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[kristiankennethone]

404 People

I woke up early this morning, as if someone or something tagged me out of my deep sleep. I could use more sleep I guess but I woke up anyway. And like any other mornings, I did what I do everyday, like a prayer, every morning: check my phone notification. I am always delighted when I receive emails but this time a Facebook message. I opened my facebook app and it provided me with news feeds from the pages I follow. My facebook feed unlike anyone else is just an aggregate of news pages, not friend's posts or selfies or some else's holiday trip. I like it that way. Out of curiosity I decided to check my Facebook profile and there it was, numbers. 404 Facebook friends! Imagine that, 404! There is no way I know 404 people where when I was asked one time to provide 20 contacts I can't even give 5. 404? 404 friends when all the time I feel so alone, there is no way I know 404 friends. So I went on the list and unfriended some.

[kristiankennethone]

How To: ATWS Payment Thru BPI

So you need to make an International Wire Transfer to pay the €250 Atypical Working Scheme fee needed to work in Ireland. Let’s start!

An International Wire Transfer in basic term is like you depositing a certain amount from your account to your receiver’s bank account, albeit in this case internationally. But don’t be daunted as it is easy and took me only 45 minutes to process.

In this article, I will focus on BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) as they have the lowest transaction fee whereas other banks were asking  €50 fee.

What do you need?

You must be a BPI account holder

Valid ID’s

Your BPI card with sufficient deposit allowance (at least 16,000 PHP)

Secretary General of Department of Justice & Equality account information

You only have to visit your branch of account and inform the customer service that you need to make an International Wire Transfer. They will check if you have the necessary requirements given above and will ask you to fill out a form. (see below)

Now I cannot express enough that you NEED to double check the informations you will write in this form. The account number (IBAN) and swift code must be be correct. Take note if it is the number 0 or the letter O as this can be a alphanumeric combination.

Once filled out they will encode the information on their system, wait for a couple of minutes and your BPI account will be debited equivalent to  €250 and 600 PHP transaction fee. Take note that you are buying Euros here thus their bank exchange rate can be aggressive.

They will give you a print out transaction receipt similar to what I had below:

For more information, visit this BPI page. Good luck and God bless to us all!

[kristiankennethone]

The Internet is Weird

Ahh the internet, one of the greatest feat of mankind, however, it is also, for the lack of better word, weird-- and even that is understatement. 

But just how weird does it get? What a better way to find that out is to look at the frontpage of the internet; reddit.

For those who don’t know reddit, it is like a in your face forum. It is an aggregate of human interest. Reddit is divided, like most forums do, into subforums or in reddit terms subreddit. Then users have the chance to upvote each post and the more upvotes it gets, it will then end up on the site’s frontpage and that my friend is where posts gets viral.

[kristiankennethone]

Acute Depression

nYesterday, I saw a video thumbnail on Youtube that I thought was a prank. A pank on June? It’s from the channel I follow of film maker’s Anders and Eskild. The video I thought was a macabre pun for an upcoming project, these film makers are really creative and I could take a dark humour any day.

The video title says:

In memory of Eskild Fors [1988-2017]

But it wasn’t. I was real Eskild Fors died May 16th of May 2017 following an acute depression. His best friend Anders started the video with heartfelt message for his friend, nay brother Eskild:

17th of May, 2017 I received the devastating news. Eskild Fors has passed away following acute depression. Eskild Fors was one of my bestfriend and it’s difficult to comprehend what a wonderful person he was (...)

...the whole world absorbed your positive energy...

Please take care of each other and talk. Speak about any struggle you might have because there are people out there who wants to help you. Thank you.

This news came as a surprise for me because Eskild passing away this early is close to impossible. Although I don’t know him personally but I follow his instagram channel as well and his posts were a welcome change from my rather boring feed. He was really energetic, enthusiastic about film making and quite humorous.

A post shared by Eskild Fors (@eskildfors) on May 2, 2016 at 1:12pm PDT

A post shared by Eskild Fors (@eskildfors) on Jun 29, 2016 at 12:35pm PDT

Smiling Depression: What is it?

Apparently, everyone not all people experience sadness or show sadness the same way as the other. It is hard to spot someone being depressed when your basis is their demeanor, facial expression or how they manage their day to day life.

Rita Labeaune, Psy.D. of Psychology Today says:

Another way to think about smiling depression is to see it as wearing a mask. People suffering from smiling depression may offer no hint of their problem to the outside world. They often maintain a full-time job, run a family household, participate in sports, and have a fairly active social life. With their mask on, everything looks great, even at times perfect. However, underneath the mask they are suffering from sadness, panic attacks, low self-esteem, insomnia, and, in some cases, suicidal thoughts.

Like what Anders said, it is important to talk to people, communicate, don’t be afraid to express your sorrows and worries because this may come as a surprise but there are people out there who wants to listen.

If you are suffering from depression, know that your friends may not know what your really feeling, and that if you only verbalise and communicate they would understand you and talk. You are never alone.

If you or your friend is suffering from depression or has suicidal thoughts please use this list of International Suicide Crisis lines.

[kristiankennethone]

I’m not a selfish person.

This is the first thing that I muttered when I failed in achieving something I’ve been wanting and worked on so hard for so long yesterday and yet I failed.

I am not a selfish person, so why?

I guess the hardest part there was I didn’t know to whom I am talking to. For other people they say God, Allah, Jehovah, even more accurately Jesus Christ. But for me, I don’t know. I have no strong relationship with God, I don’t believe in religion and so that was  hardest part because I need something, someone, a higher being perhaps to explain what is happening to me and just have something to hold on to yet I had nothing.

I am not a selfish person.

Everything I own, I give it to my family. Even then, that achievement is for them, much more less for me. I love my parents, I couldn’t help but remember how hopeful they were that day. How hopeful I am and yet I failed. So I asked...

Why me? I am not a selfish person.

[kristiankennethone]

Should Error be Avoided?

Some people view errors as a hindrance to success, to be avoided at all cost

To what extent do you agree or disagree with this idea?

A margin of error is a phrase we hear all too often, but such leeway, no matter how minute it could be, can mean life and death. Some argued that errors, at all cost must be limited, if not eradicated. But for some, errors in small degree can actually be beneficial in the long-run.

In cognizant to this, many experts clamour error free operations. In health care sector for instance, doctors in the surgical room avoid errors in every procedure. Physicians make calculations for patients around the clock with no tolerance for a mistake because the patient’s life is on the line. Engineers as well make spotless calculations because one single error can mean a break in the foundation of the building leading to its collapse. And even a simple task like baking requires quantifiable and exact amount of ingredients in order to produce the perfect pastry possible.

On the other hand, all of these success in health care, engineering and other discipline was not achieved overnight. Take for example The Apple Company, the forefathers did not come up on their first try the iPhone and Mac computers that we know today. It took them years to build the product, countless of trials and innumerable prototypes. A successful businessman always commits mistake and learn from it.

In retrospect, a task done without errors is success, but success here is only superficial and underneath it all are errors made that lead to such achievement. After all, a victory can never feel fruit full enough without failures committed on the road.

[kristiankennethone]

Pets and World Starvation:

Too much attention is paid to and too much money is spent on keeping pets, while people throughout the wold are starving.

Discuss the argument for and against keeping pets.

To what extent do you agree?

Sociologist and historians attributed the birth and growth of civilization to domestication of animals. Experts argued that without such developments, our ancestors would remain nomadic, moving from one place to another as hunters, and the world as we know today will cease to exist. Our early ancestor domesticated wolves as companions, and throughout time, companion wolves evolved into domesticated canines or dogs. There are insurmountable benefits of keeping pets but some argued that somehow pet owners can go overboard on the cost of keeping them.

However, pet owners justified that cost is nothing when compared to the good things these fury beings bring. Pets can be a good stress reliever, moreover they give a sense of responsibility especially for first time owners. Pets especially dogs are loyal companions, they could be an excellent guard and some are even being used as guide dogs for persons with difficulties in seeing. Also, they could be trained to carry things for persons with body weakness and other disabilities. Canines are also being trained today for various military activities such as detecting bombs and proved really useful in search and rescue operations.

On the other hand, cost cannot be disregarded. Even purchasing a pet can be very expensive. Some pet owners spend thousands of money in grooming alone. Pet food can also cost even more than what a regular household would allot for everyday meals for the family.

In retrospect, while it is true that one can easily get overboard in spending, if only we can keep the balance on things, the amount of time, attention and money being spent on our pets can be greatly justified by the pet’s loyalty and purpose in times of needs.

[kristiankennethone]

Travel Itinerary

For future reference:

[kristiankennethone]

Stickerboy Skin: Pastel Grey Review

This is a long term review, after 2 months of usage. How durable is the sticker is and will it last that long?

Stickerboy is a US brand sticker skin for various electronic products. Here I bought one for my Surface Book. I chose the Pastel Grey variant because it match really well with the color of my Surface Book. I don’t need a fancy design. I just want something to protect my Surface Book from scratches of day to day use.

You will be disappointed on how Stickerboy handles packaging

The pack came and I was disappointed in the packaging. They came in a thin box that is already beaten up due to transport. I am not kidding, you can see through the box already. There were no tapes placed on corners to protect the items inside. What’s worst is the content. The stickers are just placed in an open plastic.

Installation is really is straightforward. There were no instructions included but thankfully there are a lot of installation videos on youtube that is worth the watch for tips on installing this product.

So here it is, completely installed and I must say it blends well on my Surface Book.

The Good about Stickerboy Skin:

The sticker is thick enough that you feel confident to slide your laptop on any surface and not to worry about it being scratched or removed. The fitting is remarkable, remember not to stretch the sticker when applying it because they are measured as is, if you stretch it especially the thin long small parts, it will turn longer than the supposed measurement of your laptop and you don’t want that.

The Bad about Stickerboy Skin:

Stickerboy didn’t put extra care in packaging, I was shocked that I received my item beaten up. When I received mine, I literally can see part of the sticker materials that is dried up and falling off. The small pieces of the sticker didn’t last long on my surface book. I can see them just remove themselves, sure using a blow dryer to put them back on can help but I wouldn’t spend my time doing that weekly.

I tried to contact stickerboy about it and they responded that this doesn’t happen with them and I have extra stickers for this. I responded again contesting the issue, I told them that I used up mine because I would reapply them often and still the issue is present, they won’t stick well, and then I didn’t receive a reply back. Unprofessional, they chose to ignore their customers? We didn’t get into a resolution, they will just ignore you.

For the price of this product, which by the way is 4x than the other competing skins, their customer service is unreliable and very unprofessional. You can get better options than stickerboy.

PS: Don’t get the pastel grey, the texture is unpleasing to touch. You won’t love the texture.

[kristiankennethone]

Lexar® Professional 633x SDHC™/SDXC™ UHS-I

The read and write speed of SD cards these days are getting extremely fast. I remember 8 years ago, I was buying an expensive 64 MB Memory Pro stick for my Sony Ericson P990i. Can you believe that? 64 MB!

I was looking to buy a fast memory card that supports 4K and slow motion recording for my RX100 mark 4 camera. It requires a UHS 1 Class 3 memory card and with the reviews and fair price, I leaned onto Lexar Brand.

But my problem was, at our local store, they are selling to type of these card and on different price! So I wondered, what is the difference between the two?

Difference between the Lexaer 633x Gold and Copper

They have the same class and read and write speed of up to 95mbps. So what is the difference between the two? I contacted Lexar customer support and thankfully they have a live chat!

It turns out, there are no difference between the two. Lexar just decided to change design a year back so you are not buying a different one from the other. The suggestion though is that if both cards are available, just go for the newer one. Not because it is better but because it was produced later than the other.

The package also includes a license for image recovery software. You can get in from Lexar’s website.

[kristiankennethone]

Review: Sony Battery and Travel DC Charger Kit with NP-BX1 ACCTRDCX

They say if it is good, why fix it? That is the case with  Sony Battery and Travel DC Charger Kit with NP-BX1 ACCTRDCX. This charger and battery kit is the same model when it was released 2013, a mere 3 years.

Don’t get me wrong, this pack works, and it works great! It’s just that, we are used to revisions yearly to see how each model mature, and how it improves compared to it’s predecessor. Maybe Sony doesn’t find it cost effective to improve this product as demand for compact cameras topple down yearly. But I think there is a good following for RX100 cameras that Sony should cater to. After all, the RX100 cameras are the best in it’s class.

Unboxing and What’s Inside?

I bought this one for my RX100 mark 4 camera and let’s see what’s inside the box.

It’s straightforward. You get the necessary manuals and other papers, the charger itself and the battery. Sadly though there is no USB cable wire and wall adapter. For it’s price Sony should include one or at least, for 3 years make the price drop significantly. The kit costs $49 tax exclusive.

The Sony Battery and Travel DC Charger Kit is The Compact Solution You Need

This thing is very compact and great for travel. It can fit into almost anything even on small pockets. Here’s how it looks like when you put the NP BX1 battery on! It is great because it can double as a case for the battery.

Charging Time

Here are the markings at the back in case you are wondering. The charger kit gives you an output of 0.86A and it can charge a completely empty battery in 2+ hours. Sadly though there is no indicator light that the battery is full. The indicator lamp will light up orange when charging and it will just go off when it is finished.

Sony Battery and Travel DC Charger Kit Build Quality

The case is made of plastic. But I think Sony could use a better type. It just feels unsatisfying to hold, especially that the top cover is slightly transparent. It just feels thin and cheap to hold for it’s price. Sorry Sony, your products look sleek and beautiful but not this one.

The kit gives you a spare battery that will surely help you last through the day of shooting. Here, on the right, is the battery that comes with the kit.

Conclusion:

A lot of people are suggesting other OEM’s battery and charger kit. Sure you can buy the Wasabi NP-BX1 Charger and battery kit for only $17-19 dollars but then again, we are talking of a $900 camera here. There are solid reviews out there for OEM batteries and I am not against them but there are also negative reviews like they don’t render accurate battery readings on the camera. A user said it only displays battery full, then stays that way until it will only just show one bar giving you no time and warning that you need to change the battery. These and other reviews made me look into the more expensive option that is the  Sony Battery and Travel DC Charger Kit. Sure I’m getting one spare battery instead of 3 but but hey It’s just gives you peace of mind. Also the charger kit is compact enough compared to the chargers that other OEM offers that makes this one a joy to carry

CONS:

For it’s price point, SONY could use a better build quality.

[kristiankennethone]

About Time (2013) - A Good Father’s Day Film

I’ve been watching Romantic Comedies for quite some time now, and also I am single for 2 years, and at this point in time, I miss love. I feel disconnected about falling in love and the happiness and wonders it gives, but that is a story for some other day. However, that is the reason why I am watching this kind of genre again. I miss love.

So in my quest of searching the best romantic comedies, I always try to be very picky so I won’t waste anymore time in watching one- i.e. Strangers In Seattle and When in Rome.

I stumbled upon a 2013 movie About Time.

It was a good movie to say the least. It has a compelling story, even the supernatural aspect of it which is time travel of course isn’t told and portrayed in a cheesy way, like all other hollywood movies do. Everything just came out naturally and I am sold.

It is more than a romantic comedy. Yes it tells a tale of finding love and losing it, thankfully he has the ability to time travel. But there’s more to this movie than a tell tale love story. It is a family movie. One that we should model our family to.

I fell in love with all the characters. Everyone especially with the relationship of the son and his dad.

It’s a good movie to watch especially that father’s day is coming up.

Sidenote:

Days ago, I felt really bad because I thought I missed the chance to greet my dad for father’s day because it was the second Sunday of June. And I wish I had more time so I can catch Sunday for that matter but turned out father’s day falls down on the third Sunday of June. Thank God for more time.

I love you dad!

[kristiankennethone]

How Good was Fitbit’s Customer Service and Warranty? So Good!

I purchased a Fitbit Charge HR last October of 2016 in a local store here in Saudi Arabia. 7 months in and I made an extensive long term review for the Fitbit Charge HR. My conclusion was, with normal daily use it wasn’t durable enough. The band is starting to separate as if the glue used stopped holding the band and the screen part together.

You can reach Fitbit with Live Chat support

So I contacted Fitbit’s Customer Service and I was really pleased that they have a live chat. I like live chat support, it’s easy and you can get answers really quickly. Some companies with live chat that I used are Microsoft Surface, Amazon and Shop and Ship and kudos to Fitbit for having this support.

So anyway, I talked with a representative and he asked me to take a picture of my unit together with a case number he provided as a proof. He then asked me for a photo of the receipt. Within minutes he then said that he is happy to replace my unit but they can’t ship outside US, EU, and NZ region. What a bummer. So I said I’d look for a friend to receive the item for me.

After 2 days I contacted them again, gave my previous case number and said that I do not have a friend that I can ask to receive the unit for me. The customer service representative then at this point said that they had reconsidered sending it to me directly. He then asked for my address and mobile number and after just minutes I received this in my email.

So my order date was May 27 and after 3 days I received an email that my order is being shipped. I received a tracking number and they have shipped my order with DHL express no less! Sweet!

They are not kidding about DHL Express! It’s fast!

So below is the tracking summary provided by DHL of my shipment. The shipment was sent May 30 coming from Netherlands and I received it just mere 2 days later here in Saudi Arabia! In comparison, I have a local shipment from Aramex sent on the same day and now it’s June 2 and I didn’t receive it yet.

You will just get the Replacement Unit and nothing else

When Fitbit said they will send a replacement unit, they are not kidding-- they sent JUST a replacement unit.

I was surprised when the parcel guy hand me over the box. It was light as a feather. I thought I’d be receiving a complete unit in a original packaging with charger and dongle included but that isn’t the case. When I opened the box, there was a tiny packet and inside is the Fitbit Charge HR unit itself and nothing else.

Conclusion

Fitbit’s Warranty policy and customer service is stellar. I didn’t pay for anything, I didn’t have a problem with customs and they shipped it with DHL and everything went smoothly and fast. Fitbit Charge HR may not be durable enough but I have a new unit and I couldn’t complain for more. I just hope that this time, the unit will last because I am near the end of my warranty period and Fitbit if you are reading this, please use better materials next time?

[kristiankennethone]

Fitbit Charge HR Long Term Review (7 Months)

Introduction

I want a new wristwatch, but the world is changing, people are connected, and everyone is shifting to digital, smartwatches. Some years ago, it wasn’t a trend. There is still no android wear OS, and the Apple watch was still but a rumor. People are not talking about smartwatches but I love technology, and even then I know that smartwatches will be a trend. Sure it is now.

I was in a market for a smartwatch back 2013. Back then, there wasn’t enough choices in the market. There is the Sony Smartwatch but it was just a fancy remote control for your mobile device, the UI is slow and it’s such a clatter. My brother bought it, it was a sight to behold at first, but excitement died down once I played with it. I didn’t like it.

Then I heard about Motorala Motoactv. Yes motorola offered a smartwatch long before it’s famed Moto 360. It was a beast! It runs full android and it can even be rooted and flashed with custom OS. The XDA developer community has even a good support for it. I wanted it! But I wanted more, it didn’t have a heart rate monitor built into it, you need to buy a supported chest heart rate monitor for it to be able to effectively track your exercise. The exercise tracking was still on it’s early phase, understandable, it’s a first gen device. And the lack of market for smartwatches back then means it’s not readily available in retail stores.

2015 was a good year for fitness bands and Fitbit is doing a good share in the market with excellent reviews so I picked one. So here we are now 7 months in, and here’s my long term review.

Average user review

I am not a fitness enthusiast, I don’t work out too often, but I do run every once in awhile to keep myself active. So this review, is geard towards person like me, who lives a moderate to active working life.

Does Fitbit Actually Make You Active?

Well to be honest, it does but not so much as I hope it would. I picked one hoping that it will actually motivate me to exercise more often. It does during the first few months but eventually the enthusiasm wore down. Before I constantly monitor my steps, and distance ran or walked. I constantly sync my tracker, and even was so keen to monitor if my steps are actually counter or miscounted. I downloaded an app to deduct steps that are accidentally accumulated when at a car. I want to keep everything as accurate as possible. I did extra exercises to reach my goal. But 4 months in and at times I forget to sync my tracker. I wasn’t reaching the 10,000 steps required everyday and I stopped checking it every so often. If you love to workout, then fitbit charge is a good companion. The datas you can collect fairly reliable and it can help you analyse your activities no doubt about that but if you are an average person and you think that buying this would keep you motivated to stay active and actually exercise after your work is done then you are wrong.

Smartwatch Functionality and Notifications, Does it Work?

Absolutely, it works seamlessly, for calls at the very least. Fitbit Charge HR is design to show caller ID’s from your phone provided that it is connected through Bluetooth all day long but that’s about it. It will show the name of the caller or the number if the contact isn’t saved on your mobile device but you can’t do anything about it. You can’t answer your phone through Fitbit Charge HR nor cancel the call. It’s just a simple caller ID so you still have to get your phone. It will vibrate though, so you know someone is calling even if your phone is silent but that’s about it.

BitTicker Extends The Smartwatch Functionality on your Fitbit Charge HR

Well I am not connected with bitTicker in anymeans but this app works. What the app does is that it interferes with the fitbit notification, so fitbit actually thinks it is a call notification but it is not, so the notifications like messages, whatsapp and other supported apps would show on your fitbit. It is simple and no hack is done, just install the app and you are good to go. I bought the app even before I had my fitbit charge HR and it worked. I think I paid $9 on the play store but it is free now. It isn’t official, but at least you have this option. I am sad that Fitbit didn’t enabled this as default on Charge HR but I think this functionality is meant for Fitbit Surge.

In the end, I never relied with fitbit Charge HR smartwatch functionality. It works but there is a significant delay between the notification on your phone before it actually notifies you on your smartwatch. I just turned this off, and turned off all day sync to save battery.

Fitbit Charge HR Sleep Tracking and Silent Alarm Works and It Does the Best Job!

What I love about Fitbit Charge HR is sleep tracking more than the activity tracking. It actually changed my sleeping habit. It does sleep tracking automatically, you don’t even have to set it up. It is seamless and it works really well. The silent alarm works well to, I never missed an alarm because of it. The vibration really can wake you up. What it lacks is, the deep sleep alarm feature. What deep sleep alarm feature does is it analyse your sleep pattern and it will wake you up in advance once you reached your light sleep phase so you will wake up feeling more refreshed. It won’t wake you up on your deep sleep phase because doing so may make you feel even more tired. Other activity tracker does this and it just a miss opportunity that fitbit didn’t enabled this.

Fitbit does a good job laying all your sleep info that whenever I undersleep it made me feel guilty so I’d try to sleep earlier next time. It’s a good self assessment whether you are giving your body the rest it deserves and I love this feature.

Can Fitbit Charge HR Work as Stand Alone Wristwatch and Even Replace it? Yes!

Yes it can, and I use it now mainly for it. It works well. The gyroscope is sensitive enough to wake the watch when you flip your wrist to see the time like what you do in real wristwatches. It has timer which is great and navigation by tapping the band works flawlessly.

Durability: Is Fitbit Charge HR Durable Enough?

I will let you decide on that by looking at my Fitbit Charge HR after 7 months of normal daily use.

My Fitbit Charge HR is Separating as if the glue used on it wore off. The band and the screen is giving in

And this is after 7 months of normal use. Yes I heard reviews about this before I bought the band and I am always skeptical on negative reviews thinking that other activity tracker competitors might paid them to write negative review but here we are, 7 months in and it happened to me and this one prompted me to write a review.

I am an average user and a little OC so I want to keep my things tidy and almost new as possible, here you can see that I applied a sceen protector since day 1. The screen is made of plastic and scratches easily but once you applied a sceen protector you are good to go.

But what bothers me is that, on normal use, the band itself and the screen is separating. The glue used to hold them together failed. And I never wore my watch on the shower, I remove it everyday and I never wore mine tight enough. This is from normal use and sadly it is not durable enough. 

I contacted Fitbit charge HR and they offered me a replacement but keep in mind that they only ship replacement in US, UK, New Zealand, and other European Areas. If you are coming from other part of the world you are not in luck. Their customer service is great but is limited to location.

Conclusion

Fitbit Charge HR is in a good seat in the market. It is still relevant in today’s market. That is why Firtbit didn’t released a refresh to the HR band this year. But if you are not coming from areas where fitbit ship for replacement unit once your unit is starts to fail, then look elsewhere.

[kristiankennethone]

Grapefruit: I am Confused

I love fruit especially everything citrus. I also like to try whatever fruit each place I visit to has to offer and that includes weird fruits as well.

I know you might say, hey, grapefruits are common but believe me, it’s not where I came from. So I went to the mall today and saw these massive fruits and I immediately thought they were over sized oranges. I look at the the tag and it says Egyptian grapefruit. I was confused with the mix of words, grape and fruit, and these over sized orange definitely doesn’t seem like it.

So I bought it, and went home to taste it. I peeled it off like an orange. Peeling it off feels like I am peeling a pomelo and it definitely taste like pomelo! It’s like a mix of orange and pomelo. Let me explain it further, the texture is like an over riped pomelo, and the taste, definitely a mix of both. If I have to choose, I’d rather have a pomelo and orange and not have them both.

Wikipedia says:

The grapefruit (Citrus × paradisi) is a subtropical citrus tree known for its sour to semi-sweet fruit. Grapefruit is a hybrid originating in Barbados as an accidental cross between two introduced species, sweet orange (C. sinesis) and pomelo or shaddock (C. maxima), both of which were introduced from Asia in the seventeenth century.[1] When found, it was named the "forbidden fruit";[2] and it has also been misidentified with the pomelo.

When they discovered this fruit, the farmers might be really weirded out and out of confusion named it as grapefruit. So see I was right. It’s weird and definitely not my favourite. 

[kristiankennethone]

How To Download 360 Videos for Gear VR on Background

Samsung and Oculus released the consumer version of the Gear VR recently and such early piece of platform and technology does come with some drawback. One particular criticism is the inability to download 360 videos on background, apps like Oculus Video, Milk VR and VRSE doesn't simply allow you to.

Downloading while in VR is not a pleasant experience. It requires you to set up your Gear VR first, placing your phone onto the headset, open the videos app, select videos and watch the download circle. You can’t remove the phone from the headset. Watching the download circle whilst on VR is daunting plus you won’t be able to use your phone while waiting for the download to complete. Another problem is, most apps requires WiFi connection. I hate this because I have unlimited 4G data pan. Streaming videos is possible but these files are huge, take for example the Clouds over Sidra, an 8 minute videos that is 1.4 GB. There's no way my current connection can handle that. Also I want to keep the videos to instantly show off my friends when I wanted to.

How to Download VRSE Videos on Background without the Gear VR On

Here I found a way to download 360 videos on your Gear VR on background and out of the VR headset and even without WiFi. And no, you don't need addition software or apps to do it. You don’t have to convert, rename or make any file. Just a good copy and paste method.

1. Download VRSE app on Oculus Store. Download also the VRSE app on Playstore (Cardboard App)

2.Run the VRSE app on your phone (Cardboard App) and select which video you want to download.

3. Here I am downloading The Evolution of Verse. Wait for it to finish. Once finished. Go to the VRSE app (Cardboard) directory.

4. On your file manager, navigate to VRSE app directory. You will see two folders for VRSE. One for the Cardboard app, and one for the VR app.

Android/data/com.shakingearthdigital.vrse (this is the folder for Gear VR app)

Android/data/com.shakingearhdigital.vrsecardboard (this is the folder for the cardboard app) Your downloads will go to this folder.

5. Go to the cardboard app directory (Android/data/com.shakingearthdigital.vrsecardboard/files/VRSE) and you will see several folders with corresponding .json file. Here for example the folder Content_6 and content_6.json are the files and folders for the movie Catatonic. I just have to copy all of these to the directory of the VRSE for the Gear VR. So go ahead and mark everything and chose move.

6. Navigate now to the directory for VRSE app for the Gear VR at Android/data/com.shakingearthdigital.vrse/files/VRSE and choose paste here. Don’t forget to copy the json files, as it is required.

7. Lunch VRSE app on your Gear VR and you will see that the movies you selected are downloaded and you are able to play them. Even the 360 audio movies works.

What I like about this is that the app downloads the movies on the background, so I can still use my phone. When the download is interrupted, it will resume on the point where you last left. So now, I can just download movies available on VRSE app, when sleeping so they are up and ready when I wake up. I hope that in the near future dowloading VR contents will be done in app, without the need to set up the gear VR first.

[kristiankennethone]

Responsible Blogging

I am a blogger first and a writer second. I think there is a line between the two. A blogger says what on his mind, his experiences but a writer, well a writer can bend his thoughts and experiences to create a piece of art in writing.

I want to be honest, so I am a blogger. And I really want to blog about things I experience in as often as I could. I love the fact that I can just go and read them at one point, and say “ah that’s my experience at that certain moment”, it will make me rethink where I am at the current moment and thus make a good comparison of my past and present experiences. Something like self assessment and for me that’s a good thing.

I always want to blog like Carrie of the show Sex and the City, it’s a show I love so dearly, so much so, that I always find a Carrie within me, or Miranda at times. I want to blog like her. Trust me, I tried and I did but I realised, that being blunt, and being honest in this day and age is difficult especially that I care about my privacy. 

It’s either I make the blog private, which is kind of self defeating, as someone should blog to make his experiences out there, or I would make my blog public but put a nice sugar coating on every post. I don’t want that, I don’t want to lie to myself.

So I decided to blog responsibly. I’d be honest without sharing too much information and some things are meant to be kept privately.

So this is that start.

PS. I’ve gone through my previous post and as much as I hate it, I made a good amount of blog post privately.