What does this bills does? Gives copyright holders full control over what sites to block via the ISP level is what those 2 bills generally does but each bill does things different. Protect IP Act was the first bill that the MPAA and RIAA been trying to pass down the pipe for 2+ years but became the hot topic the past 5+ months.

What does the Protect IP Act do? Protect IP Act gives a list of URLs that ISPs are required to block. It’s an internet blacklist is the shortest term here. Then you have a second list that ISPs are not required to block but will get immunity if they do block them, we call those the internet gray list. This bill pretty much makes us like China but at ISPs level and not the DNS level.

What about this SOPA? What this bill will do is allow copyright owners claims a site is infringing on copyright and what would happen is A) any ad revenues are blocked forever, B) site is blocked at DNS level, and C) search engines will have to block those links. This bill is almost like China but pretty much does more damage to the site’s owner(s). Also with this bill pretty much forces the site owner(s) to censor themselves if they want to make sure they don’t get in trouble as anyone who has the very lest of infringing materials can put the site into world wind.

If any of these bills gets passed, it’s the end of the internet because we’ll be setting the path for the rest of the world. If we block the internet, then the rest of the country will start following through. So help out by emailing your Senator to vote against those bills.

Anime-Splash-PG05IMG

Enjoy the new splash screen!

In case anyone wonders what it looks like, here’s what it looks like:

Turns out what I was thinking right because the more I research the more I started to understand what was going on. Since the Motorola XOOM‘s bootloader’s unlockable is where I start learning more (I have a 3G XOOM, still waiting on the 4G upgrade to come out). And I recently upgraded my X to the HTC Thunderbolt and learned that there bootloader is also unlock (by unlocking it through HBOOT flash).

So here I’ll put down what I’ve learned so far.

What Exactly Is A Bootloader?

A bootloader is a piece of code that runs at the low level. You can think of it as the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) of a computer. It’s purpose is to execute the kernel and OS for actual boot. The bootloader also checks the signature to make sure it’s an official ROM provided by the manufacture assuming that the bootloader is still locked. With an unlocked bootloader you can flash customized ROMs without having to worry about signature checks. This is why having an unlocked bootloader is important.

Because of the fact that Motorola started locking down there bootloader without the option of unlocking it is such a big deal to the modding community. But because of the modding community, they have found a way around it. Just because the bootloader’s locked doesn’t mean you can’t get root access.

What Exactly Is Root?

Root is a user account that has full access and permission to all files and folders of an OS. This means you can do pretty much whatever you want to the OS (in this case the Android OS). I’ve used root access to copy my notification tones and ring tones directly to the phone instead of on the memory card (for a good reason).

Usually to root an Android device you will need to find an exploit and once you exploit it you can then gain perm. root access. This is how it was done with the Droid X in Android 2.1 there was an exploit where if you toggle on/off either the WiFi or Bluetooth after running one command you’d be able to gain temp root access so you can copy all the files you need for perm root. Because of the fact that the Droid X’s bootloader isn’t unlockable we had to make due with that.

With the XOOM, since the bootloader’s unlockable, once you unlock the bootloader all you had to do was flash a new system image which already included root access.

For the HTC Thunderbolt, you had to gain temp root to downgrade, once downgraded you can then flash a new image that will turn S-ON to S-OFF (S meaning Secure, meaning the bootloader is either checking signatures or not) before upgrading back up with perm root.

So, has you can see, the ways of rooting an Android device varies. But as long as the bootloader’s unlocked, you can get root pretty easy and flash custom kernels and ROMs. Because the Droid X and all newer Motorola phone’s bootloader will never be unlockable, you won’t be able to load true custom ROMs but can make due because of the modding community.

What Exactly Is A ROM?

A ROM, in Android’s case, is the actual system. It’s pretty much the changes to the /system directory customized to either be less bloated or to be speed up the performance. This will sometimes includes changes to kernel itself but you won’t be able to change the kernel if the bootloader is locked and cannot be unlocked. Changes to the kernel sometimes makes improvements of the overall stability and/or performance as well.

Think of the ROM as a different flavor of an Linux OS (assuming you know something of the Linux OS, even if you’ve just heard of Red Hat and Mandrake) is the easiest way to explain I can think of.

And The Recovery?

The recovery (located on the recovery partition) is used for trying to recovery your phone. Basic recovery is usually a way for formatting the phone and allows for software updates. On a rooted/unlocked bootloader device, you can flash a custom recovery (or in terms of the Motorola Droid X, Droid X2, Droid 2, etc, using a bootstrap to hijack the recovery call) for more options such as backing up the whole phone (current ROM), flashing customized flashable zip files (such as adding themes or different ROM), etc.

Questions To You

Weren’t you using a Blackberry before?

Yes, I was, and loved it, but then after I gotten used to my Droid X and saw what I can do, I just tossed my Blackberry to my mom. My mom loves my old Blackberry so it worked out for her.

But You only had your X for less then a year? What gives?

Multiple co-workers and friends gotten it, the more I played with it, the more I wanted it, called Verizon, and they gave me a really good deal for it with the extended battery. Can turn down an awesome offer.

You said you have a XOOM? Why you didn’t say anything?

I was typing up a post about it on the XOOM itself but became too lazy. I will say this, though. Android 3.1 (Honeycomb) is fucken awesome!

How you liking the Thunderbolt?

The Thunderbolt is awesome, even more so now that I don’t have to experiences the random reboots (that started happening yesterday, June 12th) because of the new radio I’ve flashed and am using Flyweight ROM.

Anyways, can’t really think of much more to say but if you have any questions let me know in a comment or email.

Hell, I remember seeing one online dating site (forgot which one) where girls are allowed to register and message guys without having to pay a dime but all the guys had to pay to message a lady back so there’s nothing really fair there when it comes to online dating it seems.

It’s not just a subscription is a problem, there’s also the problem that since it’s all online, you can very easily message someone and not get a responds back at all and it could be one of two reasons (well… three reasons if you really want to think about it). 1) He or she does not have a subscription and thus unable to either view your message and/or responds to it (more common when someone registers just to check out to see if there’s anyone worth there wild to even get a subscription for or not); 2) He or she is not interested in you and so instead of responding back with “thanks but no thanks” they just ignore your message completely instead; and if you really want to push it, 3) they already gotten someone and don’t want to message you back about it and/or forgot to remove there profile but did or did not cancel there own subscription. The reason why I’m really doubting number 3 is because it just seems very unlikely that could be the reason. Most people who found themselves a date would either hide there profile or get it removed completely. I can believe number 1 and 2 more then number 3.

So what does this all mean? I means this. Girls has the most advantage with this site then guys do. Even more so if you’re between 18 and 30 (or so) since they’re still young that most girls will be looking for that bad boy style look who has a hot rod car, etc. Pretty much what I’m getting at is that most girls are going after those “hot” guys since that’s all they really care about is looks. They don’t care if the guy is a dead beat as long as he looks good and/or get money from there mommy and daddy. There are a few girls who might look at your profile but if there’s any hint of not being “hip” they’ll move on, assuming you’re either good looking or don’t have a profile picture up and the girl so happens to not really care too much about that.

A good example is if you write down you’re good with computers or your job involves being around computers a good majority of the time, you’d think a girl will come flying at you with open arms since, hey, they’ll have a boyfriend who can fix there computer when it crashes for free! Sadly it doesn’t work that way, you’d have a much better luck by lying through your teeth (or keys, rather) by saying you own an island with a nice house boat and private jet, and, I think you got my point already.

So is it worth going through the online dating scheme? If you’re a female, go for it, I’m sure you can find someone in a matter of minutes, I know my sister did. If you’re a guy, ehh…. maybe days or weeks before you get a responds unless you’re some sexy beast that girls can’t keep there hands off of ya.

In all honestly, though, it’s probably be better off just going to a bar or something, drink some liquid courage, and start asking random girls out at the bar then going through the online dating mess if you’re a guy because, like I said, it’s more geared girls then it is towards guys (even more so if you’re an average Joe like I am).

And I probably have more to say on this matter later but for now, I’m off to sleep, got work tonight.

First off, it doesn’t remind me of Internet Explorer anymore, which is very good, second, the ad blocking software that I know and love on Firefox (AdBlock Plus) has a similar add-on for Chrome which made this jump to the top of the list. What’s also great about Google Chrome is how fast it is. Mind you that I’m using a pretty slow hard drive (in fact, my hard drive is what’s current keeping my system getting at a perfect 7.3 as the lowest rating, my hard drive is at 5.3 while processor/ram is at 7.5 and graphic (both gaming and general) is at 7.3) and a click of the shortcut for Chrome opened in a blink of an eye.

Firefox will still have a place in my heart but my new love is now will always be forever Google Chrome now~.

So why did I went back to the old layout? Simply because the other design wasn’t working out for me like I hope it would. Anyways, I’ll do some more articles when I get around to it, for now I’ll lead it at this.

Anyways, what’s been new is Shira Oka is now finally out and can be bought here at Impulse Driven and I’m very excited about it and you should buy it!

Also what’s been new is that I’ve finally decided to taken the dive and actually start studying up on and practice for the A+ exam just so I can become A+ certified to open more doors (and get the heck out of my current job).

Also going to try to get a few things done around the site if I’m not too lazy (yes, I’m lazy, but you all know that already).

And Tron: Legacy is awesome watching it in IMAX 3D, GO WATCH IT!

Second, you’d probably noticed that I haven’t really been updating much.  Just like Horo who’s been busy and been stressing in real life, same thing is happening for me as well.  Been stressed to the point that I really don’t feel like playing or watching anything and slept for the most part of the day and go to work at the evening.

Anyways, I’ve started picking up on C# again since I should really learn how to program, got some ideals in mind that I was to start programming.  I started back up a few weeks ago after a co-worker was kind enough to give me a copy of Visual Studio 2010 (which, in my opinion, is actually a big upgrade from 2008 because of the nifty .NET 4.0 added features).  So I’m learning that right now and trying to get myself better at it.  Look forward to a few applications that I’ll be making when I get better at programming.

Other things that’s been happening in my life is that I’ve been watching some old series that I haven’t either started watching or didn’t finished watching (most of the series I’ve started from the beginning).  I’ve decided to wait until batches came out so I’ll just download the batches and watch them that way until I catch up (which might take me months depending on how motivated I am).  Current series includes: Air Gear, Nagasaret Airantou, and Ghost Hunt.  Those are only a few that I’ve been switching back and forth on, there’s many, many more that I’m watching but too many to list off.  What I might do is change the format of my little rant space here.  See, I was originally going to use this space to also review anime series as well but haven’t in a long due (mainly due to what I stated above) so I might review some older series until I’m able to catch up and actually decide to start downloading episode by episode of newer series.  Who knows, but stay tuned to find out.

Anyways, can’t really think of anything else to say currently so I’ll leave it here for now.