Patrick's Blog

Apple Fanboy, Android User

Patrick — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 04:48:52 +0000

On November 6, 2009 the original Motorola Droid was released. It was the first phone that I ever woke up for and went to Verizon store about 30 minutes before it opened. I joined 8 other people outside. I got that phone because the iPhone was only on AT&T. That phone served me well in the 2+ years I had it and helped me do things that the iPhone probably couldn’t do… like the time we were on vacation in Maine and I needed to fix something on the server. I was able to tether my phone to my laptop and fix it right there and then.

During that two years, I waited in anticipation to see what my next phone would be. The iPhone was out on Verizon but the 4s had not yet been announced yet. There were only rumors of the iPhone 5 floating around. This whole time I was thinking, I’m finally going to make the switch. Although my Droid had served me well, it was starting to feel laggy and just frustrating me more and more. Then, the Motorola Droid Bionic was announced and eventually released. For some reason, I decided that I was going to get one on the first day it was released. I didn’t go early this time. I went in the afternoon and I was probably one of the few that day that picked one up. After talking about getting the next iPhone for quite a while, why did I get the Bionic? I think one of the reasons why was that I didn’t want to tempted in getting the iPhone. Android is definitely better for my work and the iPhone was probably the phone I wanted.

Any regrets… not really. Of course, after I got the Bionic, every phone in the universe was announced, including the iPhone 4s and the Galaxy Nexus. A few weeks ago I had my “I’m glad I have Bionic” moment. I was walking home from the coffee shop but I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it home in time for a conference call via Skype. I logged into Skype with my phone and got on the conference call. The Verizon LTE connection worked flawlessly and when I got home, I was able to seamlessly switch to Skype on my computer. Either way, I’m stuck with the Bionic for another two years. That means, another two years of wondering what it would be like to own an iPhone.

Coffee Shop Whiff

Patrick — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:20:04 +0000

Occasionally you have some sketchy people who come into the coffee shop. A guy comes in and I wasn’t sure about him. He did buy a drink(I think) and was standing around looking at where he was going to sit. He then picked a seat and walked past me to his seat. What followed was a smell of someone who hadn’t showered in a little while. He then sat in the seat, coffee in hand, and stared into space. After ten minutes, he got up and walked out. Of course, as he walked out and the smell followed him out as well. Just another day at the office.

Isaac and Janet

Patrick — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 21:34:58 +0000

I had the opportunity to 2nd shoot and be the assistant to the great Emily Ivey of Fresh Ivey Photography. After almost a year since the last wedding I shot, I temporarily came out of retirement to help out Emily and also help out my good friends Isaac and Janet. All these shots were shot with my Olympus E-PL1 with the Olympus 45mm f1.8.

FM Radio App for Droid Bionic

Patrick — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:26:01 +0000

Not too long after I bought my Droid Bionic, every cool phone in the world was either release or announced… the iPhone 4S, the Galaxy Nexus, Droid Razr. Looking back, I’m happy with my decision to get the Bionic. One thing that I found today was an FM Radio App. Apparently, older phones use this app but they for some reason omitted this from the Bionic. The app requires you to plug in your headphones because it uses the headphones as the FM antenna. I’m not sure if it’ll work with other Android phones but I’m enjoying my Bionic more and more. I should be finally releasing some apps as well in the next few months.

Link to FM Radio App

New Small Toy: Olympus 45mm 1.8

Patrick — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 18:41:58 +0000

As I do every year, I start to consider what things and devices I just don’t use anymore. I go through this a lot with the photography equipment. Before I sold all my DSLR equipment, I went through the my share of buying and selling camera equipment, particularly with lenses. I finally settled on my gear and I was very happy. Now that I have moved on to the micro four-thirds world, I’ve been trying to be settled on what I need. I’m definitely one step closer with this new lens. I’ve been wanting a fast focusing portrait type lens. This lens is definitely the answer. I’ve only had it for a few hours, but I already know that I’m going to love this lens. There will be more tests shots to come. I’ll do a formal review on it in a few weeks with some tests shots. I’m pretty sure you’ll see some shots on The Daily Snap. By the way, I bought this lens off eBay from a Hong Kong seller. I was little hesitant to pull the trigger, but I couldn’t be happier. The lens was shipped from Hong Kong and arrived at my doorstep within 3 days. Seller dzone2.

End of a short era

Patrick — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:41:19 +0000

After a little over two months of having the HP Touchpad, I decided that the experiment is over. I recently sold the Touchpad on Ebay. I did sell it for a profit and I have been contemplating whether I should get the Amazon Kindle Fire. Unless the reviews for it are mind blowing, it doesn’t look like I’ll head that direction. Why did I sell the Touchpad? Was it the fact that it didn’t have an extensive eco system like the iPad? Did it have anything to do with the pretty cheap hardware? I would say that these had a contributing factor, but I would say the main reason is pretty much the same reasons I gave when the iPad first was released… I’m more of a content creator than a content consumer. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely consume a lot of content, but I need something that I can program with while I’m consuming content at the same time. Now that I’ve sold my Touchpad, HP can officially kill the WebOS division… or at least sell it.

TouchFire: The Screen-Top Keyboard for iPad

Patrick — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:58:35 +0000

I love kick starter. Here’s a project that I browsed upon. This product takes care of the complaint of the lack of tactile feedback while typing on an iPad 2. I just love the use of the iPad’s magnets to align the keyboard.

Check out the project.

Back to the Old Office

Patrick — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:33:56 +0000

Good to be back at the old office. Not all Starbucks are the same. They sell the same drinks, they have all the great service, but the characters that come to perform are definitely different. I’m definitely not in Philly anymore. I’m deep in Orange County, California and five minutes into being here and I’ve heard what I thought what I would hear. First, a lady, while talking to someone reacts and says, “OMG”. She didn’t says… “Oh my gosh” or Oh my God” but “O.M.G.” I didn’t know it has come to the point where the line between IM or text talk and regular talk is blurred. The next thing I heard was a guy waiting in line on his phone talking pretty loudly. He says on the phone, “I have 8 houses. I did have to give up one of them.” Good to be back.

HP Touchpad – 1 Month

Patrick — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 22:31:43 +0000

About a month ago, I was one of the lucky ones to pick up a $99 HP Touchpad. I wrote before that I dodged a bullet not buying it earlier. Why did I go ahead and buy it? For $99, let me just tell you that it was well worth the price. If I had to choose between a $99 Touchpad and a $499 iPad 2, I would definitely go with the $99 Touchpad. Yes, the iPad has more apps and yes the hardware is amazing on the iPad, but as far as overall value, you can’t be the $99 price point. Your mileage may vary but for my own use, I mainly use it for surfing the web and playing the occasional casual game for killing time. Even though I love WebOS, I may wait for the Android port to be fully baked.

Strange Times

Patrick — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 18:46:39 +0000

Osage Ave in West Philly (Photograph by Annie C.)

It was a strange week last week. First we had an earthquake that was felt up and down the east coast. Then hurricane Irene came through as well. It was interesting to see the reaction for both events but I’m glad we made it through both just fine. I know certain areas were hit pretty hard, especially by the storm. I don’t want to make light of the situation but there was one particular comment that stood out to me after the earthquake.

I was at the coffee shop working when the earthquake hit. I said out loud, “I thought I got away from California.” Then the girl next to me asked me, “You’re from California, what are you suppose to do in an earthquake.” I told her that it would be probably best to get under the table. Then she looks at me with a serious face and asked, “What if the ground opens up?” I had no answer for her.