7zip and zip support in Ubuntu

7zip and zip support in Ubuntu

Once I downloaded a 7z file and it wouldnt open. First I thought that the archive was corrupted so I downloaded it from another mirror and I got the same error.
Then I realised that Ubuntu doesnt come with support for .zip and .7z archives allthough Linux Mint does have support for .zip and .7z by default.

To open .zip and .7z archives in Ubuntu open terminal and type:

For .zip

sudo apt-get install unrar-free 

For .7z

sudo apt-get install p7zip-full 

These small things are annoying for beginners. Ill add them to my installscript for the next version of Ubuntu.

Read More

75 off Mount and Blade and Warband from Steam

75 off Mount and Blade and Warband from Steam

Whether you fancy yourself as a Flashing Blade type, or have delusions of being a legendary Seeker get over to Steam and download and  play the only Equus persona venatus  free form mounted combat action rpg sandbox  game and its expansion/pseudo sequel .


And  seriously ,its only a little like the Witcher  but with  more equus . Or like Oblivion but with much more Equus....Or my little medieval war pony with more rpg ...


And completely seriously Mount and Blade is a gem of an rpg series , that pc rpg fans should not miss especially at this price .


Imagine the fun you can have jousting with 64 players !  How about a Holy Grail mod with siege cows ? Right knave fetch my steed and armour ....We will We Will Rock You!!!!!!!!!!!

and like all the best PC games series there are the obligatory Star Wars mods :

how about a mods v rockers Western Supermare mod? oh wait there is this : 

  Download Mount and Blade and Warband  75% off from Steam now! 

? Grab this Headline Animator

? Grab this Headline Animator

? Grab this Headline Animator

Read More

A Dynamic Data Warehousing Platform for Creating and Accessing Biomedical Data Lakes

A Dynamic Data Warehousing Platform for Creating and Accessing Biomedical Data Lakes

This week we had our paper titled "A Dynamic Data Warehousing Platform for Creating and Accessing Biomedical Data Lakes." presented in Second International Workshop on Data Management and Analytics for Medicine and Healthcare (DMAH16), co-located with 42 nd International Conference on Very Large Data Bases (VLDB 2016). Sep. 2016.

Abstract: Medical research use cases are population centric, unlike the clinical use cases which are patient or individual centric. Hence the research use cases require accessing medical archives and data source repositories of heterogeneous nature. Traditionally, in order to query data from these data sources, users manually access and download parts or whole of the data sources. The existing solutions tend to focus on a specific data format or storage, which prevents using them for a more generic research scenario with heterogeneous data sources where the user may not have the knowledge of the schema of the data a priori.

In this paper, we propose and discuss the design, implementation, and evaluation of Data Caf�, a scalable distributed architecture that aims to address the shortcomings in the existing approaches. Data Caf� lets the resource providers create biomedical data lakes from various data sources, and lets the research data users consume the data lakes efficiently and quickly without having a priori knowledge of the data schema.

Read More

A Guide to Improving your Patient Interaction and Outreach

A Guide to Improving your Patient Interaction and Outreach

Technology enables, but man disables by not taking advantage of opportunities given to him. As a Physicians today, you have many key touch points to increase and consequently improve your interactions with patients. Some are simple methods, some require a little bit of work, but what is the end advantage of it all? For one thing it makes you popular amongst patients;  and the side effect could lead you to get more business.

Second it helps educate and provide information to patients and people who may read just what they need, thanks to you! A little help goes a long way in accumulating blessings.

Third, contributing to the general knowledge resource of the community improves the very community you are part off, it encourages others to follow suit.

So now what do you need to do?

1. Reach out to many in the general audience: Start writing, the internet lets you update and express views, either as 160 character bursts on twitter, or a long blog detailing your experience.

Twitter: On twitter you can start putting up bursts of interesting cases you see, new techniques you here about, information about your local medical network which may help people in your area! Go onto www.twitter.com, register yourself and type away.

Blogging: Doing a lot of research which you think people should here about, or have an opinion which potential patients should here about, blog about it. Many people will find it online as they search for an information panacea for their problem and be happy to come across your blog.

2. Create a mechanism such that people can contact you: For a start, get a practice website. It helps you disseminate information about your services for people looking for the same. It isn�t advertising, it�s a service, people today face many choices and are hampered by lack of information, improving their ability to find information quickly is beneficial to them.

On your website, don�t only talk about you, tell the patients more about what diseases and disabilities you treat, what are the latest treatments, generic advice and maybe even help them going to right person if you weren�t involved.

Use tools like interactive patient forms which can be filled before the patient arrives at the center, saving time and giving you a heads up on the patient�s needs. Use query forms on the website so that people can ask you about their problems, patients their doubts; this gives the feeling to your patients that you are available to them 24/7 without actually being there. Technical Doctor encourages doctors to have their own websites through their initiative http://www.technicaldr.com/tdr/websites-for-doctors. We also offer advice and consulting to help your website create the best impact on your patients and potential clients.

3. Using Software tools: Use softwares which improve communications. Invest in software which doesn�t just keep your records and accounts. The software should come with communications tools integrated and can be used with ease. Emailing of schedules and reports to patients is a must.

The software should also allow using SMSes to send reminders, alerts, prescription reminders etc. This is a new level of service, and patients will be thrilled to know there is always an alert to give them confidence in their moments of doubt.

Online Medical records allow patients to access their records remotely, insist on looking at software which promotes this feature if not today, but at least is compatible with this extension in the future. Technical Doctor provides EMR software products which come coupled with email, SMS and online EMRs. We encourage doctors to use these services to improve their service quality. You can see our products on http://www.technicaldr.com

4. Accessing data and messages on your phone: Today you may be using you phone to send SMSs, read emails and play games online. Why stop there, use it to drive business wherever you are. Neat and simple apps provide you fingertip information, coupled with your own website, or software they can become powerful tools in your hands to handle patients remotely.

Access patient alerts via the phone or your actual software to pull up data remotely. Technical Doctor already has a suite of products and apps which can run on phone browsers.

5. Contribute to journals and medical website online: Numerous sources are present where doctors submit their stories, research and experiences. The medical and patient community will be greatly benefited by your inputs, a little effort online will show you exactly where you should be adding your data.

6. Using new cool online tools to make education interesting: Nowadays making a presentation, cartoon strip or a cartoon movie to help educate your patients or interested clients is easy. Many tools are available online which let you render very interesting collaterals that can help ease patient doubts and also make it fun. Tools like www.bitstrips.com which we use to make cartoons helps in creating awareness in an educational yet informal way. Putting these up on your clinic facebook page or on your website is the best option.

These are just some pointers on how technology can help you as a doctor to interact with patients and also general public looking for information in your areas of expertise. It�s time to exercise your power using technology, so see you out there soon.

Read More

A Christmas Eve Pray and Hope

A Christmas Eve Pray and Hope

Yesterday was a Christmas Eve. I decided to pray and hoping something to God. People always said that when you take a prayer in christmas eve, what you really wanted in life will be granted. Surely yesterday, in the night of christmas, im just hoping something for someone, not myself.

I think the prayer which will be granted is a prayer that hoping something good for someone.


I did praying every christmas eve, and the first hope i want to be granted is something good for someone, then i prayed for myself.
I pray for myself but not hoping too much...Just want me and my family have a good future in health, career, and wealth, and hoping that my family will bring positive things to people who living around us. Just it.

Just want to told you here that Christmas time is not just praying to hoping the best for yourself only. Sometimes we must remember people who always helped us in the past and now theyve got difficultly or trouble in their life.

Christmas Eve prayer is not just for us, it also for somebody out there who need to be helped in a spiritual way. Dont think just the best for yourself only.

At last, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012 guys~=]

Read More

9 Months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 4

9 Months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 4

Continued from 9 Months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 3

10. Heart tracking accuracy varies regardless if you are using an Apple Watch,  Sony SmartWatch 3, a Fitbit, or the Vivosmart HR. One thing I did notice was that, as with competing products, the Vivosmart HR takes awhile to register your heart rate even while youre working out. Even if you perform several workout cycles or three dozen kettlebell swings at a fast clip, the Vivosmart HR may still indicate a pretty low heart rate even if youre having trouble talking. Stretching, calisthenics, and yoga may register virtually no heart rate change depending on your fitness.

11. Battery life after 9 months for the Vivosmart Charge HR is still very good. In fact, I was surprised that the Vivosmart HR lasted 5 days despite my constant activities during a trip to Ulan Bataar (I forgot to bring the charging  cable). Charging times are also speedy even if I use a powered USB 2.1 port on my openSUSE workstation.

12. Although the Garmin Connect app isnt the best fitness app available, Garmin is dedicated to providing updates regularly. More importantly, Garmin provides more firmware updates than Apple and Fitbit combined. Performing firmware updates to the Vivosmart HR works over Bluetooth, but arguably the fastest and most reliable way to sync updates is over USB using the Windows 10 or macOS desktop application.

13. When the Windows 10 Mobile version of Garmin Connect was released, it was welcome news. It didnt really matter that the Windows 10 Mobile version doesnt have as much features as the iOS and Android versions, but it made syncing the Vivosmart HR easier for WP fans. Remote music player control isnt available and Bluetooth syncing can take longer, but the app is usable for reviewing data. If youre having problems syncing the wearable using an Android mobile device, at least you can switch to a Windows Phone (if you own one).

14. Both the macOS and Windows 10 Garmin Express desktop applications dont really have much functionality since it just connects to the online service. However, installing firmware updates is faster and more reliable over macOS and Windows 10, than using Bluetooth syncing via the apps. You probably wont use the desktop apps as much as the mobile versions, but its still useful to have around.

Note: Garmin Connect for Windows 10 Mobile doesnt seem to provide firmware updates to Garmin products, unlike the iOS and Android version of the app. If youre using a Windows 10 Mobile device to sync your Vivosmart HR, it might be a good idea to connect via USB to a macOS and Windows 10 machine running the Garmin Express application to check for firmware updates.

15. Users who are aware of how wearables and the IT industry work accept that Garmin has no choice but to use a proprietary cable for charging and data transfer (Samsung, Fitbit, and Apple all provide proprietary connectors). However, its still terribly inconvenient to be always wary of the Garmin cable, since losing it pretty much means the product becomes unusable. On the plus side, the connector on the Garmin cable is superior to the flimsy contact point found on Fitbit charging cables. Unlike the charging cable for Fitbit products, connection is firm on the Garmin Vivosmart and theres a satisfying click that indicates a physical connection.

16. Even if youre a couch potato, cleaning the Vivosmart HR regularly is mandatory if you want to avoid irritation. Sweat, skin cells, and grime accumulate in the wrist area whether you notice it or not. Taking a bath with the Vivosmart HR does not constitute cleaning the device since soap suds and sediments cling to the product.

17. Despite its bulky design, the Vivosmart HR doesnt cause any perceptible drag if you swim. Swimming with the device is great, though you are tempted to sneak a peek at the display during the arc of your stroke. Unfortunately, the heart rate sensors accuracy drops quite a bit because water comes between the sensor and your skin, preventing an accurate reading as opposed to when you are on land.

18. If youve worked with Bluetooth documentation and drivers, youre pretty much realistic about the flaws of Bluetooth and Bluetooth LE. Despite the library of troubleshooting steps Garmin provides on their support site, Bluetooth syncing is dependent on the client device as much as the Vivosmart HR. The Lumia 925/950 with Windows 10 Mobile, for example, just doesnt sync with the Vivosmart HR as quickly as Sony Xperia C3. In turn, the newer Moto G4 Plus syncs faster than the Sony Xperia C3 over Bluetooth, thanks to a better chip.

Note: Sadly, Bluetooth syncing is an inconsistent process. Just because your product syncs easily a few times, theres no guarantee you wont encounter problems syncing next week, as I quickly found out with the G4 plus.

In most cases, users will have to trigger syncing manually from the Garmins pairing screen, especially when the Android or Windows 10 app fails to detect the product. Although it may seem incredibly primitive, connecting to a macOS or Windows PC and syncing using the Garmin Express app is not only the fastest way to update your Garmin data, but allows for reliable firmware updates as well.

Read More

5 Software to Identify and Open Files

5 Software to Identify and Open Files

PlayStation (bahasa Jepang: ?????????) adalah konsol permainan grafis dari era 32-bit. Pertama kali diproduksi oleh Sony sekitar tahun 1990. PlayStation diluncurkan perdana di Jepang pada 3 Desember 1994, di Amerika Serikat 9 September 1995 dan Eropa 29 September 1995. PlayStation menjadi sangat terkenal sehingga membentuk "Generasi PlayStation".

Dari sekian banyak game PlayStation, beberapa yang terkenal adalah: Suikoden, Tomb Raider, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, Tekken, Winning Eleven, Ridge Racer, wipEout, Gran Turismo, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, dan seri Metal Gear Solid. Pada 18 Mei 2004, Sony telah memproduksi 100 juta PlayStation dan PSOne ke seluruh dunia. Pada Maret 2004, sebanyak 7.300 judul permainan telah tersedia dengan jumlah akumulasi 949 juta.

Sony telah memproduksi konsol yang lebih baru dan telah di rancang ulang, bernama PSOne, dengan bentuk yang lebih kecil dan dinamis. PlayStation asal lebih sering disingkat dengan "PSX", kode nama dari sistem yang tidak dikembangkan. Ketika sistem baru yang sebelumnya dinamakan [PSX] diperkenalkan oleh Sony (versi upgrade dari PlayStation 2 sudah termasuk pembaca DVD, dapat diinstal hard drive, perekam video digital) , kemampuan bermain online , lalu pengembangan PS2 dilakukan di Playstation Portable, game PSP dapat dimainkan di mana saja dengan menggunakan UMD. PlayStation sekarang disingkat menjadi "PS1" atau "PSOne", beberapa orang masih menyingkatnya dengan "PSX".

Sebuah versi dari PlayStation yang desebut sebagai Net Yaroze juga dibuat, dan lebih mahal dibandingkan dengan PlayStation, berwarna hitam bukan abu-abu, dan yang terpenting: terdapat peralatan dan panduan yang memungkinkan pengguna untuk melakukan pemrograman permainan PlayStation dan aplikasinya tanpa memerlukan adanya paket pengembangan (developer suite), yang tentunya jauh lebih mahal dari harga sebuah PlayStation. Walau bagaimanapun, Net Yaroze memiliki banyak kekurangan dari fitur paket pengembangan. Net Yaroze juga unik karena ia adalah satu-satunya jenis resmi Sony PlayStation yang tidak memiliki regional lockout: Net Yaroze dapat menjalankan seluruh permainan dari semua teritori.

Versi lainnya yang dikenal dengan "Blue Console" juga tersedia bagi game developer. Blue Console memiliki RAM ganda (4 Megabytes) dan papan pengemulasi (emulator) CD-ROM yang terhubung ke komputer PC. Blue Console juga mampu menjalankan permainan yang masih dalah tahap pengembangan yang tidak memiliki region coding (dan biasanya ditolak oleh PlayStation normal).

Sekarang PS1 sudah sangat jadul dan jarang ada yang masih memainkann PS1. Era baru dengan penggunaan PS2 yang lebih canggih dengan berbaagai fitur yang luar biasa.

Pemasangan modchip memungkinkan pengembangan kemampuan PlayStation. Hal tersebut membuat copy ilegal dari permainan menjadi bisa digunakan, demikian juga permainan dari negara lain. Sejak adanya modchips yang bisa memainkan game yang direkam dalam CD-ROM biasa, timbullah gelombang kemunculan permainan yang dibuat secara tidak resmi dari Sony, yang menggunakan kompilasi gratis dari GNU.

Read More

51st State Department AAFSW Annual Art and Bookfair

51st State Department AAFSW Annual Art and Bookfair

Via AAFSW:

For over 50 years the families of Foreign Service Officers have been bringing bargains and fun to the public and the State Department. There are thousands of used books of all kinds - foreign language, history, diplomacy, childrens, politics, etc. The Collectors Corner has rare and valuable books, with a special collection this year of books belonging to Henry Kissinger, some inscribed, donated by the Nixon Library.

The Art Corner has carvings, ceramics, paintings, fabrics, collectibles from all over the world and the Stamp Corner offers international stamps, coins, paper money and post cards.

Two weekends, October 15-16 and October 22-23 from 10 am to 4 pm in the Diplomatic Exhibit Hall of the US Department of State, entrance on C Street between 21st and 23rd Street, NW, Washington, DC (the side of the building that faces the Lincoln Memorial). Bring a photo ID. It is within walking distance of the Foggy Bottom Metro.

Opening hours are:

Sun Oct. 16, 10 am to 4 pm, public welcome.

Monday-Friday Oct. 17-21, 11 am-3 pm, building pass holders and guests. (Family members may enter with a diplomatic passport or escorted by a building pass holder.)

Saturday-Sunday Oct. 22-23, 10 am-4pm, public welcome.

On the last day, October 23, books are HALF PRICE.

Visa, Discover, Mastercard, checks and cash accepted. Proceeds benefit community projects and scholarships. For more information, call 202-223-5796 or visit www.aafsw.org.

The wonderful folks of AAFSW not only sponsors projects and scholarships, they are most often there when you go back to the D.C. area and theres no one else to call.  An acquaintance once was pregnant and alone in the D.C. area (husband decided to return to post prior to babys arrival) and one of her friends asked help on her behalf from AAFSW.  The pregnant lady was not even a member. The ladies of AAFSW not only visited her, but also offered to drive her around, and volunteered to be on call should she need help when labor starts. Fantastic and amazing!

These folks rock!  If youre in the area, please stop by and support AAFSW.

Read More

Mini Militia Malayalam Pro Pack mod (2.2.19) NO ROOT

5 tools for backup and clone hard drives

Mini Militia Malayalam Pro Pack mod (2.2.19) NO ROOT

Features : 

Malayalam Dialogues (all voices) 

Pro Pack (dont need ROOT)

Version 2.2.19 ..

Voice dubbing credit : Pro tech

• Uninstall old one

Click Here To Download mini militia malayalam (pro pack)

DISCLAIMER:

This only for educational purposes and is not intended to affect any company. This is strictly for educational purposes only. If you like a game please purchase to support the developer i dont support piracy ,dont use my posts if you dont have genuine license,support the developer and buy the product,if you dont have legitimate license for products stay away from my posts

Read More

9 months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 2

9 months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 2

Continued from 9 Months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 1

4. Oddly enough, I have trouble typing on a laptop keyboard when the Vivosmart HR is on my right wrist, even though I dont favor my right hand when typing on my Linux machine or Windows laptop.

I sometimes switch the Vivosmart HR from one wrist to the other, especially when Im typing for long periods at a time.

5. The screen is resilient and definitely stronger than smartphone displays. The curve of the screen doesnt look that stylish, but it does help the Vivosmart HR from receiving direct collisions. I wince whenever the wearable accidentally strikes a door knob or table corner. Thankfully, the product is still scratch free after 9 months of use despite my carelessness. In contrast, the Fitbit Charge I had used for only a few months sustained visible scratches in a short period.

6.  Android notifications and music app support varies between devices and apps. Ive had success with Sonys Music app on and VLC on my Sony Xperia C3 for music playback. However, Ive also experienced occasions when notifications worked, but remote music control didnt and vice-versa. The weather notification initially didnt work (which I assumed was because of my location), but then it worked, and stopped working.

Support for notifications and music player apps vary between Android versions and devices.

Admittedly, I dont enable notifications, remote control, and the weather feature because I prefer to have Bluetooth off to save battery. Moreover, since my emphasis was on keeping activities up, I didnt need the extra few swipes on the Vivosmart HRs display.

For more details, refer to Vivosmart HR: Setting up Notifications and Music Controls.

Continued in 9 Months and counting with the Garmin Vivosmart HR Part 3

Read More

A city divided Red and Sky Blue See Fight

A city divided Red and Sky Blue See Fight

A city divided. Red and Sky Blue. Its derby day!

Manchester City take on Manchester United on Tuesday in a match that isnt as vital to the title destination as it usually is. Still, we asked club experts Musa Okwonga and David Mooney to go head-to-head in the latest edition of our "50-50 Challenge" series.

Read More

A BOY AND HIS DOG

A BOY AND HIS DOG

�
2024 A.D. The world (or at least America) has become a wasteland of radioactive dust. Men fight for the most precious resources: food, water and women. And dogs have developed telepathic abilities. Welcome to the bizarre post-apocalyptic world of A Boy and His Dog.

Read more �

Read More

9 Ways to Become a Successful Blogger and Make Money Online

9 Ways to Become a Successful Blogger and Make Money Online

Starting any type of blog will always be a fun experience. Most new bloggers usually have great ideas and are ready to take over the world with them. This experience is almost the same as buying your first car, or taking your kids out to buy a new puppy. You fall in love with the furry pup, but when you actually get it home you have to take care of it! You immediately realize how much more responsibility there is once it�s yours. Just like your new blog, there are a crazy amount of unknowns. In reality, many great blogs fail, but don�t let this get you down! There�s an unbelievable amount of methods a blogger could be using to insure that there blogging experience will be fun and exciting for years down the road. I put together some simple (bright) ideas that can potentially help any blogger in their journey.

Read More

5 Cheap and Best Android Phones in India Under 15000

5 Cheap and Best Android Phones in India Under 15000

This article is specially for those people who are planning to buy Android Based Smartphones at Cheap Price.Android Smartphone are fully loaded with many features that every person like, therefore we make the list of some Cheapest Android Based Smartphone which are now available in India.

1.LG Optimus One is a touchscreen smartphone developed by LG Electronics,Inc.It is the Largest selling Android handset(1 millons Optimus Units sell in just 40 days).Initially this handset originally runs on the Android 2.2OS but later the updated version Released for Android Gingerbread.
LG Optimus features: Dimensions 113.5 x 59 x 13.3 mm ,Weight 129g,Size 320 x 480 pixels, 3.2 inches and many more.Check the Full LG Optimus One Specification

Buy Lg P500 Optimus One :Rs 13500 approx

2.HTC WildFire is a Smartphone developed by the HTC Corporation.The HTC WildFire is one of the friendliest phone that is available in the Market.It works with integrated Google and social networking application,powered by Android.Check the Full HTC WildFire Specification.

BuyHTC Wildfire :Rs 11500 approx.

3.Sony Ericsson Vivaz is a 3.2 inch Touchscreen Smartphone with the feature of 8 Megapixel Camera,3264x2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash.It has HD video recording.It support Symbian Series operating System and 720 MHz processor with PowerVR SGX GPU.Check the Full Sony Ericsson Vivaz Specification.

Buy Sony Ericsson Vivaz :Rs 10799 approx

4.Acer Liquid Mini is launched by MWC in Feb,2011.Acer Liquid Mini is an Android 2.2 based Smartphone with 3.2 inch screen and a 600Mhz Qualcomm Processor.This phone is loaded with many features.Acer Liquid Mini is a colorful phone available in five colors options:Royal Blue, Jet Silver, Light Pink, Lime Green and Piano Black.Check the Full Acer Liquid Mini Specification


Acer Liquid Mini Price in India:Rs 11900

5.Sony Ericsson Walkman W8 is a 3-inch Touchscreen Smartphone with 320�480 pixels screen resolution, Virtual QWERTY keyboard and comes with Scratch Resistant Surface.This phone is best for music lovers with revamped music palyer.The Sony Ericsson W8 runs on Android 2.1 Eclair OS and powered by 600MHz processor.Check the Full Sony Ericsson Walkman W8 Specification.

Buy Sony Ericsson W8 Walkman :Rs 11000 approx

Also visit here for :New Phones List

Read More

8 weeks and 2 Days

8 weeks and 2 Days

Background
Yes, 8 weeks and 2 days was the time that it took the firm Digitec  (via its service repairer MobileTouch AG) to return my broken Nexus 5X.

During that time I have been using a temporary Apple iPhone 5S as my daily phone 


About Digitec
In another more dramatic post Ill give you the user the chance to decide whether it was reasonable under the circumstances, or any circumstances for a company to take 8 weeks 2 days to

- Take my phone for repair
- Return it without repair
- Send me a bill for over 50 CHF  (40 GBP) for inspection and non repair

For my part I will aim to show in a future post that it is quite the worst service I have had from any Swiss retailer, in over 10 years, and the fact that this agony is still not over, ...  well all will be revealed shortly

Why iPhone Marcus?
If you followed this Blog you may know that

- In the Summer my backup phone Nokia 950 was stolen
- Insurance did not cover the theft, my funds are now modest, so I was waiting for a new Google Phone
- The plan was to keep the Nexus 5X as a backup, and buy a new Google phone
- I also had a emergency backup phone a Oneplus One, but that was gifted.

So the sudden failure of the Nexus 5X left me completely phoneless

The retailer Digitec has a procedure allowing you to buy at reduced price a phone during the repair period, and then when your phone comes back repaired you take the phone back and get a refund.

On the day of handing them the Nexus 5X,  still only about 6 months old, they only had

a) a shitty and I mean really low entry level Android Phone
b) an Apple iPhone 5S

I took the iPhone 5S.    Had I known it would take MobileTouch AG 8 weeks and 2 days to return my phone un-repaired I would clearly have done something else ... for example immediately buy a replacement phone that I wanted

Apple iPhone 5S review
So let me say in summary that almost every one of the 58 days I spent with the iPhone was agony, but it was not totally Apples fault.

The screen was just too small for me.  Even in maximum squint mode, in a brightly lit room I could barely make out the text of say a Webpage or RSS feed.  I can see if you had better eyesight then this would not have been the ballbreaking issue I found it to be.

But then, every day after the first few days I was expecting to get an email from Digitec or from MobileTouch AG, the service centre, with the good news of my phone repair.  But no.   8 weeks and 2 days.  I ask you!


- Fragile Screen
The aesthetically pleasing but raised front screen with 100% raised edge is just asking to get a nick, crack or break.

This loaner phone was not supplied with a case, and though as usual I kept the phone in a waterproof plastic bag, this would not protect it from a fall.  So for 8 weeks I was shit scared I would damage it.

+App Support
Unlike my Nokia 950 Windows Phone, iOS does a 110% great job of providing application support.  What I mean are all the big name applications are supported.  It is in every way as good as Android, and both Android and iOS are several magitudes as good as Windows Phone.

= Speed of Operation Okay
It was not noticeably slow.  I could not find any fault

--Mandatory OS upgrade
The phone came with iOS 9 and when iOS 10 was available there was a constant nagging screen asking an upgrade and it then forced you to type in an unlock code (not fingerprint to proceed).  I think it was once per day, but I did not want to jinx anything and upgrade.  So every day for over 1 month I had to dismiss the upgrade request.  Come on Apple!

+ Fast Camera
The camera was only 8MP but to be fair took pretty decent photos.  Also it was very quick from shutter press to taking photo

+ Disk Support
I liked that I could plug in the phone via a Lightening to USB cable and have the photos show up as a drive on my Windows Server computer.   So daily I would cut paste them away and do the edits on my Workstation.    CF Android where you have to become an Android developer and then set Picture Transfer mode  (not the case for Cyanogen but it is for regular Android)

- Chrome Extensions
On the phone (or on an iPad) you cant add a Google Chrome browser extension.  Very Painful.

- Google Locations is removed. You have to use /find Your friends/  Guess what, this is an Apple only app so if you have Android Friends you cant locate them.

- App Support
In General Apple pursues the strategy that if they supply an App that does a good job then why bother letting a competitive app into the store.  Google Locations is an example.  Personally I think Apple should let competitors in, especially when the home grown app is not functionally equivalent

= Connectivity
Using a Lightening cable instead of a USB C connection was a little painful.  In general my 2016 smartphones make use of the high USB-C charging capability, so I found the 5S slow to charge.  Though despite its proprietary nature which I hate, physically I like the Lightening connector.

-- No Back Button
In Android there is a place for the Back button to get back thru an App that you might have descended some levels into. But in iOS the app developer is responsible for its position and size and so of course its in different places for different apps.  Occasionally the developer mis codes it too, so to me there were cases in the BBC Radio Player app that I got confused.  Come back Android!

The Apple Standard
Some people criticise Marcus for holding Apple to a high standard than I expect from say Google and Android.

Yes I do.

And why?  Because Apple themselves, and their fanboy following are always so smug and superior, it is positively the least I can do:  To hold them to the standard of superiority that they claim.


Back to Android
Right now Marcus is in the second week of Android phone ownership.  It feels so good to be back to a phone OS that I can delight in.

Read More

A DSi with Kingdom Hearts Case and Gyakuten Kenji Strap

A DSi with Kingdom Hearts Case and Gyakuten Kenji Strap

I couldnt afford the special edition Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days DSi, so I bought the Hori protective case instead. Note that the correct way to pronounce it is "Kingdom Hearts Three-Five-Eight Days Over Two" - which still doesnt make any sense. Got the Gyakuten Kenji strap from a gashapon machine for 200 yen.

Buy Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days at Play-Asia!

Read More

5 Best Fitness Gadgets To Make You Healthy And Fit

5 Best Fitness Gadgets To Make You Healthy And Fit

Creative ideas, cool inventions and brilliant gadgets for better and healthier life are now around the corner. In the last few years lot of improvement and innovation has been made in the field of health and fitness gadgets. Today we have find out some of the best available health related gadgets to improve your fitness and body performance.

Health and fitness related industry has gone too far and now you can purchase gadgets of every kind that can best fit your everyday need. Now a day there are numerous apps available online that can work together with your smartphone to make you stay healthy and fit. Let us check out this list below to find out a perfect one for you.

1. Koto Air Pollution Monitor

The first gadget in our list is Koto Air pollution monitor, a very useful device that informs you about the air quality of your office or home. It gives you alerts about air pollution, dust, extra moisture etc. you can purchase it for $139.

2. FOODSniffer Chemical Detector

FOODSniffer is yet another impressive device that tells you about the food you gonna eat either it is safe to eat or not by detecting chemicals in it. You can also use FOODSniffer app for Android and iPhone along with this device for detail metrics. FOODSniffer is available for purchase at $150.

3. Skulpt Aim Fitness Tracker

Skulpt Aim ($149) is really an amazing device that will replace all traditional tools like tape measures, mirrors, and weighing scales that people use to measure fitness. This small device boosts 12 different sensors and when you place it against your abdominals, biceps and triceps it will instantly inform you about the percentage of your body fat and quality of muscles. 

4. Sportiiiis Sports Feedback

The Sportiiiis ($150) is a revolutionary device that gives you real-time feedback on your current speed, heart rate and energy output. Sportiiiis uses colored LEDs to note and inform about fitness activity of a sportsman. You can attach the device to a pair of glass and can set targets using mobile app.

5. Kolibree Smart Toothbrush

Kolibree Smart Toothbrush ($149) is yet another exciting device that can transform your brushing time into interesting 3D game. This device uses sensor and when combined with mobile app you can choose from a selection of games that are controlled with the movement of toothbrush. This app also tracks your brushing habits and tells you how often you brush your teeth.

Read More

A little exercise about a recent forum question input field handling in awk and Perl

A little exercise about a recent forum question input field handling in awk and Perl

Just recently the following question was posted to the UNIX scripting group in Linkedin:
remove all duplicate entries in a colon separated list of strings
e.g. a: b:c: b: d:a:a: b:e::f should be transformed to a: b:c: d:e::f

Some of the fields contain spaces which should be preserved in the output of course, there is an empty field too which (to me and other authors) indicates that the fields are not necessarily ordered. Here I wont discuss the suggested solutions, I also did not answer to the original posting because I read it one month too late.

awk
But when reading the question my brain already got working and I could not help to try for myself. The obvious tool of choice for exercises like this is awk because awk has inbuilt mechanisms for viewing lines as a sequence of fields with configurable field separators.

A solution could be

BEGIN {
  FS=":" ;    # field separator
  ORS=":"     # output record separator
}
{ for(i=1;i<=NF;i++) {  # for all input fields
    if( f[$i] ) {       # check if array entry for field already exists
     continue;          # if yes: go to next field
    } else {
     print $i;          # if no: print the field content
     f[$i] = 1;          # and record it in array f    }  }
}

which leads to this output:
a: b:c: d:e::f:

The script can be shortened by omitting superfluous braces and else to

BEGIN { FS=":" ; ORS=":" } 
{ for(i=1;i<=NF;i++) { if(f[$i]) continue; f[$i]=1; print $i; } } 

The script uses a very simple straightforward logic: loop through all input fields, if a field is new then print it, if not skip it. This is achieved by storing each field in an associated array f when it first occurs.
Using the field separator FS for splitting the input line and the output record separator ORS when printing (you need to know that print automatically adds ORS) makes this an easy task.

There is one issue though: this solution adds an extra colon at the very end (compared to the requested output), this could be an issue or not depending on the context of this request so one might prefer this code:

BEGIN { FS=":" } 
{ printf $1; f[$1]=1; 
  for(i=2;i<=NF;i++) { if(f[$i]) continue; f[$i]=1; printf FS $i } }

which uses a slightly different logic: the first field is printed straight away (and recorded), the loop checks the remaining fields 2..NF and prints the field separator as a prefix to the field content. This code also works for the extreme case where there is just one field and no colon.

Perl
I then wondered if this couldnt be done equivalently or even shorter in Perl but my best solution is a little bit lengthier because I have to use split to get the individual fields.

$FS=":";
@s = split($FS,<>);
for($i=0;$i<=$#s;$i++) {$e=$s[$i]; next if(exists($f{$e})); $f{$e}=1; print $e,$FS }

I could have used command line options "-a -F:" to avoid the split but I need FS to be defined anyway for the output (I dont know if the split pattern defined by -F can be accessed in Perl).
I use split to chop up the input line and put it into an array s. Then the same logic applies as in awk. Instead of an associative array Im using a hash table f in Perl. The variable e is only used to avoid repeated occurances of $s[$i]. In the end tits a matter of personal preference which solution you take.


It should be noted that I tested with

echo -n "...." | awk ... or perl -e ...

which feeds a string without newline to the pipe which helped to avoid chomp in Perl for removing the newline in the last field.

Read More

A cool article about Guerrilla Games and their office culture

A cool article about Guerrilla Games and their office culture

This article popped up on Twitter today, and I loved it.  First off, it gives the name of the Fallout: New Vegas writer I couldnt remember on the podcast - John Gonzalez, who lead that writers team, and the one on Shadow of Mordor (meh!) - second, I had no idea Guerrilla had such an open, creatively-minded culture.  Third, I love this paragraph about how they ended up producing (what I determine to be) the most successfully-feminist triple-A video game Ive ever played.  And the answer is exactly what youd hope:

"Aloy was always a woman right from the initial concept. While no one at Guerrilla expresses any kind of agenda when it comes to gender equality, as technical lead Michiel van der Leeuw notes, there was an awareness that female leads in games are often sexualized � a precedent the team had no intention of following. "She had to be agile and athletic. Shes an outcast but shes also brought up lovingly," he says. "There were so many elements we had to balance to make her the person she is. I like that people have picked up on her teeth being a bit crooked, her face being asymmetrical � I think people pick up on her imperfections because shes a real person.""

The article gives a really excellent impression of Guerrilla, perhaps most notably from Horizon writer - and new Guerrilla hire - Gonzalez, who moved from the States to Amsterdam to join the team, and now refuses to leave.

"Ive seen a lot of things and experienced a lot of things in the industry that would lead you to become cynical and disillusioned. I dont find that to be the case here. I feel like the level of ambition here is really high, but I dont feel like the ambition is high for external reasons, like wanting to be masters of the universe. Its high because people really care about the quality of the product. I just feel like I dont want to step away from that, you know? This is a place where I can improve myself, can bring myself to the work. I want to stay as close to that as I can."

A nice example of this is the ants on the trees.  You may have seen a GIF or video of the leafcutter ants youll find on trees, here and there - it was kind of a big deal when the game first launched.

little details like this impress me, ants carrying leaves on a tree [Horizon Zero Dawn]

Yknow why those are in the game?

"Its a level of attention to detail most wont notice, but one Guerrilla appears to do without consideration � even to the point where animators took time out of their day to render ants climbing up tree trunks, all of their own volition. ... "They felt like the environment needed something to make it come alive.""

So yeah, check the article.  Sgood stuff.

Read More

99 Percent Luna Maya and Cut Tary Similar in sex video with Ariel

99 Percent Luna Maya and Cut Tary Similar in sex video with Ariel

Although not acknowledged that the three outstanding porn videos is that they, expert witnesses are questioned Police Headquarters confirmed that the similarity reaches 99 percent.

"Its information like that, 99.9 percent. That the instructions from Roy Suryo. IT leads Roy Suryo, "explained Head of Police Headquarters passenger Kombes Marwoto Soeto Police at Police Headquarters, Jalan Trunojoyo, Jakarta,
However, he admitted to not knowing how the results of investigations of this fact, because he has not obtained more recent information. "If the investigation results tonight like what I do not know. I have yet to be informed of the examination results tonight, "he said.

Marwoto said, until the present status and Cut Tari Luna Maya is still as witnesses and have not upgraded to the suspect. "Until yesterday afternoon I had the monitor. Its still a witness, "he

Read More