General

Fragmentation

By Jay Lagare on Thursday, September 20, 2012

One word that Apple always uses against Android is the F word. Not the one that rhymes with ‘Duck’. I’m referring to ‘Fragmentation’. They’re referring to so many Android phones from so many manufacturers with so many different features (e.g. screen sizes), and to top it off, so many versions of the core OS with different “skins” applied by manufacturers to, you know, differentiate themselves. They say it like it’s what will bring about the end of Android and that Apple doesn’t have it.

But fragmentation has already been with iOS since the original iPad release back in April 2010. It’s just that iOS 3.2 then came with a built-in mechanism for supporting apps with non-dynamic UIs (upscaling). The same mechanism was used by iOS 4 when the iPhone 4 and its 640×960 display came out.

Most developers quickly came up with updates that target the iPad and the iPhone Retina display. Now with the iPhone 5 and its 640×1136 display it will be the same: iOS 6 comes with a built-in mechanism (letterboxing) and developers will quickly come up with updates that target the new display.

For most developers and even some customers, fragmentation is not a big deal. It’s nothing new. Just look back at Windows and PCs: A huge variety of hardware? Use device drivers. An assortment of resolutions? Use dynamic layouting. Different graphics chips? Use OpenGL or Direct3D. Been there, done that. Survived.

For many customers, it is a big deal and quite scary. But that’s just what fragmentation is: a scare word that Apple marketing came up with. If you’re afraid, maybe you can use a better word: ‘Diversity’. Doesn’t sound scary anymore, yeah?

General

No Easy Day

By Jay Lagare on Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Read Mark Owen/Matt Bissonette’s No Easy Day. It’s a narrative of the author’s getting into SEAL Team 6 aka DEVGRU, his eventual involvement in the assault that ended UBL, and some of the events afterward.The book is written in a first person perspective. Normally, I’m not a fan of the first person but it’s appropriate for this case and it’s written in a straightforward, easy-to-read manner. I was done in a few hours worth of reading.

There’s really nothing new in No Easy Day if you’ve already read a few SEALS books and you’ve already narratives of the UBL raid. Sure there were some deviations from other narratives but then pretty much all the narratives deviate from each other. It could have been just another narrative, just another SEAL book except for the noise the US government had been making. Only made the book more fascinating and even raised the author’s credibility. But with or without the noise, it’s an entertaining read.

Rating: 4/5

General

New Kindle Fires

By Jay Lagare on Friday, September 7, 2012

Amazon has announced a whole raft of Kindle e-readers and tablets. But the interesting ones to me were the tablets. There are 3 of them, the Kindle Fire 8.9″ HD with 4G, the Kindle Fire 8.9″ HD, and the 7″ Kindle Fire HD. The bigger Kindle Fire HDs compete directly with the iPad while the smaller competes directly with the Google Nexus 7 and the much rumored iPad Mini. The battle of the big three is heating up even more. What’s interesting is that while Amazon started with books, Google with ads, and Apple with songs, pretty much all of them are now selling the same stuff: books, ads, songs, movies, etc. But Amazon has a huge leg up: shopping. Google and Apple would do well to get into that, maybe by buying eBay?

General

Range Day

By Jay Lagare on Saturday, August 25, 2012

Haven’t gone to the range for some time so I invited Leslie and the others. But almost everyone eventually backed out and it ended up being just Leslie and I confirmed. We went there this morning and to our surprise, JC, who didn’t actually confirm showed up! With the group complete, we headed over to the range and squeezed off some rounds. I was happy that even though I haven’t had practice, I was able to keep a reasonably (for me) tight group. Only problem is I kept getting jams because of a limp wrist! Need to work on that.

General

Bonding Weekend

By Jay Lagare on Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I made a spontaneous (yes, I can be) decision to go to my parent’s place for the long weekend. Unfortunately, Michelle had to work extra hours due to work lost from the days of flooding as well as from the loss of her laptop so it was just Jeanne and I.

Sat Aug 18 – Michelle drove us to the airport. After checking in, we had a quick breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts before going to pre-departure and boarding. Jeanne slept throughout the plane ride. We were met at the airport by my dad, my, mom, and Ioan. We headed straight to a mall where my mom picked up some stuff. Then we had lunch at Road House Cafe where we had corn soup, chop suey, and lechon kawali. Pretty good, but then maybe I was rather hungry. After lunch, my dad headed to the department store, which was holding a sale, to look for good deals. My mom waited while Ioan, Jeanne, and I went to Book Sale and browsed through the kiddie books. I was watching two kids and I survived! Yeah! After my dad was done, we then went on home.

Sun Aug 19 – We went to the beach. We were there early so we had the beach to ourselves for the morning. We swam and treated the kids to a boat ride. When the sung got higher and hotter, we came out of the water and had lunch of lechon and grilled fish. Typical beach fare. There was also durian. I gave Jeanne some but she didn’t like it too much. We left the beach soon after, just when the crowd started arriving. Back home, we had snacks with coffee. This transitioned to early dinner. And then was followed by dinner. It was eat and eat and eat. I felt so stuffed!

Mon Aug 20 – Early in the morning, we went to the plaza for a morning stroll. I the accompanied my dad for a change oil of his trusty truck. While waiting, we dropped by a convenience store where I got the kids some biscuits. We then went home and I spent the rest of the day resting and napping while Jeanne had fun playing with Ioan and Viela. I only went out when we went for dinner at Tatay’s Grill ‘n Bar. We had shrimp sinigang, tuna roe, and tuna belly. Great food! After dinner, the kids headed over to the mini-playground where they had a blast. Then we went to Iliganon for durian shake. Jeanne tried it and she said she liked it better than the fruit. Good idea for those who want to get started on the joys of the fruit.

Tues Aug 21 – We went to the plaza for a morning stroll again. After breakfast, I rested and napped again (hey, it’s a vacation after all!) while Jeanne played with Ioan and Viela. After lunch, we prepared to leave for the airport. My mom and dad took us to the airport. We had a late snack before they headed off to the city to buy stuff. Jeanne and I checked-in and headed to pre-departure. It was crowded! Several flights were delayed, including ours, so there were more waiting passengers than normal. Fortunately, one of the delayed flights arrived and we were able to finally sit down. Soon after, our flight arrived and we boarded. This time around, Jeanne was awake and was constantly chatting all the way till landing. Michelle picked us up at the airport and then headed home for dinner.

Four days of bonding with Jeanne and spending time with family. Now that’s a great weekend! If only Michelle were there, it would have been complete. Next time.