Ghetto People Suck

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A few weeks ago (April 24th), Tary called me from our home phone (which we never use) to tell me that her iPhone was stolen while shopping at Walmart. We don’t normally shop there but she was in the area and was picking up some anti-itch cream for Matthew. She said that it must have happened when several ghetto people tried to forcibly and rudely squeeze between her and a worker stocking shelves. They must have seen her on her phone earlier and watched her place it into her open jacket pocket.

I told Tary about a recent story in the local newspaper about how the police used some iPhone recovery apps to recover a stolen iPad. Tary used the “Find My iPhone” app to remote lock the phone and triggered a sound to be played. The app also indicated the phone’s last known location was still Walmart. This means that either the thieves turned off the phone at some point and it was no longer updating its position or they were spooked by the sound and dumped it somewhere in the store.

Tary was content with her iPhone 3GS and was willing to wait until the iPhone 5 came out whenever that was. However, Tary bought an iPhone 4S to replace her stolen phone that same night. It really sucks wasting hard-earned money to replace things that were stolen.

I really hate Walmart. Something about it just feels off. Something about extremely low costs attracts a certain kind of shopper and unfortunately Tary ran into a group of them. We are never shopping at Walmart ever again. We definitely prefer Target which still has low prices, is a cleaner store, has better workers, better items, and less ghetto-ness.

It really sucks dealing with ghetto people and ghetto problems. We’ve already had our home broken into and our electronics stolen. We’ve also had our rims stolen in the middle of the night. Now the phone. Sometimes I wish we could afford to move to a city where petty crimes like this don’t typically happen. C’est la vie.

Update: Two days later, Tary called Walmart and they found her phone! They said it was found in a basket somewhere in the store.

Instant Noodles Expire?

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The other night I wanted something completely random for dinner. I looked up on top of my fridge and there were several boxes of various American and Asian flavored instant noodles. I grabbed a pair of Tom Yum-flavored packages and fired up the tea kettle. The first package had a moldy smell to it. Maybe it was just a fluke. Unfortunately the second package had the same smell. I looked all over the wrapper and could not find an expiration date.

There was another box of instant noodles that were a different flavor. It had the year 2010 on it! *Bleep*

The only thing left was a box of Ramen. Beef flavor won’t fail me now! I must have bought this recently, maybe within the past year. Nope, 2009! Really?! I was starting to feel like an instant noodle hoarder.

I cannot believe instant noodles have expiration dates! Even my trusty Ramen noodles! I thought these things could survive everything from asteroids to nuclear winters. Instant noodles do not qualify as survival food for a zombie apocalypse. I guess the only thing you can reliably eat remain Twinkies.

 

It’s All About Principles

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While driving home from the Boston Children’s Museum the other day, I was stopped at a red light while waiting to take a right turn. The light just turned green but I had to wait a few moments for some pedestrians to finish crossing the street. That’s when some jerk in a Chevy SUV honked at me. What? Seriously?!

After we both turned right, he races up beside me while we stuck at another set of lights. He angrily yells stuff at me and flips me off. Unlike him, I was smart enough to roll down my window first and yelled back that he’s a “stupid idiot” and that there were pedestrians on the crosswalk. The light turned green and he zoomed off.

Normally it’s not worth my time to get into shouting matches with other motorists but in this case, it was all about principles. It’s one thing if he didn’t see the pedestrians and honked at me because he thought I wasn’t paying attention. It crosses an entirely different line when he tried to intimidate me and cuss me out. I hate the “American” mentality that just because you’re bigger/taller and drive a larger vehicle that they can just push you around. I’m not going to just “take it” when I was trying to do the right thing.

My only regret is that Daniel was pretty scared after the incident; he is not used to hearing me yell at someone. I hope one day he reads this and learns that it’s okay to stand up for yourself. Bullies are everywhere, not just in school. And sometimes it’s okay to give those knuckle draggers a piece of your mind.

My Kids are Great Because…

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Last night Tary told me that daycare asked parents to write short blurbs about how *great* their kids are so the teachers could read them out loud at “circle” time. She said it was posted on the board and a flyer but I honestly don’t recall seeing anything about this when I dropped off the kids earlier that morning.

I wasn’t sure how much I needed to write. I didn’t want to write something that was too short and look like we didn’t care. I also didn’t want to write a full dissertation (which I’ve been known to do about various geeky topics on Facebook) and show up the other parents. Tary wasn’t sure about all of the details of the assignment so I just started to write…

I didn’t want to write about all of the things that our kids could do because all kids develop at different rates and eventually, they learn how to do the same things. Instead I tried to focus on what made them special to us.

Here is what I wrote for Daniel:

Daniel is great because he is such a loving and sweet boy. We love his random hugs and kisses. He is a great big brother. He helps us take care of baby Matthew. Daniel is really good at sports. He likes to throw footballs, dunk basketballs, play soccer, wrestle, and run and jump. Daniel is very smart. He loves to sing along to his favorite songs and read his favorite books.
 And here is what I wrote for Matthew:
Matthew is great because he is such a happy and sweet boy. He is always smiling, especially when we talk with him. He loves to tell stories right after he wakes up. He loves to snuggle all day long. He loves to hold our hands as he falls asleep.

Update: As I walked into daycare this morning, I finally saw the flyer for the assignment. We were asked to write on why our kids were *incredible*. D’oh! Great? Incredible? Same difference.

Boston Children’s Museum

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This past Saturday we went to the Boston Children’s Museum for a Trinh Family Fun Day. Well it was really mostly for Daniel but I really liked that we could all be together as a family. It also was the first time we got to try out our new double stroller (Joovy Scooter X2).

Once inside the museum, Tary brought Daniel to the “Science Playground” while I mostly stayed with Matthew looking on. It had various “raceways” where you could place golf balls on guided tracks and watch what happens to them. Some of the tracks launched balls through the air and into tubes positioned at the end of the track. Other tracks were suspended high in the air and spiraled toward the floor.

We then moved over to the adjacent bubble room. I don’t think Daniel was too crazy about it despite loving bubbles. The floor was very slippery from kids experimenting with bubbles. Daniel played a little bit before getting upset when Tary tried to drape an apron on him. Okay…onto the next room!

On the 2nd floor, Daniel really liked playing in an indoor basketball area. It was cute watching him try to shoot into hoops that were a little too tall for him. There was another kid in there that was clearly too old to be in there. He was running around between the younger kids and dunking and swinging from the hoops. I was worried that he might accidentally knock Daniel over.

We visited the “PlaySpace” next which was a play area for kids 0 to 3-years-old. I really enjoyed this area because it seemed more geared toward Daniel’s age and it had many of the same kinds of things that we have at home. Daniel liked playing with a train set. He then looked at some fish swimming in a fish tank in the wall. Then he explored the rest of the area before running around a tree house and sliding down a metal slide.

We bought some lunch from Au Bon Pain which was nearby. Tary and I got some fancy sandwiches and some chicken nuggets, carrots, and chocolate milk for Daniel. I liked how there was an indoor eating area between Au Bon Pain and the museum’s gift shop.

After lunch we returned to catch a live skit of Arthur. Daniel seemed to enjoy the first 5 or 10 minutes of the play. However Daniel got really distracted when one of the actors said the word “juice” so we had to move on.

We brought Daniel up to the 3rd floor where he played in a “Construction Zone”. He played with some toy construction vehicles and moved them along some ramps. He then thought it was funny to run around the floor so I let him explore while following him from a safe distance. It was cute seeing him laughing and smiling so much.

Before we left, we let Daniel have one more go in the “Science Playground” which I think was his favorite room in the museum. It’s no surprise that an engineer’s son would like the science room the best.

It was getting into the afternoon and we were fading fast. Daniel wanted to keep playing so we brought him outside and rested for a few minutes by the water. He really enjoyed looking at the local birds floating on the water and chasing after the pigeons which were brave enough to walk by him. Daniel started to feel warm and succumb to a cold so we finally had to take him home.

I really enjoyed our visit to the Boston Children’s Museum and I was glad that we could take Daniel to do something special. It was easy to get in as well as getting out of the city. There was plenty of parking nearby and was reasonably priced for Boston standards. The museum itself had a lot of different exhibits for kids of all ages. I really liked how family friendly it was. Navigating around with our new double stroller was easy. I liked having plenty of places to sit down while Tary brought Daniel from one exhibit to the next. It was a little crowded and the single elevator was a bit slow but all in all, Daniel had a lot of fun and that’s reason enough to come back.

 

Crysis Review

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Shortly after beating Portal 2, I started playing Crysis, the classic award-winning first-person shooter (FPS). The game was released back in 2007 but I never played it until now. After beating it on March 31st, I wish I never waited so long to play it!

In Crysis, you assume the role of a soldier named Nomad who is part of an elite group to rescue some archaeologists after they sent out a distress signal. They discovered something that may ‘change the world’ and the North Korean Army took over the island to claim the power for themselves. Your unit is equipped with Nanosuits which augment the occupant’s power, speed, durability, and stealthiness. You fight your way through the island and uncover the mystery of what the archaeologists found.

The first thing you notice about Crysis is it is a beautiful game. Most of the game takes place on a tropical island. The jungle looks rich and lush. The water around and throughout the island looks great. Later in the game you watch a mountain get flash-frozen in ice. You also float around in a very detailed alien ship.

Your squad mates, the opposing North Korean soldiers, aliens, and mini-bosses all look great. The weapons, vehicles such as tanks and VTOLs (aerial vehicles) also are very detailed.

The game simply looks amazing.

Crysis employs “sandbox” game play which means the environments are mostly open-ended and you are free to go wherever you want. You have primary objectives that you can head directly for or take the path ‘less traveled’ and explore a little bit. Often when you do, you find secondary objectives which do not advance the story line but are fun to complete. You often are rewarded with new weapons that you would normally get later in the game.

As I mentioned earlier, you are equipped with an advanced Nanosuit which has several modes that augment your fighting abilities. Armor mode protects against damage and you regenerate health faster. Speed mode helps you run past or away from enemies and avoid being hit. The Power mode gives you extra strength to destroy obstacles and killing enemies by punching them, to jump much higher, and to stabilize your weapons when firing. Cloak mode makes you invisible for a short period so you can sneak around undetected and advance on enemy positions. I personally used the Cloak mode the most because I liked to get headshots on unsuspecting enemies but it’s hard to really remain stealthy like you can in Splinter Cell.

The game has a good variety of weapons which you can customize slightly. You can add or remove your silencer, change the scope, or change the grenade attachments. The silencer made your gun feel very weak but it depends on your play style whether you want to use it. I liked how you could use pistols, sub-machine guns, shotguns, automatic rifles, sniper rifles, or even rocket launchers.

The game’s difficulty felt just about right. You cannot simply run out in the open and expect to survive enemy encounters. You had to use cover and your Nanosuit’s powers to be successful. The enemy’s AI was generally smart. North Korean soldiers would try to flank you and flush you out with grenades. There were pockets of enemies everywhere so you always had to be mindful of your surroundings and remaining ammo.

I really enjoyed that Crysis felt like a complete game. The early levels took considerable effort to beat as you unravel the game’s plot. I did not particularly care for the level inside an alien ship. You float around in a zero gravity environment and it is not particularly obvious where you need to go next. It is easy to get disoriented and it actually made me feel nauseous. However, the good part about the level is that it is pretty spooky navigating through the alien ship.

After you get out of the alien ship, the pace of the game seems to really pick up. Waves of aliens rush out and attack everyone in sight. The game concludes with a pretty epic battle with a mini-boss and final boss on an aircraft carrier.

Even though Crysis was released back in 2007 and it is now 2012, this game can still tax most high-end gaming PCs. Fortunately my crazy buff gaming rig was able to comfortably handle running at a full 1920 x 1080 resolution with Very High presets.

To summarize, Crysis is a great game and I wish I played it sooner. It has great graphics that rival even today’s titles. The sound and music add to the game’s immersion. It has a good story and lots of action that keep you engaged all of the way through. The game is deserving of all its accolades and I highly recommend it to any fans of first-person shooters. Just make sure your computer is buff enough.

Portal 2 Review

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I bought a new monitor in late February, an Acer 23″ (G235HAbd) widescreen LCD monitor as an upgrade over my 19″ monitor. It has a max resolution of 1080p and a fast 5 ms response time. It was a great deal for only $109.99 with free shipping from newegg.com.

In early March (the 8th) I started playing Portal 2 to test out my new monitor. I beat the game a few days later on the 12th. It was a great game played on a great monitor! Here are my thoughts.

In the game, you reprise your role as Chell and you awake in a run down version of the Aperture Science facility which was the setting for the first game of the series. An incompetent robot named Wheatley tries to guide you out of the facility but is generally unhelpful. His moronic comments are hilarious to listen to you as you work your way through the game’s puzzles.

As you follow Wheatley’s lead, he accidentally awakens GlaDOS, the antagonist AI from the first Portal. Unsurprisingly she is upset that you killed her in the first game and tries to enact her revenge through a series of rooms that you must solve. She sarcastically insults throughout each puzzle. I found her comments to be even wittier than the first game.

Wheatley devises a plan to replace her core with his own and you help him do so. He gains full control of the facility. Instead of releasing you like he promised, he gets blinded with power and smashes you into the depths of the facility and he turns GlaDOS into a potato battery!

You work through more puzzles and learn about the facility’s origins along the way. You eventually reunite with GlaDOS. She convinces you to work together because Wheatley is destroying the facility due to his poor management.

The final battle was fairly easy to defeat Wheatley and to restore control of the facility to GlaDOS. If I recall correctly, this fight was much easier than GlaDOS was at the end of the first game. After you beat the game, you are released from the facility through an outhouse and out into an open field.

As for the gameplay itself, it is similar to the original Portal. You have a gun which fires two portals which you and other objects can travel through while preserving momentum. You use the portals to solve various puzzles in a series of rooms. Later in the game you are introduced to some experimental goos which make you run faster, jump higher, or be able to create portals on other surfaces. The game does a great job of adding fresh elements while maintaining everything that made the first game such a success.

I really liked this game. I loved the new puzzles. I also enjoyed the hilarious dialogue between the characters. The game also featured more rooms to solve than the first game. I highly recommend Portal 2, especially if you were a fan of the original.

Daniel and Matthew

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My boys are growing up so fast. Daniel is almost 2. Matthew is already 3 months. Where has all of the time gone?

Daniel and Matthew have so much in common. I’m so glad that they are very laid back and easy-going kids. I’ve always thought that Daniel was very easy-going as a baby but I think Matthew is even more so. Nothing ever seems to really bother them and they are rarely fussy without an obvious solution.

Both boys are very happy babies. You can see the warmth in their eyes. They love being talked to. Matthew is in a very talkative stage so good luck getting him to stop talking once he wakes up in the morning (not that I’d ever want him to stop). They both smile all of the time. I’ve even gotten Matthew to laugh on a few occasions. He already shares my sense of humor.

Daniel and Matthew are both very sweet boys. Daniel absolutely loves his little brother and is very protective of him. He makes sure the other kids at daycare don’t get too close to Matthew and is quick to remind them to, “Don’t touch!” It’s also adorable when he leans in kiss Matthew on his forehead.

Both boys love being held but I think Daniel preferred demanded it a bit more than Matthew did. We have to lay Matthew down more often than we did with Daniel because Daniel requires so much personal attention at this age. Matthew seems to be okay on his back as long as you’re nearby or give him something to play with. I think it’s adorable how Matthew falls asleep as he’s being held.

My boys have a lot in common but they each have subtle differences which make them lovable in their unique ways. Daniel and Matthew are adorable babies and will both be handsome young men one day. However everyone always comments that Daniel has the biggest, cutest eyes. I can’t really argue there. Matthew’s eyes are considerably narrower than his brother’s but still very expressive. I swear Matthew’s eyes look just like my brother-in-law’s eyes.

One thing that I am grateful for is how quickly Matthew settled into a “normal” routine. I don’t know how long it took Daniel to get into one but Tary and I were exhausted waiting for it to happen. Matthew’s schedule is like clockwork. He usually falls asleep after his last bottle at around 11 PM. He wakes up to eat at 2 AM and then immediately falls back asleep. Ditto at 5 AM.

They both were very chubby babies but I think Matthew looks chubbier than Daniel at this age. However Daniel was both taller and heavier than Matthew at this point. Matthew was born a bit earlier than Daniel was so perhaps his growth pattern will catch up to Daniel’s pretty soon. Daniel is all grown up now and looks very much like a young boy. I hope Matthew continues to stay chubby because he is just so cute right now.

Daniel seems to prefer his Mommy right now while Matthew seems to prefer his Daddy. I’m glad I at least get one of them. I think since Daniel wants to be around Tary so much, I naturally get to spend more time with Matthew at certain points of the day. But I still melt whenever Daniel does his random acts of sweetness such as sneaking up behind me and hugging my legs, holding out his hands to be picked up, or leaning in to let me kiss his cheek.

I love my boys very much and I couldn’t ask for two better sons. My boys are growing up so fast. I just hope they take their time doing so. I’m enjoying it every step of the way.

New Phone – Samsung Galaxy S II Review

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As I mentioned in prior posts, a few months ago I was tired of my old phone and was ready for an upgrade. As much as I hate Apple, their fan boys, and iTunes, I was just about resigned to go to the nearest AT&T store and pick up the new iPhone 4S because there wasn’t another Android phone that caught my eye. Unfortunately I was not upgrade eligible until the 1st of December so I had to wait.

While waiting for December 1st, I continued researching phones. I started learning more about the Samsung Galaxy S II which was recently released on AT&T. The phone had tremendous success in Europe and Asia. However it took forever to come over states-side. When it was finally December 1st, I found that Radio Shack had a sale for it for only $100! Great specs. Long feature list. Awesome price. It was a no brainer!

I am so glad I decided to buy this phone instead of the iPhone 4S and here is my review:

Screen – The first thing you would immediately notice when using this phone is its beautiful 4.3” Super AMOLED Plus screen. The picture quality is amazing. I love the color contrast thanks to the deep blacks. Watching movies such as Avatar is a real pleasure.

The screen size (4.3”) is pretty close to what I consider the ideal size for phones. Any larger and it starts to look silly up against your face. The screen makes the iPhone’s 3.5” screen look tiny in comparison. Even though this phone is larger, it still feels great in your hand, and can fit easily in your pocket.

Having a larger screen makes everything from going on Facebook, Twitter, surfing the web, watching videos, or playing games a lot easier on the eyes. I definitely could not go back to a smaller screen size.

Performance – This phone is fast! Navigating through menus, home screens, and the browser is quick and responsive. This is the first Android phone I’ve used that I did not feel sluggishness between my finger and the display. Apps and games load quickly. 3D games look great and run smoothly.

Wireless Radios – The Wi-Fi, HSPA+, Bluetooth, and GPS radios all worked as expected. Data connectivity is very fast on my 802.11n home router. HSPA+ is a nice upgrade over normal 3G speeds. I wish I had 4G LTE but it is not available in my area anyways.

The Bluetooth radio works flawlessly with my wireless headset which I use for hands-free calling. It also works great for transferring files between other Android devices. I also use the Bluetooth radio with my friend’s PS3 controller for playing video games.

I am so happy the GPS actually works unlike its predecessor, the Samsung Galaxy S. It really sucked not having a working GPS so having a working one makes you appreciate it that much more.

Cameras – The phone’s dual cameras are great. The rear 8MP camera takes high quality photos that some experts say rivals those taken with the iPhone 4S. The auto-focus is a little sensitive but generally works. I also wish the shutter speed was a bit faster. I also like the addition of the LED flash for taking photos in ultra low light.

The rear camera also takes great videos at 1080p at 30 fps. I use it a lot to take videos of my kids just being cute. I should really use this feature more often just to capture them growing up but I digress.

The 2MP front-facing camera is also great for video chat apps such as Skype. The picture quality seems to be pretty good and definitely is much better than the front-facing camera on my wife’s iPad 2.

Other Hardware – Voice and call quality are good. I haven’t had any issues making or receiving calls.

The speaker is sufficiently loud. I like its placement along the bottom of the phone where it is less likely to accidentally muffle the sound with your fingers.

TouchWiz 4.0 – Samsung has updated the phone’s interface to their custom TouchWiz 4.0 UI interface. Overall I think it is really good. The icons and apps look good and work pretty well. The settings menus are large and easy to read. Screen transitions and navigation feel smooth.

The stock apps work pretty well for the most part. I use the email app for work. I use the video player a lot to play video clips for Daniel. I like how the video player uses the power button as a screen lock. The stock browser stinks (e.g., crashes a lot) compared to the iPhone’s Safari browser. Fortunately, there are plenty of free 3rd-party browsers to download and use instead. I personally prefer Dolphin HD.

I really like how the home screens are arranged and managed. You can have up to 7 home screens which is more than most people could realistically use. Similar to the previous version of TouchWiz, unfortunately it is still a pain that you cannot dynamically rearrange apps on a home screen or within a folder. It is now 2012! Why hasn’t this feature been implemented yet?!

The dock icons at the bottom are nice defaults. For the adventurous type, you can swap out these icons with other apps but it takes jumping through some hoops. I replaced the stock browser icon to open Dolphin HD instead.

Apps – This phone has great compatibility with the majority of apps and video games. I don’t know why but the old Samsung Galaxy S had so many compatibility issues. All of the popular apps and games work. I think this phone is so popular worldwide that many app developers were able to physically test their apps on this phone.

Battery Life – The 1650 mAh battery is more than sufficient to last through an average day of moderate use. Android phones aren’t always known for good battery life but the battery life on this phone seemed at least on par with my previous iPhone 3G. I like that the phone also uses a microUSB connector so it was easy (and CHEAP) to buy additional charging cables to leave in my car and at the office.

Bloatware – One of my minor complaints about this phone is it came with lots of bloatware. Thanks AT&T for nothing…jerks. Actually you can blame just about any carrier for this mess. It was relatively easy though to root the phone and to remove all of these apps. I just wish I didn’t have to but c’est la vie.

Conclusion — Overall the Samsung Galaxy S II is a great phone and is easily the best phone that I have ever owned to date. It is very fast and can easily handle 3D graphics in games as well as everyday tasks. The phone has a great screen size while remaining super thin, lightweight, and pocket-able. This phone is exactly what the first Samsung Galaxy S should have been. On top of great features and specs, this phone can be bought on sale. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for their next smart phone is open to something other than an iPhone.

New Phone – What I Love About Android

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Even though I have a lot of complaints about Android phones and the Android ecosystem in general, there are still plenty of things that I love about Android that I would sorely miss if I went back to using an iPhone. They include:

Swype – Swype is a virtual keyboard for Android that lets you slide your finger across the virtual keys (swiping) to enter words instead of tapping individual letters. It takes a little getting used to at first but once you get the hang of it, you never can go back to hunt-and-pecking again. It is incredibly fast and I love being efficient.

App Drawer — I really hate clutter on the workspaces of my computing devices such as my desktop or laptop PCs. My phone is no exception to that. I love trying out new apps and games. Unfortunately this does not scale well on the iPhone because all of the apps you have installed sit on your homescreens. This means that you either have lots of homescreens to scroll through or start putting everything into folders.

I love how Android addressed this with their App Drawer. All of your installed apps can be found in the App Drawer which you can explicitly visit by clicking on the icon for it. You can add just your favorite apps to your homescreens which really just creates a shortcut to it. This is analogous to your Windows Desktop where the icons there are just shortcuts to programs installed in PC’s Programs folder. This way, your homescreens aren’t cluttered with apps that you want to keep but rarely use.

Bigger Screens – In technology bigger isn’t always better but when it comes to screen size, most of it the time it is. All iPhones currently have 3.5″ screens. Android phones come with many different screen sizes upwards of 5.3″ screens while still remaining portable.

My previous phone had a 4″ screen and everyday things like surfing the web and watching YouTube videos were more enjoyable on the bigger screen. Once you get used to a larger screen size, the iPhone starts to look tiny in comparison.

Choices — Choices, choices, choices. With Android you have tons of choices. As I mentioned above, you can buy a phone with different screen sizes. You can get an Android phone from Samsung, HTC, Motorola, or whoever else tickles your fancy.

Each manufacturer tries to differentiate themselves by implementing their own overlays on top of the core Android OS to provide a richer user experience. As a power user I don’t particular care for these changes but most casual users seem to like them. If you don’t like Samsung’s TouchWiz interface, you can get a HTC phone and use their HTC Sense interface or Motorola’s Blur. The bottom line is the choice is up to you.

No iTunes – I hate iTunes with a passion. It’s a crappy program that has gotten so bloated and slow over the years. It sucks using it to create backups, sync apps and contacts, and transferring files to/from the iPhone. It always took hours and I could never understand why it was so slow. Syncing was dangerous and confusing and there was always that nagging feeling that I could possibly lose my contacts or files because iTunes decided to be stupid.

With Android phones you are free from iTunes jail. I love being able to connect my Android phone to any computer, mount the SD card, and copy whatever files I wanted back and forth on the device. It is quick and most importantly, very easy.

I’m also glad that all of my contacts on my Android phone are automatically stored on my Google account. I can completely erase everything on my phone and then instantly restore all of my previous contacts in a few minutes.

Customization — One of the best features about Android is just about everything is customizable. Don’t like the homescreens? Install a new launcher. Don’t like the manufacturer overlays? Just install one of the many ROMs created by other Android users. I happen to think that most ROMs are utter garbage but at least you have the freedom to try them all out and see what features you like and which ones you don’t. Then you can combine the ones you like and create your own ROM.

Removable Battery — Unlike iPhones, many Android phones come with a removable battery. While this may not sound like much of a feature, it gives the user a few options. First off you can replace the stock battery with an extended version to get extra battery life. Some newer Android phones are so thin and light that some users prefer the added bulk that an extended battery can provide.

Also if your stock battery ever gives you any problems, you can easily buy a new one on eBay or Amazon and replace it yourself. If this happened to your iPhone, you better hope you have the protection plan or be prepared to buy a new phone.

Expandable Memory — iPhones come with a fixed amount of internal storage. You could choose to buy an iPhone with more storage space but each additional upgrade costs $100! If you happen to use it all up with apps, mp3s, photos, and videos, you’ll have to do some digital housekeeping to free up more space if you want to copy or install anything else on your phone.

However with many Android phones, you have the option to install expandable memory cards. Some 32 GB microSD cards cost as little as $30. Just pop it into the back of your phone and you’re all set. If you plug your phone into your computer using a USB cable, then you can easily copy files back and forth onto the new card as well.

Open Ecosystem – I love that Android has a much more open ecosystem than Apple’s walled-garden approach. You can find apps that do all kinds of things such as creating automatic backups of your apps, give you the ability to tether a mobile device to your phone, or play some classic games using a PlayStation emulator. Most of these kinds of apps are banned from the Apple app store for various reasons which aren’t always obvious. Android app developers have more freedom to write apps and users have more choices as to which apps to install and where to get them from.

Notification Bar — The notification bar is a hidden menu which appears when you slide your finger down from the top of the screen. When revealed, it shows all of your recent notifications and provides quick access to enable/disable common features such as the Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS radios. This is such a great feature that Apple shamelessly stole implemented it in their latest iOS version.

Widgets – Android phones support widgets which are little windows that can display real-time data or provide a quick interface to different apps. You can add a widget to your homescreen which always displays the weather of your current location. You could add another widget which lets you see your favorite friend’s Facebook and Twitter messages. App developers can implement whatever widgets they want and as a user, you can choose which ones are most convenient for you.

Share Everything — On Android phones just about every app can exchange data with every other app on the phone. This is very useful if have a link that you found on one app and wanted to pass that data to your Facebook and Twitter apps so you could share it with your friends. You could take a photograph with one app, open it and edit it in another app, and then add it as an attachment and send it in an email in yet another app. The usefulness of this flexibility has no bounds.

It’s Not Apple — Last but not least, my favorite thing about Android phones is that it is not an Apple product. Apple is a smart company. They have brainwashed millions of users into being mindless iSheep. People will blindly buy the next iProduct because Apple tells them it is the best and not verify the validity of any of their statements. For those who have been paying attention, Android has released some pretty great phones as well.

Apple does a good job of releasing innovative products. However they are also quick to flex their patent-hoarding muscles to sue any competitors who also release innovative products. It makes perfect business sense to limit competitors from selling their products but it hurts competition and ultimately limits choices for consumers. What Apple is doing is limiting innovation, not driving it.

I cannot stand supporting a company like Apple that engages in such anti-competitive practices. There’s plenty of room in the marketplace for Apple and Android and anyone else who wants to release good products. Unfortunately Apple doesn’t feel that way so a vote for Android is a vote against Apple.