EagleEye - Bad movie or diamond in the ruff?

We just got EagleEye on BluRay from Netflix, and I have to admit, I was skeptical because of Shia LaBeouf and whether or not he could handle this type of role. We've seen this type of movie before, remember Enemy of the State. As we get into the new digital age, we look at setting presidences where none exist before. Our society is one of a letigious foundation, but how do we deal with these new frontiers and protecting that which we hold to be true. Freedom of information and personal freedoms can be shut down at what cost to national security and the protection of the whole? 

While LaBeoufs acting wasn't all that great, the story line was fairly good (up until the ending). The whole reason the Aria needed LaBeouf was because his twin brother locked the system out of going through with its end of days similation. Isn't it odd that such a powerful computer can't break through layers and layers of encryption, but can easily hack into every system from cell phones to traffic to video cameras, etc? Seems a bit far fetched. Lets just say this one I will pass on adding to the collection!

StarGate Atlantis Over but not forgotten

So last week the final episode of Stargate Atlantis aired. To much shagrin it was actually fairly bland but a bit fantastic--the wrath getting a ZPM and building a super ship? I would have liked to see some of the personal relationships getting wrapped up, such as between Shepard and Tala, or Ronin and his new flame (they elude to this by her appearing at his bedside at the end of the episode). Also putting Atlantis back on Earth puts the future of Atlantis not in the Pegasus galaxy but in the Milky Way? Ah, well, it's over, I've yet to see a good Scifi series come to an end (heck look at Sliders and what a mess that was--they couldn't even bring back Jerry O'Connell in the last season!). 

Keeping your G1 screen from scratching

It's been a few weeks after I got a G1, and one area of the phone that really has me going is the screen. Not only is it brilliant and clear, but since you use it for practically everything on the phone, the tendency for it to get scratched up is fairly good. When you first get the G1, there is a plastic film that is over the screen, and for those who are gettin G1's, I'd recommend that you leave this on for the time being.

But what do you replace it with? The answer to that is an Invisible Shield by Zagg. I did a bit of research, and what I wanted was to protect the screen with the least amount of added weight, and least amount of reduction in terms of touch sensitivity. I've tried hard cases for other phones (Motorola Q), and in my experience, it was more hassle than it was worth and the added weight and size made the PDA less attractive. There are hard cases for the G1, and if you are the type that wants to protect the whole phone in a vein attempt to keep it looking good, than good for you! But for the rest of us who realize that the phone's exterior is meant to be used, the Invisible Shield is the answer for you. 

From the manufacturer's information, this is the same material that is used in military applications to coat the edges of helicopter blades--tough stuff to say the least. The manufacturer also claims that the material is scratch proof and won't add added weight to the device or decrease functionality. All lofty ambitions, but the proof is where the rubber meets the road and test this myself. 

So we finally got the covers for our phones (Samsung Dash and T-Mobile G1), and I installed them this morning. From some reviews I have read, the installation process was very painful. If you follow the directions, the hardest part I found was to align the covers properly on the device (had to do the Dash twice because it had different cutouts than the G1 that just covers a square screen. Unlike other reviews, on both devices, I didn't have any problems with bubbles under the screens, and in 12 hours, the screens had dried and everything looks good. 

Not only does the cover seem to eliminate scratches, on the G1 the touch screen is just as responsive than before. Also it doesn't decrease the screens brightness or cause bad reflections under light. All in all for the cost of the cover, definitely a worth while investment!

T-Mobile G1 Locks up and Requires Battery Pull

So after a few weeks of using my G1 successfully, I regret to post that I have run into one critical issue here that seems to be a show stopper in terms of every day functionality. I can use the G1 anywhere in Chicago-land without problems. I do get spotty 3G signals, but that's to be expected as T-mobile expands their 3G networks. But every time I come to downtown Chicago and get to my office the G1 will lock up and become unresponsive. The only fix that I've found to this is to pop the battery out to restart it.

I've reached out to T-mobile support several times, and one suggestion was to put the phone into 2G mode only (Settings > Wireless Controls > Mobile Networks > Use only 2G networks), and this has helped the situation, but several times a day the phone will lock up.

One fix that I've tried that has also worked is to put the G1 into airplane mode that will disable all the wireless functions on the device, basically makes the phone useless with the exception of looking at it and using apps on it that don't require a mobile or wireless network to be functional.

Have others run into the same problem downtown Chicago?

And there was Android... T-Mobile G1 Review

Whenever I think of Android, I always go back to my childhood memories of Lt. Commander Data, the first positronic Android to serve in StarFleet. 

But in this generation and reality, we have the T-Mobile G1 powered by the Google Android software. I was hard pressed to choose between the AT&T iPhone or the T-Mobile G1, but in the end, the solution was clear--I couldn't be a part of the generation fruit and go with the all to friendly Apple iPhone, the inner geek in me would never forgive himself!

So I had to see what all the hype was with the phone, and to start with, I initially thought that I wouldn't be able to use my G1 with my Google Apps account. See here's the skinny, when you first sign up with T-mobile and decide to get a G1, you have to activate the phone with either an existing Gmail account or create a new one. The representative at the T-mobile store didn't know if you could use a Google App account or if it had to be a Gmail (@gmail.com) account. Fortunately for me, once the SIM card was activated with the data services, I was able to sign into my @thekochfolks.com email address that is through Google Apps. BEAUTIFUL! 

Now I have my personal email at my fingertips, and it's fully integrated with everything the phone does. For instance, my calendar and contacts all get dynamically synced both ways between the G1 and Google Apps. So needless to say, once the phone got activated and started to sync, BOOM all my contacts were on the phone. Easy easy. Next, I had to see for myself what the deal was with the Android Market. Now we've all been lead to believe that the iPhone store was the greatest thing since sliced bread when it came to user's and developers creating applications to do cool things. I have to admit, I was a bit intimidated by this, and just browsing online, it seems like there are only a handful of apps available--WRONG! Once I got the phone online, the Android Market is chock full of applications! For starters, I had to go with the following lineup:

• ShopSavvy - This one allows you to photo a bar code and the software scans retailers in the area for prices to see if you are getting the best deal. I haven't had a chance to use this one, so I'll update once I do!
  
• FBook - Awesome, awesome, just another way to keep your status updated on Facebook.
  
• imeem - Similar to Pandora where you can search and play songs by artist name or song title. 
  
• Brain Genius Deluxe - This one is just a fun game that suppose to improve your memory and concentration through daily activities. We'll see how this goes as I'm only on day 2!
  
• BistroMath - Quick and easy tip calculator. Allows you to total out based on taxes, or total and add in tip percentage. You can split the bill amongst X number of people. 
  
• Movies - Checks movies that are playing in your area. 
  
• WikiMobile - Who doesn't need wikipedia at your beck and call!
  
• iSkoot - Skype on your phone!
  
• The Weather Channel - Weather from your trusted source.
  
• ConnectBot - SSH client from G1. I can fully manage my Linux box from my phone!!!! AWESOME!
  
• ToggleWiFi - Simple app that turns on and off wifi. Save your power when you don't need wifi, but get it quickly turned on when you do!
  
• ToggleBlu - Similar in concept to ToggleWifi, just turning on and off Bluetooth quickly.

Aside from the question on whether or not you can use your Google Apps account with your G1, there were a few other questions that I've had come up. One, can you change the clock on the main screen, so far the answer I've found is no you can't (not at the moment at least). Second, how do you delete a bookmark from the Browser, you can do that by long clicking on the bookmark and you'll see a new menu come up that you can then do a delete from. Clicking on the Menu won't pull up the same list of options. 

Also your G1 can hook up to your computer and act as a removable storage device, similar to an iPod, you just have to go into your notifications and select the option to mount the drive once it's connected via USB. 

The keyboard takes a bit of getting use to, having come from a BlackBerry 8830 to the G1, I actually think the keyboard is more functional as you don't have to click special characters for the numbers, but it still takes some getting use to. 

Also I've noticed that the power management is something you have to work out based on what you are using. I would say though the two things that seem to kill the juice are Bluetooth and Wifi. Use the ToggleWifi and ToggleBlu apps to help mitigate that. There is an aftermarket G1 battery that brings it up to the same levels as the iPhone, I don't know if th extra 15% is worth the $45 you will spend but that's a choice you have to make yourself!