So I got an invitation to try out Google Inbox by Gmail. I guess that's the name of it, not really sure. I think it's kinda silly to create an entirely new brand/product that is basically a re-structuring of Gmail. Before I get into "Inbox", let me describe what my Gmail experience has been like for a few years now.
I never leave unread emails lying around. I'm not one of those ppl with 2,000 unread emails. If an email comes in, and I know I don't need it, it gets trashed. If I don't have time to read it, but know i probably should, it gets starred. If I need to read it, and that's the end of it, I just read it and move on. I do no filing, just deleting, reading, and starring. I use a special "view" in Gmail to keep all starred emails on top. If you're not a gmail person, it's the same as flagging. Basically there is always three piles of email: The unread pile at the very top, starred emails under that, and everything else at the bottom.
"Inbox" only does two things.
#1: it creates a new folder for you. When looking at your email thru Inbox, it's a container called "Done". All of your marked or unread emails stay visible. If you're done with it, you swipe it away, and it gets hidden in the "Done" folder. This kinda merges the function of a To-do list and your email. In fact, Inbox allows you to create "Reminders", which is almost like emailing yourself, then flagging the msg.
#2: it has a snoozing feature. You can make an email hide in a "Snooze" folder for a defined period of time (24 hours, a week, etc.)
The only thing about Inbox is that in order for it to make sense, I had to do some house-cleaning. Remember my big three piles of email? Well pile #3 was all the "rest" of the email. I used inbox to swipe that entire pile into the "done" folder (it makes it relatively easy by allowing u to swipe a whole month away). Another issue is that it didn't automatically see my currently starred messages and pin them. I had to find them manually and pin them. I only had to do this once, and from that point on, all pinned msgs were syncing w/ the standard "flagging" system.
The biggest drawback on Inbox: Gmail has a huge support base for plugins n stuff, which i imagine don't work within Inbox's pretty interface. I however, a fan of simplicity and forward-movement, have been willing to deal with that (at least for the past week) in favor of a cleaner email system.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Monday, October 20, 2014
Home Media Setup (for laptop people)
I created a post a while back that has gotten a lot of attention from ppl who ask me how I do my home theater/media stuff. It's super detailed, get's updated regularly, and it's awesome. BUT it's mainly for ppl who have a desktop computer or server hangin out at home. It's here.
For the rest of you who just live your life off a laptop, here are is the same process, modified.
DISCLAIMER: This setup involves pirating. If you would prefer to pay for every single movie/song you ever watch, you can basically ignore this entire blog post and just buy an AppleTV. Use the iTunes store on it for renting and purchasing movies/music/etc. For TV shows, if you don't want to pay for CableTV, the AppleTV has an app called "HuluPlus" on it that costs $8/mo. Problem solved.
BUT, if you're not a millionaire and still want access to all the media in the world, read on.
DISCLAIMER: This setup involves pirating. If you would prefer to pay for every single movie/song you ever watch, you can basically ignore this entire blog post and just buy an AppleTV. Use the iTunes store on it for renting and purchasing movies/music/etc. For TV shows, if you don't want to pay for CableTV, the AppleTV has an app called "HuluPlus" on it that costs $8/mo. Problem solved.
BUT, if you're not a millionaire and still want access to all the media in the world, read on.
BENEFITS:
- IT'S EASY
The process for set up below appears to be "involved". But trust me, it's simpler than it looks, and most of the steps are things you only have to do ONCE. After it's set up, getting the movies/media you want is very easy. Let's just say that my wife downloads movies all the time.
- NO MORE DISCS
I never have to go to a Redbox, in fact, we haven't watched a single DVD/Blu-ray for over a year.
- THE VIDEO QUALITY IS AWESOME
Newsflash: DVDs are actually recorded in 480p resolution. Chances are, your TV does 1080p. This means that if you're still a DVD-watcher, you've been watching mediocre-quality stuff this whole time. Nooooo!
- NO MORE TV SCHEDULES
My wife and I watch little/no live TV, yet are still pretty caught up on shows we enjoy watching (Walking Dead, Parks & Recreation, etc.)
- NO MORE MOVING FILES / SYNCING
I never have to copy/move files from one device to another (let's just say i haven't sync'd my iPhone in about 2 years).
- IT'S CHEAP
The monthly costs for all of this is very very low, and I can pick and choose what I want, unlike Cable TV service which basically forces you to have every channel (I have no CableTV service).
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WHAT YOU NEED:
- Your laptop: It doesn't have to be a great laptop.
- An internet connection: Preferably a good one
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GET PLEX HOME THEATER
1a. Organize your media
Create a "movies" folder and a separate "TV Shows" folder on your external hard drive. You may also want to create an "Other Videos" folder. If you already possess some video files, throw them in there.
2a. Install Plex Home Theater (get it here)
This software presents your computer's stored media in a way that's "TV-friendly". When it's originally set up, it will ask you where the folders are (from step 1a). You will see an option to add a "Home Movies" section in Plex. I use the "Other Videos" folder for that. (There are specific reasons for this, and you will soon see why).
NOTE: Plex has an option for adding a "Music" section. I would advise against this since it just doesn't work very well. It does have an option for adding an iTunes "channel". In my experience, it works beautifully.
3a. Set up your computer to never sleep (optional)
May be annoying to watch a movie and then the laptop falls asleep.
May be annoying to watch a movie and then the laptop falls asleep.
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ACQUIRE YOUR MOVIES/TV SHOWS
1b. Install a torrent client on your computer
Mac users should use Transmission. Windows users, i suggest qBittorrent.
2b. Get your movies/TV shows
My go-to source is http://www.thePirateBay.org . You simply make a search, click the "SE" column in the search results to sort by Seed, and click the little magnets when you see what you like. "Seeds" are sources of the file you want. The more "Seeds", the faster the download.
3b. Pay close attention to download destinations
When you click on the little magnets from step 2b, your torrent client will automatically open up and begin the download. Make sure that you download to the appropriate folders from step 2a.
PIRATEBAY PRO-TIPS
- Add "720p" or "1080p" to your searches, and pay close attention to the file size listed for each search result. Usually the best quality is between 1GB-3GB. Anything more than 3GB is usually very high-quality, but often not enough of a difference to be noticeable. However, the really big files, (≥4GB 1080p) often have awesome 5.1 surround sound. For movies like Star Wars, it's worth the wait. NOTE: HD TV shows are pretty much always 720p.
- Avoid search results that say "TS", "HDTS", "Telesync" or "CAM". This means that it's recorded in the movie theater with some dude's camcorder. Like those DVDs u buy in Chinatown. It's not worth it. Just wait for the date the movie is released for rental. On that day, PirateBay will have delicious 720p/1080p versions of the movies you want.
- Add the year to the movie you're searching for. Sometimes it makes life easier. Example: Searching for "Batman 1995" will get you Batman Forever. "Batman 1992" would be Batman Returns. Don't know the year? Wikipedia.
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WATCH YOUR MOVIE/TV SHOW
1c. Open Plex Home Theater
2c. ENJOY
To get new movies/TV shows, just repeat steps 2b + 3b.
Don't know what to watch? Check these lists:
Thursday, February 6, 2014
My week on an Android phone
Let's skip the story as to why I ended up with an Android phone for a week. In a nutshell, I was between iPhones. I definitely saw it as an opportunity to really give Android a try, out of pure curiosity. My last android stint was with the GS2 a while back. Some things have definitely changed.
Needless to say, I am a "power-user" with everything I do in the tech world. Also note that this is not a review of this specific phone, but a comparison of Android in general to iOS. Just keep that in mind as u read this.
The phone I was using was the Moto X, a phone with near-"vanilla" Android v4.4. It is not currently Google's flagship model, but it's a solid phone designed by Google in conjunction with Motorola. It reminds me of what the iPhone 5C is in the current iOS market. It's sold with pretty color choices, isn't exactly the most powerful hardware available, but all in all, is a decent phone. The specs definitely exceeded the needs of any of the stuff I was doing. (I played no 3D games or anything like that).
HARDWARE
Most android phones are plastic, and design is rarely ever a selling point. Even in the Nexus marketing page, there is almost no mentioning of the physical aspects of the phone. The reason is because this is where Google excels. Their software engineers are amazing. Their industrial designers (the dudes who make the actual chunk of plastic), not so much. Needless to say, this is where Apple tends to shine. Even the 5C, the first iPhone to not sport any metal on it's shell, feels solid and has an a density that feels good in the hand.
The battery on the Moto X felt like... well... an iPhone. Meaning, no complaints. iPhones have better batteries than the majority of the "serious" android competitors. This is just a fact.
SCREEN
Though this may not mean much to the average user, the over-saturated look of most Android phones really really irks me. Besides being a musician, I'm a photographer and a designer. Seeing some of my designs/photos looking like an over-colorful children's game on the Moto X made me nauseous.
Then there's the size...
I want to see an Android user grab their phone with their left hand and reach the top right corner with their thumb without awkwardly leaning their phone forward. I have yet to see this in real life. This screen is simply too large. I can't even imagine a GS4, which has an even bigger screen.
Now let's discuss this screen size issue...
In the hi-res age we live in, all content looks equally as sharp in one screen vs. the other. But what about overall size? There are only two factors to consider.
#1 is viewing content, and #2 is rooming for TYPING.
As for #1, size is meaningless. In our living rooms, size DOES make a difference because TV's don't really move. This is the same principle that applies to why a 27" screen on a desk is "huge" but is tiny in a living room. This does NOT apply to cellphones. Why? Well because our hands MOVE easily. If you want a bigger or smaller screen, change its distance to your face. An iPhone has a 4" screen and a Nexus5 has a 4.95". The real only added benefit of the larger screen is TYPING.
This is where it gets funny...
KEYBOARD
The default keyboard, designed by Google, was absolutely terrible. I thought having a larger screen would help with the typing. I even thought the swipe-feature would help, and it didn't. I see so many jokes/memes about the iPhone Auto-correct, but the fact is that it works very well compared to other platforms. The auto-correct on Android had me re-typing almost every word. It took me ages to send messages. I'm writing this blog on my iPhone right now, and it has correctly fixed the spelling on just about every word i have typed. You see, this is part of the reason why the size doesn't matter...
Let me school you a bit on how these touchscreen keyboards work. As you're typing, the actual input zones of each letter key changes in size. For example, if you type "T-I-M-", and then aim for the "W" key, the phone may think you actually meant to hit the "E" key, since it's more likely that you're typing "TIME" rather than "TIMW". Basically, the size of your finger means nothing. The keys may appear to be small, but they are actually (invisibly) getting pretty huge as the software predicts your text. This is why even the fattest of the fat have no trouble typing in smartphones. Apple has been working on this same keyboard for 2007, back when people still preferred their nasty Blackberry keyboards. They have been perfecting this system for far longer than Swiftkey or Swype or Google.
But dude... the dictation on Android is just sick...
Let me school you a bit on how these touchscreen keyboards work. As you're typing, the actual input zones of each letter key changes in size. For example, if you type "T-I-M-", and then aim for the "W" key, the phone may think you actually meant to hit the "E" key, since it's more likely that you're typing "TIME" rather than "TIMW". Basically, the size of your finger means nothing. The keys may appear to be small, but they are actually (invisibly) getting pretty huge as the software predicts your text. This is why even the fattest of the fat have no trouble typing in smartphones. Apple has been working on this same keyboard for 2007, back when people still preferred their nasty Blackberry keyboards. They have been perfecting this system for far longer than Swiftkey or Swype or Google.
But dude... the dictation on Android is just sick...
DICTATION
Dictation (not to be confused with voice commands/Siri) on Android was amazing. I loved using it, and due to the trash keyboard, I resorted to it whenever I could. I like that it actually shows you what you're writing as you speak it. On iOS, you basically speak and wait and see the entire paragraph get typed up. Not my cup of tea.
VOICE COMMANDS
The Moto X has that thing where you just say "OK Google now, etc." and it starts taking commands. The problem with this is that Google Now is kinda slow. First it deciphers what you just said, writes it out, then starts to think about what it's going to do. Siri is much faster than this, and does it well. Yes, the "always listening" thing is nifty, but the overall package just isn't totally there. I don't foresee this staying like this forever. I can imagine it speeding up in the future and it becoming much more useable.
USER INTERFACE
DUDE. Android is fugly. This may not seem important to you, but it should be. My phone, my chair, my bed, and my desktop keyboard are probably the things that I spend the most time on throughout the day. They need to be comfortable. They need to be stable. They need to be well-designed.
Yes, Android lets you tweak stuff. It's like buying a partially baked pizza crust. You can put whatever you want in it and make something tasty. Unfortunately, the Google Play store is like... Pathmark. The ingredients are meh, and your end result may or may not be desirable (even though you may think your home-made Kraft Mac&chz with sriracha is amazing)... imagine that iOS is like a meal that's already made, and was created by a 60 yr old 5-star chef. No, you can't really change it much, but man.. you KNOW it's going to flavorful and balanced. This is where the real problem lies, as well as Google's ultimate strength:
SOFTWARE VS. SERVICES
Google provides the best services in the world. I use their Gmail, GDrive, GWallet, Hangouts, etc. In fact, i SWEAR by this stuff. I use iCloud for basically nothing except FindMyiPhone. Google provides better SERVICES than Apple. Hangouts is far superior to FaceTime/iMessages, having an @icloud.com email looks whack, iWork-online is trash compared to GDrive-GDocs. The only problem is that ALL of these services, including Google Now (even voice commands), Google Maps, Hangouts, etc. are ALL available on the Apple App Store. And they all work amazingly well, as if they were native apps.
Facebook on Android was so buggy. Why in the world would the most popular app ever made be THIS buggy? Even Google Chrome on the iPhone runs more smoothly than Chrome on Android. Why is this? It comes down to how iOS is designed. It's sandboxed and limited in it's tweakability, but it's a tradeoff for stability and ease of use. Also, what's up with all this junk from Motorola on the MotoX? I thought it was supposed to be "mostly" vanilla? I could just the imagine the bloatware and TouchWiz mess on the GS4. Yuck. In closing, Googles services are better than Apples, but Apple's software and they way they handle third party software is far superior.
Oh and the notification thing in Android was bananas. I loved that thing. However, I really don't need 5 icons each showing me their dumb faces on the top bar, letting me know i have a notification. A number would suffice. Again, poor UI design, but was negligible nonetheless.
THIRD PARTY SUPPORT
There's statistics that show that most Android users are dumbphone users. What this means is that they're mostly doing dumb stuff like texting/calling/facebooking but not really using apps or browsing as much as iOS users. This is the reason why third party developers tend to pay more attention to the iOS versions of their stuff over Android. Even with the huge Android market share, your app is more likely to be downloaded and actively used by an iOS user over an Android user. It's also the reason why there are so many iPhone peripherals in comparison to Android peripherals. I don't think I've ever even seen a Micro USB boombox dock... (not that i would use one lol).
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THIS WHOLE "FLAT DESIGN" THING
I remember when iOS came out, there was all this stuff about it being like Android by design. This is just false. Let's start with a quick lesson on skeuomorphism.
Skeuomorphism is basically when a software dude designs stuff in a digital medium to look non-digital. Like the way the Notes app on iPad used to look like a "real" notebook. Some people are into this look. In fact, Android has it all over the place. This icon looks like a real envelope. These headphones look kinda realistic as well. It's skeuomorphism at its best. It is NOT "flat" design.
I'm a fan of consistency. It's the reason why I hate the two-facedness of Windows8. To me, the disparity of Android's beautiful home button and settings UI compared to all the skeumorphistic icons, in combination with a disagreeing of fonts between Android and Motorola services, as a designer, made me bonkers. Design and typography are like voices or dialects in the visual world. Android felt like I was being presented stuff by 5 different ppl. It's a total mess.
--
In conclusion, it's easy to see that I prefer having an iPhone over an Android phone. Maybe now you can see why. Some of what I said can probably be perceived as fanboyism... but unless you've really tried both with as much in-depth analysis as I have, u may think twice about your own prejudices. Let me know what you think!
The Moto X has that thing where you just say "OK Google now, etc." and it starts taking commands. The problem with this is that Google Now is kinda slow. First it deciphers what you just said, writes it out, then starts to think about what it's going to do. Siri is much faster than this, and does it well. Yes, the "always listening" thing is nifty, but the overall package just isn't totally there. I don't foresee this staying like this forever. I can imagine it speeding up in the future and it becoming much more useable.
USER INTERFACE
DUDE. Android is fugly. This may not seem important to you, but it should be. My phone, my chair, my bed, and my desktop keyboard are probably the things that I spend the most time on throughout the day. They need to be comfortable. They need to be stable. They need to be well-designed.
Yes, Android lets you tweak stuff. It's like buying a partially baked pizza crust. You can put whatever you want in it and make something tasty. Unfortunately, the Google Play store is like... Pathmark. The ingredients are meh, and your end result may or may not be desirable (even though you may think your home-made Kraft Mac&chz with sriracha is amazing)... imagine that iOS is like a meal that's already made, and was created by a 60 yr old 5-star chef. No, you can't really change it much, but man.. you KNOW it's going to flavorful and balanced. This is where the real problem lies, as well as Google's ultimate strength:
SOFTWARE VS. SERVICES
Google provides the best services in the world. I use their Gmail, GDrive, GWallet, Hangouts, etc. In fact, i SWEAR by this stuff. I use iCloud for basically nothing except FindMyiPhone. Google provides better SERVICES than Apple. Hangouts is far superior to FaceTime/iMessages, having an @icloud.com email looks whack, iWork-online is trash compared to GDrive-GDocs. The only problem is that ALL of these services, including Google Now (even voice commands), Google Maps, Hangouts, etc. are ALL available on the Apple App Store. And they all work amazingly well, as if they were native apps.
Facebook on Android was so buggy. Why in the world would the most popular app ever made be THIS buggy? Even Google Chrome on the iPhone runs more smoothly than Chrome on Android. Why is this? It comes down to how iOS is designed. It's sandboxed and limited in it's tweakability, but it's a tradeoff for stability and ease of use. Also, what's up with all this junk from Motorola on the MotoX? I thought it was supposed to be "mostly" vanilla? I could just the imagine the bloatware and TouchWiz mess on the GS4. Yuck. In closing, Googles services are better than Apples, but Apple's software and they way they handle third party software is far superior.
Oh and the notification thing in Android was bananas. I loved that thing. However, I really don't need 5 icons each showing me their dumb faces on the top bar, letting me know i have a notification. A number would suffice. Again, poor UI design, but was negligible nonetheless.
THIRD PARTY SUPPORT
There's statistics that show that most Android users are dumbphone users. What this means is that they're mostly doing dumb stuff like texting/calling/facebooking but not really using apps or browsing as much as iOS users. This is the reason why third party developers tend to pay more attention to the iOS versions of their stuff over Android. Even with the huge Android market share, your app is more likely to be downloaded and actively used by an iOS user over an Android user. It's also the reason why there are so many iPhone peripherals in comparison to Android peripherals. I don't think I've ever even seen a Micro USB boombox dock... (not that i would use one lol).
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: THIS WHOLE "FLAT DESIGN" THING
I remember when iOS came out, there was all this stuff about it being like Android by design. This is just false. Let's start with a quick lesson on skeuomorphism.
Skeuomorphism is basically when a software dude designs stuff in a digital medium to look non-digital. Like the way the Notes app on iPad used to look like a "real" notebook. Some people are into this look. In fact, Android has it all over the place. This icon looks like a real envelope. These headphones look kinda realistic as well. It's skeuomorphism at its best. It is NOT "flat" design.
I'm a fan of consistency. It's the reason why I hate the two-facedness of Windows8. To me, the disparity of Android's beautiful home button and settings UI compared to all the skeumorphistic icons, in combination with a disagreeing of fonts between Android and Motorola services, as a designer, made me bonkers. Design and typography are like voices or dialects in the visual world. Android felt like I was being presented stuff by 5 different ppl. It's a total mess.
--
In conclusion, it's easy to see that I prefer having an iPhone over an Android phone. Maybe now you can see why. Some of what I said can probably be perceived as fanboyism... but unless you've really tried both with as much in-depth analysis as I have, u may think twice about your own prejudices. Let me know what you think!
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