New Android - Zopo ZP700 Cuppy...

Have been racking up more phone experience than I ever wanted to. Went through a couple of phones in a short period time. One of my Neobox phones lost its speaker so decided to splurge on a Samsung Mini. Then the Mini quite working too - dropped it really hard and it bounced under the moving truck.

Started getting gadget fever when I saw a cheap Chinese phone for $80 bucks. A flash deal that didn't flash - after ordering it they told me they were unavailable. WHAT? Chinese New Year? Oh well. Kept looking though and found a decent phone on Amazon - it was a Samsung imitation with decent specs for about $130 bucks. Didn't need one but decided to buy it
for my girlfriend.

It was pretty nice and it went up in price after I bought it before selling out. There was an issue with it not being rooted like advertised but Lisa liked it so we kept it. It was from a company called Lightahead selling on Amazon. They were quick to respond and said I could return it so when I began to look for a replacement for mine I started there.

Was trying to see how much phone I could get for a $100 dollars and they had a few that seemed to fit my bill. Read the specs on one but was concerned about what type of SIM card it used (regular, micro, nano) so I emailed them. Another quick response with the answer I was hunting for - regular - so I bought it. Everything went smooth.

Received it and began the process of checking out the features. Not too bad - uh oh! What do you mean its not a Samsung Galaxy? Wanted a Samsung imitation because of all the accessories. Although it looked like a Samsung Galaxy the guy at the mall assured me the case wouldn't work. That was just the beginning - on the way home I noticed that the 3G icon wasn't working so I started testing everything. In the end there was no 3G and it didn't even  have a GPS. I didn't know they made phones without a GPS.

Before receiving the refund, I  went ahead and purchased a Moto G with case. Was planning a trip and wanted it before l left - even splurged on fast delivery and big memory. So I was REALLY surprised when there was an issue. Couldn't believe I was having so much trouble with specifications. Had bought numerous phones with no problems but now two in a row. Went back to the Amazon web page and sure enough - nothing that said it didn't use a regular SIM card. Back it went - had to get out Lisa's old phone as a backup.

Bought my new Zopo ZP700 before I left on my trip. Had purchased two phones from DinoDirect and noticed they did not skimp on the specks but the unlocked phones on Amazon didn't match up. Decided to look else where for the best cheap phone I could find. After my past experience an imitation name brand accessories didn't concern me - would just have to make due with limited accessories. The THL brand of phones caught my attention but didn't want to wait six weeks to get it from China or Hong Kong. eBay to the rescue!!!:-) Didn't take long to find the Zopo - US only, buy now, top rated seller, etc. Complete list of specifications and it was sexy.

Actually had looked at the Zopo brand previously and it always scores high in reviews - $160 bucks seemed like a great buy. HiRes screen, 8mp camera, quad core, plenty of memory and compatible with Straight Talk SIM card for AT&T. One reason I do keep going back to the Chinese phones is that they always have the most recent version of Android and the ZP700 is no exception. Lots of nice features but not over done. The picture quality is great and its fast but one of the best features? - a huge speaker. Its visually bigger but the sound is the best I've heard on any phone.

I've had numerous phones but like this one the best so far. Android is polished and the Zopo ZP700 has the right balance of price and performance. It has a lot of features so find a web site and look them up. You won't be disappointed. Oh yeah - it has GPS and the network is awesomely fast. It even has an H+ icon that comes on frequently.

One more story about the phone: usually turn off my WiFi when leaving  the apartment in the morning, just to conserve battery during the day. As I was exiting into the lobby from the fifth floor I noticed that I was still connected. Can't be? How is this possible? Decided to ask Google Now about the weather to see if the WiFi was actually working. IT WAS:-) How could this be? I turned off the WiFi and tried to reconnect - nothing. It stayed connected from 5 floors down. Amazing phone....

You load sixteen tons...

A major paradigm in our human existence is mining. Mining in its basic form is the extraction if valuable... materials. Although linked historically to minerals it has now been expanded into the knowledge domain. The link itself is if the utmost importance in its social classification - it reflects its rise into the ranks of economic importance just as its historic counterpart.

Although there are automated ways that sift through social media looking for arbitrary links based on a concept of repetition and vocalized interest, it still seems to be focused at a scale limited in perception. Of interest too, this same activity is a threat depending on the knowledge management system containing this paradigm.

Extracting value seems to be an underlying activity regardless of the nature of the material. The mining process is limited and confined to major knowledge management activities and subject to predominate historic perceptions. The way the mining is done is critical in the social context of how it is perceived but all mining activity exists within the confines of our human experience.

System approach...

http://www.informationweek.com/mobile/mobile-devices/googles-android-contract-not-very-open/d/d-id/1113837

This is a continuous problem with all large scale strategic endeavors - a system is designed to work together in its functionality but somehow its function is seen as a threat or unsupportive of another system...

Cheap Phones...

So all my tricks did not help my phone - it died. The last test was a factory reset. No cell tower signal at all - I think I just wore it out. Wi-Fi just seemed to use more battery so I would just leave it on cell tower data all the time. Don't think it should have died though. Its funny because I'm using Lisa’s old one that I originally bought for myself. I've been through two to her one:-) Guess I push their limits - probably need to buy a quality one but it goes against my senseabilities. As a mater of fact I'm going to push the low end especially since its the low end phone that I'm using.

They are all from China but built with different specification and quality control. Its interesting that China has decided to develop their own operating system because Google Android has an official system design that has made it more expensive while the Chinese manufactories used their open source system to design more inexpensive phones.

Google is such a unique company that I always chuckle when so called industry insiders compare them to other companies. The recent news was lambasting them for selling off Motorola but as always, they are a technology company not a phone company. Lenova is a dominate supplier in China and now they will be able to sell officially licensed android phones in the largest market in the world.

However, I thought of replacing my Latin American Samsung Mini with a Moto G but its still too expensive to me. Two out of three phones dying within a relatively shirt time period not to mention the replacement phone I received while on Virgin Mobile. This time I'm gonna go sub $100 and check it out. Just bought a huge 5 inch phone with a Gorilla Glass screen for $120 so I'm gonna go with a 4 inch phone without the Gorilla Glass. Found one for $85 dollars.

But as before I know I'm going to have problems with my favorite game. It has has been updated many times and while trying to put back on my old phone I found a new problem. It requires an SD card now and this made it easy to nix the Moto G but I know there be a storage problem anyway. If I'm gonna have problems I want to save all the money I can...:-)

PS: The modular phone is on its way...

Android Bookmarks...

Bookmarks seem overly difficult on Android and if you've ever had to change phones then you may have experienced this. The built in management is terrible so I did what everyone does - downloaded an app to fix it.

Found a great one called "Bookmark Folders” by DynamicG. It used a special character, such as a dash (-) to recognize/create a virtual sub folders. Very simplistic and functional except on the backups. Google played havoc on bookmark backup programing especially if you don't use an SD card and would like to backup to the cloud.

It took a while but I found another program that worked seamless with ”Bookmark Folders”.  It backs up the default web browsers bookmarks to an HTML file. It too was on Google Play and its called ” Bookmark Sort and Backup” by Happydroid. It also  backs up the default web browser bookmarks to a directory of my choice - I can the send them anywhere.

Its my understanding that Chrome will soon be the default browser on future Android releases but it will be hard to beat the functionality of "Bookmark Folders". I will of course use them as long as I can.

Repurposing :-)

Love the concept of repurposing - such a practical concept. Viewing things for their intrinsic value rather than a social or economic purpose. Ideas and concepts are the same way - aspects of their social value become detached with advances in communication and human creativity. Conflict arises in leadership based on conflicting ideals - one side not trusting the others perceptions or methods. Successful leaders are able to create unity without using the age old method of fear and a common enemy. Repurposed fear is hope and a reposed enemy is a friend. The measure of a leader that has endured throughout the ages revolves around sacrifice. Do they sacrifice others or themselves?

Human Terrain...

The military concept of human terrain has more significants to me than just the integration of anthropology and human geography. It also seems to reflect a spiritual element that our current society has lost. It's a method of developing social structure and concepts based on the complexities of the immediate biosphere. This can be seen as the method of thought that sustained or most earliest ancestors for many many generations.

My initial research began on two topics when initially assigned in Afghanistan, one was to understand the function of the human terrain element in the information dominance center and two, to explore more fully the anthropologist concepts on tribal structure. What was apparent to me, due to my background in graphic design, was that their are many historical symbols even in our own culture that originate in our immediate biosphere. My interest was the wonder of a more profound connection that may influence our perception of these symbols.

This led to one more field of study that fits into a concept of social influence and that began to emerge in the 1990's but is linked to the influence of the British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in his book entitled The Selfish Gene (1976). The book is said to describe a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles that could explain the spread of ideas. This concept has grown through the practice of applying biological algorithms to explain the spread of knowledge and ideas in our social structure. Interesting enough is the very open distain for the spiritual that Mr. Richard Dawson publicly displays.

To try and explain this biospherical link and how it effects culture based on the perception and persistents of its symbols is to use an apology of human terrain. This communication model can be more easily recognized rather than a biological model of cell reproduction. In addition it also opens up a new direction in the study of memetics. There is a persistent symbol that permiates all cultures used to represent and understand communication and it's social implications. This symbol is also found in ancient writings and may generate a better understanding of early concepts of a human terrain. This symbol is the use of water and it's dynamic to represent human communication. Water in all its natural form and functions to understand the enigma of our existence.