Don't the people at Google know where Malaysia is?

Recently, a lot of site visits are coming from Malaysia.  However, when I look at the little map Google presents, it shows Singapore instead.

You can see the little dark spot between China and Australia.  That's not Malaysia, as Malaysia exists partly on the continent and partly on the island of Borneo, an island it shares with Indonesia.

I realize that a lot of people don't look outside their own country for anything, but given that Google maps everything, they should be a bit more aware of the rest of the world.

Will a Chinese company's smartphone be your next?

CNBC was mentioning the other day that they believe Chinese smartphone makers will start making inroads with markets outside China.  South America is supposedly a growing area of sales for them.

Xiaomi, ZTE, BLU, Oppo, Huawei, and others are out there, although I've only handled BLU and ZTE equipment so far.  Oppo is known for its higher end DVD and Blu-Ray players, along with some odd-named phones like Find.

A lot of these phones use MediaTek processors, which I've been lead to believe were so terrible that the phones were unusable, but that was not my experience. A BLU Studio phablet I used early in the year was good and much cheaper than the unlocked version of the Samsung phablet (bigger than a phone, smaller than a tablet) it was copying.

Having had experience with the LG Optimus One variant Optimus S, it's just a matter of finding the correct storage/RAM/processor combination.  I know that companies have to work from a cost standpoint, but how much does a bad report (or millions of them) cost?

As has been my experience, developing a product only using a checklist doesn't produce a product people really want to use.  You have to make it work smoothly, and assure that the rough edges aren't there, or at least, they don't annoy.  Right now, I'm still annoyed by both iOS and Android.  I'd like to see Firefox OS but being in its infancy, I know that I couldn't be happy, unless I lowered my expectations of what a phone should be.  Phones based on Firefox OS are being sold in countries that are especially price conscious.

Of course, if you're in a price sensitive area, a checklist may be all that's necessary.  Having the luxury of luxury may not be possible, nor would be taking the time to sort the phone's software properly.  I have my doubts about whether Apple or Google properly test their software, so maybe, it doesn't matter how much the operating system is worth if no one cares to do the job correctly.

Along with BLU products, I've handled a couple ZTE products and use one of them for two weeks.  They were sufficient and just as capable as similar devices, but with a lower quality build, unlike BLU products.

At this moment, the only Chinese brand I've seen on the market, Haier, has been selling refrigerators, although they make a variety of products.

I know that other products are coming.  I doubt I'll be on the leading edge for them.  I eat Korean food, but I've barely warmed to Korean electronics.  I'm trusting of food from Taiwan and Hong Kong, but not Mainland China.  Of course, a lot of products I have were likely made in Mainland China, under the supervision of a company elsewhere in the world.  I have no doubt that, like the Japanese factories of the 1950s, that China's current labor force will become better.

It took quite a while for Japanese products to be great, and similarly as long for South Korea's products.  It will be a while for China's products, even though they're making products every day for people all over the world.  Twenty or thirty years into the future, we'll likely see plenty of Chinese names in regular use outside of China.

Update 2014.01.29: According to the numbers this week, Xiaomi has been doing a number on Samsung in China.  Samsung is probably feeling a lot of pressure in the midrange, especially since that's where this Chinese makers' phones reside and where Apple's iPhone 5c is placed, since it's finally on the world's largest carrier, which happens to be in China.

Chinese companies are still trying to market their phones in the U.S.A. but the government is skeptical about their governmental ties and isn't likely to approve any of them for purchase, and they clearly don't want the networking equipment installed anywhere.  Of course, who would spy on the American people besides the NSA?  :-D  The Chinese government seems skeptical of using Cisco products in China, conversely.

At the Apple Store, connected by their Ethernet, I couldn't make a Mac App purchase

I regularly criticize the people behind the Mac App Store.  I call them all sorts of names because simple things don't work and if you ask for help, the support people know almost nothing and handle almost nothing.  For a company whose service is supposedly a high point in the industry, the company should be fixing this weak point.

e.g., I had a situation where the Twitter and Typist applications could not be downloaded.  Other applications could be downloaded within the same time frame, but (only) those two downloads would not happen for anything.  System software updates were fine.  I was told that my connection was the problem.

So, yesterday, I was at the Kenwood Towne Center mall, at the Apple Store to buy AppleCare for my almost 1 year old refurbished MacBook Pro.  While I was there, I talked about buying Final Cut Pro, and the associate went to some lengths to get me an Ethernet cable and a direct connection to their intranet, so that I could buy and download it.

I had not updated my debit card's information.  The Mac App Store looped and looped and looped, as I furiously attempted to update the information again and again.  I finally disconnected, put things away, and left the store.  I never saw that associate again, so I couldn't thank him once more.  Once I was home hours later, I was able to fix the information.

Seeing MacRumors earlier, there appears to be a widespread issue: http://www.macrumors.com/2013/12/05/some-users-unable-to-log-in-to-app-store-due-to-fatal-error/

Apple is such a mix of great design, haphazard testing, and a don't-care attitude.  That they're ahead of the rest of the industry suggests that we should all feel sad that things are that pathetic.  I noticed that a lot of my co-workers in various software development assignments weren't disciplined, and the code they wrote was sloppy in the extreme.  You would think that Apple, Google, and Microsoft would have the best design, coding, and testing procedures in the business, but none of them do.  A smaller company like Adobe should be better, but they're even worse.  At least, when John Warnock was there, they seemed to care about more than money.

In any case, Apple missed a sale, although I doubt they're crying about that.

2012 Refurbished MacBook Pro, One Year Later

It's difficult to believe that it's been a year since I ordered this MacBook Pro.  After three years of daily use, my 2009 MacBook was showing its age and lack of capacity.  Today, I bought an AppleCare extended warranty, just in case.

My main photo raw development software, Phase One Capture One 7, was pushing the system.  6 GB of RAM just didn't seem to be enough, and it would grind away at the hard drive swapping processes' information, leaving me with a few Megabytes of free working memory.  The 750 GB 7200 rpm hard drive was still too slow to really do a great job when I handed it a basketball game with 1000 photos.  The transfer of images over USB 2.0 didn't help.

I'd been watching the refurbished machines for a while.  I choose refurbished machines from Apple because they've been through a bit of trouble and repaired and checked again.  The prior two machines (late 2004 1.33 GHz PowerBook G4 and 2009 2.13 GHz MacBook worked quite well as my main machine, and they still work well), so buying another refurbished machine was the best way to go.  I didn't mind the savings, either.

I really wanted the 15.4 inch display but with the 1680x1050 resolution and anti-glare display.  I missed buying the PowerBook with the 1440x960 display to save a bit, and with photo resolution becoming larger all the time, I could use a denser monitor.  However, finding the higher resolution and anti-glare property at the same time was difficult, and the extra cash made me think twice.  Still, it has the nVidia GeForce GT 650M, which is used by OpenCL to aid in computational math, a feature than Capture One Pro 7 uses.

As my photo processing was taking 3-4 times as long, I decided on a 2.6 GHz i7 MacBook Pro with the typical 1440x900 resolution and the glossy display.  Inexplicably, the company chooses to use a 5400 rpm drive, and 750 GB or not, it's not fast enough for work or games, really.

The day after I ordered it, I placed an order with OtherWorld Computing for two 8 GB RAM sticks.  They were "only" about US$100.  Contrast this to 1993 when I bought a 72 pin SIMM with 32 MB of RAM (for the Quadra/LC/Performa 475/476) for $1040, or 3 rebuilt 16 KB Atari RAM cards (for the Atari 800) for $108 in 1983.  16 GB was the most the model would support and I wasn't going to be held back by the hard drive speed.

Apple managed to push me from Snow Leopard on the MacBook to Mountain Lion on the new MacBook Pro.  It was very, very broken, and it was a pain in the ass because I had to download it all over again to put it on another drive, a 750 GB 7200 rpm drive that I'd been using in the MacBook.  Thankfully, I was able to use the connection of a repair shop that was convenient, as I was familiarizing them with Apple technology.

When I'd got the thing running correctly, I noticed that my batch processing of photos was driving the machine to over 100 degrees C, with all four processor cores running, along with the extra 4 virtual cores.  It's still close to that but under 100 degrees C these days.

After a month or two, I changed to a 480 GB SSD, which fixed a lot of the speed problems.  Not only was photo processing much quicker, but games were loading reasonably well, and even Valve's games weren't stuck with "LOADING" long enough for me to get a drink.

Seeing the recent, new Retina-only models made me think that I'd bought the correct machine for me.  I still need an optical drive.  The nVidia 650M is strong enough for me, at the moment.  Being forced into OS X Mavericks/10.9 doesn't seem like a good idea, enhanced battery life or not.  Thin may be in, but Apple's machines become hot too easily.  This one is indicating 40 degrees C and it's actually chilly to the touch.

I'm hoping to get 3-4 years out of it before I need to buy another machine.  By then, photo resolution may have increased again, depending on the ability to miniaturize, and I'll need a stronger machine.  I might even be on 10.9.x by then, because I know that they won't have fixed 10.8.x further.  Maybe, they'll have the Mac App Store fixed by then.

I wonder if we'll even have typical laptop computers by then, or whether they'll mostly be hybrid tablets with keyboards at that point.  In any case, I'll be sticking to a slightly older, 100% guaranteed to be refurbished machine, and I'll be happy with it because it will work well.  Hopefully, this one will still be happy by then.

If you're wondering, I'm still using the 2004/2005 PowerBook G4 and the 2009 MacBook.  They work just fine but they're not exceptionally powerful for photo processing.

Update 2015.08.15: It's getting close to three years that I've had this computer.  It's still what I use daily.  It's been through a lot, including having flipped into the air and it landed upside down on the floor.  It's more several months since then, and it's fine.

In November 2014, I had the closest Apple Store update it to OS X 10.9.5 and it has been reasonable.  I need to have it updated to 10.10.5 now that it is available.

Making videos with it, it seems to struggle a bit.  I looked for a computer running Windows, but they were running about the same amount of money for similar resolutions and power.

I gave away the 2009 MacBook to someone who had helped me set up my apartment but it wasn't extremely powerful with those nVidia graphics.

I keep looking at the recent MacBook Pro models and I have to go with a Retina model to get something current.  They're not easy to customize after the sale.  It's better since they've been out a while, and OWC has had time to figure out some options.  It still seems a guessing game as to what Apple will do next.  The latest 15.x inch MacBook Pro models haven't had a good CPU upgrade for a while.  Since the Back-to-School sale is in progress, updates should be out soon.

Microsoft is advertising for Google, by accident: Chromebooks

I was watching a Microsoft advertisement a bit ago, belittling Google Chromebooks for not having Windows or Microsoft Office.  I think it was a huge mistake.

Why would it be a mistake since Microsoft makes their money from Windows and Office?  The general public didn't know anything about Chromebooks previously.

If Google has bought TV advertising time, I haven't seen any results of it.  So, here we are with ridiculous advertising berating Chromebooks (You're not going to get to Hollywood with that!) simply because they don't have Microsoft products on them.

It might start people thinking.  (I know it's a long shot but it could happen.)  I tried to give away a computer with Ubuntu on it.  The person I was asking said that people "needed" Windows.  When I asked further, they didn't play games.  I'm just not sure what's so necessary about Windows, if you're doing e-mail, writing a document of some sort, or browsing the web.  A five year old machine running a Linux-based distribution should be able to do that just fine--without Windows.

Microsoft has been diminished in so many ways.  While Windows 7 signalled an upswing in software quality, finally, they haven't had much success since then.  Windows 8.1 should be the operating system all current Windows users (with capable machines) should be using, but I don't see that happening so quickly.  Their tablets' prices had to be cut drastically, and the company initiated some acerbic advertising against Apple to help them.  It's not necessarily witless but I can't see that it's helping.  Having Nokia in their pocket has stemmed their losses in Windows Phone operating system, as Samsung and HTC recoil.

If schools would accept Linux-based operating systems, instead of Windows, Microsoft might lose its grip forever.  Competition is always a good thing, though Monopoly should only be a game.  Now that Microsoft has informed us about Google Chromebooks, they might have people asking "Why, Windows?"

Sales to Stores

Apparently, quite a few Chromebooks are making their ways into stores, even if they aren't making it into people's hands.   When I saw the article on MacRumors, i had to take a look at the comments because the fanatics can often be so ridiculous, and so they were: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1689854

One person actually made sense about recommending a computer for the person who mostly does web browsing and e-mail.  It is difficult to recommend a US$1000 computer for that when a US$300 Chromebook will work nearly as well for those things, and you don't have to worry about Windows malware, either.  Is the US$999 MacBook Air a well-designed computer, similarly priced to computers based on Intel's Ultrabook classification?  Absolutely.  It even has a slight graphics hardware boost over them.  Could a high school or university student simply wanting to do work do well with a Chromebook?  Absolutely.

Update 2014.02.07: I saw another Microsoft advertisement targeting Chromebooks, though they didn't show one this time, which is smarter for them.  They discussed how you couldn't load MS Office.  Seriously, though, that's a plus to me.  By now, we should have intermediate (non-proprietary) file formats that don't require Microsoft at all.   There was an Open Document Format, as I recall, but can it be forced to be the standard output, so that it can used in schools and offices without having to jump through hoops?

A lot of the reason people are using Microsoft products in schools is because Microsoft gave the schools so many free licenses to "freeze out" any other software supplier.  It's a good deal, but isn't it underhanded, and shouldn't it be against the law?  If it's a gift, should there be strings attached?

Black Friday/Holiday Shopping 2013

I'm weird.  I like to shop.  I like to compare deals and I like a real bargain.  I also like to share fake bargains, in order to help other people from making mistakes because fraud is illegal but being sleazy is not and stores who are merely sleazy need to be smacked.

Here are some guidelines:

• For devices with displays, ask for the resolution 800x480 (1024x600?  It depends on the price.) is not reasonable for a 7 inch display but 1280x800 should be the minimum.
• Dual-core processors can mean almost anything.  Intel Pentium Dual-Core, Celeron Dual-Core and AMD E- processors are the low end.  Look for Intel Core i3 or AMD A- processors at minimum.
• Computer monitors with IPS displays will look better than most.  What good is a monitor that doesn't display the scene correctly?
• Don't buy tablet bundles from HSN, QVC, or ShopNBC/ShopHQ.  You can do better by getting the accessories yourself, and you'll save money.
• Research what you want because you may find better deals in your town than the deals online.  You never know where to look unless you're prepared.  Micro Center, Big Lots, and Tuesday Morning often have good deals.  Ross, Marshalls,  and TJ Maxx sometimes have good deals, but use cash, not a card because they have all had problems with hackers.

When I lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I could visit 4 different malls along the Blue Route/I-476, on Black Friday.  Sometime, I got great deals, and other times, I just got pizza and a drink.  There are times when it's better to window shop.

These days, I rarely go outside on Black Friday because it's so cold here and people are so crazy for deals that they'll trample or beat each other.  It's too important to be good to each other.  Stuff is just stuff.  You can't replace people.

Due to my water heater problems, I didn't go out on Thanksgiving or Black Friday.  (It's difficult to clean up properly without at least warm water.)  The plumber who was taking care of the water heater told me that he and his daughter went to the local Walmart last night (Thanksgiving Day) and they had many police officers there, and he spoke to one who said that it had been crazy.  I'm all for good deals, but seriously, are they that important?  I expect the news tonight will be full of tramplings and fights to get that cheap item.

I saw HSN and one of the other shopping channels charging an extra $300 for iPad Air and accessories in a bundle.   One of them was also attempting to sell a 4th generation iPod touch bundle.  That would be 2 generations from the current iPod touch models.  You can do better, especially by getting a refurbished product on the Apple Store web site.

News outlets keep reminding us that 30% is the magic discount where retailers can still make money.  That said, prices may reflect a bigger discount but that's because the retail price will shift to suit the circumstances on occasion (H.H. Gregg) or be set higher at the beginning (Best Buy).  You have to check a lot for deals.  Kohl's will present cardholders with a 30% coupon, so you end up with a virtual 70% discount, but they obviously can't afford to do that unless their prices are high enough to account for such a discount.  The doorbusters are the only products where any company is willing to lose money, to get you to buy other things.

What kind of equipment bags do you use?

It's an awful responsibility to hold equipment that could be worth several thousand dollars, isn't it?

Is a cheap bag worth using when it might not protect the equipment you're storing in it?

Once upon a time, I bought a used camera and I didn't much care because I knew that it already had problems.  I put it in a school type backpack with a beach towel and it was fine.  Eventually, the problems grew and it became parts.  Whether the problems were complicated by my lack of a proper bag or whether they were complicated by a lack of maintenance, I'll never know.  Had I sent it to be repaired after buying it, it might still be working.  Camera bodies from the 1970s were rather fragile, like watches of that same time period.

In 2003 or 2004 when I was switching to digital equipment, I bought a Crumpler Farmers Doubler bag.  At US$140, if I remember correctly, it was quite expensive compared to the US$50 bags that I could find in almost any store.  However, those bags lacked padding and the separators weren't strong enough.

I learned quickly that when the bag fell 12 inches, everything was still fine.  Of course, with a computer  in sleep mode in the bag, any fall wasn't good for the hard drive.  Mind you, my equipment was a bit more rugged than most, except for the computer.  Now that we have SSDs, even a computer can handle a small fall inside the backpack.

For years, I've been carrying 3-4 lenses and a camera body in the backpack, along with batteries, filter adapter rings, etc.

When I got a second camera body for the format, I needed more space, so I bought another Crumpler bag--a 7 Million Dollar Home.  Crumpler has the most interesting names for their products.  Currently, I have 5 lenses, 2 bodies, a couple of filters, and a partridge in a pear tree in the bag.  Well, maybe the bird and the tree were a bit of an exaggeration but I can fit a lot into the bag, so that it can be heavy at times.  There is no room for a computer, but I can put smaller reflectors/diffusers in it.

Two bags and I have most everything, including a shoulder ache, but they are evenly matched unless I wear the backpack properly.  When the backpack is fully loaded with the computer, my car wants me to put a seat belt on it.  Riding my bike with the backpack can be interesting, especially with a strong wind.

Crumpler Farmers Doubler and 7 Million Dollar Home

I also bought a camera strap, the Convenient Disgrace, which matches the 7 Million Dollar Home a bit too well in the photo.  It's ventilated and has a wider spread than the typical camera strap, so even though I hate straps, I sometimes have to use them, when I have two bodies out at the same time.

I also have another backpack for camera and computer, but I'm not exactly sure what to do with it.  It's a Lowe Pro 250 AW.  It uses openings on the side, instead of the front or top.  I finally used it the other day to transport my laptop computer and tablet, although I'm still trying to configure it for my photographic equipment.  Thankfully, I got a huge discount--US$51.99 instead of US$129.99, because the blue/black was discontinued.  Update 2014.02.01: I finally used this for the Panasonic GH3, Olympus MMF-3 Four-Thirds adapter, Leica/Panasonic 25mm f/1.4, and Olympus ZD 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5.  Given the recent Olympus 12-40mm f/2.8 breakage, I was concerned about the MMF-3 breaking, since it seems to be so very hollow, and it doesn't really feel as though there is a lot of metal that went into it.  Given that the Leica/Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 is so heavy, having the combination fully assembled in the bag, and horizontally-oriented, I'm not sure it's worth the risk of using, even though it's convenient.  Perhaps, the GH3 and the new Olympus 25mm f/1.8 would be fine, or my old Olympus IS-20DLX film camera, which was a Zoom Lens Reflex, as they called it, where the lens cannot be typically dismounted.

I've been thinking about my smaller equipment--the micro Four-Thirds pieces.  While they're on one side of the 7 Million Dollar Home, it would be nice to have a small bag to carry those and my Google Nexus 7 tablet.  I found this Manfrotto bag that I thought would be reasonable, especially at the current price at Best Buy.

Is it a rough-and-tough kind of bag?  No.  I have to care for it more than my Crumpler bags.  It's water-resistant, though, and seems to be well-equipped.  The only real problem I have is that it's completely black.  Summer sunshine could make it difficult.

It seems that there are a wide variety of bags for tablets but not so many that also handle photographic equipment.  I was impressed with Thule cases for tablets and computers.  They're the same people who made my bike rack for my car.  Their cases seem designed with the same consideration as luggage, rather than a thin neoprene case.  Still, you can't just throw glass and expect it to survive.  Packing a tablet in a suitcase, you might guess that anything would happen, though.

If Crumpler had stores everywhere, it might make my search easier.  I'm really thrilled with the ability of their products to coddle my computer and photographic equipment.

Update 2013.11.27: My dead water heater will consume any extra money I have at the moment, as it's better to have warm or hot water than to have more equipment and frozen pipes, which I may have anyway by the time I can get a replacement.

Update 2015.10.26: The other day I added a ThinkTank Airport Commuter bag.  It retails at over US$200, which is quite a lot for me, though given the price of the Crumpler bags I have, adjusted for time, it might not be so much.   I needed a bag that could hold all of my micro Four-Thirds equipment at once, and hold a computer and various cables and adapters.  This bag does it all, and it makes all that small, lightweight equipment seem heavy in the process of holding it all.

I wanted another Crumpler bag but they pulled out of the U.S. market a while back and it hasn't been easy to find one.