Sunday, November 28, 2010

PCC Rallybots

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The only PCC 5 pack I want is the Dinobots set, but I got the news too late that it is already out of stocks! Better than getting nothing, I bought the Rallybots set and Smolder as they are on sale. I always want to get a 5 pack set to get some drone limbs for the commander robot. It is really difficult to choose a 5 pack as they are really bad designs. I picked the Rallybots set because the drone vehicles look pretty nice. Smolder has the coolest robot among all the PCC.
(click to enlarge the photos)

First have a look on Smolder
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Smolder in package.

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Very nice looking vehicle mode.

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Very cool robot mode.

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Smolder's partner Chopster

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Chopster becomes a big axe!

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Power up mode

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Leadfoot vs. Smolder

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Pinpoint vs. Chopster

Now Double Clutch and the Rallybots
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Double Clutch in package.

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Double Clutch has a nice muscle car mode.

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With the drone vehicles.

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Even a great car mode, Double Clutch has a stupid robot mode...

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Lets combine!

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Power up mode, with stupid limbs.

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Attack! Decepticons!

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"You don't need those limbs!"

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"Smolder, Power up!"

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"Lets get the limbs back~"

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Power up Leadfoot seems to have the best articulations.

After playing the 5 pack for a while, I can definitely say PCC is a failure! The drone limbs suck. I don't find any fun with the "power up" mode by sticking the limbs to the commander robot. I think the Dinobots set will be the last PCC set I will get.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Little Tyrant

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The new wave of TF reached Hong Kong. I didn't know that the people here are so eager to get new TF. When I went to the department store, I could only get this little Megatron :(
Though I couldn't get the other new stuffs, I satisfied with this little Megatron.
(click to enlarge the photos)

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Reveal the Shield series. The rub sign comes back!

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Very nice robot mode. The only complaint is the head cannot turn.

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Stupid regulation to put the orange cap on it! Everyone knows this is a toy!

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This Megatron is small, but still far bigger than the WST Megatron.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

EEEPC 701 Jaunty to Maverick

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這次可以算是意外的upgrade. 本來沒打算要把EEEPC的Ubuntu升級, 但一直用的9.04早幾天Update Manager開始彈出"No Longer Support"的通知, 原來Jaunty己面世18個月了. Update Manager只可以直接升級到9.10, 也沒所謂, 就升到9.10吧!

按一個button就可以升級, 只是花時間等吧, 不過download完後, 還要多等2個多小時安裝, 只好先睡一覺. 醒來發現升級過程還要選幾次Y/N, 趕著上班結果要等到第二晚才可以完成整個升級. 但似乎我在9.04時作了不少改動, 升到9.10後, 整個OS都變得很不正常! 先不說Update Manager把我已update的application變回舊版, 而且不斷彈出language update的dialog, 更嚴重是這些language update根本不能完成! 其他application也變得怪怪的, 一怒之下只好重裝Ubuntu了! 恨自己update前沒有做cloning...

反正要裝就裝最新的! 之前剛替公司的一台MacMini裝了10.10, Maverick的感覺給我還不錯, 但確實有點擔心到達701能否支持得住呢? 安裝過程倒是比以前裝Jaunty時順利得多, 而且基本上所有peripheral都可以用, 包括錄音(Jaunty時要改alsa config的, 因為Maverick是用PulseAudio嗎?) 只是WiFi還是怪怪的, 跟Jaunty時一樣, 不過反正我不用, 算了. 但始終也不算是一帆風順, 還是花了我一天多時間做configuration, 週末假期就這樣泡湯...

以下是做過的改動:
  • Screen Resolution
    因為剛買了新的Monitor, 是Full HD 1920x1080, 之前在Jaunty改了xorg.conf後就可以正常顯示了, Maverick不會有問題吧? 果然Maverick default已有1920x1080@60Hz的選項, 真方便! 但開心不要太早! 選這個1920x1080@60Hz是不能正常顯示的! 會花畫面! 怎辦才好呢? 才剛買一個星期的monitor就此廢武功?
    花了我大半天時間, 找盡網上各種方法也不成功, 最後求人不如求己, 發現到要用1920x1080@61Hz才可!但怎樣才可以弄出這個1920x1080@61Hz呢? 還是加Modeline! 不過這次不是加到xorg.conf, 而是加在~/.xprofile, 在login時跑3句xrandr就好了.
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  • 另一個必定要做的是Overclock, 還是裝EEEasy scripts. 但這套script到Jaunty就沒再update了, 安裝時會遇到asus_eee module compile的問題. 要將asus_eee.c裡面2句comment, 否則build不過.
    //eee_proc_rootdir->owner = THIS_MODULE;
    //proc_file->owner = THIS_MODULE;
    Build到asus_eee module後, EEEasy scripts安裝就沒問題了, 可以Overclock到900MHz.
  • Maverick的中文輸入default由SCIM轉了到IBus, 用法跟SCIM沒有太大分別, 但因為我的 System lanauge是英文, 倉頡輸入法會default輸入簡體字! 太過份了吧! 倉頡本身是繁體輸入法來啊! 網上找到要將/usr/share/ibus-table/engine/table.py line 126改成return 1才可!
現在只有一項是搞了半天還搞不定的, 就是開機時Plymouth在external monitor會花畫面. 這問題網上有解決方法, 就是在kernel boot parameter加入nomodeset和改用uvesafb display. 這樣做是可以正常顯示Plymouth logo, 但boot不進gdm, 只會進到console login. 結果搞了半天還是得放棄. 唯一得到的是知道多了一點grub2的configuration...

Sunday, November 7, 2010

New Monitor~

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之前的Samsung 19" monitor雖然用了4年多還工作正常, 但只有VGA+DVI input, 讓我的PS2呆在一旁. 今天就買了新的monitor, LG W2363V. 這個monitor最特出的是有各種輸入: VGA, DVI, Component, HDMI x 2! 本來以為要買LCD TV才可以有Component input, 怎料幾星期前在電腦商場見到這個號稱"打機必備"的monitor, 真是為我打造一樣!
用了一會感覺還不錯, 但還是不太習慣這麽大的畫面, 始終我的房間太小了... Resolution由1440x900提升到Full HD的1920x1080, 對小小的EEEPC來說也是新挑戰! 畫面是能正常顯示, 但EEEPC的風扇似乎轉得很響了 ~_~
還有最不慣的是Full HD下, 平日看的RMVB解像度已跟不上了, full screen效果不太好, 但HD的片源EEEPC又不夠快decode, 如何是好?