World famous is the crater Toba Lake in the Batak highlands; approximately five hours drive from Medan. Toba Lake is the largest lake in South East Asia and also one of the most spectacular, surrounded by tall mountains and with the large island of Samosir in the middle. If we descend from the mountain we see the lake glittering in all its beauty. The Dutch writer Rudy Kousbroek even called Toba Lake, ‘the most beautiful place on earth’. Most visitors stay on the peninsula of Tuk Tuk on Samosir, named after the linguist Herman Neubronner van der Tuuk. In general people stay several days on Samosir to discover the island, to visit traditional Batak villages, to swim in the lake and go to the hot springs in Pangururan.
The centerpiece of North Sumatra, Lake Toba’s bracing climate and magnificent panoramas clear the mind and soothe the soul. For decades a magnet from regional and foreign visitors alike, Toba has developed into a full-featured highland resort while retaining the rustic charm and relaxed ambiance that define Toba’s attraction. Formed by a stupendous prehistoric volcanic explosion, the 100 km long lake is the largest in Southeast Asia and one of the deepest and the highest in the world. The drama of that cataclysmic birth persist in 500 meter cliffs dropping into the blue-green waters, surrounded by steep, pine covered sloped, the climate is fresh and pleasant, with just enough rain to support the lush vegetation.
Toba Lake is a 100kms x 30kms volcanic lake in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Toba Lake has become one of the main tourist attractions for a long time in North Sumatra apart from Bukit Lawang and Nias, visited by both domestic and foreign tourist.Legend of Toba Lake
Once upon a time, lived a young orphan farmer in the northern part of the Sumatran Island. This area was very dry. The young man lived from farming and fishing. One day he went fishing, he already fishing for half of the day but still not getting any fish yet. So he returned home for the day turns to night, but when he nearly left he saw a big beautiful golden fish, he then caught the fish and brought it home. He intended to cook the fish right away but watched the beauty of this fish he then cancelled his intention. He chose to keep it as pet, and then he placed it in a big pond and feed it. On the next day, like usual, he went to his farm, and on the noon he comeback home, to have lunch. But when he arrived in his house he was very startled for the meal had prepared to be eaten. He then fears that the fish might be stolen, and then hastily he ran to the back of his house.
However, the fish was still in place, for a long time he thinks, “Who cooks those meals”, but because his is very hungry, he ate those meals. But this incident continued to occur again repeatedly, every time he came home for lunch, the meals are prepared on the table. Then one day this young man made a strategy to find out who cooks those meals, the next day he then began to commence his strategy, he then hide around the trees close to his house. He was waiting for a long time, but the smoke in his kitchen still has not been seen, and when he then intended to return home, he began to see the smoke in the kitchen.
“Hey woman, who are you, and where are you came from?” the woman began to drop tears, and then the young man saw his fish was no longer in the pond. He asked the woman, “hey woman, where is the fish in that pond?” the Woman cried intensely, but this young man continued to ask and finally the woman answers, “I was the fish that was caught by you”. The young man then startled, but because he felt that he had hurt the feelings this woman, then he said, “Hey woman, did you want to become my wife??” the Woman then startled, he stay quiet, then the young man said “Why are you silent??” Then the woman said, “I wanted to become your wife. But with one condition.” ”What is the condition?” the young man quickly asked, the woman then said, “In the future if our child was born and grew, never even once you said that he/she was anakni Dekke (child of a fish) ”. The young man then agreed to that condition and swore he will never say it.
Then they were married and granted a child. When the child was 6 years old, this child turn to be very naughty. Then one day the mother told her child to deliver meals to his father field, the child then went to deliver rice to his father. But in the middle of the trip, this child was felt hungry, then the child opened food package for his father, and ate the food. After finished eating, the child then wrapped it back and continued the trip to his father’s field. On arrival the child gave the food package to the father, the father was very happy, the father then sat and immediately opened the food package that was sent by his wife to be carried by his child. But he was very startled when he opened the package there is only bones remained. The father then asked his child “Hay my child, why there are only bones left in this package??” And the child answers,” In my trip I felt hungry, so I ate the food.” Listened to that the father was very angry, he then slap his child and said, “Botul maho anakni dekke (Why you child of a fish),”. The child is then ran home crying and ask to his mother “Mak, Olo do na in dokkon amangi, botul do au anakni dekke? (Mother, is it true what father said, that I am a child from a fish?) ” Heard his child’s words his mother was startled. While dropping tears and saying in her heart, “My husband has violated his swore, and now I must return to my place.” Then the sky was suddenly become dark followed with lightning, thunder, storm, and rain. The child and the mother disappeared, from their footprint emerged a spring that flowed water as swiftly as possible. Until this area was turned into a lake, that was named as “Tuba Lake” the lake without mercy, but because of the bataks was difficult to say “Tuba”, then this lake was mentioned as
TOBA LAKE, NORTH SUMATERA
March 14th, 2010Batik Indonesia History
March 14th, 2010Batik Indonesia History
Batik today seems to be closely related to the island of Java in Indonesia, who over centuries, been developing the ancient art form to its present day art form as the highly developed intricate batik.
There are two schools of scholars who believe on how history of batik in Java. Some say that batik was originally reserved as an art form for Javanese royalty, where the traditional skills were particularly well developed over hundreds of years in Central Java around Yogyakarta and Solo under the patronage of the Sultan and his court.
Princesses and noble women may have provided the inspiration for the highly refined designs evident in traditional patterns. Designs were copies and in some cases the cloths could only be used by certain people or on certain occasions. And each royal family had their own prescribed designs.
Other scholars disagree that batik was only reserved for the royalties.
According to them, batik was prevelant even to the common folk. It was regarded an important part of a young ladies accomplishment that she be capable of being able to skillfully hand draw batik using the canting (the pen-like instrument used to apply wax to the cloth). Apparently, this skill was as important as cookery and other household chores of the Javanese women.
And true to the form, the people themselves too only wear certain forms of batik motifs for different functions. For example, a certain motif is used during the death (mourn) and another motif is used for when a child is born or when getting married (happy occasions).
Certain areas in Java are known for a predominance of certain designs. Central Javanese designs are influenced by traditional patterns and colors. Batik from the north coast of Java, near Pekalongan and Cirebon, have been greatly influenced by Chinese culture and effect brighter colors and more intricate flower and cloud designs.
The uniqueness of the Indonesian batik is just like all their other arts which are very intricate. This maybe a little difficult to be appreciated by the modern society at first glance. But, when the technique and refinement of Indonesian batik is known, most people will definitely give a second look to it, and more so fall in love (without turning back).
The effort put into their batik are so much more compared to other countries. Sometimes, it requires a few artisans working on it for months.
If there is one country that batik is still commonly found, it has to be Indonesia, as this art form is still very apparent there today. Many of the folks there wear batik in their everyday life from sarungs and even in shirts – both formal and informal. And what makes Indonesia unique is that the folks there are very proud of their tradition, just like how the Thais are proud and synonymous to their Thai silks.
BROMO TENGGER SEMERU NATIONAL PARK
March 14th, 2010
Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, before declared as a National Park mountainous highland of Bromo Tengger Semeru is a forest area with many functions like Strict Nature Reserve Recreation Forest, Protection Forest and Production Forest. Declaration of Bromo Tengger Semeru area as a National Park is based on some considerations i. e: rare and endemic flora habitat of migrant wildlife, unique ecosystem, active volcano, scenery of nature cultural and traditional lives of local people as a catchment area for water resources around the area etc.
The Area of Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park covers 50,273.30 hectares of mountainous highland and vertily valley between 1,000 – 3,676 M above sea level. The area is dominated by mountainous trees are also 4 lakes inside namely: Ranu Pani (4 Ha), Ranu Regulo (0.75 Ha), Ranu Kumbolo (14 Ha) and Ranu Darungan (0.50 Ha). Geografically the area lies between 7′54” – 8′13” South Latitude and 112′51” – 113′4” East Longitude on the globe.
The vegetation of the park area consists of four main vegetation types: Highland Forest, Alvin Forest, Casuarina Forest and Grassland. It is predicted about 600 species of flora in the park. The common species are: Casuarina junghuhniana, Vaccinium varingaefolium, Albitzia lomphata, Acasia decurens, Anaphalis javanica.
At the southern part of Mt. Semeru there are about 157 species of orchids. And also endemic species in the park. Little information about wildlife in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park is recorded. They’re only about 16 species of Mammals and 70 species of Birds. The Mammals are: Wild Pig, Timor Deer, Barking Deer, Panther, Silver Leaf Monkey, Common Porcupine etc. The common birds are : Hornbill, Banded Pitta, Crested Spent Eagle, and Australian Grey Duck at Ranu Pani and Ranu Kumbolo.
INTERESTING OBJECTS
RANU PANE, RANU REGOLO: Ranu Pane and Ranu Regolo are two beautiful creater lakes on the upland of 3 km beyond the southern rim caldera. Ranu Pane/Ranu Regulo mostly passed by climbers who want to climb the Mt Semeru. Ranu Pane about 1 Ha and Ranu Regulo about p0.75 Ha, are located nearby.
RANU KUMBOLO: Ranu Kombolo with about 14 Ha is located between Ranu Pane and Mt Semeru, walking a long the slopes of the Lake Kumbolo getting yours shoes stuck in the soft mud smelling the fragrance of pines and patches of miniature flowers this is the ideyllic solitude of the Kumbolo lake.
PEAK OF MT. SEMERU (3,676 M): For travelling to the peak of Mt Semeru/Mahameru hikers are advised to avoid visiting the creater of “Jonggring Seloka” and southern part of the area due to the toxic gasses and lava path.
CEMORO LAWANG: The area is one of the entrance gates to the park from Probolinggo. Some activities can be done here and its surrounding ie: camping, shopping and enjoying the nature scenery of Mt. Bromo and sea of sand, farmland, wild foliage and sturdy trunks plunge to wards the gleamay sand, etc.
THE SEA OF SAND: The sea of sand area was declared as a strict Nature reserve in 1919 for the purpose of protecting the extraordinary sea of sand which forms the floor of caldera with diameter 8-10 km. There are several mountains inside the caldera namely: Mt Bromo (2.392 m asl ), Mt Batok (2.470 m asl ), Mt Kursi ( 2.581 m asl ), Mt Watangan ( 2.661 m asl ), and Mt Widodaren ( 2.650 m asl ). Walking on the sea of sand stepping up on the 249 steps to the rim of smoking crater of Mrt. Bromo. Enjoying the unique crater, watching dawn at Bromo are the main attractions the area.
PEAK OF Mt. PANANJAKAN
A spectacular view to the area of Sea of Sand with the Mount Bromo, Batok, and Semeru in the background and the sun rise can be viewed from out look point at peak of Mt Penanjakan ( 2.770 m asl ). To watch the dawn of the day at Mt. Penanjakan you have to be ready on the spot at about 43.00 am.
BUNAKEN NATIONAL MARINE PARK
March 14th, 2010General Information
The Bunaken National Marine Park was formally established in 1991 and is among the first of Indonesia’s growing system of marine parks. The park covers a total surface area of 89,065 hectares, 97% of which is overlain by sparkling clear, warm tropical water. The remaining 3% of the park is terrestrial, including the five islands of Bunaken, Manado Tua, Mantehage, Nain and Siladen. Although each of these islands has a special character, it is the aquatic ecosystem that attracts most naturalists. The waters of Bunaken National Marine Park are extremely deep (1566 m in Manado Bay), clear (up to 35-40 m visibility), refreshing in temperature (27-29 C) and harbor some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. Pick any of group of interest – corals, fish, echinoderms or sponges – and the number of families, genera or species is bound to be astonishingly high. For example, 7 of the 8 species of giant clams that occur in the world, occur in Bunaken. The park has around 70 genera of corals; compare this to a mere 10 in Hawaii. Although the exact number of fish species is unknown, it may be slightly higher than in the Philippines, where 2,500 species, or nearly 70% of all fish species known to the Indo-western Pacific, are found.
Oceanic currents may explain, in part, why Bunaken National Marine Park is such a treasure trove of biodiversity. Northeasternly currents generally sweep through the park but abundant counter currents and gyros related to lunar cycles are believed to be a trap for free swimming larvae. This is particularly true on the south side of the crescent-shaped Bunaken Island, lying in the heart of the park. A snorkler or diver in the vicinity of Lekuan or Fukui may spot over 33 species of butterfly fish and numerous types of groupers, damsels, wrasses and gobies. The gobies, smallish fish with bulging eyes and modified fins that allow them to attach to hard surfaces, are the most diverse but least known group of fish in the park.
Biologists believe that the abundance of hard corals is crucial in maintaining the high levels of diversity in the park. Hard corals are the architects of the reefs, without them, numerous marine organisms would be homeless and hungry. Many species of fish are closely associated with particular types of corals (folious, branching, massives, etc.) for shelter and egg-laying. Others, like the enormous Bumphead Parrotfish, Balbometopon muricatum, are “coralivores” and depend on hard corals for their sustenance. Bony mouth parts fused into an impressive “beak” allow these gregarious fish to crunch corals like roasted peanuts.
Some 20,000 people live on the natural resources of Bunaken National Marine Park. Although there are inevitable conflicts between resource protection and use by people, the Indonesian government is taking a fairly unusual and pragmatic approach to park management. The idea is to promote wise resource use while preventing overexploitation. Local communities, government officials, dive resort operators, local nature groups, tourists and scientists have played an active role in developing exclusive zones for diving, wood collection, fishing and other forms of utilization. If successful, Bunaken Marine Park will stand as an important example of how Sulawesi, and the rest of Indonesia, can work to protect its natural resources.
Accommodation and Transfer
On the island you have the choice amongst a number of homestays, with rates starting at around Rp. 80 000 per day and person incl. fullboard. If you only go for the cheapest option don’t complain afterwards if the water in your mandi (bathroom) doesn’t get filled up regularly, or food isn’t quite as nice as you had hoped for. Life in North Sulawesi in general isn’t as cheap as in other regions of Indonesia, and most things on Bunaken have to be brought in from Manado. Depending on the season even fish can be pretty expensive. Better think twice before you try to bargain down prices which are already cheap; for the locals it could mean the difference between being able to eat 3 or only 2 meals a day, or buying school books for the children or not.
Some of the dive operations on Bunaken are offering more upmarket accommodation, even hot showers (Living Colours, Cha Cha Nature Resort)
Accommodation and Transfer
On the island you have the choice amongst a number of homestays, with rates starting at around Rp. 80 000 per day and person incl. fullboard. If you only go for the cheapest option don’t complain afterwards if the water in your mandi (bathroom) doesn’t get filled up regularly, or food isn’t quite as nice as you had hoped for. Life in North Sulawesi in general isn’t as cheap as in other regions of Indonesia, and most things on Bunaken have to be brought in from Manado. Depending on the season even fish can be pretty expensive. Better think twice before you try to bargain down prices which are already cheap; for the locals it could mean the difference between being able to eat 3 or only 2 meals a day, or buying school books for the children or not.
Some of the dive operations on Bunaken are offering more upmarket accommodation, even hot showers (Living Colours, Cha Cha Nature Resort).
iPhone 3GS review
March 13th, 2010iPhone 3GS Review By Hubert Nguyen
By now, there’s no need to introduce the iPhone 3GS: if you’re looking at this review, chances are that you are just wondering how it feels and if you should jump on the wagon and get one. However, you want to know if everything that you would be enjoying on the 3GS is worth the price that the device and plan cost. Also, what are the alternatives out there? In this iPhone 3GS review, I will tell you how the iPhone has been working for me in the past month and you will hopefully be able to extrapolate from my experience what yours will be. The review is slightly aimed at those of you who don’t have an iPhone yet, but if you do have one and want to upgrade to the 3GS, you might want to read this.
Context We all have a different usage pattern that influences how we perceive certain features. It will also affect the battery life greatly. I used the iPhone as my main phone, to check Facebook updates and emails (a lot) but I replied only moderately. I browsed the web often to check on news or stock quotes and used the map application, at least for a few minutes every other day. I don’t call much (10mn a day?) and I didn’t play games.
Physical design The iPhone 3GS looks and feels (physically) like other iPhones before it. I’m pretty sure that you held one already, but if you have not, I can tell you that it feels good in the hand, but it is a little heavy in the pocket. I hold it in my left hand, and my thumb falls right onto the volume controls and the “silence” button. I can use the index to put the iPhone to sleep using the top button. It’s convenient.
One of the new physical feature is the use of an oleophobic surface, that is supposed to make the surface less prone to fingerprints and easier to clean. Honestly it doesn’t feel any better or worse than the iPhone 3G. If anything, the first iPhone aluminum surface in the back was much better with fingerprints. Note that the iPhone 3GS can be identifiable by the reflective material used on the text in the back. 
The iPhone display performs well in direct sunlight, which is always a plus. It is slightly better than the MyTouch 3G (HTC Hero) and much better than my BlackBerry 8900 in that respect. 
Why can Apple make a small wall plug, while the rest of the industry has brick-sized ones?
Basics
The iPhone does very well with the basic phone stuff. That’s one of the reason why it was so popular when it was introduced. From the unlock to the dialing to the in-call functions, it’s hard to complain about any real issues. With the OS 2.0 then 3.0, Apple has fixed most of the user-interface issues, mostly related to the contact search and Exchange support (not supported when the iPhone was introduced). The basic phone functionalities work very well and that’s a powerful thing to have in any phone.
With 4/5 bars, the audio quality was very good and the volume was OK, although not on the loud side: in noisy places that could be an issue. If supported by the wireless carriers, you can enjoy visual voicemail, which is pretty cool when compared to the dumb voicemails that most people get. I personally use PhoneTag, a voicemail service that sends voicemails as .mp3 and an audio-to-text translation to my email inbox. I prefer that to AT&T’s Visual Voice mail.
Phone settings
I keep all my contacts online, on an Exchange Server, so for me, setting up the iPhone mainly consisted of entering a WIFI password, then setting up an exchange account and a Gmail account. In general, the exchange setup is not too hard if you have all the information handy. Gmail is very easy to setup, so all in all, you should get started in no-time. All the menus are fairly easy to find, because the user interface is logical, certainly more so than the Nokia N97, or Windows Mobile phones. Android is pretty good on that front.
Virtual keyboard 
Let’s go to the heart of what could make or break your iPhone experience: the iPhone relies only on virtual controls because it is currently the only way to get a thin phone with a large and comfortable display. The only (but important!) drawback is that you will lose some serious typing speed. When you have physical keys, most people basically use two senses to type: touch and vision. On the iPhone, half or more of that is gone. Now, you can only rely on your eyes to type properly. For most people that translates into a much slower typing pace. In my case, I type much faster with a physical keyboard.
Now, you will probably hear that it gets better with time: it’s false for most people that I know and for myself. It might get *marginally* better, but not by much. Secondly, an iPhone “fan” will tell you that he/she or someone they know can type as fast as a Blackberry-user. Well, that might be true, but that’s beside the point. The real question is: can you do it? and usually, the answer is no. If you don’t type a whole lot, then you won’t mind. If you come from a numeric pad phone, the virtual keyboard will be a big improvement for typing. If you come from a Blackberry, go try an iPhone and imagine yourself typing one of those long work emails or IM conversation. Everyone’s tolerance to the virtual keyboard is different, that’s why I recommend you to try it in a store or with a friend’s phone. Type something long. For those who would not like the iPhone, this is ground zero. If you wonder how the iPhone compares to the competition, I would say that it’s better than the myTouch 3G and better than any of the touch Windows Mobile phones that I have tried like the Samsung Omnia and the HTC Touch Pro. That said, I prefer the suggestion feature of Android to be better than Apple’s because it suggests more words, faster. What I like about virtual controls is that they change depending on the context. In the web browser, there’s a “.com” button, which saves four taps. It is also very easy to switch to a foreign layout like AZERTY. These are some of the huge advantages in having virtual controls: developers can do a lot of cool things. Web browsing 
finance.yahoo.com is an interesting test for mobile browsing Web browsing is another area where the iPhone has changed the game. There are three things that basically make it great: display size, pinch & zoom and good JavaScript support. The net result is a very good web browsing experience. First, most sites “just work” and render properly (except when Flash is required). Secondly, pinch & zoom provide the user the best way to control how big they want things to be and what they want to look at in the page. As we said earlier, JavaScript *usually* work well. for example, the comments on this website don’t work on the BlackBerry 8900… 
This is a message that I’m getting too often on the Curve 8900 
Another problem on my Curve 8900: Disqus comments dont’ work 
Fortunately, Disqus works the iPhone (and Android) Depending on your connection and on the site, the page loading speed can vary a lot, but overall, I think that the iPhone 3GS provides the best mobile web experience of all the phones that I used. The Palm Pre would be the next in line. The 3GS version has a faster processor and uses a faster wireless protocol (3.5G), so independent tests have shown that pages can load almost twice as fast when compared with the iPhone 3G – this is definitely not negligible if you are on the web a lot. 
Flash still doesn’t work, so watching videos on sites like Hulu is still out of reach. However, YouTube for mobile will launch video in the embedded YouTube app, so you’re not completely out of options, even if Hulu is better. If you wonder why Flash isn’t supported, here’s my opinion: On PC, Flash requires a lot of assembly code optimizations and Adobe doesn’t have the manpower to write code for each platform/processor, so those who can write that code (like Nvidia and others) get good Flash support, while others don’t. Apple should be able to dedicate some software resources to a Flash player, but having flash content go through an Application like YouTube effectively gives Apple more control over how web content flow to their users.
Data Speed Connection Quality
The data speed is relatively good… when you actually do have 3G coverage. I have not tested the 3G coverage in the whole city of San Francisco, but I found myself without 3G coverage in hugely popular area like near by the Ferry building and in other places Downtown (please post a comment if you don’t get 3G coverage in a popular public place). My experience might not be representative of yours, but the user experience is much better with a good connection. After all the S in 3GS means “speed”, including the 3.5G speed. Over time, it should get better as AT&T is supposed to expand its network. I say “supposed to” because you would think that placed like downtown SF should be well covered already.
I’ve run some speed tests using the free CISCO Gist (free in the app store) app:
3/5 bars: 481kbps, 479kbps, 595kbps
5/5 bars: 652kbps, 654kbps, 690kbps
WIFI: 2329kbps, 1876kbps
Email
Great email experience + ability to add many accounts
Since OS 2.0, the iPhone has a had support for Microsoft exchange, my favorite work-email back-end. We tested Exchange, GMail and Yahoo mail, and in all three instances, email worked very well. You can also use MobileMe, a paid service from Apple, but I’m not sure how many people actually do that. It works well too.
The iPhone is a great phone to read emails on and ideally, if you don’t sent back a lengthy reply, you should be more than happy with the experience. The HTML email and image attachment handling is impeccable too. I rate the iPhone email reading above any Blackberry that I had my hands on.
I personally find the Blackberry 8900 to be more productive for emails or for Live Blogging. Thanks to the keyboard shortcuts, it’s faster to go to the top of the email stack, forward or reply. The typing speed obviously makes all the difference, for me. Live Blogging on the iPhone is just too painful.
Security
Security: not bullet-proof, but it’s simple and doesn’t slow down the user
The iPhone security has come under criticism recently. In my opinion, security is good enough for consumer use, the password and the remote wipe should be enough to keep most thugs away from your data. They probably just want the phone, anyway. I don’t have any particular industrial secret that I want to protect, and I assume that most of you share my situation. But it’s important to realize that although nothing is uncrackable, making it harder to crack reduces greatly the chances that someone will actually have the skills, time and motivation to crack it. If you want a strong encryption on your handset’s content, a BlackBerry might be a better choice.
Photo and Video
The iPhone 3GS (left) has better white balance, out of the box
when compared to the Curve 8900, which is very decent.
The iPhone and iPhone 3G have often been criticized for the low quality photos (they sucked), and their lack of video recording capabilities. The iPhone 3GS has a new camera hardware that takes good photos (for a phone). Out of the box, it is better than my Blackberry 8900 that I often consider to be quite good too. When taking photos, you can use your finger to choose the point of focus. That’s a feature that works relatively well. Overall, I prefer camera phones that have a physical shutter button because I find that tapping on the screen to snap a photo sometime induces a shake right before the photo is taken, and that makes the photo blurry.
Photo taken with an iPhone 3GS. Check our samples on Flickr
The lack of camera flash in the iPhone 3GS is annoying as I have become accustomed to having one on my Blackberry 8900. Also, I tend to snap “mobile” photos during dinners, parties and other dimly lit events where I clearly don’t carry a better imaging device.
The 3GS also comes with video recording, something that is still missing natively for older models, even after the iPhone OS 3.0 update. I’m not sure why Apple doesn’t add video recording to the old models: there are applications out there that could do it (although at 15fps), but I don’t think that they made it to the App Store. The video quality is “OK”, but is far from being as good as DVD-quality. To get a feel for it, look at our video samples. Overall, video recording works very decently, for a handheld.
This video is also on our Ubergizmo Flickr account
Video editing is very basic (trimming, basically), but given that most phones don’t have any form of video editing, it’s hard to complain. It’s possible to upload videos directly to YouTube, which is cool.
Overall performance
The Interface of the iPhone 3GS is very fast and responsive. I have only 26 apps on my home screen, but after a few weeks, I’ve never experienced any slowdown or sluggishness. To run a quick comparison, the Blackberry Storm would need a brain transplant to be like this – especially once it is bloated with emails. The Blackberry 8900 is regularly sluggish while waking up from locking state, I suspect that the content protection makes is slowing things down (don’t keep a bunch of encrypted files on the device). The iPhone 3GS is also more responsive than the Nokia N97 (by far). Only the HTC Hero (MyTouch 3G) comes close, but even then, scrolling in the Map application reveals that the iPhone 3GS can move graphics about twice as fast (I’m eyeballing the framerate). At the moment, the Toshiba TG01 or a Tegra-powered device *should* deliver similar or better results.
App loading speed
One of the major improvement on the iPhone 3GS is the loading time for applications. In my own experience and in independent tests, applications have loaded faster on the iPhone 3GS when compared to older models. The additional memory that was added to the 3GS and the extra CPU clock speed make a big difference.
Battery Life
The battery life can vary greatly depending on what you do, but with my particular usage pattern, I got about 39h in between charges. Battery life can vary greatly, but you’ve seen my usage pattern at the beginning of this review. I have heard a lot of horror stories about the iPhone battery (the original and the 3G). Honestly, it’s hard to tell what’s going on unless I can investigate and try for myself. Sometimes, even the local conditions (signal reflectivity, distance to the tower) can affect battery life in non-negligible ways.
Misc
Boot time: the iPhone 3GS boots in 20 seconds, which is not so far from what a Netbook would do with an instant-boot OS. The N97 is comparable, but the Blackberry is just horrible during a reboot. It can take *minutes*.
Multi-tasking: The iPhone OS is getting some bashing for not being “really” multi-tasking. This is somewhat religious debate at this point. To most users, the phone is seemingly multitask. Messages do arrive in the background, phone calls arrive when you are doing something else. However, an application cannot run in the background. For example, I would like to leave Skype on in the background so that I get messages, even if I’m doing something else, like reading my emails. But right now, Skype will log-off as soon as I switch to another application. It’s conceptually annoying, but so far it is not a roadblock at all, for me.
Search box: I can clear text in any search box with the cross on the right. Both Android and Windows mobile don’t offer this functionality. It’s one of the little things that make life easier many times a day…
OpenGL ES 2.0
Apple didn’t make a whole lot of noise about the 3D performance of the iPhone 3GS, but it is substantial. I’ve said in a previous post that applications have the potential of looking much better than they used to, if developers dare using features that are not in previous iPhones, that said. I already know a couple of developers who are going to make a 3GS-only version of their game.
If you want to learn more details about this, head to our “iPhone 3GS: Prepare For a 3D Graphics Shock” post. In a few months, other devices will come out and will probably challenge the iPhone’s graphics capabilities, but right now, no other phone can claim the portfolio of 3D applications that the iPhone has.
Software Features Highlights (3.0)
Copy/paste: It was ridiculous that it took so long before Copy/Paste was added to the iPhone OS, but now it’s in and it works fairly well… mostly. Weirdly enough, it’s not possible to paste a phone number into the phone dialing app. The issue is well documented.
For a touch screen, the copy paste is well implemented, but the Blackberry 8900 and its trackball do a better job in my opinion. Fingers just aren’t as good as a thin cursor for text selection.
Find my phone: If you subscribe to the Mobileme service, you can trace your iPhone remotely. First, you will need to setup a mobileme email account on the iPhone. I suspect that upon a location query, MobileMe sends a notification to the phone, which replies back with its location. If the thief removes the SIM, or disables your MobileMe account, you won’t be able to trace the phone anymore. May be that’s why it is important to put a password in the phone to start with.
Remote wipe: If you iPhone has been stolen/lost you might want to wipe your iPhone but you should know that once you do that, you won’t be able to locate it (the mobileme account gets nuked as well). The remote wipe will only prevent the other party from looking at your data (emails, contact…) and that’s already a lot. Again, you need to have setup a MobileMe account and the iPhone needs to be in a state where it can receive the wipe notification and act on it.
Search: The search on the iPhone is really handy. I use it to not only search for notes or emails, but it is often faster to search for contacts there as well. I have several hundreds of contacts, and using the search makes things faster than going into the phone app, then the contacts… The results are popping in near real-time. I haven’t tried to scientifically measure the search quality, but at the moment, nothing has been bugging me on this front. It works.
Voice control: Apple has added voice control to let users place calls or play a song without interacting with the touch interface. It might come in handy if you *really* can’t use your hands (while driving?). It works well, if you pronounce something that’s easy to recognize, like “call Randy”. Now, I have a bunch of friends with foreign names and the system has a much harder time with those and ends up wasting my time. I would try using it to save my life, but otherwise, I’m not a fan of this implementation, even if I like the idea a lot. Also, pushing the home button for 3 seconds feels a little long. Having a walkie-talkie style button would be great, but yeah… it adds a button. It’s not clear why Voice Control didn’t make it into older phones, as it seems to be a software-only feature. May be Apple deemed the iPhone 3G to be too slow.
Nike+: Nike+ was previously available on iPod Touch, and now works the same way on the 3GS. I don’t run, but most people run with their phone with them, so if you were previously carrying an iPod Touch + your phone, you just got a little lighter.
Applications
I noticed that the iPhone had the best implementation for most popular applications (Yelp…), but the ones that I use the most are Maps and Skype:
Mapping: Mapping is a pretty cool application, when it’s implemented properly. Fortunately for iPhone users, Google Maps on iPhone is the best implementation that I’ve seen to date – it’s even better than the Android version (ironic)… First of all, it is fast. When compared to the myTouch 3G, the iPhone 3GS scrolling speed is about 2X or 3X faster (20fps or less versus about 60fps) – I’m just eye balling here. Secondly, there is a search box right at the top that saves a few seconds when searching. Results are displayed directly in the map, while on other platforms, results are shown as a list. Finally, there’s a little “my position” at the bottom-right on the map. Again that saves a second or two each time you have to use it. Also, simple things like dropping a pin can’t be done in the MyTouch 3G. It doesn’t sound like much, but all together, this makes a big difference in terms of user interface. That’s the difference between finding something quickly and be happy and being frustrated and lost (my Blackberry 8900’s mapping sucks). in the 3GS, Apple has integrated a compass. In the mapping application, the rotate to you show where you are headed. The compass is accurate, and unlike the Nokia N97, walking with the compass on doesn’t lead to a pendulum effect in the mapping application. As a pedestrian, I can certainly do without it. In a car, the iPhone 3GS still has a lag that I consider important when compared to a personal navigation device. It’s handy, but not my first choice for a GPS if I’m driving.
A final note about the iPhone 3GS and mapping: it seems to me that the GPS is invoked and shut down when not in use. It might sound like a “duh”, but on my Blackberry 8900, if you leave the GPS on it just sucks power forever. Apps don’t seem to do a good job at turning it on and off as needed (the downside of multitasking, I guess…).
Skype: Either for IM or for voice calls (over WIFI) Skype for iPhone works well. In my tests, calls were clear just like they are on a computer. I really wish that Apple would let us call over 3G, but I suspect that this is not going to happen anytime soon. It is clearly not in the interest of wireless carriers that Voice over IP (VOIP) apps start to proliferate on a popular platform.
On the IM side, you must know that it works well, as long as you stay in the Skype application. If you switch to a different task, Skype will effectively log you out (!!). That goes back to our multi-tasking discussion from earlier. This didn’t bother me so much, but I can imagine that some users would be furious over the lack of background IM availability in apps like Skype.
Things that could be better
Data plan pricing: There not a lot of stuff to hate in the iPhone 3GS (hardware and software). The obvious thing that I would like is a lower price for the data plan, but business is business and if people are willing to enroll with current prices, I don’t see any incentive for AT&T to lower the price.
UMA Support: I wish that the iPhone had UMA support, because it would let you use a WIFI network to: 1/guarantee perfect reception quality at home. 2/ Call without roaming charges from abroad. To be fair, the carrier must also support UMA, and the only one in the USA is T-Mobile with its HotSpot@Home. If T-Mobile USA ever carries the iPhone, we hope that it will support UMA.
Productivity: I’m entering in dangerous ground just by suggesting it, but the typing speed of the iPhone is a productivity issue and I don’t think that any touch display technology will solve it in the short-term. There are promising alternatives out there, but what about making a second iPhone design with a keyboard, or do something (anything) to achieve typing speed parity with a Blackberry? Touch screen purists, fire at will!
Screen quality + resolution: It’s not that the iPhone display is bad, but current technology would allow for something better. A higher resolution and more importantly, an OLED display would be on the top of my wish list.
Locked phone: Welcome to the world of carrier subsidies. I’m not sure that AT&T would unlock the phone after two years if you ask them nicely, but they should. If they don’t T-Mobile does it on a regular basis. If you don’t want an unlocked phone, buy an unlocked one. Welcome into a market economy.
Closed eco-system: There’s an app for everything… well, almost. In recent weeks, Apple has been more and more in the headline for refusing to distribute potentially popular applications like Google Voice. The system would gain to be more transparent.
How To Save Gas
March 11th, 201018 Tips for Saving Money on Gasoline
by: Fisher Swanson
Gas prices are on the rise. Here are some tips to help you conserve gas and save money as we approach summer gas prices.
1. Keep your car tuned up. Cars in poor running condition use more gasoline.
2. Plan trips well to avoid unnecessary driving.
3. When you run your air conditioner you get much worse gas mileage. Use your air conditioner sparingly. If you have a lower setting, use it. Turn it on until the car gets cool, then turn it off and let the fan circulate the cool air. Never run your air conditioner with your windows open!
4. Keep your windows closed when traveling at high speeds. Open windows cause additional drag and lower your gas mileage. At high speeds, an open window can use more gas than many air conditioners (especially if they are on a low setting).
5. Check your tire pressure. Over-inflated tires can actually reduce your fuel efficiency, so don’t overfill.
6. If at all possible, change your work start time to avoid gridlock. Stop and go traffic hurts your gas mileage.
7. Take unneeded items out of the car. You don’t need to carry snow chains around with you in the summertime. Just make sure to put them back in when winter comes around.
8. Try not to idle your engine for long periods of time. If you are stuck in traffic and you don’t think you are going to go anywhere in the next five minutes, you may want to turn your car off.
9. You no longer need to warm your car up for long periods of time, especially new cars. New cars are made to run when cold.
10. Don’t travel at fast speeds in low gears unless you need the compression to slow down.
11. Try to drive the speed limit.
12. Try to accelerate slowly when leaving the stop light. It’s not a competition with the driver in the lane next to you. The fastest person through the intersection just gets to spend more on gas.
13. No need to buy the highest priced gasoline. Most cars are built to run on regular unleaded. Check you owners manual or consult a mechanic. I have had many tell me that the more expensive gas is a waste of money.
14. Revving the engine needlessly wastes gas. There is no need to rev before you turn your vehicle off.
15. If at all possible, try to arrange car pools with co-workers to share the cost of commuting to work.
16. Walk, bike or run to your intended location whenever possible.
17. When the price is sky high, don’t fill up. Wait for the price to go down before you fill up your tank. Filling up your tank when the price is peaking lets gas companies know that you are willing to pay ridiculous prices for gasoline.
18. And last, the biggest and most important step towards saving money on gas is always try to purchase vehicles that get good gas mileage. The difference between 20 miles-per-gallon and 40 miles-per-gallon is huge.
Fisher Swanson is a regular contributer to The www.ThriftyFun.com News. ThriftyFun publishes information about thrifty living.
CANON EOS 500D
March 11th, 2010
Just 14 months after the launch of the EOS Rebel XSi (450D), Canon has unveiled its latest model, the Rebel T1i (500D). It’s the fifth generation of Rebel and enters the market at a difficult time – in the midst of a global economic downturn and against the fiercest competition we’ve ever seen in the entry-level DSLR sector. So what has Canon done to make this latest model in the longest-established family in the sector live up to the edgy and exciting image implied by its US naming?
The 500D/T1i doesn’t quite have to be the everyman camera that its predecessors were. The introduction of the Rebel XS (1000D) in June 2008 means the T1i no longer has to appeal to everybody who doesn’t want to stretch to buying into the 50D class. As a result, the 450D was able to bulk up its feature set to include a selection of features that price-conscious shoppers don’t necessarily realize they want, such as a larger viewfinder and spot metering. The result was probably the most complete Rebel we’d seen.
There’s a full explanation of the differences between the 500D/T1i and it predecessor on the coming pages but, in general terms, it’s a gentle re-working of the 450D. So you get the 15MP sensor much like the one that appears in the 50D, helping this to become the first entry-level DSLR to feature video (and 1080p HD video at that). You also get the lovely 920,000 dot VGA monitor that has been slowly working its way down most manufacturer’s DSLR line-ups. There are a handful of other specification tweaks that come from the use of the latest Digic 4 processor but essentially this is most of a 50D stuffed into the familiar 450D body.
And, if the loss of the letter ‘X’ from the US name seems a bit disconcerting, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that the Japanese market will still know it by the odd-to-European-ears ‘Kiss X3 Digital.’ For simplicity’s sake, we’ll refer to the 500D/T1i/Kiss X3 by the name 500D throughout the rest of the review.
A brief history; Canon entry level digital SLR series
20/08/03: Canon EOS 300D / Digital Rebel (6 mp)
17/02/05: Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT (8 mp)
24/08/06: Canon EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi (10 mp)
24/01/08: Canon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi (12 mp)
10/06/08: Canon EOS 1000D / Digital Rebel XS (10 mp)*
25/03/09: Canon EOS 500D / Digital Rebel T1i (15.1 mp)
* The Canon EOS 1000D represents a sub-class of the Rebel series and hence should be considered a parallel series
Compared to predecessor – key differences
Although for the time being the EOS 500D will sit alongside the 450D in the Canon DSLR line-up there is no doubt that sooner or later it will replace the older model and occupy the spot between the 1000D as and the EOS 50D on its own. The most noticeable new features on the EOS 500D are the higher resolution sensor, the new high-res LCD and the HD video mode but the camera also comes with the latest generation DIGIC imaging processor which brings a few more low-key improvements such as fine-tunable noise reduction and Highlight Tone Priority or a fresher, animated menu design with it. See the list and table below for all the spec and feature changes..
Higher resolution sensor (15.1 vs 12.2 effective megapixels)
Extended ISO range up to ISO 12800
HD video capability
New 3.0 inch 920K pixels screen
Adjustable noise reduction and highlight tone priority
Face Detection in Live View
Peripheral Illumination Correction
HDMI output
Larger buffer in continuous shooting
Digic 4 style menu design
