Getting the best out of you Android Device

Im currently easing down a level or two on my photography adventures. Its not because the lack of interest but the fact that Im a bit short of funding (to buy the new Canon 6D.. :P!

The Samsung Galaxy W and TSM U4 Merbau

I currently own two Android smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy W and also a china rebranded TSM U4 Merbau (what a creative selection of naming your device TSM). The W is currently running the SlimBean ROM, which had bring a welcomed improvement both in the interface and performance wise. The U4 on the other hand, is running ICS 4.0.3, not that I'm not interested to flash a custom ROM into it but the face that there is no custom ROM for it.. 

With that in mind, Im not going to tweak the W. Instead, I would like to squeeze out whatever juice that the U4 have to offer.

If you are interested to perform the same tweaking and benchmarking on your device, you need these

* Dont hold me responsible if you bricked your device while doing any of these. Do it on your own free will. Im assuming that you have the basic knowledge of changing the settings and have a logic state of mind.

SuperSU and Superuser standard app icon

1. A rooted android device. Required.
Yes, you need to root your device first. To some (even the person who sell me the TSM U4, rooted means upgrading the stock android ROM to a newer version. I tried my best not to laugh at him and just give him a big smile instead). How do you know if your device is rooted? Simple, look at your apps list. Do you see an app named Superuser or SuperSU? No, then your device is not rooted yet. Go and ask uncle Google on how to root your device ( type "root galaxy w" for an example).

BusyBox, Antutu, Pimy My Rom and RebootMenu

 2. Busybox installed and given root permission. Required.
After you had install the app, make sure run run it and give it the root permission. I used to installed it and thought that it will automatically get the root permission..

3. Antutu benchmark. Does not need root permission. Required.
 The standard testing application used to benchmark various electronic devices. Im not going to argue if its the best or the most accurate. We just need a reliable app to test our device. Im only testing the CPU, RAM and Database IO performance.

4.  Pimp My Rom. installed and given root permission. Required.
 The application used to change all the settings of the android device shown here. You may choose other similar apps.

5. RebootMenu and given root permission. Not required.
 Simplify the rebooting process of our device.

6. A good 2 to 3 hours of spare time. Required.

So, are you ready? Go ahead and benchmark your device. Below are the summary of settings used/changes and it's result. You may change the various options available in the Pimp My Rom apps and decide the best settings to be used on your android device.
 

Sharping with Unsharp Mask

 This is going to be very quick post. Yeah..I didn't  post a lot.. Thanks for noticing.


Don't ask me why it's called an unsharp mask eventhough it's function is to sharpen pictures. Please ask uncle Google for a detailed explanation of the process.


I don't really sharpen my pictures a lot. In contrast, I'll purposely decrease the sharpness of images by around 15% in either Photoshop or Lightroom. Maybe it's because I like my photos a bit soft..


Anyway, just to demonstrate the effect of the mentioned filter, here are the original and post-filter-application photo.

Original Image

Unsharp mask applied

As you can see from the above example, the filter does sharpen the image. What settings am I using? The magic numbers are Amount: 130, Radius: 1.5, Threshold 6.


Have fun unsharping your images.

Desire and Dreams

Last night, I wanted so much to write about the Malaysian football team winning the Suzuki Cup. However, you can pick-up any newspaper in Malaysia today and read all about it. Or, you could visit news portal and re-live the glorious moments.

Talk to any coach or anybody who are involve in any form or training services, they will tell you that the one key element in success is desire or dreams.

From my observation, most of the young peoples around me does not have or lack of desire. Most of them have a dream but don't really willing to work towards achieving that goal.

I think, they are bought up in a different environment and are exposed to way too many options. Learning is a good example. With the Web available, how many are using it as a learning tool? My guest is 1%. And the other 99%? Most probably they are busy with their Facebook games or watching video clips on YouTube.

Think for a while, most parents proudly announce to their relative or neighbors that their home are now connected to the net. Why? So that they (the parents) themselves can harvest their crops on FarmVille. Am I right?

I'm not saying that Facebook is evil. Heck, you can see me connected to it almost 5 or 6 hours per day. I'm just saying that without proper guidance and a few whack of the cane, the young generation will grow without any desire or dreams. All their wishes are granted without any real effort.

Parents, especially, hold that thought of buying the PS3 or IPhone 4. Let you kids dream about it. Award them with it when they show enough desire and work hard on it.

Eve of the Suzuki Cup Final

*Image is linked from http://ikmalisme.blogspot.com/

Even my eldest and second son is excited and can't wait for it. Like me, our attention are mostly towards BPL (England's Barclay's Premier League) or the SPL (Spanish Primera Liga).

In these kind of match, it's just the question of who'll blink first. In the first leg held last Sunday's match, the Indonesian team, especially the defenders blink first. And the can't stop blinking afterwards.

Yes, blame it on the lasers. It is, in fact, contribute to their failure. Any team, without the correct state of mind, will blink in those situation.

Me? I hang my boots 2 years ago after a nasty injury on my right standing leg. I was out for more than a month because of it. But I still kept the boots in the trunk of my car. Just in case..

The Malaysian team will receive a hostile reception on their way out of the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, no matter whats the result may be. Lets hope that nothing bad will happen..

Lost Images

Last Saturday, i shot a lovely couple of Daud & Umi. It started as a normal wedding job but ...

Why must there be a but? Because, I learned something new on that day. Actually, I was forced to swallow a bitter pill. No, not the blue ones..

It had been a habit of mine to let Adobe Photo Downloader to automatically delete all the files stored on the memory card after successfully been downloaded to my hard drive.

Normally, things will go on as you expect. But not today.

After shooting about 70+ images of solo potraits of Umi, the arrival of Daud and his family members, some group shots and the "Makan Beradat" or the official lunch of the newly wed, I went on to shoot a trio of Umi's family member.

After snapping the image, I took a glance at the camera's screen for a quick confirmation that it's properly exposed. To my horror, I saw an unfamiliar message being displayed.

The camera was unable to communicate with the I quickly turn off the camera's and re-insert the . Unfortunately, this does not help. I, then, grab my backup memory card from my ThinkTank Pixel Pocket Rocket (luckily I bought the extra cards along) a continue to shoot the trio without them noticing the disaster that had just happened.

To cut the story short, I did inform Daud & Umi of the incident and told me not to worry much about what had happened, as long as the images of them having the "Makan Beradat" images are intact. I was crossing my fingers, praying and gave them a "I hope so" smile at the same time.

Yesterday, after much recovery effort (about 4 hours of googling, downloading, scanning the card and so on), I only manage to get back 25 intact images out of the 75. Most of them are the "Makan Beradat" images. As for the memory card , it's back to life after formatting it via the camera.

So, if you are a paid photographer or just doing it as a hobby. There were two important lessons in today's post.

1. Always format the memory card via the camera after you had downloaded them to the computer.

2. Always bring along your backup equipment - camera body, lens and flashes and of course, and batteries.

*One of the recovered image