Jalayatra

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Arrived today 🙂 Very tasteful…

[tags]Jalayatra, Nespresso[/tags]

Not much time indeed…

As you might have noticed, I haven’t post anything here since 8-Bit Revolution “opened”. It has taken some considerable amount of the time I dedicate to blogging, but I’m not complaining. 8-Bit Revolution has been very fun to work on and it is having a great feedback from the readers.

Speaking of which, 8-Bit Revolution is asking the readers to submit photos of their old Spectrum computers to make a special gallery. Drop by and take a look.

[tags]8-Bit Revolution, Spectrum, ZX Spectrum, Retrogames[/tags]

8-Bit Revolution

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Gostava de vos convidar a visitar o 8-Bit Revolution, um projecto que já tinha na gaveta há algum tempo mas que agora teve uma oportunidade de “saltar cá para fora”. Para os amantes de videojogos ou até mesmo para os curiosos sobre o assunto, o 8-Bit Revolution é acima de tudo uma visão diferente do que é hoje em dia a indústria dos videojogos.

O convite está feito!

[tags]8-Bit Revolution, video games, retrogaming[/tags]

Makes You Think…

Link to Video.

Two

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I usually make a small balance when I grow a year older. One year after creating this blog I made the same for it, since it’s a part of my life, not a very significant part but it’s growing. One year ago, the balance was positive, still many changes happened. I put some ads here, mainly to cover domain related fees, the design has been improving slowly because I’m don’t want to spend much time improving it, I’m still using K2 has the main theme with a few modifications and it suits me just fine. But besides all the technical differences, I think the major difference is as always, the maturity. New projects came along and that meant new readers, but let me rant about the projects a little bit.

The Projects

In 2006 this blog was part of the Planeta Asterisco, a portuguese blog aggregator that after a few changes to it’s core and format was terminated. From it’s “ashes” the PrintScreen project was born, which soon become one of the best technology portals in Portugal. I had the opportunity to help in the early stages, being part of the organization but mainly giving a helping hand in the graphics department designing the logo and some other graphic ideas. Only recently I left the team due to the lack of time for working on the project and other personal reasons.

Another project that was featured in this blog was the OpenCoffee Club Lisbon. I took the initiative of bringing the OpenCoffee Club idea to Portugal, more specifically to Lisbon and used this blog to spread the word. Well, the experience wasn’t what I was expecting and a small summary of the project can be found here. The project evolved and it’s taking shape. In a few days I’ll write a post about it but for now, as a little glimpse, I’ll lift a little tip of the veil 😉

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What Now?

Well, now the goal is to reach the 3 year old stage, using this blog as a platform to communicate, to create new opportunities for innovation, for more projects and as usual, more rants. But all this wasn’t possible without one fundamental person: you, the reader.

Thank you! 😉

[tags]Blog, Odrakir, Planeta Asterisco, PrintScreen, Prt.Sc, OpenCoffee Club Lisbon, Project Bit[/tags]

On Apple’s new iPods

Anyone who has read the news since yesterday knows about Apple’s new line of iPods. For some it was a big deal, new iPods mean new gadgets to salivate over, for others the announcement was disappointing… I include myself in the latest. Here’s my take on this:

iPod Shuffle

Meh…

iPod Nano

I never liked the nano. Not only it packs a small amount of storage but also because it’s very tiny… now even more. You’ll get the idea when you try to watch some videos in a screen as small as that. Still the new Nano is a great improvement over the old one, if you like tiny stuff, that is…

iPod Classic

I have a 5.5 iPod or the “iPod Video”, the model that the iPod Classic comes to replace, so I was hoping for a lot more, much more. Actually, I was expecting that the iPod Touch would replace my current iPod. The iPod Touch would be a hell of a gadget if it packed a 30Gb or even 50Gb HDD. But I digress. Besides the CoverFlow, the revamped UI and expanded storage, the iPod Classic doesn’t offer anything new. It’s suitable for the audiophiles that want to carry their entire music collection with them. Same as the old one. Nothing new here move along… If Steve Jobs was a nice guy, he would tell Apple to release a new firmware for the iPod Video with CoverFlow and the new UI 🙂 Apple wouldn’t lose customers, I’m sure no one with an iPod Video is going for the new iPod Classic just because of the new UI.

iPod Touch

I’m reading Malcom Gladwell’s Blink. One of the concepts talked about in this book is the first thought that comes to mind when one is experiencing a situation. My first thought on the Touch was “Crippled”. Take an iPhone, remove the phone features, remove the camera (why Steve?) and you have the iPod Touch. What’s Apple’s point with the iPod Touch? It’s for people who already have a phone? Well, that’s stupid because the tendency is to get an all in one device for this kind of stuff. Sure the Touch is a multi functional gadget, use Safari to surf the net with an Wi-Fi connection, you can buy tracks from the iTunes Wi-Fi Store, watch videos, photos and… listen to music. Ok, there’s the complimentary Calculator, Contacts and Calendar, but where the Email app? The iPod Touch would excel if it had at least 30Gb, a photo camera and a few more useful apps.
So, between this and the iPhone what’s the advantage? Oh it comes in a 16Gb flavor, but wait a few more months and you’ll have the same amount of storage in an iPhone, or do you think the iPhone 8Gb price drop is just a way of Apple saying thanks? Indeed, the best part of the Keynote was the new price on the iPhone, now I’m sure that a 16Gb version is in the oven… Maybe Europe gets that version when the iPhone is released here…

The Rant

Apple blew it. Sure the Nano was asking to be updated, but not that small! Sure the World wanted an iPod Touch, but not a crippled one! The Apple fanbase needed an iPod Touch that would give more bang for the buck… For me, I’m still waiting for something else…

What I really would like

Well, I would like an HSDPA enabled iPhone with a removable battery, application and removable flash media card support (or at least 30Gb of storage). Oh, and a second camera on the front, you know, for video calls 🙂 Think of it like Newton’s spiritual successor with iPod features. Thanks Steve!

[tags]Apple, iPod, iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPhone[/tags]

New Books

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[tags]Malcom Gladwell, Blink, The Tipping Point[/tags]

Do you Remember This?

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This is one of my favorite video game musics of all times, coincidentally it’s from one of my favorite video games… 😀 Can you recognize it? 😉

Flight Simulator Easter Egg in Google Earth

Google can’t stop to amaze me…

Download the latest Google Earth for Mac or Windows. Click the globe to gain focus, press Command/Open Apple Key+ Option + A in Mac OS X or Ctrl + Alt + A in Windows.

Here are the keys for the simulator.

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Enjoy 🙂

[tags]Google, Google Earth, Flight Simulator[/tags]