From: Leandro Lucarella Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2017 23:02:57 +0000 (+0100) Subject: Add some missing posts X-Git-Url: https://git.llucax.com/personal/website.git/commitdiff_plain/ec015a066c46685155348842ed073175128e4723?ds=sidebyside Add some missing posts --- diff --git a/source/blog/posts/2016/04/02-simplicity.rst b/source/blog/posts/2016/04/02-simplicity.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8318503 --- /dev/null +++ b/source/blog/posts/2016/04/02-simplicity.rst @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ +Title: Simplicity +Tags: simplicity, en + +This is mostly an article I want to save for myself about simplicity. It was +originally written by Mark Ramm in the context of a Python web framework I used +(TurboGears). The original article seems to be gone, but you can still `find it +in the Archive.org's Wayback Machine +`_. + +Here is a transcription: + + | **What is Simplicity?** + | (May 31st, 2006 by Mark Ramm) + + Simplicity is knowing when one more rock would be too many, and one less rock + would be too few. But it’s not just knowing the right number of rocks, it’s + also knowing which rocks are right, and how to arrange them. + + As Brad reminds us, simplicity is not achieved merely by making something + easier, or less complex. + + Take away all the complexity, all the difficulty, and all of the details from + anything and what you are left with is not simple: it’s just boring. + + On the other hand, Simplicity embraces exactly the right details, the right + difficulties, the right complexity, but because everything is tied together in + the right way, you are left with a sense of clarity, and a sense that + everything belongs exactly where it is. Simplicity is achieved when everything + means something. + + In other words, simplicity is defined by what you add — clarity, purpose, and + intentionality — not by what you remove. + + For those of us who write software, simplicity is not a simple thing to learn. + Writing the TurboGears book and working with the amazing group of people who + contribute to the project has been a learning experience for me. Everybody is + focused on making the web development simpler — and it’s amazing how much + experience and depth of understanding is necessary to create a simple + interface. It’s easy to build an interface that solves 80% of the problem, or + an interface that solves 200% of the problem, but it is hard to solve just the + right problem, and to do it in a clean, clear, way. + + Of course, every project has warts, and TurboGears re-uses other projects which + also have warts. So there’s no way I can say that TurboGears has arrived. But + the will is there, and the journey sure has been productive for me. + +.. vim: set et sw=3 sts=3 tw=80 fo+=lt1n: diff --git a/source/blog/posts/2016/05/12-elephone-p9000.rst b/source/blog/posts/2016/05/12-elephone-p9000.rst new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7ce9010 --- /dev/null +++ b/source/blog/posts/2016/05/12-elephone-p9000.rst @@ -0,0 +1,183 @@ +Title: Elephone P9000 +Tags: en, elephone, p9000, android, phone, review + +I usually don't do reviews for anything, but I want to write a few points about +this phone, in part for folks out there to know, but also as some sort of +internal reminder of the things I've been finding. + +I should say before anything else that I'm basically comparing this phone +against my previous one, a Samsung Galaxy S4 (I9505) using `CyanogenMod +`_. + +The `Elephone P900 +`_ is a super +tempting device. Here are the main reasons why I chosen this phone (in **bold** +my hard requirements, in *italics* things I didn't really care about but it was +a good opportunity to try out): + +* It has **4GB of RAM and fast CPU** (octacore) +* It supports **memory expansion** (micro SD up to 256GB 8-) +* It has a very **high screen to body ratio** (about 83%, for comparison the Nexus + 5 has 71% and the iPhone 5s has 61%). I was looking for a 5 inch phone, so to + go for a 5.5 inch one, the overall size of the phone had to be as small as + possible. +* It has **USB Type-C** (I thought if I'm getting a new phone, better to have + the new shiny no-non-sense connector) +* It comes with **Android 6** (I want either that or to be supported by CM) +* Decent battery (3000mAh, which I expected to last for a full day of intensive + use) +* It has at least one "navigation button" (I don't want to lose part of my + screen with software buttons) +* It has a Sony camera sensor with f/2.0 and laser focus, which is supposed to + be of decent quality really fast to do focus. That said, I read some reviews + not speaking well about the camera +* It has a rouged back (my S4 was a bit slippery) +* It costs less than €250 (here in Germany) +* It has *wireless charging and quick charging* +* It has a *fingerprint reader* +* It has a quite *high-res frontal camera* (8 megapixel) +* It supports *dual-SIM* although the second SIM shares the slot with the memory + expansion, so is not something I'll be able to use anyway + +So, after using it for about a couple of days, these are my findings: + +The good: + +* **The build quality is very nice**, it really looks like a high end phone. + More than my old S4 (which is made of plastic, while the P9000 is metallic). +* **Is very light**, even when it's a few grams extra compared to the S4, you + can't really feel it. For offering 0.5 extra inches of screen is quite + impressive. +* **It is fast**. I wasn't expecting to notice a difference with the S4 really, + basically because I don't feel the S4 is slow. But you can tell the + difference. The P9000 is snappier. +* **It looks beautiful** (at least for my minimalistic taste). I never care much + about looks, but I really like this phone (much more than the S4). +* Despite the big screen and feeling a bit too big at first, **the size seems + manageable and the extra screen space is useful**. +* Now having a **fingerprint reader** will probably be a requirement for my next + phone. I encrypt my phone and use a longish password to unlock it. Being able + to unlock it securely with just one touch is a huge gain. +* **It can be rooted**. It took me a while to find the right flasher for Linux + (you need the latest version of it), but I could do it, and even TWRP is + available for it already, which gives me some hope about better ROMs, and + maybe even CM, appearing in the future. + +The Bad: + +* **The fingerprint reader sucks**. I've seen a video review complaining about + it, and even for this guy complaining it worked much better than for me. + I would say in my case it succeeds reading my fingerprint about less than 20% + of the time. I even registered my fingerprint like five 5 times, using + different finger positions and it still fails most of the time, and after 3 or + 5 failures you have to wait 30 seconds before being able to retry. +* **The screen is not bright enough for a sunny day**. You can still see the + screen, but it's not as bright as the one in my old S4. +* **The camera pretty much sucks too**. The f/2.0 I don't know where is it, + pictures are always quite noisy. The auto-focus is not faster than my old S4. + The sensor is supposed to be good, so I guess they just screwed it with the + lenses. Or maybe is a firmware thing? But I doubt it. +* **The sound really SUCKS**. I never thought about it before. Even when + I listen to music **a lot**, I never had a good year and never could pick up + on bad quality recordings for example. Is a blessing. But with this phone + I noticed. It sounds like **crap** (and I'm not talking about the speaker, + which is understandable, I'm talking about plugging earphones). When I noticed + I thought it might be the album. I tried another one, and another one, and + finally I compared the same files in my old S4 and... Oh boy. This new phone's + audio just **SUCKS SO BAD**. It's the phone. I would say this was the final + deal breaker for me. +* **The battery can't take an intense full day of usage**. It's basically the + same as my old S4 (and I want an improvement on this area). If I use it just + for a few messages and most of the time inside with WiFi, it can last 2 full + days. If I take it outside using mobile data, and listen to music during + a hold day, it barely last for a day. If I add to that using maps and the GPS + having the screen on more time, like when I'm traveling, it can barely last + more than half a day. +* **The Android version is missing some features** that I thought it was pure + Android (not CM), like the Ambient Display (shows notifications in a dimmed + screen), the LiveDisplay (adjust the screen color temperature according to the + time of the day) and the Do Not Disturb mode(s). The keyboard doesn't support + swiping (major drawback for me). +* **The touchscreen is not very sensitive**. I can tell the difference with the + S4. Maybe the one in the S4 is too sensitive, sometimes it reacts without even + contacting the glass, but in the P9000 sometimes I feel I have to press the + glass too much to get it reacting. Some gestures are harder to do because of + this (like swipe-up to unlock). +* **Only one navigation button**. Even when is better than nothing, I found much + more convenient having 3 navigation buttons like the S4 provides. +* **No multicolor notification light**. The navigation button on the bottom also + serves as a notification light, but it has only one color and the frequency + can't be configured either (AFAIK). The S4 has a multi-color led, which let + you know what kind of notification is there before you even look at the + screen. +* **USB Type-C is not popular enough yet**. Even when this is not the phone's + fault, I realized we are not there yet. Micro USB cables are everywhere out + there. You'll never miss one. With Type-C you better carry your cable + everywhere or buy a bunch, because you are all alone now. + +So, even when the external quality is amazing and, even when I never cared about +looks, it looks extremely nice too, it looks like the low price tag has to come +from somewhere, and that somewhere is the internal components, which seems like +they are not the best. + +Still the quality-price ratio is quite impressive IMHO, on paper you have the +same specs as an iPhone 6, or Samsung S7, at less than half the price. But +I think I prefer to spend an extra few bucks to get higher internal components +qualities (specially with the sound), so I will probably return this phone and +continue looking for one. Also I miss my CM too much. I think I will have to +settle for an older phone that's is supported by CM. + + +TODO: + +* Fingerprint unlock and screen gestures makes the phone never enter deep sleep, + nice features but until it's fixed it might be better to disable them, at + least when you know you'll need some juice. + +* Fingerprint starts working better after some use (only 2 or 3 attempts are + needed) + +* WiFi consumes more battery than mobile data (WTF!?) + +* RoDrIgUeZsTyLe™ MODPACK V1.1 + + - Sound is saved (probably is not amazing, but I don't notice the obvious + creepiness anymore). Praise the Lord! + + - Touchscreen is more sensitive, not as the S4 but definitely an appreciable + improvement. + + - Battery life improved a lot. One day of moderate activity (for me) and still + about 65% battery left. I used the phone for 12 hours after fully charged, + and my usage pattern was: about 6 hours outside (using mobile data), about + 40 minutes of music playing + GPS working in high accuracy mode. The rest + inside using WiFi. I also did some messaging and internet use, but nothing + too intensive. BetterBatteryStats reports: 66% (~8h) deep sleep (which is + still low, I wonder what this phone could last if it were more aggressive + about going to deep sleep), 8% (~1h) screen on. Wifi running 100% of the + time (~12h). Battery consumption average was 3%/h. My guess is that with + a similar usage, the S4 I would probably ended the day with not more than + 30% or 40% battery. + +* Ways to improve the battery life and fix other stuff: Xposed framework, but + not supported yet. For example with "Amplify Battery Extender" I could disable + the wakelock for the fingerprint or NlpWakelock. Wakelock Terminator might + also help (also needs Xposed) + +* For now using DisableService to disable NlpService from MTK NLP Service, the + location seems to keep working fine. Another option is to put the GPS in + device-only mode to avoid the NPL service from running. + +* Install Xposed using Eragon 2.0 ROM: + + 1. Install Xposed Material installer (3.0 alpha4) + http://forum.xda-developers.com/xposed/material-design-xposed-installer-t3137758 + 2. Edit /etc/init.d/07permissive and comment out the ``sleep 60`` + 3. Install Xposed framework v82 (not a newer one otherwise settings will force + close) + +* Battery life saved via update from 2016-05-31. Fingerprint reader and WiFi + don't keep the phone awake anymore (5~10% awake when screen is off with both + enabled). + +.. vim: set et sw=3 sts=3 tw=80 fo+=lt1n: