Conversation with Steve Wozniak - Nexus One General

I'm a mentor of a robotics team in Scottsdale, AZ and recently had a great opportunity to talk with the co-founder of Apple about several things. For clarification, this is not at all word for word; just a recount.
While hammering out the issues we were having with our bot, Steve Wozniak approached my rookie robotics team. While we were talking about certain design elements, I stated how I loved my Android OS, and awestruck by the conversation that ensued.
I said something along the lines of how nice multitasking is, and he pulls out his solution to iPhone multitasking, "I usually talk with this one, and do other things with my other iPhone" HAH! What a great solution! Then he pulls out his N1 !!!! OH MAN!! Steve Wozniak has a Nexus One?!?! An Android phone nonetheless!!! I guess its not that surprising, seeing how he hasn't necessarily been affiliated with what we now know as Apple. So I asked him how he likes Android OS. He said some great things about the user experience; specifically the voice recognition with navigation.
While in the queue area for qualification matches I had an interesting opportunity to pick his brain about the HTC Apple lawsuit. First off I asked him what he thoughts were. He commented about specific iPhone OS feature-sets 'Patent #7,657,849: Unlocking A Device By Performing Gestures On An Unlock Image' and how it could seem like an infringement. Though, I did sense hesitation on other vague patents. I can't remember what he said word for word, but he did comment on the age and vague wording of patents that Apple had been awarded. I am trying hard to not be controversial, and steer clear of putting words in his mouth, but he didn't seem to have much support of Apple in the sense of the lawsuit.
I am a total Android-whore, and love getting nerdy about this stuff. Its an honor to have been able to speak with him about Android and iPhone. In all reality I think what we are here, in our XDA community, is revolutionary. Just thought I'd share my experience

In b4 /cool story bro.
This can only be good news for the android community if true!

well he has stated openly that he uses a nexus one so i believe Wesbalmer's story.
thanks for sharing it!

He said that he was given ten! to divvy amongst his peeps

Related

Lol Gizmodo

Just had to post this:
http://img576.imageshack.us/img576/7785/screenshot2010040119234.jpg
It's actually true too. Go to www.gizmodo.com - literally *every* story is on the iPad. Jesus Christ. This is worse than boygeniusreport. If you ever needed to find out whether gizmodo was gaga for Apple, well there you go.
When's the Google tablet coming out? Looking for a real device... And for the "official" Google tablet -- Android or Chrome OS?
[Edit]: I just noticed the ad in the top right of the picture above. Muwhahahaha
Google tablet will run Chrome OS.
this exactly what i was thinking. i hate apple
Im a regular at that site and yeah 80% of their tech news are related to Apple. Its ridiculous . And wait til their iPad hype is over....their stupid new iPhone rumor posts will be next.
Thank god for:
http://gizmodo.com/tag/not:apple/
This also works:
http://gizmodo.com/tag/not:advertisement/
Gawker media is about the quality of super market tabloids. Lifehacker is the only website worth reading. Only problem is occasionally Lifehacker posts a Gizmodo article and I'll be reading my RSS feeds and get half way through what I thought was Lifehacker and I'll think "holy **** did a junior high student write this" and I'll scroll up and its Jesus Diaz EVERYTIME.
Most of these tech blogs are good for keeping up with release dates of devices, the rest of it is designed to keep people clicking & serving ads
crachel said:
Gawker media is about the quality of super market tabloids. Lifehacker is the only website worth reading. Only problem is occasionally Lifehacker posts a Gizmodo article and I'll be reading my RSS feeds and get half way through what I thought was Lifehacker and I'll think "holy **** did a junior high student right this" and I'll scroll up and its Jesus Diaz EVERYTIME.
Most of these tech blogs are good for keeping up with release dates of devices, the rest of it is designed to keep people clicking & serving ads
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I laughed when I read "holy **** did a junior high student right this"....
CLASSIC
Noticed the surge of iPad articles.... all over the godamn place.
josefcrist said:
this exactly what i was thinking. i hate apple
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I don't mind Apple products. OS X really is pretty nice. Their hardware is generally pretty good. It may not be competitive with budget equipment, but they never pretended to be. I like my wife's iphone, just not as much as I like my Nexus One.
I just don't like Steve jobs or the fanboys who stand in line for an opportunity to rim him. Apple products, though generally pretty good, are not sent from heaven from Steve Almighty, and Steve Almighty is now trying to patent gestures. I've got a gesture for him that he damn sure can't patent. ..|.
Engadget is the same way.
Lucikly you can go to http://www.engadget.com/exclude/apple and see a non-tard view.
The apples on Gizmodo, Engadget, etc. are rottening!

[A THOUGHT] Copying in an Open Community

Android is open. That's why I have my Samsung Galaxy S, my Nexus One and my Sapphire.
I have these phones because the open community can do better than the professionals, and I am proud to be a member of a community that has recently hacked Froyo onto the G1, Android2HD2 (and other Winmo devices), created great skins and themes, rooted almost every droid to date, hacked google navigation to work in other countries etc etc etc.
There is amazing work being done is this community.
Kingklick was able to put out a lot of ROMs which satisfied a lot of people. Contributors to Cyanogenmod (disclaimer. notably not Cyanogen himself) and others (fans and friends - disclaimer. note lack of word fanboys - of cyanogenmod, disclaimer. plus some others too) have flamed and flamed away about Kangklick (notably via twitter - I have stopped following any of those jerks that clogged up my feeds with what could've - screw that - should've been settled MUCH more privately..I followed you guys for dev news or the occasional interesting insight into your real life, not your petty bickering, but you have every right to post what you like...hence why I stopped following you all, I didn't flame you...note 'bigger man').
Rule 12 of XDArules clearly states that using the work of others must be done with permission, independent of whether it is open source or not. If this is not upheld then the post will be bought down, it does not say the user will be banned. I would understand the formality of taking the post down and requesting Kingklick reposts the ROM with due credit, but I believe - note believe...implies opinion - that moderators may have been influenced by pressure from other (high ranking, public eye) members and thus did not adhere to normal or just (I do not know if not giving creds is normally treated in this way, but you will discover I believe it shouldn't be) protacol. Kingklick broke the rules of XDA, but then again I see his banning as the least contentious issue here.
I believe that members of the XDA community in the public eye (ie with large Twitter follower base) due to their work via XDA (no matter what you say, cyanogenmod may be based at its own domain, but it still posts at XDA to maintain its public profile and feed of the massive XDA userbase, and is hence in part bound by this) have a responsibility to follow the rules of XDA on XDA rules and disputes. I do not think this is something which can be policed ('I'm banning you Wes for Trolling Kingklick...on Twitter'... not gonna work) but I think it is a moral obligation (anyone that thinks the internet is not bound by morality should take a reality check...the reason why we have open source is essentially ethics).
Do we give credit to Linus Torvalds every time we distribute linux kernels or work to do with linux? Do we give credit to those that helped him create this base? Do we give credit to Google for creating Android? HTC? Our carriers? Martin Cooper for inventing the mobile phone and cell networks? Time Berners-Lee for inventing the internet, giving rise to this forum, Google and thus the Phones/Devices we love and use? The fact is we don't give credit where due (although you may say its obscure to thank these people, they DO deserve our thanks). None of the ROM chefs/coders give all credit where due, but a lot do in part, with those directly involved. But who still thanks the original rooters?
Kingklick has been declared a copier by the jury...I haven't delved through the evidence to confirm this...but shouldn't we be much more relaxed about copying in general? All users should be open about their work with Android, but they are not. If kingklick based a build off Cyanongenmod, and gave due credit for that, he would be called unoriginal, despite his attempts to make improvements. I also believe that there should be transparency, a log of all complaints of interest and the community told in a statement from the mods why someone was banned...at least in part (keeping gory details to themselves thank you very much).
Donations are generally given by 'end-users'...noobs who can flash and maybe do some work on the builds but their contributions are limited. End users generally want user experience, and reward devs with commendation and donations. If kingklick does work on a build which satisfies more users and he hence gets donations, is that stealing donations? No. The original dev works on an open source project knowing that their work is open, but the end user can reward as he/she likes. Perhaps kingklick developed his following due to his branding...he did always use words like FAST and STABLE and SMOOTH, but Apple do the same and they're not banned from trading despite the hyperbole.
I do not doubt that a lot of devs thanks fellow devs with donations. Cyanogen is well known for donating, as is kingklick, however a lot of donations come from end users, and if kingklick replaces a few files using winrar (something which I generally contest, I believe kingklick does a lot of great work) and that satisfies more end users by being fast and stable and smooth (or perceived as being so thanks to branding) then he can get donations for that, they are a gesture of satisfaction and goodwill.
Kingklick was immoral by not giving true credit, however I believe that he could have been warned and asked to give credit once he got back from his night out (whether that excuse, or what ever his actual excuse was, was true).
I also laugh at the accusation that kingklick does not fill a niche within the 'open'/'free' community. This should not result in grudges and flame wars, whether it is true or not. Kingklick did fill a niche in my opinion: reviewers (and consumers) see vanilla android as being sterile. Hell it is sterile, and it's never going to be as successful as others if it doesn't sort this out. Cyanogenmod and other big names are based off this sterile form of Android, but they don't delve into Sense UI and other alternative skins, mainly due to preferences or copyright problems etc, not that that stops them with other things. Kingklick did work with these and he filled his niche by delivering great, fast, usable roms of these whilst others sneered at them for being inefficient coding or whatever...geeky snobbery.
Kingklick also delivered various fixes and things which other groups did not. I won't list all of these and I am sure representatives of Cyanogenmob et al will say 'we were gonna fix these issues anyways' or 'that's redundant' or 'that was patchy code', but kingklick has contributed. Obviously we have to hold ethics above output, we can not say that 'his holiness' (inteneded to mock those who believe cyanogen alone is a god, not cyanogen himself) Cyanogen's contributions to android exempt him from following conduct, but we do a great job of driving away good developers with flaming and telling tales. Perhaps you'll say kingklick was not a good developer, Drizzy, even Haykuro etc etc, but I only flashed Cyanogenmod on my Nexus once and I didn't like it for various reasons (personal preference yada yada) but I kept going back for more kingklick...whether that's perceived speed and branding etc or just satisfaction.
King's desire roms are great, but we never mobbed, trolled and banned the poor guy for not giving creds to HTC. Surely the morality of our community using software like Rosie on the Nexus is more ethically questionable than a fellow member of XDA's work, since HTC is a firm which employs people. I bought a Nexus over the Desire because I knew I could still have Sense and a bigger dev community, however the cost included in the Desire which goes to the developers of Sense is hence forgone (perhaps indeirectly, I don;t know HTC internal funding); therefore I have - and anyone who has ever flashed a Sense ROM or devved with Sense - indirectly caused loss of welfare for people who rely of developing as their source of income, tehir families, communities and economies. Surely that is less ethical than not saying thank you, but XDA has no problem with that. Perhaps it is too small to notice, but it will have an indirect impact nonetheless.
Yes kingklick should've said his please and thank you, but I think it's community hyped double standards, pretensical courtesy (not that I wouldn't give creds, it's just that pleases and thank yous are nice, but not actually useful). A wise man once said 'there is no threshold for immorality', just because kingklick did a larger 'crime' than the rest of the community in not giving his thanks out, that does not exempt the other rule breakers (ie everyone), it just means their punishment should be less severe...we choose to ignore it because it's less direct or forgotten about.
In conclusion, I think we should start a 'contributors to Android' part of XDA, added to by mods or specifically appointed members of the community (like the portal). This could be informative and could mean that forgotten about contributors could not be forgotten, but their contributions immortalised in the open community of Android. Even if the contributions become redundant, they are the foundations for the next chapter in the Android story.
Finally. www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html is a very good read..and think about what AOSP stands for (I'll give you a clue...Android Open Source Project!). Can you steal what is open? What right have others to dictate what can and cannot be distributed in the open aspects of Android code (ie the underlying OS and vanilla UI...I'm not confused with Apps). Perhaps kingklick was guilty of plagiarism? But so is anyone that claims they worked really hard in that kernel without crediting Linus and leaving a donation link to his family or favourite charitable causes. Anyone that says I've reworked the UI without giving credits to The Astonishing Tribe for the original Android concepts which all UIs are based off...
Android is closed, that's why I question this 'community'.
I am not proud to be a member of this 'community'...right now.
Ps. Cyanogenmob was originally a typo (using words like mobbed in my piece...Freudian slip on the keyboard rather than fat finger syndrome)...but I kept it in as I thought it was funny...the Cyogenmob should replace team douche IMHO!
Pps. Originally posted in Android Dev general but moved here as its Nexus dev themed!
im proud of myself for actually completing this reading haha. interesting read though.
cheddie said:
im proud of myself for actually completing this reading haha. interesting read though.
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Im more proud of you for successfully quoting the entire thing...I might submit it for my dissertation next year
HazzBazz said:
Im more proud of you for successfully quoting the entire thing...I might submit it for my dissertation next year
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hahah thanks for bringing that to my attention. had to edit it lol
To be fair I posted the god darn epic rant/essay/post...my bad !
HazzBazz said:
To be fair I posted the god darn epic rant/essay/post...my bad !
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No, I posted it! I worked long and hard last week to write it out. I am accepting donations to cover my time spent though.
All this happens because altruism is evil in the sense that it is a lie. Altruists demand payment too, in the form of recognition, appreciation, respect, reputation, and all these similar thirst for prestige.
In NOT giving recognition to comrades In arms who share a common need for prestige, it is theft among kin, robbing prestige.
Prestige is indeed a rotten currency.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Touche...topical. Doesn't really do anything against my points, I am saying kingklick is guilty among many but they are appeased because they haven't got flames burning them. I do believe that kingklick should always give credit where due.
caysman said:
All this happens because altruism is evil in the sense that it is a lie. Altruists demand payment too, in the form of recognition, appreciation, respect, reputation, and all these similar thirst for prestige.
In NOT giving recognition to comrades In arms who share a common need for prestige, it is theft among kin, robbing prestige.
Prestige is indeed a rotten currency.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
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Good point...the fact is cyanogenmod wouldn't be as big with as many great ethusiastic devs without the praise it got...but is that a fair compromise for contributions...
I really think that the issue is the same as black droid. The Problem isn't that king copied the rom and redistributed it. The problem is that he did so claiming that it was his work based off of CM. When in reality he downloaded a a finished copy of CM, compiled by the CM team, and then changed a few lines the build.prop, renamed it and asked for donations. I personally can't see how that is helping the community at all. I really don't care about King one way or the other but I do think that the people who do the work should get credit for it. They spend countless hours writing code for us to have for FREE. Code you yourself says is better than what google puts out. They do this in their spare time and ask for nothing but recognition. You think that is wrong? I am amazed by this. Really I am.
HazzBazz said:
Good point...the fact is cyanogenmod wouldn't be as big with as many great ethusiastic devs without the praise it got...but is that a fair compromise for contributions...
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Don't misunderstand me. Payment is due, for sure, and payment makes our world go round, but I do wish it were not in the form of mousy prestige, rotten evil currency that it is. Money is a much better choice, but prestige seekers pretend to loathe $ probably because $ is less ambiguous.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
They do this in their spare time and ask for nothing but recognition. You think that is wrong? I am amazed by this. Really I am.
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But they do not explicitly ask for recognition do they? Even the great cyanogen does not do that, because once they impose recognition expressly as a mode of payment you would recognize that their asking for your adulation and love would seen a more demanding payment than asking for cash.
And also the inconvenience of the prestige seekers being more easily mistaken for all the money grabbing corporations which they demonize.
I'd make it clear that I have not wanted anything other than cyanogen's roms during my g1 days, and adulation I'd gladly pay, plus I have donated in money.
These guys made android exciting and formed PART of the inspiration for the paid android developers. It is unfortunate that the society's misconception of altruism as ' good' destroyed a lot of the language required to denounce it as the evil it actually is.
Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App
Gr8gorilla said:
I really think that the issue is the same as black droid. The Problem isn't that king copied the rom and redistributed it. The problem is that he did so claiming that it was his work based off of CM. When in reality he downloaded a a finished copy of CM, compiled by the CM team, and then changed a few lines the build.prop, renamed it and asked for donations. I personally can't see how that is helping the community at all. I really don't care about King one way or the other but I do think that the people who do the work should get credit for it. They spend countless hours writing code for us to have for FREE. Code you yourself says is better than what google puts out. They do this in their spare time and ask for nothing but recognition. You think that is wrong? I am amazed by this. Really I am.
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it was actually jubehs rom he did that with.....
@OP, Omitting credit and stealing are completely different things. kk downloaded jubehs rom and changed 5-10 files and claimed it as his own. when confronted with this, kk said he compiled it himself even though the evidence overwhelmingly pointed at the other direction. He claimed to have built it from asop, when all he did was take someones rom and change a few files. if he said he "cooked" the rom from another (even without saying who) he would have been ok. But he continued to lie after he was caught which is probably why the ban hammer was dropped.
Most of this plus the damning evidence is located in the g1 section.
Also, android does not follow the GNU licensing, it follows apache, and by default, the devs who release their material here are also released under apache. Apache allows people to see the source so they can better understand it to develop, but people who use the source to develop something from it are not required to open source their works. they are also allow to put their own terms which would include giving proper credit.
AFAIK xda mods actually work together to decide on what to do with offenders. i know thats what they did for the wrecking crew (though some mods were less fair than others -_- )
PS: i havent used cyanogen mod since like 3.6.8 before the C&D lol
The sad fact is, it takes money to live in the world today. A lot of these programmers make good money 9-5 at their day jobs. The average computer engineer spends about 100,000 dollars going to college then makes about 60-70k per year after. This is working on a salary basis probably putting 40-60 hours per week. After that they spend another 20+ writing code for us because they like to. I can completely understand the devs wanting someone who copied and renamed their work to be banned.
That would be like you taking Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire, Calling it Circle of Fire and trying to sell it as your own. You would get sued, etc. Come on people how can you defend this guy, come on really?
Tl,dr the OP.
flybyme said:
Omitting credit and stealing are completely different things. kk downloaded jubehs rom and changed 5-10 files and claimed it as his own. when confronted with this, kk said he compiled it himself even though the evidence overwhelmingly pointed at the other direction. He claimed to have built it from asop, when all he did was take someones rom and change a few files. if he said he "cooked" the rom from another (even without saying who) he would have been ok. But he continued to lie after he was caught which is probably why the ban hammer was dropped.
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If this is true, he got what he deserved. I had a similar thing happen when I wrote a script for the iphone which gets about 75-100 downloads a day. Someone from a forum put their name on it, posted it saying they were up all night writing it and put a donation link at the bottom of their post.
When confronted, they lied and said it didn't work so they rewrote it, but a simple comparison showed the only changes made was to echo commands which displayed the author's name and some text about how to run it. They also had no clue how it worked and gave bad advice about how to use it, and there were a lot of people on that forum using it, having problems and asking questions.
I didn't really care, and I never got a penny for my work, but it forced me to think about it, and what I came up with was: what use is there in having that kind of thing around? They aren't contributing or advancing ideas, they're confusing them and possibly screwing things up.
The douche that stole my script went from "moderator" to "supermoderator" at that site. If that was your site, why would you even want to keep him around? I'm not a banhammer kinda guy, but there's no upside to allowing things like that to continue.
Im no developer, but i do see both sides of the story. But I mean this is no way to act.
[email protected] please tell your teamdouche to grow up. We all know it was someone in it that just made that name
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kingklick92
whoever made that account with MY name haha ur f****g retarded, Ill see you in court. You distribuuted MY name
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kingklick92
whether you were in the right or not.
I think credit should just be given when you use someones work just like you would want the same for your work.
Delete if not acceptable.
Oh for ****'s sake.
OP, you're being a white-knighting ninny. KK got what he deserved: "open-source" doesn't mean an eradication of common courtesy--and crediting is common courtesy. You're trying to weasel around "blah blah why don't we credit HTC and Google" which is sheer, utter, retarded straw man. We know who developed Android by implication unless you live under a rock. Not so with specific individual community contributions.
Besides, what did KK even do? All I saw in the N1 development section from him was ROMs based off other people's work slightly modified, or rubbish that never worked like his attempt to port Blur. I say good riddance. The fact that he managed to scam donations off people hardly helps his case. I'd sooner donate to the source/original contributors, not such a juvenile, plagiarizing, useless waste of oxygen.

Android4Autism (Big Announcement)

Hey everyone. I wanted to cleanup this post a bit in order to make a pretty big announcement. Here is an expcert from my blog post late last night. The whole post can be read here.
To read more about Android4Autism
"Tonight, I so very pleased to announce that Intellijoy will be donating FULL versions of ALL their children’s apps to Android4Autism to be distributed on all the devices that we will be putting into the hands of Autistic children from around the US. I’m very excited about this because I truly believe this WILL make a difference in the lives of many Autistic children and their families. I don’t make it a habit of promoting companies on this blog because that’s not the purpose of Lost and Tired. However, Intellijoy is a company that is working to help our children learn through engaging and entertaining apps. My children benefit from the use of these applications and I know many more could as well. As special needs parents and members of the Autism community we should support companies like, Intellijoy, as they are providing low cost software that can turn your Android powered smartphone into a learning tool for your child.
So on behalf of Android4Autism and lostandtired.com, I want to THANK Intellijoy for helping to improve the lives our Autistic children and their families. If you have an Android powered smart phone and I KNOW many of you do, check out these apps on the Market. Help spread the word that these apps and others like it can be found on the Android Market. As a community we need to support the companies that are providing resources for our kids….. More to come soon…"
In the mean time get all the latest Android4Autism updates by following us on twitter: @Android4Autism or “Like us on Facebook.
reserved....
Good luck on this.
Sounds like a great work you are doing.
So what exactly does the phone do? My son is autistic and believe it or not I let him play speedx on my evo but there aren't many apps on the market (if any) that are geared towards autistic people which is why he has his own ipad2. Some more specifics would be nice instead of saying that you are taking old android phones and stripping them down. What else is done to them software wise that makes them more autistic friendly and enriching.
lovethyEVO said:
So what exactly does the phone do? My son is autistic and believe it or not I let him play speedx on my evo but there aren't many apps on the market (if any) that are geared towards autistic people which is why he has his own ipad2. Some more specifics would be nice instead of saying that you are taking old android phones and stripping them down. What else is done to them software wise that makes them more autistic friendly and enriching.
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The point is that many people can't afford the iPad and yes the apple has better apps and more of them at the moment. However, there are still simple apps that can help kids to communicate, Voice4u is an example. There are other apps the help with fine motor like Kids Shape Puzzles, Kids Numbers and Math and Kids Colors. I'm not sure where your child falls on the spectrum but many kids like my youngest struggle with language and communication. While maybe some kids won't benefit from these apps as much as others it's something for someone who has nothing. The apps don't have to be geared towards Autistic kids. They just have to serve a purpose. My son who was thought to be non-verbal is now using words (although still very limited). When he solves these puzzles and the voice says the name, he now repeats it. He is also able to identify the shapes by the outlines now.
Is it as good as an iPad probably not. But as a father to 3 Autistic boys and someone that can't afford an iPad, this has really helped to build some much needed basic skills. These apps while simple are engaging and entertaining for the kids. Again, many people can't shell out $500-$800 for an iPad and this would give them something. Sometimes seemingly the small things can make the biggest impact.
I realize you don't know me but I have a very popular Autism blog and if you look around the Epic forums you will see Autism Awareness running rampant.
I'm not trying to change the world here. Just trying to make life better for those that I can.
Best of luck to you and your family.
newblacksociety said:
Best of luck to you and your family.
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You have my final "thanks" for today.
ptfdmedic said:
The point is that many people can't afford the iPad and yes the apple has better apps and more of them at the moment. However, there are still simple apps that can help kids to communicate, Voice4u is an example. There are other apps the help with fine motor like Kids Shape Puzzles, Kids Numbers and Math and Kids Colors. I'm not sure where your child falls on the spectrum but many kids like my youngest struggle with language and communication. While maybe some kids won't benefit from these apps as much as others it's something for someone who has nothing. The apps don't have to be geared towards Autistic kids. They just have to serve a purpose. My son who was thought to be non-verbal is now using words (although still very limited). When he solves these puzzles and the voice says the name, he now repeats it. He is also able to identify the shapes by the outlines now.
Is it as good as an iPad probably not. But as a father to 3 Autistic boys and someone that can't afford an iPad, this has really helped to build some much needed basic skills. These apps while simple are engaging and entertaining for the kids. Again, many people can't shell out $500-$800 for an iPad and this would give them something. Sometimes seemingly the small things can make the biggest impact.
I realize you don't know me but I have a very popular Autism blog and if you look around the Epic forums you will see Autism Awareness running rampant.
I'm not trying to change the world here. Just trying to make life better for those that I can.
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I wasn't trying to downplay your effort...it is a good cause. My son's autism affects his communication development the most and his ipad has helped along with his services he gets at school as well as his extra services like aba.
I did not buy his ipad so please throw out that notion that I can "shell out 500 bucks" for it. On the contrary, his ipad is his and his alone and was acquired as a learning aid through a program that his school set up. He qualified for the free ipad because his doctors re-evaluated him for the program application and concluded that he is still delayed in his development. As long as I show that his ipad is being used solely for his purposes and no unapproved apps are installed for the next two years, it's his to keep.
I'm straying off topic a bit and I apologize. I understand your cause to get these devices to families that can't afford them but it would also help to include some really great software for the autistic person as well as support for that software. These are just things to help your noble project along, not railroad it. It should be stripped of the ability to make calls or texts to try to prevent it being used by other persons for example.
lovethyEVO said:
I wasn't trying to downplay your effort...it is a good cause. My son's autism affects his communication development the most and his ipad has helped along with his services he gets at school as well as his extra services like aba.
I did not buy his ipad so please throw out that notion that I can "shell out 500 bucks" for it. On the contrary, his ipad is his and his alone and was acquired as a learning aid through a program that his school set up. He qualified for the free ipad because his doctors re-evaluated him for the program application and concluded that he is still delayed in his development. As long as I show that his ipad is being used solely for his purposes and no unapproved apps are installed for the next two years, it's his to keep.
I'm straying off topic a bit and I apologize. I understand your cause to get these devices to families that can't afford them but it would also help to include some really great software for the autistic person as well as support for that software. These are just things to help your noble project along, not railroad it. It should be stripped of the ability to make calls or texts to try to prevent it being used by other persons for example.
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No offense taken. Sorry if I came off harsh. I didn't mean to insinuate anything about you financial status in my comment. I was trying to explain my point. I would load a custom ROM, removing everything I can so that it serves it's intended purpose. I would disable to the radio and attempt to leave the WiFi and blue tooth in tact for connectivity to the market and headphones. I get offers all the time to review software on my blog geared for this purpose. I'm working on securing software donations as well. You have some great ideas. I appreciate your feedback. Again sorry if I came across wrong. We are both on the same journey. Best of luck.
ptfdmedic said:
No offense taken. Sorry if I came off harsh. I didn't mean to insinuate anything about you financial status in my comment. I was trying to explain my point. I would load a custom ROM, removing everything I can so that it serves it's intended purpose. I would disable to the radio and attempt to leave the WiFi and blue tooth in tact for connectivity to the market and headphones. I get offers all the time to review software on my blog geared for this purpose. I'm working on securing software donations as well. You have some great ideas. I appreciate your feedback. Again sorry if I came across wrong. We are both on the same journey. Best of luck.
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We are on the same journey yes, but you have alot more to handle and my hat goes off to you. I too apologize if I came off wrong in my first post.
I will be keeping my eye on your efforts for others that I know in our situation. The school year is almost over but I think this is something they might be interested in. Best of luck to your endeavors.
lovethyEVO said:
We are on the same journey yes, but you have alot more to handle and my hat goes off to you. I too apologize if I came off wrong in my first post.
I will be keeping my eye on your efforts for others that I know in our situation. The school year is almost over but I think this is something they might be interested in. Best of luck to your endeavors.
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Always nice to meet other special needs parents. It was a pleasure meeting you. Thanks again.
For those of you who don't know ptfdmedic, with all that he has to deal with his children, has over the months taken the time to develop and provide support for some of the best ROMs on the Epic. He is one of the few people who is a truly selfless person. I mean we over on the Epic forums have a bunch of people that just go around and complain about everything. Rob (ptfdmedic) has a heart of gold and has put up with a bunch of crap from a lot of whining users and does it with kindness and class. He even goes as far as releasing multiple versions of the same ROM to accommodate the minority of us who wanted journal on to provide stability and a journal off version for those who see a ever so slight performance increase. I came over here because I am considering getting an Evo 3D and wanted to read what people were posting now that the CEO confirmed it won't be boot locked. As soon as I saw ptfdmedic's thread, I knew it was for a worthy cause. He is the real deal. This isn't some guy trying to hustle anyone. His heart is 100% into raising Autism Awareness and helping in any way he can. If my finances permit me to upgrade to the Evo 3D, I know where my Epic is going now. If you are in the position to do likewise, I can assure you Rob will do what he intends to do. What a worthy cause.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
ptfdmedic said:
Hey fellow Android users and Autism supporters. I have been quietly working on something for a little while now and decided I would officially announce it. I wanted to announce it here because of all the Autism support generated by this community. So I would like to introduce "Android 4 Autism. What Android 4 Autism will be doing is taking used (donated) Android devices, preferably Epic or EVO (due to the larger screen) and turning them into communication and learning tools for Autistic children. I'm working on securing software donations as well for pre-installation purposes.
Once received, the devices will be wiped and stripped down. Once completed, these devices will be donated to special needs families who couldn't otherwise afford this technology for their child.
The reason I'm announcing this now is because we are about to hit a device turn over with the release of the Nexus S 4G and the pending EVO 3D and Galaxy S 2 releases.. We are a community that lives on the bleeding edge. I'm asking that if and when you upgrade your phone that you consider Android 4 Autism when deciding what to do with your old device. Bad ESN's don't matter as WiFi/Bluetooth would be the only needed connections. PLEASE consider this if and when you decide to upgrade. I'll have more information available when I go live. I just wanted to plant the bug in your ear. Your old phone could change someone's life.
Thanks everyone....
Below is an example of what Autistic children can do and learn with these phones.
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You're doing a very noble thing ptf. It's amazing to see somebody take initiative in such a prolific cause. I don't know you personally, but you seem very genuine and i'm sure your family is blessed to have you supporting them.
You have my full support and I will gladly donate my EVO and Asus TF when I purchase new devices to replace them. I think that a lot of us on these forums are typically more fortunate than a lot of people and the least we can do is donate our old devices for a just cause.
p.s It seems that you are very serious about this, you should try to get the mods to sticky your threads. Also, are you going to be accepting donations from other devices like the droid x?
Best of luck to you. If you need any help spreading the word or anything shoot me a pm.
I know the HTC Flyer has the option to place the phone under "Kid Mode."
Maybe for those parents who may have a smartphone, it would be good to create a custom rom with that feature. That way they can use the phone as they normally would. Under this mode, the calls would be forwarded to a home phone line or another phone.
It seems like a lot of work and highly unlikely that parents will know how to flash a custom rom but it's an idea that came to me.
I'll get in contact with the Coordinator of Student Activities at my school and ask if I can host some sort of drive to have students donate their phones when they upgrade.
(I'll get back to you after she lets me know if I can)
Bumping this for the cause. I hope at least people read this or visit his website. Especially for those that are going to get an Evo 3D and not trade in their current phone. Hopefully I am one of them
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App
as an Uncle to a nephew with Autism, I commend you. I wish I had a spare device but I don't but if you could post some of the actual names of apps that you have used with your sons it would be greatly appreciated.
I want to help my sister get some good apps so her son can learn to communicate. He is pretty much mute and only barely communicates through signing. He is on the more severe end of the spectrum and like most families doesn't have the amount of money it takes to purchase the more expensive autism teaching tools.
On a side note besides grants and some education funding, getting assistance for autistic children is incredibly and overly expensive. With the immense amount of kids being diagnosed more and more I can't believe the price has not come down for some of these things.
That's pretty awesome. My son's a high functioning on the autistic spectrum and he loves to use my Evo and my Transformer pad. Seeing that video reminded me a lot of my son. It does really help and I really hope your cause takes off. Really commendable..
I actually wrote a piece for my website on my son using another technology: Kinect.
http://www.gamingnexus.com/FullNews...est-24150-I-spent-on-a-console/Item20369.aspx
Absolutely fantastic idea! I'll be sure to share this.
My nephew is autistic and I'm about to retire my Evo...I'd love to load your ROM when it's ready and give him my device.
I'm subscribing to this thread, because I want to follow everything you're doing with this cause.
God Bless You, dude. We need more people like you in this world, let alone this community...
as a father with a son who is autistic this is a GREAT idea ! /respect

Apple versus Samsung patents

I just came across an article that sums how I fill about the whole thing, so i decided to share it with you all.
By the way I just purchased a Galaxy Note 10.1(wifi version), very nice device.
The article is called: Bad bad Apple, the patent troll
Source: http://my.opera.com/rejzor/blog/2012/07/26/bad-bad-apple-the-patent-troll
I urge you to go over to the link as it has some interestings graphic work.
:good:
If you are following the news for the last few months (years basically) you most probably noticed the massive Apple patent trolling going on like they invented everything. And they keep on jerking about stuff that they simply have no right to even open their stupid mouth. I'm sick and tired of them crying like a freakin 6 year old kid and accusing everyone of copying their drawings erm products instead of producing something truly worth admiring or innovative. Samsung, the biggest Apple rival acts like a humble worker. They get annoyed by the patent trolls, but they keep their heads down and just continue to work hard and make actual advantages over rivals. Now, i don't agree with everything Samsung makes or does either, but they aren't such dorks as Apple when you sum all the things up.
But instead of writing all of the BS which could go for many pages, the pictures tell more than thousand words. If you have any or you know any that are similar as the ones below, please do post them here and i'll continue to add them in the album collection.
Thanks. Was a funny read.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda premium

Gizmodo lovefest

Cool article "It Took Five Years To Make a Beautiful Android Phone"
http://gizmodo.com/5990813/
Now if I can just get it on Verizon.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
I love how people bash this guy in the comments because he states that Android phones have looked ugly and people bought them because they were free on contract.
.. He's completely right. Up until the last year that's exactly how it's been. People wanted iPhones if they could get them. Before the Galaxy S 3 and HTC One X (mostly the GS3) no one walked into a store and said "I WANT THAT ANDROID PHONE" unless you were an Android fan
Nice little article.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
This writer is a joke, anyone who visits gizmodo knows it. Even the apple fans agree he's highly biased and only writes provocative articles for the pageviews.
He's not getting to write as much btw, and he doesn't get to review/ comment on phones or tablets anymore afaik. A lot of the readers complained about him (not only talking about phone related)
Will.1 said:
This writer is a joke, anyone who visits gizmodo knows it. Even the apple fans agree he's highly biased and only writes provocative articles for the pageviews.
He's not getting to write as much btw, and he doesn't get to review/ comment on phones or tablets anymore afaik. A lot of the readers complained about him (not only talking about phone related)
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I didn't really see a problem with this specific article
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Uh if you weren't aware already, Gizmodo is the ****tiest tech site on the internet. It is all provocative tabloid crap. There's no bias to any company. They just find something they can piss people off with to rack up the views. The fanboys will be angry, and the haters come in droves to rejoice, so the worst of the worst all together in one spot. They've pissed off Apple fans by overblowing antennagate and stealing an iPhone prototype, Blackberry fans by trashing their touchscreen phones and writing obscene rants when they aren't sent a review unit, Nokia fans when they put up deceptive "tests" of the Symbian experience, etc. There was even an epic rant by one of the editors telling its readership to go f--k off because their feelings were being hurt in the comments section, even though they were the biggest trolls of all. They are part of the Gawker network, which is known for stalking people, invading privacy, posting defamatory stories and videos, even celebrity sextapes, the usual tabloid stuff. I stopped reading Gizmodo years ago so am not up to date on any recent shenanigans. I know their founder had a talk recently at last year's SXSW about the need for internet ettiquette. Like Hitler advocating ethnic tolerance. They use to pop up all the time on the first page of Google. Now I can hardly find thme unless I go four or five pages back, if at all. Seems their pissing game collapsed like a ponzi scheme once they went over the limit.
Yea that's the way I feel as well, at least about the Gizmodo part. Ok for some random enjoyable articles but horrible when it comes to giving a good insight on products.
Although i have to disagree with you on Apple, a lot of the writers are/were very heavily biased to the point ppl would trash the comment section and bloggers censored posts they didn't like (kinda funny coming from "the press" if you can call it that). They just made a big deal out of a few non issues with the iphone (not talking about the real problems like antennagate etc) to look like they were being fair to every manufacturer and all but everyone on there knows it's all over apple's junk.
I think they are aware they're not being taken seriously anymore and ppl go to engadget and the likes for product reviews and they are trying to change that.

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