Breaking Barriers: I Actually Managed to Crash Windows Phone

Honey I Broke the Windows Phone

See this picture? I suggest you take a good luck; cause you won't be seeing too much of it. This marks the first time in almost a year of WP usage that I have "crashed" the phone, where nothing would fix the problem besides a reboot (which cleared it up right away). Somehow while using whatsapp I managed to get the keyboard to permanently stick on the screen, regardless of opening new apps, closing old ones, locking/unlocking the screen nothing would get rid of it (and you also can't use it to enter any text).

I tried taking a screenshot, but the keyboard was hiding the "start screen capture task" button so this semi-blurry ipad photo will have to suffice as evidence of doing the impossible....Honey I Broke the Windows Phone (Fingers crossed someone get's the movie reference)

Pictures: The iPhone 5's Anodized Body Peels Right Off!

You've all surely heard one or two horror stories about the scratch proof backing of the iPhone 5; with some people going as far as calling it #ScratchGate. I always thought it was being blown a bit out of proportion (seeing how everything Apple related ends up that way); but seeing the following pictures made me change my mind. 

@PaulGarner (don't be shy give him a follow) tweeted that while removing his Clear Back Griffin Protective cover from the back of the phone, bits of the iPhones Anodized body flew off with it!

Oh! Removed my Griffin case from my iPhone 5 today (clear plastic back) and some of the anodised coating stuck(!) to the case and came off!!
— Paul Garner (@paulgarner) October 19, 2012

As you can see in the images Paul tweeted little specs of the iPhones body have peeled off showing the ugly silver layer beneath the anodized body. 

What's interesting is the fact that the iPhone 5 is by no means Apple's first Anodized product, so poor quality on its flagship device is in-excusable (all the previous iPod Nanos, Shuffles, Classics as well as the Macbooks use the same concept of Anodizing aluminum).

If you're interested in learning exactly how Aluminum is Anodized check out the cool educational video below, but the gist of it is that anodized aluminum is actually aluminum that's allowed to rust under controlled circumstances!

Story & Pictures Via: @PaulGarner

PETA Releases Poke'mon Paradoy; Surprisingly Fun to Play

PETA, the animal rights group seem to think that Pokemon will somehow influence children to be cruel to their animals, their form of retaliation was releasing an online web based mini Pokemon game called Pokemon Black & Blue (gettit? like bruises...). The story line of the mini-game is the uprisal of the Pokemon against their trainers, lead by the fearsome Pikachu, where the Pokemon demand their freedom; and end to the centuries of bloodshed forced upon them.



Personally I didn't care much for the message, animals are cute and nice; but I'm not about to get all vegetarian cause of my childhood fling with Pokemon (that admittedly hasn't ended yet). But the game itself is worth a laugh or two (and at least the graphics are better than the actual Pokemon games); check it out at the link below:

http://features.peta.org/pokemon-black-and-white-parody/

Microsoft Surface Tablet Priced Starting at $499 -Why I won't be Getting one

Earlier today after months of teasing and waiting Microsoft have finally unveiled the pricing on their first ever Windows Hardware- the Surface Tab RT (not to be confused with the Surface Tab Pro- which will run the full version of Win8). The Surface RT wills tart st $499 for the 32Gb version, while the 64Gb goes for $599- Keep in mind that the 32Gb Surface is a $100 cheaper than the 32Gb iPad. The amazing covers will sadly NOT come with the product itself, selling for $120 and $130 for the touchcover and the keyboard respectively.

The reason *I* won't be getting a Surface myself is that for me PERSONALLY there isn't a valid use for it, or at least one big enough to justify spending another $500 after recently buying the new iPad/iPad 3. As of now the real reason the iPad has lead the tablet industry is because it is the center of tablet gaming and general time wasting; there are plenty of other tablets out there great for professional/business use, but at the end of the day most people will play on their iPad on their commute home.

For someone who doesn't have a business related need for the Surface there really isn't much of an incentive to leave our shiny iPads and go to the first ever Windows RT tablet, which right now has nowhere near the amount of apps available on Android and iOS tablets (that are actually customized for tablets). The Surface is a great product (especially when it comes to build quality) but what does it offer a user who already owns an iPad that their current tablet doesn't? Besides a kickstand.

(Keep in mind that I'm super Anti-Apple; but I respect their products, in fact I love the surface; but it isn't for me....right now.)

Random Tech Fact: Amazon Has a Patent on One-Click-Purchases

 

Depending on whether you usually browse Amazon.com sober or Drunk, one-click purchases can be a gift or a curse;  making those drunken purchases you will almost definitely regret the next day all the more easier to complete, or simply saving you the tedious process of filling out your C.C. and address information every-time you want to buy a USB cable online.

Amazon's admittedly life simplifying solution called "1-Click" saves you the trouble by having your "default" C.C. and address saved on record; finally allowing you to buy that new set of dumbells that you plan on using all summer long without the need to tire your fingers; all it takes is a click.

The really interesting part is that you've probably used this patent without even knowing it, because even the mighty Apple who bow down to know one pay royalties to Amazon for the honor of using their brilliant impulse purchase technique. Apple have implemented the 1-Click purchasing into both iTunes and iPhoto; which would probably explain why your 2-year old toddler is so good at wasting your iTunes credit. 

Later on Amazon's rival Barns & Nobles tried making their own mock-up of 1-click called "express lane", the fine people at Amazon wasted no time taking them to court where the Judge ruled in Amazon's favor; reducing the poor shoppers at Barnes and Nobles to be forced to click a second confirmation button before completing their purchase. Oh the horror.

Wikipedia Source

Jordan Begins Censoring News under Pretext of "Pornography"

Surprise surprise, the real reason why Jordan suddenly decided to censor "pornography" from the internet.

Last month Jordan approved a law that would begin to censor websites that contain pornography off the internet, the law itself is idiotic; but the timing mighty suspicious, especially since Jordan is NOT governed by the Islamic laws of Sharieh.

Earlier this week what is probably the true reason of this censorship came to light:

 A new law states that : “any electronic publication that engages in publication of news, investigations, articles, or comments, which have to do with the internal or external affairs of the kingdom require registration with the Commerce Ministry and licensing from the Press and Publications Department"

Any website that fails to register will be blocked and any Jordanian located offices will be closed "without providing a reason or obtaining a court order" and the author of any article will be held responsible for any comments (by others) posted on his article.

So to everyone who's complaining about the US not removing that stupid video making fun of the prophet... what do you have to say when Arab/Muslim countries are more interested in censoring the news than protecting their own prophet. Instead of blindly boycotting anything that's American in the desperate hope that they'll actually notice that your upset how about you open your eyes to the world around you.

In case your interested to why this is a violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights read here: http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/10/jordan-move-censor-online-expression

Specs Showdown: Apple iPhone 5Vs. GooPhone I5

 

Earlier I mentioned Apples conundrum concerning the iPhone 5 and China, where GooPhone owns the rights to the iPhone 5's design (read all the awesome details here)، While reading up on the GooPhone I5 I was surprised to discover it wasn't just another half baked Chinese knockoff with a VGA resistive touch screen and a .3 MP camera. In fact the I5 is the complete opposite it's screen resolution is even better than the Retina screen on the iPhone; it has a quad core processor, Expandable memory and the 32GB version costs less than half the price of the 16GB base model on the iPhone 5. It seems Goo are here to stay.

Fun Fact: Apple Can't Relase the iPhone 5 in China Without the Risk of being Sued by a Chiniese Knock-Off Company "Goo-Phone"

 
This week Apple announced the iPhone 5 which true to the design leaks is nothing more (on the outside) than an elongated iPhone 4/4S. Interestingly enough a repetitive design might be the least of Apple's worries surrounding the impending sale of the all new iPhone. A China based phone manufacturer called "GooPhone" bet big on the iPhone 5 leaks; and they just might cash in VERY big.

Going with nothing more than their gut feeling and the leaked parts of the iPhone 5, GooPhone made their own phone based on the same design all the way to the two-tone back-panel of the phone resulting in the android running "GooPhone I5" (in case you're interested the specs of the phone are quite impressive for a rush job: Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core 1.4Ghz CPU, 1GB RAM, Android 4.0 ICS with an iOS 6 theme, 8 megapixel rear camera and a 4-inch screen with an impressive retina display resolution of 1280 x 720).

This itself is nothing new when it comes to phones and the Chinese market, for as long as either of the two existed  they have played their little game of  "Monkey See- monkey Do", what makes GooPhone special is that they went that extra step and actually patented the deign of the GooPhone I5 in Chinese courts, and were approved! (keep in mind that the leaks were never patented, so GooPhone were the first to the office with their product)

As far as the Chinese courts are interested GooPhone owns the rights to the iPhone 5's design, should Apple decide to release it's latest iPhone 5 there they might (and most definitely will) end up in trouble with the Chinese courts and GooPhone.

In other News Samsung has acquired GooPhone for the sum of $500,000,000 (500 Million), stating that they were interested in their wide array of patent portfolios. (that last sentence was a joke in case you couldn't tell).

AliGoneMobile Now Uses "Disqus" Comment System + How-to For Your Own Blog

 

I've been looking at using a different comment system for the blog for a while now, but I've always thought it to be too much trouble to go through to actually implement one of the better known comment systems rather than using Bloggers horrible built in Comment system. Finally spurred on by Dani I looked into it and TADA! We now have a new commenting system, powered by the amazing Disqus! (give it a spin, if you're reading this be sure to leave a comment).

Surprisingly switching to a new comment system took less than 2 minutes to complete and embed into the site URL, so here's a quick how-to (just to make this post slightly educational):

• First off head over to Disqus.com
• Login or Create an account
• Click on the big orange "Get This on your site" button"
  
  
• Then fill out the form with your site details and your own personal Disqus details (so you can manage the comments on your site)
  
  
•  Hit Continue and you'll get the option to select which blogging service you use (Wordpress, Blogger etc.), select the appropriate one and it'll implement itself onto your blog. No need to deal with any scary code or anything!

All done? Awesome now go eat a cookie! (Or else it won't work)!

PureView of Jerash #808

Today I took my 808 Pureview with me to Jerash; for those of you who don't know, Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman Ruins in the world. Anyways this was the first time I actually planned to take my 808 on a photo-shoot so I tried  being a bit artistic about it. Personally I'm pretty proud of the results since I usually suck at photography, it's nowhere as impressive as some of the other 808 shots I've see; but it's a start.
(click for full view)

This is the entrance gate to the ruins,  I love the clarity of the sky behind it.

Lossless zoom is amazing in cases like this, the details are amazing!!

There I was surrounded by hundreds of years of culture, and priceless ruins and I decided to take pictures of sand; still the quality is impressive.

My attempt at being a little "artsy"

I realize this area was the scene of hundreds of bloody fights till the death, but all I could think of was that this is exactly where the top gear crew raced while on their Middle East Christmas special :)

As always your feedback is appreciated!