Not all there: The new Pixel and Pixel XL from Google

Google has taken android and the nexus program a direction different than I'd like to see.

Rather than affordable and fully equipped developer's devices, these are ultra premium iPhone lookalikes missing features that now are things of the past.

Introduced the Pixel and Pixel XL, featuring: Mono sound, and No Wireless Charging. Luckily, it has a headphone jack.

I don't get it, the phone costs nearly ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS (fully loaded).

At least these phones' USB type C ports support USB 3.0, unlike the also overpriced Nexus 6P and 5X. The 6P is STILL starts at $500 for the base model.

The pre-event leaks were true, and unfortunately these are no longer developer devices, they're budget busters.

Google-less Update

Almost a month in, and I'm hanging in there. Getting a little antsy for updates. I miss a few things, mostly remote desktop and hangouts.

Updating my contacts is a multi step, multi device process. I'll try to sideload some new apps this week, and maybe update CM (though I read some people had issues with the 3/3/14 nightly build).

We'll see how much longer I can last.

I think the phone is definitely more responsive without all that Google junk on there bogging it down. It's still super snappy.

A list of the coolest things that I've ever done with a computer

These are the ones that come to mind

Year	Deed
1985	Heard a computer play “La Cucaracha”
1997 1997	Sent an email Installed Winamp
2001	Created a Video Compact Disc (VCD)
2001 2002	Hooked up a computer to a television to play digital video discs (DVDs) Bought a digital camera
2005	Built a 1 TB hard drive using four 250GB drives, setup as a Raid 0
2006	Shared a computer’s Ethernet connection over Bluetooth to a Sony T637 phone
2006	Converted videos to play on a Sony W810i Walkman phone
2009	Put a new operating system on a HTC Shadow Windows Mobile phone
2009	Copied Xbox saved games to an Xbox 360
2010	Put a new operating system on a Sony W810i Walkman phone
2010	Rooted an LG Optimus V Android phone
	Routers 2011	Put DD-WRT and Tomato onto a router
	2011	Used Tomato for port forwarding
	2011	Setup Remote Potato to access Windows Media Center remotely
	2011	Used Tomato as a Print Server
	2011	Used Tomato to set up a Universal Serial Bus (USB) File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site
	2013	Used Tomato to Wake On LAN (WOL) computers
	2013	Used Tomato to update a dyndns.com Internet protocol (IP) address automatically
2011	Used a thumb drive and Clonezilla to bit for bit copy a hard drive (as pointed out by my wife: just like in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
2012 2013	Slipstreamed Windows XP Installed dual boot operating systems on a Kindle Fire
2013	Used Tasker to disable the blinding "100% charged" green light emitting diode (LED) notification on a HTC EvoV Android phone

Apps to SD

Another good tip, to allow more apps to be moved to the SD card.

The instructions weren't super clear because "adb.exe" is part of SuperOneClick, as far as I can tell.

Using the command "adb devices" then "adb shell pm setInstallLocation 2" worked for me. We'll see if stability is affected.

If it doesn't work, I can always change it back with "adb shell pm setInstallLocation 0"

Root and Flash Optimus V

Here's some good resources for rooting and then flashing an Optimus V.

I didn't find any good start to finish guides that didn't include a step like: "now flash the OS and you're done!" when I had no idea how to do that.

Here's just a handy starter, rooting "unlocks" your phone so you are essentially a superuser and can make big changes that you couldn't otherwise. Flashing the OS is what can make the big difference in the useability of your phone.

I used GingerBreak 1.2 to root, but my boot loader screen didn't give me all the options I needed (update, backup, etc.). So then I used Super One Click to essentially re-root using the command prompt.

Flashing was super easy. Move the .zip file that has your ROM (phone OS) to your SD card, then enter the boot loader menu (hold the home key + volume down + power when powering up) and choose "update from zip".

GingerBreak: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1044765
Root and flash: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=935312
Bumblebee Rom: http://forums.androidcentral.com/optimus-v-rooting-roms-hacks/78705-rom-kernel-bumblebee-2-4-6-25-2011-a.html
How to flash the OS: http://www.thedroiddemos.com/2010/11/07/how-to-flash-a-custom-rom-on-android/

Video conversion

I recently inherited a T-Mobile Shadow (aka HTC Phoebus). It's a pretty sharp little device. I haven't had any of the problems people complain about on the interwebs. It's a little quirky, but I like it.

Windows mobile 6 is an interesting animal, settings are all over the place. I'm actually slightly amazed I have it working, MS Exchange Syncing and everything.

Putting video on it has been pretty easy, I spent some time tweaking but it looks pretty good right now. I used Handbrake to turn some avi files into m4v files.

Turns out the frogs that code Handbrake are real jerks. Every other video processor allows you to select multiple files to encode. An entire directory perhaps. Not Handbrake. Oh no. Those frenchies don't want you to. Check this out:

Turns out a freedom loving individual out there has an answer: the Handbrakebatchencoder. I feel like I'm in Sweden or something. There are very long words in Sweden.
Check it out: http://handbrakebatchencode.codeplex.com/

This is why those quiche eaters are jerks. Check out how they treat their users in their own forums: http://forum.handbrake.fr/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7945

That's why I like Media Portal. The forums are a gentrified place of refined discussion. A place where developers don't eat crepes and mock their users.

Ok, back on topic.

1. Download and install Handbrake regular, the GUI edition (this and #2 are here)
2. Download Handbrake Command Line Interface edition. Unzip it to here: "C:\Program Files\HandBrakeCLI\HandBrakeCLI.exe"
3. Download and unzip the Handbrakebatchencoder, set aside
4. Get Handbrake to show it's query. Go to Tools>Options>Advanced and "Enable Query Editor"
5. Trial and error your way to getting video the way you want it. Dial it in.

Now you're ready for a batch encode. Open up the batchencoder .exe. Make sure your paths are going to the right place and paste in the query from Handbrake GUI, making sure you're putting it in there right. There's an example preloaded to get you started.

Here's the query I'm running.

-t 1 -c 1 -f mp4 -w 320 -l 240 -e ffmpeg -b 140 -r 15 -a 1 -E faac -6 dpl2 -R 48 -B 160 -D 0.0 -v 1

Details
320 x 240
MP4
No Filters
MPEG-4
15 Frames Per Second
140k Average Bit Rate
128 Bit Rate Audio

The video looks good. You can try a higher video bit rate if you'd like, it might make it look a little better but might glitch. The 200 Mhz processor in the Shadow isn't a blockbuster these days.