Archive for the 'Review' Category

Review: Ubuntu 8.04

Published
on April 15, 2008
in Linux and Review
. 1 Comment

A cocktail of boredom and waiting creates the desire to do something quicker. Offically, Hardy Heron[0] (the next Ubuntu release) doesn’t come out till the 24th. But thanks to it being free software, the beta came out a few weeks before. Time to apt-get dist-upgrade!

First up is the art. This release is a looker. Most of the work you’ll see is from the GNOME team, but Ubuntu looks great. Its default wallpapers are nice. The new Clearlook them makes me happy. It looks more professional than the 2.20 them did.

Cheese seems like a fun little app, but as I don’t have a webcam, Its no use to me. F-Spot and GIMP haven’t really changed, but it now comes with Transmission, one of the best Bit Torrent clients on OS X is now part of GNOME.

I like Firefox 3. I like it a lot. It kicks Epiphany’s ass. Its fast, and is designed to blend in with whatever OS its running on. The tabs move when a new one is added, and doesn’t crash as often as Firefox 2 did. Fantastic!

At last, my Wacom Bamboo tablet works! An update to the wacom drivers, which I could have applied myself (but failed each time), is included. Updates to the base system is included of course. GCC 4.2, latest Python, Perl, ect.

So overall, Hardy looks like a pretty good release of a pretty good project. It’s officially released on April 24th, so make sure you upgrade soon. Don’t forget to back up your data though!

Emoticon Review: :D

[0] Yes, I’m fully aware the name is not the greatest, and leaves it open to a ton of nob gags, but I resisted the big. bulging, temptation. Oh bugger…

Review: Sony Ericsson K800i

Published
on February 2, 2008
in Mobile and Review
. 0 Comments

The K800i is my third Sony Ericsson phone in the last 4 years. I’ve had a T610 (2005-2006) and a K750i (2006-2008) which have both been fantastic devices. My last phone started to stiffen up and left me with no choice than to upgrade.

The phone is slightly bigger than the K750i. Compared to some phones today, its a bit on the chunky side. No problem, its not a brick and fits perfectly in my pocket. A boost from the K750i, it now has a 3.2mp camera apposed to a 2mp one. It can also take basic 3gp movies. Take that iPhone!

On the phones software, its quick fast and simple. No problems as it works perfectly. SMS, Contacts, file browsing. It works great. Bluetooth, a personal favorite tool of mine is specified as version 2, so file transfers work great.

The phone has full 3G capability and a camera on the front of the phone, but I don’t use these so I can’t pass judgment on these features. This is a fantastic phone for only £72 on Pay As You Go, Vodaphone.

Emoticon Review: :D

[Update] Heres a collection of test shots from the phone.

Review: Nikon ML-L3 Remote

Published
on January 21, 2008
in Photography and Review
. 0 Comments

Investing the last of my Jessops tokens into something useful, today I brought myself a Nikon ML-L3 remote. At £16, or £12 is your into Amazon, this little beauty allows you to perform a simple task. Take photos from your Nikon SLR, remotely, without having to dash back to the camera.

First up, lets get to grips with how small it is. This thing is tiny. About twice the length of the current iPod Shuffle, and 1/2 the depth. It comes in a small box with its own carrying case. Wow. The build feels good. Made in China, snazzy. The button is soft to push down.

Setting it up with my Nikon D40 was no problem. Switch the type of shot to remote, and off we go. Hold down the button to focus, and if focus is found it takes a picture. No multiple picture mode, but I’ve no need for that. My camera has a function where I can set it to take a picture and hold open the lens to expose it for longer. This can be used for longer images or magic light painting techniques.

This little gadget will last me a long time. It works any side of the camera and puts me back in control of self photography. Fantastic piece of kit for the price I paid. Get it from Amazon, its well worth the money.

Emoticon Review: :D

ML-L3 Remote

Review: Zenitar 16mm Fish-Eye Lens

Published
on December 26, 2007
in Photography and Review
. 0 Comments

For once I get a Xmas present early, and this one I’m pretty excited about. Since getting a Digital SLR, I’ve wanted a Fish-Eye lens. Alas, the official Nikkor lens, which I try to stick to, are £300 plus. Why should I spend £300 on a lens which I may not use all of the time. Luckily, a Russian company called Zenitar, provides an alternative. The £100 Zenitar 16mm Fish-Eye Lens. There are several versions of this lens, I chose the N version, which is Nikon compatible, but there are Fuji and Canon versions.

The lens comes in a small, green cardboard box with several Russian phrases over it. In the box is the lens and lens-caps, a carrying case, instruction manual and coloured filters. The lens is not heavy, but weighty, due to it being made out of metal. It snapped perfectly onto my D40 body.

Next step. Turn on the camera. “No Lens Attached”. Eh? But the lens is attached. After trying again, the lens will not be detected by my D40. I turn the camera to Manual Focus mode, and then I can just take a photo. One more little problem for this lens appears. If I do not fire Flash, no matter how light the day is, the lens will produce a very dark image.

The images produced from the lens are, technically, Fish-Eye. I would class Fish-Eye as having an angle of 120 Degrees or more. The Nikon lens gives around 160 Degrees whiles the Zenitar gives around 90 Degrees. While this does produce Fish-Eye results, its not completely what I would dream of. Its still a sturdy lens, and gets the job done for £100.

I feel that this lens is good, even if the results aren’t perfect and I have to fire flash every time. Check out this Flickr photo or this one here as example shots.

Emoticon Review: :|

[Update] Flash doesn’t have to fire every time, it depends on exposure time. I prefer a short exposure time, so I have to fire flash. Rookie mistake.

Review: iPod Touch

Published
on November 16, 2007
in Apple and Review
. 5 Comments

Two years ago, about this time of year, I spent £450 of saved cash on two little devices. The first was a iPod 5th Gen (the first one with video). The second was a Palm TX (a WiFi PDA). One could access a the internet (badly), the other could (just about) play video. I sold the Palm after three months and the iPod has been with me ever since. Both devices where good for what they where designed for, but not great for what I was after.

Back to the crazy world of today, where we have these two items in one. An iPod Touch. If only this product was around two years ago. This iPod is just what is needed in a Web 2.0 world. Although there is no camera, it does seem like a device which was designed for Facebook and Digg.

Coveflow works great. I don’t use it often, but I am glad its there. Safari is quick and simple. I just wish though that it would feature Flash and better AJAX support. All the other apps (Calender, Address Book, WiFi Store, ect), I don’t often use, so I can’t really judge.

Hacking it was simple. Jailbreakme.com worked perfectly! I now have Python, Vi and Apache on it. I don’t know why I need a web server on my iPod, but its nice its there. The only problem I’ve had is my iPod not syncing after being jailbroken. Error -18. I use a Mac, so I restored my iPod on a Windows PC. I re-broke it, then tried to sync it. It now works. Small problem easily sorted!

Also, with OpenSSH added to my Unix Music Box, I installed a varritiy of iPhone apps (Mobile Mail, Google Maps and Mobile Notes). I don’t know why Apple removed these from the iPod, but it works perfectly with them added.

I love my iPod, I just wish it was more open than Apple tries to make it. Its BSD in your pocket Steve, accept it. If you need a new iPod or way to get onto the net, get this one. If you need all of your media on a portable device, and don’t mind it being as thick as a brick, get a Classic.

iPod Touch