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04 May 2013 12:36

Quick Review: Windows SkyDrive

No Comments — Filed in Internet, Thoughts

In short: slow as hell and totally unreliable.

I use SkyDrive just as a backup tool. I happen to have 25 GB for free (I don’t remember why), so I installed it on this very webserver and scheduled a script to dump relevant data to the SkyDrive folder for backup purposes.

The script works well – it’s the same I’ve used for years to backup via FTP, but I figured that an automatic sync tool would be better. All it does is xcopying data to a temporary location, compress it with 7zip, and then move the zip file to the SkyDrive folder.

On the server, it happened not once but twice that SkyDrive simply stopped responding – and thus syncing. I had to kill it. The first time, it recovered cleanly. The second time, for reason unknown, it decided to resync everything, deleting 3GB worth of data in the process. It’s just backup, so it was not a big deal, and I was able to recover the files via SkyDrive’s recycle bin, but still it’s not a reassuring experience.

On my desktop PC, a few days ago it happened that, out of the blue, SkyDrive showed a message that read something like “Cannot access E:\SkyDrive”, which is my local sync folder. I clicked one of the two buttons provided, honestly I don’t remember which one, assuming it would just quit or stop syncing for a while. Instead, it logged out, so basically it had to redownload 10 GB from the Internet at stone age speeds.

Now, I don’t keep my PC on all the time, so today I went to see the progress – which is not reported in any way – and double-clicked on the tray icon. The animated icon froze for a few minutes. Now it’s not responding, and all it does is showing this blank thing:

Blank SkyDrive

In Windows Explorer, all SkyDrive files and folders are marked with the little blue syncing icon, meaning (I believe) that SkyDrive is resyncing everything. Task Manager shows this:

SkyDrive2

I mean, 1.5 GB of used RAM and 545 threads? I suspect it’s not normal. Moreover, right-clicking on the tray icon shows an empty context menu. Unfortunately PRT SCR doesn’t work, otherwise I’d provide another screenshot, but trust me, it’s hilarious.

I’m tempted to kill the process, but I’m afraid that it could wipe my data out upon restarting. Perhaps I can just kill it, and reinstall from scratch.

Summing it up, just use Dropbox (referral link). It’s fast, rock solid and reliable.

28 Apr 2013 15:32

Samsung Is Killing Google’s Android

No Comments — Filed in Android, Internet, Thoughts

About a year ago I asked myself whether Android was dead. The answer is, a year later, probably not.

The trend we all can see is that Google is simply losing control over the Android ecosystem. If you ask them, they’d probably answer that control is not the point, and it’s probably not very far from the truth. After all, Android is just a means to sell more ads.

Samsung seems the maker that is getting the most out of Android, and that’s confirmed by Apple’s lawsuits. Samsung is slowly replacing the Android brand with its own. As someone already noticed a year ago, Android is just an item in a bullet list of features, probably below many others. Need proof? Go to Samsung’s website, find the minisite dedicated to S4 and search for ‘android’.

Samsung Galaxy S4

Samsung, you will notice, markets Samsung.

Samsung’s marketing folks carefully avoid mentioning Android and Google. They’re so good at it that they don’t even have to include it in footer copyright disclaimers.

What is Google doing to keep Android under its own wing? Nothing. Google releases Nexus devices every now and then but such devices, while being generally a bit more affordable than others, are not innovative. They’re average. Let me state this differently. Samsung phones are terrible. They barely stick together in one piece. Build quality is awful. Still they cost like an iPhone – or more. But at least Samsung is trying to innovate on the software side, with arguably mediocre results of course, but they’re at least trying. That’s why Samsung’s Android smartphones sell like candy. I still prefer Nexus, because I prefer a “pure Google experience”, but people are not me, and are buying Galaxy phones. Truckloads of Galaxy phones in fact.

Now, how is a Nexus 4 different from a Galaxy Nexus? Just negligible details. Faster hardware surely, and a different and probably better case, but nothing more. I just hope the rumored X Phone will be groundbreaking, otherwise Google will put the last nail in its own Android-branded coffin. Probably we’ll have more details at the next Google I/O conference in three weeks.

At any rate, Samsung is slowly, subtly pushing Google out of its own ecosystem. Samsung already has an app store for Android phones (I didn’t even know about it until today, but still). How long until they just quit delivering phones with Google Play? How long until they fork Android? How long until they start filing lawsuits against Google?

Now, it’s obviously more complex than that – Samsung and Google surely have agreements in place, and Samsung currently cannot afford to dump Google. Samsung needs Android, and Android/Google needs Samsung. But that’s today. What about tomorrow? I see Google is extremely weak as they stand now.

If you look at the big picture, it’s even scarier. Samsung produces all kinds of consumer electronics, but also medical equipment, chemicals, and… oil tankers. With 5x Google’s revenue, Samsung has immense firepower. They already are in most households with TVs, microwave ovens, and what-not, and in most pockets with phones and tablets.

What I see in my mind is Google gingerly playing with Android, and Samsung snatching it from the hands. “This is mine now. GTFO.”

10 Apr 2013 21:54

CyberStorm by Matthew Mather – Quick Review

No Comments — Filed in Reading, Thoughts

CyberStorm

I already wrote about Mather a while ago. He’s the author of the Atopia Chronicles series. I wouldn’t call it strictly SciFi, but it typically gets categorized as such. Categories are, by definition, approximations of reality.
Mather has recently published a new book: CyberStorm. I got an advance copy (thanks Matthew!), but I didn’t start it until a couple weeks ago. You see, I’m a slow reader.

I was skeptical at first. The title and book description didn’t seem much credible. I’m happy to say I was totally wrong.

Spoiler alert!

My point was, a global cyber attack that takes human civilization on the brink of destruction feels like a Hollywood b-movie – or a blockbuster, I’m not sure.

But CyberStorm is not a book about a cyber attack – or cyber storm. It’s a book, a story, about human nature. What drives women and men to do certain things and behave a certain way, is marginal. A cyber attack, while well-argued and plausible, is just an excuse to explore how we behave when we cannot communicate, when we are isolated, when what we take for granted crumbles to pieces. Technology is fragile, and becoming even more so with each passing day, and we’re permeated in it. When it’s not there anymore, or doesn’t work, we’re almost impaired, close to being unable to cope with simple problems, like feeding ourselves. Large conglomerations of humans – cities – are even more vulnerable to events that knock even basic technology off. Pack a large number of humans in a tight space with limited resources and no communications, and you get a mess. Sprinkle a few crumbles of wrong or incomplete information, and those same humans, used to be able to know everything at any time, go nuts.

Technology is fragile, and thus we are. I’m not saying we should start packing emergency supplies like there’s a cyber storm coming tomorrow, nor I’m suggesting we should dump technology and go back to the stone age – that would be stupid. I just think we should always remember that there might be… disruptions, and we should not allow them to kill us all.

Now a final note. Cyber war is real. Just Google “stuxnet” to learn how the US and Israel infected Iranian nuclear plants to physically break machines. The US already stated that they will respond to cyber attacks with physical actions (read: bombs). That’s fine. The point is, what happens in “cyberspace” (I hate that definition) is no longer relegated there. It can get physical. Just think about it – don’t be paranoid – but think about it.

So that’s a verbose way to say, go and read CyberStorm.

07 Apr 2013 18:53

New Android App: Silent Mode Bypass

No Comments — Filed in Android, Development

I’ve just published a new tiny, free Android app: Silent Mode Bypass.

This app does just one thing: disabling Silent or Vibration mode when you receive a phone call from a selected list of contacts. It’s useful for emergency calls that you must be absolutely sure to receive, typically at night, while still keeping everything else silent.

It’s very lightweight and does not affect battery life. There’s a background service always running, but it only uses around 3 MB of RAM and hardly any CPU time, because it does not run any code except when it gets a phone call broadcast intent.

On a side note, I’m specializing in writing niche apps that no one except me uses… On the plus side, I don’t get many complaints from users!

01 Apr 2013 15:08

Tablets Are For Content Consumption – Or Are They?

No Comments — Filed in Internet, Thoughts

If you try researching how people use smartphones and tablets, you’ll probably come up with the following:

  • smartphones are almost only for content consumption while on-the-go
  • tablets are almost only for content consumption in a more static context (couch surfing, anyone?).

I agree that I rarely produce content on my phone, except for communication – email, WhatsApp, Twitter, whatever. I’m pretty sure it’s the same for everyone.

Now think about this: what kind of content does Average Joe produce? Communication and… not much else.

While I hate writing a lengthy email on my phone, I tolerate it on my tablet. Let’s say that booting my PC is just not worth it. I’m pretty sure it’s the same for everyone. The only thing that you still can’t do on a tablet is, probably, something as complex as downloading your vacation pictures from your camera and uploading them to Facebook. But, if you think about it, it’s a problem as long as you use a separate device to take pictures. I bet smartphones are going to win, as they’re just more convenient and easy to use, and they’re almost as good as cameras at taking pictures. It’s a matter of time.

Some argue that tablets have killed the abomination commonly known as the netbook. It’s probably true. Try to remember the last time you’ve seen someone using – or eve owning – a netbook. They were a mirage of the “one PC on every lap” creed. Only, they lost to tablets.

Now, what can’t Average Joe do with a tablet, except the above-mentioned photo-uploading-from-camera-to-Facebook? Nothing.

Truth is, tablets are for producing content. Not any content, but most. I’d argue, all content Average Joe can imagine to produce. If you use mass transit, you’ll see lots of people with tablets. Reading, mostly, but some writing too – and they do this on a crowded train or subway. Microsoft got this right, and Surface’s Touch Cover is clever and covers (sic) the last missing bit between awkward and comfortable content production.

If you factor in battery duration, ease of interaction (touch!) and portability… tablets are going to win under every aspect.

PCs are going to become less common, and thus more expensive. But I already wrote about that:

Over time, we’ll switch from a world dominated by PCs capable of running just about anything, to a world of web-enabled devices. The only problem is that there will always be a part of the users that will need powerful computers. Developers, designers, architects, engineers, and so on. With PCs sales shrinking, PCs will get more and more expensive, and that will be a problem because if now with €2,000 you can get a monster PC, that will no longer be true in some years from now.

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