Cristian0's Blog

Just another Rant WordPress weblog

Can somebody please train personnel at tech stores?

November 24th, 2010

Some friends and I walk into a store that sells Nooks. I consider myself very tech sawy and I keep up with gadgets so I am not sure why one of my friends decides to ask the store dude about it instead of myself. They had two models on display, the Nook and the Nook Color. So the guy starts going off about how the nook color is much more advanced because you can fit 6000 (8GB) books rather 1500(2G) books on the original one. To what my friend replies that she can always take books out and put back in the ones she wants to read. So, I tell my friend that she doesn’t need to worry about it because if she EVER needs more than 1600 books she can always buy a cheap SD card that could easily triple the storage.

Then, the guy starts talking about how the color screen is so much better because it is easier to read. I can certainly see that device being better for children’s books and maybe magazines but not for reading books. So, I tell my friend that for reading books which is the main purpose of the e-reader, she will probably prefer the e-ink so that she could read outside and her eyes won’t get tired as much because of all the reflection in the color screen. The guy says that that is not really a problem when my friend’s husband points out that you can see all the store lights reflecting on the screen. At this point, with all the pandering, I am thinking this guy works on commission or something.

A Kinetic Experience

November 15th, 2010

The wife is reading on her Kindle in the bedroom while I am playing Call of Duty: Blacks Ops on my PC with my headset on. Then, the apartment starts to shake, the ceiling fan is about to drop, and it sounds like a stampede is going by. My wife and I grew up in Central America surrounded by volcanoes. So thinking that it is a small earthquake, I start running to a door frame when I realized it is very easy to walk because the ground is not moving. Now I am a bit scared because I am thinking it might be a tornado since this is common in the Southern United States where we live. I go look out the window and there are clear skies when the shaking suddenly stops.

A minute has passed now when we realized, the sounds are coming from upstairs. I go up there thinking somebody went UFC on somebody else’s ass. I knock on the door, and this thin short white college kid opens the door. I asked him if he was okay because my apartment was about to come down on me. At that moment, he apologizes saying that he and his friend were playing a new Xbox 360 game where you play by moving around. Of course, he tells me this while he points to a Kinect for the Xbox 360. However, this still did not add up though, until his 300-pound friend came back from the fridge with another beer. I told they should play Call of Duty instead.

I guess the Moral of the story is that you should not invite your chubby friends to play Kinect in your upstairs apartment even though you might think they need the exercise. Rather, tell them to eat a salad every now and then! I know even McDonalds sells them now.

How does Sony fail at making a remote?

October 20th, 2010

Sony is supposed to be an experienced manufacturer of electronic devices that require remote controls. You’d figure they have immense talent. However, they have done the worst implementation of a remote control for the PlayStation 3. The PS3 does not come with a remote control. It has to be purchased separately for $25 at retail. So, when they tell you how great the PS3 is as a Blu-ray player for $300, remember you still do not have a remote control. The remote is Bluetooth so that you just need to be nearby the PS3 for it to work. It is not like a regular IR remote that requires line of sight and pointing to the device.

The problem with this though is that the PS3 remote does not have a way to communicate to IR devices. This means that if you want to change the volume on your television, you will require a separate remote. What is even worse, if your TV remote can control your Blu-ray player, it will not be able to control your PS3 because it does not have a IR port. Which begs the question, what was Sony thinking and do they even have a plan in effect to fix this? Microsoft on the other hand gets the remote control right, even though they do not have a history of making decent hardware. The Xbox 360 remote retails for $20 and you can control your TV with it just fine. It even glows in the dark. The Xbox 360 does not play Blu-rays but works pretty well as a media extender hooked to a bedroom TV, for example.

Why don’t we get digital property?

October 6th, 2010

When I was teenager, there was suddenly this huge boom of CD stores in my hometown. They were more than anything places to hang out with your friends and people who share your taste in music. You would come to the store, have a chat and whatnot. Even if you did not buy a CD that day, it was very likely you bought a soft drink, a poster, or a piece of gum. It was the social network of its day in a way.

Then, manufacturers just as they did with cassettes recorders on its day, started selling upgrades to the CD players called CD writers or recorders. Soon, the bootleggers started charging a fraction of the price of the original because they only had to cover the cost of the media they were selling illegally. At this moment in time, lust for the sheen of money made consumers buy these bootlegs without a hint of the ramifications of the laws they were breaking. This managed to cause most of the stores to shut down and those that did not had to severely down size.

This is the part I think people do not get about stealing digital property. It is not that Lady Gaga is not going to make as many millions or had to downgrade from her Jet 4 to a Jet 3, it is the fact that Jet 3 does not need as many engineers to maintain the Jet putting them out of a job. All of the stores in my hometown paid rent, employed clerks, cleaning crew, and people for repairs. People do not seem to get that stealing digital property not only affects the artist but it also affects the economy, which affects you.

When you buy a book on your Kindle, you are not paying for text that cost nothing to be copied. You are paying for the effort, the work of the author, the editors, and even the people that clean the place where the editors work. If we don’t get this, it will get to a point where nobody will have any incentive to create anything as it will not put food on the table.

Why do people wait at a 4-way stop?

September 29th, 2010

Let me explain… I drive to the intersection of a 4-way stop. Then, the person on one of the other stops decides to wait for me to stop. It seems obvious to me that if you got to it, and you already stopped, there shouldn’t be a need to wait until the next car arrives.

I guess some people are engulfed by fear because the other car might be Toyota or that the brakes have been tampered with. Either way if the other car is already slowing down you are not in any imminent danger. Just go right ahead, no need to make other people wait.

is 3D a gimmick or here to stay?

September 22nd, 2010

I would like to start by saying that what we call 3D is actually a technique called Stereoscopy. All this does is provide a higher illusion of depth by basically providing each eye with a different image. I don’t believe that this technique has ripened enough to be called 3D. Our vision already provides several ways to perceive depth such as position, perspective, size, etc. Filmmakers have already mastered these techniques and have done a wonderful job at it. There really isn’t any need for this stereoscopic technique to be added to film. When I think about what 3D images should look like, I think of holograms such as the one in Stars Wars or similar Sci-Fi movies. I definitely don’t think of the headache I got after watching Avatar, which has a horrible story by the way. Think Pocahontas here.

It is pretty obvious this better version of ”3D” is thrown at us by manufacturers trying to sell the next big thing. There is a lot more money involved on it this time than when JAWS came out. We got more content this time around including sports, home made movies and photos, and several Pixar films and the like. Movie theaters are cashing in big time because tickets can be sold for higher prices as the consumer seems to believe it is worth it. Either that or they have 6 years old nagging to get into the 3D showing. However, I do not think 3D is all that bad. 3D actually requires you to have an HDTV and a Blu-ray player that are 3D capable. Several consumers do not see the difference between DVD vs Blu-ray or HD vs SD which blows my mind. But, 3D might provide that little nudge that make them jump into these newer technologies and abandon those old CRT sets.

3D sales seems to be improving at a steady gait but I still can not help but think that this is nothing but a gimmick that I hope eventually goes away.

Tips for a succesful marriage

September 15th, 2010

I have only been married for a couple of years but I have lived with my wife for a while. Under that time, I have learnt some tricks and tips that I would like to share.

1. The distance between you and your spouse from each other’s in-laws is directly proportional to your household’s happiness. Those who have in-laws living nearby will understand, but if you do not, watch an episode of Everybody loves Raymond and you will know exactly what I mean.

2. Twice and three times a week are the recommended doses. You know what I am talking about. Be demure once in a while. Try to keep things new and fresh. Always remember, some is better than none, but more is better than some.

3. Keep your bank accounts separate. Keep a joint checking account to deposit for bills. Each spouse contributes a percentage of their corresponding household income to pay bills. If one spouse makes 60k and the other 40k. One spouse should pay 40% of the bills and the other 60%. I know it is difficult to talk with your partner about money as this might offend him or her, but communication is key in a healthy relationship.

4. Set expectations really low. Do not be fooled, your spouse will try to change you and to mold you into the perfect partner and it will happen to some degree. Not in a volatile manner but over time. The secret is to change slightly and slowly raise the bar. Do not start cleaning out the whole house the first day, clean the dishes every once in a while and go from there. Do not buy her a car in your first anniversary, buy chocolate and roses instead. Next year, you might get her a nice love book. You get the idea. That way there will be a surprise factor and you will make your partner happy.

5. Marriage is about compromise. Especially if you want to stay close and do things together. This week she might want to watch Eat Pray Love, then next week you all can watch The Expendables.

I would to love to hear your tips.

Places in Hattiesburg that sell Coke Zero

July 26th, 2010

I was a heavy Diet Coke drinker until I discovered Coke Zero. It tastes 10 times better. However, few places around my area serve it or have it in their soda machines. I know of only the following places that serve it in the Hattiesburg Area.

1. Bakers Burger Co: This is the new burger joint in town and it is pretty good too. They have a “flavor of the week” bun, wheat and your typical white bun. [location]

2. Movie Star: You will love to eat here! They’ve got an awesome buffet Friday and Saturday that includes ribs, catfish, pork loin, sweet potatoes fries, apple pie, and all the good stuff. Saturdays they have a deal called Ribeye for 2 which is $25. [location]

3. The Grand 18: Do you know what is better than Nachos and Cheese? Coke Zero with Nachos and Cheese
Yep, our local and only movie theater serves Coke Zero. [location]

4. Fox’s Pizza Den: This is a great pizza joint on Old Hwy 11 next to the Corner market. Good Pizza. Very different from your franchise type pizza place. [location]

5. Sweet Peppers Deli: They have two locations, one on Hardy next to Lowes and the other one on Lincoln and Broadway. They sell sandwiches, salads, wraps, and spuds to go with a delicious Coke Zero [location] [2]

If you know of any other places nearby that serve Coke Zero, feel free to let us know in the comments section.

Everyone dies some time kiddo

May 25th, 2010

[Spoiler Alert: Do NOT read if you have not seen the LOST series finale]

The LOST series finale is as bittersweet as they come. A determined Jack has to make the ultimate sacrifice in order to fulfill his purpose and help his friends, just as Charlie did at the end of Season 3. Therefore, following Spock’s principle “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few … or the one.”

We get several answers at the end of the show, but to follow in LOST tradition there are still questions remaining with plenty of room for interpretation. These are going to be influenced based on your thoughts and beliefs. Why did Jack not turn into a Smoke Monster? We know what the numbers mean, but why are the numbers all over the place? If you were expecting straightforward answers to all the premises of the show, I hate to break it to you, but you were watching the wrong show for the past 6 years.

5 reasons you should NOT develop in SAP

May 17th, 2010

When you graduate from a college with a computer science degree, there are several disciplines that you can steer your career towards. ERP is one of them. To keep it short and simple, ERP are software packages that supposedly should provide functionality to everything the client/company would ever need. However, it still needs to be customized to fit all your client needs. SAP is one of these packages and I will give you several reasons why you should stay away from pursuing a career or develop in SAP.

1. Documentation is Terrible, Terrible, Terrible

You are going to be working with code that could have easily been written 20 years ago. It is very likely there is not going to be much documentation or an API that you could reference to get you started. Several commands could have already been deprecated but SAP will not update that code or add much documentation to it. In the chance that there is any documentation, it can be available in German without an English version of it. Also, most SAP Press books are a sales pitch to management rather than actual technical knowledge.

2. Why use an Abacus when we have Calculators?

Tools to develop in ABAP are very rudimentary. Do not expect CTRL + Space here. The language has seen several revisions with the addition of objects but they rarely serve a purpose as they are only wrappers to existing function modules. This encourages old and new developers to keep working in traditional programming which is rather obsolete nowadays. SAP’s approach to make ABAP object oriented is simply a joke. There is no repository tool for developing in ABAP or an effective way to concurrently work on the same code. It is possible to lock your code so that nobody can edit it, but that’s about it.