Apple & Androids

For those living in a cave, Apple has released the new iPhone 4 as well as a new update to the iPhone OS. I have an iPhone 3gs, most of the features I’ve seen so far for iOS4, I have on my jailbroken OS 3. I really have no desire to upgrade the OS or get the new iPhone. Now getting a new Android on the other hand, sounds much better to me. Only problem is AT&T’s Android selection sucks compared to Verizon’s Droids. The Droid X looks pretty sweet. HDMI out, 720P video recording, and of course runs Android. It could use a front facing camera though.

Why do I like Android so much? It’s running on top of Linux and doesn’t lock you down like the iPhone OS.
Maybe some time soon, I’ll be able to put Android OS on my iPhone.

Apparently there’s a problem the reception with iPhone 4. If you hold with your left hand, the signal plummets. Why wasn’t this tested?

Anime

I’m starting up the Central Arkansas Anime Group meetings again. This time we’re meeting the 2nd Thursday, 6PM of the month at Conway Gaming Center. We watch anime every Thursday at 8PM at CGC, so, I figured it would be a good time to start up the meetings.

ARLUG

I’ve created a ARLUG Identi.ca Group to help spread the word about Linux in Arkansas. Post your Arkansas based Linux dents to the group using !arlug.

For those who don’t have a clue what Identi.ca is, it is a Open Source implementation of Twitter. I prefer Identi.ca over Twitter due to it’s based off of Status.net, and can be run of your own server. I run Status.net server over on GameSqueak.com.

I was browsing Engadget’s overview of Apple’s iPhone/iPad OS 4, and I saw the image announcing the release stating that it will be out this fall. But that’s not what I read. Instead, I saw it as fail. Therefore, I had to fix the image to reflect what they really meant.

iFad

Is Apple the new AOL? I’m not talking about the contant busy signals I’ve heard so much about, but Apple wants the “Walled Garden” for it’s devices. I currently have an iPhone as well as a MacMini and a couple of iPods. I’m not a Apple Fanboy. Especially not now. I know I’m not part of Apple’s target audience. I love to tinker. Scripts can give you great power. I like to automate things. That’s what computers are for. Apple makes it so hard to do things like scripts, even in Mac OS X. Even Microsoft realizes that people script. That’s why DOS is still around in today’s versions of Windows. The iPhone and iPad both lock you down to what they will allow you to run. For supporting a device that’s fine. I rarely ever call a company for support, and that’s only if a service is interrupted. I never call for software support. Fine Apple, don’t give me support. Just let me do what I need to. Granted, even Google Phones are locked down. But even Google knows the power of scripting. They even allow you to run Python on their phones.
Honestly, I didn’t buy the iPhone to make telephone calls. The iPhone sucks at that. It’s a mobile computing device that happens to make phone calls. I will be getting rid of my iPhone. I need something that doesn’t hinder me from getting things done. I know that Android is not quite the answer I’m looking for. But, it’s the best thing out so far.  I want something that just works… for me, not against me.

Crapbook

What’s with Facebook and Groups? I use Groups all the time on the main website, and, I’m sure I’m not alone. If you use the iPhone App or the Lite version of the website, Groups are either extremely limited or just not working. I’d like to make a post or just find out how many members are in one of the groups that I belong to. But, no. You have to go to the main site. Ok, fine. But please Facebook, set a cookie, an entry in the database or something so I don’t have to go through so many hoops just to get to the regular site on my iPhone or other mobile device. If I wanted to go to the lite website, I’ll type the URL. At least give me a splash page or something asking me what site I want to go to instead of assuming that I want the stripped down, reduced functionality site.