Archives June 2009

Some people may think keeping a 55gb archive folder with program installers dating back nearly 10 years is a bit excessive.  But when you have the disk space, why not?

Today, it just saved me a TON of head ache and trouble.
Since 2005 I have ran a USB Power Commander 3 on my motorcycle.  It connects to my 2004 Kawasaki ZX6R’s onboard computer and basically allows me to remap air/fuel ratios.  This is necessary because I have an aftermarket exhaust system on my bike, and if I didn’t remap my air/fuel to add more fuel the bike would run lean, which is VERY bad for any motor.

And since 2005 I have not messed with it.  I loaded a custom air-fuel map, made some tweaks, and have left it alone ever since, which is exactly what I should have done.  Except that my buddy Jon was FINALLY putting one on his 2004 Suzuki GSXR 600 after just getting his exhaust on, so it was time I play with it again.  Since 2005 I have gone to a new laptop then the one I originally used to program the unit on my bike, so I needed to reinstall the software.  I headed off to the Power Commander site to download the latest version.  I got it all installed and off I went to test.  It seemed to work except I noticed something odd… the throttle position values for Closed and Open were way off and the software wasn’t displaying my TP value.  On top of this, the map was showing all 0’s where it should be showing percentages…  I didn’t mess with it any more after that.  I went over to Jon’s, we got his all set up, got the map loaded, and the TP values worked exactly like they should have on his bike.  That puzzled me a bit, but I figured it was due to his Power Commander having a much much newer version of the firmware on it then mine did (which is the cause…)

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No, this post is not about my Fuze.  My Fuze has actually been a very good phone.  It has yet to really piss me off, especially like the 8525 did on a daily basis to me.

Today I got the urge to play with some different Windows Mobile builds, and since I have had my 8525 laying around not doing anything, I figured it would be the perfect little test platform.

As a side note; from what I saw from Windows Mobile 6.5 I didn’t care for it.  I like what HTC is doing with their TouchFlo interface MUCH better then the stock WM 6.5 scrolly interface.

Aside from that the OS seemed fine… but the hardware…. oh how the hardware pissed me off so badly I wanted to throw it against the wall again and again.  With in the hour I played with it, the phone randomly locked up on me… and when I reset it, the device acted like it was a HARD reset.  All the stuff I had done (thankfully not much really) was gone?!  WTF?!

I am thoroughly convinced this was not a ROM issue as there are hundreds of other people using this ROM with out issue.  I am positive that this is a hardware issue.  I believe that there is something very wrong in the land of the 8525.  Who knows what it is… I want to blame it on the Samsung processor and accompanying chipset, but I have absolutely zero proof to back that up… it’s just a theory.

The 8125, which I loved, had a Texas Instruments processor.  The 8525 had a Samsung, and my Fuze has a Qualcomm.  I have also seen other Windows Mobile (Verizon) phones with Qualcomms, and they always felt so much faster then the Samsung and even TI counterparts.  I think that the Fuze is really benefitting from the Qualcomm as it always feels snappy, and can go for a week or more with out a reboot.  That is iPhone-stability-level right there.

I’m not really sure where I’m going with this.  I am just posting up some experiences I had today which further push me to believe that the 8525 line of HTC devices had a lot more problems then just underpowered hardware.

I’m thinking of a fitting way to destroy the 8525.  Perhaps some shotgun blasts?  God forsaken hardware…

On June 16th the new Ghostbusters Video Game came out.

Being a HUGE fan of the series for the majority of my childhood, I decided to do something fairly rare (in my world at least), and that was to actually purchase the game.

Luckily it was made available on Steam, which I already have an account on and is where I’ve been buying the majority of the [few] game I actually purchase.  Steam has so many advantages to it, I feel it really adds value to a game when you can buy it through Steam.

But anyway, I was playing some Ghostbusters tonight having a complete blast.  After destroying the Stay Puft Marshmallow man, it was time to return to the Ghostbusters HQ.

Upon arriving I decided to take the spare down time I had and explore the HQ a bit.  I mean, what child of the 80’s WOUDLN’T want to walk around the GB HQ?  And let me tell yah, they got it PERFECT.  Not only the HQ really but the whole game is done very very very well and you can really tell while playing it that they put a lot of time in to the story and game play to make it an authentic and enjoyable experience.

During my wondering around I noticed Winston hunched over a computer screen.  I looked at the computer screen and started laughing… here is what I saw (cropped image):

I know it’s a little hard to see… but it is the final screen from the absolutely ABYSMAL original Nintendo Ghostbusters video game!  Complete with misspellings and completely fucked grammar.  I couldn’t help but laugh, and it really made me appreciate the detail put in to this game even more… even giving a little jab to the complete abomination known as Ghostbusters on the Nintendo.

I’d also like to say that if you’re a fan of the movies, a child of the 80’s, you will LOVE this game and I really suggest you buy it to show your support for projects such as this one.  The game isn’t just a game, it feels like you’re part of the movie.  It really makes you want to get out your little plastic proton pack with yellow foam confinement beam, run around the backyard, and bust some ghosts!

So I finally caved and signed up for a Facebook account.  I like to think my account was the one that put Facebook over top of MySpace, but I doubt it.

Why did I finally get one?

Was it because of certain people hounding me about it?

Nah… as much as he wishes 😉

It started off because I wanted to look at other people’s picture, which you can’t do unless you have a profile AND are their “friend”.  So off I went.

Now that I have actually used it, I am ashamed to say I actually like it.  Not only is it a very nicely developed web app, but it is actually somewhat useful.  I have already stayed in better contact with my sister who lives far far away now (miss yah), and got me in touch with friends I hadn’t spoken with for a long time.

Unfortunately it has also allowed people to find me who I rather not have contact with, but for them, there’s the ignore button.

The ability to easily share photos with friends, set up events, and just generally stay in touch is surprisingly useful.

So here, I finally admit it.  Facebook isn’t all bad, and it is somewhat handy.  So, if you haven’t tried it yet, get on the bandwagon finally and get yourself an account.