is one of the best tablets I have ever seen.

You can't call it a tablet, but you can't call it a laptop. For example, the battery life, with only 4 hours, is not counted as a tablet. You can't call it a laptop either, as it is based on a tablet. Just call it an eletronic device.

Because my dad is getting the Surface Pro, I need to follow up on it. I didn't tell him about the battery life, because he doesn't bring his current aorund all the time. He doesn't even bring it to his office. He brings it along when he goes on a buisness trip, which is pretty frequent.

I personally think that the moniter is the most beautiful thing of the Surface Pro. 1920x1860. Just lovely.

You can read the 5 press companies who reviewd it here

The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/5/3955130/microsoft-surface-pro-review
Engadget: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/05/microsoft-surface-pro-review/
New York Times: www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/technology/personaltech/microsofts-surface-pro-works-like-a-tablet-and-a-pc.html
Slashgear: http://www.slashgear.com/microsoft-surface-pro-review-05268210/
Time: http://techland.time.com/2013/02/05/review-microsoft-surface-pro-the-surface-thats-more-pc-than-tablet/

I recommend you reading The Verge and Slashgear, becuase it's more fully covered than the other ones.

Thanks Guys. 

Tuesday 29 January 2013

Office 365

Hey,

I don't know what is going on, but really, the point of this thing was really useless.

MICROSOFT OFFICE 365.

I used to preview before, but really, there is not much difference with 2010. The fact that really, you have buy the 365, is really useless. Because a lot of people have the installation for the preview.

I will follow up later on the updates on that thing.

UPDATES:
The Office 365 plan is that there is a $100 subscription per year. You can install it at most on 5 PC AND  Macs, which means Microsoft is giving up Office for Mac. Good thing or bad thing? Don't think it is a good thing.

As Microsoft is introducing a new payment system, but I doubt that a lot of people would switch to 365. I won't either.

Office 365 looks exiting, but really, it's not worth it. I am not paying $100 US Dollars per year just for cloud storage and a similar interface, just a bit of tweak for the Metro interface.

Would you buy the Office 365? Leave a comment below!

Monday 28 January 2013

Life In a Day at STC

Hey Guys,
Great news, we finished the ICT project. We're done, just done 30 minutes ago. Below is the video. Give a big thank you to Candy, as she did most of the editing. Me, Candy, Colleen and Caleb worked very hard on this project, hope you enjoy!