芳草苑

Month: August 2013

  • Google+ makes perfect panoramic pictures

    Google+ is so powerful!

    I took several pictures when I visited University of Brighton a while ago. I did not mean to make them into a panoramic scene at that time. I just stood by the road and took several random pictures. And today, when I am looking through my Google+ photos, I find this picture. Google+ automatically made a panoramic picture for me.

    American Express Community Stadium "made" by Google+
    American Express Community Stadium “made” by Google+

    Looking at this picture, I am shocked, because I can not find the seam. I have tried to make panoramic pictures before via different methods: integrated function of a camera, a software, a smartphone with 3-axis geomagnetic sensor. None of them came up such a good result even when I shot photos with a tripod.

    So I am wondering if this is a viable approach for a even better result:

    1. Shot photos with a SLR camera on a tripod.
    2. Transfer the photos to an Android phone.
    3. Will Android upload the photos and Google+ make a panoramic picture?

  • We call Nexus 10 Google Pad

    周围一些朋友都捧着 iPad，以致老婆说也要买一个。我始终觉得 Tablet 娱乐多过实用，所以一直不动手采购。后来儿子在他朋友圈里也接触到了 iPad，也嚷着说要买。我更不会答应。但是老婆有时被儿子嚷得烦了，竟然说，好，你表现得好的话，给你买一个 iPad。如此反复几次，我觉得苗头不对——要是我不动手采购，哪天老婆心血来潮，说不定真从苹果店里抱一个 iPad 回来。

    既然阻止不了，我就有责任引导正确的消费方向。世界上脑残的人太多，于是 iPad 有机会成了 Tablet 的代名词，但iPad 我是绝对不会买的：离谱地贵、性能差、不合格率跟一个“高端”品牌不相称、制造商还出那么多惨剧，等等。

    我也不希望儿子被误导或跟风 Apple。他或许还不能体会 Google 的同类产品要远远优于 Apple，我至少要让他知道，这世界上还有 Google 的产品。所以，我跟儿子说，你已经玩过朋友的 iPad 了，我再买一个 Google Pad （Nexus 太拗口），他的优点你要慢慢体会。

    于是我飞快地买了 Nexus 10，他跟家里的 Google TV、Android Mobiles 对接得很好。我们家用得很开心，我们称呼他 Google Pad，再也不提 iPad。

    Nexus 10
    Nexus 10
    Nexus 10 resolution 2560x1600
    Nexus 10 resolution 2560×1600: 超高分辨率是我在众多 Android Tablets 里选择 Nexus 10 的主要原因
    Nexus 10 Antutu score 11963
    Nexus 10 Antutu score 11963: 远低于我用了一年的 S3 手机，有点小失望
    Nexus 10 with keyboard case
    Nexus 10 with keyboard case: 配上键盘、皮套才能算商务用品——如果拿 Nexus 10 只作游戏机就太奢侈了
    Keyboard for Nexus 10
    Keyboard for Nexus 10: 蓝牙键盘是经常被丢开的

  • Google Drive free storage increased to 15GB

    I am pleasantly surprised that Google Drive has increased her free storage from 5GB to 15GB. Maybe it is due to competition – Other cloud storage providers are offering bigger storage than 5GB. I personally won’t leave Google Drive even she did not increase the capacity.

    So, no need to delete files when your storage is getting near to 5GB, but it is still a good practice to keep useless files cleaned all the time, no matter how big storage you have.

    Google Drive now becomes 15GB
    Google Drive now becomes 15GB