milkypink [dot] net

So I’ve fallen behind on 365photo stuff (again -_-) but that’s mostly because I’m running around trying to get ready for my trip to Japan at the end of the month

I’ve posted a bit on figure.fm and the community has been incredibly friendly and helpful so far! I’m sure there’s some nastiness lurking that I haven’t encountered yet, but as of right now I’m pleasantly surprised by everyone’s willingness to bring their knowledge to the discussions – even to people who’ve barely posted at all yet, like me!

While on figure.fm, I mentioned that I was interested in attending Osaka’s Home Town Dollpa that will take place on my second full day there. Still poking through the information on the HTD site, I hadn’t quite grasped what was required to go. Members (both in English and Japanese!) let me know that I might need a Volks Membership Card and the Guidebook for that event, as well as how the limited lottery system worked. I’d had some vague idea about Dollpas back when I was reading the Den of Angels forums regularly, but didn’t seriously consider going to one so that information was filed away in the back of my head and forgotten XD;
The responses came quickly and the tone didn’t feel at all condescending. (Some even wished for my success in obtaining a chance to buy DD Sakuno!)
As you can probably tell, I’m seriously impressed by the figure.fm community at the moment XD

In other news, I’ve been wavering on buying a new monitor – the Samsung P2570HD is top on that list, having basically every type of input I could want, removing my need for a separate TV (or continuing to endure with my 15″ Japanese TV, which, while it works, is not exactly what one would call “high quality” XD; ). It does have a DTV tuner which I don’t particularly need as I don’t watch much on cable directly (hulu is my friend!) but maybe it’ll be fun to play around with later~
My 19″ still works, and I do like it, but it’s 5 years old now and the resolution is sort of low (1280×1024, yes it’s not widescreen). I’ve toyed with the idea of having both hooked up to Emi at once… three screens for one computer…

The monitor will likely be my next big purchase, as other things that have caught my attention aren’t available and/or don’t exist yet:

• I still want a 64GB iPod Touch, preferably with a camera, which rumors are speculating will appear this Fall (likely also equipped with the new A4 processor that the iPad and iPhone 4 are using)
• Panasonic released the specs for the Lumix LX5, the successor to the LX3 that I’ve seen bloggers using (Danny Choo, Puppy52/Chun and Xiaxue just as examples – I know Xiaxue’s moved on to a different camera, and I think Danny uses his GF1 more now, but my point still stands). I’m still not quite ready to jump into the DSLR deep-end, even with the skinny micro fourthirds cameras that exist, but I don’t know if the LX5 would be too much of a lateral move for me or not. Mainly I’m interested in the low-light capabilities. Well, we’ll see how I feel when the camera’s been properly reviewed…
• DD Sakuno, a limited release at HTD6Osaka. Mostly I like her headmold which I want to steal to stick on a DDdy body for a girl I’ve been considering creating in MDD form but I think she’d be mad if I made her into a smaller body… Plus then Aryanna can have a fullsize friend! >_> I wonder how the face sizes will compare… hopefully it won’t be too jarring seeing them next to each other! (Arya’s got big eyes and is borderline 2Dstyle herself so I’m thinking it should be okay~)

I’m only holding back on the monitor purchase because I don’t need it, but I’ve been researching it and currently there’s a nice deal going on that I’d like to take advantage of…

I think I’ll make a post later about something that I’ve been thinking about for the past day or so: writing to the audience, or, adjusting your style to fit in with a community. (I’ll probably start writing it now, but it won’t post until tomorrow. Got to spread out my inspiration or else I’ll have twenty posts on one day and then nothing for the rest of the month…. )

Tags: figure.fm, htd6osaka, lx3, lx5, monitors

 

I enjoy last-generation (or last^2-generation) games, as anyone who started on them might, but I don’t feel a burning nostalgia for the Days of Yore in which single games came on multiple discs, or even cartridges that would get dust in them or would generally be fickle so you’d jam it in and wiggle it around a bit before getting it to work.

I like the games, yeah, but the media can go recycle itself.

I understand that vinyl records have a very specific sound quality to them, but I’m not convinced they’re higher quality than digital recordings, or even better quality (I’m differentiating a quantitative “higher” in which bit rates, etc are better and “better” which is less numbers and more of a “the overall feel is nicer” fuzzy kinda logic). I did listen to some records as a kid, most notably some Alfred Hitchcock stories I to this day still do not understand (XD) and some Copland pieces. My father’s digitized most or all of his collection by now, I think.

VHS, SNES, N64, even cassette tapes which I grew up on – I don’t feel any kind of awe for them, or strong emotional attachment. They’re just stuff. Moving the data from one form to another doesn’t make a difference to me – if the bits are intact then the source is the same as far as I’m concerned. Easier to back up, too.

I’m not saying I dislike all physical media, because I can’t quite seem to move away from tangible books, but media that’s already halfway there to digital may as well be all the way there. (If I had grown up on books that were sold on little cartridges you stuck in a handheld reader I’d probably be perfectly fine with moving away from that, to be honest.) I’m a little wary of digital media that won’t let you back it up due to DRM or other madness, but in general if I can make two or three copies in the event that something happens to the originals, I’m 100% fine with digital-only media.

Physical media just seems to have so many limitations – I’m sure even after I get my Lucky Star box set I’ll probably still watch my sub files because I can chuck them all in a playlist and run them straight through without having to change discs. I might also rip the DVDs and do the same. … Come to think of it, I really ought to do that for other series, too. Anyway, the point is I like to have free reign over my stuff and just let it run… as you might’ve observed by my occasional tendency to stick my entire 10k iTunes library on shuffle and let it fly. XD

So why don’t I own a PSP GO (I’ve no idea how to format that idiotic name) or the DSi?
Well for one, the DSi currently only comes in this awful hot pink (okay it’s not a bad hot pink but I really want light pink, sakura-pink, milky pink) and the LL (sorry, “XL”) exists in black and brown of all colors. (As a side note, why is it always brown? Why not white or blue or ANY other damn color? Are there really that many people who want brown electronics? It looks like it’s perpetually dirty!) Yes, maybe it’s petty but I want cute electronics and I will not bend! Years of nothing but black, grey and that hideous cream that every single computer tower seemed to be made out of in the 90s…. I want COLOR! Okay, truthfully I want pink but you get my point.

Will I chuck out my DS carts when Nintendo handhelds go digital-only? Eh, probably not, mostly because they’re tiny and there’s little point in paying twice for a game I already own. I’ve only got a few PSP games as it is, so assuming Sony doesn’t go nuts with DRM/copy protection I have no issues downloading games rather than buying UMDs.

Do I still buy CDs? Yes, but actually I tend to mainly buy CDs I’m forced to import, which now that I think about it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense since I could just buy iTunes cards or something and get music that way… but I think I shyed away from using iTunes too much back when it was full of DRM. I get most of my downloaded English music from amazon.com – I’ll only use iTunes if it’s the only place I can find it. I understand that currently CDs are actually much better quality, but I feel like in the future that might not be the case, if we move away from physical media more completely.

The only media I haven’t moved to digital with is books, something I’ve discussed in part before. The Kindle is not my ideal reader, nor is the nook, although it was an exciting step in the right direction. The format is keeping things too separate – there’s no one universal “book” format that you can easily convert to, unlike mp3s. You can’t download a book from amazon and use it on your nook, or from b&n and use it with your Kindle. It’ll probably take some time before that media war settles down and the consumer gets to win again. So I’m not ready to switch over just yet. It’s tempting, really tempting, but I can’t justify it at the moment.

Plus, you know, I like the feel of books. (But that’s not a very concrete-type argument XD;)

I’ll make a post about the phone itself later, but right now it’s deco time! :D

Nothing was stuck to the phone itself, and instead I used a pink hard cover bought from eBay. If I had used a black or clear cover the difference between the phone and the cover would be less noticeable, but for my purpose I think the pink worked out fine. Just keep that in mind when you’re deco’ing!

I used epoxy glue this time, a kind called Z-Poxy. This stuff smells poisonous (x_x) Well, at least the hardener really did. My #1 recommendation for epoxy gluing is MAKE SURE YOU CAN OPEN WINDOWS (or provide another form of sufficient ventilation). I’m serious, not only will it smell awful, but I’m pretty sure the fumes are not all that great for you to be inhaling. I had to take breaks and completed this deco over the course of a couple days, rather than 6-7 hours straight like my previous phone, where I used the glue provided by Strapya.

My epoxy glue was 30-minute set, so I would mix a small amount of the liquids, cover a small patch of the phone and decorate it. If there was too much glue and it set before I had a chance to stick anything to it, I just put more glue over it and continued. I didn’t find any problems with this process, although I did tend to use a fairly thin layer of glue when applying. Before the glue sets, you can slide things around a little to position them perfectly. I did find that even after the glue set, it was still possible for pieces to be bumped or misaligned, so please be careful in holding your deco surface after applying parts!

My materials were a plastic nut canister top, which I used as a glue mixing surface, some toothpicks for actually mixing the glue and applying to the cover, and some tweezers for moving the deco parts.

After all portions of the cover had been completed and the glue completely set (I waited an hour or two from the final portion, I think) I coated the entire thing with clear nail polish to secure the hold. Even though epoxy glue has a very strong hold, if a tiny piece is subject to external pressure it might fall off – adding a clearcoat bonds it to the surrounding parts, greatly decreasing the chance that anything will be accidentally lost. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT NAIL POLISH IS MUCH LESS VISCOUS THAN EPOXY GLUE! This means that if you’re gluing directly to an electronic’s surface, you need to be really careful about small holes and gaps in the casing as the polish will just drip in and might damage the internal elements. I felt safe doing this with my casing because it was NOT attached to the phone while I was decorating it.

If you have any further questions about this project, feel free to leave me a comment!

And here’s the final result:

I tend to like a very cluttered random deco style XD

I cover not only the back, but also all sides.

This is a bit of fail on my part – I thought I had more tinytiny pieces than just the clear/silver bits (u_u;)

Okay, I think that’s just about every possible angle XDD

Most, if not all parts (minus the tiny silver ones and the stars) were bought from Mimi Lo Lo on Etsy ♥! She has a great selection and ships pretty fast :D

or, Why I (Probably) Won’t Ever Buy an iPhone

• 1. Storage space. If, indeed, the iPhone is to be my ultimate all-in-one device, it needs to match up with my mp3 player storage expectations, which currently reside at 64GBs. “That’s unreasonable!” you say. But wait, there’s more!
• 2. Battery life. While I’m out, I listen to music nearly constantly, with the exceptions of plane takeoff/landing and some other small periods of time. On top of that, add cell phone data usage, possible calls (although not many, as I hate using phones for voice), and app/game usage and the battery really needs to last quite a long time. It’s not likely to. This is one of the biggest problems with all-in-one devices, in my opinion.
• 3. Multitasking. The iPhone (and indeed, the iPod Touch and iPad) cannot multitask. That is, it can’t run multiple apps at once. Yes, you can be on the phone and use an app, but you can’t run things in the background. I believe the argument against this was it would zap battery life (see above) but in the end, isn’t that the user’s choice? Except, with Apple, users don’t know best.
• 4. Ability to tweak. Apple enjoys being the ultra dictator of its mobile tech – they tell you what you can and cannot install and if you do anything to subvert this you are breaking the law, according to Apple, anyway. Certainly you put your device at risk if you choose to deviate from recommended settings and software, but this is your prerogative as a user. I certainly have no desire to brick my phone, but I’d like the option to install any program that catches my attention, not just ones sanctioned by Apple.
• 5. Physical keyboard. Admittedly this condition might go away if I got more used to on-screen keyboards, but right now I can’t imagine not having one in a pinch. Not to mention, using my phone of choice, I’m able to actually tilt the screen to view while still having access to a keyboard on a flat surface. It’s like a very tiny computer! (Well technically, that’s exactly what it is.)

In the end, maybe, somewhere, sometime, I may end up owning an iPhone. But it likely won’t happen in the next couple years.

Tags: apple, digi.tech, iphone

 

055

Pink USB drive, pre-deco

056

pink “netbook accessory set” – tiny mouse!

057

an interesting disclaimer on a jacket I bought (it’s not a bug, it’s a feature!)

058

pink USB drive, post-deco. not the best deco job, but I just wanted it to stop being that weird pink color.

059

pink rose hair clip.

I’ve discussed before why the previous version of the iPod Touch wasn’t enough for me, but I still don’t own one, even though those requirements were met.

Why?

Because the Touch really ought to have a camera.

The more I think about this, the more it makes sense. Not only are companies sticking mp3 players into everything (including even tasers), but cameras are becoming ubiquitous. It’s true that smartphone companies need to make non-camera versions for people who work in high security clearance jobs, but every phone has the option to have one. Most computers and netbooks have built-in webcams, admittedly frequently pretty poor quality ones, but that’s beside the point.

Cameras are everywhere.
Including, as of Sept ’09, the Nano, which Apple introduced to a lot of confusion. Even saying it’s a Flip Mino competitor seems like a stretch to me.
Surely this is an affront to the more advanced Touch, which actually has the ability to utilize a camera in interesting ways via apps.
Why would a higher-end product get short shifted, while the entry-to-mid-level product stands out as actually getting an upgrade?

Theory one immediately brings one to think of another very similar Apple device, the iPhone.
To many, the Touch is just steps away from being an iPhone without the contract. Indeed, the insides are quite similar, minus the obvious difference of cellular capability and storage.
But the iPhone has a camera, and the Touch does not.
With the addition of a mic and speaker, the Touch inches closer and closer to being the contract-free iPhone many are wanting.
Why would Apple want to keep these two devices separate?
True, the iPhone is a pricier device, but most of the money spent on it actually goes to the carrier, not Apple (unless they are paying far more to Apple than I’m thinking). Would they really lose out so much?

Theory two popped up days before the announcement.
There was an issue getting the camera to fit/function properly. But why would there be such a late delay? Surely they would have worked out things much earlier, having planned the release date far in advance.
But technological mishaps are not always predictable, or easy to fix, so while a bit of a stretch, it’s plausible. And this rumor arrived just in time to make people feel very disappointed about the Touch receiving little to no improvements over the previous generation. The Nano getting a camera was just rubbing salt in the wounds.

Will the Touch get a camera in the next iteration?
I certainly hope so.
Do I need a camera in my mp3 player?
No, but the Touch is more than just an mp3 player – it is the gateway to hours of entertainment fueled by both music & movies as well as games & other apps.

I won’t buy a Touch until a camera is added (or, I suppose, my Gen5 iPod bites the dust hard – it’s chugging along, still) because I feel that if I do, Apple will finally add one right afterwards.
Tech is always advancing, so having the “newest stuff” as a condition only lasts about a month or less.. unless you have a lot of cash to burn (and I would note that such a method of spending is largely a waste), but when you can see an improvement coming (such as the storage upgrade), it is better to wait for it than to buy now and regret it later.

I look forward to the day when I can write up a review for an iPod Touch with a camera ♥

Please make it happen, Apple!

So! As you may remember, I am still out one fully functional laptop computer. Ai is a nice stopgap, but she’s really for travel and is less than spectacular for heavy video viewing.
Enter Sony’s CW series – the latest refresh to their C line that caught my attention way back with the ability to have a pink (!) laptop. In the end, I chose the white giant that was Shirayukihime (a customized FZ series) due to various factors and although she died, I’m still, for some reason, considering another Sony laptop. No hope for me, really.
The specs and pricing look good; my current preferred spec set is as follows:

• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz) (6MB L2 Cache! ♥)
• Genuine Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional 64bit (choosing this for XP compat ability & also for Fresh Start)
• Poppy Pink (like I would chose any other color, really. if the pink is hideous I might go the white route but I’m hoping it’s okay XD)
• 320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm) (I could go the 500GB route, but to be honest I’d rather have a large external drive than a huge internal one, so)
• 4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066 (not overkilling here, I can add more RAM later to suit my needs)
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT230M GPU (512MB VRAM) (pretty powerful vid card, which means Sims ♥)
• CD/DVD playback/burning (not going with the BluRay drive because, not sure I would use it.)
• Fresh Start (a.k.a. no Sony bloatware, free trials, etc. gunk-free lappy? yes plz!)
• Standard Capacity Battery (VGP-BPS13) (I’m debating whether to go the extended life batt on this, only $50 more for 6hrs vs 4hrs, so. hmm.)

I’m tempted to wait a bit to see if Sony offers any deals with the holiday season coming up, as well as keep an eye out for potential issues with this model – orders just opened yesterday, so no one’s got theirs yet, I think. For that purpose, I stalk the forums at notebookreview.com – they were very helpful with information about the FZ series, and there was even a walkthrough explanation for how to disassemble (which was handy when I wanted to clean out the dust).

In other digi.tech news, I think I’ve pretty firmly decided that until the iPod touch has a camera (which I suspect will happen post-x-mas) I’m not upgrading. I suppose, unless, my current iPod bites the dust, but it’s a pretty sturdy piece of tech, so that looks unlikely :D

And finally, in the most exciting news, Barnes & Noble has released their own ebook reader, called Nook. It’s quite similar to the Kindle, but with some important differences:

• two screens, but, not the way you are thinking. on top, an e-ink screen. on bottom, a capacitive color touchscreen ♥♥ which is spectacular.
• microSD card slot, which means you could have a potentially infinite number of books/files
• pdf support! ahhh… so nice…
• supposedly will use ePub format? which is not too bad (better than Amazon’s format, anyway, DRM still included presumably)
• lending books to friends this, I am SO excited about. I mean, okay, I don’t lend out books a whole lot, but just, the acknowledgment of that’s what people do with books is ♥
• easy switching between Nook, PC, iPod Touch, etc. etc. (the PC addition is important, Kindle’s only got iPod Touch/iPhone)
• wireless provided by AT&T, which, I don’t really care too much about what company does this, but it’s worth noting

Basically? I’m currently stupidly excited about this tech for no easily explainable reason. But I will hold back! and wait for the device to actually SHIP and get used by some early adopters (a.k.a guinea piggies) before seriously approaching the purchasing process. I mean, it’s not even shipping until Nov 30th, so. Naturally, if it’s awesome supply will be short for holidays but I think I will live. I’m thinking it would be most useful for things like my Japan 2010 trip, so there’s enough time between then and, say, July for supply to meet demand. XD

So, it’s been a couple weeks (more?) since I last updated this. I’m pretty sure “Sporadic Updates” would be my middle name, if I didn’t already have one.

Apple did release a 64GB iPod Touch, and I am tempted to buy it. However, because of all of the camera rumors (supported by a disassembling of the new Touch) I think I am ultimately still going to hold off. An image Zannah posted on plurk cemented my thoughts pretty well – making mention to the fact that Apple may be planning to just sell bunches of new Touches only to release one with a camera post-holiday season. (It isn’t as though such a thing hasn’t happened before – the 32GB Touch was released this way.)

So I’m going to wait. And even if one doesn’t come out post-holiday, it’s sure to have gotten at least a bit cheaper by then anyway… win-win really I suppose XD
Getting a new, more functional laptop is most important at the moment anyway. Ai is cute and everything but she has some problems…. and I’m probably working her too hard, realistically speaking. October is my target month, a little after Windows 7 has been released. After that point, it’s just a matter of good specs and the best deal.

In the meantime… I’ll occupy myself making jewelry.

Okay so it’s almost September.

Last time I remember, it was just the beginning of August.

There were, of course, a couple weeks of Family Time in there so that probably sucked up most of the month.



But, September! That is exciting.



If you are wondering why, then you probably don’t have an iPod and/or are not waiting to upgrade your mp3 player to one.



Finally, finally, finally! my desires for a 64GB iPod touch will be fulfilled. The iPhone has increased to 32GB, and on top of that, rumors are flying about the touch getting a camera (?!) and a microphone! I am so glad I waited XD

But I’ll post more about that when it’s released and I buy one, likely in the next couple of weeks.

Instead, I’d like to talk about my experience with my netbook-as-laptop-replacement so far.
In general, it’s not bad. I can still do all of my net stuff, listen to music, and work on creative projects. All good things.
However, there are one or two things that are really bothering me.
1) Video playback is subpar to impossible. Streaming is by far the best method for watching stuff, but even that is laggy.
2) Any form of gaming is pretty much impossible. Lately I’ve been missing the Sims, and wondering about The Sims 3, which, of course would not at all work on this underpowered machine.

So, it’s not perfect, and really, it’s not meant to be a permanent replacement. But I am reaching my limit.
Even though companies like Dell are offering free Win 7 upgrades, that’s not all I’m holding out for.
I’m waiting for technology to move just a little further, for deals to get just a little better, and to find a machine that really makes me feel completely confident that it’s what I want, and will want for the next 2-3 years (at a minimum).

Occasionally I’ll peak at company websites, compare configurations and prices, but nothing’s struck me as perfect yet.
The wait is feeling longer and longer, but maybe some new shiny tech will help tide me over for a while :D

No, I’m not screaming.

I mean, Eee.

Just three Es.

Surely you know what that means?







Do you know now?







New computer! Well, netbook.



She’s an Eee PC 1005ha-v, in pink, naturally.

Right now she’s a replacement for a normal laptop (mine had a major meltdown about two weeks ago now) and is holding up pretty well. Video is the only aspect that really falters – watching 480i on crunchyroll is painful, but standard definition is fine. I do plan on buying a new fullsize laptop (13-15″, haven’t decided what yet) but I’m holding out until at least October when Windows 7 will be released. This also gives a chance for hardware to change up a little more – the way things are now, components aren’t much better than my laptop from two years ago.











Here she is with some of her friends, a pink Western Digital external hdd and pink wireless mouse with tiny receiver.







Closeup on the indicator lights: (L-R) power, battery, hdd, wireless, capslock











This small detail is something I love about the design – look closely – the pink gradually turns to white rather than abruptly changing. <3







The touchpad has little bumps all over it, which took a little getting used to.











The SD card slot doesn’t spring-eject, so I’m not a big fan of it edit: it appears it does spring-eject! but at the beginning it certainly didn’t. So I’m not sure what caused it to suddenly start working XD;

It came with this cute little white fake SD card in the slot XD