Category Archives: Blogr

May 25 2010 View Comments comments
Blogr

No Android 2.x for Samsung T939

It looks like the Samsung Behold II won’t be getting any type of upgrade whatsoever. Although there is no “official” comment being released to the public, many T939 owners have confirmed the information directly from Samsung and T-Mobile. Basically, the T939 will end up like the G1, obsolete. Why does this matter? Well, Cupcake (Android 1.5) lacks a few features necessary for certain apps and the fact that it doesn’t support Bluetooth file transfer is ridiculous.

The Behold II is currently going for $100 with a two year contract. What this means for its current owners is that T-Mobile wants you to buy a new phone because although it has decent hardware for a newer version of Android, Samsung isn’t releasing an upgrade because it’s working on releasing “better” phones. Future adopters of the phone will end up owning an obsolete paperweight compared to smartphones being offered by other carriers. It’s really sad because even in the custom modification community of smartphones, it’s been a true hassle to cook up anything beyond Android 1.6 that’s fully functional.

I was lucky enough to receive this phone as a gift and it has served me well. It has postponed my desire to buy a new laptop, but I could really use an update to be able to do more. Froyo is looking delicious.

Update:

I read on Engadget that Samsung will update to Android 1.6. Here’s Samsung’s statement:

Samsung Mobile and T-Mobile USA are planning to update the Behold II to Android 1.6 which provides access to Google Maps Navigation, Google Voice Search capability and quick search box for Android. The update will also supply additional benefits including Swype, an improved Media Player, updated core Android applications and improved Bluetooth capabilities. However, the Behold II is not upgradeable beyond Android 1.6

Updates will be sent over the air, some have already received it, if you haven’t got it yet (like me), just wait it out. T-Mobile is releasing the updates at snail pace to avoid server overloads. All you need is to have a signal on your phone to receive it. I contacted Samsung and T-Mobile to verify.

It’s better than nothing but it’s still a crappy fix. Why not release it with Donut to begin with? No wonder it didn’t sell like they expected. Put Eclair or Froyo, make a new ad and presto, it’ll sell like fresh bread.

May 09 2010 View Comments comments
Blogr

Would you want to live forever?

“There comes a time for every vampire when the idea of immortality becomes momentarily unbearable.” – Lestat

In every generation there are those who seek the fabled fountain of youth, whether by magic, alchemy, journeys, or science. Eternal beauty, if only such a thing were possible. But if you really had the chance to live forever, would you? I used to think I would.

When I was in high school I became a bit obsessed with vampire lore. I role played, read vampire books, watched movies, researched, etc. It’s all so silly to me now. Death is not a taboo in my family. I’ve been to so many funerals I lost count in my tween years. My mother is a reverend so I went to a number of stranger’s funerals when I was in junior high. Open casket funerals are the classic tradition so I’ve seen my share of adorned corpses.

Although the idea of growing old and withering away can be pretty scary, I’d like to think that living a lifetime with someone you love is the best thing that life has to offer. Humans experience different stages in life just like every other living being. As we grow we look back and forth and compare times, the older you get the less you seem to blend in with the present times. Last century the difference between decades was so great that it’s hard to imagine what lies ahead for the current century.

There is evidence that some humans lived well over 300 years. But I’m pretty sure change was much slower then. They probably cooked, ate, slept, and worked the same way for centuries, only worrying about weather, disease, and war. It would be almost impossible to achieve that kind of lifespan now without the hell of modern science.

The only way for humans to live longer is to evolve from the primitive state we still find ourselves in. I read and watch the news everyday and I’m appaled at humanity in general. Why would I want to suffer more of this crap? It shames me to belong to the same species.

Being a vampire might not be all it’s cracked up to be.

May 06 2010 View Comments comments
Blogr

If Bella Swan had a blog

The Twilight Saga is mostly written from the main character’s perspective kinda like a diary, so I think it makes a great blog.

The other day I tweeted something that reminded me of Bella and I thought “What if Bella had a twitter account?”. I looked up Bella on twitter and found a few accounts but I wasn’t very convinced. The name stuckinforks popped into my head and suddenly I wanted to recreate Bella’s day to day life in a mundane fashion much like a personal diary.

I checked to see if stuckinforks was taken on twitter and as a domain. Lucky for me, it wasn’t. This week in my spare time I bought the domain, installed WordPress, tweaked a theme, and wrote the first entry.

Bella Swan now has an unofficial blog. It’s probably not the first one, but it’s gonna be MY interpretation of her. Why am I doing this? It’s just for fun. I think it’ll be an interesting writing experience.

Check out Stuck in Forks, it’s not much right now, but I’ll be adding more entries, if you’re a Twilight fan or curious about Twilight, subscribe to the feed to get updates of new posts.

Apr 25 2010 View Comments comments
Blogr

Is sexuality really genetic?

In the local news a transexual was murdered and the killers are still at large. 2 of her best friends were interviewed and they’re also transexual. The words ‘hate crime’ are being used to describe the list of recent murders of people that show homosexual tendencies. South Park has an episode about hate crime that I recommend watching. When it comes to beating people up or killing them, there’s always hate involved, so a hate crime is just a statement of the obvious. The reason for killing someone shouldn’t be separated by race or prejudice. That sort of thing should be resolved in court. If a person kills someone because he was gay, that’s prejudice and not a good reason for killing therefore should be punished. But if a person kills someone that is gay and was sodomizing his little brother, well that’s different. The motive for killing was to save a loved one. The law is meant to protect but more often than not, it’s manipulated to hurt the ones that need the protection.

One of the things that make me wonder is the stories of many gay and transexuals. Some say they always felt like a woman or a man since they were born. I think society has a lot to do with it too. Boys shouldn’t play with dolls and girls shouldn’t play wrestling etc. The typical gender stereotypes. To me, boys and girls should be free to discover what things they like because when they get older they’ll start to sexually mature. When society imposes restrictions, many feel repressed and often act out. If a boy likes to dress up in girl clothes, he should. All my childhood I was called a tom boy because I liked to dress in boyish clothes. I still like men’s clothing over women’s clothes sometimes, but that doesn’t mean I’m a butch. I think people should forget the labels and just do whatever makes them happy as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone.

I’m a girl because I was born a girl but I feel like an alien. That doesn’t make me an alien, and no amount of surgery and hormones will change that.

I’ve read the reports done on lab rats trying to prove that there’s a ‘gay gene’. Genes shouldn’t matter, being an alcobolic can be genetic but you can choose not be, and even if you have no history of alcoholism in your family, you can be an alcoholic. It’s a matter of preference and circumstance.

Society teaches you to follow a majority but there’re always people that don’t fit the mold. Being gay, jealous, or pigheaded can be genetic or circumstancial, but the truth is people should be true to themselves. You don’t need a label to fit in. Keep an open mind and respect people for what they are, no matter how different.

Apr 20 2010 View Comments comments
Blogr

Cafeteria food: The ultimate national threat

In the United States, everyone is aware of obesity on the rise. 50 years ago there was always 1 fat kid in the classroom. Now, there’s 2 or 3.

A group of ex-military officers are saying that today’s young population is too fat to enlist because few can pass the physical fitness standards. A report was released that over 9 million of young americans ages 17-24 are too overweight to join the military.

Are these facts surprising? Not really. Just go to your local supermarket and count how many overweight people you see and glance at their shopping cart. The retired officers are blaming school lunches but the problem is the food kids consume at home.

Today, the group is urging Congress to eliminate junk food and high-calorie beverages from schools, put more money into the school lunch program, and develop new strategies that help children develop healthier habits.

The school lunch bill, currently awaiting a Senate vote, would establish healthier options for all foods in schools, including vending machine items. The legislation would spend $4.5 billion more over 10 years for nutrition programs.

The Army is already doing its part to catch the problem earlier, working with high schoolers and interested recruits to lose weight before they are eligible for service, says U.S. Army Recruiting Command’s Mark Howell. He added that he had lose 10 pounds himself before he joined the military.
“This is the future of our Army and we are looking ahead when we talk about these 17- to 24-year-olds, Howell said. “The sad thing is a lot of them want to join but can’t.” Via AP News

So basically tax payer money is going towards healthier foods for kids because the military needs more recruits. That’s just excellent. It’s not because of the overwhelming amount of health risks people are facing everyday thanks to overprocessed foods, their concern is the national security threat obesity is causing. It doesn’t matter if you feed kids nutritious meals at school if they eat junk at home. The FDA should start by banning the most hazardous ingredients in today’s food items such as trans fats (anything that says partially hydrogenated), aspartame (artificial sweetener that has a WARNING label), high fructose corn syrup (genetically modified crap that’s no good for you), and a lot of preservatives.

Food shouldn’t have WARNING labels and it shouldn’t contain crap that metabolizes into POISON that in long run may cause cancer or horrible diseases like Lupus and MS. It’s all about the money. Food items are stuffed with cheap crap because quality and healthy ingredients are a bit more expensive, we eat the crap, buy health insurance, go to the doctor, buy drugs, and die in a hospital. It’s an oversimplified concept but it applies to a lot of people.

It’s a horrible world we are living in. You either get shot or die from eating cookies, chips, and soda.