Jake

The Heat are the most mentally weak team I have ever seen. Good grief.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 09:35 PM) You can get by without rooting, but there are some very nice perks that come with custom ROMs and kernels. I don't think I can own a phone that isn't rooted and without a custom ROM, I've just gotten acquainted to too many things from custom ROMs. Examples: 1. Custom quick toggles: Instead of the limited toggles Google includes the quick toggle drawer, I can have toggles that switch on/off GPS without having to go into the settings app. I can toggle sync, auto rotation, WiFi tether, torch, etc as well. You can even create your own custom toggles. 2. Navigation customization: I personally use custom buttons and I assign long-press actions to the navigation buttons as well. For instance, a long press of the home button will kill the current app and a long press of the back button will take you back to the previous app. Speaking of killing apps, that is another perk of custom ROMs. When you swipe the app card away in the multi-tasking pane, the app's process isn't actually killed. So when you really need to hard-kill an app, the only real way to do it is to actually kill the process. You can't do that on a stock device. There are also other cool ways to navigate your Android device. One of them is called PIE and they're basically an array of virtual on-screen buttons that auto-hide. Here's what it looks like. And a good FYI since you own a HTC One. You know that annoying bar with the menu button that pops up on the bottom of the screen for apps that aren't designed for Android 4.0 and above? You can get rid of that if you root and flash a custom kernel that allows you to map the HTC logo to an actual function (such as the menu). I would root and flash a kernel for that alone. 3. System-wide themes: not a huge deal, but there are some nice themes for CM and CM-based ROMs. 4. Custom lock-screen: you can change up the lockscreen wallpaper, change up the text color, display options (such as battery percentage), etc. Not so bad to have. 5. Custom LED notification colors: that notification LED is really useful, but it isn't all that useful if you don't know what apps correspond to what LED color. Well, custom ROMs allow you to change that. You can also set the length and interval of the LED flash. Really useful. 6. More battery life, faster performance: not all custom kernels are good, but the good ones do wonders for battery life and performance. If you know what you're doing, you can undervolt or do custom Hotplugs to take total control of your CPU and maximize battery life. Custom kernels also bring better frequency governors, I/O control, and overclocking, allowing for better performance. 7. Total control of your file system: want to pull an app you bought and back it up? Better root. Want to make a certain app a system app so you can get around MLB.tv blackouts? Better root. Want to uninstall annoying carrier apps forever? Root. 8. Lots of customization options: color of your battery, clock, etc, custom batteries that show percentages, and a bunch of other small things that more or less can help you complete the maximal Android experience. I mean, there's nothing wrong with going stock, especially if you have a Nexus device or any device with stock Android. But you're not getting your entire money's worth until you root. Thanks for this post. I'm going to bookmark it. I'm going to wait for the shine to come off this thing before I start tweaking, but I'm glad you wrote all that so I know what I would be getting into.

Here's a look at my homescreen w/ Nova Prime:

We signed Freudenberg for 175K, which is over slot. We are just 23K under budget now.

I still hate WCIU. Don't get it in HD here. #firstworldproblems

A little outdated, but pretty cool. Reminded me of some of the feature rollouts and stuff that I had forgotten or never even knew: A Visual History of iOS A Visual History of Android

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 06:48 PM) For me, I rooted to get free wifi hot spot (this isn't free on Sprint), be able to do a full system backup (i.e., nandroid), backup apps, underclock/overclock the kernel, try different ROMs and kernels, get the latest version of Android, use hacked apps (e.g. I had free Sunday ticket live streaming for a while a year or so ago), and simply have full control of my phone. I don't want touchwiz or sense UI and would rather have less crap on my phone. The footprint on something like Cyanogen or AOKP is much smaller than the stock ROM which will also give you more internal storage space. And I like some of the tweaks in those ROMs that you won't get on stock, like being able to skip tracks in your music player by simply holding down the volume keys. That being said, you could have a completely fine experience with Android using a stock ROM. I have unlimited data on AT&T, but I get throttled pretty quickly so I probably would waste my time with the tethering. With that said, if HTC gets slow with Android OS updates as they're known to be, that would be the most likely thing to motivate me to root. I like the other stuff, but at this point it isn't enough to pull the trigger. I'll probably wait to try to get sick of/get bored of the way things are currently set up before I root. With that said...I could always root my ASUS tablet. I still love that thing as it is, though...lol

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 06:40 PM) No, you're pretty much spot on, it's essentially the Android version of jailbreaking. After having used a up-to-date jail broken iPhone the last few months, I somewhat agree with you, while some of its nice, the only app I still care about is Bitesms, the rest of its nice and all, but not necessary. It's also not as stable, and I'm very conservative as to what I install/mess with. I'd expect a similar rooted Android experience, of the hacks I read about, even the stable versions of these roots/roms/etc aren't as stable as stock Android. Of course this is merely opinion based on what I've read, which is why I'm so interested in attempting a test run of Android, but I want it stock, where I can then install small changes such as a launcher, without having to deal with Samsung, or HTCs "skin", which is more the just skin. Right, the things that made me stick it out with jailbreaking are things I can already do with my HTC One. I can replace the messaging, phone, launcher, themes, keyboard, etc. Messages/Contacts+ is incredibly similar to the feature I liked in BiteSMS (pop-up in front of current app when message comes in) and I've learned that the notification center works so well I don't even mind the stock messaging app. Seems like, for now, I'll stay away from rooting. Maybe if updates to Android start getting really late I'll root sometime later, but I feel like I'm not missing out on anything. HTC's Sense and Samsung's TouchWiz have pluses and minuses. I don't hate Sense but I like my Nova Launcher better, but the important thing to me was that they both work really smoothly. Lots of S4 users complaining about out-of-box performance lagging, which was my experience with TouchWiz. Many others love it, of course. I digress. Also, you could always just pay a measly $600 for HTC One Google Edition. Something similar coming for Samsung GS4, will probably be a hair more expensive like the subsidized versions. Nexus 4 is a cheaper option as well, but its hardware is very underwhelming for me. I have a sense that you don't want to test it out bad enough to buy a new phone, though.

I like Nova because it's a bit more like stock Android and I can squeeze more s*** onto each screen, plus the subtle things I can customize. I like the regular look of Androids (for now, at least) so I didn't feel like going for a launcher that had a totally different UI or anything. On that note, can someone tell me why I would want to root? I've read LifeHacker's rooting guide and "10 apps that will convince you to root" and I'm still unconvinced. While I love just playing with s*** like I did with my jailbroken iPhone, I like my phone as it is, don't think it's slow, am not angry about the bloatware (I use ATT visual voicemail). I also don't like how it is impossible to hide from the manufacturer that I did the root, which basically means the warranty is voided if I understand it correctly. Is there something I'm missing?

QUOTE (Chicago White Sox @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 05:33 PM) Maybe writing him off wasn't the right choice of words, but I believe people are undervaluing him. IMO, he is still a top 10 prospect. I'm not going to let an aggressive assignment this year and injuries last year affect my perception of him. He has all the tools and skills needed to become a solid leadoff hitter at the major league level. Whether or not he can keep his K rate low enough in the future like he has been able to in June will ultimately determine his fate. I do think his ceiling is high enough to warrannt a top 10 spot in our system though. I disagree that his ceiling is especially high. Low power, high strikeouts means he has to be an elite defender and basestealer which will be hard to quantify and still not be exceptionally valuable. He will be hard pressed to be as valuable as Alejandro De Aza. I still like him, but he is not really a high ceiling player IMO.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 03:09 PM) Anderson was listed on Bristol's roster last time I checked, guess that changed. I relayed the Anderson, Barnum to Kanny info to Twitter and it got favorited/retweeted by Tim. Probably means baseballnick was correct

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 02:35 PM) I'm sure that really threw Claude Julian's entire game plan into disarray. Crouching Hossa, Hidden Ben Smith

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 08:10 AM) I think people are a little over-excited about Micah Johnson. He's definitely going to jump up the rankings, maybe even the back end of the Top 10. But Top 5? Not yet, anyway. On the Johnson debate, if the games were played at Tennesee (who the Barons play regularly), make sure to add 3-4 ticks to the gun. That's just one example I know of, but some of the guns at these parks are off. EJ is low 90's typically, can run to mid-90's.

Pre-game, not pre-game, foot, neck, might play, might not. Sounds like the Blackhawks are keeping this secret pretty well.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Jun 18, 2013 -> 10:01 AM) I didn't say last night, but Crawford was really great last night again. That easily could have been a bigger blow out than it was. I agree. I've been super impressed with Crow. I know he had a great regular season, but I wasn't going to believe it until I saw him in the postseason and he's really shown up.

I'm pretty excited about Micah Johnson, but he's not super duper young and he's still at a very low level. Likewise, he doesn't really have a defensive position. I'm happy to let him develop as a 2B, but one glance at that error number tells you that he's far from ready to field at a MLB level. Delayed gratification on him, for sure.

For some ST'ers: Tim Baffoe ‏@TimBaffoe 3m Henry Rodriguez's first pitch clocked at 99mph. And it hit the ump. Second pitch at 99mph. And it hit the batter. #Cubes

Jesse has to be afraid that changing teams might change his luck. The last thing he wants is to lose this hot streak heading into FA

Nova Launcher. Yeeus.

QUOTE (maxjusttyped @ Jun 17, 2013 -> 08:22 PM) Pitchers lose velocity on their fastball all the time, so it's possible that's what's happened with him. It's also possible the Barons have a slow gun. I can only go off what I've seen. That's interesting. Thanks for sharing.

Blackhawks suck. Don't make my night any worse, White Sox

Ugh. No way to feel good about this or even the series at this point.

I hope the Blackhawks learned something from this...because I certainly didn't learn anything that I wanted to know.

How is Chara not penalized there?

Dave Revsine ‏@BTNDaveRevsine 3m Bruins apparently resorting to sound strategy of committing penalties to ensure the win. Hockey equivalent of Hack a Shaq