Disappointment on android HDMI sticks / dognles UPDATED (Intel HDMI stick)

I have owned 3 different android hdmi sticks.
If you are not familiar with them, its a small form computer that connects on monitors and can turn the monitor to a PC. Great for work on the go, or for transforming an dumb TV into a smart one.

So initially I got one to watch films on my TV with subtitles, and perhaps do other stuff as well, internet browsing, and android games.
It worked great for the first 5-6 months, until it didn't. At some point it refused to boot. It was eternally frozen to the boot logo screen. I send it back and requested a replacement. The replacement worked also like a charm for a few months, until it also froze on the boot logo.

I never tried to hack any of these two. Did not install 3d party roms, or bootloaders. Only a few applications.

I considered it for a bit and the bit the bullet again and bought a 3d stick. this one was problematic from the first moment, horizontal lines would randomly appear on the screen, and the screen would turn on and off as if the video signal from the stick was interrupted and the screen was "forced" to find the signal again as if it was unplugged from the hdmi port. Thus making it unusable.

Two more I persuaded the guys at work to buy to use with some older TVs, one works ok as far as I know and the other one makes the video stutter and don't show it smoothly.

Over all I have been using them for about a year, and was really nice to have. However I cannot recommend them to anyone after my above experiences.

Also the fact that their userbase is rather small, few people deal with their problems, and mod them which is a real shame.


UPDATE 27/4/15:

Well, I recently figured out how to reinstall the firmware on my non working android stick. I also figured out that the new sticks that didn't work on my TV, oh well, it was most probably a TV problem, rather than an Android stick problem. I am in the works or repairing my TV, (changing some bad capacitors) and will test it again.

So well, after reinstalling a firmware I found floating online, the android stick came back to life. Its quite sad that these sticks, suffer so often getting stuck in the boot screen. I don't know what may contribute to that, but they should come with directions to revive them, and some online address with the original firmware.

Also, I recently read an article on gismodo, I think, about the Intel HDMI stick. The guy there was really disappointed.
Some thoughts.
1. 150$ for that is extremely expensive.
2. Of course it doesnt have a keyboard and a USB hub. what do you think it is? Aladdin's magic lamp? Get a cheap wireless keyboard/mouse and a usb hub from dealextreme or elsewhere and be done with it.
3. Of course it isn't powerful. Personally I don't have Netflix, but I can watch my movies nicely on my android sticks. Even 1080p depending on the TV.
4. You shouldn't expect to replace your laptop or desktop with this stick.
5. It is nice that it can run windows.
6. Atom processors are crap if you ask me.

UPDATE 2:

To upgrade the firmware, I used information that I found on android warehouse.
I downloaded a rom for my own particular CPU model, in my case, a RK3188 for the Ditter V16, followed the instructions with the RockChip Batch tools and managed to restore functionality.

Rockchip devices

To put the firmware via PC on your device is the Rockchip Batch Tool needed. To use this tool, you first need the necessary drivers. When you install any drivers, your PC will not recognize the device. Below are the download links for the drivers and the tool.

Download the file with the drivers.
Put the file in a recognizable folder and unpack it, so you can easily find. It back later
If you follow the steps to flash your android stick / androidbox follows, give your PC that a device is trying to connect.  Go to Control Panel> Hardware and Sound> Devices and Printers.
Between the devices, refer to "Unknown" unknown device or Rockusb Device mode, click it.
In the menu you can 'install drivers'
Now find the appropriate driver in the folder where you have installed the drivers.
When you have selected the correct driver the Rockchip
Batch tool will the next time you open it to recognize the device, and you can follow the steps appropriate for your device.

Rockchip Batch Tool.
This tool is used to in

stall (flash) on your Android Stick / Box containing a Rockchip SoC as the RK3188 RK3066 SoC and SoC firmware.

1. Install Rockchip Batch Tool
2. Open it and locate the firmware in the folder where you stored it.
3. Connect your device, in this case the Minix Neo X7 connected, when successful, a green light button, now click on the Restore button
4. When the update is successful, it will say, restore done succesful.
5. Allow your device now about 5 minutes connected, so that the update can be. Performed correctly Now you are ready


Connect of MK908 (II):

The MK908 (II) has a reset (recovery) button, hold it (with a paperclip) button before closing the drive to your PC. Hold down the button.
Connect the MK908 (II) to your PC using a USB to Micro USB cable. The Micro USB OTG port is in the drive
Release the button only when the number 1 to Connected Devices green.
After the number one green has become, you can have the reset button.
The reset button on the MK908 is at the back. There are two small holes to see which one is the LED hole. If you turn the key to see which hole the LED is and what the reset. Use a paper clip to press the reset button.

Βγήκα από το σπίτι βιαστικά πριν μερικές μέρες, 7 το πρωί, την ώρα που φεύγω κάθε πρωί για τη δουλειά. Στην ανατολή, βαριά σύννεφα, κρύβαν τον φθηνοπωρινό ήλιο και η μέρα προβλέπονταν μουντή. Καθώς οδηγούσα όμως, συνηδειτοποίησα ότι ο φωτισμός μου φαινότανε περίεργος, σαν να ήταν ξαφνικά απόγευμα αντί για χαράματα. Και σε μια στροφή του δρόμου το αντίκρυσα, προς τη δύση ορθώνονταν ένα απίστευτα ψηλό σύννεφο, σαν τα πυρηνικά μανιτάρια από τις δοκιμές του '50. Ακριβώς πάνω μου, μια μεγάλη ανέφελη περιοχή με το χαρακτηριστικό ουράνιο γαλάζιο. Και ο ήλιος, κρυμένος σχεδόν εντελώς από τα νέφη της ανατολής, αντανακλούσε τη λαμπρότητα του στα νέφη της δύσης δίνοντας την εντύπωση ότι η μέρα προσωρούσε κιόλας προς το τέλος της....

Νόμιμα ναρκωτικά = έσοδα για το κράτος

Το 2009 ανέβασα ένα κειμενάκι το οποίο είχε μερικές σκέψεις για τα ναρκωτικά.
Σήμερα 5 χρόνια μετά, στις ΗΠΑ η νομιμοποίηση της κάναβης είναι γεγονός, και τα έσοδα από τις πωλήσεις πολύ πολύ πραγματικά...

Ήμουν στη δουλειά σήμερα όπως και κάθε μέρα τα τελευταία δυο περίπου χρόνια. 

Απέναντι μου έξω από την τζαμαρία ορθώνεται ένας τοίχος ψηλός 8-10 μέτρα κρύβοντας μου κάθε θέα. Μόνη συντροφιά, αν μπορείς να την πεις έτσι, είναι οι δυο γάτες, και τα σπουργίτια που βρίσκουν καταφύγιο στις σωλήνες εξόδου του βρόχινου νερού πάνω στον τοίχο. Τα τιτιβίσματα τους, είναι το ευχάριστο διάλλειμα στην καθημερινή ρουτίνα. 

Το ένα από τα δύο γατιά είναι ιδιαιτέρως κυνηγετικό. Κάθε τρείς και λίγο κάποια κατσαρίδα, , κάποια ακρίδα, σκαθάρι ή κάποιο ποντίκι θα γίνει παιχνίδι στα νύχια του. Λιγότερο συχνά και κάποιο σπουργίτι. Το κακό είναι ότι δεν τα τρώει. Απλά τα σκοτώνει, παίζει μαζί τους, τα κάνει μπαλάκι και τα καταχωνιάζει σε κάποια μεριά του μαγαζιού να σιτέψουν.

Σήμερα, ανακάλυψα το γατί χωμένο σε μια άκρη της αποθήκης να βασανίζει ένα, ζωντανό ακόμα, σπουργίτι.Το γατί πήρε δρόμο με συνοπτικές διαδικασίες και κρατώντας ένα σακουλάκι πήρα το σπουργίτι στην παλάμη μου. Μην ξέροντας τι να το κάνω το κράτησα για λίγο εκεί σκεπτόμενος. Το πουλάκι ήταν ξαπλωμένο και ακίνητο. Ανοιγόκλεινε μερικές φορές τα μάτια και στα 5 -10 λεπτά που το κρατούσα, κουνησε το κεφάλι του 1-2 φορές. 

Το πόδι του είχε αίματα και τα φτερά εκεί ήταν στραπατσαρισμένα. Καθώς το κρατούσα είχα την αίσθηση ότι με παρατηρούσε με ένταση αλλά χωρίς φόβο. Λογικά η γάτα πρέπει να ήταν ο χειρότερος εφιάλτης του και εγώ κάποιος απομηχανής θεός. Καθώς το κρατούσα η ζεστασιά του κορμιού του διαπέρασε το ψυχρό πλαστικό και ζέσταινε την παλάμη μου. Εκπληκτικό συναίσθημα. Μετά σκαρφάλωσα σε κάτι ξύλα και μαλακά το έσπρωξα μέσα σε μια απο τις τρύπες υπερχείλησης που έχουν κάνει φωλιές και κουτσένοντας μπήκε μέσα.

Ελπίζω το γατί να μην το φτάνει.

the tactics used by lobbies and money wielding companies to shift public opinion out of focus...

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1349204/berman-at-western-energy-alliance-june-2014-doc.pdf

Ebay irrelevance

I was introduced in ecommerce and ebay sometime around 2003. Was awesome. So much selection and bargain prices at the grasp of my arm. I also enjoyed the auction style. I woke up in the middle of the night multiple times to bid and snipe on an item. And could easily find replacement parts for almost anything electronic.
At some point as my pockets became slightly deeper, the auction style wore off in me. Now I was about buying now the item I wanted with the lowest price.
I could easily source items all over the world in the various ebay websites. I could log on the German ebay to buy things from germany, to the US ebay site to buy things from the US.
And then shit changed. Ebay started demanding extra fees for customs and clearance, and the last blow has been the fact that I can no longer view items from the US ebay in US prices when logging into ebay.com. I can only see prices in euro currency missing all the 0.99$ bargains from asian stores aimed to the US market, but also available to Europe.

I have a few grievances about Ebay and some sad "horror" stories, but Ebay has becoming less and less relevant over the years and its latest implementations doesn't help at all IMHO. Now that Alibaba went public, I might as well give it a chance.

First impressions on Google Cardboard

If you don't know what Google Cardboard is, its the poor man's Virtual Reality set. Of course how poor is the man who has enough $$ to spend on a 5'' android phone is questionable, but lately at least there are a lot 5'' Chinese phones that cost quite cheaply. Anyway,

I got mine for 10$ from DX.com
I don't know if all cardboards are made equal, I would assume all use the Google template, but in my case:

1. Not all noses were created equal. More nose clearance required!
2. Google cardboard app has a bug. I cant constantly spin around myself to steady the environment I am watching. I need to sit down occasionally! Actually it seems to be my phone's bug. The gyroscope shows a small negative reading, which fluctuates a few decimals constantly, no matter what. I do not know how to reset it so far, or fix it in anyway. There are tools to check it, but haven't found anything to zero it.
3. Control of VR environments needs improvement. I can use a wired or wireless mouse but I get the feeling I would look like a dork.
4. The world is really immersive. You can loose track of your surroundings and hit on furniture and stuff. 
5. You need to have VERY clean lenses and screen. The smallest smudge looks like fog.
6. You need to have very high resolution screen as well. It works on low resolutions sure, but you see the bits the image is made of. The actual fabric of your universe.
7. A major flaw is that you can't use it while lying in bed unless you enjoy blue skyes and ceilings. What kind of personal experience is this that cannot enjoy from my own bed?