Coupled Confessions

For a while now I’ve been avoiding Apple branded mice due to their quirky nature. Like the awkward and utterly useless hockey puck mouse, first introduced with the original iMac. Following with the uni-body Mighty Mouse with a pseudo right click and horrid motion tracking. But there was one feature from the Mighty mouse that was very hard to beat, the scroll ball. Much like a Blackberry’s scroll ball, its 360 degree motion enabled it to move freely in all directions. OSX (MAC) was designed to specifically work with this feature, making it an integral part of the OS. No other mice could really beat the functionally of the 360 degree scrolling within OSX. Now that I use Macs for work, I officially have to use Macs more than PCs. Being said, I would modify the experience to best fit my taste in hardware.  Starting with non-Apple: mice, monitors, speakers, harddrives and even the keyboard. But like I said before, the Mighty mouse is designed for OSX.

So I present to you the love child of a Logitech G3 Laser and the Mighty mouse. It uses the body and the laser of the G3 along with the scroll ball of the Mighty mouse. Making the ideal 6 button mouse! Well at least ideal for OSX,

Before I go any further, I want to thank Dave Astolfo for his article which my project is heavily based on. After reviewing the scroll ball’s wiring schematic I was able to see that I can surely pull off this project. I am sorry for not making a detailed work-log, due to limited time. The wiring is rather simple, it basically requires 6 lines to fully utilize the scroll ball. 5 Volt, Ground, Hall sensors 1-4 (up, down, left, right).  The 5V and Gnd were supplied from the G3 mouse but the problem was bringing in 4 extra lines. Naturally I looked for the most flexible 4 wire cable, which happened to be one of those self-retracting USB dongles.

Next step was to replace the stock scroll wheel from the Logitech G3 mouse with the scroll ball. It required much trial and error to get the prefect positioning. Much of the mouse’s inner body was trimmed to make room for the scroll ball and its mount.

The hardest part was to connect both mice into a 4-port USB hub, and fit both the PCB of the hub and the Mighty mouse into a tiny project box. The secret was to trim a bit of the PCB from the Mighty mouse. The final touch was to have the other 2 USB ports become functional as well.

And here it is, a fusion of the Logitech G3 Laser mouse and the Apple Mighty mouse! Only the best part of the Apple Mighty Mouse remains, the scroll ball. Don’t you love the idea of modifying? Lend me your thoughts please.

Check the article.

Chip manifacturing giant Intel finally settled after the much heated debate with accusations of being anti-competitive with AMD. As noted from a previous blog post, I expressed my thoughts about this accusation on Intel due to my long affiliation with AMD. So now AMD is recieving $1.25 billion dollars for the settlement along with shared technology from Intel.

So the question now is, how does this affect us consumers? Now that Intel is one step less of a monopoly, there is room for innovation driven by competition. Prices will be cut, and both manufactures will make larger leaps to faster and more efficient computers!

If you haven’t already heard of Google’s mobile OS, Android, you’re in for a treat. It sets itself apart from being the first and only open-source mobile OS on the market. Meaning, programmers world wide can create applications free from regulation and royalities. More and more providers are seeing the potential of the OS and are quickly adopting the new platform. Which bring me to my big dilemma, which phone to choose!!!

Sprint HTC Hero:

I’ve been researching this phone for months before its late and quiet arrival. Originally it looked far different because it was a Euro GSM version. With the admirable 15 degree chin, Teflon backing, and sharp ridged angles. Almost a year later its American younger brother showed its ugly face as the “Sprint Hero”. The so called, “Face-lift” by the Sprint representatives removed the chin and the sharp features. But along with the new looks came: a bigger battery, better 5mp camera, updated speedy firmware, and the sprint exclusive “Sense UI” feature. In the time Sprint was modifying the Hero, they added a customized feature they call Sense. Its generally designed to help customize the looks and feel of the phone. It is Sprint’s polished version of Android. About a week ago I went to see the phone in person, and as expected it was a nice fit.

Pros:
- Good sized phone, very ergonomic
- Cheap after the 2-year blood contract – $180 – before tax $65/mo with Misono’s account
- Android 1.6 with Sense UI – UPDATE via HTC’s Twitter – Android 2.0 Éclair coming soon!
- Simple and straightforward Sprint service plan
- Scrollball

Cons:
- Uglier than its older brother
- LCD could be bigger and higher resolution
- Older hardware – 528 MHZ CPU
- Only comes with a 2GB MicroSD card

Verizon Motorola Droid:

Then there is the Verizon Motorola Droid, a new contender that took me by surprise. Check out this video if you haven’t already. It rocks those redundant Apple hating PC ads. Not to mention it has amazing motion graphics and sound!

I only learned about this phone about 5 days ago and its been a stunner. I’ve been so focused on the HTC Hero that I didn’t see any means to stray elsewhere. Everyday I check up on this phone I find more and more amazing things about it. From the Google Nav system to the huge and sharp LCD. Could this be the best thing to hit Motorola, since God knows when. People online have been raving about this phone being far superior than the Iphone. Steve Jobs made a comment saying all other smart phones are still catching up to the first Iphone, but he conveniently forgot about Android being increasing powerful. Native Flash Support, multitasking, and of course cut & paste (something Blackberries had before iPhones)

All this great stuff, but I hadn’t forgotten to mention the dark side of the Droid. Verizon. To this day I’ve been using Verizon (with a Samsung u-740 aka Alias), and I vowed never to go with Verizon again. They are the Nazi of the mobile industry; charging for every little overage from minutes to the megabyte usage. They throw their weight everywhere on the media claiming to be the best, when you can’t use their CDMA service outside the USA.

Pros:
- Amazing LCD – 848 x 480 3.7in LCD (iPhone is only – 480 x 320)
- Hard keyboard with D-pad
- ARM 550 Mhz CPU – Top of the line mobile chip
- Android 2.0
- Cheap after rebate – $200, and possibly unlimited data for $69/mo?
- 16GB MicroSD card
- Google Navigation Beta (in all Android 2.0 devices)

Cons:
- SHADY OVERAGES! – I F*CKing hate Verizon for this
- Rumors claim the mail-in rebate is unusual and sketchy
- 2-more years of selling my soul to the devil
- Verizon will most likely charge for every little thing, even if you have a Unlimited Data Plan
- Motorola’s bad rep for making horrid phones
- CDMA network

D-Day is approaching…

Help me decide what android device is probably the best bet for functionality, price, service, and looks. And no, do not mention the iPhone, they are out of the question.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

For all you computer/electronic fan-boys out there, here is a treat for you. I just finished building my new workhorse computer; ready for hardcore video editing, rendering, and entertainment. The case is ancient, its probably 10 years old. But it is one of those old school Antec Towers that serious computer users sought after. For modern day components, the case was due for some serious modifications to both the cooling and the looks. Here is a brief list of things modified: 3x120mm Radiator with grill, carrying handles, HDD LED relocation, VU stereo meter (the ring of LEDs), Tinted Plexy front window, Glass side window, custom made fan controller, 80mm rear fan converted to 120mm, black paint job, improved dust filters, and more.

So the next question people are probably going to bring up is, why the AMD 955 instead of the Intel i7? The answer is a no brainier for me, I confidently support AMD over its ruthless competitor. The hard fact is that the i7 is a stronger CPU, but ever since my first AMD computer made for video editing (1Ghz Althon) I’ve been an AMD enthusiast. Plus after hearing the news about Intel’s non-competitive scandal, I can’t help but make my purchase a statement. Please take a moment to read the article. Intel already holds the majority of the PC & Mac market, but they just couldn’t stop there, they had to black-mail other companies to avoid supporting AMD products. So please next time you consider buying a new computer, give AMD a chance. With every AMD sold, Intel is forced to lower their inflated prices.

So in case you were wondering about the specs, here they are. As for CPU overclocking, I’m holding off on that for the time being. I plan to Lap the CPU surface to maximize my water-cooled investment. Overall cost without the case – $850

AMD AM3 955 Black Edition 3.2 Ghz Quad-Core
4GB DDR3 1600Mhz memory (7-7-7-20 2.0VC)
MSI 790FX GD70 Motherboard
MSI 250 GTS 512MB video card
1TB Seagate Hard drive (7200 generation 12)
650watt Antec Earthwatt 80 Plus Powersupply
Dual Boot – Windows 7 & Windows XP x64

One another note, I’d like to make a bold statement and recommend people take a leap of faith and try out MS’s new OS, Windows 7. This is without a doubt the best OS windows has had to date! It is very stable, fancy, and full of features that even expert computer users can appreciate. At first glance, you may say it’s just Vista or an OSX clone. But it is actually a totally new OS that is fresh and inspiring. Make sure to check out the Aero view, the new “windows – tab” function, the new task bar, and responsive feel. I discover new features everyday I use it! I even feel that it is more fancy than OSX, in comparison to the Mac Pro I use everyday at work.