The Aurora II's Not Ainol!

Finally! After exactly one month of waiting, I took delivery of the Novo7 Aurora II Android tablet by Ainol.

First impression, the tablet is quite thin (compared to the Optus MyTab), and lighter. It looks smaller, but that's only because it doesn't have dedicated softkeys. It comes with a set of earphones, USB cable, and an AC charger. Does it mean I always have to use the AC charger to charge it? Fortunately, no. USB charging is supported via the mini-USB port.

The 7" 1024x600 IPS display is gorgeous. There's only one small slit at the back for a mono speaker, but audio is load and clear. I have no use for the built-in Chinese apps, so I flashed in a CM10 custom ROM to replace the ICS OS that it came with. After some time on the slatedroid.com forums, I decided to go with  Christian Troy's CM10 ROM. Upgrade procedure is pretty straightforward.

1. extract the CWM zip file and copy the two files to an external microSD card
2. copy the CM10 ROM, gapps, and the A2 compatibility zip files to the same microSD card
3. boot the tablet in CWM recovery mode (Power + Volume- at the same time)
4. do a backup just in case
5. select "wipe data/factory reset" and confirm the deletion
6. select "install zip from SD card", then select "choose zip from SD card", then select the CM10 file
7. next is gapps
8. last is the A2 compatibility zip
9. reboot the tablet

The tablet is surprising snappy and responsive. 1.5GHz dual-core Cortex A9! Did I mention the display is awesome? My only gripe is that the plastic back doesn't seem removable, and tends to get warm after a while. Overall, this is a nice little tablet. Awesome value for the price. Too bad I'm not the one who's going to be using it.

Fotopic Is Back!

Well, not really. If you remember, Fotopic shut down a few years ago (back in 2011) because parent company Snappy Designs Ltd went into liquidation. The private buyer was supposed to resurrect the service, but that plan was eventually abandoned. And now, finally they're allowing users to download their photo collections. Access is provided on a rolling basis alphabetically, with usernames starting with "0" to "9" or the letter "a" getting priority. Once the process is complete, the site will be permanently shut down. Downloaded all my albums in a jiffy.

Sony CMT-CX5BiPB Micro Hi-Fi

The unit is a bit smaller than I expected. Good thing, too, because we actually had to take away some family photos on top of the TV stand to make room for it. Retails for $249, bought it online for much less than that.

What I like about it:

• Wall mountable - not like I'm gonna put nails into my wall to mount it.
• Digital radio - reception not too good in our area, but it works.
• Nice, clean, crisp sound quality.
• iPod connectivity. Now, my iPod nano with the broken screen can get some use.
• 3 x iPod universal dock adapters provided. None of which fits my 4th-gen iPod or 4th-gen iPod nano.
• Top slot-loading CD drive - a space saver.

Cons:

• No USB input support
• Speakers not attachable to the main unit
• Rear connectivity area (for power, audio in, and L/R speakers) too cramped
• Doesn't support the 4th-gen iPod classic, even though it's "Made for iPod and iPhone"
• No AM band support

Recipe 2012.10.08 - Toyomansi Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 kilos chicken wings
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (or calamansi)
• 2 cloves garlic, squashed
• freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Marinade chicken wings overnight. Remove marinade, then fry chicken wings. Easy peasy.

My first attempt resulted in the chicken pieces being too salty. Maybe switch to a less salty soy sauce, or dilute marinade a little bit with water.