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Fashion Headset Shoot-Out! Aliph Jawbone vs. BlueAnt Z9

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Let’s reflect on this… Bluetooth headsets have come a LONG way from their origins. I remember the days when Motorola was king in this sector because they helped a big part in the Bluetooth consortium with research and development. Their early headsets were also big and bulky and expensive to boot. When the standard was in it’s early days, it was a bit of a pain on the respect of distance as going just a wee bit too far could disconnect your calls. When the standard got better, so did the devices… But this also opened up the playing field to manufacturers who wanted a piece of the land for Bluetooth accessories.

Nowadays, you have many manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, et al who make headsets as well as phones for direct compatibility with their devices. However, you have your “generic” manufacturers such as Jabra, Plantronics, and a few others who make your general consumer models and then barely stepping into the high end of the spectrum. Lastly, you have the big contenders on the “high end”: Callpod Dragon, Aliph Jawbone, and BlueAnt Z9. The Callpod Dragon just doesn’t look fashionable, so it is omitted for this review… However, the other two are quite possibly the more “chic” in the high end.

Click the images to expand them!

In this corner…



The Aliph Jawbone is a rather “futuristic” looking headset. It has a wicked sick looking mesh grating design with a rather simple red or white LED flash from the status bar. The design is from Yves Behar who has a large vested interest in the headset. It’s rather large but the design is functional to the means of the headset’s calculation of vocal activity. To secure it to your ear, you do have a few ear loops and “gel” inserts to change the headset to accommodate your ear size and shape of your ear canal. The Jawbone keeps function simple with just 2 buttons, one on the mesh and the other on the “Jawbone” embellishment close to the charger port.

Aliph Jawbone MSRP: $120 (from the official site)

The challenger…



The Australian company BlueAnt has been a minor player with budget models and other unique niche headsets (like their motorcycle helmet communicator system). The BlueAnt Z9 comes as a contender to the Jawbone in the vectors of style and size. This headset isn’t designed with a legendary designer, but it certainly looks quite sleek or even covert. The mounting system is a fixed rubber ear cushion and an adjustable plastic ear hook that can rotate and fit to the ear. There is also a clip on the headset for times that you may not feel the need to wear it constantly, definitely a nice touch!

BlueAnt Z9 MSRP: $90 – $100

Acknowledgment and “Props”
In this review, I have a guest reviewer as well to give the female side of her input on the comfort of the headsets as well as her thoughts. Stephanie’s input will be included for posterity of the review. This will help females consider which may be best in terms of their comfort. Also, please give a hand to Stephanie for taking the images of me “modeling” the headsets. I would also like to thank my cousin Sol for being my test caller and allowing me the privilege to subject him to calls and use his feedback for call quality. Also, I’d like to thank Yamcha of Wolf’s Hurricane for his insight on my contest that will be posted online after this post!

Preface
Bluetooth is becoming more popular now with how some countries and even some states in America are cracking down on irresponsible drivers who choose to pinch a phone to their head while not putting full attention to the road. In the UK, if you kill someone in an accident and you were on your mobile phone… The justice system over there can impose severe penalties for such an infraction. At the same time, no one wants to look unfashionable for having a headset almost looking like some “ugly” device growing off the side of our ear or looking like a “bluetool” (vernacular). I would like to begin with the Jawbone first, but let’s go over the logistics of the things I used for the review.

Tools of the Review
Mazda MX-5 Miata, closed and open soft-top modes
Various locales of Dallas with plenty of ambient noise
The offices of ZeroXR 13mg
HTC Kaiser Windows Mobile Pocket PC phone

Round 1: The Aliph Jawbone
The Jawbone has won many awards for being both fashionable and revolutionary from a technological standpoint. In Dallas, I have seen many people adorn their ears with the Jawbone so after seeing the rave reviews, I picked one up just to give it a test drive and play with it. The Jawbone’s sizing solution is kind of unique. Aliph gives you 4 ear loops in 2 sizes and for the left and right ears. You get a pair “regular” size and a pair “large” size ear loops. In addition, There are 4 contour ear bud gels that are included in the package to go with the shape of your ear canal. two of them are a variation of a “teardrop” shape and curve right to the ear canal, while the other two are large and small versions of a circular ear bud gel. I personally have small ears so I honestly had trouble with both the “regular” and “large” ear loops and the ear gels of all types didn’t help the unit stick to my ear. However, when the unit is not moving from my ear, it fits rather nicely and comfortably. I will comment that the build quality is EXCELLENT!

The principle behind the Jawbone is a rather simple one. The device has a rubber nub that detects movement from your jaw (hence the name) and translates that as actual activity. This lets the headset know you are actively conversing. On top of that, the headset also has active noise canceling to assist with making clear communications. The unit has two buttons as aforementioned earlier on the embossing of the word “Jawbone” and another on the mesh part of the headset. The “Jawbone” button functions as the “pairing mode” button and during calls it acts as a “volume” button of sorts. The primary button on the mesh is your main power/call answer/end call/etc button. There’s also a very subtle LED on the unit that blinks white when the unit is in use (rather than the typical blue), red when the unit is low on power, solid red on charging, and solid white on a full charge. The tactile feedback from the unit is pretty good but it does take a little effort.

On bonding with the unit, it would bind to my HTC Kaiser rather quickly. I would do some random test calls with the Jawbone just to see how well the noise cancel and fit would work with me. I took my MX-5 for a drive with the top up and tried to use Voice Command to ask it to dial out and then proceed with a phone call. On idle, the headset could properly connect and accept my commands properly. The call quality was pretty good with minimal interference. Throwing town the top however would change the dynamics of the test… Voice Command had serious trouble reading my speech as the headset had some issues trying to determine whether I was talking or not with the the rubber nub breaking contact from my jaw line every other second from the aerodynamic forces of wind. That was the big issue that makes the device fit for people with small ears like me… The headset almost fell off my ear a few times during this test. I would be running speeds of 40 – 70mph in my car with the top down to be fair. Most of the past week has been windy, so I also tried to see if gusty 10 – 15 mph winds were also a problem with walking around Dallas… and sadly, the headset also had a bit of a problem reading my speech due to the headset not fitting flush to my face.

Some of the test calls with my cousin Sol and he would report that there were some sound issues with noise when I had the Jawbone during my wind tests. However, during my tests in the office of ZeroXR 13mg there were some troubles from the noise cancel due to the fit of the headset. That leads us to the only gripe I have with the headset… The fit is not friendly to those with small ears… I tried to contact Aliph about this, but so far they have not responded to me. Though some folks on line have reported that buying some Jabra branded ear gels help, but that’s a bit of a shame that Aliph has forgotten the fact that a generic fit solution does end up “discriminating” a part of a demographic.

I did ask for Stephanie’s opinion on the Jawbone and she had no problem with the headset’s fit. She had commented it was really comfortable for her. Though she did make a comment she like big devices as it give her a tactile feel that is a little more reassuring. She was wearing the standard ear bud gel with a regular sized ear loop. She’s fortunate that it fit perfectly for her.

I will comment that the headset is really comfortable that you almost forget that you’re wearing it. Sadly for owning small ears, the fit isn’t perfect for such a wonderful headset. Due to that, the noise detecting rubber nub on the headset couldn’t accurately read my vocal speech. The volume is also semi-dependent on the background noise.

Round 2: BlueAnt Z9
The BlueAnt Z9 is a small name headset that has been making some circles as a rather great alternative for those who do want an alternative because the Jawbone was simply not their cup of tea. The Z9 is a tiny piece of hardware equipped with a proprietary port that’s used for charging the unit and also upgrading the firmware. (I’ll talk about the upgrading part later) The design is tiny with a few “bling” spots of chrome on the device for style accents. The device is equipped with 2 microphones to analyze sound waves and process vocal data and noise data to effectively neutralize noise and improve the call quality. The Z9 has 3 buttons, the MFB (multi-function button) and a volume + and – button. If you want to go “stealth” and not have the bluetooth blink, you can hold the volume + and – buttons for 3 seconds when the headset is idle to turn the blink off. Something nice to not draw attention to yourself in dark places. They all have a great tactile click when you press them. BlueAnt does give you a tiny business card sized reference sheet for you to get oriented, so it’s rather nice if you need a pocket reference.

Unlike the Jawbone, the BlueAnt Z9 takes a different approach to fitting to the user. The headset has a plastic ear loop that looks like a plastic scythe mounted to a rubber rotating nub. The plastic hook does have some resistance to the plastic nub, so you can adjust the fit of the headset by moving the hook higher or lower from the nub to make the headset fit more snug. This combined with the rubbery ear cushion, the BlueAnt Z9 feels like it’s securely locked to your ear. While this gives the BlueAnt Z9 a definite plus for people with small ears, the fact that it is not made of a flexible yet sturdy plastic is also somewhat of a concern. It is great that BlueAnt included 2 more ear hooks, but I’d rather they were made of a more sturdy material like the metal with rubber padding like the Jawbone.

Pairing and linking the BlueAnt Z9 was rather painless and quick. The best part was that you’re not subjected to a long and annoying beep while the headset pairs up. Just a quick beep that tells you “I’m bonded!” The manual mentions that the Z9 can bond to 3 devices, sadly, I couldn’t test that so I cannot offer any insight there. The multi-function button (MFB for short) serves many of the primary uses of the headset from powering it on to essential functions like changing the noise cancellation modes. However… it makes ending calls a bit awkward. Most headsets answer and end calls with one click… The BlueAnt Z9 picks up calls with a click, however when you’re on the call and click on the MFB… You hear an auditory voice saying “Voice Isolation MAX” or “Voice Isolation Standard” indicating the level of voice isolation. To end a call, you have to hold the MFB for 3 seconds and you then hear a beep indicating the call has been severed. For many Bluetooth veteran users, it sort-of causes a mix up. It does take some getting used to, but it does make you wonder why the voice isolation was not remapped in another way.

Testing the headset was quite possibly the best part… I called Sol up this past Friday night with my headset and had the top up while going down noisy city streets with the windows down and he had said I came in quite clearly and he was rather impressed. Now, voice command still had some trouble at speed and minor problems on idle… so both headsets are stalemated there. The ultimate test would be to take the headset with me on city streets… But I realized that the headset may not be pushing at full potential! “Why?” The BlueAnt I bought had firmware 3.0 and the official BlueAnt Z9 site had a banner on top saying “New Firmware v3.4 out! Click here to upgrade!”

I naturally downloaded the firmware update and proceeded to follow the simple steps to get the drivers installed for the headset and then the update was just a simple drop and go process. After the update, I was really anxious to see if the improved voice isolation algorithms would enhance things even more… as the firmware notes from v3.0 to v3.4 were rather significant.

That would lead to Saturday and walking around town while trying to find the ideal noisy environment to make my test call to Sol… and I found the best moment. I was down in West End walking around down… a Hummer limo with a bunch of boys in white t-shirts saw some ghetto girls and told the driver to pump up the tunes while they would pop their heads out to give a shout to the girls. I happened to place a call to Sol at that moment… and the call was remarkably clear! The headset also adjusted the volume automatically adjusted to the environment helping clarity by a good degree. I had the voice isolation on the MAX setting and it really made things great! The volume buttons do actually work on top of the volume adjustment from the dual microphones automatically working, just in case if that’s not enough to break through the noise. I was simply impressed that I didn’t have to mess around with the headsets fit just to make sure that my speech was coming in clearly from motion detection. The headset’s tight fit and dual microphones helped make that “extreme” test call work just perfectly!

On asking Stephanie’s opinion of the fit of the BlueAnt Z9, she said it was a rather tight and rigid fit. Her opinion was based on the hard plastic ear hook and the difficult system on adjusting the size without breaking the delicate ear hook. She did comment that the tiny size was interesting, however not her forte.

The comfort of the headset does take some experimenting to get good with, but once you get it perfect… the headset is almost weightless! It’s not as “perfect” like the Jawbone, but at least it sticks to my head… I will remind readers I do have small ears, be warned.

From this… I think I have my winner.

Final Verdict
From the whole experience with needing a headset that wasn’t about to fall off my ear from a short sprint… Also the need for vocal recognition that does not rely on fit had a huge impact, ’cause what good is a headset if it doesn’t properly fit? The style elements are important, as size does matter. Let me be clear that the race was very close…

The Winner: BlueAnt Z9

The BlueAnt Z9 does win from a good snug fit, great noise isolation, and most of all it has a small foot print. The headset is almost weightless and provides great and clear calls! It is stylish, but however from using a rigid plastic ear hook… it is a minor sacrifice in comfort  to have the headset be planted on your head. If the Jawbone had a small ear loop that provided a proper fit for the small folks, it would have been even harder to choose a winner. The ability to upgrade the BlueAnt Z9 gives it more points as the headset still has chances to become better rather than a “Version 2” to hit retail and you to be stuck with an obsolete headset. For people who have small ears, but want a headset that looks great and performs beautifully… I highly recommend the BlueAnt Z9.

Reviews, Technology

Aviary Online (Beta) – Phoenix Tool Thoughts

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A while ago Adobe launched Photoshop Express as an online Flash based tool for artists and photographers to try out so that they can edit images online. It poses an interesting role as I remember seeing an article pop up on Slashdot saying that the next version of Photoshop CS4 will not be universal, it will only be made for Windows 64-bit systems. Obviously, this has the remaining community of 32-bit Windows users and even the majority of the artistically inclined Mac users pretty pissed off. A Flash based version of Photoshop would be quite a lucrative market as it makes the platform universal. There’s no need to have people translate the Windows coding to be compatible for Mac or Linux, just use a web browser and you’re in. So far, Adobe has made Photoshop Express a free and open beta… but don’t be surprised if they decide to throw around the idea of a subscription fee once it goes “Live” and final.

However, a challenger appears. Worth1000 made a little start-up called Aviary. The idea is a set-up of online productivity suites that allow you the ability to do things from your web browser and not be constrained to locally having a copy of the program on your computer. Why? Because it allows collaboration with your peers. True, you can collaborate with (for example) Adobe Creative Suite CS3… but there’s a caveat to that. If everyone is to get a legitimate copy… well, that’s a cool $2,000 (price from Amazon.com) that’s gotta be shelled out by everyone. But apply that principle for programs like Microsoft Office 2007 et al… That’s a ton of cash. Unfortunately, most folks choose the illegal way via torrents which the coders and everyone involved don’t get a dime, but there’s always that counter argument of “They get enough money from the corporate buyers, why should we care?” I won’t get into that… But when you consider Aviary being a collaboration tool that could be available as free or with a nominally small subscription fee, it’s a pretty brilliant idea.

I used to use Photoshop CS2 or Paint Shop Pro, so I figured Aviary’s Phoenix tool would be somewhat close. On loading it, you’re greeted with a rather friendly splash screen asking if you’re making a new file or if you want to upload and edit an image of your own. The tool set is sparse, but it is still beta, so I do understand. The speed is pretty quick, there aren’t many hick-ups when I was editing the screenshots from my HTC Kaiser, but I haven’t had a chance to really play with images about 1024 x 768 to really see. My assumption is that speeds will be mainly affected by your internet connection.

Personally, I was rather impressed with Phoenix as even though it is Flash based, it never crashed my browser in Ubuntu Linux. I typically have issues of running Flash animations and browsing as they cause my browser to crash, but fortunately, that wasn’t the case with Phoenix. The only thing I do see is a disadvantage is that if you’re without the internet or cursed with a slow connection, working with Phoenix could be a hellish nightmare. I will play with it more and see how it is, but I am looking forward to the application’s development!

Reviews, Technology

The AT&T Tilt… No, HTC Kaiser 8925 done up by ZeroXR

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(Correction: The 8900 designation was for the AT&T Tilt that lacked the 3.1 Megapixel camera)

So I finally sold my P990i off to get a device that is a little more future proof via firmware updates and also compatible with digital pharmacology books for my schooling needs. Got a slick deal on a used AT&T Tilt with a 2GB microSD card, however it had one slight issue… the phone was locked down. Not really too much issue with that, cause I had plans to break the phone open myself.

Sure, it’s not a “true” HTC TyTN II with the 3G video conferencing cam, but not a big issue for me. My first task was to repeat the same steps involved in liberating my assistant manager’s phone. I would have to get JumpSPL do a few flashes and then get the unlocking code. After that was when the real fun of choosing a hacked firmware began. I wanted to play with some of the spiffy things like the HTC Cube, TouchFLO and a few other things so I gravitated toward the last Windows Mobile 6 release of Alex’s HTC Cube rom pack. That would only be the beginning… I’d get the free student edition of Epocrates for medical and drug reference information on there just in case I ever need technical data when I am in the office or out of the office.

Once I got most of the phone configured, I had to get to playing with some of the fun stuff like TouchFLO and the HTC Cube as ’cause in America those features are only available in the Sprint HTC Touch, but not on any of the other HTC Windows Mobile phones in America. It’s a rather trick looking but it does have some “productivity” to it. Personally I like it as I can quickly access functions quickly without the need to flip through menus and prompts just to do something as easy as say… turn on my wi-fi or jump to my photo albums.

My seller also had included the full version of Tomtom Navigator 6 with my phone, so I would get the pleasure of having GPS but however… The software came on an SD card, so I would have to finagle with it to copy to my microSD card. After I get on my microSD, it would be a matter of letting my Kaiser to sync up with the GPS satellites. Inside my home, I was able to get a lock on 3-5 satellites with the internal antenna… Pretty good, I would think. However, on going outside and loading it up for use in my car, I was able get a lock on 7-9 satellites. The navigation and narration are clear visually and audible.

It’s no wonder a bunch of the American TV news stations were raving about this phone last year when it dropped as a truly great phone. I remember being a previous HTC Wizard owner (from my T-Mobile MDA) that the Windows Mobile Phones were ill equipped with enough RAM for their functionality and lacked the processing power. The HTC Kaiser/TyTN II/AT&T Tilt seems to have fixed both issues in one shot. The phone doesn’t lag and the best part is it just zips along.

I would like to thank the folks over at XDA Developers for scouring and experimenting to give users the ability to unlocked their restricted devices for use on other networks. For those who want to unlock their AT&T Tilt devices and seriously do them up just like mine… Check out the XDA Developer’s HTC Kaiser Wiki here! Enclosed below are pictures of my phone and screens. The screen shots are edited by Aviary’s Phoenix online based photo-editor, which I’ll be reviewing pretty soon. Enjoy the visual porn, I am going to enjoy the rest of my weekend with a gut buster set, some almonds, whey protein and some straight razor shaving. Expect the obligatory birthday post tomorrow.






















































Reviews, Technology

[Review] Two Years of Faithful Service – 1999 Mazda MX-5 Miata (NB8C)

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November 5th… I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I was doing the morning shift and I’d receive a call at home from a dealer saying “We’ve drop shipped your car to our lot! Come on over to take a look at it before we close… It is first come first serve even if you did pay the deposit to get it brought over.” I would get to the dealer at about 6:00pm and take a peek. The gauges reminded me of the days I toyed with FD3S RX-7’s but most of the car stood out like a British roadster. The sales rep would end up teaching me refined manual on the fly… so that yielding to be an interesting experience. After signing off the papers and having my car polished up, I’d roll home to Dallas in my first set of wheels that I paid with my own hands for. It was a tiring day, but it would be the beginning of even more exhaustive training for me to remember my “fancy footwork”.

It wouldn’t be until I hit the 6th month of ownership that I would come to realize the true merits of my MX-5. Sure, it’s not the prettiest one. It has bare nothing as far as features go. No premium leather seats, no power windows, no power locks, no tricked out sound system, no sport suspension pack, no aerodynamics pack, no ABS, no power steering. However… it’s been one of my more forgiving experiences with a driving machine. Before the MX-5, I was plunking around town in a Honda Integra sedan which had more heft to toss around and simply not enough power to back it. The MX-5 however feels like a zippy go-kart that could push endlessly. However… the car is not without it’s caveats. The stock steel 14″ tires are far from adequate compared to the later models getting a wider 15″ wheels or even the 17″ wheels on the later Mazdaspeed turbo versions. The gears are short so those addicted to high speeds may feel a bit “cheated” on this vector.

From the 2 years I have become attuned to the MX-5, I have been rather impressed it’s been a forgiving teacher to me. The maintenance is a bit easier than the rat’s nest that I had to deal with in the Integra. The best part being the ability to break the top down when the day is looking great! The community of folks who drive MX-5’s is staggering! So help, tips and advice are almost always readily available no matter where you live.

For a worthy car to really learn the roots of essential and proper rear-wheel shenanigans, the MX-5 is one hell of a car to do it all in. The cost of one from the 1999 – 2005 era is much lower than the newer ones, so they are plenty cheap. Truly one of the best cars to learn about spirited driving and the essential techniques to hone it properly.

Reviews, Technology

Why didn’t Longhorn finish?! My thoughts on Windows Vista

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Acknowledgement: I would like to thank my friend Maczimus out in Fort Worth for letting me borrow his copy of Windows Vista to do this review. Had it not been for him… I would have no way to shell out the cash just for an operating system I do not intend to use full time.

So earlier you all got to look at images of me playing with Vista from a virtualized environment safe from the confines of VirtualBox for Linux. I won’t lie and sugar coat things… I admire the passion that Microsoft’s art team had when they designed Vista’s interface. It’s an eye pleasing experience, see my “desktop” below. (Click the image to see the full size one)

Vista makes for a pleasing operating system to work with, but it is not without some “trimming” that had to be done. I used Windows Vista Ultimate but trimmed down the weight of the OS with vLite to trim Vista’s hard drive footprint from 8GB to a cool 3GB. Unfortunately, I don’t have physical hardware to do a full install of Vista with the Aero effect works as VirtualBox does not support Direct3D just yet… So I cannot say much about that. The Windows Sidebar is much in vein like Apple OS X’s widgets, not too much to write about. The main thing that kills me is that the entire OS even after being thinned out by vLite is that it is seriously RAM heavy and processor heavy. It is not as responsive as Windows XP and that actually depresses me…

I have seen videos like this one (YouTube – Windows Longhorn Concept) which show the raw ideals of what the future Windows operating system was supposed to be. It makes you wonder what happened to the hard development for the OS and why did it become the monster that it is. It’s got the eye candy, the presentation, the “security” of the UAC (I say it with sarcasm) but at too high a cost. Sure, I am not using the “complete” OS… but not everyone can afford the power of eye candy due to hardware. The UAC can get rather bothersome as it babies the user with needless permission requests… I ended up turning it off because it simply annoyed me to death. The best comparison can be made to the UAC… It would be like using Ubuntu Linux and every time you wanted to open up Firefox, Thunderbird, or Filezilla to connect to the web, you’d have to be halted by a Sudo prompt asking for your password every initialization.

For Microsoft, it has hurt them as many businesses have been urged not to adopt Vista just due to sheer cost. Many perfectly great machines on Windows XP or Linux would sing on barely anything… With Vista on the same machines… you’d have to do some serious upgrades just for a tolerable experience. Bumping up multiple systems to 512mb to 1GB of RAM is not a cheap task nor is the other option to completely rebuy new machines for a business. Dell’s IdeaStorm ended up being stormed by angry users distraught that Vista did not play nice with their new systems and it spawned a topic called “Don’t Eliminate XP Just Yet“.

As much as Microsoft wants Vista to take off… I feel it will fall a fate much similar to that of Windows ME. Some of my readers will remember the day when ME hit the market, it almost felt like a rushed bolt-on to Windows 98… To me, Vista feels like a sloppy bolt-on to Windows XP. If Microsoft wants a market dominating OS like what XP is… then I hope that Windows 7 will be much better than Vista and it needs to be true to what Project Longhorn was all about. I wish I could really like Vista, but to need ridiculous requirements just to make it run just decent is ridiculous. I mean, it’s bad when someone can throw in a Ubuntu Feisty disc, load up Compiz-Fusion and do all the eye candy inside a virtual machine when a 1.73 Ghz emulation of a session of Windows Vista can’t due to requiring Direct3D drivers. If Microsoft forgets that there’s a market for users with weak machines… Linux may just steal that emerging market they have fought so hard to build.

Microsoft, make an OS that the masses don’t need to buy a brand new machine or even $200+ in parts just to make it work… or you may just push away former faithfuls like myself to consider alternatives that we don’t even have to spend a dime on. If you care about sealing in your future markets in developing countries… you’re going to lose ground concentrating too much on “cool factor” rather than efficiency and utility.

Reviews

Welcome to the Metaverse – Snow Crash Book Review

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I have a guilty penchant for reading. I love books as sometimes it’s nice to be able to absorb a story at my own pace. Printed media has a great advantage of being readable and “pause” friendly unlike some digital media. As my teaser post had mentioned, my buddy Russ passed me Snow Crash to read and left me with the cryptic teaser: “You’ll never think of pizza delivery boys the same again after reading this book.” The cover’s teaser even leads the reader on about the premise:

In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo’s CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he’s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that’s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy missionfor the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about the Infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous… you’ll recognize it immediately.
from the back cover of Snow Crash

The book is interesting as it shows something like a post apocalyptic world where the corporations have bonded into sectors and even carry gang influences. In the nature of dualities, there’s also a computer realm called the Metaverse where people can log on and goggle in to a completely virtualized world. Highly skilled users who plug in can code to create their own tool/weapons, clothes, or even detail their looks to a highly customized, detailed avatar. Though early on, the story details a world where the trade of information is similar to the trade of hard goods. Pieces of intelligence be it a rejected movie script to even a pornographic video of the young pop star sleeping with a politician are all valued by those who collect and resell “intel data”. Hiro’s “job” in the Metaverse is an intel hunter and hacker to make a buck off of whatever data he can nab, repackage, and even sell. The story doesn’t stop there though…

The novel shows us a world where the Metaverse is almost a realm that is a sophisticated “internet” with respect to the present day. The more intense data mining hackers however are almost biologically linked to the Metaverse, so you can almost imagine our modern concepts like SPAM, spyware, and viruses would basically act like physical maladies to these hackers. Like human beings, some hackers do get bored and resort to odd things in boredom… Drug use does happen in the Metaverse, but usually it is bad code… Until someone ends up pedaling Snow Crash as the latest drug. When someone very near and dear to Hiro takes Snow Crash and basically is never heard from again, this begins a chain of events that shows theres an even greater force that’s marketing Snow Crash both in the Metaverse and in the physical world.

Theories of “information hygiene”, religion as a computer virus of sorts, and even a link to Sumerian myths are all part of a battle between good and evil. It almost parallels the concerns of those in the computer security industry and how common folks have no idea on how damaging opening an odd e-mail or running that one program that some user has no idea of what is inside the payload. The vision of a future world are simply amazing, but you almost feel drawn to the characters even if some of their existences are boring or plain messed up. The second half is a frantic race against time to try to understand the fundamental essence of language and the power of viral concepts. The action really picks up and just leaves you addicted to read until the end.

Snow Crash is one book I would recommend to anyone who’s fascinated by computer technologies merged with Sumerian myth and a concept of a Metaverse being almost a future vision of the online world. The image of the future America that is represented is one that almost seems possible, but takes much of it’s influence from overtones of the Vietnam War and some other political dealings. It is definitely one on my list of “Essential Books People Should Read Before They Die”.

Personal, Reviews, Site News, Technology

A Boring but Possibly Productive Weekend

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Well… with most of my plans in shambles, it gives me time to try to get some important things done for the site and as well as generate fresh new content. Here’s a run-down of what all is to come possibly with the following days and even into next month:

  • My book review of Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson
  • My evaluation of Puppy Linux 3.01 – Seamonkey
  • (Possible) Evaluation of Damn Small Linux
  • Introspective on the semantics of “best friends”
  • Notes and “diary” of doing a charity laptop project (Negotiations in the works)
  • Devil’s Physical: The 60,000 Mile Maintenance Event
  • Picking up a Callpod Dragon Extreme Bluetooth headset to evaluate and review
  • Funny adventures with my cousin Sol’s return to Dallas for Spring Break
  • Tips for the poor college student avoiding debt
  • The return of my retuned workout logs

It looks like a lot, but that should be my next set of things to post, rant, vent, and discuss until I get my hands on the consumer release of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 communicator. Apparently some sources strewn about the web from XDA Developers’ forums have made claim that the processor for the XPERIA X1 is a Qualcomm MSM7200a with a smaller die print and powered at 525mhz. The small footprint means potentially a power efficient processor, but higher power means it’ll be able to really show off. There are rumors about Windows Mobile 6.5 being debuted when the X1 hits retail shelves and possibly HTC releasing their ODM version of the X1 branded with their own name… It’s a damn shame that the device won’t come out sooner, because I’d love to really have some fun with a new phone.

Reviews, Technology

Internet Sharing Evolved: Tomato Router v1.15, Powered by OpenDNS

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So I decided to potentially put a bullet into my router in an attempt to “roid up” my router. Why? The poor thing is almost 5 years old and it lacks a lot of things that are great to have when you live in a home where sharing the web and trying to function without killing another person for bandwidth. That and I didn’t want to make an expenditure that would be taken for granted.

My buddy Maczimus would tell me about how his newly upgraded Tomato router has been just awesome to him. On reading their compatible routers, I found that my Buffalo WBR2-G54 is compatible for the upgrade! So Maczimus had challenged me to upgrade the router to enjoy the web again and have less bandwidth showdowns with my sister and her YouTube addictions.

First off, for the Buffalo routers, there’s a bit of trickery involved… Buffalo encrypts their firmware to prevent unauthorized firmwares being installed to the router. The upgrade cannot be done wirelessly, it must be done while you’re hardwired to the router. I highly advise downloading the Wikibooks Manual to the Tomato router as it details the EXACT procedure to fool the router and inject Tomato into it if you’re using a Mac or Unix/Linux machine. Windows folks have it easy with running a .bat file, so no funny messes for you all. After the router does its thing and processes the upgrade… It will kick you out and then ask you to reauthenticate the session.

After providing the user name and password, you’re welcomed into a web interface that’s powered by SVG images. The interface is simple and to the point. The fun part is being able to tweak and tune values. From your basic settings like security settings to even things like the amplitude of the wireless antenna! The amplitude is far from “just a number” as with tweaking it, I have found that I am able to make it so there is no dead spots in my family’s home. That’s a seriously cool feature!

The bandwidth monitoring features are almost something that you would overlook, but to see where the bandwidth is going and from what computer or internet device is amazing! The ability to do a Quality of Service (QoS) lockdown is very nice as it can solve some of the more severe arguments because it effectively balances out the bandwidth in a fair manner. This is something that any bandwidth heavy families or small businesses should have, because it is simply that good!

I will make one caveat aware. Make sure you know the default MAC addresses of your router’s interfaces. On upgrading to Tomato, the firmware changed one hex digit of the last pair and Verizon had a panic attack. They wouldn’t let me on until I changed the address to the proper one.

The next step to perfecting my newly created Tomato router was to change the default Verizon powered DNS addresses to the OpenDNS addresses. The OpenDNS configuration is easy and free to anyone, although signing up for an ID allows you remote control of your network. Control being things like the ability to filter out sites of your choosing or even blocking out sites that are potentially dummy sites set-up by phishers. The benefits of using the OpenDNS addresses rather than your internet service providers are that they can resolve mistyped web addresses much quicker and even suggest similar sites more efficiently. The change of the DNS address is such a small thing, but it is seriously worth it for the light boost in speed. Combined with the Tomato router, it’s a combination that has made broadband sharing at home a much more pleasant experience.

The only thing left to make browsing even better is to get my family to consider upgrading to FiOS by Verizon… The speeds below with the Tomato router and OpenDNS have opened up the gateway. Hell, I wish they’d consider my offer to pay for the upgrade myself…

Games, Reviews, Technology

The Illicit Fantasy – Need for Speed: Carbon “Own the City” (PSP)

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Note: Certain racing terms have been linked to explain concepts to those not automotively inclined. Credit goes to Wikipedia for that.

As gamers, we love the idea of fantasy. Be it something simple as being a skilled hero versed in magic to the wanton killing machine, it’s a concept that has move gamers towards certain titles. Role playing and simulation make the gamer feel like they are part of the game. The popular media has had a bit of an infatuation of using games as a scapegoat for society’s ills. Like the occasional stories that some kid that played a little too much Grand Theft Auto III decided to murder someone or how a kid who died crashing into a toll booth was a rabid player of Gran Turisimo 4. But many gamers are able to separate the lines of fantasy and the real world.

The Need for Speed franchise originally was a computer game line for the PC gamer that was a simulation like the Gran Turismo site. Once Gran Turismo came out, EA Games had to take a new angle to entice gamers to their series. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit would come out and EA would just quietly release titles… Until the tuning and tweaking community really got steam around 2003 in the real world. EA would then revamp the entire franchise as Need for Speed: Underground. The idea was to make a game that encompassed the underground tuner culture with the flashy cars, tweaked and gassed engines, glory, and cash. The first foray into this direction got a lukewarm reception, though EA would listen to the gamers and quickly work on the sequel to make it the racer’s paradise and being able to cruise on the streets instead of being stuck in bracket racing. That would lead to Need for Speed: Underground 2 which was a leap forward in EA’s new life for the Need for Speed franchise. The “Most Wanted” sequel afterwards would reincorporate the police chases from Hot Pursuit and even give a slick little Matrix-esque “bullet time” effect for intense stunt work to evade the cops on free roam. This brings us to the Carbon sequel, finally.

Need for Speed: Carbon mainly takes to the racing movement in America with the obsession of the Japanese touge with the “Canyon Race” competitions. The game includes things like your normal fare of lap races, sprint races, eliminators, and all but it does have some influences from the drift culture. The portable rendition for PSP with the subtitle “Own the City” does not have the the canyon races, but just focuses on a story where someone from a mysterious race gang crashes into your brother killing him and hospitalizing you for a good while. The motive to race? Revenge and vengeance for your late brother.

With Own the City, there is no “manual transmission” option by default unless you choose to play the game with the analog stick. You can summon during races. The gang members of your gang can be recruited from defeating rival gangs to add a better selection. In addition to that, the gang members have their talents. Here’s a break-down:

  • Brawler – Their main purpose is to crash into the target and disable them from the race temporarily.
  • Drafter – They fly by you so you can catch into their slipstream so you can build top speed and push to the limit.
  • Assassin – They do a flyby to get ahead of the target and lay down a spike strip to blow out the tires of the competition
  • Fixer – A subclass of gang member that can boost your pay-out provided you win a race.
  • Mechanic – A subclass of gang member that secretly enhances your car to push even harder.

The henchmen/women can be helpful but also can botch a race too. I have had occasions, for example, where the brawler’s fly by while they are hitting the NOS and crashing into you during a turn. At the same right, they have saved my bacon from losing a race. The gang members can “level-up” depending on your performance in a race on technical metrics; with better performance and use of them, their abilities increase.

The game is in a free roaming mode or you can hop in and out of races with the race map chooser. The open world does have police that will engage you for misconduct on the roads, I have not had the pleasure of it, but I have gone pretty wild. The city will have the graffiti tags of the gangs in control of the territory. Once you begin taking over, your gang’s tag will replace the defeated gangs. Throughout the map, there are crates you can find in the open roaming mode which will unlock promotion art when found. They are hidden pretty well as I have only found only 1 of 30.

The customizations are pretty basic. For under hood performance, there are engine, suspension, chassis, turbo, and nitrous oxide for parameters. Cosmetically, there are body kits, spoilers/wings, tint, wheels, paint, and vinyls. If you want your gang members to be emblazoned with your paint and vinyls, you can apply them over their cars. Particularly, the body kits, wings, and wheels do not do anything to modify the car’s performance with regard to aerodynamics or traction from what I have noticed. This is different from the autosculpting feature of the console versions. I will provide my disclaimer here: if you’re hoping a mobile version of the console experience, this is not it. It’s not an easy game either, the game does require skill and finesse on some races. I know I have barely won some races just from nitrous getting me a split second ahead of my competition to the finish line.

The game fares well as a mobile racing game. The sensation of speed is very real… You almost can feel the intensity of the velocity when you’re in 6th gear and firing the nitrous while hitting 170+ mph. The sounds could have been better, but they aren’t bad at all. Graphically, the game is not quite as polished as say, Ridge Racer 2 (PSP), but it looks good no less. Although I have experienced an odd graphical image glitch where the game will have the race track’s graphics disappear yet other details like road block offs, billboards, cars, and backgrounds are intact… The worst part is this bug will lock up the entire game when you try to exit the race and try to save progress.

With respect to that glitch, I have done everything EA Games Customer Support has asked me. PSPdemon of Gamecootie has also tried to help me with the glitch, but he too is baffled. Especially as loading should not be an issue for the PSP slim from the extra RAM it has to cache graphics head of time. It has not afflicted me lately, so I am counting on my prayers.

Own the City has come a very long way from the shoddy likes of Need for Speed Underground Rivals and 5-1-0 for PSP. It really has me curious about the new Need for Speed ProStreet game that was delayed for a PSP on February 19th of this year. ProStreet looks impressive on the high end consoles, but it just has me wondering why there’s a delay on the PSP version. If the delay is to address things like game enhancing details, it could lead to a promising sequel.

Zero’s Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Zero’s Closing Thoughts: With the game being sold as a Greatest Hits title, the price is not bad. It is a bit difficult and it can be plenty fun if you don’t take the game seriously like Ridge Racer.

Games, Reviews, Technology

Hall of Shame Review – Touch the Dead (DS)

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In the world of gaming, it’s not “unusual” to have a company sell out some of their rights to a franchise just to make a buck at the expense of another company’s reputation. It’s happened before… The main victims of this “crime” are the gamers and the gullible publishers. I will say that I am the epicurean casual gamer. I love to try all sorts of odd games just for fun because I can. At the same right, I can be a masochist for downright terrible games. Sometimes it’s a hidden gem in the rough that ends up getting publicized recognition (Cooking Mama) or ones that inspire so much rage that would almost inspire you to shatter your console in half. This review is more on the latter.

I love the “House of the Dead” franchise by Sega/AM2 team as it’s like a corny B-movie about zombies and monsters while having to shoot them dead. I have played most of the incarnations, including the infamous “Typing of the Dead” for PC with the Mavis Beacon zombie on the cover of the Japanese version game CD cover. On one of my trips to the local GameStop, I found the “Touch the Dead” DS card sitting in the “missing covers” drawer of games. Naturally, I figured “why the hell not?” and bought it.

The game was made by Eidos Games under their lower brand label “Secret Stash Games” as noted in the Wikipedia entry. The game has you playing what it seems like a mental asylum or prison inmate breaking out of their in a whirlwind of chaos. From there, you grab a gun and encounter the horde of zombies. It is close to the premise of “House of the Dead” but I’d place it more as a knock off if anything. The game play is pretty straight-forward. Use the stylus to “touch” the dead people and shoot them with whatever weapons you have. To reload, you drag a clip of bullets to your gun’s magazine. To switch weapons, you press the control pad up, down, left, or right to switch to the according weapon in your inventory cross on the top screen. To be fair to the left-handed people, the A, B, X, Y buttons also serve the same functions. The top screen also houses the player’s life meter as well as mentions if you have unlocked the secrets from the level.

The character models and movies are a little rough for what they are. It is a shame, because the game could have been cleaned up a bit make it a bit pretty rather than crappy. The zombies are rather fast on the “normal” mode and combine it with the clumsy reloading scheme. Combine the both and the experience can be frustrating if not maddening. It will almost seem like the game is making a cheap shot at you with the random zombie attacks. With all due respect the game makes for a mildly fun experience… but the worst part is… You don’t get continues. It’s just a paltry 5 “lives” with 5 hits each. The only chance to ensure longevity is to break open crates that may have more hearts or bullets for the extra guns or even power-ups to increase your weapon’s strength.

The game is so shameful that I barely can even finish the review… Just if you like niche games, save yourself the humanity and don’t ever play this game. Dream On Studios should have refined the experience before even releasing it as it’s pretty difficult as it is. It had a good idea, just one of the worst executions ever seen.