Lana Del Ray - Blue Jeans (Eyela Beret Bootleg Remix)

So we made it to the last day of this year. Everybody will be partying tonight :) Try to think about what have you done this year, and what can you do to make yourself a better person in 2012 (and the following years). Don't worry, life will not end in 2012, so don't go crazy. There is a saying that when you where born you where crying, while everyone else around you was laughing and smiling, so try to live your life in a way so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.
I will be a new person in the following year.. I must, because everything changed for me this year (job, got back some old friends, i'm single now [after 7 years], my style and mentality changed, etc.). Also I will do my best to open that new photography blog and be (at least try) the best photo blog on the web.
Meanwhile here is a nice song for you guys. So let go of the old year, and open your arms for the new one, fill your heart with new dreams, new expectations. Tonight we celebrate... The whole world does it. I wish you all a happy new year!!!

Yellow Leaf Wallpaper

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Last wallpaper I upload this year :) (last day of the year LoL). May you all have a happy and blessed new year.

Mario M feat. Epp Kõiv - Acid Rain

A few more hours, and we enter the last day of this year. :D
Meanwhile let me post something different today, a very relaxing, yet powerful song. It has great vocals, nice piano, and some powerful bass. Never heard of Epp Kõiv (she has a facebook and soundcloud profile); so far this is her only song, but damn this is a good one. She really has talent. I really hope to hear more from her in the future. Enjoy this relaxing but sad song.

Abstract Heart Wallpaper

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I really like the colours in this one. :)

The Glitch Mob - Warrior Concerto

Just remembered this epic song from the Glitch Mob (a group from Los Angeles). Another rare piece of gem IMO. Very original song, I have never heard anything like it before. It's cool, and it's free to download :D Enjoy the beats!
(meanwhile I am tired again... just got home after another looooong day..)

Ant Wallpaper

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A very nice macro shot of an ant.

September - Flowers On The Grave (Cube Remix)

Full steam ahead with this cool vocal DnB song. I have found some pretty cool tracks these days, and will share them 1/day :)
BTW, Cube is a hungarian musician. He has some pretty sick tunes (most of them are John B style). Check out his facebook page here.
OK no more text from me today, as it was a pretty long day for me, and I am very tired. Enjoy the song, I hope you guys like it as much as I do.

Branches Wallpaper

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First post after the christmas break. Enjoy this nice wallpaper :)

Christmas Break

Gonna go away for a few days, so there will be no posts for 3-4 days. I wish you all a merry christmas!

Maria Mena - Habits (feat. Mads Langer) (WiSkiM Remix)

A riend of mine mentioned this beautiful song yesterday. I had it in mind, but always forgot to post it. The majority of nice tunes are from "unknown" people/bands, and or are made "underground". I don't understand why people do not highlight these songs (original and beatiful)... They promote the sh!t Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga (and the rest of course) sings :/
Anyway, enjoy this nice mix of DnB and chillstep. Hoping to find more songs like this one. These gems (IMO) are so rare today. Rare because the sh!t eclipses the real talent. Rare because while this gets promoted 2x, the sh!t gets promoted 200x...

Tomato Wallpaper

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No description here. Enjoy the wallpaper ;)

Best weather app for your Android device

I have tested many weather apps untill I came across BeWeather. They all where eighter bad looking, or gave inaccurate data, and in some cases, they hogged the CPU (sorry to say this: GoWeather and Palmary Weather).

So for a short time I gave up on looking for weather apps, and just checked it from the phone's browser. But after a while I wanted to have a cool looking weather widget on my homescreen, so the hunt began again. Untill I found BeWeather...

There are 2 versions of this app, one is free and the other is a payed version. Currently I'm using the free version and it suits my needs. Good looking homescreen widget, and once you click on it, it will open the app and you will see a nice weather video background (current weather). The good part is it looks very good, almost as good as the HTC Sense 3 weather effects. The "bad" part is it needs an additional 25MB to download those HD video files.

Other than that it's a simple weather app with daily and hourly forecast, and sun/moon "timer". It shows everything I need: temperature, "feels like" temperature, wind speed, humidity, pressure and even dew point. It has temperature notification in statusbar, but I don't use it. Also, it is fully customizeable with icons, fonts and colors.

I really recommend this weather app, as it looks gorgeous, it's not a battery drainer, and has everything you need. Like I said, I use the free version and it never failed me. For extra features (and no ads) you can buy the pro version.

So if you want a nice looking (and effective) weather app on your phone, look no further, check out BeWeather!

Domo-kun Wallpaper

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A stuffed Domo mascot. He is the official mascot of Japan's NHK TV station.

John O'Callaghan feat. Audrey Gallagher - Big Sky

The last song from my desktop that features Audrey Gallagher. Another perfect song IMO (a bit too long, but perfect for road trips).If any of you know more cool songs like this, post a link or the title in the comments. I really need to update my music collection. Around 80% of the songs I own (if not more) are from before 2000. IMO a lot of the songs that are made today are remakes of the old ones. Eighter it is the whole song remade, or it simply has the same beats. Pity :/ These days we get quantity NOT quality.

Ice Cream Wallpaper

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Did you know that ice cream can help to calm a sore throat? But don't abuse it. By eating too much you delay the natural healing process. :)

Wireless file transfer apps for your android device

Today I'm going to present you 2 wireless transfer apps that I use on my android phone. They are both very popular.

The first one is for Cloud service, and I use this for long range file transfers. That means store your files on an online server, and retrieve them later on any device. It's a dead simple and effective app named: Dropbox.
An example of how this cloud service works:
When you install Dropbox on your PC, a folder named "Dropbox" will appear on your desktop. Now everything that you copy in this folder will be uploaded to your dropbox account. After you install dropbox on any other device (android in our case) you will see the content of your Dropbox folder, and can navigate, view, share and download those files (to your current device).
Once you install Dropbox on your android device, the option "send to -> Dropbox" will appear. So if you want to share some pictures or simply store them in the cloud for safety, simply select the picture and send it to your dropbox. Once you do that it will appear in your PC's dropbox folder too. So it's pretty cool and useful.

Dropbox is free to use, and when you register you get 2GB of storage (you can get extra space for money). After you register and complete a few tasks (install dropbox, transfer 1 file, and so on) you get an extra 250MB. Also for every friend who joins and installs Dropbox, they will give you 250 MB of bonus space (up to a limit of 8GB). Here is a video of "What is Dropbox?".

So if you want to join (and I don't see why not :D ) here is my link: http://db.tt/OY5tS3JR  <-- register here and you will start with 2.5GB space (2GB for the free account + 250MB for clicking on my link + 250MB for completing a few basic steps).

The other app is for short range file transfer using WiFi. It's called: WiFi File Explorer (Pro).
With this app you can browse, download and upload files to your android device from your PC's browser.

First you need a PC with WiFi. Then you connect the phone to the PC's WiFi and start the app on your phone. If everything is ok, the app should give you an IP adress (takes just a few seconds to appear). Then type that IP adress in your PC's browser (Opera, Firefox, Chrome, etc.) and you will see everything that's on your phone.

 

And that's it. Now you can download, upload, explore, delete and rename files from your phone. Very simple and very fast. No need for cables and drivers. Just an app on your phone and a PC with WiFi.

There are many negative reviews about this app on the market, but do not trust those people. I have been uning this app for quite some time now, and had 0 problems with it, and I transfered both small and large (few GB) files.

Now the "bad" news is that this app is not free (there is a free version, but that is limited), it costs 1$. But trust me, it's a dollar well spent.

I'm still experimenting with wireless file transfer apps, so this post may get edited if I find something better. I am not sure that Dropbox is the best cloud service for me, but at the moment it is good (very simple to use).

Sandwich Wallpaper

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Delicious sandwich wallpaper :) Enjoy

Random Nature Wallpaper

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A random nature wallpaper that I had on my PC. Also my current wallpaper. Hope you guys like it ;)

Missed Call Reminder for Android

I just came across this simple, small and cool app. It simply reminds you of missed calls, SMS and/or MMS. Very useful in so many cases.

It's customizable, so you can select the ringtone for missed call reminding, and set a separate ringtone for missed SMS. You can also set it to vibrate, and if you have a LED on your phone (my Galaxy S2 has no LED :( ) you can set it to blink in a specific color for SMS and another color for missed calls - or simply use the "screen on when reminding" feature of the app.

You can set the reminder interval (I've set it to 1 minute, so it will remind me every minute) and the duaration of the remider (Max time - I've set it to 10 minutes, that means it won't notify me about missed calls or SMS older that 10 minutes).

It is very light, does not consume battery (I have it installed since I got my new phone, and I have monitored the app with System Panel). I recommend this app because it's simple, easy to use and does exactly what it says.
I reall don't know what this app would need to be better. Maybe the option to set a custom vibration pattern for missed calls and SMS. Other than that, it has everything a reminder app needs. And of course, it's FREE.

Another Cat Wallpaper

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And another cat wallpaper :) This one has very beautiful glass-like eyes. I hope you guys like it. Like always, the wallpapers here are free to use as your PC or phone wallpaper (personal use) but NOT for commercial use!

Ke$ha - Blow (Cirkut Remix)

I've heard this song in a movie I watched today (The Inbetweeners Movie - pretty cool comedy :D ), and I instantly liked it. I don't listen to Ke$sha, hell I don't even know who she is or what does she sing, but this one is a very good remix. AFAIK the Inbetweeners was a show on TV (series), well after the movie I decided to give it a shot :D
Set the video to 720p and enjoy the sound waves :)

Citroen Survolt Wallpaper

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Electrical cars are usually ugly. But you can't say that about the Citroen Survolt. The battery will last you 200km, but OFC not at max speeds.You need to charge it for 2 hours at a special sources, or 10 hours at a standard 220V source.

This electric car has ~300 bhp, It can accelerate from 0-100 in less than 5 seconds, and it's max speed is 260 KM/h. Pretty impressive.

TyDi feat. Audrey Gallagher - You Walk Away

Another song featuring Audrey Gallagher's beautiful voice (again with TyDi). The first one I posted was better, but this once is also nice. Again, perfect for nigh time driving (or roadtrips :D ), with friends in the car, chatting about random things... Man I love to drive (and listen to music OFC).
Enjoy this nice tune.

Coca Cola can Wallpaper

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A can of original Coke :) Perfect on a hot and sunny day (or after a nice meal).

AppMonster - Backup and organize your Android apps

Another must have app for android users. AppMonster backs up all your applications that you installed on your phone, to your SD card. 

This is helpful in so many ways... It happens quite often that after I updated a particular app, it eighter stops working on my phone, or has some annoying bug (or bugs). But if you have this app, you can restore to an earlier version of that app (assuming you made a backup or have left auto backup on). Then there are the times when you jump from one ROM to another (or do updates of your ROM). Simply press restore after you installed the ROM you want, and you are done.

It also comes very handy when you change your device. Simply install AppMonster on your new device, pop in the SD with the backed up apps, and batch install (the only downside about batch install is that you have to press "Install" before every app, and "Done" after every install)

But this app can only back up user installed applications. So you can't back up system apps. For that, you need to use Titanium Backup. But I don't really back up any system apps, so this simple and small app is perfect for me. AppMonster requires no root access.

It has the option to automatically back up newly installed apps (but I unchecked that feature, because I do a lot of app testing, and I don't want to back up every junk I install on my phone), send backed up files (over dropbox, email, BT, etc.) and can be even used to uninstall apps (you know, the annoying live wallpapers that you install to test, and then you realize it's ugly and you want to uninstall it but you can't find it in the app drawer), and if you have android 2.2 you can also use it to move apps to SD (app2SD).

So give this app a chance. Recently I saw so many negative reviews about appMonster... I don't know what people expect from this application. It does exactly what it sais, and it does that perfectly for me, without any bugs.

Barbeque Wallpaper

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Another food wallpaper for you folks. This time it's 1600x1200 resolution, but you can crop it to whatever size you want. Bon Appetit :D

Lykke Li - I Follow Rivers (The Magician Remix)

This is kind of a new hit in Romania. Every radio station is playing it now. First of all, Likke Li is a swedish pop/electro singer. This is not the original version of the song but a remix, and I like it a bit more than the original version.
Now the only thing that is bad about hearing this on the radio is: I don't like it when people abuse a song that much. Playing it every day at random hours (quite short interval between them) makes it lose it's value to me. Romanian radios are the worst radios. I think they have about 20 songs in their playlist, and then loop it all day long, for weeks... I am so sick of listening to the same music over and over again, every single day (I can't do anything about it since it's not my car - as long as I am a passenger in it, I STFU :P - I expect the same from people who get in my car while I'm driving).
So back to this nice tune. I like it because it's different than the rest of the songs you hear today. You won't hear a lot of songs like this on TV. And I guess that is what makes this tune special.

nVidia Wallpaper

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And one for the nVidia fans :) Polished logo (aluminum like) on a carbon fiber background.

Ati Radeon Wallpaper

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Not really a Radeon fanboy, I like nVidia more, but this wallpaper looks cool (always loved red or blue and black mixes). Enjoy

TyDi feat. Audrey Gallagher - Worlds Apart (Original Mix)

The other day I mentioned Audrey Gallagher. Well if you don't know who she is, she is a singer from Northern Ireland, who usually provides the vocals in some Trance and Progressive tunes. Her voice is absolutely amazing. The first time I heard her voice was back when I first heard Hold On To Me, a cool song by Armin Van Buuren. And since then, I fell in love with her voice. She may not have the best female voice in the world, but she is amazing, her voice is soft, relaxing and cute.

If you are a Gamer, you need to have this on your phone - Chainfire3D review

Chainfire3D is an OpenGL driver that sits between your apps and the graphics drivers. So this cool app can intercept and/or change commands between the two. It has some nice  built-in functions, and can be further extended with plugins to provide extra functionality.

Some phones don't support som of the games that are out there. Let's take the Samsung Galaxy S2 for an example. It has a pretty powerful Mali 400 MP GPU, but few 3D games are available for it. So this app emulates (if that is the right word for it) other GPUs. Normally when you install a game that is made for Nvidia Tegra phones you will get eighter a force close or the game will start, but you will see missing shaders, textures, etc.

But with this app (and the plugins installed) you can play them without any problems.
There are 2 versions of this app out there, the Free version and the Pro version. While the free version works as fine as the pro one, the pro has some nice features that make it worth the 5$.

In the free version you can only select 1 plugin at a time (eighter nVidia plugin, Qualcomm or PowerVR). So when you are done playing the game, you need to switch back to default OpenGL driver. But the pro version has the "Per-app" function that allows you to set a separate driver for each game you play. That way you don't need to switch around before and after every game. You just need to set it once in the setting, and the app will remember to switch to nVidia when playing X game, and switch back to default (your phone's driver) when the game exits. Also the pro version allows you to set MSAA (MultiSample Anti-Aliasing). This will greatly improve image quality (PC gamers know this :D ). This way lines/edges become much smoother. The options are automatic (the app decides - but most apps don't enable MSAA themselves at all). The ARM Mali 400 MP (used in the Galaxy S2) can even do 4xMSAA at no performance cost. But if your GPU does not support the level of MSAA requested, the app will likely not start at all.

Setting up Chainfire3D
Very easy to do this. In the free version you can only play around with default openGL driver. First you need the plugins for nVidia, powerVR and Qualcomm drivers. You can download them by clicking HERE.

Plugin installation
Simply put these zip files on your /sdcard (root of your SDcard), and use the "Install Plugin" option in Chainfire3D. Re-open Chainfire and go to "Default OpenGL Settings" and select "Use plugin" with the plugin you need.

After you finished playing (and you use the free version of Chainfire) I strongly recommend to switch back to DEFAULT openGL driver. It will be better for system performance.

Setting up the PRO version is the same as above, except you don't use default openGL but PER APP settings. Like I said before, this will let you set up a driver for each game individually, and will switch back to default driver when you are done playing.

Requirements to run Chainfire 3D:
- OpenGL ES 2.0 (every 1ghz+ phone has this)
- SuperUser / Root
- Writable /system (it will try to remount system as read/write when needed, but the changes need to stick between reboots)

This is another app I highly recommend. Not only to Galaxy S2 users, but to all Android gamers (because you have the ability to reduce textures to speed up the game, to enable AA, and so on). This app is very good, and it will keep getting better and better.

Bat For Lashes - Daniel (Mt Eden Dubstep Remix)

Cool chillstep tune from the great Mt Eden. When I first heard this song, I only heard a couple of seconds of it. It got stuck in my head and was humming it all day. :) Had a hard time searching for it, as i didn't quite get the lyrics back then :D And soundhound was not working (android music search application).
What can I say; Mt Eden has the best chillstep tunes. Enjoy

Slice of Kiwi Wallpaper

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Just a slice of kiwi :)

World Of Goo for Android - Game review

What is World of Goo? Just a super cool and fun game for PC, Mac, Linux and Wii. It's a physics-based puzzle game that has won many awards.

It's about creating structures using living balls of goo. Create bridges, towers and other structures to help the other goo balls (the ones that are not used up in the structure) reach a pipe (an exit pipe).
Sounds easy. But like I said, it's a physics based game, so the structures you build will bend and break. So you will need to overcome gravity, spikes, hills and cliffs. There are several types of goo balls in the game, each of which has unique properties.

There is also a sandbox area where all the extra goo balls that enter the pipe (in every level you need to get X ammount of goo balls in the pipe. Anything over X will be extra) can be used up to create massive towers. The objective here is to compete with other players worldwide by building the tallest tower possible. The company (2D Boy) announced that they will port it to Android too.

So here we are. On 28th (yesterday) it was launched for Andoid phones and tablets. I was a little skeptical at first, but once I saw the loading screen (when game starts) I knew: we got a perfect port! It's absolutely the same as on PC (the only thing missing is the option to disable sound).
I am very happy now as World of Goo is one of my favorite PC games, and now I have it on my android phone too. It has good puzzles, nice graphics, great sounds and music, and awesome physics.

The price is ~3$ now (has a discount) and IMO it's worth every penny. Also there is a free demo version. I can say that this is probably the best game I have played on my phone.
Here is a video preview of the game:

IMO this is going to be a massive hit. This game wipes the floor with Angry Birds :)
The only thing we need now for our Android devices is Super Meat Boy and Limbo. OK maybe even Braid :D (addictive time-manipulating puzzle game).

Gofman & Tsukerman - Ethnica (Club Mix)

Found this track while I was searching for an Armin Van Buuren song. I'm not into trance music that much (hate that some of them are way too long, and repetitive), but I like this one. The only thing that is missing IMO are the female vocals (voice of Audrey Gallagher... ). This is only a "demo" version, the full song is 6 minutes long, and you can easily find it on youtube. It's nice to listen to while driving :)

Abstract Wallpaper

 

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I don't know what this is, but I like the shape and colors of the object :)   Like I said, I'm not really a fan of computer generated pictures/wallpaper but this one is different.

Metallica - Nothing Else Matters

This is REAL music! Not the sh!t they play today on TV and the radio; and the worst part is people don't like what they hear (mostly), but they keep playing that sh!t so many times that it gets in your head no matter what. Don't be a mindless drone, listen to real music, music that has a message, has a nice melody, music that is played on real instruments and not made on PC. This is an epic ballad from Metallica, from 1992.

Blue Eyed Cat Wallpaper

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A beautiful blue eyed cat for you guys :)

Stephen Walking - Top of the World

Another electro dubstep track from Stephen Walking. Hope he makes more songs like this. Add a little vocal (I'm a sucker for vocal electro dubstep <- female vocal that is) and it will rule! It's really great to see that people are not limited to "dirty" dubstep only (you know, the wub wub for 5 minutes kind of dubstep). The only problem with this track is that it is short (again...).

Another Green BMW M3 Wallpaper

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Heavily modified M3 by Martino Auto Concepts, with D2 Forged wheels. I really love this color. Pity you can't find it anywhere, as it is a custom mixed Lamborghini Verde.

Dubai Wallpaper

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Just Dubai and the world's tallest building :) (Burj Khalifa - 828m)

Best Android Music Player

I have tested quite a few android music players, and have come to the conclusion that PowerAmp and Neutron are the best. Let's take a look at both.

PowerAmp - Cool features and easy to use

This player has been around for quite some time now. It looks good, it is very easy to navigate, and has a lot of cool features. I really like the queue function on this app and how it auto advances back to the playlist you where listening to once the queue list is done.
Other key Features:
- 10 band optimized graphical equalizer for all supported formats, presets, and custom presets. The EQ really works, and it's way better than any other player's EQ. It also has separate Bass and Treble control.
- crossfade
- gapless
- plays songs from folders and from own library
- lyrics support, including lyrics search via musiXmatch plugin
- OpenGL based cover art animation
- downloads missing album art
- 4 configurable widget types
- configurable lock screen with optional Direct Unlock
- headset support, automatic Resume on headset and/or BT connection (can be disabled in settings)
- tag editor
- visual themes, including support for external/3rd party skins
- fast library scan
- high level of customization via settings
On the other hand, sound quality isn't as good as with Neutron music player...

Neutron Music Player - Clean and powerful sound

When I first saw this player I was skeptic. I admit, it doesn't look as good as PowerAmp. The only thing that caught my attention was the "professional HD 32-bit audio rendering core ... deliver best possible sound quality..." line. So I installed it for a test. Conclusion: best SQ when it comes to music players. But that sound quality has it's tolls... You need a pretty powerful device to run this app, that means 1GHz+ CPU and 480x800+ screen resolution.
Now let's look at the features Neutron has to offer:
- 32-bit audio decoding/processing for high quality HD audio
- Surround sound DSP (Ambiophonic R.A.C.E. technology).
- Crossfeed DSP (for better stereo music listening experience with headphones).
- Rumble Filter DSP (to protect speakers from overloading with frequencies below 20 Hz).
- Streaming audio: M3U, PLS, ASX, RAM.
- Accurate gapless playback.
- HQ Resampling with 3 modes: fast (low CPU usage), quality (higher CPU usage), audiophile (highest CPU usage <--- but worth it)
- Dithering (to improve audio quality by eliminating quantization in signal).
- Crossfading (including manual track switching in playlist).
- HQ 4-band parametric equalizer (I like this a lot!)
- Real-time multi-band spectrum analyzer (looks cool)
- Master and Preamp digital volume adjustment
- Fully customizable.
- Smart CPU/Battery consumption
This app is still under development but I bet that in the near future it can top any other music player.
There are quite a few things that I don't like about this player. Ex. With PowerAmp I can control the music from my car stereo (BT playback. I can play, pause, next, previous). These controls won't work with Neutron music player. Also Neutron isn't as smooth as PowerAmp (navigation in the menus) and is a bit more complicated to use. Don't forget, Neutron wasn't made for looks, it was made for pure music experience.
Sound Quality on PowerAmp 7/10
Sound Quality on Neutron 10/10

For now, I keep both. Neutron for car audio because of the good SQ, and PowerAmp for home use, because it is so simple to navigate and find a song. Both apps go for ~ 5$, and in the end, both are good and worth the price (but I like Neutron more).

Skrillex - Reptile

Everyone knows Skrillex... he has become a legend among electro / dubstep loving people. I also like the guy :) Of course not all his creations, but quite a few (I consider some too "dirty", and I'm not into dirty wub dubstep). Here is one song I haven't heard so far, yet it has been around for 6 months now (LOL no?). Enjoy Reptile's theme from Mortal Kombat.

Wine Bubbles Wallpaper

 

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

By now you already know that I absolutely adore macro shots. They are so different and special because they give you a different perspective over things, also attention to the small details that you don't notice oterwise.

Klaypex - Gamefire (feat. Mike Diva)

Just another great song from Klaypex. This guy is new, but he makes great songs. Also he is offering his music for free. So IMO he deserves to be know. Let's support the guy (or guys) by promoting him on sites, blogs, facebook etc.
To download the whole album from Klaypex click here. You can like and follow him on facebook by going here. Enjoy the music.

How to flash and root your Samsung Galaxy S2 with ODIN

Got yourself a Galaxy S2 and want to update it to newest firmware, but KIES won't work on your PC? No problem. ODIN is way better and it takes only 1 or 2 minutes to flash.
Samsung KIES is a cr@p software. It installs hundreds of DLLs and in the end it still won't work. If you are lucky and get it to work, good for you, if not, just use ODIN. You can also root your S2 in a few seconds.
Flashing your phone won't void your warranty, but rooting your phone will. So don't forget to unroot your phone to get your warranty back.

1. Get ODIN 1.85 (for windows) ---> DOWNLOAD

2. Install KIES on your PC so your phone will have all the drivers it needs.

3. Next you need to obtain the firmware you want to flash.
I used the "GT-I9100_OXA_I9100XXKI3_I9100XXKI3_I9100OXAKI3" firmware (europe, android 2.3.5). You can easily find original samsung firmwares on XDA forum or by Google.

XXKI3

XX = Europe.
K = 2011.
I = September.
3 = Version

Here are the other letter codes:
CE--> Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands
DC--> Thailand
DD--> India
DX--> Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam
DZ--> Malaysia, Singapore
JA--> South Africa
JC--> Algeria, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia
JP--> Arabic
JV--> Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia,South Africa, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey
UG--> North America
UH--> Latin America, The Caribbean
XE--> Bulgaria, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine
XX--> Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, United Kingdom
XW--> Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Nordic, Spain, United Kingdom
ZC--> China, Hong Kong
ZH--> Hong Kong
ZS--> China, Hong Kong
ZT--> Taiwan

The firmware I used came in .exe format, and it auto extracted to a .tar file.

4. Now we prepare the phone for flashing
- Enable debug mode on the USB terminal (settings -> applications -> development)
- Power off your phone
- Turn the phone on holding the Home button + Volume Down + Power. (this will enter Download mode)
- It will boot in download mode and you have 2 options: volume up ENTER download mode, volume down REBOOT to normal mode.

You need to press volume up. After that you have successfully entered in download mode.

5. Start ODIN on PC and plug in your phone. Check that the COM ID field turns yellow.

6. Now click on PDA and select the firmware you downloaded at step 3 (.tar/.zip/.rar file). Press START and wait. Do NOT disconnect your phone during the flash process.
After the rom is installed, your phone will reboot once. After reboot you will find your rom installed.

If something goes wrong, just remove and reinsert the battery and repeat the process all over again.


Now let's root the KI3 firmware.

You need CF Root kernel from here. Since this is only a kernel, you need to have the relevant firmware already on your device.
example: I installed the OXA XXKI3 firmware, so i need the CF-Root-SGS2_XX_OXA_KI3 file.
Search that page for your relevant firmware's kernel.

Once you have it, extract it so you have a .tar file.
1. Start ODIN
2. Press the PDA button and select your CF root kernel file (.tar file)
3. Shutdown your phone, and reboot in Download mode (volume down + home + power, then when asked for confirmation, press volume up to enter download mode).
4. Connect your phone to PC, and wait for the COM ID to turn yellow.
5. Press START. Once the process is over, your phone will reboot.

DONE. Your phone is now rooted, but it shows an annoying yellow triangle at startup.
So the next step is how to remove that yellow triangle (or you can leave it thre, it won't affect your phone at all).
To remove the yellow triangle, you need the stock kernel of XXKI3. DOWNLOAD <--- password is intratech@XDA
Extract it so you will get .tar file
Now flash this .tar file on your phone. The flashing procedure is the same as above. You just have to use kernel .tar file instead of cf root .tar file.

To unroot your phone, just install the whole 2.3.5 firmware all over again.

Next post will be about flashing custom ROM and custom Kernel for extra performance and battery life. So check back soon. :)

Pop Levi - Wannamama

Another great tune. First time I heard this song was when I played PURE. Then the other night I heard it again in Chuck (TV series - S2E14) and I really liked it :) This song is so underrated, so I decided to share it with you guys. It's from the album "Never Never Love". Perfect song to listen to while driving, skateboarding and cycling :)
Enjoy

Colorful Wallpaper

 

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

Just a colorful HD wallpaper with an "I Love You" message. Enjoy this digital art. Also I had a hard time to decide if it is "color" or "colour". But both words mean the same, it's just the difference of spelling in American english and British english. :D

Birthdays - great birthday app for Android

Useful birthday reminder app. I tested quite a lot of birthday apps and widgets, and IMO this is the best. It has a lists of all contacts with birthdays, so you don't have to search anymore. You can even import birthdays from facebook.

It includes a few nice widgets, so you will be up to date on who's birthday is next, + a status bar notification for maximum visibility. There are 2 versions of this app on the market, 1 is Free, the other one is payed. The payed one costs about 3$. I use the Free version of "Birthdays"and am very satisfied with it. So if you need a cool and good birthday reminder app, look no further; I already did that for you, and found this to be #1.
It looks simple, it's lightweight and I haven't noticed any battery drain (using it since a few months now), plus it is free.

Love Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by seeing an imperfect person perfectly. - Sam Keen

The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love someone else.. - Unknown Author

Trying to forget someone you love is like trying to remember someone you never knew. - Author Unknown

Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together. - Author Unknown

Korn ft. Skrillex and Kill the Noise - Narcissistic Cannibal

Finally those youtube suggestion videos have payed off. Was listening to Nickelback and this tune was right there after the Nickelback one ended. So I clicked it :)  It's a little hard for my tastes, but I like it. Will be a great tune to listen to while I drive :D They say that listening to hard music (rock, dnb, dubstep, etc.) while driving makes you angry, and makes you push the pedal to the metal. Well I don't know what to say about that, because I can floor it even on Mozart's Lacrimosa or the song from Hitman Blood Money (Ave Maria singed by a little girl). Anyways, check out the tune:

Autumn Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

One of my favorite seasons of the year: autumn. Like I said before, I enjoy the rain. And this season has the most rain (where I live). Also I like how all the trees turn from green to red/brown/yellow. You can snap so many amazing pictures during fall. Always loved the look of the yellow/brown leaves on the green grass. Amazing scenes before the whole land goes into hibernation. In school we often associated autumn to melancholia (aka. sadness). It's right between life and death (where life is summer, and death is winter). The possibilities of summer are gone, and the the cold winter is closing in...

Stephen Walking - Light Pollution

While I was looking around Youtube and Facebook for new songs, I found this on Monstercat site. It's quite a nice tune. Problem is, it's too short :) IMO 3 minutes is not long enough.

Lamborghini Aventador Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

The Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 is a two-door, two-seater sportscar, unveiled by Lamborghini in February 2011. The Aventador was designed to replace old Murcielago. The suggested retail price is €255,000 in Europe, £201,900 in the UK and $379,700 in the U.S.
It uses Lamborghini's new 690 bhp (510 kW) 6.5 liter 60° V-12 engine, and can hit 0-100km/h in just 2.9 seconds, and has a top speed of 349km/h! This is one hell of a supercar!

Swiftkey X - A.I. keyboard for your phone

Swiftkey X is probably the best android keyboard. With this keyboard you can use up to 3 languages simultaneously. It works so good, that I managed to write a full page of text (microsoft word) on my X10 mini pro using the onscreen keyboard; and the X10 mini has a 2.5” screen!
All this with very few mistakes (come on, you make mistakes even on full size PC keyboards, let alone on a 2.5" screen).

How does it work? It auto corrects your typos and automatically suggests some words as you type. So you can type “hpusw” and it will spell out “house” when you hit space. You don’t even have to focus on the buttons, just type and the words will appear.
This app can learn from your online profiles such as Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, and will continue to learn from what you write on your phone. The language engine that runs under SwiftKey X is smart, but it’s not complacent. It is continually learning from the way you write to give more accurate predictions. This means a typing experience that just keeps getting better. It can even predict your next word before you press a key.
Swiftkey X features world-leading language technology: "based on the new version of TouchType's advanced Fluency language inference engine... the world's most accurate prediction and correction technology".

The supported languages (so far) are:

US English
UK English
Afrikaans
Basque
Catalan
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
French (CA)
French (FR)
Galician
German
Hungarian
Indonesian
Italian
Kazakh
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese (BR)
Portuguese (PT)
Romanian
Russian
Slovak
Spanish (ES)
Spanish (US)
Swedish
Turkish

Like I said, you can enable up to 3 languages at once, and it works VERY well (I say this from personal experience). Also support for QWERTY, QWERTZ, QZERTY, AZERTY, Scandinavian and Russian layouts. It also has support for themes, so you can personalize it to fit your phone's current theme.

This is another app that's worth every penny. Especially if you type a lot on your phone. It will seriously boost your writing speed. Just give it a little time to learn from what and how you type.

Ephixa - Turret Error

Another sick tune from Ephixa, again with heavy bass. If you like this song, give a thumbs up to him on facebook (here). Also you can visit his site for more music by clicking here.
Now turn up the volume and enjoy this great tune.

Coffee Jar Wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

Few facts about coffee:

Originally, coffee was eaten. African tribes mixed coffee berries with fat, thus forming edible "energy balls". Coffee is the 2nd most traded product in the world (first one being Oil). World wide coffee production is about 6 million metric tonnes. It takes 5 years for a coffee tree to reach maturity. The average yield from one tree is the equivalent of one roasted pound of coffee. Coffee berries are picked, dried and then stripped down untill all is left is a green bean that gets roasted. Of the various botanical species of coffee trees in the world, only two are extensively cultivated commercially: Arabica and Robusta (where Robusta contains 50% more caffeine than Arabica, and has a much more bitter taste). While coffee was available in Europe as early as 1608, mostly for the rich. The first coffee house in Europe opened in Venice in 1683. A Belgian living in Guatemala invented the first instant coffee in 1906 and later immigrated to the United States. His name, ironically enough, was George Washington (not the president). The largest coffee-producing nation, Brazil, is responsible for 30 to 40 % of total world output.

Enjoy. :D

P.S. I hate coffee...

Dj Kas - Requiem for a Dream (Dubstep mix)

Another great dubstep tune. It has some great bass, and I like it a lot (can't say the same about my neighbours...). You can hear the original tune loud enough, it's not all washed out from the bass like other remixes.
Still running without speakers (they burned out), but X-Fi + Sennheiser headphones = killer combination (maybe Xonar sounds better, but I am very happy with my sound setup at the moment)
Leave in 360p mode (good quality), as 480p tends to be lower quality. Enjoy.

Walnuts wallpaper

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

Here are a few facts about walnuts: walnuts are a rich source of energy and contain many health benefiting nutrients, minerals (iron, manganese, magnesium, selenium, zinc, potassium, calcium and copper), antioxidants and vitamins (E, B6, etc.) that are essential for optimum health.
So eat a handful of walnuts a day, and you will have enough recommended levels of minerals, vitamins, and protein.
But don't eat too much, or you will have problems with your stomach and will also gain weight, as they are high in calories and fat (the healthy kind of fat; but still, fat is fat).

How to make your Android phone's battery last longer

Here are a few tips about how to save battery on your android device.

1. Switch to 2G from 3G networks.

I rarely use 3G, and only to check my emails or see if there are new status updates on facebook. Other than that, I always keep my phone on 2G. This has a big effect on battery life.

2. Turn WiFi and Bluetooth OFF when you are not using them

WiFi and Bluetooth are both heavy battery drainers. So turn them off when you aren't using them. (this is very obvious, but I have seen a lot of people with BT and/or WiFi ON most of the time. Even if they wheren't using them...).

3. Set a lower Screen Brightness level

The most power demanding part of your phone.

Your phone is equipped with a light sensor, so it will darken and lighten according to the surrounding light. So don't use 100% screen brightness. Set it to 75% and you will see a huge impact on battery life.

4. Switch to airplane mode at night

That way you will save battery, and will also have less radiation around your phone.

Use Tasker or any other app that automatically switches to flight mode and back to normal mode at preseted time intervals.

5. Turn internet data OFF

If you are not using it, you should turn it off for extra battery juice. (Sony Ericsson phones have a simple switch in settings, some samsung phones need APN switcher to do this. So download APN manager/switcher from the market and use it). This will stop your apps from syncing (untill you turn it on again).

6. Underclock your phone

This requires root and an overclocking app (SetCPU or Tegrak). Set your CPU to lower speeds when in Sleep mode (screen off mode). Just pull the Max speed of your CPU a little bit down, and save it to Screen Off profile. That way whenever your screen will turn off, your CPU won't use 1GHz but 500MHz or whatever speed you set it to.

Your CPU has min. and max. speeds.  MIN is the minimum speed your CPU is operating (it will not go under the min. frequency). For ex. if you have 1GHz with min. 300 and max. 1GHz, you can set the min. to 150-200MHz, and the max. to 500MHz when screen is off.

Don't set the min. speed too low, or it will take your device forever to wake up from standby (and will lag when you recieve a phone call).

7. Don't use live wallpapers

Sure, they look cool and all, but they are battery hogs.

8. Monitor your device

Sometimes an app can go berzerk and will start to eat up more CPU power (for no reason...).

I made a tutorial of SystemPanel last week. You can find it HERE. Download it, and use it to monitor your device.

Love Drops Wallpaper

 

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

Just a simple wallpaper, with water drops and the shape of a heart on glass (window). Enjoy.

Rooting your Android device *or in other words* Take complete control over your Android device

Ok so what does Root mean?

It means breaking in to the system of your android device, and accessing the system files.

It’s just like when you install windows, and your windows folder is locked, and you have to unlock it by simply pressing “show system files” (happened in windows XP).
Root will grant you Superuser permission, that's like Administrator in Windows.

Why should you do this? 

Because you can then modify your device in any imaginable way. Custom ROMs, custom startup animations, unlock the CPU for overclocking, overvolting and undervolting, run apps that need extra control over your system, and many more.

What are the risks of rooting your phone? 

Well the warranty will be voided. This is in case you mess your phone up and can’t reinstall the firmware that came with the phone.

If you reinstall the original firmware, root access will be gone so you will be safe.

Other than that, no risks at all. It is very simple to root your phone.

OFC there is the risk of seriously bricking your device, but this only happens if you try to flash a new rom or do some serious modding with your android device, and you won’t follow the steps from the tutorial (don’t worry bricking won't happen from root alone).

So Root = complete control over your android device!

Once you have a rooted phone, you may install a custom rom (firmware) for extra performance and features (trust me, the performance gain is big). Why would you do this? Because some phones are limited to android 2.1 or 2.2 and are not getting 2.3 or 4.0 updates (well not oficially, aka. Not from the developer), so people use custom firmwares.

My X10 mini pro was a single touch phone, untill I rooted it. Now it supports dual touch without any problems. Also speed has increased becaue I overclocked the CPU (no harm to the CPU if you keep it in safe zone, aka. +10-20% overclock) and increased the SD card cache (it will have faster read and write speed).

You can enable USB on the go on some phones, wifi tethering, firewalls, startup filters and many more.

Also you will see a lot of usefull apps on tha market that say “root required”.

So do I recommend root?

HELL YES!

Go for it, root your device. It is easy, and you will have a lot of benefits.

Just type root and your phone model in to google search, and you will find a lot of tutorials (I rooted my Sony Ericsson with Flashtool, with the click of a button, but if you have other model, then Flashtool won't work for you, so you need another software).

Recycle Wallpaper

 

DOWNLOAD FULL SIZE IMAGE ---> HERE

The wallpaper of the day. I hope you guys like it too, this is my current desktop wallpaper. Also take a look at this fine piece of stand up comedy by George Carlin regarding recycling and saving the planet.
The video can be found Here. :)
Enjoy.

Tasker – Artificial Intelligence for your Android device

This has to be one of the best apps for android. I strongly recommend this application for all android devices. What does it do? It is an application that performs tasks/actions based on contexts (time, date, event, location, application).

For example: automatically turn GPS on, data traffic on, and max brightness when you launch Google Maps or any navigation app. Once you exit that prticular app, it turns the GPS and other things you set to turn on, off. And the best thing is, it doesn’t drain the battery.

 

Very handy little app. So far I only use 3 tasks: the first one is the Google Maps setup (GPS and all the things I need for navigation turned ON), the second one is for brightness level when phone is running low on battery (It turns the brightness to 25% when battery drops below 10%), and the third one is for night mode (flight mode from 01:00 untill 08:00, and brightness down to 10% so it won't burn my eyes if I wake up at night and look at the time).

Here is a list with SOME of the things you can do with this app:

- passcode-lock sensitive applications (e.g. for child safety)

- change phone settings by

* application: long screen timeout in a book reader

* time: screen brightness lower in the evening

* location: ringer volume high at the office, turn off ke yguard at home

- wake up with a random song from your music collection

- Text-to-speech; read out loud: incoming SMS/ phone number, WiFi/Bluetooth status, when it's time for an appointment, when the battery is low etc etc (Android OS 1.6+ only)

- launch a music application when your music SD card is inserted, otherwise a file browser

- start the day with a particular application showing

- change all your home icons and wallpaper every day, or in particular locations

- turn the phone upside down to return to the home screen, tilt 90 degrees to the left and back to toggle speakerphone during a call

- remap camera etc buttons to other applications, or show a menu of applications and/or actions

- make a regular backup of a file on the SD card

- extend the use of the media button on your headset: take a picture from a distance or go to the previous media track with a long press

- record call times and destinations to the SD card

- show a popup when an SMS arrives from a particular phone number

- setup a birthday SMS to be sent months before it happens so you don't forget

- during the night, turn on airplane mode to conserve battery/reduce radiation, but turn it off every 15 minutes to check for SMS/voicemail.

- setup a vacation SMS message, with different messages for different callers

- launch a music application when headphones are connected

And many many more. You just have to mess around a bit with this app to get the hang of it. Also if you have any questions you can post on the developer’s site (http://tasker.dinglisch.net/index.html -> go to forum) and they will reply shortly (tested and confirmed).

There are virtually endless possibilities of things you can do with Tasker. The only limitation is your imagination. Tasker can do to your device what minecraft does to gaming. It seems a bit complicated at first, but once you master it, it will change the way you use your smartphone.

The price is 6.50$, but trust me, it is worth every single penny. Instead of using sms schedulers, location and time based profile switchers, call and SMS reminders, etc. just get this app. 

This is one app to rule them all. :)