#recorded it on my phone so the quality might be janky

[vapis-10]

and it's done! if i sound sick it's because i am, i did not listen to it before posting because i can't stand my own voice anymore lol.

[brainwad]

Cosplacon 2017 Con Report

 Okay, so, I’ve just spent the last few days at Cosplacon.  It’s a fairly small event (compared to the likes of Dragoncon, etc), but it is so much fun.  Maybe because it’s so small, it has a really great atmosphere.  It’s also pretty much the only con in town, as it were, unless you want to make the trip out to either Saint Louis or Kansas City.  (Mind you, there were attendees who came from Topeka, which is realy impressive.)  This is my third year attending this con (any con, in fact), and the first time I’d stayed for the whole thing. 

DAY ONE

Thursday was interesting, because (as some may know) I have been gearing up for a move, and that move took place on Thursday morning.  So, I’d spent the first half of the week frantically packing and boxing and getting things ready, and Thursday morning was spent trying to get stuff loaded into the new place so my parents would have less to do when the time came to unpack.  (Yes, i live with and help take care of my parents, who are both disabled to one degree or another.  They encouraged me to attend the con, because I pretty much spend all my time working either at my job or at home, and need a break to do something for myself.)  So, when the time came to leave, I was sweaty and dirty and desperate for a cold shower.  (June in Missouri is no fun.)  Once I was feeling relatively human again (though still kinda tired) I donned my Rocket grunt costume from last year and joined the festivities. 

The con has a Pokemon League (strictly for fun, not an official Pokemon Company thing), and I registered my team for that.  It’s pretty cool.  The folks running it do it as a labor of love, and it really shows.  Not only do they spend their own money printing trainer cards and making gym badges, they created a region with lore and even a *soundtrack*.  I tried to do the “story mode” challenge, but got flattened by the Flying-Type leader in my second match, so then it just became trying to get as many badges as possible.  I’m not super knowledgable when it comes to competitive play, because I don’t really do much of that sort of thing, but I did put together a pretty solid team.  I might do a separate post about that later.  Maybe.  Meh. 

Every year, the con also does a sort of scavenger hunt, with little stuff scattered throughout the hotel.  Collect all these “achievements” and you win...something.  I think it’s a pass for next year.  I probably could have done it this year, but I chose to spend most of my time between specific events hanging out with the Pokemon League crew.  Some of the achievements included finding the key to the TARDIS, Facehugger eggs, and the stones from the Fifth Element.  (This being the fifth year of the con, there was a Fifth Element theme.)

There weren’t a ton of events that first night, but I did catch the Iron Cosplay competition (teams are given a collection of random pieces out of which to create a costume and character backstory), which was a lot of fun.  I kind of wished I could have attended some of the panels hosted by the Egg Sisters on Prosthetics and Make-up, because I think that kind of thing is really fascinating, and they are amazing at it.  I didn’t rally go much into the game room, where there were Smash Bros tournaments and things like that.  Most of the gaming stuff I did was just playing Pokemon.  After Iron Cosplay was the Welcome Party, which was also a lot of fun.  After that, I hit the sack.  There’s usually some kind of dance party or other kind of late night hootenanny, but I’d been up since 5 am and was exhausted.

Turns out that would be a running theme.  Not only were the people in the next room pretty rowdy (I think they were teenagers out on their own for the first time), but my room was directly adjacent to one of the maintenance/cleaning closets, so I got to hear all the banging and thumping of the door and housekeeping carts. 

As a sidenote: If a hotel room door is locked, STOP TRYING TO GET IN.  Also?  Instructions for the damn shower would be nice. 

DAY TWO

After waking up WAY too early, I finish up my Janky McCree cosplay (which I should have gotten a picture of before it all fell apart) I headed down to the League and did a bit of battling before leaving for the Q&A with Eric Stuart--the voice actor for James and Brock of Pokemon, among others.  It was enjoyable and informational, but I think a lot of us kinda blanked when the opportunity arose to ask questions, and the majority of questions came from the same handful of people.  He struck me as a really cool guy, though. 

I would have liked to go to the Marvel vs DC Round Table or the panel on samurai swords by Samurai Dan, , but I opted to go to the Q&A instead.,  That happened a lot.  Like, a lot of the events that I wanted to attend were scheduled at the same time, while other times, there were stretches where nothing really jumped out and said COME TO ME.  I kinda wanted to go to the Cosplay Runway, which was a non-competitive costume parade of sorts, but I wasn’t too happy with my McCree cosplay and also wanted to keep challenging gym leaders.  I definitely wanted to go to the Harry Potter round table, but things with the Pokemon League took longer than expected, and I missed half of it.  That was okay, though, because I still had fun.  And if you’re enjoying what you’re doing, that’s what’s important, right?  Also, it’s important to schedule time for things like food.  So you don’t, like, die. 

That even was the cosplay skits.  They’re usually good, but this year, they were AWESOME.  I tried recording everything, but I did end up missing a couple because I had to run up to my room and grab my phone charger.  I did miss a dance number I hope someone recorded and will post to youtube or something, but the other skit, I wasn’t too upset about missing, mostly because the guy doing it was a creep who’d caused problems with the League crew, and wouldn’t have been very entertaining anyway.  There were dance numbers, musical performances, short dramatic skits, a HILARIOUS Gothic Lolita presentation (”SQUAT!!! Wigglewigglewigglewiggle!  CRRRRRROOOOUUUCH!!!”) and a couple of girls tossing inventive shade at each other, which I kept expecting to turn into a number from Wicked.  Normally, the winner of the skit competition wins a pass for next year, but there were so many awesome skits, the judges decided to award one to everybody (including that creepy guy, but they couldn’t very well say “Everyone but you). 

Following that was a really fun Avatar: The Last Airbender discussion.  I kiiiinda wanted to go to the Fifth Element Ball afterwards, but I was feeling pretty shy about jumping into a dance party, seeing as I dance like a parody of a white guy, so I hung out with the League and got some food. 

Then, so friends of mine from work showed up and we wondered about a bit, taking in the sights before deciding to go to the drag show, which was a lot of fun.  I did have to explain to my friends what a drag king was.  They had an intermission, and I kinda wanted to stay for the rest, and I kinda wanted to go do karaoke, but it was near midnight already and I was bushed.  So, I said goodnight and tied again to get some sleep, getting only nominal success. 

DAY THREE

I finished up my Guzma costume after getting Not Enough Sleep.  By the way, I nearly blinded myself twice putting on eyeliner.  There wasn’t a whole lot grabbing my attention as far as morning events, but I did have fun battling with other Pokemon trainers and just walking about taking pictures and even getting my picture taken.  I was really bummed, though, that a lot of the attendees who did Team Skull grunt cosplays weren’t doing them that day, because I would have LOVED to get a picture with as many Team Skull peeps as possible.  I did attend a need panel on digital art, hosted by the head of the con, Rodney. 

After that was a Pokemon Speed Training tournament.  basically, each person was traded three random level one pokemon and we were given an hour to train them up as much as possible, before facing each other in 3v3 battles. I ended up with a Klefki, a Corsola and a standard Grimer.  i wasn’t too terribly happy, but I figured I would give it a shot.  (Again, I’m not a super competitive player, but even I knew Corsola wasn’t super viable for competition.)  And I actually managed to get to the final two!  Unfortunately, my opponent had a well trained Golem and one-shotted everyone on my team with Earthquake.  But I had fun! 

Again, not a whole lot scheduled after that which grabbed my attention, so, more hanging out before heading in to the Cosplay Royale.  The Cosplay Royal is the big cosplay competition, with professional judges and everything.  There were some AWESOME cosplays in this one, though not as many entrants as there were last year, if i’m remembering things correctly.  But the quality of the costumes were so good, they added a couple categories. 

After that, Eric Stuart gave an acoustic concert, and I got a signed CD.  I’m always a little leery when someone says they’re Also A Musician, because a LOT of people are Also A Musician, but he was actually really good.  There was one slightly obnoxious guy who tended to talk through the performance, and not super quietly, either.  After that, I wanted to go to the Dance Party or even the Cosplay Burlesque, but I reeeally needed food and sleep.  Which Brings us to...

DAY FOUR. 

Today!  I got a little more sleep this morning, despite there being a HUGE thunderstorm crashing around outside.  No cosplay today, just dressing comfortably.  Everyone was pretty low-energy today compared to the previous few days.  I think there were a lot of hangovers, and the accumulative effects of Not Enough Sleep.  Even Rodney, the head of the con, aka “The Green Flash”, was subdued.  There was the Father’s Day brunch and the Pokemon Carnival, where everyone got the chance to battle the League again, but not a lot else.  Most people were gearing up to leave before checkout at 11.  I did actually get all eight badges, but didn’t succeed in challenging the elite four.  Then came the closing ceremony, after which people basically headed out.  The hotel is pretty empty right now, and I enjoyed a nice long nap.  I will probably sleep better tonight and be in a pretty good state when I leave tomorrow, which is good, because I still have basically unpack all my crap at the new house. 

[technicalsolutions88]

It’s been 10 years since Google took the wraps off the G1, the first Android phone. Since that time the OS has grown from buggy, nerdy iPhone alternative to arguably the most popular (or at least populous) computing platform in the world. But it sure as heck didn’t get there without hitting a few bumps along the road.

Join us for a brief retrospective on the last decade of Android devices: the good, the bad, and the Nexus Q.

HTC G1 (2008)

This is the one that started it all, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the old thing. Also known as the HTC Dream — this was back when we had an HTC, you see — the G1 was about as inauspicious a debut as you can imagine. Its full keyboard, trackball, slightly janky slide-up screen (crooked even in official photos), and considerable girth marked it from the outset as a phone only a real geek could love. Compared to the iPhone, it was like a poorly dressed whale.

But in time its half-baked software matured and its idiosyncrasies became apparent for the smart touches they were. To this day I occasionally long for a trackball or full keyboard, and while the G1 wasn’t pretty, it was tough as hell.

Moto Droid (2009)

Of course, most people didn’t give Android a second look until Moto came out with the Droid, a slicker, thinner device from the maker of the famed RAZR. In retrospect, the Droid wasn’t that much better or different than the G1, but it was thinner, had a better screen, and had the benefit of an enormous marketing push from Motorola and Verizon. (Disclosure: Verizon owns Oath, which owns TechCrunch, but this doesn’t affect our coverage in any way.)

For many, the Droid and its immediate descendants were the first Android phones they had — something new and interesting that blew the likes of Palm out of the water, but also happened to be a lot cheaper than an iPhone.

HTC/Google Nexus One (2010)

This was the fruit of the continued collaboration between Google and HTC, and the first phone Google branded and sold itself. The Nexus One was meant to be the slick, high-quality device that would finally compete toe-to-toe with the iPhone. It ditched the keyboard, got a cool new OLED screen, and had a lovely smooth design. Unfortunately it ran into two problems.

First, the Android ecosystem was beginning to get crowded. People had lots of choices and could pick up phones for cheap that would do the basics. Why lay the cash out for a fancy new one? And second, Apple would shortly release the iPhone 4, which — and I was an Android fanboy at the time — objectively blew the Nexus One and everything else out of the water. Apple had brought a gun to a knife fight.

HTC Evo 4G (2010)

Another HTC? Well, this was prime time for the now-defunct company. They were taking risks no one else would, and the Evo 4G was no exception. It was, for the time, huge: the iPhone had a 3.5-inch screen, and most Android devices weren’t much bigger, if they weren’t smaller.

HTC is gone

The Evo 4G somehow survived our criticism (our alarm now seems extremely quaint, given the size of the average phone now) and was a reasonably popular phone, but ultimately is notable not for breaking sales records but breaking the seal on the idea that a phone could be big and still make sense. (Honorable mention goes to the Droid X.)

Samsung Galaxy S (2010)

Samsung’s big debut made a hell of a splash, with custom versions of the phone appearing in the stores of practically every carrier, each with their own name and design: the AT&T Captivate, T-Mobile Vibrant, Verizon Fascinate, and Sprint Epic 4G. As if the Android lineup wasn’t confusing enough already at the time!

Though the S was a solid phone, it wasn’t without its flaws, and the iPhone 4 made for very tough competition. But strong sales reinforced Samsung’s commitment to the platform, and the Galaxy series is still going strong today.

Motorola Xoom (2011)

This was an era in which Android devices were responding to Apple, and not vice versa as we find today. So it’s no surprise that hot on the heels of the original iPad we found Google pushing a tablet-focused version of Android with its partner Motorola, which volunteered to be the guinea pig with its short-lived Xoom tablet.

Although there are still Android tablets on sale today, the Xoom represented a dead end in development — an attempt to carve a piece out of a market Apple had essentially invented and soon dominated. Android tablets from Motorola, HTC, Samsung and others were rarely anything more than adequate, though they sold well enough for a while. This illustrated the impossibility of “leading from behind” and prompted device makers to specialize rather than participate in a commodity hardware melee.

Amazon Kindle Fire (2011)

And who better to illustrate than Amazon? Its contribution to the Android world was the Fire series of tablets, which differentiated themselves from the rest by being extremely cheap and directly focused on consuming digital media. Just $200 at launch and far less later, the Fire devices catered to the regular Amazon customer whose kids were pestering them about getting a tablet on which to play Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds, but who didn’t want to shell out for an iPad.

Turns out this was a wise strategy, and of course one Amazon was uniquely positioned to do with its huge presence in online retail and the ability to subsidize the price out of the reach of competition. Fire tablets were never particularly good, but they were good enough, and for the price you paid, that was kind of a miracle.

Xperia Play (2011)

Sony has always had a hard time with Android. Its Xperia line of phones for years were considered competent — I owned a few myself — and arguably industry-leading in the camera department. But no one bought them. And the one they bought the least of, or at least proportional to the hype it got, has to be the Xperia Play. This thing was supposed to be a mobile gaming platform, and the idea of a slide-out keyboard is great — but the whole thing basically cratered.

What Sony had illustrated was that you couldn’t just piggyback on the popularity and diversity of Android and launch whatever the hell you wanted. Phones didn’t sell themselves, and although the idea of playing Playstation games on your phone might have sounded cool to a few nerds, it was never going to be enough to make it a million-seller. And increasingly that’s what phones needed to be.

Samsung Galaxy Note (2012)

As a sort of natural climax to the swelling phone trend, Samsung went all out with the first true “phablet,” and despite groans of protest the phone not only sold well but became a staple of the Galaxy series. In fact, it wouldn’t be long before Apple would follow on and produce a Plus-sized phone of its own.

The Note also represented a step towards using a phone for serious productivity, not just everyday smartphone stuff. It wasn’t entirely successful — Android just wasn’t ready to be highly productive — but in retrospect it was forward thinking of Samsung to make a go at it and begin to establish productivity as a core competence of the Galaxy series.

Google Nexus Q (2012)

This abortive effort by Google to spread Android out into a platform was part of a number of ill-considered choices at the time. No one really knew, apparently at Google or anywhere elsewhere in the world, what this thing was supposed to do. I still don’t. As we wrote at the time:

Here’s the problem with the Nexus Q:  it’s a stunningly beautiful piece of hardware that’s being let down by the software that’s supposed to control it.

It was made, or rather nearly made in the USA, though, so it had that going for it.

HTC First — “The Facebook Phone” (2013)

The First got dealt a bad hand. The phone itself was a lovely piece of hardware with an understated design and bold colors that stuck out. But its default launcher, the doomed Facebook Home, was hopelessly bad.

How bad? Announced in April, discontinued in May. I remember visiting an AT&T store during that brief period and even then the staff had been instructed in how to disable Facebook’s launcher and reveal the perfectly good phone beneath. The good news was that there were so few of these phones sold new that the entire stock started selling for peanuts on Ebay and the like. I bought two and used them for my early experiments in ROMs. No regrets.

HTC One/M8 (2014)

This was the beginning of the end for HTC, but their last few years saw them update their design language to something that actually rivaled Apple. The One and its successors were good phones, though HTC oversold the “Ultrapixel” camera, which turned out to not be that good, let alone iPhone-beating.

As Samsung increasingly dominated, Sony plugged away, and LG and Chinese companies increasingly entered the fray, HTC was under assault and even a solid phone series like the One couldn’t compete. 2014 was a transition period with old manufacturers dying out and the dominant ones taking over, eventually leading to the market we have today.

Google/LG Nexus 5X and Huawei 6P (2015)

This was the line that brought Google into the hardware race in earnest. After the bungled Nexus Q launch, Google needed to come out swinging, and they did that by marrying their more pedestrian hardware with some software that truly zinged. Android 5 was a dream to use, Marshmallow had features that we loved … and the phones became objects that we adored.

We called the 6P “the crown jewel of Android devices”. This was when Google took its phones to the next level and never looked back.

Google Pixel (2016)

If the Nexus was, in earnest, the starting gun for Google’s entry into the hardware race, the Pixel line could be its victory lap. It’s an honest-to-god competitor to the Apple phone.

Gone are the days when Google is playing catch-up on features to Apple, instead, Google’s a contender in its own right. The phone’s camera is amazing. The software works relatively seamlessly (bring back guest mode!), and phone’s size and power are everything anyone could ask for. The sticker price, like Apple’s newest iPhones, is still a bit of a shock, but this phone is the teleological endpoint in the Android quest to rival its famous, fruitful, contender.

Let’s see what the next ten years bring.

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2I7l6YP ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

[sheminecrafts]

Happy 10th anniversary, Android

It’s been 10 years since Google took the wraps off the G1, the first Android phone. Since that time the OS has grown from buggy, nerdy iPhone alternative to arguably the most popular (or at least populous) computing platform in the world. But it sure as heck didn’t get there without hitting a few bumps along the road.

Join us for a brief retrospective on the last decade of Android devices: the good, the bad, and the Nexus Q.

HTC G1 (2008)

This is the one that started it all, and I have a soft spot in my heart for the old thing. Also known as the HTC Dream — this was back when we had an HTC, you see — the G1 was about as inauspicious a debut as you can imagine. Its full keyboard, trackball, slightly janky slide-up screen (crooked even in official photos), and considerable girth marked it from the outset as a phone only a real geek could love. Compared to the iPhone, it was like a poorly dressed whale.

But in time its half-baked software matured and its idiosyncrasies became apparent for the smart touches they were. To this day I occasionally long for a trackball or full keyboard, and while the G1 wasn’t pretty, it was tough as hell.

Moto Droid (2009)

Of course, most people didn’t give Android a second look until Moto came out with the Droid, a slicker, thinner device from the maker of the famed RAZR. In retrospect, the Droid wasn’t that much better or different than the G1, but it was thinner, had a better screen, and had the benefit of an enormous marketing push from Motorola and Verizon. (Disclosure: Verizon owns Oath, which owns TechCrunch, but this doesn’t affect our coverage in any way.)

For many, the Droid and its immediate descendants were the first Android phones they had — something new and interesting that blew the likes of Palm out of the water, but also happened to be a lot cheaper than an iPhone.

HTC/Google Nexus One (2010)

This was the fruit of the continued collaboration between Google and HTC, and the first phone Google branded and sold itself. The Nexus One was meant to be the slick, high-quality device that would finally compete toe-to-toe with the iPhone. It ditched the keyboard, got a cool new OLED screen, and had a lovely smooth design. Unfortunately it ran into two problems.

First, the Android ecosystem was beginning to get crowded. People had lots of choices and could pick up phones for cheap that would do the basics. Why lay the cash out for a fancy new one? And second, Apple would shortly release the iPhone 4, which — and I was an Android fanboy at the time — objectively blew the Nexus One and everything else out of the water. Apple had brought a gun to a knife fight.

HTC Evo 4G (2010)

Another HTC? Well, this was prime time for the now-defunct company. They were taking risks no one else would, and the Evo 4G was no exception. It was, for the time, huge: the iPhone had a 3.5-inch screen, and most Android devices weren’t much bigger, if they weren’t smaller.

HTC is gone

The Evo 4G somehow survived our criticism (our alarm now seems extremely quaint, given the size of the average phone now) and was a reasonably popular phone, but ultimately is notable not for breaking sales records but breaking the seal on the idea that a phone could be big and still make sense. (Honorable mention goes to the Droid X.)

Samsung Galaxy S (2010)

Samsung’s big debut made a hell of a splash, with custom versions of the phone appearing in the stores of practically every carrier, each with their own name and design: the AT&T Captivate, T-Mobile Vibrant, Verizon Fascinate, and Sprint Epic 4G. As if the Android lineup wasn’t confusing enough already at the time!

Though the S was a solid phone, it wasn’t without its flaws, and the iPhone 4 made for very tough competition. But strong sales reinforced Samsung’s commitment to the platform, and the Galaxy series is still going strong today.

Motorola Xoom (2011)

This was an era in which Android devices were responding to Apple, and not vice versa as we find today. So it’s no surprise that hot on the heels of the original iPad we found Google pushing a tablet-focused version of Android with its partner Motorola, which volunteered to be the guinea pig with its short-lived Xoom tablet.

Although there are still Android tablets on sale today, the Xoom represented a dead end in development — an attempt to carve a piece out of a market Apple had essentially invented and soon dominated. Android tablets from Motorola, HTC, Samsung and others were rarely anything more than adequate, though they sold well enough for a while. This illustrated the impossibility of “leading from behind” and prompted device makers to specialize rather than participate in a commodity hardware melee.

Amazon Kindle Fire (2011)

And who better to illustrate than Amazon? Its contribution to the Android world was the Fire series of tablets, which differentiated themselves from the rest by being extremely cheap and directly focused on consuming digital media. Just $200 at launch and far less later, the Fire devices catered to the regular Amazon customer whose kids were pestering them about getting a tablet on which to play Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds, but who didn’t want to shell out for an iPad.

Turns out this was a wise strategy, and of course one Amazon was uniquely positioned to do with its huge presence in online retail and the ability to subsidize the price out of the reach of competition. Fire tablets were never particularly good, but they were good enough, and for the price you paid, that was kind of a miracle.

Xperia Play (2011)

Sony has always had a hard time with Android. Its Xperia line of phones for years were considered competent — I owned a few myself — and arguably industry-leading in the camera department. But no one bought them. And the one they bought the least of, or at least proportional to the hype it got, has to be the Xperia Play. This thing was supposed to be a mobile gaming platform, and the idea of a slide-out keyboard is great — but the whole thing basically cratered.

What Sony had illustrated was that you couldn’t just piggyback on the popularity and diversity of Android and launch whatever the hell you wanted. Phones didn’t sell themselves, and although the idea of playing Playstation games on your phone might have sounded cool to a few nerds, it was never going to be enough to make it a million-seller. And increasingly that’s what phones needed to be.

Samsung Galaxy Note (2012)

As a sort of natural climax to the swelling phone trend, Samsung went all out with the first true “phablet,” and despite groans of protest the phone not only sold well but became a staple of the Galaxy series. In fact, it wouldn’t be long before Apple would follow on and produce a Plus-sized phone of its own.

The Note also represented a step towards using a phone for serious productivity, not just everyday smartphone stuff. It wasn’t entirely successful — Android just wasn’t ready to be highly productive — but in retrospect it was forward thinking of Samsung to make a go at it and begin to establish productivity as a core competence of the Galaxy series.

Google Nexus Q (2012)

This abortive effort by Google to spread Android out into a platform was part of a number of ill-considered choices at the time. No one really knew, apparently at Google or anywhere elsewhere in the world, what this thing was supposed to do. I still don’t. As we wrote at the time:

Here’s the problem with the Nexus Q:  it’s a stunningly beautiful piece of hardware that’s being let down by the software that’s supposed to control it.

It was made, or rather nearly made in the USA, though, so it had that going for it.

HTC First — “The Facebook Phone” (2013)

The First got dealt a bad hand. The phone itself was a lovely piece of hardware with an understated design and bold colors that stuck out. But its default launcher, the doomed Facebook Home, was hopelessly bad.

How bad? Announced in April, discontinued in May. I remember visiting an AT&T store during that brief period and even then the staff had been instructed in how to disable Facebook’s launcher and reveal the perfectly good phone beneath. The good news was that there were so few of these phones sold new that the entire stock started selling for peanuts on Ebay and the like. I bought two and used them for my early experiments in ROMs. No regrets.

HTC One/M8 (2014)

This was the beginning of the end for HTC, but their last few years saw them update their design language to something that actually rivaled Apple. The One and its successors were good phones, though HTC oversold the “Ultrapixel” camera, which turned out to not be that good, let alone iPhone-beating.

As Samsung increasingly dominated, Sony plugged away, and LG and Chinese companies increasingly entered the fray, HTC was under assault and even a solid phone series like the One couldn’t compete. 2014 was a transition period with old manufacturers dying out and the dominant ones taking over, eventually leading to the market we have today.

Google/LG Nexus 5X and Huawei 6P (2015)

This was the line that brought Google into the hardware race in earnest. After the bungled Nexus Q launch, Google needed to come out swinging, and they did that by marrying their more pedestrian hardware with some software that truly zinged. Android 5 was a dream to use, Marshmallow had features that we loved … and the phones became objects that we adored.

We called the 6P “the crown jewel of Android devices”. This was when Google took its phones to the next level and never looked back.

Google Pixel (2016)

If the Nexus was, in earnest, the starting gun for Google’s entry into the hardware race, the Pixel line could be its victory lap. It’s an honest-to-god competitor to the Apple phone.

Gone are the days when Google is playing catch-up on features to Apple, instead, Google’s a contender in its own right. The phone’s camera is amazing. The software works relatively seamlessly (bring back guest mode!), and phone’s size and power are everything anyone could ask for. The sticker price, like Apple’s newest iPhones, is still a bit of a shock, but this phone is the teleological endpoint in the Android quest to rival its famous, fruitful, contender.

Let’s see what the next ten years bring.

from iraidajzsmmwtv https://ift.tt/2I7l6YP via IFTTT

[rememberthattime]

Chapter 38. First Anniversary

They say you shouldn’t go too big for the First Anniversary celebration… It’s not sustainable. You’ll set the bar too high.

Well, first of all, who is “they”? And second, that’s not how Chelsay and I roll. Our wedding was the best day of our lives, and our annual celebration should appropriately match. ((In 20+ years, will we just be getting cards?))

For our First Anniversary, Chelsay & I were going big… albeit, completely unbeknownst to one another.  

Before getting into the anniversary festivities, I’ll quickly touch on my two week trip back to the States.  Since January, I knew I’d be returning to the US for Aaron & Rachel’s wedding, so I took the return opportunity to visit my family in Dallas. I was home only a few months earlier for Jeff & Liv’s wedding and they’d be visiting Sydney in a matter of weeks, but this was a bonus chance for our traditional bocce, BBQ, board games, and bolgogi. …The last one was new, but we now know Matt has some cooking chops.

I also flew up to Seattle a few days before the wedding to hang with Dan, June, and my friends. This was my first non-winter visit since we’d left for the UK -- that was 2015! 3 years! It’d been so long, that I actually forgot what “warm” Seattle felt like.

I went on runs through the Paradise Valley trails behind Crystal Lake, hiked the Old Robe Track with Dan and June, sat on the back patio for sunsets (at 9:30 PM!), and paddle boarded every day.

I want to write about paddle boarding specifically -- it was hypnotic. I’d go out around 10 AM, right as the sun was chasing away the cool marine layer. The lake was unbelievably still. Like disorienting-ly calm. There were a few times where my mind was tricked into thinking I was on a solid surface, and I’d have to catch myself before tipping the board. The flat water and angle of the sun also made the reflection of the trees especially mesmerizing. First, the reflection was an absolute replica. No distorting ripples or waves. Just a perfect mirror image of the forest and tree line. Second, the angle of the sun was high enough so that all of the reflections fell inward toward me. Standing in the middle of the round lake, the treetop reflections surrounded me in a small circle.

Okay, that was the two week build up – now for the reason I was in the US: Aaron & Rachel’s wedding. Obviously there is a lot that I could write about the wedding, but I want to focus on two things: happiness & reunion.

First, on happiness: someone told me that you can judge a wedding by the toasts. Now, until about a month before Chelsay & I’s wedding, I didn’t think we’d have toasts… Not sure what that says about me, but luckily Chelsay convinced me otherwise. That’s also somehow symbolic.  

Another idiom: I think we’re all just the average of the five people we’re closest with. If those five people are giving toasts, then their speech is a glimpse at the people behind the bride and groom. If their toasts are heartfelt, funny, clever, and genuine, the bride and groom probably share those very same qualities. Well, ALoh and Rachel’s toasts were all of the above, especially Marcel’s, and it set the tone for the entire evening.

The second point I want to write about was the reunion. My entire groom’s side from Paris was back together again. I wrote about this in my wedding post: we’ve been friends since we were 15, and over the past 15 years, we’ve moved all over the country and world. These reunions don’t happen nearly enough, but when we do get together, it’s that much more special.

ALoh’s wedding was no exception. Obviously we killed it on the dance floor to Shout, My Pony, and Wild Wild West (throwback to Paris), and the after party was a blast too. Still in full tuxedo, we went to some janky pub in Kirkland and closed the place down. Another memorable reunion with the same guys I’ve been hanging out with since I was 15.  

Speaking of long relationships: Chelsay & I’s First Anniversary was coming up. That’s was this blog post is really about – remember the title.

While I was in the States, Chelsay and I talked about how we’d celebrate. We’d stayed in Honeymoon-level resorts in Indonesia just a few months earlier, so I figured we’d stick around Sydney. Chelsay said she’d booked a day at a ritzy spa, followed by reservations for Friday & Saturday and some of Sydney’s best restaurants. Little did she know I had something else up my sleeve…

While in the US, I devised a plan to re-propose to Chelsay in front of the Opera House. The tradition for the First Anniversary is paper, so instead of re-proposing with another ring, I’d written Chelsay a letter hidden inside an empty ring box.

Now, the Opera House is one of the busiest tourist spots in the entire world, so the re-proposal would be very public -- Chelsay could potentially die from embarrassment. That said, I thought this would be a fittingly loud declaration for our First Anniversary, slightly differing from our intimate wedding and very private real proposal.

With a spa day and dinner reservations already set for our actual anniversary weekend, I decided the reproposal would have to happen a week early. I also knew I’d need help to document the surprise, so I pulled in photographer Pete. Together, we set in motion my detailed plan, using Sydney’s National Geographic Photographer of the Year contest as an excuse to get close to the Opera House.

It didn’t take long for my plan to run into a few hurdles: our lunchtime reubens took longer than expected, which meant we missed the ferry I’d initially planned to catch. This had some big domino effects, but through some very on-the-fly adjustments, we somehow made it into the Royal Botanical Gardens at roughly the right time.

So, we’re walking through the Gardens and, at this point, Chelsay is probably wondering why I was pushing to come here so badly. It was still winter in Sydney and pretty cloudy – what’s the rush to visit this park? She doesn’t say anything though, which is perhaps the most authentic sign of true love.

Just as Pete, Chelsay, and I passed into open view of the Opera House, Pete followed protocol by faking like he’d received a call. He spent about one second making-up an excuse for who was calling, before abandoning the explanation and just taking the “call”.

With the Opera House in sight, I turned Chelsay towards the view and away from Pete, who was secretly setting up the photo behind us. Having no idea what was about to happen, Chelsay continued chatting while I was monitoring Pete… Some strange comments about how she kept making weird eye contact with people.

Once Pete was set, I quickly changed the conversation topic from weird eye contact to how lucky our lives together have been. Smooth.  Then was the surprise: I dropped to a knee, held out my note-filled ring box, said something (it happens so fast that I can’t remember what I said for either proposal – something about how we were just kids when we got engaged but had really grown up together since), then asked if she would still spend the rest of her life with me.

She was understandably shocked – both because this was a surprise and because we were already married. She was also predictably embarrassed (just as I’d hoped), and quickly said yes before pulling me to stand up.

We got a few congratulations from onlookers, though many were also confused because we already had rings on our fingers. Was this like a polygamy thing?  …The celebratory champagne I’d brought threw them further off the “already married” scent.

I’d booked reservations at trendy Mrs. G’s for the evening. We enjoyed salty stuffed eggplant and Chinese lamb pancakes, but my favorite part of the meal was how much the surprise reproposal meant to Chelsay.  I was proud of the surprise, but didn’t recognize the secret hints that Chelsay was dropping!

The next work week went by quickly, and our real wedding anniversary arrived in no time. Like we’d talked about before, first up: Friday night dinner reservations at one of Sydney’s best restaurants, Nomad. Chelsay asked me to meet her in the Amazon lobby so we could walk to the restaurant together.

Now, as a preface, the following paragraph happened in about 4 seconds: I walked into the lobby, and the first thing I noticed was that Chelsay had her phone out and was recording me. She also had a massive backpack with my athletic shoes tied to it. Are we playing basketball? What’s going on?

“Happy anniversary! We’re going to Noosa and swimming with whales this weekend!”

Wait, What?? I was too confused. I genuinely couldn’t comprehend what she was telling me…  What?? Is this real? I’m not sure I’ve ever been this shocked. It can’t be real – are you joking?? One second, I’m convinced we’re going to a restaurant, and then the next, we were boarding an airplane. What??

For the entire next two hours, including while we were literally at the airport, I was convinced this was a cruel joke. Why would she trick me into thinking we were going to Noosa… bringing me all the way to the airport only to eventually tell me is was a ruse?  

My reaction made me realize how crazy real proposals are. Imagine Chelsay’s reaction when I proposed: she thought she was just walking into our apartment… Then there were roses spelling out “Marry Me?”, I was on a knee, and she’s being asked to commit HER ENTIRE LIFE. I was blown away by Chelsay’s First Anniversary surprise and was only committing to TWO DAYS in Noosa.

By the time we landed in Brisbane, I’d finally realized that this was happening. Chelsay had done it. She pulled it off. A surprise weekend trip booked right under my nose!

The next morning, I thought it might still be possible we were in Sydney – were all those people on the plane actors, and we’d actually just chartered a plane to fly in a circle? How deep does this conspiracy go?? Nope – it was winter in Sydney, so the clear skies and 80 degree Queensland weather finally convinced me. We made the quick drive to Noosa, but not before some tasty banana nut bread from trendier-than-I-expected Brisbane.

Arriving in Noosa reminded me so much of the Florida. Palm trees and river inlets, white picket fences and a vibe that immediately puts you at ease. It’s hard to describe these relaxing vibes, but I guess their best exemplified by the town’s beach-y themed street names: Dolphin Crescent, Seahorse Place, Mermaid Quay. Your relaxation level goes from 2 to 10 as you pass the “Welcome to Noosaville” sign.

We spent the rest of the day taking it easy in this charming seaside town. It started with paddle boarding through the inland rivers, slowly paddling between anchored boat houses and sand dwelling stingrays.

For lunch, we went to Noosa Beach House (tasty strawberry frosé, ultra [aka perfectly] seasoned fries, and tangy chipotle burgers) before lounging on the beach for a few hours & lazily walking around surrounding Noosa National Park.

Later that night, we had our second First Anniversary dinner at beachside Bistro C, watching the sun set while enjoying our caramelized pork belly with a pear, fennel, & cauliflower puree, eye fillet with gorgonzola polenta chips, and vanilla maple crème brulee. That’s a lot of adjectives, but they absolutely came through in flavor. To cap off the night, we added drinks at Locale, whose menu reminded by of Room 4 Dessert in Bali: Chelsay’s drink was a Mr Pink, described as “more Pulp Fiction than Reservoir Dogs”. Huh?

Now, that evening might seem like indulgence, but the next day we treated ourselves to swimming with humpback whales...

This was the real draw of Noosa: the chance to get up close and in the water with one of the five largest animals on Earth. These monsters can get up to 50 feet long! That’s like 28 Chelsays! JK, but but they actually weigh 33 TONS, or the equivalent of FIVE elephants.

Unsurprisingly, it didn’t take long to spot a few humpbacks. Even when gently breaching the surface, they’re so large that we were able to spot the resulting whitecap waves.

Now, Chelsay and I had previously swam with whale sharks (Western Australia), dolphins (Azores), and mantas (Indonesia). This one would be a little different though. First, the humpback is much faster than the other animals, so it’s harder for the boat to position itself “ahead” of the whale. Second, the humpback is obviously much larger and therefore more dangerous. If this thing unexpectedly breaches & lands on you, you’re dead. Even if it lands CLOSE to you, you’re getting hurt in the resulting wave. Just to quantify: with the whale shark, we kept a distance of about 15 feet… With the forceful humpback, we doubled that.

So great, we’re getting in the water with this monster. The boat pulled well in front of the humpback’s path, and Chelsay and I hopped in the open ocean. Given we were hundreds of yards ahead, the whale’s path was hard to hit precisely -- we’d have to swim to intercept him. Chelsay and I stuck with the guide, but one thing I want to remember is how far behind everyone else was. They were essentially doggy-paddling to keep up with a humpback whale! On one of the later snorkels, Chelsay and I watched from the boat as the guide built an 80 yard gap on the rest of the group.

Regardless, Chelsay and I kept up & got pretty close to this massive creature. The guide (who you’ll hear is super stoked in every video – “What a treat!”) told us this was an older male humpback, so fully-grown size near 40 feet. Its flipper (arm) alone was the length of two cars!

Just picture me in the open water near a monster this big – it’s staggering. I’m 180 lbs (give or take)… A single 6’ tall human, floating near the surface of the expansive Pacific Ocean... next to a BEAST THAT IS 330 TIMES MY WEIGHT!

We did a few snorkels with the dinosaur, but swimming to keep up with him took his toll. The boat returned to port, while Chelsay and I worked up a serious appetite.

For our last meal of the weekend, we made one last indulgence at Season, another beachfront foodie-haven in Noosa. I went with the necessarily carb-y garlic, chili, and parsley pizza, while Chelsay went a bit healthier with barramundi, sorrel veloute, and grilled tomatoes (which inspired weeks of subsequent work-week lunches for her – it was like the Ozzy version of beans-on-toast). Then, to close the weekend, we got one last buzz with strawberry daiquiris from Ms Moneypenny’s.

Well, it’s been ONE year. One year since I waited at the top of Le Dokhans’ steps for my stunning bride’s reveal. 12 months since we walked out of Chapelle Expiatoire as husband and wife. 52 weeks since our jaws dropped at the site of Le Meurice’s Pompadour Room. 365 days since Piano Man.

The past 365 days have taken Chelsay and I further than we’d ever been before: from the Maldives to Jordan, Japan to Western Australia, Rothenberg to Indonesia… but that’s not the only distance we’ve travelled. We’ve also come a long way as husband and wife.

In my wedding post, I wrote about a question Chelsay asked as we were leaving Paris for our honeymoon: “What will our lives be like now that we aren’t wedding planning?”

I wrote that our lives would be together now. We’d adventure and explore the world together. We would cherish time with friends and family together. We would laugh and cry together, and accomplish, fail, and overcome together.

One year into our adventure together, we’re still following this path… albeit with a few celebratory surprises along the way.