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Kindle Paperwhite

kindle-paperwhiteSo I finally got my Kindle Paperwhite. It’s your regular Kindle Paperwhite Wi-Fi version with the notable difference that since it’s the Japan version, it’s got 4GB instead of 2GB to account for the popularity of manga I guess. But for regular books, that translates to twice the number, from 2000 to 4000, of books if you somehow have that many.

The e-paper display, for which the Kindle is known for, is definitely awesome. No glare or reflections at all. The background color is actually a greenish gray which is actually fine for reading. To get the paper white background color, you’ll need to turn on the built-in light which might impact the battery a bit. But it shouldn’t matter since it’s rated to last weeks instead of several hours with even the best tablets (iPads :P). A few hours, even days reduction shouldn’t matter much. And in exchange you get to read with a pleasing warm paper white background and read in darker environments. That’s quite fair enough.

The display is touch-sensitive and works well once you’ve gotten used to it. It is not as sensitive as the best tablets but definitely better than some of the others. Definitely sensitive enough for changing pages, which is the most common use. Since this is an e-paper display, refresh rates are not high and thus you change pages instead of scrolling. Scrolling is supported by the built-in experimental browser, but it’s not pretty. Still, in a pinch, it’s workable.

Of course it works awesomely with the Amazon bookstore. But a problem for me is how easy to buy something. I myself ended up with accidental purchases. This is offset somewhat by how easy to cancel a purchase. But I personally would prefer some authentication especially if kids are around. Another problem is that it’s a little harder to find the free books (yes, there are lots of them in Amazon) since they’re almost always mixed in with the paid books. But hey, that’s Amazon’s main business after all. And I’ve always been happy with them. Including with this e-book reader.

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Bad Lazada Experience

I’m a fan of Amazon. But their global shipping rates and custom charges often raise the cost too much. I usually buy only when I have friends or relatives visiting the US or when the overall cost makes sense, i.e. items that are not available or very expensive locally.

So I was glad about Lazada who supposedly aims to be the Amazon of Southeast Asia. Their prices are actually pretty high than what you can find locally. But coupled with promotions, vouchers, and free shipping, they do have a value proposition that can be seriously considered on a case-to-case basis. Last May 24, I ordered a Kindle Paperwhite. It $139 straight from Amazon but would be more expensive once shipping and customs are factored in.

On June 9, the package arrived. It was quite slow as shipping goes but the site did mention 10-15 days. I was more surprised when the courier tried to collect payment for customs charges. It turned out that the item was shipped from Hong Kong and not locally. But there is no indication whatsoever on the site about this. Or maybe there is but it’s buried somewhere, believe me I tried looking. So I called up Lazada customer service and disputed the charges. They were helpful and promised to have the item redelivered without the charges immediately.

But two days later, there was still no package in sight. I called a few times but I ended up explaining myself all over again and would end up getting nothing new. I got the feeling that it’s back to square one every time I call. They always talk about the “backoffice” but there’s not further information. After several such calls, I frustratedly cancelled the order. If Lazada is to be the Amazon of Southeast Asia, it definitely needs to improve on the communication and/or data access between customer service and fulfillment.

UPDATE 6/18/2014: My package arrived even though I had already cancelled it (see what I said about communication?). Since it’s extra effort for me to ship it back as a return and since they didn’t charge me extra anymore, I decided to accept it.

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iOS 8 Beta

As expected iOS 8 was announced at WWDC and I grabbed the beta as soon as I could. The newer iOS 8 doesn’t stray too far from last year’s iOS 7’s look-and-feel but there are many new features and enhancements. Notable changes are the following:
  1. Integration with Apple Devices – With Continuity you can go from any of your Apple devices and continue whatever your doing across devices. On supported applications of course. This includes Mail, Safari, Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Maps, Messages, Reminders, Calendar, and Contacts. You can also answer calls and write messages. And finally there’s automatic WiFi hotspot.
  2. Integration with 3rd Party Apps – This means two things. First, Apple is seamlessly integrating features into iOS that used to be provided by 3rd party apps (either on iOS, Android, or elsewhere) :P And second allowing 3rd party apps access to the OS and hardware. For example, keyboard apps to replace the default keyboard and payment apps to access TouchID.
  3. HealthKit – the long-rumored foray of Apple into health and fitness. It’s basically an API for collecting health and fitness data as well as an app providing access to this data. Various health and fitness devices and 3rd party apps can register as data sources for the Health app which then consolidates all the health data including history, graphs, etc. Vitals is included. In addition, it provides About Me, health and medical details. There is even an emergency feature that will reveal About Me details that may be useful for emergency personnel that’s access from the lock screen.
  4. HomeKit – like HealthKit, this is basically an API for controlling and communicating with smart home devices. Since Apple doesn’t have Nest, it instead has a certification program. Which I think is actually good. Sticking to your core and not having to make everything yourself.
  5. Notification Center – you now take more action straight from the notification center including answering messages.
  6. Task Switcher – along (actually above) with running apps you now see the recent people you communicated with and call or write messages from there. I guess it’s for switching communication tasks.
  7. Camera and Photo Editor – Camera has new features such as timer, time-lapse. Photo editor has new features such as rotation and brightness and color adjustments
  8. Photos – new interface, new filing system (years, collections, moments)
  9. Siri – trying to get closer to Google Now. You can activate it by saying “Hey, Siri!”. It can now recognize songs (and buy them from the iTunes store).

Overall, I like where iOS 8 is heading and the beta itself is quite stable.

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Alternator Replacement

The alternator on the Sentra hasn’t been functioning very well. When you start the car, the dashboard battery light stays on. This means the battery is not being charged. It only goes off when you rev the engine. Also, the headlights would go brighter when you rev the engine. This means the voltage is low and only goes up when revved. I’ve had it repaired several years ago but I guess it’s finally reaching the end of its life.

Last night, Michelle forgot to rev the engine as she drove off. The battery drained and the engine died. Good thing it happened at the parking building already. With the aid of two security guards, we pushed the car to the side. Then I brought down the other car and jump started the Sentra so that I can at least park it properly.

Yesterday, I dropped by the nearest decent car shop I could find and have it checked. I ended up at Rapide. As suspected, the alternator needs to be replaced and it cost a whooping P14,500!!! But with few options (battery was about to go flat again), I gave them the go ahead and after an overnight stay at the shop, I finally got the car back.

So far, everything seems to be working fine. The dashboard battery light turns off as soon as the car is started. The headlights also stay steady when you rev the engine. Here’s hoping for another several years of operation.

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MacBook Pro Battery Replacement

My MacBook Pro’s trackpad hasn’t been clicking properly for a while. It requires considerable effort to push and doesn’t provide much tactile feedback. I didn’t really mind it too much since I just use taps and gestures. I thought it was just my Mac getting old.

But I eventually learned that it is a common issue with MacBooks. It turned out that the battery is swelling and impinges on the trackpad pushing it upward and preventing the full range of motion. Now it’s either an accident or a clever design feature of MacBooks, but when the trackpad act erratically, people would then go to the shop and have it serviced thus averting a possible battery disaster. Of course, that didn’t work in my case :P

One solution offered by people on the net (always taken with a grain of salt, or more) is pricking the battery cells to release the trapped gases that caused the swelling. Intentionally creating a mini ecological disaster in your workspace at best or obliterating it with a mini explosion. Uh huh. Not for me.

The best solution is replacing the battery. But I’m not about to blow away several thousands to replace the battery of a 4-year old laptop. So the next best thing is to find a cheaper non-OEM replacement part. I found one from PCPartPH. They deliver via courier but I wanted mine right away so I did a “meet up”. Transaction was quick and easy and as soon as I got back home, I installed the new battery.

So far so good though I noticed capacity is not per specification (3980mAh vs 5200mAh). I’ll observe for a few days and see how it goes.