TheVakman's Posterous http://thevakman.posterous.com Most recent posts at TheVakman's Posterous posterous.com Tue, 12 Apr 2011 11:57:00 -0700 Gadgico Game Giveaway | Gadgico http://thevakman.posterous.com/gadgico-game-giveaway-gadgico http://thevakman.posterous.com/gadgico-game-giveaway-gadgico
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From Gadgico:
Gadgico is having a game giveaway. You must be following us on Twitter and/or “Like” us on Facebook to get entered and you must also tweet this page using our Twitter button below or share this page via the Facebook button below. You can also comment on this page for an additional entry, only commenters that have logged in either via DISQUS, Twitter, or Facebook will be counted for an additional entry.

Winners are picked at random and one or two people are chosen each day between May 23rd-31st.

What can you win? A copy of Audiosurf or Defence Grid: The Awakening on Steam.

This is the first giveaway Gadgico is doing, we hope you like it! Let us know in the comments what you think as well.

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Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:03:00 -0800 Microsoft responds to update criticism, confirms second half of March for NoDo | wpcentral http://thevakman.posterous.com/microsoft-responds-to-update-criticism-confir http://thevakman.posterous.com/microsoft-responds-to-update-criticism-confir

Microsoft responds to update criticism, confirms second half of March for NoDo

Posted on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 08:44:00 EST by Daniel Rubino
Filed Under: News
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Responding to criticism, Microsoft's GM of Customer Experience Engineering aka the guy in charge of Windows Phone updates, Eric Hautala, posted a lengthy explanation about the pre-NoDo update experience so far, NoDo itself and the process involved. While the write up was informative it still doesn't get too technical for the average reader and at least answers some questions (if not raise more). At the very least, we give Microsoft credit for taking the appropriate action here and keeping the consumer in the loop: no one likes it when something gets screwed up, but they do appreciate when you take the time to explain the situation.

The first part of the article describes "How software gets from us to you" and is mostly a gloss of what we already know: Microsoft develops/tests new software, it gets pushed to the carriers, OEMs and Qualcomm for testing and it gets sent to you, the end user. Some things are left out, like if the carriers/OEMs can send back the software for further revisions and how long the process can take. Hautala finally explains how the "staggered" approach--sending out updates to specific devices--allows them to pin-point problems easier, which is a good point, even if it's not the method we would like (universal update).

The next section went over the "success" of the pre-NoDo update. Once again, Microsoft write it as if the overwhelming majority had no problems, while the blogosphere will highlight those 10% where it failed. We'll leave that distinction up to you. Hautala of course expresses how Microsoft is not satisfied with the problems that occurred and, logically, they are working to prevent them in the future.

The one real interesting area is where Hautala addresses if carriers can block updates. He sets up for an answer but ultimately is quite evasive on the topic:

There’s one more thing I want to clear up. I’ve seen a lot of speculation on blogs and forums lately about whether carriers can “block” an update. We work closely with carriers to test and schedule updates. They may ask us for a specific date to start an update. They may ask for updates to be bundled together. But you should ultimately receive all the updates we send out.

That's not really anything we already don't know and sure doesn't sound like a denial but rather an affirmation that carriers can block one update but have to push the second (bundled with the first). Not too comforting if those updates are spread apart over a few months.

Finally, the big part was on the NoDo update. It is now confirmed that the second half of March is the target for that release. As expected, Microsoft is taking a few extra days to check and double check everything before that big push--something we can't really fault them for, especially with the world watching so closely. It's not the news we want to hear, but at the same time we understand the motivation behind it and will just have to remain patient. If there is one shining bit it's that 'Mango' still seems to be on track, despite previous rumors:

This short pause should in no way impact the timing of future updates, including the one announced recently at Mobile World Congress featuring multitasking, a Twitter feature, and a new HTML 5-friendly version of Internet Explorer Mobile.

So that's good. Sound off in comments on Microsoft's response: good enough for you? Good enough for the market?

Source: Windows Team Blog

Yay Microsoft.

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Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:59:00 -0800 Rogers to release the Dell Venue Pro March 17th? http://thevakman.posterous.com/rogers-to-release-the-dell-venue-pro-march-17 http://thevakman.posterous.com/rogers-to-release-the-dell-venue-pro-march-17

Rogers to release the Dell Venue Pro March 17th?

By Ian Hardy on March 7, 2011 at 4:38pm in Mobile News, Rogers Wireless News


The next Windows Phone 7 device to officially come to Canada is the Dell Venue Pro. This will be released by Rogers and from what we are hearing from a few tipsters is that the date is tentatively scheduled for March 17th 2011. In addition, earlier reports from a internal doc that we posted showed the prices to be $599.99 no-contract and the 3-year to be $149.99. However, we are now hearing that the no-contract price could be as low as $449.99 and the 3-year might ring in at $99.99. We’ll follow up shortly with confirmed pricing.

(Thanks tipsters!)

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Finally! Please be $449.99 off contract for the 16GB :P. At least for the 8GB please. Don't be delayed either. I really want one...

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Mon, 07 Mar 2011 06:10:00 -0800 First Posterous, Information Overload http://thevakman.posterous.com/first-posterous-information-overload http://thevakman.posterous.com/first-posterous-information-overload

Well, not just my first Posterous post. This will be my first post on Tumblr, Identi.ca, Plurk and Jaiku. I figure I will take this time to explain who I am and other useful items of information.

My name is Lawrence Armstrong and I live up in Canada. I run Gadgico which is/will be a Canadian technology blog that I would like to get started up at some point in the future, we are looking for writers/bloggers. We will take anyone. We just want to enjoy writing about technology and maybe even doing a few podcasts. All for fun, no money is involved.

If you are interested in Gadgico, get in contact with me in one of many ways:

Contact Us PageTwitterEmail or simply comment below.

I will likely use Posterous as a means of posting to a fair number of services.

Not to much else to say. Follow me on Twitter or any one of the other services that I just started using today that Posterous will post to :P.

Preferably Twitter.

Thanks!

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Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:46:00 -0800 Ubuntu 11.10 named ‘Oneiric Ocelot’ - Awesome Name http://thevakman.posterous.com/ubuntu-1110-named-oneiric-ocelot-awesome-name http://thevakman.posterous.com/ubuntu-1110-named-oneiric-ocelot-awesome-name

Continuing the tradition of naming every Ubuntu release, Mark Shuttleworth has revealed the codename for Natty Narwhal’s successor to be ‘Oneiric Ocelot’

In his blog post titled ‘Next After Natty?’, our benevolent dictator outlines his goals for the next iteration of Ubuntu and explains why it should be named so.

Part Daydream, Part Discpline

In his blog post, Mark states that Oneiric means “dreamy” and the combination with Ocelot reminds of how innovation happens ‘Part Daydream, Part Discipline’

With Ubuntu 11.10, Unity 2D will also ship on the CD for people whose hardware can’t handle the 3D version along with Qt which Mark states would be “ giving developers even more options for how they can produce interfaces that are both functional and aesthetically delightful.”

While this release wasn’t named ‘Orgasmic Oyster’, next has to be ‘Paranoid Pigeon’ for sure ;-)

No related posts.

What a great choice for naming it. Dreamy, it shall be.

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Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:25:00 -0800 Amazing Song, Found via Fan-Made WP7 Advertisment http://thevakman.posterous.com/amazing-song-found-via-fan-made-wp7-advertism http://thevakman.posterous.com/amazing-song-found-via-fan-made-wp7-advertism

Found out about Danger through that amazing fan-made Windows Phone 7 advertisment. In case you missed that, I will put it below.

Song used in that advertisment: 11H30 by Danger http://t.co/FTa3Sew

All of their stuff is amazing, have a look.

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Mon, 07 Mar 2011 02:04:00 -0800 WPCentral Podcast Episode 114 | wpcentral http://thevakman.posterous.com/wpcentral-podcast-episode-114-wpcentral http://thevakman.posterous.com/wpcentral-podcast-episode-114-wpcentral

WPCentral Podcast Episode 114 - pre-NoDO, Sprint Arrive and more

Posted on Sat, 05 Mar 2011 11:45:00 EST by Daniel Rubino
Filed Under: Podcast
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Daniel Rubino is joined by Dieter Bohn to talk about the latest in Windows Phone news: The Sprint Arrive, pre-NoDo update situation and software news.  Listen in!

Hardware news

Software news

Microsoft news

Credits

Thanks to the WPCentral Store for sponsoring the podcast. Thanks also to these great artists for the music and to CCMixter.org for offering a great database of Creative Commons music! 

Good to see this podcast is back, I really like these guys so far.

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