Dec 17, 2008

Electric is Doomed

Jon Lim Alternative Fuels, Electric, Fuel Cell, Gasoline, Honda FCX Clarity, Hydrogen Technology 0 Comment

In my eyes, electric vehicles had always been the front runner in the race for alternative fuels to gasoline. It had an established distribution system, it was easy to understand, and the advancement of lithium ion batteries were making it very possible to drive longer without stopping to refill.

And here we are, Tesla is releasing their Roadster (0 to 60 in 3.1 seconds) and the Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid, is one of the most popular green-minded vehicles out there.

But electric cars are doomed, as the title suggests. Why?

Three words: Honda FCX Clarity

It seems that Honda’s been busy in their R&D labs with creating a viable alternative to gasoline that is not limited by distance or power outages. How it works is this: an electric engine that is powered by compressed hydrogen, allowing it to get 270 miles per fillup. Well, I’m terrible at explaining, so I’ll let James May from Top Gear do it for me:

Pretty nifty, eh? I’d love to see how supporters of ethanol and electric-powered cars are going to react to this. But hey, as long as we find a viable and renewable alternative to gasoline, then more power to everyone!

Dec 15, 2008

To my brand new best friend: Nokia E71

Jon Lim Cell Phones, E71, Jack, Mobile Phones, Nokia, Samsung Mobile, Technology 7 Comments

Here’s my official review (More like comparison!) of the Nokia E71 that came in for me today. Summary for the lazy: I am absolutely in love, and it’s an amazing phone!

You can read about tech specs and whatever features it has elsewhere, so I’m going to compare it to the Samsung Jack as well as the transition process I had gone through.

Samsung Jack versus Nokia E71

Thickness: Nokia E71 on the Left, Samsung Jack on the right

Backplates: Nokia E71 on the left, Samsung Jack on the right

As you can see, the Nokia E71 already looks quite a bit smaller and has a more “smooth” look to it compared to the pointed edges (Those corners really hurt) of the Samsung Jack. The screens are very close in size, but the Nokia definitely has a crisper display.

Sorry for the blur, I have shaky hands.

With aesthetics out of the way, here is a direct comparison of features I used on the Jack.

Text Messaging – The biggest difference between Windows Mobile 6.1 and Symbian S60 is the lack of threaded messages, which kind of sucks, but Conversation does alleviate that problem. The text input on the WinMo also generally lagged, whereas the Symbian inputs are speedy and lag-free, and it manages to keep up with my extra fast typing! Definite plus!

GPS – I used to use Google Maps on my Samsung Jack and it worked perfectly well except for one thing – it took about 5 minutes for the GPS satellites to be found. The E71 was preloaded with several mapping and GPS programs, that were quick to catch GPS satellites. I will install Google Maps on it later, or perhaps just install a standalone navigational based GPS to replace Telenav. UPDATE: Just installed Google Maps and it found 3 satellites in less than 30 seconds, in the basement. MUCH improved over the Jack’s GPS!

Picture / Video – The camera on the Jack is 2MP and the E71 has a 3.2MP so I was expecting quite a difference in image quality. Here’s how it looks:

Samsung Jack's Camera

Nokia E71's Camera

Not a huge difference but keep in mind: I completely forgot to take off the protective film on the camera for the E71. Not that it’s going to change a lot of things, but just keep that in mind. Also, the E71 has a built in flash, which might make low light situations much easier for taking pictures!

Calls – Simple enough, the Nokia E71 has crystal clear reception and I can’t even compare to the Jack properly, because they both sounded great!

All these features clearly put the E71 above the Jack for just those features, but here are several more features that I have began to use BECAUSE of the E71!

Fring – Not exactly a built in feature, but Fring works flawlessly on the Symbian OS, where I loaded my Skype account and called my friend with crystal clear reception. I have to attempt this on the 3G network, and I assume it’s not going to be as clear as my Wifi, but hey, it works great and I can use MSN on it!

Wifi – The Jack had no option for Wifi (Despite Rogers telling me there was.) The E71′s wifi option was quick and easy to set up, without any difficulty connecting to my wireless at home! Quick and easy, gotta love it.

Radio – The E71 has built in FM radio that has great reception from my room (The basement!) and you can save preset frequencies with easy. I now have Flow 935, Virgin Radio 99.9, CHUM FM 104.5, and CHFI 98.1 all saved on my phone!

Qik – Qik is a fantastic program that lets me create a streaming video from my phone that would be viewable on my Qik site (http://qik.com/JonLim) and anyone can view any past streams! You can see the stream I was testing out with @verneho earlier, and it worked fantastically!

I couldn’t have asked for a better phone. What was even better was the transition! I had feared that there was no syncing with Microsoft Outlook, but the Nokia PC suite did it quick and easy, without any hassles. Not only that, but it syncs the SMS/MMS messages that you receive on the phone as well, which is another added benefit over the WinMo phones!

So to you, my new best friend, thank you for making my life much easier.

Dec 5, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Annuals – Such Fun (2008)

Jon Lim Annuals, Featured Album Fridays, indie, Such Fun Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

I’m doing this a little earlier compared to last week – I actually got it in during a Friday! Great album this week, it is Annuals’ Such Fun album released in 2008.

Here is the description of Annuals, straight from their Wikipedia:

Annuals is a six-piece indie-pop outfit from Raleigh and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band was started by Adam Baker in 2003 as a side project of the still active sister band Sunfold, formerly known as Sedona and headed up by lead guitarist Kenny Florence.

Ace Fu Records signed Annuals in the fall of 2005 and then released their debut LP Be He Me on October 17, 2006. The members of Annuals are also all deeply involved in their own music-business venture,Terpsikhore Records, which is owned by benefactor J.K. Horne. Terpsikhore released Annuals’ first demo, titled “Lay Down Dry”, in the summer of 2005, as well as the Git’ Got EP in the summer of 2006.

Annuals appeared as the #25 entry in Pitchfork Media’s “Infinite Mixtape” series with their song “Brother”, and have also made appearances on Spin.com, AOLMusicIndie.com, Stereogum, I Guess I’m Floating, the Underrated, Brooklyn Vegan, and EarFarm (among others) – earning them a newfound reputation for being a “blog band.” They are frequently compared to the Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, and Broken Social Scene and are known for their intense live shows.

They made their national television debut on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and recently came back in October of 2008 for a second show, playing the title track from Such Fun, “Confessor.”

The January 24, 2007 episode of Veronica Mars (“Show Me the Monkey”) used a large portion of the song “Fair”.

Annuals’ sophomore album, Such Fun, was released on October 7, 2008.

Here’s the streaming album, take a listen and leave a comment if you enjoy it!

Nov 29, 2008

High Fives All Around – DailyChallenge.org

Jon Lim challenge, DailyChallenge, do one good, high fives Media, Video 6 Comments

Recently, I was approached by Verne from DailyChallenge to put together a video they had shot of themselves completing the challenge for November 28, 2008 – “Walk down the street with a sign that says, ‘Donate a High Five’”. Here’s the description and the result:

On November 28, 2008, the Daily Challenge team set out with the challenge to “Walk down the street with a sign that says ‘Donate a High Five’”. Naturally, we had to do it. Here’s how it went down.

Accept the challenge:
www.dailychallenge.org/challenge.php?id= 199

Join the movement:
www.dailychallenge.org

Join the movement!

Nov 29, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Headlights – Some Racing, Some Stopping (2008)

Jon Lim Featured Album Fridays, Headlights, indie, Some Racing, Some Stopping Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

Alright, so I kinda missed Friday by 30 minutes, but it’s okay, I had a busy day. This week, Headlights’ 2008 album, Some Racing, Some Stopping.

Here is their description from Wikipedia:

Headlights is an American indie rock band from Champaign, Illinois. The band was formed following the dissolution of Absinthe Blind, when members Erin Fein, Seth Fein and Brett Sanderson formed a band named Orphans. It was only when Tristan Wraight started writing songs with Fein that Headlights was formed.

Headlights released The Enemies EP in 2004, and followed that up in 2006 with a split single with Canadian indie rock band The Most Serene Republic. Later in 2006, the band released their debut album, Kill Them with Kindness, which has received generally positive reviews. Nick Sanborn (of Decibully) and John Owen (of fellow Champaign group Shipwreck) joined the group during the summer of 2007. In 2008, their third album, Some Racing, Some Stopping, was released.

Enjoy the streaming album below guys:

Nov 26, 2008

Pandering to the Masses

Jon Lim Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Marketing Comics, Marketing 0 Comment

I stumbled upon this article from Digg. It discusses DC Comics and their decision to kill off Bruce Wayne in the coming issues of the Batman comics. It cites the following reason in its decision:

Comic book companies, like record labels, have found that the death of a big star is great for sales. When Superman was killed by Doomsday in 1992, DC saw a Cobain-like surge in sales, and the issue was the best-selling in franchise history. However, unlike Biggie Smalls (but very much like Tupac) the character was resurrected. Captain America saw a similar bump after a sniper shot him down in New York last year.

I think this is a horrible marketing ploy, but I guess if it’s going to generate sales for you, I can’t really complain. But then again, if they gave Batman enough time to plan, it would be discovered that he never really died and it was just a decoy.

Kind of a shame that they’re only doing this to appeal to the masses, rather than creating a meaningful and memorable story arc. Shame on you DC Comics.

Nov 21, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / Bowerbirds – Hymns For a Dark Horse (2007)

Jon Lim Bowerbirds, folk, Hymns For a Dark Horse, indie, Music, nu-folk Featured Album Fridays, Music 0 Comment

Another week, another album! This week, I’m sharing Bowerbird’s album – Hymns For a Dark Horse.

Here’s a description straight from Wikipedia:

Bowerbirds are a nu-folk band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band members are Beth Tacular, Phil Moore and Mark Paulson. Their debut album, Hymns For a Dark Horse (Burly Time Records, 2007), received favourable reviews. Bowerbirds have toured in support of The Mountain Goats, with John Darnielle referring to the band as his “new favorite band in forever”.

Hymns For a Dark Horse was released in 2007, and if you are interested in purchasing it, you can find it here. And here’s the stream:

As per last week, comment if you enjoy the album.

Nov 14, 2008

Featured Album Fridays / DeVotchKa – How It Ends (2004)

Jon Lim album, DeVotchKa, friday, gears of war 2, how it ends, indie Featured Album Fridays, Music 8 Comments

Welcome to the newest segment on JonLim.ca – Featured Album Fridays! I’ve decided to take every Friday and utilize it for something useful – sharing music that you may not have heard before.

This week – DeVotchKa’s How It Ends album. I selected it because I heard How It Ends from the Last Day commercial for Gears of War 2 and decided to check out their other music. Here’s a description of DeVotchKa straight from Wikipedia:

DeVotchKa is a four piece multi-instrumental and vocal ensemble that fuses Romani, Greek, Slavic, Bolero, Mariachi (and many more styles) music with American punk and folk roots. They take their name from Anthony Burgess’ Nadsat word for “young girl,” which is itself derived from the Russian word (девочка) of the same meaning. Based in Denver, Colorado, the quartet is made up of Nick Urata, who sings and plays theremin, guitar, bouzouki, piano, and trumpet; Tom Hagerman, who plays violin, accordion, and piano; Jeanie Schroder, who sings and plays sousaphone and double bass; and Shawn King, who plays percussion and trumpet.

The How It Ends album was released in 2004, and for those interested, you can purchase it here. Or you can just stream it below!

Enjoy! Be sure to comment if you like the album!

Nov 10, 2008

The Last Day

Jon Lim gears of war 2, the last day, xbox 360 Television, Video Games 0 Comment

Below is the extended version of the Gears of War 2 television commercial – The Last Day. I believe it’s the same team who did Mad World from Gears of War 1.

This is rather old, but it has to given its fair dues.

Beautiful. Enough said.

« 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23