2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,400 times in 2011. If it were a cable car, it would take about 40 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Check out music from 81N4RY_D38453D

Check out music from 81N4RY_D38453D

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Product Evaluation of the Samsung Tocco (F480)very

Having purchased the new Samsung Tocco (F480) I was unsure whether or not I actually liked it or whether I could live it with it for the next 18 months! I took the upgrade on my  Sony Ericcson W880i as my monthly contract payments were lowered and I was given free internet and e-mail access. As I am currently without broadband at home this was an ideal opportunity for me to have internet access wherever  I needed it.

The following review will determine whether or not I return the phone to Vodafone! The phone will be evaluated under the following design factors:

• Aesthetics
• Function
• Ergonomics
• Materials

Aesthetics:
The Tocco is an attractive looking model but not quite attractive enough to be considered anything too exciting in the current handset market. It has a very simple, no frills shape which actually appeals to my modernist tastes. Its form isn’t too bulky and the ease with which it sat in comfortably in my pocket (as opposed to my current Blackberry!) was a real plus. It is also a comfortable, consumer friendly weight. The layout primarily consists of the large touch screen with a few iPhone inspired controls along the bottom edge of the handset. This minimalistic layout is both aesthetically pleasing and fitting with the overall shape and form of the rest of the handset. The glossy black and metallic silver colour scheme present a refined, modern looking product with an excellent fit and finish. On the rear of the handset, the brushed metal finish adds a sense of quality to the product and inspires a belief in the durability of the phone. The tactile differences when reaching blind for the handset in your pocket are beneficial but again this is clearly inspired by the Jonathan Ive’s iPhone and this lack of originality ultimately leaves the Tocco in the shadows of more inspirational designs.

Function:
Functionally the Tocco handset performs well. The buttons are a good size, they are intuitive to use and they are well positioned on the handset even for people with big hands and fingers like me! The battery cover is easy to remove and well designed access to the battery and SIM card allows for easy removal and maintenance. The 5MP camera was also very easy to use and took some excellent photos.

The big let down of the Tocco is the system software and the touch screen interface. Ultimately the downfall of this well proportioned, good looking little phone.  The UI was clunky, the widgets were pointless and the lack of expansion or customisation was frustrating. Web browsing was reasonable but texting and typing were an absolute pain. Having been a Sony user before this phone, the Samsung OS’s seem poorly designed, awkward and unintuitive.

Ergonomics:
The anthropometrics of the actual handset and its mechanical buttons interface are well proportioned and easy to use. The handset is small, but comfortable to hold and use. This is further enhanced by the mixed materials used in the product. The ergonomic weaknesses are all tied in with the touch screen UI (again!). The screen is a decent size though could be bigger, the on screen buttons are simply too small and not responsive enough – even with the haptic feedback (which I found to be one of the only strengths of the touch screen!).

Materials:
The  majority of the case is made of glossy injection moulded plastic with a brushed aluminium back. The touch screen is solid and a pleasure to interface with although the technology that Samsung have used is a far cry from that in the iPhone  or even the mediocre Blackberry. The phone seems durable and robust, partly due to it’s solid form and well made fixings, partly due to the high quality materials that have been used.

Conclusion:
While Tocco means “Touch” in Italian it would be better calling the Samsung F480 the “Tiro” which is Italian for throw… because that is exactly what you’ll want to do, throw it…………… at a wall………………… HARD!

NB: Although this has only been posted recently it has been sitting as a draft since February 2009 and was finished fairly fast. It is not in depth nor is it as informative as I’d hoped but I have not had a Tocco for about 9 months now so it is the best I can do for now. I’ll try to do something better on my user unfriendly Blackberry Storm soon!

Learning Kata: Heian Nidan

The kata required for the third grading in SKIF is Heian Nidan (the first of five “Peaceful Mind” kata’s). This post contains a JPEG diagram of the kata sequence and a YouTube video of Sensei Kanazawa, 10th Dan, performing the the kata .

Setting up GMail on the Samsung Tocco

Having recently been upgraded to the new Samsung Tocco I was instantly looking to explore the internet and e-mail capabilities of the phone.

When the new phone was turned on for the first time I Vodafone sent me a text which contained an installation file for the Internet settings. This worked immediately after installation and I was browsing the web over my 3G 7.2Mbps connection.

The e-mail was a different story though….

Because everyone uses different mail service providers and each provider uses different POP3  settings, this had to be configured manually. There is a setup wizard which will probably work for some users,  but GMail in particular uses some non-standard settings and ports. The following post will explain how to configure your Samsung Tocco for use with GMail.

As a side note, if you buy this phone and you want to make life easy for yourself, just switch to GMail. In my opinion it is the best web-based e-mail service with gargantuan storage capacities and a user friendly service. If you don’t want to use GMail as your mail provider, you should be able to find the POP settings on your e-mail providers homepage and using the following steps, configure to suit you. I have also managed to setup my VirginMedia/Blueyonder account on the Tocco.

STEP 1: GMail Account Settings

1. Login to GMail and click on Settings.
   
2. Click on Forwarding and POP/IMAP.
3. Choose one of the following  3 choices then click on Save Changes:

OPTION 1: Enable POP for all mail (even mail that’s already been downloaded) If you wish all current inbox mail and all future mail to be downloaded to the phone select the 1st option: Enable POP for all mail (even mail that’s already been downloaded).

OPTION 2: Enable POP for mail that arrives from now on
If you wish all current inbox mail to be ignored and only mail from this point onwards to be downloaded to the phone select the 2nd option.

OPTION 3: Disable POP
Do not select this one! This prohibits the use of POP.

STEP 2: Finding the e-Mail Account Settings

1. Go to the main menu in the phone.
2. Go to Messaging > Settings >  Email > Email Accounts

STEP 3: What do the Account POP Settings Mean?

1. Click on Account 1 then go to the bottom left of the screen and click on Options then click on Edit to setup the account.
2. You will now be presented with a variety of fields. Here is what they are and what each of them means:

• Account Name – What you want to call the account (GMail, Yahoo etc…)
• SMTP Server – The server which sends/processes your outgoing mail
• SMTP Port – The port of the server the phone will connect to for sending mail
• Secure Connection – Specify whether it is a secure connection or not?
• Incoming Email Server Type – The type of e-mail server (POP3 or IMAP)
• POP3 Server – The server which receives/delivers your incoming mail
• POP3 Port – The port of the server the phone will connect to for receiving mail
• APOP Login – Authenticated POP login (more secure, required by some servers)
• Secure Connection – Specify whether it is a secure connection or not?
• Set Download Limit – You can set a limit on how much data can be downloaded
• Retrieving Option – Just the subject download (faster) or the full e-mail
• Keep on Server – Leave a copy on server for computer access or just on phone
• My address – Your account e-mail address
• Username – Your account username (usually the bit before @gmail.com)
• Password – Your e-mail account password
• Use POP before SMTP authentication – If ticked checks inbox before sending
• Use SMTP authentication – Logs into SMTP server before sending
• Same as POP3/IMAP4 – Uses the same username and password as above

STEP 4: Configuring Account POP Settings

The account settings are listed below with the field title on the left and what youa re required to select/fill in, in bold text, on the right.

• Account Name: GMail (any name can be used!)
• SMTP Server: smtp.gmail.com
• SMTP Port: 465 (non-standard, usually 25)
• Secure Connection: SSL
• Incoming Email Server Type: POP3
• POP3 Server: pop.gmail.com
• POP3 Port: 995 (non-standard, usually 110)
  
• APOP Login: Ensure box  is ticked
• Secure Connection: SSL
• Set Download Limit: 300
• Retrieving Option: Personal preference – just subject or full e-mail’s?
• Keep on Server:Personal preference – leave on server for computer access or not?
• My address: bsmith@gmail.com (where bsmith is your own address username)
• Username: bsmith (where bsmith is the prefix to your @gmail.com address)
• Password: potatoes (where potatoes is your own account password)
• Use POP before SMTP authentication: Ensure box  is ticked
• Use SMTP authentication: Ensure box  is ticked
• Same as POP3/IMAP4: Ensure box  is ticked

STEP 5: Downloading Email’s

1. Go to the main menu in the phone.
2. Go to Messaging >  Email Inbox
3. Go to Options at the bottom left of the screen and select Email Accounts
4. Make sure that the account you have just created (whatever you named it) is ticked.
5. Go to Back at the bottom right of the screen
6. Go to Options at the bottom left of the screen and select Download

STEP 6: Conclusion

The phone will now connect to the server and download your e-mails before sending any you have written. With these settings I have come across no errors or problems. To conclude I’d like to discuss a couple of the settings to help explain the choices that I made in the above tutorial and the reasons behind them.

APOP Login – The connection worked with this box checked or unchecked but I thought it would be more secure leaving the box checked.

Retrieving Option – There is no right or wrong choice to be made here, ultimately it depends on you preference for speed and manageability. There are two options Subject Only or  Normal. If you choose to retrieve Subject Only, the initial email download will be fast but if you wish to read any of the emails you will have to open and then perform another download . If you choose to retrieve Normal, the initial email download will be slower but you will have the full emails on your phone once the initial download is complete.
I think it is more efficient just to retrieve Subject Only as this increases the speed of the download, allows you to filter through and delete any rubbish, then open and download the email’s you don wish to read.

Keep on Server – As above, there is no right or wrong choice to be made here, ultimately it depends on you preferences and email needs. The Keep on Server setting is a check box which is either on or off. If the box is checked, then a copy of the e-mail will be downloaded to your phone, but it will also remain unread in your account inbox. If the box is unchecked any new e-mail will be downloaded to your phone but no copy will be left in  your inbox.
I personally like to organise/file any e-mails that come into my inbox as they can often be receipts for purchases or some other document you wish to keep. With this in mind I like to keep a copy on server and then when I login to my e-mail account I may have read some/most/all of the e-mail’s but I have the chance to store them away or delete them permenantly from the server.

Must Watch TV Shows

I’ll be the first to admit I watch way too much TV. However, the quality of many shows deserves the level of devotion I have towards them! In no particular order, here is a list of MUST watch TV shows:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm
• Fringe
• House M. D.
• Lost
• 24
• Arrested Development
• The Office (US)
• Heroes
• Trailer Park Boys
• Extras
• Dexter
• The Shield
• Friday Night Lights

Some new shows that have been thoroughly recommended and are soon to be consumed:

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
• 30 Rock

Folding Your Gi

Instructional video demonstrating the best way to fold your Gi. There is no sound on the video apart from some rustling, so you may as well mute it!

How to Tie a Karate Belt

An instructional video showing 2 ways of tying a karate belt.

Karate Kid: Film Finale’s

Some classic Karate Kid finale moments, courtesy of YouTube:

Karate Kid I:

Karate Kid II:

Karate Kid III: