we heart XBMC

after removing the mini from our lives, I was left with an "extra" 19" monitor. it sits on the closet shelf, wrapped in an old sheet.

finally took a peek at my graphics card.. VGA, DVI and HDMI. oh really.. I can run two monitors. I can run two monitors! but wait.. I haven't the space... I could probably make the space, but we're on this downsizing, almost-minimalist kick, and rightly so.. so.. I wanna, but I haven't yet, and not sure if I will.

but.. I can purchase a 15' HDMI cable to run from the PC to the 42in HDTV.

      http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O5N5AI/

cheap, and after a restart, extremely effective.

XBMC and Android remote app, and wireless keyboard and mouse.. it's gonna be a great winter. might finally cut back on TWC.

I'm totally drunk-dyslexic.. XMBC.. my lawd. lol

waving farewell to another POS

the mini.. she pissed me off for the last time.

I spent TWO DAYS backing all the files up between Amazon MP3 cloud and an SD card.
      slow.as.shit.I.tell.you.what.

the internal DVD shit out a while back.. it won't let the external reload the OS to wipe.

all SD contents onto the PC.. PC moved downstairs.. plugged the 1TB external drive to the PC, formatted proper and loading all our music from Amazon. set up user accounts for Andy and the girls. setting permissions and learning lessons on setting permissions...

happy to see I have HDMI out for XBMC to the 42in LCD in the livingroom adjacent. no more small square screen from the netbook VGA out!
      also, DVI- get the right cable and I'll have dual monitors on this desk. will come in handy for when I get back to coding.

Rylie has a PC laptop. Andy has a PC laptop. I have a half-breed netbook.. the PS3.. they all like Windows for Media sharing. hooray for this.

mini is in the "electronical bin" in my closet. one day I might feel like fixing the drive and getting rid of it.. or fixing the drive, wiping it out and turn into an Ubuntu box.

dual-boot the netbook

http://gadgetgeekgrrl.blogspot.com/2011/02/omg-ubuntu_21.html

I did this before on the Dell laptop, and I'm sure I won't have as many issues with the Gateway- everything is simple and pretty standard.

I had upgraded to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and I *hate* it. especially on a netbook screen. couldn't find anything, or my way around.. lagged, YouTube won't play.. pissed me off.

I've recently fallen in love with XBMC on my machine upstairs, and want to use the netbook on the big tv downstairs to view. tried the XBMC-Ubuntu version, but can't get it on an SD card to run "live," even on Windows within Virtual Box. stupid.

I wanted to go back to 10.04 LTS anyhow.. so I'm searching through this blog for my write-up and instructions. as I go searching for the physical Live CD, I also find my MSDNAA copy of Win7 Pro 32-bit.

aaahh.. dual-boot dreams.. use Windows 7  for XBMC and Ubuntu 10.04 LTS for everything else.

grabbed the USB CD-ROM drive off the POS Mac mini (internal shat out a while back- this thing is infuriating these days) and booted to the Live CD, gparted, set up partitions, shut down, boot to Windows disc and installing now.

6 1/2 weeks with the Nexus 4

where to begin.. ok.. as far as I can tell, the 16GB Nexus 4 available through TMo is exactly the same as the Nexus 4 through Google Play Store whatever. straight up Android JellyBean 4.2.1, no pre-loaded branded carrier blah blah blah.
      my kick-ass slab of awesome was born on November 29, 2012.

Nexus 4 arrived!

happy Joss.

I know I will root, but not sure if I'll go running back to CM anytime soon. JellyBean is soo much better/different than GingerBread. loving stock.

it is beautiful. the screen is downright gorgeous. camera kicks ass. so many features and settings to figure out- I still love my G2, but this upgrade was long past due.

I didn't have to do much set up.. log in here and there, sync, download, rearrange.. thank you Google for consistently making my life easier.

upgrade time

I've had the G2 for damn near two years. TWO YEARS with the same phone. that is amazing in my land. I need something new.. I crave something to play with..

being one who needs to set goals, and also being one who needs a kick in her ass at work..

I can't upgrade my phone until I'm in the top 5 for two weeks straight.

then I am calling TMo and having that shit overnighted!

right now, thinking htc One S- I am an htc fan, like seriously. and I can get over the non-removable battery and no additional storage. the screen size is perfect for me, upgrading to JB within weeks, and therefore Sense 4+, and it's a g.d. htc. mobile hardware and software gurus as far as I'm concerned. 

the Galaxy S3 is too big, and plasticky, and a Samsung. just not my thing.

the One X+ rumored to come to TMo is too big. otherwise, freakin perfect.

if only there were an htc vanilla Android 4.1.. a G2 update, perhaps.. I love my G2. I really really do. but it's time to move on.

edit 10/16/12: of course, now that I'm in "upgrade mode" I'm researching like crazy.. and there seems to be a difference in models of the One S-

Another way to identify it is to start the phone in HBOOT mode (Press and hold volume down, and then press and hold Power, releasing Power when the back/home soft keys flash).
The HBOOT screen should show VILLE or VILLEC2 at the top. VILLE is S4, VILLEC2 is S3.

so I'm gonna havta to go either Best Buy of the TMo kiosk, or the TMo store in NH, and actually test for the processor before I agree to take it home. that ruins my plan to get it cheaper over the phone with CS.

downgrade, root, CM G2

I'm not prepared to do this today, but it needs to be done soon- stock is pissing me off, I miss CM in a bad way. getting all my ducks in a row- will update as I actually get into it.

the replacement G2 came with Android 2.3.4 S-ON - therefore, I need to downgrade to Froyo before going through the root process:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1178912
this requires use of ADB and allows temp root access

to gain perm root access, S-OFF, install Clockwork- I will be using section 4.b when I get to that point:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_Vision_.28G2.2FDZ.29_and_DHD

from there, I should be able to use Clockwork to download and install CM. also, I saved my SD card from the hackedified G2 so I can reload Titanium back-up once I'm up and running again.


off-topic: interesting.. the One S can be rooted, S-OFF'd, CWM'd and the like without an sd card... cuz it doesn't have one.. love the dev community.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1604677


--
edit 8/26/12: took me 45 minutes max to downgrade and get the perm-root and whatnot. after that was all set, I shut down, took my SIM card out, booted up again and connected via WiFi:

- install ClockworkMod from the Market
- Flash ClockworkMod Recovery
- under ROM Management, choose Download ROM
- I choose CyanogenMod and we're going right back to 7.2.0

aaahh.. this is *so* much better.. missed CM. loading certain apps w/data from Titanium Backup now.. yeay Jewels and Angry Birds!