Disable Media Scanner, Screenshots and Default Notification Sounds

I've been having problems with battery life on my i9100 over the last few weeks/months when I transitioned from CM9 to CM10.1. I chalked it up to the beta-nature of running nightly builds but it's a bit more than that. I did some reading around (this thread is a pretty good spot to start). One of the changes I implemented was to disable the media scanner (see here). This saves power as well as shaves off boot-up time but it has some additional issues/caveats.

Razer Tiamat 7.1 Review (8/10)

Ideally, this would be a review of just the Razer Tiamat 7.1 and it is - in part. Ultimately, I can't really review the Razer without bringing up the Logitech contenders:

• Logitech G35 Review (7/10)
• Logitech G930 Review (9/10)
• Logitech G930 vs G35: A second look

When I first heard of the Razer headphones, so, so, so long ago, I simply could not wait -- I had such a wonderful experience with their Barracuda HP1 headset. Logitech simply beat them to market. 

Steam Annoyances

So yeah, I’m still a bit undecided about Steam. On the one hand, it’s brilliant in that you can readily get new games and updates and such and everything magically happens in the background – the fact that you don’t have to install stuff is amazing. On the other hand, it’s a closed platform that could use a bit of opening up.

Motorola XOOM: A Third Look

So the big difference between then and now is that I bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 and wow does that purchase ever change things. The SGS2 makes almost every device on the market that isn’t a variant of the SGS2 look bad and this handedly includes the XOOM. Other than some very tablet-specific apps (like those that take advantage of fragments) and for applications where resolution changes everything, there’s almost nothing that the SGS2 can’t do better than my venerable “old” XOOM.

Fenix TK35 & TK70

I bought a Fenix TK35 sometime around the beginning of this year and it is a magnificent and impressive light. Having the second toggle button takes some getting used to though (my previous lights being of the more compact, tactical variety), however, this is an exceptionally solid light that I can rely on when the zombie apocalypse comes.
Well a couple months ago, I bought the [then] new Fenix TK70 making it the most… everything light in my little collection. While I love the light, there are some gripes I have with it (and nothing to do with weight/size).

Running Series: Little Tweaks, Tips and Apps (Part 4)

It’s been awhile since the last post, this edition deals with a very simple problem of universally blocking domains. While this is something often handled by ad and popup blockers etc., I prefer the platform-independent and much more direct host-blocking.

Hobbies

Some food for thought: it’s a good idea to have [several] hobbies, interests and passions. This notion, most people can agree to. What follows is a bit curious: we are often intensely repulsed by each other’s hobbies, interests and passions. This isn’t a good thing or a bad thing – it’s just a thing. Of course, we are not obligated to take a similar interest in the hobbies, interests and passions of our colleagues. The speed at which we segment our peers based on their interests is astounding though.

Android Diaries, Part 6: Keeping everything safe

I guess I got a bit ahead of myself with the rooting and custom ROMs. I mentioned briefly about how it’s strongly recommended to back everything up, but I guess I didn’t quite talk about how to exactly go about doing this! Never too late, read on.

Android Diaries, Part 5: Custom ROMS

In my last look at SGS2, I overviewed getting root access and getting core utilities installed and in place. Now most people can call it a day and move on with their lives knowing they have proper admin privileges on their phone. For me, the phone was almost perfect… only a few things really outstanding that were bugging me – but they bugged me enough, so the default configuration had to go.

Android Diaries, Part 4: Fixing the SGS2

The Samsung Galaxy S II is a wonderful device out of the box but the one thing that irks me is the TouchWiz UI skin. The plain simple Android experience is damn near perfect, I don’t understand why manufacturers need to add extra bloat and crap (MotoBlur, Sense, TouchWiz, etc.) to the user experience. This guide documents my attempts to get rid of all the excess crap.

Samsung Galaxy S II Review (9.5/10)

Let’s just get this out of the way: this phone is about as perfect as it gets for now. There are only a few places things Samsung could have improved on (although I suspect by the time the next round of super phones come out, these issues will all be resolved). Until the next round of super phones comes out, it’s very difficult to see past the sheer awesome that is the Samsung Galaxy S II.

Motorola XOOM: A second look…

Suffice it to say, I love my tablet. Sure it’s got tons of faults and it’s a very niche product, but I definitely love it. I’m not sure, however, if I would buy it again, now that I’ve had the chance to use it for a few months. Back when I got the XOOM, it was the premier Android tablet on the market (and the only Honeycomb one to date); now, the market has several other very worthy contenders and I’m not so sure I would go the XOOM route again.