Last month, both Google and Yahoo introduced big changes to their photo storage services, Google Photos and Flickr (4.0), respectively. Both offer identical, useful features: automatic photo backups, intelligent organization, online editing tools, and sharing capabilities. So which one should you use? (Source: Lifehacker Faceoff: Google Photos vs. Flickr)
Author: THOMAS SETIAWAN
After I lost my OPPO R819 few months ago, I finally decided to get another Android phone. And, I went with OPPO Find 7. Compared to other manifacturers, OPPO does not offer more frequent updates on its firmware. OPPO has its own operating system called ColorOS. Running on ColorOS, I have no problems, everything just running well.
The latest stable ColorOS for OPPO Find 7 is version 2.0.8i Kitkat. There are of course a way to get the other custom ROM developments like CyanogenMod, Nameless, or AOSP. Finally, few days ago, OPPO released its Lolipop-based ColorOS (V2.1.1i Beta) for Find 7/7a. Some basic features can be seen from the preview video below.
The detailed information on the release can be found at OPPO Community Forum thread. Previously, I had my Find 7 rooted and customized. In the discussion forum thread, there are some users reporting about the successful installation, and some file bugs. I finally took the risk to install the new distribution — and I chose to do a fresh install with these simple steps. It means, I erased everything in my phone with a new setup.
- Download the package. It’s recommended to refer to this forum thread for the latest updates. The file is around 954 MB. Transfer the installation on the root directory to my phone.
- I backup the files (especially photos) to my MacBook.
- Turn off the phone.
- Turn on the phone by pressing Power and Volume Up buttons until the logo appears to enter the recovery mode.
- Follow the wizard, select “Wipe data and cache” option, click “Yes” to confirm.
- Choose “Install from sd”, and navigate to the directory root. You should see the downloaded package there. On my installation, the file name is
X9006&X9076ColorOS_V2.1.1i_Beta_full.zip.
- Once the installation process completed, your phone will be rebooted. It takes time to boot. If the installation is successful, you will be greeted by some basic setup processes. Just follow the instructions.
- Done.
I like the new look. There are some bugs — of course since this is a beta release — but I can live with them so far. According to the release, the updates will be also available OTA, which is good.
There are some new improvements and features offered in this release. One of them is the camera plugins which I like. I take photos a lot, and the camera-related functionalities are not easy to resist. It’s now time to install more Android applications and make some setting customizations.
I have some devices running on multiple operating systems (iOS, Android, and Windows Phone). But, recently I use Android more than iOS. Early this month, Apple announced some new features for its operating system: iOS 9. Some said that Android copies Apple, and Apple also copies Android. This time, Arstechnica has a list of some iOS 9 features that are inspired by Android.
BlackBerry may put Android system on new device — “The sources, who asked not to be named as they have not been authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the move to use Android is part of BlackBerry’s strategy to pivot to focus on software and device management. BlackBerry, which once dominated smartphone sales, now has a market share of less than 1 percent.”
Android Fragmentation Visualized (August 2014) gives a various report on Android fragmentation on devices, brands, operation systems, and more.
There are thousands of distinct Android devices on the market, and the numbers are growing. I bought some Android devices from some different brands. The latest one I bought, and I still use it right now is OPPO Find 7.
Finding the phone that really fits its owner is not easy. Android has a simple tool to help choosing which phone based on the way how you use your phone.
Go to www.android.com/phones/whichphone. Just follow the simple wizard. You will be asked on what you will your phone be used for (you will be asked about how frequent you use it). If some alternatives been found, they will be narrowed down to the carrier, phone sizes, and also price.
I tried, and I got the result that based on my daily use, I might go with LG G4, Motorola Droid Turbo, or Nexus 6.
For every bet that Google makes, there are many others quietly forgotten, and others still abandoned when the winds changed or the prime movers moved on. Put another way, you can create good design in sprints, but creating great design is a marathon, run over and over again. Google still has so many miles to run. Source: How Google Finally Got Design
Source: How Google Finally Got Design
Microsoft buys Wunderlist. Previously, Microsoft also bought Acompli, an email app for both iOS and Android which later rebranded as Outlook.
Masonry: cascading grid layout library — Masonry is a JavaScript grid layout library. It works by placing elements in optimal position based on available vertical space, sort of like a mason fitting stones in a wall. You’ve probably seen it in use all over the Internet.
Inbox by Gmail is now available for everyone. Previously, those who want to get Inbox by Gmail should be invited by other Inbox users. Inbox by Gmail is available for iOS and Android. Or, simply go to inbox.google.com. I’m using it in daily basis, and so far I like the way it displays the messages.
After moving this site to DigitalOcean‘s cloud environment, I found a problem when uploading a file from my blog posting interface. Looking up from the error log, it says "client intended to send too large body: 1122400 bytes". I wanted to upload a file larger than 1 MB. I’m using nginx for the web server, and the solution is pretty simple.
Edit /etc/nginx/nginx.conf configuration file, and add client_max_body_size 20M; between http { }. Save the config file and start the nginx. Problem solved. If you need higher value, just change the 20 MB to something higher.
Meet the world’s largest photo taken by Filippo Blengini. For complete background story, you can read the blog post at 500px. To enjoy the full photo, go directly to in2white.com.
The first video uploaded to YouTube. It was back in April 23, 2005. Happy 10th birthday, YouTube!