kuzma's world

nokia e71 gallery

5 days ago
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So, in realizing I might have an E90 trade on my hands which might involve my E71 and would likely take place before I'd get a chance to do this, I took some nice pictures of my E71 to help me remember it by should I trade it off. Mind you, regardless of whatever phone I get next, an E71x (as a backup) or an E72 are pretty high on my list for getting, unless of course I have the E90- then I might as well get an N86.

Anyways, that's pretty much it... pretty impressive for a handset that I've owned for a year, never put a case on or even used the Nokia-supplied slip cover for! And all I ever do is just chuck it in one of the front-pockets of my jeans (and almost religiously ensure that I never put anything else in the same pocket). Well... that's it, sorry for slowing down your load time of the page with pictures of a phone. (Again.)

nokia e90... say what?

5 days ago
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100_1639

Now this is something unexpected. I was playing with my new 9300 and then had a weird pang of longing for my old E90. Mind you, I traded that off long ago, but a recent eBay search showed the extent of my ignorance in trading it for a mere Nokia N82. Granted, while I still would awfully like to own an N82 again now (although I'd arguably cling to my D40 which is what my N82 ultimately became), the E90 was an amazing device. It's keyboard was roomy, for a start, meaning long word documents and lengthy texts (which have recently become more and more common for me) are a piece of cake. It's camera is one notch above the E71 (most notably the tinting problem is fixed). However, I'm getting off topic here.

The point is, I decided to shoot off an email to the guy whom I made my original trade with. I asked if he still had his E90, expecting him to have sold it off on eBay and now he'll laugh at me hysterically. But to my surprise, he still had it! That's right, he still has the exact same E90 seen pictured above. While I'm not sure what condition it now is in, working or not, new chassis or not, he still has it. So I've decided that my new project is to reacquire this device. I really want it... and I'd be willing to trade my iPod Touch 64GB for it, even. Heck, that beats my friend's N96 by a mile, especially now that I've basically derived that for my needs, an E-Series fits the bill perfectly. I might have to trade him my E71 and iPod for it, though... that's pushing it, but honestly... probably worth it.

In an update about my friend's N96... that's been put on hold. He's having doubts about purchasing a CLIQ on-contract, but he knows I'm after his phone so he'll let me know if he decides to spring for one of the new handsets coming out. In the meantime, I wait! And anxiously, too, because my 9300 case is on it's way and I really want to share some pictures that don't make me look like a fool for purchasing it and don't make the phone look like it's massively outdated. (The Cingular badge on it doesn't help much.)

old art

6 days ago
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TinyLarge

Well, today DST kicked in here in Oregon. Which means that while my kitchen clock says it's 7:17pm, my computer is displaying the correct time as being 6:17pm. (I'm not setting back the clocks in the house.) Just thought I'd share that little detail...

Also, I came across this nifty bit of art I created last year. While bored in the dorms, I had a friend who was taking pictures of me. I happened to like this one and decided to cut it up into lots of tiny pieces, add white borders to each piece, and then move 'em around just a bit to make what you see above. I'm hoping to make another one... but the whole project took about 2 hours, so I gotta be able to afford that type of time before I start. :P

new phone

7 days ago
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Here it is! A Nokia 9300. While it's not exactly the newest handset out there- in fact, I used to own the E90, which technically replaced the whole Communicator line- I stil saw it as holding more value than my Motorola E8. From a mere gimmick standpoint, I thought that the ROKR E8 had more appeal due to it's unique input methods and industrial design, but Nokias tend to hold their value a bit better. Besides, once you get past the surface, the E8 really is just a fancy RAZR and the Nokia is another beast entirely.

The picture above was taken with my D40. I found an in-camera resize function, and chopped the image down to 640x480. (Or equivalent.) Then popped out the MicroSD (which was in an SD Card adapter), chucked it in my E71, and uploaded it from there. (I left my MicroSD-USB adapter in Eugene.)

This 9300 has seen better days. I should admit to that now. Not matter how good I think I am at cleaning used phones, this is one handset that really needed some professional help. By that I mean it needs a new face plate (this is old enough that it had interchangeable faceplates!!!). The keyboard frame also could use a replacement, while the keyboard itself and the keypad are actually not bad. The frame around the inner screen could look *neater* with a replacement, and the battery cover is missing one little tab so it doesn't quite close correctly. Not to mention the bottom frame has a lot of paint missing (paint? really Nokia?). So I decided... I'm just gonna order a whole housing set! About $29 off of eBay, I've already made an order. And by that I mean I'd have bought it, but PayPal is going bonkers and tells me to try again in a couple of hours. (Prolly something to do with DST.)

So don't expect any pictures of the 9300 unless I get really bored... because it's a bit embarassing even for me to have admitted to have traded a device as nice as the ROKR E8 for this abused 9300. Once it's got a nice new shell, then I'll be more willing to show it off. And you can expect surgery pictures once it happens. Hopefully next weekend.

quick update

Oct 28, 2009
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Nokia-n96-and-sony-ericsson-c905

It's been quite some time since my last substantiated post, and while I shall hardly consider this post to be content-laden, it hopefully will wrap up a few ties since my last posting. I'll begin by explaining my current situation in life, move on to my take on a few recent developments, and lastly touch base on some future happenings.

As you have undoubtedly noticed, the blog has taken a much more festive appearance. To be quite honest, the design layout of my blog was once again beginning to frustrate me, and I decided it's about time I made a significant change, even though it shall undoubtedly be temporary. I now know, from my previous attempt, that Wordpress, while signficantly pleasing to the eye, is not quite useful to the degree of which I utilize VOX. If vox had more design themes, and an option to create albums to be viewed in the same manner as the SplashBlog of old, I'd be undeniably happy! Alas, this is not an option, so no point making it an issue as it's highly unlikely to ever see the light of day.

Currently, my life is regrettably a lot less festive than the colors of this blog itself. I'm a student at the University of Oregon, with a Pre-Business major and hoping to accepted as an Accounting major next year. I live a few blocks off-campus in a three-story unit, of which I occupy one of the two rooms on the top floor. From here I can see my car, which at the moment happens to be a Smart ForTwo. My room is a sort of off-white (beige tint), which is both clean in appearance and cold in demeanor. If I had my way, I'd paint a few of the walls a nice dark red, maroon perhaps, in order to create a sense of creamy coziness. Perhaps I will... that would explain why I'm holding on to so many newspapers with the intention to protect the floor from the inevitible drips that are going to occur.

These days I walk almost everywhere. If the weather is terrible, I'll drive, but only if my destination is more than ten blocks away (aka Safeway and work). I carry in my pockets two devices, my trusty Nokia E71 (in white), and my iPod Touch. I must say, I find the new update for iPod Touch to be rather a letdown- all of my "smart playlists" are all messed up! For example, even if I rate something 5 stars on the iPod, it still won't show up on my top rated. What the heck Apple! Fix this! My Nokia E71, on the other hand, is trusty as always. I actually changed the product code in order to install the v300.21.012 firmware (which supposedly improved camera performance), but so far haven't noticed much new so I'll prolly downgrade/reverse what I did. (I already changed the product code back, anyways.) Which leads me on to my present developments...

I've got a friend purchasing a Motorola CLIQ soon, and as he's currently using a Nokia N96 I asked if I might be able to take the phone off his hands. I'm getting a bit frustrated by my E71's lackluster camera (even though I now own a DSLR), and need something a bit more adventure-worthy. (Wait for future happenings.) He generally takes care of his stuff pretty well, and while I say that he's likely dropped it a couple of times and it may have a scratch here or there. So my plan is to trade him a bunch of gadgets I have around the house in exchange for it, then purchase a complete replacement housing and transfer the electronics to the new shell. Looking it up it looks like if I want a true new N96 on-a-budget as I'm suggesting, I'll need to also purchase a new slide as well... likely a necessary thing anyways since these are known for having rather clunky slides.

Now, while this has always been an option, I do have a friend that might trade me his old C905 for something. Not sure yet, but I certainly hope so! He's already moved onto a G1, so unless he's dead set on wanting my E71, I'll likely toss whatever he wants his way. The reason why this is an afterthought is that the N96 is a real smartphone, and will achieve my ends much better than the C905. (Basically this all comes down to the factor of gaming.)

Now, time to talk about future features! I'll be travelling to Japan on December 12th, and anticipate taking a lot of pictures while I'm there. I'm planning on bringing my Nikon D40 and hopefully a phone other than my E71 to use as a backup camera / messaging device. While I anticipate taking my iPod Touch as well, I hope to only use it while on the airplane. Unless of course the N96 works out perfectly to plan (which I always seem to have trouble with ambitious plans), and then it's 16GB ought to cater to my needs nicely. (And then I might trade off my iPod Touch... who knows?)

So there, my few scarce readers, is what I've been up to. It also explains the reason for the above picture... although if I ever manage to snag such a picture for myself, it'll be a silver C905 instead of the black.

ipod took a swim

Oct 19, 2009
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I've now realized one of the biggest flaws with my new iPod Touch... it's contoured back makes noticing the device in one's pocket awfully difficult, especially if one's quite tired. That's what happened to me... I felt my jean pockets and while I noticed my E71 (thankfully), I never noticed my iPod (I must've thought I was feeling my leg). So the iPod took a little dip in the washing machine, and I noticed only just as the wash cycle was completing that my iPod was nowhere to be seen. Popped the guy open (not as difficult as expected but not exactly easy either), and then let it dry by putting it in a bag of rice. And whaddya know! It works!

cool song from a friend

Oct 18, 2009
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RockTheBoat

Please give it a listen and let me know what you think.

a ferrari in portland

Oct 2, 2009
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Photo0011

This is an old picture. It was taken with my Samsung Eternity, back when I had it. Hence the "angled" PT Cruiser (in motion). It's also the reason why the color and sharpness are quite good while the noise levels are very low (compared to my E71). I kinda miss that phone, to be honest. Ah well.

Anyways, back to the point. Here's a beautiful F430 driving around downtown near Pioneer Place mall. The guy on the bike didn't even notice what car he was next to, and he did a double take when he was looking around at traffic and then his eyes landed on the beauty paused next to him. About 5 other people at the street corner also pulled out their cell phones to capture the moment... it really made my day.

On the same day, I also saw an Acura NSX, Porsche 911 GT3, and a few other more rarefied automobiles.

a friend singing

Oct 2, 2009
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Here are three videos of my friend Pedro singing. (Each thumbnail is a different video.)

archos 605 wifi review

Sep 30, 2009
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introduction

In an age where the iPod seems to be found everywhere, it seems a bit odd that such a niche device manufacturer such as Archos should even exist. Afterall, Apple has created players which, together, have almost any feature someone could ever want in a device. Separated all out, and there's a device that fits nearly every price bracket. It's almost as if the competition should just give up hope now, because there's no territory left to claim that hasn't already been staked by Apple.

So what, then, is a device like the Archos 605 WiFi intending to do? It's essentially a giant iPod Touch, with similar features like a large touchscreen, built-in WiFi, and a wide variety of media playback features. However, that's where the similarities end, and the Archos begins to cover ground that will never be covered by an iPod Touch... or not the current iteration, anyways. Because while the iPod Touch is generally given the status of the highest-price-function bracket of the iPod hierarchy, with all of it's features essentially built-in, the Archos 605 spins things a bit differently. With devices featuring larger displays in it's product lineup, the 605 isn't exactly the king of the lot. It's available in many versions, ranging from a measly 4GB (flash) iteration to the top of the line 160GB which we have here.

It's sold quite simply, much akin to the iPod Touch. But then the additional extras shoot the 605 into an arena usually reserved for dedicated DVRs or other devices... something which we'll get into later.

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design

What an eye catching device, eh? Ignoring the fact that the 160GB model we have here is actually much thicker than the other capacities offered for this device, it's still quite a sleek unit to look at. From the built-in stand on the back (quite sturdy, I might add, something Nokia should take note of) to the "unfinished" metal appearance on the front, it's a truly unique and good looking device. The screen (a full 1.5in larger than an iPod Touch) drags a lot of focus to the device's video-centric capabilities. It's back is basically a flat-gray color, and appears to be removable only by a certified technician (it's a non-user replaceable battery... officially, anyway). The right side of the device has absolutely nothing on it, as seen in the above picture, while the top has two ports for audio/video/data connectors of Archos' own proprietary format. The top has the power and lock buttons, while the left side features the headphone plug. The front of the device houses the rather substantial touchscreen in addition to the lining of buttons along the side which can be used to control all of the same functions as the touchscreen. Also found on the front is a small speaker for direct audio output.

usage

This is, as stated on the back of the device, an "Archos 605 WiFi Audio Video Player". However, it's also so much more... with the right accessories and software additions. That's right, software additions... the Archos has a system somewhat similar to the Apple App Store, except that everything featured unlocks a feature or capability of the device for a small fee. This may be something as simple as a non-essential video codec, or a more crucial function such as the web browser. But these software options are trumped by the hardware extras available. A docking station transforms the 605 into a full DVR system, capable of recording scheduled video broadcasts and also outputting them to a television screen. A travel adapter allows similar functionality but without the scheduled recordings or video output (I think, I'll test later). These two also allow a much faster 3hr battery charge time, as opposed to the USB powered 8hr empty-to-full cycle. A final accessory allows GPS navigation.

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Of course, these are all accessories... what we're really after here is the device itself. It's UI is decently pleasing, with colorful and playful icons and a standard blue wallpaper that can be changed to anything your heart desires. If the menus were loaded with some nice transitions, then I would go so far as to say that the device is capable of competing with the iPod Touch on a software level, but it regrettably is not so. It feels much more barren and stripped down but doesn't expose these traits to the user. Unlike an Archos I owned nearly five years ago, the 605 manages to make everything feel technical and simplistic yet hide it's workings all at the same time. Instead of having to manually browse music folders (like on past units), the Archos will quickly scan for all of your media files and then sort them via tags they might have with them.

A problem I quickly ran into was with ID3 tags. Because I use a Mac, I use iTunes. And because I use iTunes, ID3 tags are often not recorded to the files correctly or at all. And so a direct export from iTunes to the 605 will result in a mess of organization on the device. I wish that this didn't happen, but unfortunately this is my own problem since I suspect most Archos users will be using Windows machines and software that correctly manages audio tags.

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Video, on the other hand, I found to be an absolute joy. The screen is large enough for me to happily stare at it for a few hours. While a few of my files didn't play correctly on the Archos (missing audio), this was due to me not wanting to purchase the necessary codec to play the files. My only other alternative was to re-encode the files, something I wasn't too interested in pursuing. As you can see in the above picture, playback is clear and the necessary playback controls are simple and easy to understand.

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WiFi was an entirely different story altogether. To be honest, when I first started up the web browser I wasn't sure what to expect... well, I actually did, I expected nothing to happen since I hadn't purchased the browser. However, when I realized that the previous owner apparently did, I became quite happy and gave the device a bit of a thorough run-through. While the browser appeared simplistic at first, it actually rendered pages quickly and flash content loaded properly. Once on YouTube, however, the device seemed to grind to a halt frequently, and patience was required to get what I wanted (video to play). Gotta hand it to the Archos 605 WiFi though... It's equipped with quite a capable browser and I often forget it even has this ability.

Other uses of the WiFi connection include a wireless file server. I've yet to mess around with it much but I very much like the ability to have this. It's amazing to think that I can essentially use the 605 as a file server, DVR, GPS, and PMP. Nothing else I have ever seen works like that except for maybe a netbook or UMPC!

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conclusion

If I had one complaint about the 605... it would be the cost of collecting all of it's accessories. The DVR dock on eBay costs just over fifty dollars, plus the GPS at over one-hundred, and the full software package which I'd estimate to be about another hundred, and it's quite a pricey device you've got here. And considering how Archos has a newer line of devices available, I'd be hard pressed to encourage anyone to buy a new 605. That said, as a used device, it certainly seems to be a winner. It's got all of the features of the newer devices minus some of the software updates (mostly aesthetic), and all of the non-software additions can be found for much cheaper than the new devices'.

To be honest, I was completely surprised by the Archos 605. Every player the company has sold in the past that I have gotten the chance to test has always struck me as being cold and unfeeling. They've always felt more like a hard-drive with a file explorer than a media player. Yet here comes the 605 WiFi, and while I still get this cold and efficient aura from it, it seems to have developed a bit of a soul. It's got features you'll forget it's even got, and then it surprises you time and time again with them. It hasn't replaced my iPod Touch, but I've never got the feeling that it was every trying to. It's just yet another additional device that serves it's purpose and then gets out of your way.

Will I keep my 605 WiFi? Most likely I will, for at least a time. I've already considered trading it off and then stopped myself with excuses of: "What will you use as your hard-drive then? How will you take videos home for the weekend? What will you use as a portable media player on a car trip?"

I've yet to travel with the 605 WiFi, but I have a feeling that very soon I will be. And that I'll begin to love the device even more... if I can only get this ID3 tag problem sorted out.