Samsung YP-U3 on Linux

Just yesterday, I decided to give myself an early birthday gift. With 2000 pesos at hand, I got myself an audio player. It’s a Samsung YP-U3 (a YP-U3ZB/XTC to be exact). At first I was hesitant to get this player, mainly for two reasons: First MTP devices on Linux can be pain to use. I read you need to do a firmware change to make it a mass storage device. Second would be the “so-so” sound quality. I was tempted to get a Creative Zen Stone at a marked down price of about 1500 pesos, but I resisted. The primary consideration was I want a flash-based audio player that plays the Ogg Vorbis format. I just don’t want to re-encode some of my music to mp3, all are on Ogg Vorbis. So, after a grueling search for the elusive black model, I finally got my YP-U3. The first thing I noticed is the design. I really like the small “gum stick” form factor and its light weight. I also like the fact there is no USB cable needed, because of its retractable USB connector. The included cable organizer was a welcome extra. After charging it for about an hour or so, I was quite shock to find out that the YP-U3 sold in the Philippines is already a mass storage type device. I just plugged it on Zenwalk and bam! it’s seen like a flash drive with a device label of U3. Sweet, no more flashing needed! The player worked very well on Amarok. I got it to work using the Generic Audio Player plugin. Transferring tracks to my YP-U3 on Amarok is quite easy. After configuring Amarok to save the track to the Music folder of the device, it’s just a matter of drag, drop and hitting “Transfer”. After trasferring music, it came done to the sound quality test. Suprising, for such a budget-friendly player, the sound quality is nice. Ok, it’s wasn’t spectacular, but it was nice, added to the fact that most of the Ogg Vorbis tracks I got are in variable bit rate encoding. While it all sounds “sunny”, this player does have some nagging problems. The most notable is the touch control system. It’s so darn sensitive. But, eventually, you will get the hang of it. The other thing would be the LED, it’s just for cosmetic effect. But luckily, you can turn it off. I just wished Samsung could come up with a more higher capacity version, I can’t find anything higher that 1 Gb.

The verdict: The Samsung YP-U3 is an example that having a good audio player need not be expensive. If you are looking for a good audio player and you’re cash strapped, this player is highly recommended.

NOTE: I’m not sponsored by Samsung to make this review.

Novell: Linux Ingrata

A persona ingrata, in English, literally means an ungrateful person. Such a person does not have respect in relation to his/her roots or origins. Such is the case with the recent action undertaken by Novell. In the tradition of its overlords from Microsoft, Novell commissioned this FUD-laced marketing ploy. The thing that really offends me with this is that Novell IS now a Linux company (well, sort of, they should rename Suse Linux to M$ Linux). Does having paid subscription based support make them superior to community based support? Not really, because a good in-house support infrastructure can augment the need for third-party paid support, especially if one goes the route of free, community-driven Linux (unpaid Linux is such a stupid term). Money doesn’t give you the right logic, you know. That goes to the whole machinery behind FUD attacks. The financiers of FUD often rely on “pseudo-experts” (self-proclaimed technology journalists, writers or consultancy firms but do not know anything about open source or technology and most often just know number crunching). I think Novell should be slapped to death by such action. Clearly, Novell has gone down to the level of just a Microsoft minion. I wish a fate worst than eternal damnation for that company, I just wish…

Technorati Tags: Novell, Linux, FUD

Idiotic Rules

I don’t know about you, but don’t you hate rules that has a hindering effect? I’m quite pissed at the moment I made this post. I can’t get the remittance by aunt bestowed on me because of a idiotic rule of having 2 IDs. Why would I say idiotic? Well, the problem is I really have one ID, they really insist on two. For me, it’s quite illogical. Having two IDs doesn’t really guarantee proof of your identity. And you know what, we really need that remittance. Rules are made for people, and not the other way around. Fsck with SM Cubao and BDO Remit!!! I don’t care if it’s a BSP circular or whatever, it’s still an idiotic and illogical hinderance.