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Just had to post this:
http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/7785/screenshot2010040119234.jpg
It's actually true too. Go to www.gizmodo.com - literally *every* story is on the iPad. Jesus Christ. This is worse than boygeniusreport. If you ever needed to find out whether gizmodo was gaga for Apple, well there you go.
When's the Google tablet coming out? Looking for a real device... And for the "official" Google tablet -- Android or Chrome OS?
[Edit]: I just noticed the ad in the top right of the picture above. Muwhahahaha
Google tablet will run Chrome OS.
this exactly what i was thinking. i hate apple
Im a regular at that site and yeah 80% of their tech news are related to Apple. Its ridiculous . And wait til their iPad hype is over....their stupid new iPhone rumor posts will be next.
Thank god for:
http://gizmodo.com/tag/not:apple/
This also works:
http://gizmodo.com/tag/not:advertisement/
Gawker media is about the quality of super market tabloids. Lifehacker is the only website worth reading. Only problem is occasionally Lifehacker posts a Gizmodo article and I'll be reading my RSS feeds and get half way through what I thought was Lifehacker and I'll think "holy **** did a junior high student write this" and I'll scroll up and its Jesus Diaz EVERYTIME.
Most of these tech blogs are good for keeping up with release dates of devices, the rest of it is designed to keep people clicking & serving ads
crachel said:
Gawker media is about the quality of super market tabloids. Lifehacker is the only website worth reading. Only problem is occasionally Lifehacker posts a Gizmodo article and I'll be reading my RSS feeds and get half way through what I thought was Lifehacker and I'll think "holy **** did a junior high student right this" and I'll scroll up and its Jesus Diaz EVERYTIME.
Most of these tech blogs are good for keeping up with release dates of devices, the rest of it is designed to keep people clicking & serving ads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I laughed when I read "holy **** did a junior high student right this"....
CLASSIC
Noticed the surge of iPad articles.... all over the godamn place.
josefcrist said:
this exactly what i was thinking. i hate apple
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't mind Apple products. OS X really is pretty nice. Their hardware is generally pretty good. It may not be competitive with budget equipment, but they never pretended to be. I like my wife's iphone, just not as much as I like my Nexus One.
I just don't like Steve jobs or the fanboys who stand in line for an opportunity to rim him. Apple products, though generally pretty good, are not sent from heaven from Steve Almighty, and Steve Almighty is now trying to patent gestures. I've got a gesture for him that he damn sure can't patent. ..|.
Engadget is the same way.
Lucikly you can go to http://www.engadget.com/exclude/apple and see a non-tard view.
The apples on Gizmodo, Engadget, etc. are rottening!
I'm looking for some of you to review my work so far on my Hero/Android Phone website, located in my signature. I've been working hard to try to release at least one new article a day, whatever floats my boat for that day.
I am also looking for people to help add new stuff to the site, whether it be for the Sprint Hero, an Android app that you love, or have developed, or whatever you'd like, really, as long as it pertains to Android.
This is a not-for-profit website aimed at trying to get the viewers to start looking at all the stuff their Android phone can do, rooted or not.
Hey, I always like to see people start things, that's the hardest step, actually starting.
I'll tell you what I think of it from my perspective, not new to android, new-ish..but already dabbled in rooting and flashing roms, etc.
I'll try to be honest but just because I'd appreciate the honesty if I were in your shoes.
I'll talk about design first.
I think that the first thing that strikes me when I first see your site is the logo.
I know you just opened but that should be top priority, it is your defining icon.
Take a look at BGR or engadget, those logos are known.
Make your logo..more "catchy" (?) It seems a bit amateurish, whether you are or not is not the point.
Second, the text "Android Apps and Modifications" jumps out, it does not follow the rest of the layout in font choice and is partially hidden by the "Subscribe to us" banner.
Having mentioned both logo and subscription parts of the site, immediately adjacent to the right of those, there's alot of empty space that screams of "under construction", maybe integrate them into each other?
Just opened ie, noticed it's ad space.
I'd do away with gif animation ads, makes the site look cheap. But I have never had a site with ads or sought to advertise so...I don't know if you get a selection of ads or how it works. Either way, I'd integrate the main title/logo bar and the subscription bar and find a better way to integrate the ads.
I also thought it was "not-for-profit."
As for the rest of the layout, I like it. It is classy, modern.
One thing to mention, I would rather have the posts below the top post to have more than just the excerpt. At least a small thumbnail. Text is boring and a picture can say a thousand words as well as give the chance to tease readers, excite, etc.
Make content the center/masterpiece.
As for the content, I like it. It's useful and interesting. Disassembly, ROM Releases, tutorials, awesome. Have you considered having featured weekly articles? App of the Week, ROM of the week, Tip of the week? These could go along beside your regular posts. These could turn out to be sought out sections of your site.
Another thing, I speak for myself, I'm a bit of a neat freak when it comes to having information in front of me. That is why I love forums haha.
I noticed you have a bajillion tags. Maybe cut them down into less, more encompassing, tags?
Sorry if I was too honest, I do not know how long you've had the site up. I think you have a great idea, you should run with it.
The only sites I take care of run on wordpress and thank God for layouts and php tuts.
overthinkingme said:
Hey, I always like to see people start things, that's the hardest step, actually starting.
I'll tell you what I think of it from my perspective, not new to android, new-ish..but already dabbled in rooting and flashing roms, etc.
I'll try to be honest but just because I'd appreciate the honesty if I were in your shoes.
I'll talk about design first.
I think that the first thing that strikes me when I first see your site is the logo.
I know you just opened but that should be top priority, it is your defining icon.
Take a look at BGR or engadget, those logos are known.
Make your logo..more "catchy" (?) It seems a bit amateurish, whether you are or not is not the point.
Second, the text "Android Apps and Modifications" jumps out, it does not follow the rest of the layout in font choice and is partially hidden by the "Subscribe to us" banner.
Having mentioned both logo and subscription parts of the site, immediately adjacent to the right of those, there's alot of empty space that screams of "under construction", maybe integrate them into each other?
Just opened ie, noticed it's ad space.
I'd do away with gif animation ads, makes the site look cheap. But I have never had a site with ads or sought to advertise so...I don't know if you get a selection of ads or how it works. Either way, I'd integrate the main title/logo bar and the subscription bar and find a better way to integrate the ads.
I also thought it was "not-for-profit."
As for the rest of the layout, I like it. It is classy, modern.
One thing to mention, I would rather have the posts below the top post to have more than just the excerpt. At least a small thumbnail. Text is boring and a picture can say a thousand words as well as give the chance to tease readers, excite, etc.
Make content the center/masterpiece.
As for the content, I like it. It's useful and interesting. Disassembly, ROM Releases, tutorials, awesome. Have you considered having featured weekly articles? App of the Week, ROM of the week, Tip of the week? These could go along beside your regular posts. These could turn out to be sought out sections of your site.
Another thing, I speak for myself, I'm a bit of a neat freak when it comes to having information in front of me. That is why I love forums haha.
I noticed you have a bajillion tags. Maybe cut them down into less, more encompassing, tags?
Sorry if I was too honest, I do not know how long you've had the site up. I think you have a great idea, you should run with it.
The only sites I take care of run on wordpress and thank God for layouts and php tuts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Different browsers render things different ways, so include your browser and version number to help him out.
Good point, thanks.
I was on chrome 5 on windows 7.
Also had adblock enabled which explains how I noticed the ad in internet explore.
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I agree with what overthinkingme said about putting the subscription login next to the logo. However I think the logo is a great starting point. I like the color scheming but don't like the blog style layout (It's probably just me as I don't like blogs in general). If it's design is supposed to be a blog, then I don't have any suggestions on changes except cutting down the ads (If possible, maybe Google's text ads?). If you're looking to be more organized (sorry if this sounds harsh, I don't mean for it to) I'd go with a different layout. That's just my .02 so take it with a grain of salt. BTW I'm on a Mac with Safari 5.0. The site looks good and I've added it to my favorites (Actually I added it yesterday. Saw it in your signature and had to check it out.)
During my business programming career, I always had good reference books to use no matter what language I was programming in.
I'm not talking a "How To..." book, but a solid reference book. Here's the class, here's the methods and their parameters. Maybe a short example.
I can't find anything similar for Android OS...anyone out there know of something?
Yes, I know it's on the net, but for me, there's just something about having the book. Like when I'm not coding, I can lay on the couch and read it while watching the game or not have to switch screens (even though I can pull-up a reference link on my second laptop).
Rootstonian said:
During my business programming career, I always had good reference books to use no matter what language I was programming in.
I'm not talking a "How To..." book, but a solid reference book. Here's the class, here's the methods and their parameters. Maybe a short example.
I can't find anything similar for Android OS...anyone out there know of something?
Yes, I know it's on the net, but for me, there's just something about having the book. Like when I'm not coding, I can lay on the couch and read it while watching the game or not have to switch screens (even though I can pull-up a reference link on my second laptop).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Checkout Professional Android 2 Application Development by Wrox - Reto Meier (Author). Been using it for a month or so, learned a lot and it is pretty in depth for complex subjects. One of the best books ive used
Guess it's worth a try. Got scared for a second because I DID order Android 2 Pro and returned it the next day. There was no order in the book, nothing was clear at all and tbh, it was just nasty bad.
I can try the one you suggested. If Amazon is anything, they're fast and the return policy is just awesome.
Thanks,
Roots
Google develops android too fast for books to be worth the money, IMO.
Read the SDK docs and work with some code. Anything in that book is trivial to find on the internet.
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Professional Android 2 Application Development is a very good book and it quite up to date in its current revision.
I can also warmly recommend Mark Murphy's Warescription. You get four e-books and all it's updates for 12 months. Those books are high quality and Mark does a very good job at keeping the books up to date and also at helping his Warescription community with their questions. You should give it a try.
Captainkrtek said:
Checkout Professional Android 2 Application Development by Wrox - Reto Meier (Author). Been using it for a month or so, learned a lot and it is pretty in depth for complex subjects. One of the best books ive used
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the book. I was up late programming (as usual). It was like 4 a.m. EST Monday morning when I ordered it on Amazon. Did 3 to 5 business days. It came Tuesday!!!
Thanks, it's a good book. The FULL source code and all listings are downloadable which is nice. The book covers a lot of information and I think it's in the intermediate to semi-advanced level. Well written, logical progression of concepts. Only thing I really miss are some screen shots of an emulator running the projects.
I think I might run to local Best Buy, get a new black ink cartridge and print all the source code out and get it bound or put in notebook for a one-stop reference. Some projects have 5+ classes in them and it's easier to "flip through" in a book vs. onscreen. Worth the $20 in material (paper and ink).
what about a good book or place to learn the basics?
Sent from my Epic 4G
Rom: Never stock, but always with some Gingerbread.
I would start with some Google-found tutorials. There are hundreds of "Hello World" apps out there. For a beginner, the Hello World app is probably easier than getting the SDK up and running! LOL
Then work with adding EditText and TextView boxes. Then move on to Buttons. A good second program is "Enter your Name", "Hit Submit", "Show your Name". That gets all 3 ideas above going as well as onClick code and will get you working with main.xml
awesome! Thanks for the info. I installed everything earlier from Google and got that all setup. I will look more into everything else. Appreciate the reply.
Sent from my Epic 4G
Rom: Never stock, but always with some Gingerbread.
You could also look for a book called "The Android Developers Cookbook" written by Steele/To and published by Addison-Wesley...
Yeah, the basics are pretty easy, yet still powerful. I wrote some pretty basic apps (at least from the User's view) that are selling ok. But I learned a lot.
I'm a professional programmer, but as the economy goes, currently unemployed. I've learned a lot of languages (10 or so) and a lot of different environments. I'm finding the Android OS and the whole smartphone environment a remarkable new experience and what I feel, something that's just going to grow exponentially.
Good Luck
The android app labs are also a very good introduction. Google for "Android App Course"
bompo said:
The android app labs are also a very good introduction. Google for "Android App Course"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW I've just started learning android development, and i am in the type that i need some hand on experience before i read the theory~ I think this is very suitable for android beginners to learn how to, at least, build a usable apps!
I'll also try on the 'android developers cookbook'~ expecting!
Really thanks for the sharing!
1)0321673352 Sams Teach Yourself Android Application Development in 24 Hours
2)OReilly Android Application Development
Hey guys, I was just wondering where everyone goes to read their news, and also trying to get other options for good tech-related stuff.
Typically I'm on Engadget, and while the site is usually decent, the last few months some of their articles are clearly being written for the Apple/Android trolls, it's a bit disappointing that they seem to post stories just to rile up the rampant trolls and get page views.
Of course, I've also used Gizmodo, but they seem to even worse as far as posting about anything and everything related to Apple and giving Android-related news the shaft.
Podcasts I like the twit.tv stuff and BOL and other non tech news stuff
I hardly browse tech news sites anymore... custom RSS feeds of tech blogs gets me all the relevant info I need without extra spin (they contain some of their own, sure, but this at least removes a layer and usually greatly reduces popups and flashy annoying banners).
Phanndroid and droid life. The same regurgitated stuff but the writes on those sites have some accountability. Especially phandroid they respond well to the community and are really trying and leave to self entitlement at the door. I dont do the fancy rss stuff just a simple bookmark and dolphin hd
I'm a regular at Futuremark and get most of my tech news from Anandtech and Endgadget
Twitter.
Your mind = blown.
I am partial to the gawker network.
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I use MaximumPC magazine Maximum Tech's websites. They do a great job to test, review and are not so biased, although they are very Microsoft friendly. They recently reviewed Win7 Phone vs Android and gave Win7 the win because of battery drain and ease of use, but to me the customization and the thousands and thousands of apps on the market make Android much much better than Win7. I can't say for sure because I have never used it though.
Ars Technica and /.
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4chan.org
holla
Phonescoop.com
Also RSS feeds from various HTC and Android blogs.
neowin, xda, ppcgeeks, android central.
Gizmodo, Engadget, AndroidCentral, Phandroid, XDA, Lifehacker
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Engadget for funny comments in articles and Android Central for app recommendations.
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Engadget and BGR.
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engadget, giz, androidcentral, phandroid, xtremesystems and hardforums
Engadget is the best out there, IMHO. However, I also have Electronista (for more dry numbers reporting) and Gizmodo on my RSS feed. Gizmodo has gone seriously downhill in the past year and while I continue to read it for the off the wall stuff they dig up, their gadget coverage and especially commentary is now trash.
I highly recommend listening to the Engadget podcasts (I listen to Classic and Mobile) as well as watching the Engadget Show. They are funny, informative, and well produced.
This thread is OT by the way.
TechCrunch, Engadget, Silicon Alley Insider (iPhone Biased, but they have some interesting stories), Gizmodo, and Phandroid. I visit them in that order, daily. Sometimes multiple times a day. Yep...I'm that big of a loser.
I use the app pulse. I have most of the sites people are talking about here in my feed. It's much easier than visiting 10 different sites and it frees up my time for reading way too much stuff on here!
Most of the time this EVO general section is my mobile tech news source
But I frequent mobile.engadget.com for news and a little comedy (the comments there are hilarious).
Pocket posted...
im in 11th grade and want to read an interesting book to expand my mind. I normally don't read.EVER.. but since I have gotten my xoom I wanna give it a chance. I wanna read a good book. not some boring book I would usually read in school for example lord of the flies..boring. someone suggest a book I might like and enjoy. I tend to like horror,comedy, and adventure stories
What reader program are you using? Kindle, Nook, Google. Aldiko? Some access thousands of free books, most published before 1923 (a lot of great books, but maybe not what you're looking for) so if you go for new books through Nook and Kindle for example, you'll have to buy them. My daughter has been tearing through Ellen Hopkins books (Crank, Identical, Burn) but they seem a bit depressing to me, and maybe more appealing to girls (who seem to love drama, lol). If you like horror, you might like H. P. Lovecraft--available for free.
i was gonna use Google books. I've never really been into books that much because all the books we read in school are extremely boring. I wanna find a book that has mystery and suspense..something that will make me wanna actually read more of it instead of just putting the book down.
I am Legend by Richard Matheson is fantastic, and it's a fairly short book (and quite different from the movie in ways that make you care about the protagonist a million times more). That should be a good introduction. After that, it helps to know what interests you. Science fiction? Fantasy? It seems you probably want some form of fiction to begin with, anyway.
Definitely check out I am Legend.
Or perhaps Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. It's a series of short stories and, in all likelihood, you'll enjoy his writing style and that will encourage you to check out his other books (I recommend Neverwhere).
Black Man by Richard Morgan is a thriller set in the near future that you may like. Quite a bit of mystery, if I recall and it's a good read.
The Forever War by Joe Haldeman is also excellent; another sci-fi book.
[edit]
Some advice... when looking for books, I always try and read the first chapter to see if I take an instant liking to it. This helps a great deal in finding books that I want to finish. Usually, bookshops have seating areas for reading, but it's even easier with ebooks - as I understand, Google provide extracts or the first chapter before you buy. Try before you buy.
Horror: Dan Simmons - Summer of Night - fun and creepy
Horror: Dean Koontz - Watchers - fast moving & especially great if you love dogs
Sci-fi : Orson Scott Card - Enders Game - a classic
1984 is a pretty good book
My favorite book in the last decade has been ""A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson.
It's informative and funny.
Try it out, you'll be glad you did.
Also +1 for Ender's Game
If you have seen and enjoyed the movie Fight Club, check out Chuck Palahniuk's other books. They usually have you saying 'WTF' until the very end.
If you like the twilight movies try the twilight series. Or the Harry Potter series as I'm sure many people can tell you the books normally are better then the movies.
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Well, my 2 cents.
I think nobody should die without having read To Kill a Mockingbird from Harper Lee. It's one of the best books I have ever read, although being somehow old (60's or something).
I have read tons of books, and have loved almost all of them. I don't know. Some come fast to my mind: 1984, Christine (I love this one, as I do love cars), Jurassic Park, etc.
I enjoy books from Dean R Koontz (Horror), Michael Crichton (all kind), Robin Cook (medical related), Ken Follet, Stephen King, etc.
I really hope you find something interesting to read.
Regards.
incrediblenotinstock said:
im in 11th grade and want to read an interesting book to expand my mind. I normally don't read.EVER.. but since I have gotten my xoom I wanna give it a chance. I wanna read a good book. not some boring book I would usually read in school for example lord of the flies..boring. someone suggest a book I might like and enjoy. I tend to like horror,comedy, and adventure stories
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Moneyball by Michael Lewis is definitely my recommendation!
It starts from baseball but larger than baseball.
I got a quick review and link is here.
http://www.opinionatedfool.com/2011/05/book-review-moneyball-art-of-winning.html
Everyone so far has had great suggestions. Any of those books would be a great start. Another sci-fi book I've enjoyed (and is much better than the movie) is Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.