Qian Men street was one of the most interesting places I visited in Beijing. With more than 500 years of history and located in the south of Tiananmen Square, it is home to most of Beijing’s top brands from clothing to food. There are many international brands such as Zara and UniQlo there too, but the majority remains domestic. There’s such a nice atmosphere there, with of lot of little alley roads leading to smaller shops and looks even nicer in the night with all the lights specially neon lights changing the face of the street to a more surreal place. There’s an old fashioned tram running on the street which I took a ride with.
I had the best dumplings I’ve ever had there too, still can’t believe how good it tasted! First time I tried it I could literally feel an explosion inside my mouth! Du Yi Chu is one of the oldest restaurants in Beijing and the name was given by Emperor Qianlong. The speciality and main dish is Shao Mai which is a kind of steamed dumpling with the dough gathered at the top. It’s very unique and nothing like you’ve ever tried before!
iPad has been increasingly entering our digital lives and although it was never designed to replace personal computers and laptops, for many people it is becoming their only digital hub. One of the areas where Apple is yet to dictate the way we record our thoughts and ideas is writing. As much as using fingers is convenient for basic navigation, web browsing or re-touching photos, when it comes to writing or drawing it just doesn’t feel right. This is where a lot of third party companies have been taking advantage of and created a new market for iPad’s styluses. The limitations caused by the technology used in making iPad’s touch screen have pushed these products to be experimental and try different approaches. There are many styluses available in the market today each offering a slightly different experience, but which one is the right choice for you?
Griffin
Griffin was amongst the first styluses in the market that offered something practical. Balanced in size and design, it’s a good choice for people looking for something simple and fairly cheap.
Ease of use
5
Design
4
Sensitivity
4.5
Durability
4.5
Accuracy
3.5
Value for Money
4.2
Total
4.3
Just Mobile AluPen
Just Mobile AluPen briefly enjoyed its popularity after the release due to its interesting design, however, the competitors offering more pen like designs were ultimately wining this race! The pen has a nice weight to it and overall provides a pleasant experience if you are not going to use it consistency over long hours.
Ease of use
4
Design
4.5
Sensitivity
4.5
Durability
4.5
Accuracy
3.5
Value for Money
3.5
Total
4.1
Wacom Bamboo
Bamboo is Wacom’s entry into the capacitive screen’s stylus market and as expected from a company specialized in designing tablet and stylus; it seems to be the best option amongst the rubber tip choices. The tip is slightly smaller than the other models which makes writing easier, but it needs slightly more pressure for it to register on the screen as it’s softer. Also the tip is replaceable which makes this a more durable stylus. Wacom has also released its own app “Bamboo Paper” for this stylus. It’s a very responsive app with nice smooth ink effect. The only design flaw is the pop up colour and pen size window that shows up sometimes when drawing.
Ease of use
5
Design
5
Sensitivity
4
Durability
5
Accuracy
3.5
Value for Money
4.5
Total
4.5
Adonit Jot
Jot by adonit is a recent addition which uses a different method by using a plastic desk (precision disk) on the top that allows you to see what you write. This means unlike other styluses where it’s very difficult if not impossible to connect your lines together, with Jot you can do precise writing. This is not exactly an invention as DAGI has a similar product. The pen is designed beautifully and comes in two models; basic and pro. There’s also an app being developed for it. The main issue with Jot is the disk that wears off after a while and need to be replaced. Also it doesn’t work with some of screen protectors.
Ease of use
5
Design
5
Sensitivity
4.4
Durability
3.5
Accuracy
4.7
Value for Money
4.5
Total
4.52
Nomad Brush
Nomad brush is designed for drawing with artists’ desire to use a more traditional tool to interact with their iPad in mind. It feels like a real brush and is great for loose drawings. It’s not designed to be very precise and it’s not, but very sensitive requiring minimum amount of pressure and works great for painting or colouring your drawings. I’m yet to see how durable the tip is, it started to loosen up just a little after a few weeks of use and hasn’t changed ever since.
Ease of use
5
Design
5
Sensitivity
4.5
Durability
4
Accuracy
3
Value for Money
4
Total
4.25
Aiptek MyNote Pen
MyNote Pen by Aiptek is one of the products of a new wave started by Byzero. It’s an ultrasonic device and uses a transmitter on the pen (pen needs 2x SR41 batteries included in the package) and a receiver (uses iPad as power source) attached to iPad. It’s by far the most innovative way to handle writings on iPad. You need to calibrate the pen first which is a very important step and you need to make sure you are resting your palm on the screen and holding the pen the way you would when writing. It’s not 100% accurate and there’s a few pixels offset which gets worse towards the end and edges of the screen, but with a little practise and getting used to the device, it’s very usable. There’s a little dot on the screen showing where the tracked pen is which helps you re-adjust holding position. The pen needs to be pushed in a little, it makes clicking sounds similar to ball point pen supposedly activating the transmitter, it was better if the tip was more sensitive. It comes with two hard and soft tips and the only different between them is the soft tip is a bit longer.
At the moment it’s only supported by one app; Studio Basic lite and only works in vertical position. The app is overall ok but limited to one page only per notebook and has stability issues causing it to crash from time to time. The good news is soon the support will come to other apps such as Notes Plus, Pro create and NoteShelf.
Ease of use
4.5
Design
4.5
Sensitivity
4.8
Durability
5
Accuracy
4.8
Value for Money
3.8
Total
4.6
To get a better feel for MyNote’s performance have a look at the test video below;
When I was in Beijing I decided to do a photo diary every day and post in on my weblog. I knew I’m never going to have enough time once I return to do this and it was a good way of remembering what I did too. Me being me! I shot a lot of videos as well which I didn’t get around to upload and it has taken me two month to slowly start reviewing them. First I was gonna edit them all together in a 5-6 minutes clips but after looking at a few I realized that may need another month or two! So I decided to start uploading shorter clips and write a little about them.
If I had to choose my favourite way to commute it would be tube without a doubt! I just love the environment! It’s like a little underground society and the platforms and cartridges always fascinate me. London and Paris are best examples I’ve seen so far as they’ve keep the old look and when you are there you feel as if you have travelled a couple of decades in time!
Paris
London
Beijing’s subway as they call it, was very polished and modern and very similar to Tehran. It has its own unique features of course like the animations on the wall when the train was is the move (displayed on monitors) and the online supermarkets with items displaced on the walls or pillars. To get them you needed to download an app and scan the QR code and it will be delivered.
Here is a short clip showing a few of Beijing’s Subway stations with a peek inside the tube!
Sometimes very sample things look so fascinating! They could remind us of a distant memory, a forgotten experience or a flashback to a dream! I love the sound of this candy dispenser machine! It takes me back to a colourful childhood memory that I never had! And for a moment lets me disconnect from this world, all my thought and concerns, and be lost in a different world! Wish I could stay longer … Close your eyes and listen first before watching!
Emperor Qianlong. The speciality and main dish is Shao Mai which is a kind of steamed dumpling with the dough gathered at the top. It’s very unique and nothing like you’ve ever tried before!
