Back to School Sales

I'm heading off to grad school in a month, and I'm wondering if I need a new laptop. My current one is getting low (for me) on hard drive space, and it's almost 4 years old. But I take care of it, and it's still working great. For my current patterns of activity, it's fast enough with its 2gb RAM (though Vista is constantly using some large percentage of it).

The question is, will I need something more for crunching data or visualizing protein structure, or whatever I'm going to be doing? If I do need need more power and a slightly more future-proof computer, back-to-school sales are the best time to buy laptops, and it would be another year before such chances come around again. My dad keeps saying that I should get a new laptop before this one breaks down, rather than waiting until I need one immediately. The situation has changed a bit though, since I won that 10" netbook last winter. If this computer dies, I still have something I can use for simple tasks. It even has the files I'm working with synced via Dropbox.

So perhaps I'll wait. The HP Envy 14 I customized on the site is making me quite envious, but it's also making my credit card cringe. In a year, the price of a quad-core Sandy Bridge processor will have come down, I'll have even more RAM than I know what to do with, switchable graphics will be easy to find on more computers, and the beautiful high-res display the Envy used to have will be back in stock.

Or...they might just discontinue the line. One or the other. Guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Quietly Brilliant (or, An Ode To My Aria)

I have to say, HTC's tagline seems pretty much on the ball to me. I didn't know much about HTC until I got my Aria last year, but it is brilliant. And their whole "it's about you" campaign? Well, at least some of the designers seemed to agree, since they came out with the Aria last summer.

It's not the most amazing, largest screen, highest resolution, superfast smartphone out there. But bigger isn't always better. That wasn't what I was looking for when I was getting a new phone. What I needed was a phone that fit in my pocket.

Now, I would be willing to bet the majority of programmers and engineers working on these phones are male. Unless they're wearing hipster jeans, their pants have big pockets. iPhones fit. Droids fit. Size is not an issue, and their smartphones just keep getting bigger and bigger. The only small phones are dumb phones. But someone at HTC looked at these phones and thought, "Hey, maybe there's someone out there that has smaller hands and smaller pockets and wants a smaller phone that's still pretty darn smart." I don't want to suggest that it's a girl phone, but it's definitely a small people phone.

It's fast and responsive, even more so now that I have Froyo (Android OS 2.2) on it, and is so comfortable to hold. The soft touch finish on the back is, well, soft, but also non-slippery. HTC Sense looks lovely and acts quickly, and comes with a lot of the features for which other Android users have been rooting (gaining root user access in order to have more options) their phones and voiding their warranties. With Swype installed as my main keyboard (something you cannot have on, say, an iPhone), typing one-handed is extremely easy and fast.

I mentioned I got this phone last year, right? It was last September, after my old phone stopped working, and I'm still absolutely in love with it. That's a testament to its worth.

Ms. Fixit

I just transferred my mom's contacts to her new iPhone using an eraser, an earring, and tape. An unlikely-sounding combination of tools, I know, but they worked.

She had the contacts saved on her phone, and the guys at the AT&T store couldn't get them to transfer, even after putting them on the SIM.Her old phone was a Sony Ericsson w300. It has a normal-sized SIM card. The iPhone 4 has a microSIM card, which means she couldn't just use the old one, and the new one is too small for the old phone.

So we came home because it was late, figuring we'd either try using my old M1 memory card (yay Sony Ericsson for not even using standard SD cards!) or have to put the numbers in by hand. Well, my old phone and its memory card are in Berkeley, so that was ruled out.

I did a little Googling this morning, and found that someone mentioned having aligned the microSIM properly in the old phone, allowing them to copy their contacts to the SIM. Okay, I thought, worth a shot. So I traversed the house, searching for things that would work, and laid out my array of tools.

Eraser: The Sony Ericsson w300 has a little indentation where it looks like you should slip your nail under and pry it up. Look at the instructions, and it says it's actually a sliding cover. Trick to make it actually slide open? Put a flat eraser on top for grip. Works like a charm.

Earring: You're supposed to use a paperclip to poke into the hole on the iPhone 4 to eject the little microSIM tray. I couldn't find any, so I just used the back of an earring that was lying around by the pencils (where that paperclip should've been!).

Tape: MicroSIM needs to stay in place? No problem, just line it up and tape it in! It actually took two tries to get it just right.

And then store to SIM/Smartchip (who calls it that?), move it back to the iPhone, go to Settings, Mail/Contacts/Calendar, and Import from SIM.

Ta-da! Now the contacts are in the iPhone with weird semicolons because of Sony Ericsson's strange formatting, but at least they're there!

Phone Trouble

I have a bumblebee-colored Sony Ericsson w760a. It's great. But I think that ever since my India trip, it's been angry at me. Since my phone is locked, I couldn't just grab a new SIM there and drop it in my phone. I did get a SIM card, but I borrowed my uncle's new phone (since he didn't really want to switch from his old, simple-to-use phone).

This new phone was a Nokia. It had lots of games and held a charge for more than 1.5 days, and I was playing with it all the time. Diamond Rush, City Bloxx, and that game with the cute little bouncing red ball were all very addictive ways to pass the time.

Well, I think my w760 felt betrayed. No matter how much I explained that the situation was not what it seemed, and that it was purely a work relationship, it still thought I was cheating on it. After we came back, it acted normal for almost a week. And then it started throwing tantrums. The center button (you know, the one that you need to press to select basically any option) has conditionally stopped working.

What do I mean conditionally? Well it still works - but only when the slider is closed. It refuses to work when the slider is open. And now, its intransigence (see, I'm actually remembering some of those GRE words!) has spread to the "C" button as well.

At any rate, we're going to the therapist, I mean, the AT&T store, today to see if we can't work this out with a little help.

Maker Faire 2010 (pt. 3)

Other coolness included a video game table with 6 sets of roller ball + 4 buttons surrounding the screen. There was a tank vs. tank game, as well as 6-player (two teams of 3) Pong. It was quite fun to toy around with, and play against the random people who happened to be there at the same time.

Next, we went back outside, got some food (I haven't had a churro in a long time!), and walked around out there before it got too cold. There were multiple guys on stilts, and a couple themed areas (I caught a Renaissance vibe from one and a Steampunk vibe from the other). They had workshops for soldering, and providers of all the supplies and services you might need in your future making.

There was a pool, where apparently some battleships were set to battle in a while (like BattleBots, but in water!). The Western Warship Combat Club also put up a sign next to the bleachers deeming it a low-velocity projectile area. A waiver wristband was required to sit there (despite the line of frames of bulletproof glass separating pool and bleachers). We didn't think we would have time, so we missed out on the battle.

Picture from the WWCC website linked above - those ships seem to handle pretty well too.

At least 4 different strange-looking vehicles drove past us. The ones I remember are the guy sitting on top of and riding what looked like a giant pillbug, a wagon that looked as though it should be pulled by horses once the metal frame was covered with upholstery, except that it appeared to have neither horses nor driver, but only passengers and a camera in the front. There was an old-looking car, and a little kid driving a go-kart with a solar panel on top and a sign on the front saying "Science Wiz." Oh, and of course, the muffin lady. She was riding in a giant plush muffin.

Not my pic. Photo credit to Willivolt on Flickr.

Then we went into the Expo Hall, where there was too much stuff to remember. Near the entrance was a pneumatic calliope, whistling its merry way through multiple tunes.



Other things that pop to mind are of course the Pulse pen, the Utilikilts (why use a utility belt when you can have a whole utility kilt!), the cute little solar-powered DIY cars that had no battery or on-off switch so they would just sit under the light until they were charged, then spontaneously zoom off in whatever direction they were pointed until they ran out of power and built up their charge again, and the sewing lessons. MAKE magazine also had some tables with things made from the instructions in the magazine (and possibly some workshops earlier in the day). We only got halfway through that hall and completely missed the Ok Go performance because it was almost time to go. That was regrettable, since they apparently performed underwater...

 

That would've been a nice end to the day, but it's okay. I got to spend the day checking out cool, artistic, random, fun, cute, and techie things. Most had multiple of those characteristics, and some were even all of the above. If you are ever in the vicinity of a Maker Faire, I suggest you go check it out. Spend a whimsical day in a whimsical way. Maybe you'll see a reflection of yourself as a child.

Maker Faire 2010 (pt. 2)

Previously on The Scientist in the Yellow Hat: I went to Maker Faire 2010, and saw musical lightning, a pen full of R2-D2s, and much more!

Still within the confines of Fiesta Hall, we next ran into a life-height mechanical giraffe with funny glowing eyes, a busily chewing mouth, waggling ears, and a neck that moved up and down. These makers were also selling a (much more miniature) robotic giraffe kit. This one was a little longer than the palm of your hand, mostly plastic, yellow, and kind of cute. The cool thing was that this battery-powered figure you could build yourself could walk. Simple and sweet, it seemed a nice gift for a mechanically-inclined little girl or boy (no, I'm not being paid to advertise!). I apologize for the background sound and the unfortunate lack of waggling ears in the video, but hey, it blinks!



The Cardboard Institute of Technology had a cool tunnel in the corner. It was at least 10 ft. tall and 2-3 people wide. Well, at the beginning anyway. After passing through the cardboard city, the only way to exit was on your hands and knees, scrambling through like a kid in the McDonalds (or Chuck E. Cheese, which I prefer) playplace.

Then my mom saw these Playaflies chandeliers. They were actually made to mount on the back of a bike, but she really liked the idea and the fact that it was DIY (do it yourself). They involve nothing more than LEDs, Ping-pong balls, wires, and a little soldering ability, all of which we have or can easily acquire. Yet they certainly are pretty in the dark, especially when moving.

There was also a digital graffiti wall, to which all the kids were attracted like mosquitoes in India to my poor, defenseless body. The controller was shaped like a small can of spray paint, and you could apparently have up to 10 of them working on the wall at one, though I only glimpsed one being wielded by a child of 7 years or so.


YrWall Digital Graffiti Wall 2010 from Lumacoustics on Vimeo.

That's enough cool stuff for one post. Check back for the (perhaps not-so-)exciting conclusion tomorrow...or maybe the day after...!

Maker Faire 2010 (pt.1)

Maker Faire 2010 occurred at the San Mateo Expo Center. Now, San Mateo is a little suburb on the Peninsula, about 1/3 of the way from San Francisco to San Jose. Nothing ever happens here. Except for this. The Bay Area Maker Faire. This was the original, the first, and people still flock to it in droves despite the $25 ticket ($20 if you buy it at one of the participating local businesses - yay Whole Foods!).

We got there around 1pm, and parking was ridiculous. The city of San Mateo had set out parking enforcement officers, who very kindly gave us maps to 7 nearby parking lots where we were allowed to park mostly for free. Those maps had everything - the location of the railroad tracks, the Expo Center, the extra parking lots, the names of important streets...everything except the lines that represented the streets. Umm...what? You mean you're not going to show me one of the things I need to understand where I am on the map? It was okay for me since I knew where the K-mart was, but for anyone from out of town, it would've been a bit difficult.

At any rate, once we got inside, we started in the Fiesta Hall, where our attention was drawn to the guy in the chain mail/Faraday cage suit playing with the lightning to the music. Maybe that's not quite the right way to put it, since it was actually the lightning that was playing the music. ArcAttack's musical Tesla coil performance was...dare I say, electrifying?



We then walked around a little, looking at some battlebot type robots. One was named Ethel, and appeared in her magazine article to breath fire. Apparently, she also likes music and dancing and having a good time. Well, judging by the scandalous way she was dressed, I suppose that was not unexpected.

But I believe Ethel can hold her own if any cretins decide that the way she is dressed makes it her fault for tempting them and think that they have to succumb to their own supposedly unstoppable impulses. She's packing some firepower (which they did not demonstrate while I was there, fortunately or unfortunately).

 Pictures from the Team K.I.S.S. website - all credit goes to the builders, especially because I totally forgot to take my own photos here.

Nearby was a booth with the people who make Pixar stuff. There was a replica of the steering wheel-eye robot from Wall-E, as well as a Pixar logo, complete with real-life lamp. The cage next door held a multitude of R2-D2s. I got some pictures and videos of them, because they were ultra-cute, though sadly not real. They were being remote-controlled by their owners, who were lounging about in the R2-D2 corral.



I'm not a hardcore Star Wars fan, but I think Artoo is one of the most recognizable figures George Lucas created - and I doubt there are more than a few people who don't like cute little robots that beep and whistle and can only be understood by Luke Skywalker.

Anyways, I've hardly gotten through the first bit, so stay tuned for more posts about the Maker Faire!

Chomp Chomp

If you haven't been to Google's homepage today, check it out! The logo for today is commemorating the 30th anniversary of the arcade classic Pacman. It's one of those iconic games that has stood the test of time.

Guess what else? The logo art isn't just art - it's a fully functional Pacman game!

Here's a secret I accidentally discovered with the help of my mom: if you insert two coins ("Insert Coin" replaced "I'm Feeling Lucky"), you get a two-player version. Ms. Pacman is controlled with the W-A-S-D keys.

Have fun returning to your childhood (or discovering Pacman anew)!

New Toy!!!

My dad got me a netbook! Except, I don't really get to keep it. I'm going to be using it while I'm in India this summer for the month I'll be in a remote village away from my parents doing a volunteer project (I'll tell you more about that when it gets closer).

The thing is, my normal laptop has too much weight (both physical and informational) and too little battery life to take with me. I need something I can work on when the power is out. Before we leave, though, we're going to give it to my grandparents so that they have a simple, light machine to chat with by webcam.

The Acer Aspire One in Midnight (or Onyx) Blue is such a cute little thing. If I were to buy my own, it would be white and perhaps a different brand, but it's cute nonetheless.And it's amazing when I look at the battery meter and it says "8 hr. 50 min." remaining. Woah.

Rocking on the Top

After being sick for a few days, today was a relief. No fever, much much less cough, and nice weather! Well, my body probably had little to do with that last, but it did make the day a bit happier.

And yet, I was trying to rest so I won't get hit with another virus while I'm weak during finals. But lying in bed and sitting around for three days is not easy for an active person like me. So today, I decided I should continue taking my self-taught classes in dancing.

I've been trying to learn a little bboying (or bgirling, in my case) from Youtube. The fancy acrobatics are attention grabbing, but I've found myself admiring the toprock. Now that I've been exposed to so many other types of dance, I can see the swing and latin influences in here (Slide step? You mean cucaracha?). Maybe I'll get to the windmills and air flares eventually, but for now, I'm working on my basic kick step, hip twists, and shuffle step:



Once I've got the basic toprock footwork down, I can give it my own flavor. Strawberry, perhaps? Or maybe pomegranate...

It's Okay

I'm going to reproduce a post by Matthew Knight from the 3six5 project today:

I’m sorry.

I’d planned greatness for today.

I’d planned a trip to the other side of the country and back.
I’d planned a spun yarn of pirates and robbers and sharks and helicopters.
I’d planned a million dominoes clattering after one another around a six mile course of twists and turns and ups and downs and tunnels and bridges.

I’d planned a rodeo.
I’d planned a circus.
I’d planned a perfectly cooked poached egg.

I’d planned to create something so wonderful, wierd, wacky and wicked.
I’d planned to craft and cajole and create and curate.

I’d planned on doing so many things.
But instead, I went out for lunch.

I get easily distracted.
Somewhat like a magpie in a hall of mirrors.

I get distracted by another idea.
I get distracted by the dozen things which float around me in my personal digital cloud.
I get distracted by the thing I was meant to be concentrating on an hour ago.

I’m not actually that sorry.

It was a great lunch, with friends.
Wine, Roast Meat, Potatoes.
There was even cake.

I guess, one should never apologise for simply spending time with friends.

Putting down the laptop, and not writing a blog post.
Putting down the camera, and not taking a photo.
Putting down the pen, and not writing your diary.

It’s okay to not document.
It’s okay to not capture, edit, post, repost.
It’s okay to forget the infinite detail, and remember the fuzzy whole.
It’s okay to go outside and just be.

I’d planned greatness for today
I had a better day by just doing nothing.
I should try and remember that more often.

I think we should all try and remember that more often.

Every time I turn on my laptop, my fingers reflexively move through a familiar sequence of keys. Windows+2 to launch Firefox from my Quick Launch menu, keyword fb to bring up Facebook, Ctrl+T for a new tab, gm to get to Gmail, etc., etc. It all happens in a flash and a flurry of "tap-tap-tap"s

Charging for Spam

I'm not a huge texter, but I definitely text messaging to communicate with friends, especially when we have to meet up or coordinate something while I'm not near my laptop. It's really useful. It's really easy.

Since I don't use it much, I only have a basic texting plan. It's something like 250 texts a month. That's plenty more than I need most months.

Except for the fact that I don't actually have 250 left by the time you count all of the spam text messages I receive.

Running Around

My parents just bought a Wii a couple of days ago. I've been hinting a little bit that we should buy one for a while now, but I hadn't put much effort into it. So I was completely surprised when I came home from college (yes, I know it's summer, but at least my class is only 3 days a week - I get to use the other two for my internship) and found a Wii in front of the TV. Now, I was very happy, but it turns out that they bought it for themselves, not for me. Oh. Well, at least I get to play it when I'm at home.

Which brings me to the first half of the point I want to make. Wii Tennis is very addicting. I played tennis a bit in middle school, but I didn't keep it up past the first summer of high school. To be honest, I'm not that good (I'm not horrible either, but I'm not good). But it was fun. And Wii Tennis is fun too. I've missed swinging around a remote racket. I know you can just give a little flick with your wrist and easily get the ball to go where you want, but I am trying to use my real tennis swing here, although I have to admit that doing a two-handed backhand is difficult with the remote.

Yet something is missing. Can you guess?



Yep, you guessed it. Actually moving.

There's certainly not enough space in my living room, and more than that, there's absolutely no point in running in the game itself, because the little Miis run for you.

So I propose a solution: a circular treadmill!

No, not the funny-looking thing you get when you google (or youtube) "circular treadmill". What I'm thinking of is something with omni wheels of some sort so that it can detect you running in whatever direction you're moving. Wouldn't that add some real exercise into things like Wii Fit?

In order to describe it, the best thing I can come up with is to say that it would probably look something like a Roomba (but slightly bigger) covered in a treadmill-type cloth that could move easily around the thing in any direction. There would probably have to be some sort of casing around it so that the whole thing wouldn't move when you started running.

Overall, though, it would give you a chance to actually move around. You could even use it as a plain treadmill if you wanted, though maybe with changeable/downloadable scenery, so you could go running wherever you want. Maybe if the scenery came in 3d blocks, so that you could run around and explore (since, after all, you have the freedom to run in any direction you want).

It could also be interesting to play with for first-person shooter games or basketball/soccer/other sports games. The possibilities are endless!

Here, I'm pretending somebody will actually see this and I will be talking to someone other than myself, but...What do you think? Would people actually go for such a thing?