![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I'll post about the Occupy Cleveland rally in a separate post, because I'm in post-greasy-spoon food coma at the moment.
So instead, I'll ramble about my new phone. I ended up going with Virgin, since they run on the Sprint network which was what I was switching from, and that way I already know my coverage area quite well.
I got the LG Optimus V, since it was approximately in my price range and didn't have horrible reviews. I'm switching from a Blackberry Curve 8330.
So far I've found Virgin's phone support more annoying (in terms of background music and crap) and somewhat less knowledgeable than Sprint's, but not hopelessly so.
I'm picking up speed on the touch keyboard, but I still really miss my real keyboard on the Curve. I do love the rest of the touch features and the android functionality.
I'm not impressed with the camera, especially since my blackberry had a flash and this doesn't. In general it's very slow to take pictures. I don't know if I poke around with settings on it more if I can get some better results, but I hope so. I haven't tried it as a videocamera yet. The speaker isn't as strong as my blackberry, either. I could use it as a little mini-radio when escorting and hear it reasonably well with not-too-bad sound quality. The Optimus only gets about 2/3s as loud when used that way, and it's a lower sound quality overall (haven't used it with headphones yet, but I suspect it's not a problem there).
The biggest issue is the Low on Space issue, I've been running into that some, and am still googling the various fixes (everything I can move has been moved to the SD Card, but I'm leery of trying to root the phone completely to remove bloatware due to lack of experience). Also, I've been having intermittent problems accessing LJ posts from the phone, which seems to have cleared up after I cleared the browser cache, but two days into owning it that seems kind of ridiculous.
Also, I found a Tardis background screen that makes me happy, and my alarm is now the 1963 Doctor Who theme (the phone ringer is the 2010 theme for the moment, but not sure I'll stay with that, normally it's "Can You Picture That" by Electric Mayhem). Notifications are the Cloister Bell. And once I moved those I could to the SD card, I have managed to fit a decent number of apps despite my frustrations on that side of things.
Sadly I can't seem to find a good Bloxorz option for Android yet, but I'm getting surprisingly hooked on Unblock Me instead. And I now have Othello, Towers of Hanoi, mancala, and sudoku. I also like the ability to create desktop shortcuts for sites and contacts. I've now got a handy desktop link direct to the wikipedia list of Doctor Who serials (essential reference material!), and contact short-cuts for the household and family. Nifty. I also installed some practical stuff; a first aid manual, a pill identifier, a swiss army knife app with compass and other gadgets (the compass is actually really handy when navigating RTA -- ever get on a bus going the wrong direction because you couldn't tell your orientation on the street corner to match to the N/S and E/W routes?). And, of course, Netflix, Audible, Pandora, an e-reader, a music player, youtube, twitter, facebook, and the usual. I also found a nifty knot guide, and an Urban Dictionary app. Next up, nature identification apps. For those, I may even be willing to pay.
In general health and household update, I've had an up and down week. Mostly been pretty antisocial and low energy, and I rather trashed myself physically with the Occupy Cleveland rally on Thursday. Overall not too bad, though. NL's in town this weekend, which is lovely. Even with feeling all antisocial, I find I still very much enjoy his company (much like the housemates that way). Today we slept in way too late, but drowsy and cuddly was more appealing than anything outside the bed. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Nicks and rushed me in to work. And here I am.
I think the funniest thing about Spike (our new/returning cat) is how he manages to combine being ridiculously exploratory and pushy with being flat-out timid. It's weird. He's not shy at all. He'll climb all over people, even poke their noses if they don't pay him enough mind. He loves attention, pretty much all the time. He's mouthy as all get-out, and often narrates his way around the house. He comes when he's called (more reliably than most cats, at least). However, he's like a bunny (especially with that stub tail) the minute there's an unexpected noise or anything. Zip-zoom and he's gone. Then he's back again a few minutes later, being just as pushy and talkative as before. It's somewhat different from how Ringo's temperament works. Ringo's just not bothered by much of anything. He'll literally climb over the dogs if they're in the way, you can pick him up and roll him around and clip his nails and nothing fazes him. Except closed doors and outside. He'll freak out if he's closed in a room even for a minute or two, and he'll only explore the porch as long as the door is totally open so he can run back inside at a moment's notice. Also, he has a disconcerting habit of trying to burrow into my crotch. Ow. No. Between the two of them there is much affection and hilarity. I am pleased. Cat and Riley and X don't seem to overwhelmingly put out by the Spike addition either, which is good. Although Spike has been chasing Riley out of Caleb's bed, which does not make him Caleb's favorite critter (he and Riley are tight).
So instead, I'll ramble about my new phone. I ended up going with Virgin, since they run on the Sprint network which was what I was switching from, and that way I already know my coverage area quite well.
I got the LG Optimus V, since it was approximately in my price range and didn't have horrible reviews. I'm switching from a Blackberry Curve 8330.
So far I've found Virgin's phone support more annoying (in terms of background music and crap) and somewhat less knowledgeable than Sprint's, but not hopelessly so.
I'm picking up speed on the touch keyboard, but I still really miss my real keyboard on the Curve. I do love the rest of the touch features and the android functionality.
I'm not impressed with the camera, especially since my blackberry had a flash and this doesn't. In general it's very slow to take pictures. I don't know if I poke around with settings on it more if I can get some better results, but I hope so. I haven't tried it as a videocamera yet. The speaker isn't as strong as my blackberry, either. I could use it as a little mini-radio when escorting and hear it reasonably well with not-too-bad sound quality. The Optimus only gets about 2/3s as loud when used that way, and it's a lower sound quality overall (haven't used it with headphones yet, but I suspect it's not a problem there).
The biggest issue is the Low on Space issue, I've been running into that some, and am still googling the various fixes (everything I can move has been moved to the SD Card, but I'm leery of trying to root the phone completely to remove bloatware due to lack of experience). Also, I've been having intermittent problems accessing LJ posts from the phone, which seems to have cleared up after I cleared the browser cache, but two days into owning it that seems kind of ridiculous.
Also, I found a Tardis background screen that makes me happy, and my alarm is now the 1963 Doctor Who theme (the phone ringer is the 2010 theme for the moment, but not sure I'll stay with that, normally it's "Can You Picture That" by Electric Mayhem). Notifications are the Cloister Bell. And once I moved those I could to the SD card, I have managed to fit a decent number of apps despite my frustrations on that side of things.
Sadly I can't seem to find a good Bloxorz option for Android yet, but I'm getting surprisingly hooked on Unblock Me instead. And I now have Othello, Towers of Hanoi, mancala, and sudoku. I also like the ability to create desktop shortcuts for sites and contacts. I've now got a handy desktop link direct to the wikipedia list of Doctor Who serials (essential reference material!), and contact short-cuts for the household and family. Nifty. I also installed some practical stuff; a first aid manual, a pill identifier, a swiss army knife app with compass and other gadgets (the compass is actually really handy when navigating RTA -- ever get on a bus going the wrong direction because you couldn't tell your orientation on the street corner to match to the N/S and E/W routes?). And, of course, Netflix, Audible, Pandora, an e-reader, a music player, youtube, twitter, facebook, and the usual. I also found a nifty knot guide, and an Urban Dictionary app. Next up, nature identification apps. For those, I may even be willing to pay.
In general health and household update, I've had an up and down week. Mostly been pretty antisocial and low energy, and I rather trashed myself physically with the Occupy Cleveland rally on Thursday. Overall not too bad, though. NL's in town this weekend, which is lovely. Even with feeling all antisocial, I find I still very much enjoy his company (much like the housemates that way). Today we slept in way too late, but drowsy and cuddly was more appealing than anything outside the bed. We grabbed a quick breakfast at Nicks and rushed me in to work. And here I am.
I think the funniest thing about Spike (our new/returning cat) is how he manages to combine being ridiculously exploratory and pushy with being flat-out timid. It's weird. He's not shy at all. He'll climb all over people, even poke their noses if they don't pay him enough mind. He loves attention, pretty much all the time. He's mouthy as all get-out, and often narrates his way around the house. He comes when he's called (more reliably than most cats, at least). However, he's like a bunny (especially with that stub tail) the minute there's an unexpected noise or anything. Zip-zoom and he's gone. Then he's back again a few minutes later, being just as pushy and talkative as before. It's somewhat different from how Ringo's temperament works. Ringo's just not bothered by much of anything. He'll literally climb over the dogs if they're in the way, you can pick him up and roll him around and clip his nails and nothing fazes him. Except closed doors and outside. He'll freak out if he's closed in a room even for a minute or two, and he'll only explore the porch as long as the door is totally open so he can run back inside at a moment's notice. Also, he has a disconcerting habit of trying to burrow into my crotch. Ow. No. Between the two of them there is much affection and hilarity. I am pleased. Cat and Riley and X don't seem to overwhelmingly put out by the Spike addition either, which is good. Although Spike has been chasing Riley out of Caleb's bed, which does not make him Caleb's favorite critter (he and Riley are tight).
