Tuesday, 19 October 2010

blogger post #100 #GalaxyS and @jdolgy

Well, for this post, it'll be fun and all about two things:


  • Jack -- You know.  The coolest little dude with the name of an action hero?  Jack Dolgy.  Well, Jack's been getting his snot on in a big way.  I didn't think something so small could physically create so much shit and more importantly so much snot!  It far outweighs him if I compare the two on a digital scale.  Still, if you see his blog and see the videos, he's a very happy guy and we couldn't be more proud having him evolve as amazing as he is.  
  • My Samsung Galaxy S ( #GalaxyS for you twitter folks) ...I've had the phone for 60 days I guess.  Time to get my thoughts out about it for the number of readers to this blog ( zero .. based on comments and followers )
Things I dislike about my  phone:
  1. I cannot upgrade to Android 2.2 (aka Froyo) still!
  2. If one cilck lag fix works (which it does) ... why has it not been adopted as a default?
  3. Battery life in Doha, Qatar with QTel was absolute garbage.  Phone wouldn't last 10 hours!  Thankfully after moving I can go 2 - 3 days without a recharge.  Bizarre eh?
  4. Skype releases a client through the android market.  No Galaxy S support.  Thanks jerks.
  5. I cannot remove applications that were installed by default.  I don't want the Al Jazeera widget for example.  Let me remove default base apps!
  6. New keyboard app for people with big fingers. I'm a big guy.  The virtual keyboard on the screen is made for an average person.  
  7. Swype is no good for me.  My fingers are too big ... I can't see the other letters to swype to!
  8. Not the phone as much as it is the Android Market.  When google checkout was released, I was all over it and signed up.  To my dismay, I really couldn't use it for anything back then.  Now I can with the market ... or can I?  AMEX is not supported for google checkout sales outside of north america.  Garbage.  I want airmiles if i'm forced to use a credit card.
Ok, well, it's not that bad...really.  Things I really enjoy about my phone:
  1. Jack loves it.  I can play a video on it and lock the screen and he'll sit there mesmerized by it.  He loves watching videos of himself and seeing his photo as the background wall paper always gives us a smile.
  2. It does everything I need.   Email, twitter (thanks #twicca) and a decent camera.  Everything else is gravy. 
  3. Angry Birds.  I like it.  Sad.
  4. Google Goggles.  Very cool.  
  5. Google sky map
  6. The phone fits my hand and face.  
  7. It's light.  Very light.  
  8. Video and photos are so nice and clear ... with the direct upload to youtube, I really appreciate it even more.  With a snotty little kid racing around the furniture ... I haven't had time to reach up and grab the Sony TG3 we have.  Instead, the phone comes out and HD recording instantly.  
  9. The GPS worked great.  Not sure what everyone else had  a beef with.  We used it to navigate through the UK, France and Switzerland ... twice.  Not an issue.  My only wish is that it would save the journey so that I could post a graphic showing the road trip on a blog entry .... like this one!
  10. The additional camera apps you can get from the market are extra great.  I love the polarandroid photos ... the pics of jack and lucy and jack himself taken with it are fantastic.  just wish it supported the self shot ....

All in all, as you can see, I have more positives compared to negatives.  Looking over the negatives, they are just whines, not significant issues or problems.  Happy the battery life problem was a problem with QTel and Qatar and not a problem with the phone.  If you're looking for an alternate to the iPhone ... go for it.  I'm not disappointed and I don't think you will be either...try something different that not EVERYONE has.

Finally ... Zurich is treating us well.  We have settled in and really thoroughly enjoy 100% of it all.  A big difference from 70% ... Once again, we can smell snow brewing above and beyond the mountains.  Delicious.



Friday, 1 October 2010

Zurich Roadtrip in Polaroid -- September 2010


some polaroid'esque photos (i like the format) of our drive to Zurich over the past 24 hours.