Microsoft is paying people to search in Bing!

I recently discovered that Microsoft is actually paying people for searching in their search engine Bing through their Bing Rewards Program initiated in 2010. The reward ratio is around 0.5 cents per search.
Sign up Bing Rewards through here

It is not my intention to promote this Bing Rewards Program. I really feel bad for Microsoft on this. Their search engine Bing only holds 18.7 percent of US search market share even with all the pre-installation, integration with Internet Explorer, Windows Phone, plus the reward program. I remember the first thing after getting my new PC is open IE once, use Bing to search for google chrome, and that's it.

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Microsoft is paying people to search in Bing! (2)

Microsoft is not alone in this sad situation. Retail stores participated in similar programs facilitated by "Shop Kick", a start-up company founded in 2009. They're paying people for walk in the stores. I tried the shop kick app today. The reward ratio is around 60 cents per visit to a participating Target/Macy's/American Eagle/Safeway, etc.
Sign up with Shop Kick here

Retail stores fight online shopping through Shopkick while Microsoft fights Google with Bing Rewards.

Is it really a brilliant idea to "buy" loyalty from people? A higher reward could steal the customers easily. There's no loyalty here, unless there's a truly superior product to offer. Google does yield better search result compared to Bing in almost every aspect. Reward along won't take Bing a long way. 

A suggestion to Microsoft from me, maybe you should at least try giving out better results in one specialize area, for example, social network? shopping? picture? Let people know there's something to expect from Bing. How about that? As of retail stores, I can't think of anything but prayers for you. Good luck to you all.

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Change Amazon Fire Phone into an almost normal Android phone without root

With the tricks listed as below, you can change your Amazon Fire Phone to a almost normal Android Phone without the need of rooting the phone.

Please note that all the methods and resources are originally collected from the internet and tested work on the latest Fire OS 3.6.8 with my own Amazon Fire Phone. But side-loading contains potential security issue, please play with it at your own risk. No guarantee for safety.

1, Install Google Play Store

There's plenty of Youtube tutorial out there, and my attempt to install Google Play is successful as well. Find out more about my own Google Play installation details here.

Briefly speaking, all you need is 4 apk files listed as below:

Click here to download APK

1, Google Account Manager (GoogleLoginService.apk)

2, Google Services Frameworks (GoogleServicesFramework.apk)

3, Google Play Services

4, Google Play Store

Remember to go to "Settings -> Application & Parental Control -> Prevent non-Amazon app installation -> Turn Off".

I extract my GoogleLoginService.apk from CM9 GApps package. But it seems that firephone can only work with specific version of Google Services Framework. Several attempts on installing different versions of Framework extracted from CM mod failed. After briefly go through the signature, I decide to go with the Services Framework I found online. And finally, it is installing. Google Play Services and Google Play Store are not hard to get. Just install them in order, and everything works. Well, at least Gmail and Google Play works.

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2, Install Google Maps 4.4

[Update] This problem has been fixed. Latest version of Google Maps works just fine. 

Only this early version google maps works. (Later version of Google Maps all suffer from label rendering issue, you can try and see for yourself.) 

Please remember to turn off auto-update in your amazon/google play to ensure it won't update.

Click here to download Google Maps 4.4 APK

Amazon Fire Phone openbox experience

Yesterday, my firephone along with my free 1 year prime membership arrived, yeah!

Open box experience
+1 The frustration free packaging is indeed easy to open. 
+1 The phone itself looks quality and present beautifully.
+1 The headphone with remote and mic looks really quality as well. 
+1 The charge is lightweight and small, good for travel.

I basically pretty satisfied to the look and feel of the phone and all its accessories.

A Glance at FireOS
Before installing my beloved Google services and flushing away all the efforts of Jeff Bezos and his team, to be fair, let's give Fire OS a chance and take a tour around.

-1 Dynamic Perspective

It's more than useless for now. It only works on lock screen, maps, kindle and some app icons. I have to say other than reading, I won't even use the feature. Plus, considering its heavy power consumption (because it uses 4 camera to track the position of my face), my rating would be "Sorry, I am not very impressed".

+1 Firefly Technology

We have to give Bezos some credit on this feature. This firefly thing works way better than google goggles on recognize merchandises (especially the ones that Amazon is selling). Scanning name card with it turn out to be fast and pretty accurate. However, be careful with urls, I tried scanning urls from my computer screens to open a webpage on Firephone, the result is not correct almost everytime.

Overall, since I loved the TV show with the same name, Firefly, I decided to give this feature a "better than I expected" rating.

+0 Mayday

It's a good feature to consider if you're buying a phone for your parents. Good old face to face-in-the-phone-screen customer service is a luxury nowadays. Plus, maybe it can even help them order grocer online. And, if I remember correctly, prime membership can be shared between family members. Therefore, it is a +1 if this phone is purchased for a senior family member. 

However, since the majority of cell phone buyer are young people, take me as an example, I don't think I am lonely enough to call and talk to a representative instead of google it myself. So for me, that's a +0.

Misc

+1 Camera takes brilliant pictures.

+1 Best music playback speaker on smart phone.

-1 The launcher is really bad, hard to navigate.

-1 Voice recognition is ok, but I've had better (Siri, Google Now)

-1 App store lacks a lot of very good apps, probably due to poor google api support. I cannot make my Onebusaway work after several attempts.

Phones & Pads, It's time for a family photo

A family photo for my phones and pads, I believe one day you will gather around in my garage sell giving that I can afford a house with a nice yard or a spacious garage. Imaging, a flea market 50 years later, is there gonna be a spot for these folks?

From left to right, iPod Touch 4th Gen, Nexus 4, Huawei Honor, Amazon Fire Phone, Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, iPad Mini, iPad 2. 
I admit, I should have trade-in some of those, but it's too much trouble and they have a value, emotionally.

Install Google Play on Amazon Fire Phone

Yesterday, my firephone along with my free 1 year prime membership arrived, yeah!

Installation of Google Play

There's plenty of Youtube tutorial out there, and my attempt to install Google Play is successful as well. 

Briefly speaking, all you need is 4 apk files listed as below:

1, Google Account Manager (GoogleLoginService.apk)

2, Google Services Frameworks (GoogleServicesFramework.apk)

3, Google Play Services

4, Google Play Store

Remember to go to "Settings -> Application & Parental Control -> Prevent non-Amazon app installation -> Turn Off".

I extract my GoogleLoginService.apk from CM9 GApps package. But it seems that firephone can only work with specific version of Google Services Framework. Several attempts on installing different versions of Framework extracted from CM mod failed. After briefly go through the signature, I decide to go with the Services Framework I found online. And finally, it is installing. Google Play Services and Google Play Store are not hard to get. Just install them in order, and everything works. Well, at least Gmail and Google Play works.

After Installation of Google Play

Several issues even after we have Google Play in place. 

1, Maps (affecting all apps using Google maps api)

This is pretty serious. Due to lacking in some google components, some apps in google play won't work on Fire Phone. Without Google Maps, Onebusaway, Uber(google play edition), and several apps have map rendering issue. For now, I am using Nokia maps to navigate.

I am planning to fix this by finding an older version of google maps. 

2, Launcher (affecting wallpaper and widgets)

After installing Nova launcher as usual, I realize that I cannot use wallpaper or widgets. It is just a black screen with app icons on it. It feel like I bought an apple iPhone again. I love widgets!!!

I am planning to fix this by try installing other built-in apk packages from GApps. I hope that installing the original launcher and related apk would solve this issue.

3, Compatibility

Even if I can get issue one & two right, some apps in app store will probably still shown as not-compatible. 

I am planning to install Coolapk market as a backup plan, just in case.

4, More googles

Google Photos won't work, Google Input won't work, etc. I can either live with it or googling how to fight it.

Overall, if you're patient and knowledgeable, buying an Amazon Fire Phone at $199 with a year of prime membership is a good deal. The hardware of this phone is well worth the $199. It's the best phone you can get for $100 (the prime membership is a must, who won't pay $99 for it?). $100 Huawei phones might look nice at first, but it can not even come close when comparing the hardware inside.

I will write a tutorial on Google Maps and Launcher issue if I can get it fixed. Just stay tuned and wish me luck!

The Death of Blog?

Tags: #Google trends #Reading #Blog

Let's see the google trend of blog first. The interest towards blogs is slowly, but constantly dropping overtime since 2009.

Blogging is no longer cool, that's for sure. Even Facebook is no longer considered cool to teens. But we google every day and find useful information on blogs, such as "How to change my computer settings?", or "How to bake a cheese cake?", or "How to fix my doorknob?". Of course, there're numerous YouTube videos covering every topic you're looking for. However, sometimes it is hard to follow the instructions shown in the video because they cannot cover all angles. Plus, we might have already figured out the most part of it. All we need to know is one tiny specific detail. Luckily, we still have blogs covering all these stuffs for us.

Think about it, we no longer read, unless it's serious business to deal with. We no longer subscribe to newspapers and magazines. Less and Less people read before they go to bed. Instead, we just watch TV, the moving pictures. It is indeed easier to take in information through a visual experience, which all the information is pre-digested and ready to serve rather than comprehensively read pages of content all by ourselves. Although some might argue that we lose so many layers of the information concealed within the content. My opinion is, sorry, if a writer still tries to hide something deep between lines, I won't even try to dig it out. There're so many more to take in. Why bother? That's nothing new. We're lazy by human nature. Laziness is the ladder leading to technology advancement. 

Back on track, the death of blog? It depends on how you view it. Yes, it probably won't get good attention as it used to be. But it can certainly serve as a place to express ourselves. Me? I am just keep writing something every day, try to share useful experience, personal insight. People read it, people don't read it, it doesn't really matter.

I am heading to watch some good TV. :)

Cracking the code of the "red envelop"

This Chinese spring festival, while family are gathering to watch the traditional Spring Festival Gala held annually by CCTV, the official media of People's Republic of China, some folks cannot take their eyes off their smart phone. They're trying to get their hands on the "red envelop".



What is this "red envelop"?

A "red envelop" is a traditional gift not only in Spring Festival, but can also be spotted in birthday party, wedding ceremony, graduation and some other special occasions. Of course, we're not giving away empty envelops. What do you think we are, monsters? The red envelop is always filled with the suitable amount of cash. 

Let's do some FAQ first.
1, How much money is considered suitable? 
It depends on the relationship between them. Generally speaking, the closer they are, the fatter this envelop would be.

2, It seems that they're simply exchanging similar amount of money, what's the point?
The thing is, two families normally do that via giving that red envelop to the young generation, normally, the "single child" of each others'. And yes, it is just another form of gift exchanging. It's a social courtesy. 

How is things different this year?

This year, Chinese IT giants Alibaba and Tencent, who are competing with each other in the field of e-payment, are giving away "red envelops" as well as encouraging people to give each other "red envelops" via their apps. 

It's rather simple. Take Alipay for an example. First, add payment method to Alipay, a debit card/credit card or prepaid e-filling card to load some balance. Second, generate a "red envelop code" which can be a random 8-digit-number or some customized Chinese/English characters. Third, set the amount of gift-money you're comfortable with and send the code to a group of people. People receiving the code can input the code into their Alipay app and withdraw their share to their Alipay account.

The best part is that, you can give away for example 200 dollars in total to a group of 5 to 10 friends. The amount they each get is randomized. One lucky guy could receive 100 dollars and some other folks only get 50 cents. Adding randomized distribution into this game brings more of a lottery-like fun. 

What's so brilliant about it is that the fusion of a traditional red envelop and the lucky draw encourages middle aged people who share a conservative view on e-payment to try it out. It is foreseeable that the number of active Alipay & Wechat Waller user would increase significantly. Plus, it brings the younger generation who's normally playing the passive receiving role into the game. It is observed that a considerable amount of red envelops is distributed by young users ranging from 20-30 years old. Good job, Alibaba & Tencent! What a way to promote their payment! Watch and learn Paypal, Apple pay or whatever pay you're!

Nerds go go go!

To bring more fun to the game, a small group of people hide their code with a puzzle. Only those who can solve the puzzle gets the money. Morse code, 2^317289+3^2922 mod 99999999, pixels in a picture, frequency hidden in a sound wave, you name it!

It's been a great 2014 for me. 
Happy Spring Festival to you all! 
Live long and prosper! 

Should I buy a Amazon Fire Phone unlocked 32GB?

Update:
I just bought it. Wish me luck.

It has been a while since Amazon dropped the price for its Amazon Fire Phone (32GB unlocked) to 199 USD. The best part is, it comes with a one year prime membership. That makes the real price for the phone only 99 USD. That probably is the best deal for an unlocked phone now. 

I've always been using unlocked phones because I am not a huge fan of a 2-year contact.
My Nexus 4 is a little dated and the 8 GB storage is really tight. I have to reset it from time to time to keep it running smoothly. Trust me, resetting phone is a lot trouble. Tons of password reset and security questions because I simply cannot remember any of my passwords for those mobile apps!!!
(I am resetting it right now!!)

I've been researching on how to install all the google services on Amazon Fire Phone. It seems possible but not without some struggles.

------------------------Pros and Cons--------------------------
Pros:
1, Good price!
2, Powerful hardware!
3, Comes with my beloved Amazon Prime

Cons:
1, Possible trouble/failure in installing google services, which is necessity to me. The Amazon app store is awful and a lots apps won't work without proper google framework supporting them.
2, Insufficient battery capacity (2400 mah) with 4 cameras + 4.7 inch screen. It probably won't last longer than a day.
3, It does not have any exciting features other than maybe scanning product to buy it on Amazon?
4, I won't be the first to taste all the latest major android updates.

I am really hesitating on this purchase. Should I or shouldn't I do it? Any advice?

Happy Valentine's Weekend

Sharing some old Valentine tricks your boyfriend/girlfriend might appreciate. :)

1, Gift
Send out a love letter along with your gift and schedule its arrival in the morning of Valentine's Day. Wake up and tell her you have got to confess that you didn't prepare a gift this year. And then the doorbell ring and surprise her. :)

Tips: 
You might want to order a backup gift just in case rather than trust USPS.
Tip the delivery guy in your neighborhood for timing and possible further romantic arrangements.
If you are a busy man, ordering online (e.g. from Amazon) will also work. Usually they offer gift options with gift wrap and customized card.

Rating:
Expense: 2+ / 5
Surprise: 3+ / 5
Possibility of Failure: 3+ / 5

2, Dinner
If you find it hard to get a dinner reservation at the desirable restaurant, this tip might be handy. Ask the concierge of the building to see if you can book a rooftop area or balcony. With the right decorations, you don't have to worry about your cooking skills. Even pasta makes her happy.

Tips:
Modern apartment building usually have amenities available for its tenants. But if you're willing to pay, you can book it even if you don't live there.

Rating:
Expense: 4+ / 5
Surprise: 4+ / 5
Possibility of Failure: 2+ / 5

Have fun!

Will there be an Indian version of Alibaba?

Google trends never ceases to amaze me. It turns out that when measuring search interest on topic "Online Shopping", major India cities takes the leading position. 

It is not a total surprise since major India cities are densely populated and major residents in cities such as Bangalore work in the IT industry, which makes them "easy targets" for online shopping. Plus, big cities accommodates better and faster delivery services at a much lower cost. 

In big Chinese cities like Beijing or Shanghai, it is normal to get your merchandise within the same calendar day (Yes, calendar day not business day, weekend included!!) we clicked the purchase button. A typical same day delivery costs customers about 1 dollar, while a typical delivery guy receives 25 cents for every single delivery. In order to save gasoline, delivery is often made with a motorcycle instead of truck or mini-van.

According to Wikipedia, nowadays, Indian online shopping industry is only one-tenth the size of Chinese. Obviously, there's room to grow. Since basically, India has the same advantages including dense population, cheap delivery workforce, increasing numbers of internet users, global investor, especially venture capitals are attracted by their strong growth prospects. They have strong hope that another Alibaba would be born there. (Please note that I am not implying any investment suggestion.)

Learning from the experience of US and China, C2C sites like Ebay and Taobao would be the first to grow. Despite the negative factors such as quality concerns, lower price is encourages people to have their first bite. After a chaotic era with little regulation, while people starts getting used to the idea of shopping online, B2C giants like Amazon would gradually take the market share away, and form its monopoly empire. Long way to go for India.

Let us just wait and see the future development of our beloved online shopping in India.

Jailbreak your iPhone or not?

I am not going to talk about how to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad. It's all over the internet. What we're discussing today is, do you still think it is necessary to jailbreak our iPhone/iPad? 

Asian used to be and continue being the largest ios jailbreakers, especially Chinese. Let's see some google trends on searching the term "ios jail-breaking". 

Note that there's limited access of google in China, the google trend number is clearly under-estimated. It is common to see signs saying "Jailbreak for 20 bucks" in the street of Shanghai.

There're several reasons to go through all the trouble to jailbreak the phone besides simply pursuing freedom. 
1, Lousy native input method for Asian languages, especially Chinese.
2, The ability to download paid app for free.

The inequality of income in China makes owning an iPhone a luxury. People spent the whole paycheck of their monthly income to buy an iPhone and showing it off to their friends. There is no surprise that they would avoid investing more money to purchase applications.

However, Google trends indicates that after the peak in 2012-2013, the enthusiasm starts to fade. 

It is partially attribute to the fact that apple starts to allow 3rd party input since iOS 8, which is published in 2014. Plus, nowadays developer tends to offer their applications for free, putting their bet on in-app-purchase or advisement. But the main reason behind this is rather simple. We're losing interest in mobile apps. When is the last time you downloaded a new paid app? Do you still thrilled about the new iPhone and rush to the nearest apple store to grab one?

It is usually a good sign when someone is still interested in cracking your system. At least they're still interested. 

I sincerely hope that we're not too far off from "the next big thing". Not a watch, a bigger screen, or a minor system update.

Among these Sci-Fi elements, which one is your favorite?

Among these Sci-Fi elements, which one is your favorite? Or you have some other brilliant ideas?

1) Explore the universe in a spaceship.

2) Artificial Intelligence

3) Go back in time

4) Take a peek at the future

5) Meet aliens

6) Alien abduction

7) Immortal

8) Parallel Universe

9) Undiscovered brain potential 

10) Superhero

11) Others

The Lost Room - Classic Sci-Fi Recommendation

Personal Recommendation Rate:
8.5/10

Tags: #mini series #objects

The best part of this show is that it is a 6 episode mini series. You can get lost too far off.



Brief Description:
The Lost Room is a 2006 science fiction television miniseries that aired on the Sci Fi Channel in the United States. The series revolves around the titular room and some of the everyday items from that room which possess unusual powers. The show's protagonist, Joe Miller, is searching for these objects to rescue his daughter, Anna, who has disappeared inside the Room. Once a typical room at a 1960s motel along U.S. Route 66, the Lost Room has existed outside of normal time and space since 1961, when what is referred to only as "the Event" took place.

Personal favorite character:
Howard 'The Weasel' Montague
IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830361/

A regular male companion, what do you think?

The doctor used to have male companions but not since the 2005 series.
The doctor is surrounded by smart, brave girls.
There're a few males who make their way into the Tardis. 
But Mickey is with Rose, Rory is with Amy and Jack, well, is Jack.

Do you think it is a good idea to bring back a male companion for the doctor?

See the companion list from wiki as below:

Ninth Doctor

Companion	Actor/Actress	Appearances with the Ninth Doctor
Rose Tyler	Billie Piper	13
Adam Mitchell	Bruno Langley	2
Jack Harkness	John Barrowman	5

Tenth Doctor

Companion	Actor/Actress	Appearances with the Tenth Doctor
Rose Tyler	Billie Piper	21 (16 as companion)
Mickey Smith	Noel Clarke	10 (5 as companion)
Donna Noble	Catherine Tate	16 (14 as companion)
Martha Jones	Freema Agyeman	19 (18 as companion)
Jack Harkness	John Barrowman	6 (5 as companion)
Astrid Peth	Kylie Minogue	1
Sarah Jane Smith	Elisabeth Sladen	4 (2 as companion)
Jackson Lake	David Morrissey	1
Rosita Farisi	Velile Tshabalala	1
Lady Christina de Souza	Michelle Ryan	1
Adelaide Brooke	Lindsay Duncan	1
Wilfred Mott	Bernard Cribbins	8 (1 as companion)

Eleventh Doctor

Companion	Actor/Actress	Appearances with theEleventh Doctor
Amy Pond	Karen Gillan	33 (31 as companion)
Rory Williams	Arthur Darvill	27 (24 as companion)
River Song	Alex Kingston	12 (5 as companion)
Craig Owens	James Corden	2
Clara Oswald	Jenna Coleman	12 (11 as companion)

Twelfth Doctor

Companion	Actor/Actress	Appearances with theTwelfth Doctor
Clara Oswald	Jenna Coleman	13