So today, I received in the mail my very own Sony Bravia HDTV.

It’s 32 inches wide, 20 inches high, has 7 HD inputs, and supports 1080p video. It is phenomenal. Being one of Sony’s new 2010 model Bravia HDTV’s, I’d expect no less. This is my  first Sony HDTV (coming from Samsung and ASUS), and though it’s only been a few hours, I’m pleased so far.

Quick specs:

• Full 1080p HD LCD
• 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 24p True Cinema™ technology
• 5.1 surround sound output
• Ambient light sensor
• 4x HDMI inputs
• 1x Coaxial input
• 1x USB 2.0 input
• 2x 20-watt integrated speakers
• 140,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio

It took a bit of tweaking to make the display look perfect with my mid-2009 unibody Macbook Pro, but once I made it look nice, it was incredible. I turned off the Ambient light sensor and power save when I first turned this on. I don’t want my TV to be any less bright than I want it to be, ever. You see, I watch movies and TV shows (in HD) quite often, and I want to enjoy every pixel as it was meant to be enjoyed.

Update: After a weekend of viewing, computing, and tweaking the color settings to make this look perfect, I think I’ve gotten pretty close. White colors are still a bit intense, and the color seems a tiny bit washed out in places, but I expect that’s the gamma settings on my Mac OS display settings for the Sony Bravia, not the TV itself. Otherwise, HD movies looks phenomenal, but with HD quality comes a better realization that not everything is in HD. Images, videos, etc. in SD look pixelated at times. Not a huge deal, though. I might re-tweak the colors this weekend.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my purchase. I can’t imagine a better TV for the money I spent. Time will tell if this TV/monitor deserves the praise and attention I’ve given it so far.

I need a wall mount for this before I go blind, though, damn.

“… and the sun is high. All the angels singin’ cuz you’re gonna die!” -Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible, Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog

So, on that joyous note (no, seriously, go watch that mini-series), I’d like to announce the launch of my new website, which may or may not take precedence over this blog in the near future.

Go see it! <<<<< GO NOW!

Thanks to Cavawood Architectural Products for hosting!

I actually built the Cavawood site as well, so go check that out if you’re speccing your next outdoor lighting project and are looking for a great-looking, natural set of lighting fixture poles!

Until next time.

I’ve been using this site, Retail Me Not, and its sister site, Bug Me Not, for a while, and figured I’d mention them on here.

Basically, the sites function as follows:

BugMeNot: Enter a website address you need a login for, and multiple logins will be displayed for you to use freely. Logins work 90% of the time, but some sites are blocked from the BMN or just have bad logins. It’s a rare occasion if I come across a site I can’t find a login for.

RetailMeNot: A great resource for discounts, generally for online shopping. RMN provides codes and lists specials from sites such as Amazon, Apple, and NewEgg. Some examples of recent discounts and deals can be found to the right of this post.

That’s it! Enjoy! Fun fact: I got $25 to Threadless for posting this!

Look who finally arrived.

Coming April 12, 2010

Adobe Creative Suite 5 is looming on the horizon…

Learn more and see feature demos here.

The Content-Aware Fill feature will blow your mind.

Well, it’s a new week, and I’ve got two more 2G iPhones coming in to be fixed. These ones are mine, this time; I purchased them from another guy who fixes 3G’s in Denver. Good deal, too. $100 for two 8GB iPhones. Perfect condition — except the glass.

Anyways, I’ll have photos of the fixed iPhones up here when I finish, as always.

Also, I recently printed some business cards and flyers to try to get more people interested in Apple Assist. Yup, the old name is being resurrected for this iPhone fixing venture. I’m going to try to expand to a wider range of people this summer… Should be fun.

Update: A friend of mine just got an iPhone 2G, and there’s a little crack on the glass, so he’s going to pay me to fix it for him. At a discount, of course.

Current iPhone (fixed) count: 8

Current iPhone (waiting) count: 1

So you’re considering getting something tattooed somewhere on your body, but you’re not sure whether to or not. Let me guide your decision.

Here’s a few things to think about, to start.

1. Why do you want a tattoo? Consider why you want one. Is it because your friends are getting tattoos? Is it because you truly want one? Think before you dive into something you’ll regret years down the road.
2. Where is the tattoo going? Generally, you’re going to want to get a tattoo in a place where an employer can’t see it during a job interview, or where it won’t be shown off at a formal event.
3. What does the tattoo mean to you? Think about what the tattoo will mean to you when it’s finished, and if the message will still be the same in twenty years.

General rules to remember:

• Think about what your tattoo will look like in 20 years. Seriously consider that point.
• Don’t copy someone else’s tattoo. Be original!
• The key word in “tramp stamp” (horizontal middle-lower back tattoo) is tramp.
• Don’t get Japanese/Chinese kanji tattoos. Even if you do know what the kanji means, they’re very tacky and widely overused. I’ve studied Japanese for 6 years, and even I hate the idea.
• Don’t tattoo someone’s name or face on your body. Trust me. Nobody wins in this scenario.
• Don’t go near a tattoo parlor when you’re drunk. Most decent places will reject intoxicated patrons, but you never know who may want to make a quick buck off your idiocy.
• Try to design (or at least brainstorm) the tattoo yourself. It makes it more personal. If you have no artistic ability, tattoo artists will usually design your tattoo for free.
• Most importantly, relax! The first half of the tattooing process will not be fun, believe me, but it’s well worth the discomfort.

What does it feel like?

Honestly, different people feel slightly different sensations, but here’s what you can generally expect:

• Outlining – feels like someone is outlining something on you with the tip of a white-hot knife blade
• Coloring/filling – feels like someone is dragging a half-inch wide white-hot knife blade across the surface of your skin.

But remember:

• Tattoos that cross bones – ribs, shoulder blades, your spine, etc. – will hurt like no other.
• You will bleed if you’re getting anything but a simple outline. Not much, though.
• Relax relax relax. This is key.

Basic steps during the tattooing process:

1. The area to be tattooed is cleaned/shaved/disinfected.
2. The artist will press the prepared design stencil to your body, creating an outline template sort of thing.
3. The artist tells you to relax, then starts outlining the tattoo.
4. You hear buzzing! You feel a sharp pain.
5. It keeps going.
6. Coloring comes next, whether it be during another appointment or right after the outlining.
7. More sharp pain, but spread out this time.
8. You bleed.
9. The artist finishes, and you look in admiration at your tattoo as if you did it all yourself.
10. You pay a large sum of cash to the artist (don’t forget the tip!).

To close, here’s a picture of the tattoo I got a year ago. Yes, I love it. No regrets here, kiddies.

If you’re wondering, I got this tattoo at Magnetic in Loveland, CO. My artist (who is amazing) was Ishmael, aka “Ish”. Huge props to him for this.

Quick background: I had a grand idea for this tattoo, with the Japanese rising sun coming from my shoulder with a koi interwoven in the rays. Ish was kind enough to redesign my idea (and not tell me until the day of), which thankfully turned out great. This tattoo took four hours over two sessions, and cost around $450. Looking back, I have no regrets, and to this day am happy I’ve taken such good care of it. It doesn’t look as vibrant as it did that first week, but damnit, it’s my koi, and I adore it.

Update: Finished ANOTHER iPhone. Record time: 25 minutes. (Forgive the smudges. I have to let the glass and silicone set.)

Update: Finished yet another iPhone, in a record 2 hours! Very happy about that.

I recently got another call for a Macbook hard drive upgrade. Hmm. Could be interesting.

My new favorite tools (heat gun and art knife):

The most recent iPhone fix (first T-Mobile iPhone I’ve ever seen!):

More soon.

For those of you not familiar with HTC’s, Motorola’s, and other manufacturer’s phones running what is called the “Android OS”, here’s a quick rundown of what it is and why the two versions of it are so great.

But first, vocabulary you’re going to want to familiarize yourself with:

Important Terms

• Android OS: Google’s open-source operating system based on Linux and used by cell phone users all over the world
• Sense UI: a user interface designed and implemented by HTC that runs on all HTC-branded phones and the Google Nexus One, laid over the default Android interface
• Android UI: the user interface designed and implemented into the core Android OS by Google, used on all other Android phoness
• MotoBlur UI: a third, less common UI, very social networking-based, for phones like the Cliq, Devour, and Backflip

Phones

• Droid: a Motorola phone for the Verizon Wireless network, one of the most powerful Android-branded consumer phones, with slide-out keyboard
• Nexus One: Google’s first cell phone, running on T-Mobile, one of the most powerful Android phones currently available
• Hero: a popular HTC phone for the Sprint and GSM networks, with the bottom “lip”
• Eris: another Verizon Wireless Android device, running Android v1.6, has a Nexus One-like form factor
• Desire/Legend: two similar HTC phones that have yet to be released; promise to be the best Android phones yet
• Cliq: a Motorola slider phone running on T-Mobile, includes the MotoBlur UI
• Devour: a Motorola slider phone with MotoBlur, coined “the Droid’s little brother”, running on Verizon Wireless
• Backflip: AT&T’s first Android phone, includes the MotoBlur UI and a very unique design

So, what is the Android UI? Basically, it’s what most Android users are seeing on their phones if they have any phone such as the Motorola Droid and Google G1. The real distinguishing feature about the Android UI is how industrial it looks. It’s very clean-cut, uses matte colors, orange highlights, green checkmark and radio buttons, and a lot of silver and dark grey interface elements. Here’s an example:

This is an example of the 2.0 firmware Android lockscreen, found on the Motorola Droid. This is one of the better examples of the Android v2.0 UI’s flashy interface elements.

This shows what the screen on a Droid might look like while docked in a desktop dock. Android v2.0+ has a unique interface when docked that allows users to access, music, photo slideshows, and alarm clock settings, as well as weather, straight from the dock interface.

This is what a typical Android v2.0+ settings menu looks like. As all Android-based interfaces, it is very simple, easy to navigate, and the icon metaphors are east to decipher.

This is an example of the older v1.5 – v1.6 Android interface. Very plain, and sort of feels like an old Linux distribution. Good thing, too, because the Android OS is actually based on Linux.

So all in all, the default Android interface has come a long way from 1.5 to 2.0, and we have yet to see a good many changes come with 2.1 (whenever that is). Maybe not interface-related changes, per say, but it’s very possible that the Droid, which runs Android v2.0.1 and the default Android UI, might get some sort of Sense UI upgrade in the near future.

And now, Sense UI… My favorite. The Sense UI is an HTC-created interface that is laid over the Android system to make it look beautiful. Some people may disagree, but this being my personal blog, if you don’t like the Sense UI, you have no soul, and no sense of great design. Sense is gorgeous. Let me explain.

Let’s start with the lock screen.

It’s simple, it’s elegant, and it’s not obtrusive if you’ve got a background image you want to see when you turn your phone on.

Press the bar and drag down to unlock the phone. This version is the HTC Hero version of the lockscreen. The Droid Eris has more of a curved version of the clock/unlock bar that’s shown above.

This is what a Sense UI phone’s home screen looks like. The icons are a style fitting of the phone, and the bottom bar allows for quick access to applications, phone functions, and settings. The flip clock/weather widget on the top animates when the time or weather changes. Pretty cool. When I had my Eris (before I switched to the Droid), that was my favorite feature.

This is the “new” Sense UI, which people are guessing will be updated later this year. It’s codenamed “Espresso”, and is generally a nicer-looking update to the current Sense UI. As long as it has that widget… :p

So, to close, I hope you learned a bit about the two Android interfaces available to consumers on current Android-based phones. I know I didn’t cover everything there is to know about the UI’s, nor did I explain the (form) features of the phones that factor into the decision to run Sense or not, but that may be for another time. Until my next post.

Just a heads up – that’s not me.

Design © 2010 Chris Randazzo. All Trademarks and logos are property of their respective owners.