Hands-On Review of the Sciphone i68/i68+ GSM Phones

See also my general overview of the Sciphone i68 and i68+ phones.

Disclaimer

Introduction

I originally did this review for a generic i68 with generic pre-3.0 firmware. Since then I've gotten an i68+ with version 3.1 firmware, so I've tried to update the review to point out the differences between the two where they arise. In addition, Javquisoft 4.0 firmware was rolled out and I upgraded my phone to that, which allowed some customizations.

Contents

Features

• It is normally unlocked. Or to be more accurate it was never locked to begin with.
• It is quadband so it supports all four GSM frequencies: 850, 900, 1800, and 1900 MHz; and is therefore a world phone because it can be used anywhere on the planet.)
• The display is a relatively large 3.2 inch touch screen offering 240 by 320 pixels. It appears to support 16 bits per color.
• It comes with a small stylus that slides up into the phone for storage but you can get a better one from DealExtreme.
• It accepts up to two SIM cards and they are both usable whenever you like. When you make a call there are two dial-out buttons on the screen to let you select which SIM you will use. This is helpful if you have one SIM for work and another for personal use.
• It accepts a MicroSD flash memory card supposedly up to 8 GB capacity. It comes with a 1 GB card preinstalled.
• It has the slide-to-unlock feature.
• It has a built-in motion and orientation sensor and some of the phone software responds to sudden motion (shaking) and/or to whether you are holding it in landscape or portrait orientation.
• The only buttons are the round frontal button and two up/down buttons on the left side near the top.
• It has only one port into which goes either the USB cable, the firmware upgrade cable, the optional headphone adapter, or the cable for the earbuds-plus-microphone.
• It has a camera that is either 320x240 or 640x480 resolution.
• It runs Java "MIDP" programs (also known as midlets) such as games and organizer programs.
• Its battery can charge by 3 mechanisms: via USB; via separate battery charger; or by car charger.
• It comes with 2 lithium ion batteries.
• On the front there are, of course, a speaker and microphone for talking on the phone.
• There may be a speaker on the back or top for playing music in tandem with the frontal ear speaker to provide stereo music playback.
• The phone has some useful but clunky built-in programs such as calculator and calendar.
• There is a built-in FM radio.

Flash memory cards

• The generic 1GB card that was included with the phone.
• A Sandisk 4GB MicroSD HC that I got for about $10.

Transferring files to the phone

1. You connect the USB cable from your phone to your computer.
2. The phone will display a menu asking if you want to tell the computer it is a storage device or some other option. Select "mass storage".
3. Two new drives will appear on your Windows computer. The 1^st is large: It is the MicroSD card. The 2^nd is less than 1 megabyte: It is internal memory that the phone always has.
4. You then move your MP3 files into the appropriate directory of the MicroSD drive.

Directories

• Audio = voice recorder files
• eBook = text files
• Java = Java programs specifically .jar and .jad files
• MP3 = MP3/WAV files
• Photos = photos e.g. JPG files
• Video = videos e.g. 3GP files

Music Player

• MP3
• WAV
• AAC
• AU

The version 3.0a software handled MP3 and WAV but I did not test others.

What kinds of MP3s work best?

Pop music should be mostly OK with headphones and sometimes with speakers.

Flamenco sounds better on the speakers than headphones, because the guitar is high-pitched anyway. The headphones make it sound blurred or muddled, although it may help to turn on the equalizer and set it to Treble.

Podcasts such as Truth About Markets sound much better with headphones.

How is the audio quality?

Speakers

• 800 Hz = loud
• 400 Hz = about half as loud
• 250 Hz = hard to hear
• 14 kHz = maybe 2/3 as loud as 800 Hz

Headphones with adapter

• 800 Hz = loud
• 400 Hz = loud
• 250 Hz = loud
• 125 Hz = about half as loud
• 100 Hz = hard to hear
• 14 kHz = hard to hear; could be due to headphones.
• 15 kHz = almost inaudible; could be due to headphones.

Earbuds

At the same volume level as my headphone tests, I got:

• 800 Hz = somewhat weak
• 400 Hz = somewhat weak
• 250 Hz = weak
• 125 Hz = hard to hear

Problems

1. The music player only supports one playlist. So all your songs -- even if you have 100s of them -- are in the same list. This is very inconvenient.
   • A simple workaround is to put all the songs by a given artist into one folder and then use the Documents feature to browse and select individual songs. The generic firmware shows a dancing man animation when playing a song in this manner. version 3 firmware just shows the MP3 player.
2. Some filenames are not properly read. Consequently they appear in the old MSDOS 8.3 format e.g. SONGNU~1.MP3 instead of SongNumber100.mp3.
3. I found that the generic pre-3.0a firmware had a lowest volume level (before off) that was still quite loud. I had no luck turning that down even in Engineering Mode. The version 3 firmware MP3 player does not have that problem at all.

What free programs exist to edit music files and rip CDs?

To edit audio, try Audacity or WavePad.

Video Player

Supported video formats

• 3GP is the standard video container used with mobile phones.
• 3G2 is related to 3GP.
• MP4 is also used on regular PCs.

Note that 3GP, 3G2 and MP4 are just containers. The codec that is used to compress the movie can be

• h.263
• Xvid
• Possibly h.264/AVC

After much experimentation, 176x144 remains the largest resolution that has worked for me. Anything larger than that is rejected.

Here are a few sample videos:

• Controlled demolition of World Trade Center building 7 at 5:20pm on 9/11.
• My VRML rotating teeth video
• Newtonian toy animation

Converting videos

In WinFF, these settings worked best for the 3.1 firmware and Javquisoft 4.0 firmware:

• Convert to: Mobile phones
• Device preset: CDMA 3G2 (h.263 codec)
• 176x144 resolution
• Bit rate 128k for action; higher for drama/interviews.
• Additional FFMPEG options: -me_method epzs -sameq

These settings worked best with the generic firmware:

• MP4 container
• Xvid codec
• 176x144 resolution
• 12.5 frames per second
• AAC LC audio
• 2 audio channels
• 128 kbps audio bitrate
• 44100 audio samples/second

Give it a try using this animation of a rotating 60-carbon "buckyball".

Editing videos

• VirtualDub and optionally Avisynth
• My own program (not quite ready yet) Muvy

Playback quality

Things have improved due to Javquisoft's update and it is somewhat smoother, with a maximum more like 15 fps.

Regardless of which firmware your phone has, note that video quality is dependent on how well the video was encoded, which depends on:

• Your encoder settings.
• The quality of the encoding software.

Regarding video size, the only way to achieve a video larger than 176x144 is to create an animated GIF, which of course has no sound. See here.

Orientation

What kinds of videos are worth converting?

Also, videos with a lot of action or where the camera is handheld fare worse because they are harder for the codec to compress and for the phone to decompress, so movement may appear jumpy.

How large are the files?

• A 15-second MP4 Xvid 176x144 clip was half a megabyte.
• Some 55-minute MP4 Xvid 176x144 9600 kbps videos were between 150 and 200 megs.

Photo Viewer

The generic firmware's viewer that I used previously was quite clunky and required clicking a small button to go to the next image.

To use the viewer, you select a photo from a list, then select View and it appears. Using the touch-flow feature you just slide your finger across the touch screen leftward or rightward to go to the next or previous image, respectively.

Touch-flow also allows you to zoom in or out by moving your finger up or down the screen. While viewing a photo, if you rotate the phone to landscape mode the photo will rotate as well.

You can also browse thumbnails, which appear somewhat slowly.

Image file formats

• JPEGs of any size
• BMPs of any size
• GIFs up to 1280x1280
• PNGs only up to 640x480
• Animated GIFs

Meanwhile, the viewer provided by version 3.1 firmware is mostly the same in terms of image file format support, with two differences:

1. It has trouble dealing with some JPEGs i.e. a few JPEGs have been deemed incompatible. The size of the JPEG is not the issue. I have had no trouble looking at JPEGs as large as 150kB.
2. It seems that some BMP files are not supported.

What about animated GIFs?

Using the viewer in the generic firmware, the maximum frame rate for animated GIFs appeared to be slightly worse than Xvids at the same resolution. I created one that was 320x240 using SUPER.

Using the version 3.1 firmware, animated GIFs look poor in comparison to the 10+ frames per second of the video player. Try this video to see what I mean.

GIFs of the collapse of World Trade Center building #7 on 9/11

Here is a grayscale 240x176 animation, perhaps 4 frames/second:

Here is a simple color 200x150, 6 fps, 64-color animation:

Click here for a 176x144 video at 12 fps equivalent to the above.

How to make a good animated GIF

1. Obtain the free program VirtualDub
2. Obtain a demo copy of ULead GIF Animator
3. Open your video file in VirtualDub
4. Add the video filter Resize to resize the video to width 240.
5. In Frame Rate: select Decimate by a factor to reduce the frame rate to about 4 fps. For instance if the video is 24 fps then decimate by 6.
6. Save the video to an AVI file.
7. Run GIF Animator and open the AVI file.
8. Click on Optimize tab.
9. Select either Photo 32 or Photo 64.
10. Save As GIF.
11. Move that to anywhere on your MicroSD card; or into the Photos folder.

Problems

1. The zoom feature of the pre-3.0a firmware's photo viewer was a bit broken. The specific bug is: If you try to zoom in all the way into a photo, i.e. to 100%, it won't let you. It takes the zoom to maybe 80%. This is a problem if you are viewing a screenshot of a map, I have found. To compensate, always use higher resolution images than you think you need.
2. In addition, the orientation sensor sometimes jumps to portrait view inappropriately. This does not affect useability.

Camera

Major issues are:

• The dynamic range appears to be very narrow therefore it is typical to see washed-out photos. That said some photos are good and there is something amusing about the challenge of trying to get good photos.
• I tend to think that any good photos would be taken in grayscale mode. And preferably at 320x240 resolution.
• In 640x480 (VGA) mode there is a problem with jagged lines. This appears to be caused by the camera itself being only 320x240 which is then interpolated to achieve VGA resolution. Your mileage may vary though since different phones have different cameras.
• As with all cell phones it is helpful to take photos in bright sunlight and when you set the camera down to keep it still. Then set the timer.
• The highest quality setting in the version 3.1 firmware still loses a lot of detail and seems more like a low quality JPEG setting. The camera really ought to store in a lossless format like BMP.

Sample photos

Take special notice of the thin diagonal lines near the parking structure's rails. They're jagged or craggy. They are, I think, indicative that the photo is in fact interpolated, meaning it appears to be a lower-resolution image that the software increased in resolution. Now, look at the same photo below reduced to 320x240:

Notice, no jaggy lines. It is closer to the original.

Here are some more 640x480 photos. Each is oddly fuzzy, suggesting to me interpolation from a 320x240 image. Click to enlarge.

Here is a more recent 640x480 that I took with the i68+ phone in greyscale mode. I haven't enhanced the photo except to rotate it using the GIMP. Click to enlarge.

Is a better camera possible in a cheap phone?

• The i-mobile 902 from Thailand was reviewed as being 5MP and having better image quality than the Nokia N95.
• Another called the PT200+ even has a 3X optical zoom. But it has only a 2 MP camera.
• The upcoming Sciphone N12 will be 3MP.

These phones are usually only dual-band 900/1800 MHz, so useless in North America.

Video Recorder

I made a movie file which is here in edited form that is:

• 176x144 although it looks like interpolated 88x72
• 10 fps
• Motion JPEG
• Less than 800 kbps

Audio Recorder

Java

What files do I need?

How do I install Java programs?

Where do I get Java programs?

• Getjar (many do not work on Sciphone)
• Midlet.org (many do not work on Sciphone)
• My own Java programs that I wrote for my Sciphone.

Jargon

JAR = Java archive file.
JAD = Java archive decription.
Midlet = Common term for a mobile Java program.
J2ME = Java 2 Mobile Edition.
MIDP = Mobile Information Device Profile .
CLDC = Connected Limited Device Configuration.
JDK = Java development kit (for programmers).

Speed

For my own Java programs, which are here, I've found that putting a little extra thought and effort into making a program fast and frugal can pay off. But other programmers might decide not to bother.

Why are there so few good Java programs?

Many people have labored away at writing Java programs for phones anyway, hence the large number available at getjar. But many programmers or companies who were seeking a profit have given up and moved to the Apple iPhone^TM. Some people who seek to write and distribute free programs have continued with J2ME.

Consider:

1. Every Java-capable phone is slightly different and programmers do not want to customize for every phone. There are hundreds of phones and no one owns more than a few. Compare to the iPhone which offers just one standard (albeit an expensive one).
2. Wireless companies and resellers combined take a huge 75% of the sale price for any Java game. All either really does is pass the Java midlet from programmers to customers yet they take a huge cut.
3. Phone owners never really know what they are buying until they have bought it. There is no preview on the phone and not much information on the wireless provider's website.
4. Only 5% of phone owners ever buy a Java program to run on their phone and most of those do so only once. This is a clear sign of a poorly thought out business model.
5. It is often unclear whether the price of the midlet as stated is what will actually appear on the bill -- few consumers are willing to trust mobile phone companies since they have a record of stealing from customers. This provides a disincentive to consumers to buy Java programs for their phones.
6. Illegal copying of Java programs is rampant and this problem has remained unaddressed year after year.
7. Some programmers are unaccustomed to writing software for resource-limited devices such as phones running Java. The iPhone has much greater resources.

More on this topic:

• FishLabs announcement.
• The iPhone effect

Program load times

• A certain Java-based PDF reader took minutes to launch and was so bad that I deleted it.
• A certain Java-based Office suite took so long to (try to) load a Word file that I terminated it.
• Google Maps took 20 seconds to reach the opening screen. I do not have a data plan so it stopped there.
• Opera Mini took 9 seconds to reach its opening screen. I do not have a data plan so it stopped there.

Scrolling problem

The Java documentation from Sun (who makes Java) does state here that it is the responsibility of firmware developers to implement scrolling. It says: Navigation, scrolling, and other primitive interaction is encapsulated by the implementation, and the application is not aware of these interactions. By implemention they mean the phone's firmware.

Until that is implemented, Sciphone users will have to avoid Form-based midlets that use more than one screenful of information.

Support for special phone features

Heap size

• The maximum Java heap size is 1 megabyte.
• In Engineering Mode you can theoretically change the heap size if you so desire to make it smaller. I do not recommend doing that or using Engineering Mode at all.

Where to find wallpapers?

eBook Reader

The version 3.1 firmware's reader is OK, not great:

1. The font is readable.
2. It has a scroll bar.
3. There are no on-screen buttons to learn.
4. It lacks a fixed-width font like Courier.
5. There is no landscape mode.
6. There is a bug that leaves part of the bottom of the screen blank.
7. It has a full-screen mode that is almost impossible to disable. You actually have to rename whatever eBook had been viewed in full-screen mode and then go into the settings to turn off full-screen mode.

The generic firmware's eBook reader as I experienced it was junk. Your mileage may vary.

1. There was no scroll bar.
2. It lacked a fixed-width font like Courier.
3. There was no landscape mode.
4. It had a software bug wherein the large font was incorrectly displayed. Some characters were too high.
5. Operating it also involved discovering what the 0 through 9 on-screen buttons were for. For instance "2" is help.

Image-based eBooks

• The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe (19 images)
• The US Constitution (37 images)

I created these using LaTeX, dvipng and ImageMagick. To help you make your own eBooks, I've included my shell script (make.sh) and instructions for using it.

Other image-based information

.

Making calls

1. Turn off your phone and then open up the back. Remove the battery.
2. Insert your SIM card. In my case that was a T-Mobile prepaid SIM.
3. Turn on the phone.
4. In the main menu select Settings; then Dual SIM settings.
5. Select whichever option indicates that the SIM slot in use is "open". Or your menu may refer to the unused slot as "closed".
6. Click on OK and you should be ready to make calls.

Setting up data services

• T-Mobile:
  • In the USA use this T-Mobile webpage. No CECT or Sciphone models are listed so choose Nokia 2610.
  • You might need to press the power button to accept a service. Do not accept any service like T-zones or any T-anything. Always choose the first option and take care of any data account. Repeat for each desired service.

Text messaging / SMS

On-screen keyboard

The version 3.1 firmware improves the on-screen keyboard quite a bit.

At this time, I do not know whether a bluetooth keyboard works with this phone. If you have one and can test it out, please let me know what the result is.

Handwriting recognition

BlueTooth

Headsets

Keyboard

Use as modem

Cases

• It is maybe 2 millimeters wider.
• The round front button is higher.

This is the case that I bought for my i68+ on Amazon. It fits perfectly, it's real leather if the ad is to be believed, and it was cheap.

Firmware updates

In early 2009, Javquisoft began releasing version 4 of their firmware, which permits them to release improvements to the applications on the phone.

It also lets users apply their own look-and-feel customizations to their phone's user interface.

The Javquisoft firmware kit may still be available from Zydaglo or MySciphoneShop.

Built-in programs

Calculator

Calendar

Currency converter

Stopwatch

FM radio

Missing features

1. Wifi support.
2. A real scientific calculator.
3. A native PDF reader -- not some slow useless Java program.
4. Instead of the currency converter how about a program that shows the ever-rising US national debt?

Hardware

Engineering Mode

Whatever you do, never select "high speed SIM" as this will render the phone nonfunctional i.e. "bricked".

Controlling via PC

As webcam via USB

To update the phone book via USB

Javquisoft version 4 firmware

Version 4 has the same appearance as version 3, except that it allows for improvements to the major built-in programs (which subscribers will receive) and it permits the user to customize the phone applications using the package.txt file and media files.

Key concept: a skin
These days, in the Windows and Linux worlds at least, some programs let the user change the outward appearance of a program by applying a "skin". This is a set of images, color preferences, and sounds, plus a configuration file that describes them. The package.txt file is essentially a skin configuration file for the Sciphone. Javquisoft refers to it as a content package.

Installing a skin

But first, create a directory on your MicroSD drive called javquisoft (all lower case) if you haven't already. It is into that directory that you copy package.txt and the various other relevant files.

Then you click on the "safely remove hardware" icon under Windows, disconnect the USB, then slide-to-unlock the phone, go to the third menu page and run the Installer.

What is the format of package.txt?

<red blood cells     G001= RBC.jpg>
<e coli              G002= EColi.jpg>
<white blood cells   G003= Cells.jpg>
<muscle              G004= muscle.jpg>
<mitosis             G005= mitosis.jpg>
<neuron              G006= neuron.JPG>
<marbles             G007= Marbles2.jpg>
<model               G008= Face.jpg>

If you want to change sounds, you have to copy MP3 files into your javquisoft directory and give them special names as follows:

• Ring tones 1..10 are called RT01.mp3 .. RT10.mp3
• Message tones 1..10 are called SMS1.mp3 .. SMS0.mp3
• MMS tones 1..10 are called MMS1.mp3 .. MMS0.mp3
• System sounds 1..10 are called SYS1.mp3 .. SYS0.mp3

As you can see, version 4 fixes the problem of not being able to assign an MP3 to the incoming SMS sound. Note, you cannot use WAV files in the javquisoft directory.

Note! There is a 2.5 megabyte limit on all of the sound and image files in your javquisoft directory.

Here is a list of the files in my javquisoft directory, to give you an idea of appropriate file sizes and names:

G:> dir javquisoft
 Volume in drive G has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is xxxx-xxxx

 Directory of G:\javquisoft

05/14/2009  05:48 PM            28,040 Cells.jpg
05/14/2009  05:46 PM            34,661 EColi.jpg
05/09/2009  06:19 PM            29,544 Face.jpeg
05/14/2009  05:49 PM            13,772 Marbles2.jpg
05/14/2009  06:13 PM            18,807 mitosis.jpg
05/14/2009  06:07 PM            65,068 muscle.jpg
05/14/2009  06:21 PM            43,261 neuron.JPG
05/14/2009  07:36 PM               622 package.txt
05/14/2009  05:46 PM            49,123 RBC.jpg
05/14/2009  07:49 PM           221,614 RT01.mp3
05/14/2009  07:57 PM           196,999 RT02.mp3
05/14/2009  07:51 PM            45,558 SMS1.mp3
05/14/2009  08:41 PM             1,356 SMS2.mp3
05/14/2009  08:40 PM            12,096 SMS3.mp3
05/14/2009  08:41 PM             1,356 SMS4.mp3
05/14/2009  08:09 PM            45,558 SYS1.mp3
05/14/2009  08:41 PM             1,356 SYS3.mp3

For some ideas on where to get ringtones and other sounds, visit my ringtones page.

Conclusions

Value for money

As of this writing, given the wealth of features that the i68+ with 3.0a or better firmware provides, it's still a good deal.

Overall

• The firmware is limited in some aspects e.g. the MP3 player lacks basic things like multiple playlists.
• The hardware is limited in some aspects e.g. slow processor.
• The phone has an inferior camera that seems to actually be only 320x240 resolution. And yet... I have taken decent photos with it.
• It has a slightly different size from iPhone so the silicone cases do not necessarily fit well.
• It has a cheap plastic design that I personally do not mind.
• A separate adapter is needed to use your own headphones. (Not so with the i9b phone.)
• The FM radio uses the headphones as the antenna.

Links

• Architecture
  • Shipping Container Architecture information repository
  • Essay: Why use shipping containers as architectural elements?
  • Tuition rates at American architecture schools
  • Reasons why shipping container housing should facilitate a do-it-yourself (DIY) approach.
  • Housing price increases versus inflation
• Automotive
  • Hypermiling techniques for increased fuel efficiency
  • Kilometers/Liter to Miles/Gallon converter
  • Mileage log for Toyota Tacoma
• Bicycles and bicycling
  • My cycling information repository page
• Books (my summaries and quotes from books)
  • Quotes from Walden by Henry David Thoreau
  • My summary of Cultural Anthropology by R. Robbins
  • My summary of Country Property Dirt Cheap
  • My summary of Freud: The Future of an Illusion
  • Quotes from The Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch
• Computer Hardware
  • Benchmarks (Linux)
    • My benchmark to test system memory bandwidth
  • My reviews
    • A critical review of the Alphasmart Dana
• Computer Software
  • Foodist: my free diet manager for Windows Mobile
  • Wanderlust: my free outline editor for Windows.
  • My suggestions for free Windows software
  • My Notes on using free TeX and LaTeX typesetting software.
  • My LaTeX template for a quick reference guides
  • VirtualDub and Avisynth Video Editing FAQs
  • IBM keyboard Alt key accented characters
• Consumerism
  • Digital cameras
    • My review of the Sigma DP1 pocket DSLR.
    • My explanation of how to determine sensor element size to ascertain camera image quality.
  • Mobile phones
    • My Master List of Asian GSM Phones
    • Hands-on review of the Sciphone i68/i68+ GSM Phones
    • Unofficial Sciphone i68/i68+ GSM Phones FAQs
    • Unofficial CECT F003 phone FAQs
    • Unofficial CECT P168+ and related GSM Phones FAQs
    • Features of the Nokia 1208 phone
    • My Windows Mobile programs.
    • My Java MIDP programs.
    • Wallpaper links for phones.
    • Ringtones for phones.
    • Ruler & conversions for the Sciphone i68+.
    • The infamous T-Mobile unwanted text messages from 10476000000.
    • Unofficial Sciphone N12 Android phone FAQs
  • Frugality
    • Numerous Ways to Conserve Energy
    • Frugal living in and around Paris France
  • My own experiences with certain companies.
    • Best Buy
    • Verizon
    • AT&T Wireless
• Corporations
  • My corporation search page for investigating elusive or dodgy corporations.
  • Short list of corporate front groups in the USA (meaning corporate PR trying to appear to be socially-responsible, which at times can even be made to look like grassroots citizens activism)
• Cuisine / Food / Tea
  • Foodist: my free diet manager for Windows Mobile
  • How to make a crêpe
  • How to make a pumpkin spice latte.
  • How I lost weight
  • Notes about Puerh tea and EGCG
  • Common food serving sizes
  • Food pyramids from around the world
• Do it yourself (DIY)
  • How to make soap.
  • How to make a workout bench out of wood
  • How to make a clothing rack out of wood
  • How to make a sit-up bench out of wood
  • How to make a book holder/stand out of wood
  • How to make a work table out of wood
  • How to make a durable wallet out of leather
• Economics
  • The Recession and What Caused It
  • Neoliberalism: The unseen ideology that shapes Western society.
  • PostNeoliberalism: What comes after the collapse of the world financial system.
  • Comparison of national debts for USA/Germany/etc
  • Notes on bullion
• Education
  • Excellent quotations.
  • Chemistry clip art
  • Notes on speech about marketing and Google given by Seth Godin
  • Notes on Internet/Web Advertising
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapters 1 and 2
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapter 3
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapter 4
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapter 5
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapter 7
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapter 13
  • Kleppners Advertising Procedure chapter 24
  • Genetics: Universal Codons of Life
  • My history/biology/chemistry quick reference guides
  • My Evolution quick reference cheat sheet
  • List of free videos of lectures online
  • The infamous OOOTTAFVGVAH mneumonic (cranial nerves)
  • Tuition rates at American architecture schools
  • Biology notes
• Electronics
  • Parallel Resistance and Series Capacitance Calculator
• Environment
  • Numerous Ways to Conserve Energy
  • Exxon and anti-global-warming propaganda
  • Polluting power plants:
    • Keystone Power Plant: owned by Reliant Resources and located in Indiana County Pennsylvania USA
    • Homer City Generating Station: owned by Edison and located in Indiana County Pennsylvania USA
    • Conemaugh Generating Station: located at New Florence Pennsylvania.
• Film & Theater
  • Summary of Shakespeare: Hamlet
  • Summary of Federico Fellini: 8½
  • The 37 dramatic situations by Georges Polti
  • My film reviews
    • My review of the film 300
    • My review of the film Apocalypto
    • My review of the film Battle Royale
    • My review of the film Clerks
    • My review of the film Ghostworld
    • My review of the film Hot Fuzz
    • My review of the film Juno
    • My review of the film Nacho Libre
    • My review of the film The Punisher
    • My review of the film Super Bad
    • My review of the film Watchmen
• Food: see Cuisine.
• Freedom & Liberty
  • Reasons to Reject Authority
  • My quotations from Henry David Thoreau: Walden
  • 32 Reasons to Speak Your Mind
• Frugality: see here
• Fuels: alternative
  • My list of biodiesel cooperatives and collectives
• Games
  • My Architecture Crossword Puzzle
• Health
  • How I lost weight
  • Notes about Puerh tea and EGCG
  • Common food serving sizes
  • Food pyramids from around the world
  • Options for Natural Living
  • Industrial chemicals listing and their health effects
• History and Archeology
  • An Actual Ancient Roman Caliga (plural caligae); this is a type of sandal.
  • Some of my quick reference guides including Roman History
• Humor
  • Knowledge versus Wisdom: Story of the Shoe-Tying Man.
  • Hoodia Risks
  • Hoodia Benefits
  • How to hide an unsightly erection
  • Sex tale about some tail
  • The Story of Flatulence
  • The art of appealing to stupidity.
• Language
  • My French language quick reference
  • My Spanish language quick reference
  • My English cliches and other stuff
• Mathematics
  • Quadratic formula solver
  • Trigonometry quick reference
  • Resistance/capacitance calculator
• News
  • My favorite video links and news
• Politics
  • Notes about 9/11 conspiracies.
  • Applying logic to the events of 9/11.
  • The USA is becoming a police state.
  • What is a conspiracy theory really?
  • Quiz: What do you know about building demolitions?
  • My Guide to America for Foreigners.
  • Definition of a poverty culture
  • Corporate Terrorism
  • Evidence of US Special Forces Performing Military Exercises for Taking Over US Cities (Martial Law)
  • Techniques of cowardly squabblers
  • Why the two-party political system does not work.
  • Quotations from Culture of Narcissism by Christopher Lasch
  • Famous quotations
  • Member list for secretive elite Yale club "Skull and Bones" including Bush & John Kerry
  • My Corporate Malfeasance Information Repository or by first letter of company name:

    A B C D E F G H I J

    J K L M N O P Q R

    S T U V W X Y Z

• Real Estate
  • My notes on the book Country Property Dirt Cheap
• Religion and Atheism
  • My summary of Freud: The Future of an Illusion
  • How religion is a mind-virus.
  • Debunking bad argumentation of religious zealots.
  • Is atheism a religion? (No.)
  • Does Islam operate like a cult? (Yes.)
  • If Muslims hate Jews so much then why do Muslims pray to the Jewish god?
• Sciences
  • Anthropology
    • My summary of Cultural Anthropology by R. Robbins
    • My definition of a poverty culture
  • Biology
    • Notes about Viruses
    • Notes about Bacteria
    • Notes about Protists
    • The Universal Codon of Life
    • A few of my one-page quick reference guides
    • My Evolution quick reference guide
    • The infamous OOOTTAFVGVAH mneumonic (neurology)
    • Various biology notes of mine
  • Chemistry
    • Commonplace chemicals and their health effects
    • Chemistry clip art
    • Worlds Smallest Periodic Table
  • Physics
    • Evidence showing 9/11 was an inside job
    • Applying logic to the events of 9/11
    • Quiz: What do you know about building demolitions?
  • Psychology
    • Knowledge versus Wisdom: Story of the Shoe-Tying Man.
    • Dumb behaviors and characteristics.
    • Things that trip up even intelligent people
    • Reasons to reject authority
    • Tips on avoiding stress.
    • Unclever ways to waste your life.
• Travel
  • The Running of the Bulls
  • Tips on packing light
  • France
    • Frugal living in Paris France
    • Eiffel Tower information page
    • Homeless living structures in Paris France
  • Germany
    • My guide to living in Germany
  • Hostels
    • Hostels in Europe Listing
      • Hostels in Belgium
      • Hostels in Denmark
      • Hostels in France
      • Hostels in Germany
      • Hostels in Italy
      • Hostels in the Netherlands
      • Hostels in Spain
      • Hostels in Switzerland
      • Hostels in Sweden
      • Hostels in the UK
    • Hostels in the USA
• Work
  • My guide to living in Germany
• Videos
  • My favorite online documentary films