So I've been looking at all these PMPs that have been churned out into the market. I don't get why all of them just have to seek ID3 tags from music files and then sort them accordingly. Why can't I just play by browsing thru files and folders? And by Jove, do I really have to stand the atrocity of softwares like iTunes and SonicStage? Do I really deserve that kind of punishment for something I paid for? SonicStage is just fugly. I mean, for all the crapness it is, at least make it pleasing to the eye! Ahem, brb. *A loud crashing noise is heard* Ah, so where was I? Ah yes, PMPs.

After owning an iPod (thereby being a consumerwhore for a while) and a Sony NW-S705 (it's a nice piece of equipment; for something that great hardware wise, they could employ some common sense and have ole drag-n-drop OR let 3rd parties come up with much better ideas and thereby cutting costs and firing those blasted programmers). Wonderful stuff, equipment wise. I wouldn't have gotten "rid" of them (I pushed them away to my parents) if I could just get something decent to transfer my files over. ATRAC, IMO, is wonderful.

My hunt for the "perfect" DAP continues. I could've stopped long before, when I came across the Creative Zen Vision:M, but the only thing that kept me away was the ID3 tag sortage. Along came teh Meizu M6. Some reviewer, I forget who, mentioned that it could browse files ID3 tag wise AND file/folder wise. It pretty much sold itself after that - the looks, the interface, everything just added. It's in fact the first Chinese company I've come across that actually has something really cool design wise and package wise. The GUI could use a better font, but I'm not complaining. Nothing is perfect anyway.

To add to it, I heard the Meizu M6 SE is in the mill. Let's see how that turns out, and if I lay my hands on it, I'ma review it(Gosh so many in my to-review list. But what can I do? I don't have an option other than purchasing it, and to purchase it would mean I need the munnies, and that means I need time. But it does seem like I'm going to have a flurry of them in the end!). Heck, what have I got to lose? So stick around if you'd like.

EDIT!!: Oooh! Linux support! Now that's SUCH a first (IMHO)! Japanese support too. Even the non-SE is perfect in so many respects that I don't really see a reason to get the SE, other than the slimmer body.

Hang on, haaaang on - got some lo-down on the SE by some mere googling(I'm so styuupid)...Just head over to Meizu ME's Thread on the M6 SE. Nuff Said

So I've been away for a considerably long time. With all these rains in Kerala, and the Chikungunya and Dengue Fever epidemics spreading it's been tough staying at home. Moreover, there were a lot of personal things I had to attend to and it was a long time since I had any access to the internet. Let's just say that I'm glad to be back.

In my boredom, I've conjured up ridiculous thoughts like owning a Nokia N95 (which I threw out the window when I learnt that the price was not coming down any time soon) or an Ocean (which, remarkably, is still under serious scrutiny - I can at least get it, feel it and stuff, and promptly return it within 30 days). Also, since I already own a K800i, I've taken to "photo"copying (ie, copying by taking a photo; as opposed to the Xerox) lab reports and homework assignments and some other stuff. This results in quite a remarkable number of pictures that can be resized and used for my academic pleasure. Which brought my thoughts around to acquiring a UMPC.

I do own a laptop; a 17-inch beast christened "Benihime". The beast, sadly, has a beastly battery life that settles between an hour and a percent-per-minute. And it gives out hot tufts of air from the back. It also weighs in at 9lbs along with the power adapter, making portability not an option. Anyways, coming back to the point. A UMPC. I find that a touch screen and a keyboard is a must have. After searching for a bit, the Kohjinsha SA1 series seems to do the trick. It comes in at $1099+shipping+insurance [which I think makes it around 1250 the most]. It looks really good, and this is what intend to do with it: Take pictures, load it up on that, and start working. Also, I could also load up pdfs and study my stuff too. Ultra portable too - just over 2 pounds. My only worry is whether the screen would be too small. I think I should be okay though, because I've seen teh Vaio UX and it only has a 4.5" screen. The Kohjinsha with a 7" should be better, and bigger and perhaps perfect. Although the hardware isn't the greatest, it delivers with battery life. If I buy a UMPC anytime soon, it's going to be this. Nevermind the small keyboard - I won't be typing up a thesis on that or anything. And it has bluetooth and WLAN. One word: Irresistible.

Now, here's another thing. When I got back, I found that the PS3 dropped by $100, making it more attractive than ever. Since I want to be a game dev, I know that I should be a gamer in order to think like one. Maybe I'll still stick to gaming on the PC for now; but man I'm loving the PS3 now. It's such a competition to the XBOX360Elite. Sadly, no good games - yet. I'd love a modded PS3, and until the modding scene isn't bubbling, I daresay I'm staying aloof. I seriously considered getting one, but taking into account my living circumstances, I find the UMPC much more suited. Besides, I don't think I'll be able to do the PS3's price justice YET.

By Jove, I'm just downright bad in money management.

P.S.: You bet I'll review both the Ocean and the Kohjinsha SA1 when I own 'em. Who for, I do not know. Maybe someone would gander and comment. Meanwhile, my XML is going stale. *Sigh*

Still pursuing the prospect of creating my own Trillian skin. Haven't made much progress on the coding side of the project - after all, all I've managed is some really basic HTML skill and just tested the JavaScript waters. Still a long way to go; it's going to be a while. I could very well rip Whistler, but I don't think that's something a good dev would do. Don't intend to be a pirate y'know :wink wink:

On the GUI side of affairs, I think I'll give it the ole Parchment Paper style. Maybe try to use a classic curly font like "Old English Text MT" or "Vivaldi" or "Edwardian Script ITC" or "French Script MS" [okay, okay, I pressed {windows/start key}+R and typed "winword" and went through ALL the fonts I have installed; but so what? It's besides teh point anyways!]. Now the question is - how are the edges going to look? I'm personally quite against the curls on the top and bottom; I'd rather have them burnt. I'll turn to Photoshop for that. What kind of symbols do I use for "minimize," "maximize," "close," and "hide"? I'll have to sleep on that one. And teh scroll bar? Hmm...

Now, that reminds me - I need tutorials and more. I think teh pattern that I found over at DA [in my hectic googling attempts] is going to help me. I haven't installed it yet, so I'll prolly include all that info in ver.2 of this report. I also found myself some other tutorials. Wonder how I can integrate all that and come up with something satisfactory. I also *may* need a substitute for "Send" - "onsenden" is the Old English counterpart, but that's a mouthful and doesn't flow right out of the tongue either. Not to mention the fact that it is without a drop of humor.


All in all, I think it's time to start concepting the GUI!

Oh hey, wait a minute! Here's a preview-that-looks-like-it's-done-in-5-minutes-but-took-me-50-minutes-
to-make-because-I-don't-know-Jack-about-photoshop-and-because-I -had-to-google-for-patterns-and-a-number-of-other-dumb-excuses. It's just the IM box, but hey, whatev~

P.S.: A friend o' mine sez it luks liek en RPG game window. (_ _)