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HTC TyTN vs Sony Ericsson P990i

// December 30th, 2006 // 23 Comments » // Tech

Funny how something like a blog actually captures exactly what you felt and thought in the past (guess that’s the reason we blog, to create a journal of sorts?). Anyhow, it’s almost two years to the day that I had to decide on which new cellphone to choose for my contract renewal. So here I am again, trying to decide which of the new phones I will be stuck with for the next 24-months.

This process obviously began months ago (June in fact), with the news of the new Sony Ericsson P990i due for our shores. Feverishly, many have been anticipating it’s arrival and release to the various cellphone shops around the country and finally being able to hold and see it up close and personal.

I thought my mind was made up. How wrong I was.

Enter stage left, the HTC TyTN, which by the looks of the advertising and hype is bound to take the market by storm. It certainly has the credentials, having won a handfull of smartphone of the year awards. That means something, right?

It sports almost every type of connectivity one could possibly need:
GPRS Class 10 – 32 – 48 kbps
EDGE Class 10 – 236.8 kbps
3G HSDPA – 1.8 Mbps
WLAN Wi-Fi – 802.11b/g
Bluetooth – Yes
Infrared – Yes
USB – Yes

Importantly it also has a touchscreen, QWERTY-keyboard and 2-Megapixel camera – all non-negotiable features as a miminum for me.

On the downside, probably the only thing I could find that really bugged me was battery life – Stand-by up to 200 hours and talk time up to 5 hours. In comparison with the P990i, it was the only one of two things that the Sony Ericsson had better stats on – Stand-by up to 400 hours and talk time up to 9 hours. But these things will probably stand in a cradle during the day – so a charge shouldn’t be such a big problem (right?).

I double-checked online comparisons from GSMArena, All About Symbian and Bengalboy‘s very thorough ‘shootout’ between the two.

So who really needs a RDS Radio and HSCSD connectivity (SE P990i) when you have EDGE, Wifi in 802.11 b and g and a 4-times faster HSDPA (TyTN)?

Reviews (see previous links) mention that the P990i sucks a bit in the memory department with frequent “spontaneous” restarts, while the TyTN gets a thumbs-down for not including memory (those dinky microSD cards) in the box.

Bollocks, damn, damn, damn. Now what do I choose? HELP!

Dita Von Teese Loves To Strip

// December 30th, 2006 // 2 Comments » // NSFW

Dita von Teese, wife of freaky goth rocker Marilyn Manson, has apparently slammed women in her industry who refuse to take their clothes off.

The burlesque performer – a theatrical entertainment of broad and earthy humor; consisting of comic skits and short turns (including striptease) – is trying to set the record straight on the art of stripping.

Yay, I’ll support that.

A 10-page NSWF gallery for your viewing pleasure.

Using Coffee To Trick Your Brain

// December 29th, 2006 // 2 Comments » // Interesting

Here’s a thought. Next time you’re stuck on getting a project started, why don’t you pour yourself a hot cup of java and begin the work while sipping your coffee.

Over at Smart Graduate School Applications, coffee was used to create a favourable/exitable mental state, which enabled the person to finish a particular unexciting task at hand.

This particular technique of introducing a positive physiological response to start and complete a task may just be that catalyst some of our procrastinators need. Definitely worth a try.

Obviously if coffee is not your thing, then by all means replace it with some other stimuli that always makes you feel happy, charged, positive, energised etc.

(Nekkid girls in the office it will be then…)

Updated: Ofcourse the guys at NYU came up with this beauty.
The Caffeine Curve.

100 Things We Didn’t Know in 2006

// December 29th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // Interesting

Another list of 100 things we wish we didn’t know but were too intrigued not to. This one is courtesy of the BBC Magazine’s 100 things we didn’t know last year and even provides a link to some more information on the topic.

Some of them include:
1. Just 20 words make up a third of teenagers’ everyday speech.
More details (Guess that includes “I don’t know” and “Nothing”)

5. Standard-sized condoms are too big for most Indian men.
More details (That has to suck)

20. Sex workers in Roman times charged the equivalent price of eight glasses of red wine.
More details (Cheers to that)

30. The brain is soft and gelatinous – its consistency is something between jelly and cooked pasta.
More details (Well that would explain a lot)

46. Involuntary bad language, a symptom affecting about one in 10 people with Tourette’s syndrome, is called “coprolalia”.
More details (Cough ** bullshit *** cough)

88. Nelson Mandela used to steal pigs as a child.
More details (Ummmm….)

…..and now you know.

Rescue Those Holiday Snaps

// December 29th, 2006 // 1 Comment » // Photos

Christmas has come and gone and some of you may have received brand spanking new digital cameras to play around with. Also not forgetting those who already have cameras, taking picture after picture of family members opening presents, trying to capture their surprise and sorrow delight as they open up that 5th pair of cartoon print socks. Which by the way never really did get into fashion in the first place.

Anyhow. Some of you may have experienced a lack of concentration in all this joy, forgetting to set the flash on (you obviously shot everything indoors right?) or even overexposing your pictures by standing too close to the subject. Shock, horror, disaster?

Fret not, as help is at hand.

Check out this very helpful how-to on How to adjust the lighting in your photos.

So fire up Photoshop and go edit some pictures. Your family will love you for the 2 hour slideshow of all the holiday snaps that is bound to follow.