Friday, April 26, 2019
Why don't Powerbanks deliver full capacity as promised?
If you have recently bought or owned a powerbank before then you must have thought your powerbank is broken because it does not deliver the full capacity written on them. But thats not the case and heres why
Before starting the actual explanation let's make somethings clear. Lithium ion batteries, those used in your mobiles and powerbanks operate at 3.6V to 3.8V and the USB port and other circuits operate at 5V.
So, knowing this and assuming the powerbank is charged let's run a hypothetical charge.
Assuming you understood what's happening here and not going deep into it's working, some power (around 20-30%) is lost in the form of voltage conversions and heat. Moreover, batteries degrade over cycles and thus their charge holding capacity decreases, so an old 10,000 mah powerbank you own may only have 7,000mah capacity left now. It is recommended you buy a bigger capacity battery so you have to charge it less number of times. A typical Lithium ion battery has a life of about 1000 charge cycles.
If you want to check out the mathematics too then click here.
So, in conclusion, the power losses in voltage conversions, heat and reduced battery capacity are the reason why your powerbank doesn't deliver full capacity as promised.
It is recommended you buy branded powerbanks as their circuits are more efficient and hence deliver closer to the promised numbers and will have a better life.
Before starting the actual explanation let's make somethings clear. Lithium ion batteries, those used in your mobiles and powerbanks operate at 3.6V to 3.8V and the USB port and other circuits operate at 5V.
So, knowing this and assuming the powerbank is charged let's run a hypothetical charge.
- Once the powerbank is plugged in to your mobile, the electrons from the bank will start moving towards the mobile's battery. BUT, the USB port works at 5V and the battery can only provide a voltage of 3.6V to 3.8V, so the voltage is first converted to 5V.
- Then this 5V current flows through the wire and enters your mobile and goes through the circuits which operate at 5V so there's nothing to worry.
- Now it has reached to the battery and will charge it.
- But the battery can only accept current at 3.6V to 3.8V. So, the current again is converted to the acceptable voltage and then it finally charges your phone.
Assuming you understood what's happening here and not going deep into it's working, some power (around 20-30%) is lost in the form of voltage conversions and heat. Moreover, batteries degrade over cycles and thus their charge holding capacity decreases, so an old 10,000 mah powerbank you own may only have 7,000mah capacity left now. It is recommended you buy a bigger capacity battery so you have to charge it less number of times. A typical Lithium ion battery has a life of about 1000 charge cycles.
If you want to check out the mathematics too then click here.
So, in conclusion, the power losses in voltage conversions, heat and reduced battery capacity are the reason why your powerbank doesn't deliver full capacity as promised.
It is recommended you buy branded powerbanks as their circuits are more efficient and hence deliver closer to the promised numbers and will have a better life.
Thursday, April 25, 2019
Custom Rom : Everything You Need To Know!
Utilize full potential of your smartphone. Presently, android is the most popular operating system and it has been this way for quite a while. Our mobiles, smartwatches, TVs and even fridges use Android nowadays. But in this post we're gonna focus on mobile customizations.
What are Custom ROMs? Is it the same as rooting The Device?
Custom ROMs, it is itself a misleading term. ROM stands for Read Only Memory and it mostly isn't related to it. every device ships with a stock ROM or stock firmware which is developed by OEMs and phones are shipped with same.Well in android world, it is impossible you haven't heard of ROOT. Most of the people are afraid to root their phones due to warranty reasons and many more reasons due to which people resist to root their phones.
Rooting and installing custom rom are totally different things. In simple language, Custom ROMs are just custom softwares with or without some added cool features, depending on the ROM you choose. Whereas rooting provides you superuser access to your device and you can do anything with it, for example, changing the frequency of your processor.
Custom ROM installation:
Installing a Custom rom in a smartphones can be tricky at times, but most of the time it's easy and safe, as long as you follow instructions properly.
Requirements
- Fastboot and ADB drivers
- Bootloader unlocking tool
- Custom Recovery
- Custom Rom
- Compatible Smartphone(of course)
- A lot of Patience..( a lot!)
- A very big heart(for new comers only)
Steps
- Collecting required information and drivers
- Find a Custom Recovery,ROM,etc.
- Unlocking Bootloader
- Flashing Custom Recovery
- Flashing Custom Rom
- Patiently Waiting(Very Important!)
1. Collecting required information and drivers:
Every phone has a different configuration,different chipset,so drivers are device specific, so are Recovery and Roms. So depending on what device you have, a little bit research is required. for example, here is official for pixel experience ROM for Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1.2. Finding a Custom Recovery,Rom,etc:
Firstly, Custom recovery is to be searched on the internet for your specific device we don't find much choice in recoveries as they are basic and gives required functionality only. Most popular ones are:
most popular ones are;
3. Unlocking Bootloader:
Unlocking Bootloader is the first and one of the most essential step, it allows you rewrite the recovery and system partition on the computer. Not going too technical, this is the first step in installation of custom rom.
Every phone has a different process to unlock bootloader so there is no general guide to unlock bootloader on all devices. So better google it specifically for your device or search xda for same.
Assuming you unlocked the bootloader, let's proceed further.
Assuming you unlocked the bootloader, let's proceed further.
4. Flashing Custom Recovery:
There is a Different guide to flash recoveries by most common method via adb. Click here to visit the guide.5. Flashing Custom Rom:
There is a Different guide to flash custom ROMs by using Custom Recovery. Click here to visit the guide.Pros And Cons of Installing a Custom Roms:
Pros:
- Faster updates- Still waiting for the pie update? Or your OEM refused to give you a Pie update? Then install a custom ROM!
- Alternative UI- You don't like your phone's UI? You wish you could change it? Now you can! No need for those launchers who only change your home screen. With custom ROMs you can change anything from your navigation bar to placement of brightness slider on the notification tray
- Different requirements, different ROMs- Want one for a lot of customizations? Go for Resurrection remix ROM. Want one with long battery life? You can get one for that too! (varies from device to device).
Cons:
- Voids your warranty- Unlocking bootloader will void your warranty. Though there are some ways to still keep your warranty for example, unofficially unlocking bootloader.
- Make sure to backup your all data as it would wipe out all your data from phone.
- Custom roms are not as stable as stock may be, and it is quite hectic for some people and requires a big heart to flash Roms.
- Any wrong step may damage your phone!.Everthing you do is at your own risk!.Ironically, it isn't as risky as it sounds.
Conclusion:
Concluding things, Installing a custom rom opens up a whole new level of potential that your phone could reach. Having control over the full potential of the phone is something everyone should be given and custom roms are the thing which give that access. Customisation is somethings which differentiate Android from iOS and it's a wonderful experience to feel that difference. Every Android User Must try it Out!!
Thursday, April 11, 2019
Is Google Camera Mod for Moto G5 Plus worth it? Comparison with original photos
Notice that my Android version is Pie and most of the cameras out there are for Oreo.
When I bought the new Moto G5 Plus I was hyped about it's camera. It had a camera sensor which is also shared by GOOGLE PIXEL 2 AND 2XL!!! It had an even bigger aperture of f/1.7. I was super excited to test it!
So, after getting my new device I clicked a few pictures and tested out it's camera and it was great. The low light performance was better than the newer phones my friends had. I was and still am very satisfied with it's performance. But then I learned about Camera2API and what it does to your camera and I was again very excited.
So, just for enabling Camera2API and installing Google Camera Mod I unlocked my bootloader and voided my warranty and installed a Custom Rom and my choice was Pixel Experience. As soon as I was done with installing it I opened up the camera that comes with the ROM. It was a Pixel 3 Google Camera Mod. And to be honest, it was very slow, it took a second to capture the picture and then you have to wait for the hdr+ to be processed. Which isn't very appealing. So, I went through all the settings and tried to figure out all the options.
My suggested settings for your GCam 6.x is:
1. Make the input model Nexus 6p (It gives sharper images)
2. You can try 2017 Zsl Hdr+ or 2017 Zsl Hw Hdr+ or 2018 Zsl Hdr+ and choose what you like. Mine is 2018 Zsl Hdr+
3. Enable G.PHOTOS
4. Save to /DCIM/Camera
5. Disable Pixel 3 AWB in HDR+ Enhanced
6. Enable Green tint fixer.
(1 to 6 are in BSG MOD Settings inside settings)
7. Turn on HDR+ control in advanced settings
8. Turn on store videos effectively
And that's pretty much it.
The photos looked great. The portrait feature works flawlessly. The night sight feature takes some time but it's worth it(you need a steady hand for this one). The shutter lag was less and bearable. The processing still took time but I got used to it. BUT, it had issues... It had a really horrible magenta tint in low light photos without night sight. Picures took a lot of time. And sometimes they wouldn't show up in the photos app. It was all very annoying.
So, I surfed and found another mod. This one was a pixel 2 mod. So, I assumed it would be less resource hungry and I was kinda right. The shutter lag was slower but the hdr+ processing before you could actually see the picture was still there. And this too had a less horrible magenta tint in low light. And so my hunt for the perfect Gcam mod continued and I am still not satisfied. The claims made by other blogs and websites do not match with my results.
Overall, till now I have tested 6 Google Camera Mods for Moto G5 Plus and all of them had issues.
First being, the auto focus. Their autofocus is a hit or miss. Sometimes even the tap-to-focus won't work right sometimes. Most of them have a lot of noise. I have done side by side comparison of them all and the best 2 are by Fu24(One is green on and other is the yellow one). So, if you want a google camera go for the ones made by this man.
Now for the answer of the question- Is it really worth it? Yes and no.
I took my Google Camera Moto G5 Plus with a custom ROM and compared it's pictures with a unmodded Moto G5 Plus Stock camera and in most of the pictures, stock camera looked more pleasing to the eyes. It had better dynamic range at times and took sharper images with more details. There's a more of software sharpening but to be honest you cannot tell the difference until you really zoom into the details, which I think no common user would do and it doesn't even matter in my opinion. The autofocus and tap-to-focus is much better on the stock phone with the stock camera. This didn't make sense to me either but it is true. The processing tests your patience and the sudden and temporary disappearance of your just clicked pictures is a huge annoyance (it happens rarely, though).
On the other side, the hdr+ and hdr+enhanced on GCam do wonders to the pictures. They have a lot better lighting, better looking colours and overall a better appeal, if they get the sharpness right. The night sight is amazing! Yes you need steady hands but it all is justified with the incredible results. The portrait is flawless and is better than most portrait pictures you can get on other similar range devices. The blur is subtle yet, highlights the subject perfectly. The UI is easy and user-friendly too.
In the end you have to decide if it's worth the risk of voiding your warranty and
When I bought the new Moto G5 Plus I was hyped about it's camera. It had a camera sensor which is also shared by GOOGLE PIXEL 2 AND 2XL!!! It had an even bigger aperture of f/1.7. I was super excited to test it!
So, after getting my new device I clicked a few pictures and tested out it's camera and it was great. The low light performance was better than the newer phones my friends had. I was and still am very satisfied with it's performance. But then I learned about Camera2API and what it does to your camera and I was again very excited.So, just for enabling Camera2API and installing Google Camera Mod I unlocked my bootloader and voided my warranty and installed a Custom Rom and my choice was Pixel Experience. As soon as I was done with installing it I opened up the camera that comes with the ROM. It was a Pixel 3 Google Camera Mod. And to be honest, it was very slow, it took a second to capture the picture and then you have to wait for the hdr+ to be processed. Which isn't very appealing. So, I went through all the settings and tried to figure out all the options.
My suggested settings for your GCam 6.x is:
1. Make the input model Nexus 6p (It gives sharper images)
2. You can try 2017 Zsl Hdr+ or 2017 Zsl Hw Hdr+ or 2018 Zsl Hdr+ and choose what you like. Mine is 2018 Zsl Hdr+
3. Enable G.PHOTOS
4. Save to /DCIM/Camera
5. Disable Pixel 3 AWB in HDR+ Enhanced
6. Enable Green tint fixer.
(1 to 6 are in BSG MOD Settings inside settings)
7. Turn on HDR+ control in advanced settings
8. Turn on store videos effectively
And that's pretty much it.
The photos looked great. The portrait feature works flawlessly. The night sight feature takes some time but it's worth it(you need a steady hand for this one). The shutter lag was less and bearable. The processing still took time but I got used to it. BUT, it had issues... It had a really horrible magenta tint in low light photos without night sight. Picures took a lot of time. And sometimes they wouldn't show up in the photos app. It was all very annoying.
So, I surfed and found another mod. This one was a pixel 2 mod. So, I assumed it would be less resource hungry and I was kinda right. The shutter lag was slower but the hdr+ processing before you could actually see the picture was still there. And this too had a less horrible magenta tint in low light. And so my hunt for the perfect Gcam mod continued and I am still not satisfied. The claims made by other blogs and websites do not match with my results.
Overall, till now I have tested 6 Google Camera Mods for Moto G5 Plus and all of them had issues.
First being, the auto focus. Their autofocus is a hit or miss. Sometimes even the tap-to-focus won't work right sometimes. Most of them have a lot of noise. I have done side by side comparison of them all and the best 2 are by Fu24(One is green on and other is the yellow one). So, if you want a google camera go for the ones made by this man.
Now for the answer of the question- Is it really worth it? Yes and no.
I took my Google Camera Moto G5 Plus with a custom ROM and compared it's pictures with a unmodded Moto G5 Plus Stock camera and in most of the pictures, stock camera looked more pleasing to the eyes. It had better dynamic range at times and took sharper images with more details. There's a more of software sharpening but to be honest you cannot tell the difference until you really zoom into the details, which I think no common user would do and it doesn't even matter in my opinion. The autofocus and tap-to-focus is much better on the stock phone with the stock camera. This didn't make sense to me either but it is true. The processing tests your patience and the sudden and temporary disappearance of your just clicked pictures is a huge annoyance (it happens rarely, though).
On the other side, the hdr+ and hdr+enhanced on GCam do wonders to the pictures. They have a lot better lighting, better looking colours and overall a better appeal, if they get the sharpness right. The night sight is amazing! Yes you need steady hands but it all is justified with the incredible results. The portrait is flawless and is better than most portrait pictures you can get on other similar range devices. The blur is subtle yet, highlights the subject perfectly. The UI is easy and user-friendly too.
In the end you have to decide if it's worth the risk of voiding your warranty and
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Earn easy money online with little to no prior skills
Now this might sound very tempting to hear. Ofcourse, who doesn't like easy money? And that too in the comforts of your home. Sounds lovely, right? But like every other thing that is too good to be true, this is also a partial truth.
Wait wait wait, did I say that you can really earn easy money online? Well, yes you can buuuuuuut... you also need to have a skill that makes you more attractive to people online who need to get their work done (that's pretty obvious right? why else would some stranger pay you money?). So, here are some of the skills that I, personally, feel are easy to learn and master. Without further ado let's dive into it!
Surfing the web
You can even earn some cash by just doing your usual web surfing. Try SwagBucks this website will literally pay you to search and play around on the internet, with almost nothing more extensive required on your part. You just have to make their search bar your default and just surf the internet as you usually do! The points you earn can be converted into gift cards of Amazon or Walmart which you can use when shopping. Eezy-peezy. Another one worth trying is Qmee, it's a simple add-on to your browser that rewards you for searching on Google, Bing or Yahoo.
Typing
Now there are further categories to how typing can make you some extra cash easily.
1. Transcribing
Transcribing is basically listening and typing. If you think you're a good listener and can type fast and error free, you're the perfect guy for the job. Most popular sites include transcribeMe, Upwork, Fiverr, etc.2. Translating
Are you bilingual or multilingual? You think you have a good grip on two or more languages? Then this looks like a job for you! Now there are many scenarios where typists like you are required. A company is launching itself in another country? They need a translator to translate their website. An author wants his creation to be published in another language? They need one too!
The jobs can vary alot from casual blog translations to translating legal documents. Be careful about what job you pick. Popular sites include freelancing sites like Upwork, Fiverr and Gengo.
3. Data Entry
Now this is the most obvious one. You're asked to input data manually. An example of this would be that you've raw data in offline form(pages or their pictures) and you need to enter it into an excel sheets. Now these jobs do sound very tempting. You just have to type in data but as everything else on this page there's a catch to it too. There are many conditions, restrictions and penalties. You need to give the promised amount of pages in order to get the salary promised to you.The error margins are minimal and delays result in 10-50% deduction, according to your delay and it also varies from employer to employer. Hourly wages vary from $10 - $22 per hour (690 - 1517 Rupees).
4. Captcha typing
You most probably have encountered these. Either while signing up for something or while surfing the internet on a VPN or any of the more possible cases. We all hate them right? Such an annoyance. But now you might wanna change how you feel about them because yes, that's right, you can earn some $$$ from entering captchas. It will be usually 6-8 character long captchas that you'll need to type. There are many sites like MegaTypers and Kolotibablo here you can earn by typing in captchas. These usually pay between $0.35 - $1 per hour (25-69 Rupees).This one lesser heard of than the other popular websites like fiverr. This basically has a lot of odd jobs in it which range from finding an address for someone to bathroom quality classification(yes) to making a video of yourself shopping in a supermarket for a research team who wants to learn and implement on their robots. There are more jobs which you can qualify for by giving task specific tests held by the site.
They pay with amazon points which you can spend on their website, which isn't that bad of a deal, is it? Payments are per task range from $0.01 to $20. Average worker earns about $2 per hours.
Reviewing Websites and Apps
Websites like Usertesting and TryMyUI pay you to test websites and apps and review them. All you need is a computer, a webcam, a mic and a bit of speaking skills. Most of these websites ask you to record your screen and/or you using the website/app and actively speak about how you feel while using it. It can be easy for those who have good speaking skills. Those who don't can also try and improve because once you get the hold of it, it will get relatively easier.
Reviewing Music
You love music? You like discovering new genres and artists? Then this might be perfect for you! Websites like SliceThePie pay you for listening and reviewing new music. It might take a while to build up your reputation but hey! you've to put in some effort before eating the sweet sweet fruit, right? Another website worth mentioning is musicxray.Sell your study notes
Who doesn't like ready-made notes? If you don't mind sharing notes with your friends and batch-mates then why not also make a little extra money by selling them online? Websites like Nexus Notes and Stuvia are one of the most popular ones where you can sell your notes. They take a little share of your profit for handling marketing for you so you don't have to reach out to customers. Typed notes are usually more preferable but if you have a good handwriting then hand-written notes should be good too.
Sell your photographs
Have a thing for clicking photographs? Try and sell some of your best clicks on websites like Adobe Stock or Getty Images. These should be great to get your started. Try to post pictures which have lesser search results. For example - a banana kept on head. Yes, its a bit specific but you can try some lesser specific topics too!
Become a mystery shopper
Sounds fun right? It is fun. It can include some boring stuff too but they're paying you for it, sooo.. I guess you can do it. It basically is visiting businesses anonymously to check on the services and quality. It can also include free dinners at some restaurant too! You can read more about it here.
Tasking apps
It's like mystery shopping but without buying anything. It involves simple jobs like going to the nearby supermarket and clicking pictures of the tomato section or going to a bakery and making a video of you eating a pastry. Similar to some of the mturk tasks, but it's just solely based on these odd jobs and pay better too! Yes you might encounter some awkward moments with the staff but it's worth it.
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