After a disappointing experience with an Android tablet recently, it was timely that Samsung offered to loan me their latest Android device, the Galaxy Note. This is a bit of a strange device though…it’s a 5.3″ tablet that is also a phone…commonly referred to as a ‘phablet’.
I got the chance to briefly use one at SXSW earlier this year but a few minutes with a device is rarely enough to tell if it’s a winner or not (I didn’t have high hopes at the time). It seemed too big to be practical and it comes with a stylus! I thought decent touch screen technology had finally killed off the stylus…although my first true smartphone (a Treo 650 and all the Palm PDA devices I had before that) used one.
But now it’s been just over a week with the device and I have to say, I’m really surprised at how much I enjoy using it. It’s not without some issues which I’ll describe in a bit but it’s been a nice fresh take on the mobile experience.
It is HUGE and does look kind of ridiculous as a phone. There, I stated the obvious. But when I considered how infrequently I actually use my iPhone as a phone (by holding it up to my ear), it became less of an issue. Fact is, I don’t make/receive a lot of phone calls…and if I do, it’s usually in my car while I’m driving and I have hands-free Bluetooth built into my car’s stereo.
Things I liked:
huge, beautiful & vibrant Super OMOLED 5.3″ screen with a great viewing angle at 1280×800 resolution
speedy with a 1.5 GHz Dual Core Processor inside and crazy fast 4G LTE internet speeds (I’ve been testing on the Telus network in Canada and it’s been faster than many home internet speeds)
one of the better Android cameras I’ve used so far (8 megapixel with autofocus on the back) that can shoot up to 1080p HD video
despite the giant screen, battery life was on par with my iPhone 4S…each lasts me a day with a little juice left over
nice finish on the back cover…not slippery and feels solid despite the back battery cover being wafer thin
surprisingly great form factor for a tablet…fits nicely in your hand (slightly bigger than my Canadian Passport)
it comes with a stylus, but isn’t required to use the Note – artists can really use the stylus to create some great art and regular people like me can quickly scribble notes – bonus: you can easily take screenshots using the stylus by pressing & holding the button as you tap the screen
Things I didn’t like:
looks silly as a phone when held to your face
no easy way (by default) to type (two handed) on the device unless you lay it flat and/or prop it up on something – a smart/flip cover or stand would be useful (which are available separately from third parties)
difficult to use one handed due to size of the screen – you can’t easily navigate with 1-2 fingers/thumb like a smaller device
uses a normal/full size SIM card
still running Gingerbread 2.3.6 version of Android OS (likely due to Telus update schedule)
somewhat slow autofocus on the back camera and the shutter is a little laggy, the moment you hit the button, the image is captured, despite the image processing delay, you still get the shot you intended
the stylus centric handwriting recognition works but is a little clunky to use
The screen really is something to behold…it has a fantastic viewing angle and is the correct aspect ratio for HD movies:
The screen is also particularly good at showing photos. My previous Android phone, the Nexus S was too saturated so colors looked over done. The Note’s screen seems just right.
If you think you’re good at Draw Something with your finger, you should be amazing at it with the Note’s stylus…sadly, it hasn’t helped my artistic ability.
One of the first things I like to test on a new device is how well it runs M.A.M.E. and the Note excels at it.
Everything runs smoothly, and looks fantastic. You can rotate the screen and it rotates immediately, moving the onscreen controls as well. Despite it’s large screen, it’s quite comfortable to hold in landscape mode to play.
As I mentioned above, it has one of the better Android cameras I’ve used.
With similar 8 megapixel specs as the iPhone 4S, I was able to take some great shots on the go in many different lighting situations.
It’s definitely going to be difficult to send this back to Samsung as it’s one of the best Android experiences I’ve had…and will only get better when Android 4.0 is released for it. I was certainly a doubter at first but after using it for an extended period, I have to say I’m quite impressed with the Galaxy Note.
Vancouver hosted it’s inaugural edition of Fan Expo this weekend attracting thousands of fans from all genres.
If you’ve never been to an event like this, the easiest way to describe it is Halloween on steroids. I’m always impressed to see the lengths some people go to create amazing costumes that celebrate their favorite characters…and are always very open to posing for your camera.
I’ll let my photos do the talking but see if you can recognize any of these characters.
View my full set of photos from Fan Expo on Flickr or watch this slideshow:
After a day of people-in-costume watching, it was time to head over to the red carpet for the Canadian Videogame Awards show where a mix of celebrities and videogame rock stars paraded by. Red carpet media scrums are always a challenge for me since you usually only get a few seconds to get that great shot in not ideal lighting conditions…especially tricky with groups of people smiling in different directions to the wall of cameras. Nevertheless, here’s some of my favorites:
View my full set of photos from the red carpet on Flickr or watch this slideshow:
Such a great weekend of nerdy geekiness…can’t wait for next year!
Every Tuesday I discuss the latest technology on News 1130 radio in Vancouver.
Here’s what I’m talking about this week:
Want to manipulate your dreams? There’s an app for that: A psychologist and professor at the the University of Hertfordshire has created an iPhone app called Dream:ON (iTunes link) that you run before bed and it will monitor your sleep patterns and attempt to influence your dreams using soundscapes. But be warned: 21% of participants have had trouble sleeping using the app and 15% had unpleasant dreams. The professor is aggrigating the data from the dream app and will share it in a few months to see if it was successfull in actually influencing dream states with users. (source)
Delorean set to make an electric comeback in 2013: The Delorean is back from the dead as 2013 will herald the arrival of the DMCev, a $95,000 electric version of the iconic 80′s stainless steel time machine which was recently unveiled at the New York Auto Show. No word yet if you need to use lightening to charge it though. It’s worth noting that the release of this vehicle is just a few years shy of the time Back to the Future 2 is set in (2015)…and we still don’t have hoverboards. (source)
Google CEO spotted wearing Project Glass prototype in real life: the tech world has been abuzz with Google’s latest concept that had more fuel added to it when it’s CEO, Sergey Brin, was spotted at an event wearing a prototype version of the glasses that allow you to interact with the internet while in the real world using a tiny device that looks like a pair of glasses, minus the lenses. It does look a little dorky but no worse than your average bluetooth headset. Apparently the device is self-contained but no word on how it works, battery life, etc. No release date or pricing is currently known but it’s supposed to be coming ‘very’ soon. (via Engadget)
Miracle Worker glove helps deaf & blind people communicate: using a glove with tactile sensors and something called the Lorm Alphabet, which assigns different letters to different parts of the users hand and fingers. You can touch the various parts of the glove and the wearer can understand what you’re saying or the glove can vibrate when connected to a computer, phone (via bluetooth), etc to vibrate the appropriate parts of the glove as if someone is pressing it. Developed by the Berlin’s Design Research Lab, it’s just a prototype at this point but could become a great new way to communicate. (via Gizmodo)
SushiBot Churns Out 300 Perfect Rolls Per Hour: at the World Food and Beverage Great Expo in Tokyo, a sushi making robot was unveiled that makes a perfect roll every time, up to 300 per hour. The robot still requires a human to place the various ingredients however. (via Wired: Gadget Lab)
Every Tuesday, I discuss new and interesting technology items on News 1130 radio at 11:05am PST (live) and repeated throughout the day.
This week on News 1130 radio (live at 11:05am PST), I’ll be talking about these stories:
Flutter – Kinect-like gestures for controlling iTunes or Spotify on your Mac – using the built in camera on every Apple computer, a new app, currently in beta, will allow you to use gestures to navigate your music library without having to touch the computer at all. Gestures are customizable as well so perhaps you can ‘strike a pose’ and it will cue up your Madonna playlist for example (via BGR)
Tattoo That Vibrates When Your Phone Rings – Nokia has filed for one of the strangest patents I’ve ever heard of. It’s for a “haptic tattoo that transmits ‘a perceivable impulse’ through a person’s skin when he or she gets a phone call, text message or email alert.” (via MAKE)
Cadillac focuses on safety with vibrating drivers’ seats – not unlike the story we discussed last week about vibrating steering wheels, Cadillac is working on vibrating seats to alert drivers they aren’t in their lanes, there are vehicles in their blind spots, and even nudging you when you get too close to other vehicles or objects. Expected to be in some 2013 vehicles so you won’t have to wait long for this tech. (via Engadget)
Yes, I actually bought a non-Apple tablet (that thinks it’s a laptop). I’ll wait while you soak that in.
After seeing both Derek and Morten, in the span of about 6 hours (ironically on the release day of the new iPad), using their Transformer Prime’s, I started to think about it a lot more and did some research.
I already have a work provided iPad 2 but find that I rarely use it at home since I have a laptop (MacBook Air). The iPad was a choice I made when it came time to get a new laptop at work…I opted to go the iPad route because of what I was mostly using the laptop for at work – to attend meetings, have access to my calendar and email anywhere in the building, etc. The iPad works fantastically better for these tasks than a laptop for me at least.
So at home, I wanted something different to play with. I already had an HP Touchpad which I hacked and put Android onto but it was a little bulky (think the size of the iPad 1, inside a case) and didn’t have any external ports for memory cards. Also the Android 4 install I recently did is still considered very alpha so a number of things didn’t work or weren’t aware of the hardware I was using.
I really liked a few things about the Prime almost immediately:
the nicely integrated and detachable keyboard dock (an optional, separate $150 purchase which is actually a no brainer because of what it adds) which adds a really nice keyboard, touchpad(!), SD card slot, USB port and battery pack that extends the Prime’s battery to over 18 hours
integrated microSD card slot for additional storage. I opted for the cheaper 32gb model because I can extend this with memory cards easily thanks to the two slot option with the keyboard dock
it runs Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich) which is currently the best Android experience available
very speedy processor and video card that seems to rival Apple’s iPad speed. Simple things like just rotating the display always seemed laggy on my previous Android devices whereas this is very comparable
I’ve only had it for less than a day and already the frustration with the Android Marketplace (now known as the Play Store) has surfaced since unlike Apple’s App Store, there is no clear distinction between phone and tablet apps. I’ve talked about the fragmented Android marketplace before and now it’s even more obvious with a device like the Prime.
I spent a bunch of time downloading apps only to find that they are really meant for a phone display. While they still work on the Prime, it’s not the best experience.
Another interesting point is the unboxing experience. It feels like Asus completely copied Apple’s method for packaging and presenting the device. Very similar foam padding inside the box, internal user guide bundle and even the shape of the charging cable feel more than simply ‘inspired by Apple’. But that said, it is still a good experience, with minimal excess like the days of old with the huge styrofoam inserts.
My Prime is the ‘Amethyst Gray’ model…the other color option was champagne which appears to be more silver/pearly white and this grey looks more like purple or stained deep red wine than gray. Whatever.
Asus has done a great job of not mucking too much with the Android experience and really making an effort to think things through rather than simply bolt them on like in the past. I’ve noticed a bunch of little things that work like you’d expect and want (finally an integrated screenshot solution via the keyboard or onscreen button). The keyboard also has an integrated trackpad which makes using a tablet much easier for some tasks while typing on the keyboard – something I found lacking on the Apple side when using an iPad + keyboard combo, so much so that I stopped using an external keyboard.
It’s easy to see something like this could be the future of mobile computing with the software and hardware finally working together in a manner that makes sense.
Once I spend more time with the unit, I’ll post more about my experiences. So far though, I’m enjoying it.
UDPATE: First weekend with the device and I’ve seen this message far too often in the stock browser:
Google’s own Chrome Browser (which is an early beta on Android) isn’t much better with it’s crashiness.
UPDATE #2: Well, I tried for a over a week to love the Transformer Prime but in the end, I returned it. Despite having some really killer features, I found the overall performance subpar when compared to my iPad 2.
The wifi was incredibly weak – something that seems to be well documented online, due to the aluminum shell which reduces the range of the antenna. While not a main reason I bought it in the first place, the built in GPS kind of worked and Asus has even begun offering a GPS dongle for all customers due to the weak performance of the built in module (they’ve also removed the feature from the unit’s main specs).
The final straw was when I was simply browsing the Play Store (app market) trying to find tablet specific apps and this popped up:
I guess my Android friends are okay with this kind of performance…but I’m not and certainly not for a $700+ device (keyboard dock included). I wasn’t doing anything other than running a stock unit with the latest Android updates. I know I can root, unlock the bootloader, etc but I shouldn’t have to do that to simply use the browser.
I may try again with Google’s rumored upcoming 1st party tablet (which may actually be a rebranded Asus) or maybe even a Kindle Fire from Amazon which has a curated app store of apps that are optimized for that tablet.
For the past couple of weeks I’ve been doing a live ‘Tech Tuesday’ segment on Vancouver’s News 1130 radio station. It’s a weekly spot where I’ll round up what’s going on in the tech world. I even did one live from Austin during SXSW. It airs Tuesdays at 11:05am PST and portions repeated throughout the day – you can listen live on their website.
Here’s my update for this week (I only have 5 minutes so it’s pretty brief and we often don’t get through all the items):
taking a page from videogame designers, researchers at AT&T Labs & Carnegie Mellon University are working on a haptic feedback steering wheel for better turn by turn directions so that you can keep an eye on the road instead of watching your GPS screen. Using 20 different vibrating actuators inside the steering wheel, you’ll be notified of an upcoming left turn through the wheel by vibration. It might be years before this tech reaches our cars but it’s an exciting development as the technology can be used for all kinds of things beyond navigation
the incredibly popular iPhone photo app, Instagram, is finally coming to Android phones. It has a huge community around it on the iPhone so users cant wait to use it on another platform. No date when it will be available but they have a signup page at Instagr.am/android to be notified when it’s available
a new device is about to start appearing in fitting rooms everywhere. Bodymetrics Pods are currently being tested by Bloomingdale’s in the US. It’s basically 8 Microsoft Kinect’s (the same you can use with an Xbox360) that scan your body to help get the perfect fit for those new pair of jeans. The whole process takes about 5 seconds and takes hundreds of measurements to determine your true size to help get a great fit
It’s been a few weeks since my last build update so I figured it might be good time to post some updates on all the printers I’ve got on the go at the moment.
Prusa Mendel
I’ve been tweaking my Prusa quite a bit lately and have been getting really good results as you can see:
I’m still using Sprinter with the latest version of Slic3r. Will attempt to migrate to the latest Marlin this weekend but am beginning to suspect some issues with RAMPS 1.4 boards as those with RAMPS 1.3 or lower seem to have no issues.
Tantillus Update
I’ve been working with Brad (Sublime) in testing his design for the Tantillus. Originally designed with a fully printable frame, I’ve encountered issues printing the frame in ABS on my MakerBot. The frame is comprised of 3 levels of 4 quarters of the frame and each is a huge print for the Thing-O-Matic’s build area taking 3-5 hours to print. The biggest problem is cracking from tall prints as evidenced by the photo above. Even after enclosing the walls of my bot with acrylic windows, I still had issues printing it. It’s likely possible with someone’s bot, just not mine…at least in ABS plastic. Brad’s prototype model was done in PLA and even he had some curling.
To combat this, Brad’s also made a version that can be either CNC milled or laser cut in wood or acrylic. We tested this out last weekend thanks to Derek’s CNC mill:
Here’s Brad’s original prototype with the wood cutout version side by side:
I painted my frame green:
and here’s Brad’s updated wood frame version, complete with an awesome Tantillus logo:
We’ll be building the prototype versions over the coming weeks and report back once everything is sorted and working.
Other fun stuff
I met Andrew from Glitch 3D Models (who operates a BFB Touch 3d printer) at the Maker Faire event at the Museum of Vancouver last week and he brought his own GIANT Yoda to our regular group meeting:
It was a 36 hour print done in PLA. He maxed out his build area with only a few mm left to go so Yoda has a flatish head.
It’s very cool to see the ever growing variety of 3d printers in the area and it’s been a blast sharing ideas with everyone.
This was my 8th year attending the annual South by Southwest Interactive (aka SXSW or SXSWi) festival and I have to say, it may be my last. It’s not because I didn’t enjoy myself, meet tons of great people and learn new things – all of which I did as I do every year. It also wasn’t because of the crappy, rainy weather that we endured for half the conference.
No, it’s because I think SXSW has outgrown Austin. Just look at this lineup for badge pickup (it’s hard to tell but it’s actually a double looped line that snakes around the entire convention centre):
Every year, more of my friends attend the conference…and they tell two friends and so on. The estimate I heard for just the interactive portion this year was 24,000+ attendees. That doesn’t include the Film folks and the Music people that start arriving towards the end. I don’t know if any city can support a conference like this, while still having the charm of Austin.
The other thing that I’ve noticed the last few years is that the people that I met early on are no longer attending. It’s for various reasons but many just don’t make it a priority anymore like they once did. I was chatting with Erica OGrady (whom I met at SXSW a few years ago) about this topic at the Bing/Cheezburger party (which was a blast – see the photo above) and she’s also questioning her future attendance for the same reasons I am. It’s just gotten too big. It used to be lineups for the hot parties. But now it’s lineups for everything.
I wanted to check out Anthony Bourdain’s panel about how his No Reservations tv crew use social media. I figured I would show up 1/2 an hour early and get a good spot to take some photos. I ended up walking past a giant line about 45 minutes early (on my way to the trade show to kill some time) and it was the line up for Bourdain. It now seems that in order to even get into an A-list panel, you pretty much have to skip the previous timeslot’s panel just to wait in a line. I couldn’t even get into a few other panels because the doors were locked and it was full…despite me being early for them. Frustrating? Hell yes!
While I did make it into the panel, I almost didn’t bother because on the way back from lunch, we actually bumped into Mr. Bourdain as he arrived for the panel and he was gracious enough to let a bunch of geeks and fans get their photo with him.
This lineup craziness also extends to the parties and other night time events. So much so that you usually need to RSVP to them weeks or months before you even get to Austin.
This year, the Bing/Cheezburger party took it a step further. You had to RSVP via Eventbrite and then you needed to pickup a wristband a few days before the party from the Bing compound if you wanted to skip the party lineup. The key difference is that their wristband actually had an RFID chip inside that would give you quick access to the party as well as when a roving photographer took your picture, you could literally swipe your wristband across a receiver that the photographer had and it would post the photo they just took to your Facebook wall. Pretty amazing…if not a little creepy. It did make for a quick entry though.
Now, I’m the first to admit that the last few years, I’ve attended fewer and fewer panels due to the fact there is so many other great events and activities happening outside the convention centre. Some friends have even gone ‘badgeless’ because you really don’t need a badge to have a great experience during SXSW (although many events do require a badge unless you have VIP status).
This year was no different.
Google previously had a huge presence on the trade show floor but this year, they opted to rent out an ENTIRE neighbourhood within walking distance of the convention centre and setup shop as the “Google Village”.
Each house was decked out in Google colors and brands along with giant map pins out front. There was the Android house, the Developer house, the Maps house, complete with a Streetview car out front and many more.
One of the coolest things I found was in the Discovery house which featured a live web cam view of a Coca-Cola machine in New York City and a terminal that you could use to send a video message (and a free coke) to whomever walked up to the machine in NYC. They could then thank you for the coke via video (and you’d get an email link). A really clever campaign that will be spreading to 20 cities around the world and you can send a free coke from your laptop anywhere.
Another fantastic event held outside the convention centre was the GE Garage. This was a complete tent city of awesome technology that people like me love: tools and toys. They had basically brought one of everything that you’d find in an epic workshop or hackerspace and set it up and let you play with it.
They had a laser cutter/engraver where you could etch any design on your iPhone:
They also had a CNC machine where they cut out molds for the injection molding machine they also had on hand where they made iPhone cases with a built in pocket on the back for a Square reader.
If you ever wanted to learn how to weld, you could do that too. They were letting anyone help weld bike racks that would be donated to the City of Austin when SXSW was over.
They also had something close to my heart, a 3D printer table complete with the new MakerBot Replicator which hadn’t actually been released yet (they just started shipping to those that pre-ordered them). They were printing SXSW themed guitar picks for anyone that wanted one:
It was very cool to get to see one up close and I was also able to chat with Matt and Keith from MakerBot.
This also lead to a MakerBot meetup later in the week…where even the MakerBots got to ride in the famous Austin pedicabs.
As usual, there was no shortage of live music at night. At the Cheezburger party, the band FUN performed:
and at one of my favorite spots to see live music in Austin, the Belmont, hosted locals Ghostland Observatory with a fantastic show at the HP Cloud party:
and for the second year in a row, Neiliyo killed it at the ServerBeach party which the whole Eh Team crew come out for:
So, as you can see, there are still lots of great reasons to attend SXSW…and I barely spoke about the panels I attended. I’ve said the last couple of years that in order for me to attend SXSWi, it needs to be a different experience. So a few years ago, I spoke on a panel, last year I drove to Austin and this year wasn’t that different other than the size of the event. Next year may have to be something special for me to attend again…maybe I’ll submit a panel idea.
I’ll likely wait until the summer when tickets go on sale to make my final decision on attending in 2013. I may even just book a badge and hotel room as a placeholder which I can always transfer to someone else if I decide not to go…something I’ve been telling people for years if they want to attend – book in late July/early August if you actually want a hotel that is walking distance from everything…otherwise you’ll be stuck with a $20-30 cab ride each way to your hotel in the boonies.
Special thanks to my friends at Roam Mobility that loaned me and the Eh Team crew some of their Liberty hotspots which were fantastic for keeping us all online when many others either couldn’t get online or incurred huge roaming charges because they didn’t plan ahead. I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy one to keep myself. They also gave us some SIM cards to give away in Austin which helped out a bunch of Canadian folks. A full review of their service will follow in a separate post now that I’ve had a chance to throughly test it.
While in Austin, I met up with the folks from the Toronto, Ontario based Jugnoo to try out their new beta service that launched just prior to SXSW. It’s a one stop social dashboard to creating, monitoring & publishing content and campaigns for social media.
I used their tool to create these short video slideshows (5 in total, which I packaged in this YouTube playlist) using my own photos which are individual daily recaps while at SXSW:
It’s a pretty slick tool with lots of options and I only really played with the video creation component which was surprisingly deep. Using my photos as the raw material, I was able to either directly upload or use links to my Flickr stream (or URL) to pull them into the tool, arrange them in sequence, add titles and choose a visual template. I was then able to add a soundtrack from their large library of music. It reminded me a lot of using iMovie except it was completely browser based. Once the video was created, you can then publish to your choice of social networks. They also have integrated analytics and monitoring for anything you produce with the tool.
My only issue with the video creation tool was that it isn’t currently possible to edit the video after you render it out (the rendered video is saved, just not in a further editable format if you want to make changes to text, layout, etc.). But as this is a beta, I provided this feedback to them and they are hoping to make this happen very soon. It’s still a very impressive tool considering it’s all done in a browser.
[Disclosure: I was chosen from a number of entrants to work with Jugnoo at SXSW and was paid a small sum to cover expenses in Austin as part of the contest.]
PS. I brought home a lot less swag this year…not because it wasn’t offered, I was just choosier. My favorite items were the HootSuite Scarf and the Magic Cheezburger 8 ball:
This past weekend, Brad came over and helped me tweak things on my Prusa Mendel. He immediately noticed a few issues in the prints I had previously made.
I ended up swapping out my PLA bushing X-carriage with an updated Greg’s X-carriage with LM8UUs (soooo smooth now!), with the intergrated belt tensioning system (a pain to install but works great once done).
Also added a cooling fan for the J-Head hotend via the extra heater inputs on my RAMPS 1.4 board (pin 9) so it’s now PWM controllable (you can see it in the video below). This allowed me to add fan high, fan low and fan off buttons to Pronterface and to integrate it into my Slic3r start gcode (M106 S255/S128 for high/low or M107 for off).
Tweaking the Slic3r settings really helped to correct the issues I was having. It really is invaluable having someone that understands how these settings work, look at your prints and be able to tell what settings are off. Every machine is different but there are some things consistent across them all. My biggest problems seemed to be not enough filament being pushed through and some layer print settings being too slow. I figured slowing everything down would help troubleshoot things but when printing with molten PLA, faster is usually better.
We attempted to upgrade my firmware to Marlin (from Sprinter) but had nothing but trouble. The endstops were ignored and the axis weren’t responding to commands in the correct direction. Switched back to Sprinter and everything worked fine again. Will have to investigate this further on the forums as it seems it may be a common problem with RAMPS 1.4 and may have been fixed earlier today.
Using the new Slic3r (version 7.0 was just released), I was able to print this Yoda:
I think it turned out better than the ABS version I printed awhile ago on my Makerbot (although this was printed at 50% the size)…the overhangs weren’t as bad either.
Brad also brought along his prototype Tantillus printer which is now printing:
He’s still fine tuning the model files and I’m testing them in ABS (his prototype is entirely PLA). More info soon as he get things just right.
UPDATE: Printed a full size Yoda:
Also added one of the 80mm LED light rings I had with just a couple of zip ties to the fan. I had tried to find a decent way to mount it or simply use some LED light strips left over from my install in the MakerBot but this seems to work the best without getting in the way of anything.
and the 
for it.
