android update for the moment

Posted on | February 18, 2010 | Comments Off

i have been running the update to cupcake (CL14) for a few weeks now. i have to say the two most noticeable improvements are correct battery life status and gps glitches removed.

the bigger of the two problems was my battery life. it showed significant drains after half a day of average use. patch now shows accurate power level which means my phone won’t shut down with a half loaded battery.

other people made references to the gps eating up battery cycles, and i’d noticed it appearing to struggle to get a signal whenever i had it active. now, it doesn’t continuously probe for satellite signals anymore and seems to pinpoint my location promptly.

the battery fix is why i upgraded and has made my experience with the moment so much better. and i was hoping this patch added over the air (ota) abilities for future upgrades. brighthand posts that if i want to get upgraded early, i can take it into the store. ota upgrades will come a couple of weeks later. if i can get the upgrade this coming week, i’d spend some time in the sprint store.

new skin for netbook

Posted on | February 12, 2010 | 2 Comments

i decided to do a little advertising of my favorite linux distro. so, i ordered a skin from skinit.com. the image is from fedora user and graphic designer ian weller.

before skin

after skin

Category: fedora
Tags: fedora > ian weller > lenovo > netbook > skin > skinit.com

last night launch of the shuttles

Posted on | February 9, 2010 | 1 Comment

an era has ended. the last of the night launches occurred with the endeavour and its sts-130 mission. if congress approves the president’s proposed budget, manned space flight will pretty much be a done deal when the shuttles retire in may.

this launch was heavily attended as it is the final night launch. and the final shuttle launch in may will also likely have a record nunber of witnesses. (i can’t imagine the traffic for that crowd.) the astronaut hall of fame was filled up early on sunday morning only to have the launch scrubbed. they honored the tickets purchased for the next morning’s launch, but we got “upgraded” to watch the launch at kennedy space center (ksc). that’s a closer spot than the hall of fame!

i surmise many who attended last night wouldn’t make it the monday morning as many have work and school on monday. but being back at ksc was definitely exciting! i had considered visiting on monday before they rescheduled the launch. it was also rare to see ksc after dark. the mirror memorial was lit up like you can only see at night. the whole complex was up and running as if it were a normal day.

about an hour before t-zero, i set up my tripod near the shuttle simulation building. many had camped out spaces in that area already. more probably would have if it weren’t so cold outside. there were cautionary conditions again monday morning as we had on sunday morning, but things cleared up enough to move things ahead.

nothing beats the spectacular scene of a night launch! it was definitely worth the trip! i captured the launch on video however i must state that this presentation pales in comparison to seeing the sky as bright as day when it took off. it was like daylight, like watching the sun rise very quickly. truly amazing!