Inspire the...

It's time to disclose my next wallpaper. It's called "inspire" but I'm not sure what inspired me. Only after naming it, I kept thinking of Hitachi's slogan, "Inspire the Next." It's a pretty simple, clean wallpaper with only geometric components. The 1280x800 version can be downloaded here.





I have a N810-sized (800x480) version, which is made a little brighter. I don't know if it's good enough now but apparently it was too dark on the internet tablet's screen. The darker original and editted versions can be downloaded straight from this post here by clicking on the images.

Two passwords?

Turns out I'm stuck at McCarran Airport in Las Vegas again, so I decided to take advantage of some free wireless. It's not a pleasant idea to think that someone could be intercepting packages on unsecure networks, but whatever. I'm still confused about what I discovered about my AIM password last night.

I changed the password quite a while ago because I kept getting random overlapping connections, which I assumed were coming from other computers that had automatic log-on turned on in regular AIM. Last night I accidentally used the old password in meebo and it worked (!?). I'm pretty sure this password does not work on my current AIM client pidgin, so I tried with my new password and this also worked in meebo (!?). I tried a random password just in case - thank god that didn't also work. Then I went to aim.com and here only my old password worked.

What is going on?? My first instinct is that, assuming aim.com is "official," somehow the password change through pidgin only took place locally and somehow meebo still picks up both. Though I don't know much about encryption, I did a little research and it seems like meebo and pidgin both has its problems concerning security, since they inherently have to collect passwords for multiple protocols. And apparently, pidgin uses plain text to store passwords. But I don't think, or at least I hope, that I got my password stolen... there must be something weird about my account or one of these services/programs... I could be way off but I guess I'll keep investigating.

Articles and documentations of interest:
GMail Account Stolen - Pidgin Partly to Blame
Plain Text Passwords (Pidgin)

PSP-2000: Part 2.1 GAMES - Space Invaders Extreme (trial)

I mentioned that one of the best things about PSP gaming is that you can download a bunch of trials for free. Today PlayStation.com(Japan) announced the release of Space Invaders Extreme demo and custom theme. Yes, it's just like the Space Invaders from decades ago, first copyrighted in 1978 and released in 2007. As "extreme." I probably enjoyed it a little too much. It accompanies a classic nnts-nnts-nnts club beat with your rhythmical shooting sounds that blend in, but it was definitely bearable for me. I don't know if I'd ever buy the software (coming out on 2.21.08 in Japan) but why not some nostalgia once in a while (like some LEGO)? I feel like it was already somewhat archaic by the time I was born...

You can either download the game straight from the PSP official browser website, or you might have to go to pspdemocenter. The software is Japanese so you have to press the circle button to shoot instead of X (what a stupid idea... X??) but otherwise it's all in English. In any case, I'd take a little break from work or whatever and give it a try. Aren't those dudes a little cute?

Fullmetal Alchemist

Well instead of concentrating on midterm studying, I went on a little Fullmetal Alchemist run. Haven't been too into anime lately, but this piece is awesome. Watched the movie "Shanbara wo yuku mono" or whatever and was slightly confused because either the TV series is completely different from the manga or that it was just randomly set in the future. It was okay as a movie but I wasn't a fan of seeing some sort of future and it sucking - a little too much for me. I much prefer the original series.





In any case, I ended up drawing some characters off the opening scenes. The full version of the original is here at deviantART again - you get the pattern. I did it as a little gift to someone I know who likes it, but I kind of like it myself...




But I also did end up spinning off some wallpapers, which I might use temporarily... Sorry Alphonse fans, I just liked how Ed turned out more. Also sorry the size isn't standard but it seems to work fine with my 1280x800 screen. Just keep the scaling the same. I think the second one works well with one row of desktop icons, just along the blue line. Maybe spread them across the top too... I feel like everytime Windows explorer crashes, the trash icon moves all the way to the top right corner anyway.

I wish I could do this sort of drawing with decent quality on the computer so it doesn't look so crappy upon scanning. I do like pencil, mechanical or not, as a medium though.

nano-X

I'm going to go ahead and celebrate that my next and fourth wallpaper, "nano" has reached more than 500 views and 200 downloads on deviantART (thank you!). It's so far my most popular work, it seems, but hopefully I can improve. The concept is pretty simple, and mostly monotone again with a touch of green. The name actually refers to the chemical structure of a nano tube in the background but there's no deep meaning to it, really - nanotube, nanotech, nano... Just another cool technology to borrow its fame from. 1280x800 version can be downloaded here.

I actually made a N810 version (800x480 for the internet tablet) but apparently it turned out too dark for it. My computer apparently has ridiculously high contrast too, so I wonder how different these look across different hardware...

Oh and by the way, happy valentine's day. I wonder if Sony VAIO's calendar wallpaper of the month was pink because of that. I guess that's a safe bet. I might try out some calendar ones myself. It is useful to have a calendar around but I'm not sure how much people actually look at their desktops. There's also the issue of how much stuff there is on the desktop. So to try to get a better idea, please vote in the survey on the right hand side --->>>

Edit: oops, the VAIO wallpaper was actually pink for January, this month's is brown. You can download it for free at My Vaio.

LEGOs anyone?

It came up on Gizmodo a little bit ago, but apparently LEGO has now been around for 50 years. It seems like there are some crazy looking ones from recent years that I've never seen. In fact, kids these days... how do they play those 3D games without getting sick? Maybe I just got too old, but in any case I'm glad to see that LEGO has become a classic across generations. I was mostly in the early space stuff to castle series generation with a little bit of technic towards my teenage years, but man, how much more I want to play with those than study for these stupid exams... Ok they're not stupid but definitely not as cool as finding the coolest movable face cover (or whatever it's called) on a generic helmet... if you know what you're talking about, you'll agree.

In the meanwhile, you can check out Brickset to immerse in nostalgia or to take a look at the newer weird LEGOs. Maybe they're more oriented towards pop culture.. with the Star Wars series, Indiana Jones, some ninja thing, etc. I think I'll consider designing something based on this nostalgic moment of mine that I'm sure people share, without getting too emo, if I can try.

PSP-2000: Part 1 OVERVIEW

I'm not sure where to start when it comes to the PSP so I'll give an overview of my general experience and thoughts so far. Also, people may be interested in hearing comparisons with similar caliber systems like the Nintendo DS and even other portable devices like the ::gasp:: iPod. I don't think I will be doing that exactly, since 1) there seems to be plenty of reviews out there, 2) I don't own the other devices, and 3) I admit I am pretty biased. In any case there are some stuff I didn't know/hear about before buying it, so hopefully it will be somewhat informative.

This post will be about general things - appearance, specs, etc.

- things

• Text input is painful. Partly because there is no touch sensitive screen (which I am not a fan enough... will get to this) and of course there is no keyboard like some internet tablet. It works like a phone but unlike a phone you don't have direct access to all those buttons. Worse yet if you're using some non-English language because you keep having to switch between languages and input size (half or full size). The only thing you can do is to get used to it but there's definitely a limit to this - there is no learning mechanism or efficient input like T9 either. Furthermore, you can't see the screen where you're typing while you're typing. This gets annoying in something like instant messengers, which are slightly shady anyway.

• Conspicuousness. Even though it's a WiFi device and you might be "following lecture notes" online, it's still a game system and looks like a game device. Watch out in small lectures and seminars. I try to suppress the physical button pushing sound, but then you will die in some combat in some game.
  

+/- things

• Optional devices. Besides the built-in functions like photos, music, video, games, and network, there are many devices that allow expansion. These include: TV-tuner (1-seg... Japan only?), camera, microphone (for Skype and other software), and GPS (am I forgetting anything?). The bad part is that you have to buy them all separately, but I guess if you're like me and don't really need them it's not a big deal. If these things were built-in however, I may have some use for them, but it would probably become highly overpriced like some Apple products ehem... in the meanwhile, I'll just stare at the non-functional menu options for these devices that come with each firmware upgrade.

• Accessories. This kind of goes with the above. If you want a remote control for your music, you need to buy one (although normal headphones will work just fine, just not the play/pause forward/back functionality). Same goes for TV output. It's a cool idea to be able to output the screen to a TV, but again you have to have the right cable and the right TV to do it.

• Multitasking? The only multitasking you can do is listening to music while looking at your photographs, I believe. I don't think being able to do anything else while watching a video or playing a game would be any useful, but maybe web-browsing while listening to music might be. I don't know if it could handle that with 64mb of RAM though...

• Color variation. Like the Nintendo DS but unlike other high-ended devices, the new PSP offers 8 different colors (as of 02.2008 in Japan) with the special edition red and new mint green. Well, for those of us who prefer monotone anyway or may be in countries where only a few is offered, it's not really a plus. In fact, when I stalked the SonyStyle website to buy my piano black one, the black was sold out in 3 hours, then the silver and white within a day or so, then the rest of the colors.

• No built-in memory. Everything gets saved on a memory stick, and if you don't have one, well, you need to get one to do anything cool. These are somewhat pricy and it's much more convenient to get one high capacity stick than to have to switch between multiple. As a reference for a pretty good deal, I got a 4gb SanDisk MS pro duo for $35+tax.

• No touch sensitive screen. This probably adds to the annoyance in text input, but browsing is actually pretty easy thanks to the analog stick, so this is definitely in the gray area for me. I hate touch screens because it leaves gross marks everywhere, and because I have these nails that protrude even if I cut them. Basically I have no use for touch screens anyway.

• Battery life. According to my research and experience it can handle 4-5 hours of game play, but things like music can go for 10 hours or so, which is plenty for someone just carrying it around for a day.
  

+ things

• Nice screen. amazing 4.3" widescreen (480x272). I prefer having one large screen for aesthetical reasons as well as usability.

• Appearance. In my personal opinion, it beats most portable devices in its looks. This is only a personal opinion, I repeat.

• Amazing graphics. Once you play a few games/demos with 3D graphics, I think it's quite obvious that it's far superior than the Nintendo DS (note: only seen in stores/commercials). As a general consensus I hear that the quality is between a PS2 and a PS3.

• Stereo speakers/Audio. I'm not an expert on sound, but I do care about sound quality a lot. This is definitely not a downgrade from my Sony mp3 player, and with decent stereo speakers sometimes I take the weight off my computer in listening to music. If you google this you'll find that the majority find the PSP sound quality much better than the iPod. Then again I hear that's also not a good standard, but I won't get into this especially since I don't own Apple products these days.

• Functions. It's main purpose is of course gaming. I find myself using the music and internet browser almost everyday, you can watch videos, and with instant messaging coming out soon, it's a reasonable all-round device. This again is also a matter of preference; I happen to have broken my Sony mp3 player a few months ago due to stupid reasons that won't be mentioned here. With firmware updates, new functions are added, like the internet radio and instant messenger. It was mentioned before, but you can even watch TV, do voice-over-ip chat, install GPS, or take pictures with separately sold devices.

• Network. I won't go into too much detail just yet, but it's supposedly flash-enabled and javascript ok. Very important for me is that Gmail works, and you can download tons of trial games from the official PSP website with decent speed. I must have about 40 trial games now... some are playable, some are lame, but it's enough to have a little fun.

• Expandable memory. As long as you have the right memory sticks, there's no limit to how much stuff you can have. Theoretically the limit is 32gb (unconfirmed).

• Price. Well it's half the price of an iPod touch, slightly more expensive than Nintendo DS. But you can listen to music, browse the web (the DS makes you buy a browser software), watch movies, and most importantly, play games. Like any popular devices at the moment, it doesn't depreciate much. This is definitely a matter of preference.

• Global. Apparently games now are not restricted to region, but not movies. This might require some testing but I'm pretty sure most games are compatible between the U.S. and Japan. Whether or not you find the X and O button switches very annoying is a different question.

• Hackable. Sony probably isn't too happy about this seeing that most hacked programs require a downgrade in firmware. But if you know what you're doing, you can remotely connect to your computer, run emulations (gameboy, N64, even DS), etc. Read all about it here as a starter.

• edit: USB rechargeable. With a commonly available micro-USB cable.
  

Well I might've touched on more detail than I would've liked, but I will definitely make sure to talk about specifics in different functions like music, videos, games, and network later. Back (?) to work for now.

what's tempting you?

Here's the third set of my wallpaper series, "Temptations." Why the name, I'm not really sure either, but as always it's open to interpretation. I felt like drawing something, it turned out to be an apple, you get the drift.. (maybe). I kind of like the reflection on the words, and it didn't seem so bad at that time but maybe it's not neutral enough to get a good view-to-download ratio. You can download the original black piece at deviantART (1280x800).














I'm posting a couple of variations here too. One of them is an inverted version (with a bit of tweeking - download here), and the other is a no-text version. I'm usually against bright desktops, but I figured the transparent feel of the turquoise was worth it.

I haven't figured out how much the words and/or design contribute to overall attractiveness. That will have to involve some experimenting, I guess. I do however, encourage the use of this font I've been using... yes, the one from 24... "Events occur in real time" that's right.

Vista on PSP?

Now that I'm free of being trapped in a game of assassins and from drawing aromatic rings for a little while... I installed Windows Vista on my PSP. Ha.













Apparently the "goal of this project is to be able to fool anyone that you have Windows Vista on your PSP" (pspWvista). Yes, there is a pspWxp too, for those Vista skeptics. I don't know who would actually be tricked into thinking so, but I guess there are stories like this. I'm not going to lie - it was kind of cool to play around for a few minutes, figuring out what stuff did not work. I do appreciate the various fun tools I can mess with without actually hacking the system with custom firmware. Nothing against it, just uneasy about it just yet.


To my interest, there's a program called "PSPaint," so that was exciting for a second. The sad part is that there is no save option and the only buttons that work are the pencil, eraser, and the color palette. Oh, by the way, the color palette is at the bottom (see this piece for its significance).

ellipses

I use ellipses all the time - the "..." kind. Perhaps it contains some anime-ish sense of humor in it, but I think in general its useful. It can mean anything from "I don't know what to say" to "wtf is wrong with you," but that is up to the interpretation of the recipient. Here my second simple wallpaper based on a bunch of ellipses and other ellipses. This is actually my second most popular so far on deviantART (download 1280x800):











As a matter of fact, this is an inverted version of what it originally looked like. I don't know why but I had a white and red thing going on, though it went against my dark=easier for eyes philosophy. I'll post the original exclusively on here for download, or ridicule (click on image to download). In any case, the ctrl-I function in MS Paint is great: I've even used it in my research to adjust figures. I don't think I would've thought to use that blue-green color in the final version if it wasn't for the random ctrl-I trial.

PSP-2000 Revealed

After about a week of stalking the SonyStyle.jp (I was bound because I had a discount from buying a VAIO) website, I finally got to order the new and slim PSP, PSP-2000. I hadn't been this excited to get some gadget in a while. Sorry for the terrible picture quality:













Although there were 6 different colors, 3 almost entirely exclusive to Japan, I couldn't resist getting the black one, or piano black as they call it. Interestingly, as I chilled for a while on the product page, the black sold out in about 3 hours (apparently this happens every week) then went white, then silver within a day or so. I guess people are more interested in the sleek, monotone style. As of now there are two other colors out in Japan, red and mint green. I thought to take some pictures from December 2007.












First impressions first. I've never touched a first generation PSP, but I felt no bulkiness or heaviness - something about it being ~2/3 the thickness and ~4/5 the weight. The screen is massive and amazing. More about my experiences, including comparisons with other devices, thoughts on games, etc. will come up among other things in this blog~

just black and blue

Good morning (?). Kicking this off with the first wallpaper I've ever made.

How did this start? Well, 1) I couldn't find a good wallpaper 2) I was procrastinating. I chose simple and dark colors so to prevent blinding (the pre-installed wallpapers are insanely bright and apparently my screen has unusually high contrast), and basically I just started adding elements so that it would look like a "real" wallpaper. The "VAIO" is there because this one was going to be for my personal use and I own a Sony Vaio. If you've ever seen Power Locks you may notice that I overuse MS Paint. In fact, part of this was done in Paint :P

If you'd like, you can download it here at deviantART (1280x800). In terms of wallpaper posts, any suggestions and requests are always welcome! thanks.

hello world

This post is just an obligatory, cliché introduction to my blog.

The theme will be very broad: design, techie stuff, games, jpn, etc. - basically whatever procrastination material I can find at the time. I think this will be it tonight though... I have a headache and I'm pretty satisfied with the setup for now. In the meantime, please check out neighbor sites at BITMAPS (tech, music/movies, sports) and Power Locks (web "comic").

Test

This is a test.