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Monthly Archives: June 2012

Review: Samsung Galaxy S3

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Karl-Henry Martinsson Posted in Old Blog Post, Reviews, Technology Leave a comment

Last Thursday I got the Samsung Galaxy S3 I pre-ordered back in the beginning of June, and I have now been playing with it for a few days. There are of course other reviews (mainly of the international version) and overviews of the phone, so I will not list all the features and functions here.
As I am in the US, I received the North American version. It differs from the international version in that it has a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 2GB system memory, instead of the Samsung’s own processor Exynos 4 Quad and 1 GB memory. This is due to the latter processor not supporting the North American LTE networks.

Samsung Galaxy S3 vs. Blackberry Bold 9700With this phone I am also moving from the Blackberry platform to Android. I have been looking forward to getting a nice big screen and a more powerful phone, but at the same time my biggest fear was the on-screen keyboard. The times when I have been using an iPhone or played with older Android phones in the store, I did not feel like I would be able to type as fast as with the Blackberry’s excellent physical keyboard.
Samsung Galaxy S3 LockScreen

I am coming from the Blackberry Bold 9700, with OS 5. The phone is about 2 years old, and originally came with OS 4. After I upgraded, the phone became more and more sluggish, and I constantly ran out of memory, in certain applications as well as when browsing the web. The GPS started taking longer and longer to get a fix, it could take me 2-3 minutes (if it even got the position) if I was indoors. The screen on the blackberry is also tiny compared with today’s phones, even if it was a very good screen when it came out.
So it was about time for me to get something more modern.

I was very pleasantly surprised with the keyboard on the Samsung Galaxy S3. As soon as I started typing, the correct text came out. The predictive text works very well, as long as I use English. I know there are other keyboards (like Swiftkey 3 that Mitch Cohen blogged about last week) where I can set different languages, so that is not a big deal right now.
The 4.8 inch Super AMOLED screen is just gorgeous, and features a resolution of 720×1280 pixels. The internal memory in my phone is 16GB (32GB and 64GB models are also available or coming soon). The memory can be expanded using microSD cards up to 64GB, and in some markets customers get a free 50GB DropBox account. My carrier, AT&T, opted out of this promotion. I already use DropBox, SugarSync, SkyDrive and Google Drive, so after downloading clients for those services, I can now easily transfer my pictures to my cloud storage of choice.

S3_FoldersJust like on the Blackberry, and most other smart phones, the Galaxy S3 has several screens where I can place widgets, icons for applications, and folders containing additional icons. This way it is easy to organize all my apps. On the Blackberry I also used folders, but the lack of available memory caused me to eventually remove most apps.

The default setup came with a number of widgets, but I removed most of them from the screens and opted to just use icons. The lock screen shows the date and time, the current weather, and four icons for applications you want instant access too. To unlock, you swipe your finger over the screen, or swipe any of the four icons to launch that particular application.

I have already modified my phone by adding a custom wall paper, and as I mentioned above, I have organized the icons and widgets the way I want them. To the left you can see a folder open, showing the four applications located in it, in this case IBM Lotus Traveler.

S3_P1

I currently have four screens of icons, of the seven I can have. The first one, the "home screen, is where you end up after unlocking the phone on the lock screen. At the bottom you have five icons of the most frequently used functions, they stay on ever page. The the top of the screen is a notification area, with small icons indication new mail, text messages, twitter messages, etc. It also shows the status for network/wireless connection, battery status, as well as time.

S3_Keyboard

As I mentioned, the keyboard is very impressive, and it exceeded my expectations. I had assumed that I would make a lot of typos, but the predictive text works very well. Or perhaps it is me being too predictable… But the result is that I have very few errors when I type. There are a few small issues, mainly how question marks and similar characters works and that there is no support for Swedish. But as I plan to evaluate a couple of other keyboards, that is not anything that bothers me.

As you can see to the left, when I start typing, suggestions show up above the keyboard. In most cases the suggestion is correct, but in case you want exactly what you typed, the option furthest to the left is what you entered.

You can also see the speech recognition icon to the left of the space bar. I have not used it very much. Speech recognition is of course available everywhere you would use a keyboard, but also on other places, like the S Note application. I have not had time to test the S-Voice yet, nor the face recognition unlocking of the phone or a few of the other advanced functions that is available in this phone.

But I did use the phone to call with. The sound quality is excellent, much better than on my Blackberry. From what I read online, it has active noise cancelling.

I also tested the web browser. As opposed to the Blackberry, it actually load every page I tested.

S3_WebBrowser

The browser is fast (especially on wifi or 4G LTE) and seem to render all pages I tested perfectly. However, I created some bookmarks, and a few hours later they were gone. I am not sure what I did, but now the bookmarks seem to stay. The browser support Flash, of course.

2012-06-24 09.36.53

Talking about speed, I live and work in the Dallas-Ft Worth area, where AT&T have their 4G LTE network available. And it is fast, as you can see to the left.

The one issue I see with the phone is the battery. Despite having a 2100 mAh capacity, it usually lasts only to about 3pm. However, I been using the phon
e extensively, and I may need to tweak some setting. I have no power saving settings turned on, and usually run either wifi or bluetooth. Since I have 4G coverage, that also uses more battery. So one of my first purchases was a portable charger…

So the summary is that this is an amazing phone, and that my worry that the keyboard would annoy me was not an issue. I am very happy with the phone, just wishing the battery lasted a little bit longer.

 

Irony: FunnyJunk lawyer criticizing the same actions as his client engage in

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Karl-Henry Martinsson Posted in Old Blog Post Leave a comment

 In a blog entry from 06/23/2010, Charles Carreon (the lawyer who is suing The Oatmeal), posts about the outcome of the case Viacom vs. Google. Youtube, owned by Google, allowed their users to upload copyrighted material, and they then benefited financially from this through the sale of ads on the site. Exactly the same activity that his client FunnyJunk engages in.

As that blog entry in retrospect is somewhat embarrassing for Mr Carreon, he took that down. But since the internet never forgets, Google still got the page cached. Some interesting quotes:

If Google can generate ad revenue by taking in every kind of content without distinction, and make money on the infringing attractions, then Google can “work the float,” and always have enough infringing content to keep its blood pressure up at the expense of copyright holders. The only way that content owners can act proactively is by implementing digital “fingerinting technology” through the “Claim Your Content” system that Google uses as its only screening mechanism. Fingerprinting your content is not, however, cheap.
…
Please don’t take me for a copyright hawk, but this seems like a ruling that benefits a company that has made a habit of turning other people’s work into their payday, and is being encouraged to keep on doing it.

Here is an image of the page as well, as retrieved from Google this morning:

Blog entry by Charles Carreon - click for higher resolution

Click image for larger/high resolution version. Source: Google cache

Disclaimer: The blog entry is reproduced under “fair use”.

 

 

 

How to make enemies (and a fool of yourself) on the internet

Posted on June 15, 2012 by Karl-Henry Martinsson Posted in Old Blog Post Leave a comment

This last week we have seen two high profile examples of how you can screw up and make a total idiot of yourself on the internet. With social networks like twitter and Facebook, news spread quickly, and if it is perceived that there is something unfair going on, expect furious people to share it. When you or I, with perhaps a couple of hundred Facebook friends and twitter followers, post about it, it will still spread, but slowly. But when people like Jamie Oliver (2.5 million followers) or Neil Gaiman (1.7 million followers) tweet about it, things start spreading like wild fire.

 

The first example is The Case of The Thief Suing His Victim. Most of you are probably familiar with the online cartoon The Oatmeal. Matthew Inman, the guy behind all the funny cartoons, complained a year ago that a website called FunnyJunk was full of his drawings. FunnyJunk allow their users to post material (from a quick glance it looks like a large part of the contents is copyrighted material), and then when complaints are sent to them just blame the users, while cashing the checks for all the advertising on the site. Matthew blogged about FunnyJunk doing this about a year ago, and described their business model:

Here’s how FunnyJunk.com’s business operates:
1.Gather funny pictures from around the internet
2.Host them on FunnyJunk.com
3.Slather them in advertising
4.If someone claims copyright infringement, throw your hands up in the air and exclaim "It was our users who uploaded your photos! We had nothing to do with it! We’re innocent!"
5.Cash six figure advertising checks from other artist’s stolen material

 

Last week, Matthew was served with papers, demanding him to pay FunnyJunk $20,000 or be sued. FunnyJunk had hired Charles Carreon as their lawyer, who wrote that letter.
Matthew responded publicly here: http://theoatmeal.com/blog/funnyjunk_letter
I highly suggest reading the whole thing. It is extremely amusing.

BearLove So Matthew sets up a fundraiser. Not to raise money to pay off FunnyJunk, but to split even between the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society. He raised the $20,000. In 64 minutes! The amount collected by "Operation BearLove Good. Cancer Bad." is currently at $169,000. However, the lawyer, Charles Carreon, is trying to shut down the fund raiser, according to MSNBC. He is also complaining that he was not expecting an outpour of hate and people being upset at him, or having his mom accused trying to seduce a Kodiak bear (the drawing is supposed to be of the mom of the FunnyJunk admin/owner, not the lawyer, by the way). Very strange that someone who market himself as a cyber attorney is so clueless to how the internet works. He should lookup the Streisand effect, as well.

Even other lawyers chime in. The law-blog PopeHat.com uses some strong words:

So, The Oatmeal tried to turn this into something good ?something that would benefit wildlife protection and cancer research ?and Charles Carreon had a snit and tried to shut it down because it was embarrassing to him and his client?

Fuck him. He’s vermin. He’s not forgivable. Let any good he has ever done be wiped out. Let the name "Charles Carreon" be synonymous with petulant, amoral censorious douchebaggery.

 

Another lawyer, who supposedly knows Charles Carreon, is also quoted on the same page:

Despite my earlier charitable comments, I can not find any words to defend trying to shut the fundraiser down. I can’t even gin up a minor benefit of the doubt on that one. I can see an ill-considered demand as a mistake in judgment while hoping to gain an advantage for your client. But taking a shot at the fundraiser would not do that ?it would just be lashing out to hurt bears and cancer patients? Holy fucking shitballs inside a burning biplane careening toward the Statue of Liberty, Captain! I hope that the reporter merely got the story wrong, because if not, that’s more fucked up than a rhino raping a chinchilla while dressed up in unicorns’ undergarments.

 

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this. The twitterverse seems to have the consensus that Charles Carreon just committed career suicide.

 

 

The second example is The Case of NeverSeconds. A nine year old girl, Martha Payne (who blog under the name VEG), started a blog called NeverSeconds, where she posted pictures of her school lunches, as well as described them (contents, taste, etc). This is a great blog!

SchoolLunchPicture by Martha Payne, from this blog entry. 

The blog went viral recently, and children in other countries are sending her pictures of their lunches. Martha is also raising money for Mary´s Meals, a charity trying to feed poor children. UK newspapers started writing stories about the blog and how the schools should serve healthier (and bigger) meals for the kids.

However, on Thursday Martha posted a message titled "Goodbye.":

This morning in maths I got taken out of class by my head teacher and taken to her office. I was told that I could not take any more photos of my school dinners because of a headline in a newspaper today.

I only write my blog not newspapers and I am sad I am no longer allowed to take photos. I will miss sharing and rating my school dinners and I´ll miss seeing the dinners you send me too. I don´t think I will be able to finish raising enough money for a kitchen for Mary´s Meals either.

Goodbye,
VEG

 

The school board decided to stop Martha from taking pictures. Supposedly one of the newspapers who picked up the story about her blog had called for the lunch ladies to be fired. So it was not even something Martha did.

This story was picked up by UK and international news outlets, and celebrities like Jamie Oliver and Neil Gaiman posted on twitter in support of Martha. Her charity went from ,000 to (currently) 7,000strike> 8.000 (and it keeps going up) in a few days! Donate you too.

MarysMeals 

After a media- and twitter frenzy, and after the members of the
school board of Argyll and Bute were contacted by the education secretary of Scotland, the ban was lifted today. The school board first posted this statement, still trying to shift blame to Martha. They then retracted that and posted another statement. I suspect that the first statement is how the council really felt, that government officials should not be allowed to be criticized. They were probably forced by higher-ups and more outrage to withdraw the first statement and replace it with another one.

This is a great example on how NOT to act when criticized. Basically a hug PR fiasco.

 

So there you have it, two great examples of a website/lawyer and a group of politicians who dug themselves a hole, and then kept digging. I have a feeling that that school board will be gone at the next election. And that the FunnyJunk lawsuit will be thrown out of court quickly, if it even get there. By the way, Matthew Inman have retained Venkat Balasubramani to handle the case:

I have discovered that The Oatmeal is represented by none other than Venkat Balasubramani, who will lay a motherfucking smackdown if you make him. While The Oatmeal´s response is funnier, Venkat brings his A-Game here.

 

Let´s bring out the popcorn! But first, go and send some money to the bears/to stop cancer and to feed the children.

Update: Martha is back! Monday she will take a new picture and post. Also, her fund raiser is now up to 2,300″…”

 

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