BeautifulSinner.Net » Shiny Things

Touch Her Gently

Eumenides — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:34:56 +0000

Nah, this isn’t a post about hentai, but about my recently-obtained iPod Touch. I used to be a big fan of Palm OS devices. I’ve always had one ever since the era of green screen handhelds. But then Palm decided to ditch the handheld market and I became a sad puppy with an older device and a refusal to switch to a smartphone (I like my phone and handheld separated for various reasons, tyvm). My old Palm still works, but battery life and unupdated apps were an issue. In stepped the iPod Touch. At first, I thought it was mostly fluff judging by the way it’s advertised as a device for fun fun FUN! Since I already had a video mp3 player of a different brand, I didn’t see much need to make a switch. But when I took a good look, the iPod Touch is a fairly versatile device that can be used for work as well as play, depending on what kind of apps you use. And the built-in wifi really makes it worthwhile. No more lugging a big laptop around to get use out of the intarwebs when I’m out and about.

I’m just going to mention a few of my essential apps on Senekisu (yes, I named it – wut?). Where productivity is concerned, I was glad to see that Documents to Go made a version for iPhone & iPod Touch. I’ve had that app on just about every Palm device I owned, so I was glad I could continue to use it as a document viewer & editor. As far as organizers go, I wasn’t thrilled with what Agendus put out for this device. I’m trying to decide between upgrading Pocket Informant or using one of a few others instead.

If you are a comic or manga fan, ComicZeal is the app you need to own. It’s worth the low cost if you want to read your manga or comic scans on the go or comfortably at home. The free desktop app that you can get at their site allows for quick and easy conversion of your content. It’s great for artbook scans as well. You might also want to check out the free Crunchyroll app in the iTunes store if you like watching anime – a nice amount of free content there. I’m debating whether or not to use the new Anime Network app to watch shows. I think I’ll hold out for whatever Funimation has coming out soon.

Where ebook (and fic) reading is concerned, I haven’t found a better reader than Stanza. You can easily load your own content on the device or search for free or paid ebooks from various sites with it. Coupled with Calibre (free) or Stanza Desktop (also free) you can convert any type of ebook you have on your computer for easy reading.

Social networking & blogging on the go is a breeze on this thing, too. There are various Twitter apps (my fave is Twitterific) facebook apps (I’ll never touch that place, though, for various reasons) and useful WordPress apps. There’s even an app for LJ. Wish there were plans by someone to make a Dreamwidth app, but no dice. I’ll just have to keep visiting via the web browser.

While I’m not using this device for the gaming options much since I’ve got a DS lite, I do have a couple of things on there if I need to randomly pass the time when the DS is at home. They’ve got a version of Assassin’s creed (yay!) and Cooking Mama (nice contrast, huh?) so I’m a happy camper. I’ve also become addicted to Battle Bears, a game where you are a teddy bear who must destroy adorable pastel-colored bears out to hug you to death.

Hey man, don’t judge me.

DSlibris

Eumenides — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:40:19 +0000

DSlibris is officially the best DS homebrew program invented. Version 1.42 allows you to read books in the common EPUB format. My jaw dropped when I saw this program, I could hardly believe it. Very cool indeed, since all other homebrew readers, as well as M3 Real’s default reader, read just text files (M3 Real can render .doc files, but it’s wonky). Now there’s not a big need to convert ebooks since most can be obtained in this format. And you’re not just limited to xhtml format like in older versions of DSlibris, though it’s an easy conversion using open office. Did I mention yet that DSlibris renders foreign languages, including Japanese, properly? Yeah, very nice.

Some screenshots:

If it’s possible to be in love with a program, I’m in love with this one.

Shiny and Fun Things

Eumenides — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:19:21 +0000

I’m pretty much in love with my DS lite now. I’m not a heavy gamer, so I didn’t get all that much use out of it initially. That was before I discovered the wonderful world of M3 cards that run Sakura. My DS lite no longer collects far too much dust. Here are some pics of a few things Sakura lets you have on the DS lite. While the default skin for M3 Sakura is rather pretty (but the pink got on my nerves after a while), I was happily able to customize the display with a different skin I obtained from a gamer board and a wallpaper I made to my liking (Guess the fandom and win an e-cookie).

Here is the main screen. What I love about the card is that you can put a variety of media on the DS lite with it. Like ebooks & ~~porn~~ fan fiction (txt format), music, video, and a variety of games & programs.

Here is a pic of the music player. You just load the mp3s on the card, go to the folder you’ve got them in and click to start.

I didn’t bother with a pic of the video player since there was a bit too much glare in the pic to see it clearly.

A shot of a subfolder or two and the text reader on this thing. The pages display on both screens, and you use the L & R arrows to page forward and back (or the A button).

Here are a few images of one of my favorite homebrew apps, ComicBook DS. It renders the comics or manga on your micro SD card beautifully. As you can see, a gag doujin by Omega 2D is on the screen.

This is a nice way of bringing your favorite manga along. And surprisingly enough, I actually have a few things on here that aren’t porn.

A shot of another fave app, DSTwitter. It lets you tweet on the fly & view the tweets of those you follow.

There’s also an app with a date book/organizer and web browser to make use of the wifi on the device.

Can you do some of these things on a smart phone? Sure. But I prefer to use my phone for calls, texting, and whatnot lest the battery run dry before its time. And the size of the phone screen on my Centro isn’t that conducive to looking at comics or reading books ~~and porn~~ for an extended period of time. It’s nice having a little entertainment center that fits in your pocket. Being able to go from playing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars to reading a book or playing a little music, then tweeting whilst in a wifi hotspot before looking at some doujin using just one device is rather nice.