Poll: Your thoughts on the free Windows 10 upgrade

Before the offer for a free upgrade to Windows 10 ended on 28th July 2016 I asked in a poll what people are thinking about. Here's the result:

Windows 10 is free to upgrade until next July - your thoughts?

I already use Windows 10 25% I will upgrade to Windows 10 until then 0% I won't upgrade, will still use Windows 8(.1) 0% I won't upgrade, will still use Windows 7 50% I can't upgrade, I will still use Windows Vista 0% I can't upgrade, I will still use Windows XP 0% I don't care. I don't use Windows 25%

It could have been a better result with more votes, but it still gives the impression that there were people not willing to use the free upgrade. Windows 7 is still a stable system and still ok for a usual user? Why changing a running system.

That's why we still have a 47% market share of Windows 7 systems. At least Windows 10 could jump to 21% in July - most likely due to the free upgrade possibilty...

How to download your pictures from Google Photos

Google Photos is an easy way to put taken pictures from your phone into the cloud - especially because Google offers a bit more basic space than others. But how can you download your pictures again?

While using Google Photos you can select single pictures to download or also from a single day, but there's no option like 'Select all'.

Luckily there's another way you can apply in order to download all your Google Photos.

Use Google Takeout, a tool to download all your data from your Google profile - including Photos. So select Google Photos, the file type you want (like *.zip) and decide where you want your data to have delivered. Options are OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox or even as an email link.

Once you've made you decision, an archive of your pictures will be created...

PS: Do you know from which city the pictures above were taken from?

Why Pokémon GO was the best for Pokémon

There was a time where almost everyone had a Gameboy and got addicted to the virtual monsters. Now everyone has a smartphone and the idea of using this platform instead of a classic handheld was a very clever idea...

I think I'm a good example for many current Pokémon GO players: I grew up with the first generation of Pokémon playing the Gameboy games and the TCG, I also know the second generation from the Johto area. I also know a few Pokémon from Hoenn (3rd generation), but what happened afterwards I don't know. Same about watching the anime.

Many other fans now in their mid-20s have a similar background. There are also the kind of people just knowing from the first 151 Pokémon. Anyway, for a lot of people Pokémon was gone for a lot of years even if it was still there with new games and so on.

Not everyone has a current Nintendo console or handheld at home to play these games. But everyone has a smartphone. So the idea of using the Android and iOS platform in combination with a free application was a great way for a revival of Pokémon.

It has a nostalgia effect: Now everybody can walk out and be a real Pokémon trainer. Like a childhood dream becoming reality. It was right thing to do in the current era where we have smartphones, with camera, GPS and mobile data. As an app in an app store it was quite easy to distribute the application to anyone - so easy that the servers where having trouble to face such a big amount of players. People like me having an older phone with and incompatible Android version also found a way...

But it's not just played by people in their 20s. Even small kids from primary school are playing it with their smartphone. At that age I didn't even had a phone at all...

Let's also look at the effect on the media. News sites which probably haven't mentioned Pokémon for more than a decade are also spreading news about the new app. Facebook pages making jokes about people playing GO, lots of memes were created and it's a boost for the whole brand. It had such a huge impact in the world - it also reminded the people that Pokémon still exists.

It also has an effect on the merchandising. I noticed that especially while walking past souvenir shops at places like Santa Monica or Venice Beach in California. Almost every shop selling T-shirts had Pokémon shirts in their assortment.

As mentioned before: That also little kids are playing the game has also an important meaning: It brings the Pokémon to the next generation. The generation of people growing up with a smartphone!

Of course there happened some incidents with people crossing the street without watching for cars or some kids illegally crossed a national border. I think these incidents make people more aware of what's happening - especially in the media. People need to look after themselves, you can't blame a car manufacturer for crashing your car even if it was your own fault.

Now it's going to be interesting if it was just a 2016 summer hype or if people keep playing the game. There'll surely be other augmented reality games in the near future. As long as there won't be a Mario Kart Go, as some made fun of in social media.

And Pokémon GO can be extended any time since they just used the first 151 Pokémon. Just the first generation, so they have way more to offer and they will. Let's see what the future brings.

Anyway: The summer of 2016 will be remembered as the revival of Pokémon.

Galaxy S3 mini and Pokémon GO

Pokémon GO has made a big impact during the last week. So big that I also wanted to be a part of it, but with a Samsung Galaxy S3 mini and Android 4.1.2 it wasn't possible... Although...

While I was in Toronto last week the Internet was already filled with stories, screenshots and all sorts of stuff about Pokémon GO. You couldn't avoid it. Even the Toronto Metro had three articles about Pokémon GO, with one about the advantages for the children like learning to use GPS and managing mobile data ('Parents should make most of Pokémon Go', July 13).

Anyway, at the same day after my arrival in Chicago on the way to my accommodation I met a guy playing Pokémon GO while waiting on the sidewalk before the lights turned green. He caught a wild Gastly. At that I point I thought: 'You need to have that!' 

Unfortunately installing the app wasn't even possible with my three-year-old Samsung Galaxy S3 mini. At least Android 4.4 would be necessary. But I couldn't go further than 4.1.2. I found some tutorials and saw that it's possible to run a modded version of Android 5.x on the Galaxy S3 mini.

I already wanted to try some Android mods earlier, but up until now there was no need because every app I used was still running properly. With Pokémon GO I finally got the motivation to upgrade.

Custom Recovery and Custom OS

So the first thing I needed was a Custom Recovery. The integrated Recovery Mode within my branded phone doesn't have the option to install a custom OS. Of course not. In order to install this recovery system you need to use Odin on your PC and connect your phone via USB cable. Turn off your phone and press Volume Down, Home and the 'Turn on' button to able to install a Custom Recovery via Odin.

Possible Custom Recoverys are either Clockworld or TWRP. After my first attempts using TWRP failed, which meant that the old recovery mode started instead of the new one I tried Clockworld which could boot without issues, but after reading that it would be better to use TWRP for Android 5 on this phone I tried to install TWRP again. Starting the Recovery Mode is possible by starting your phone with Home button + Volume Up.

This time it worked. In the next step I had to copy the Android 5 image (to be found on http://novafusion.pl/downloads/) and a Google Apps package on the root folder of my phone, After starting the recovery mode I was able to select the images, first the OS, then the Google Apps package. I selected the little basic one.

OS: aosp5.0_golden.nova.20141106

Apps: pa_gapps-modular-mini-5.1-20150315-signed

After a reboot the configuration for the Android Lollipop 5.1.1 started. It went flawlessly through. After installing some basic apps, I could finally install Pokémon GO, but without using the Play Store, because my phone isn't listed for being able to run this game. So I downloaded the apk file (com.nianticlabs.pokemongo_0.29.2-2016071201_minAPI19(armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com) and installed the app manually.

While being in Las Vegas I could finally start catching Pokémon through the hotels WiFi. It was quite fun running through the casinos looking for the monsters.

By now I could catch 14 Pokémon and I'm about to reach Level 5. It's far from being a master and was just getting started.

And as a side effect it feels like having a new phone. Faster and better, it's the best what could happen to my phone from 2013.

For those who need more information upgrading their S3 mini - feel free to comment below. 

Blog stats - June 2016

Let's take a look at some stats from June which Google Blogger offers me. Let's take a look at the click percentage of the countries, browsers and operating systems.

Of course these numbers aren't completely accurate and some countries with a low amount of clicks are missing. Anyway, looking at the big ones - the most clicks are coming from the United States, France and Germany.

Looking at the operating systems we can clearly see Windows with the biggest percentage, but it would have been interesting to see which Windows versions were used. Ùnfortunately we can't see more with Google Blogger, Google Adwords would be better for that.

And finally a view at the web browsers: Google Chrome is clearly ahead followed by Mozilla Firefox. Internet Explorer and Safari with 7% each were rarely used.

Enabling DVD boot for Lenovo G70-35

No matter how often you try to press F2, F6, F8, F12 or anything: If you have a pre-installed Windows 10 you need to change some settings in the BIOS/UEFI in order to be able to boot from your DVD.

First, you need to get into the BIOS/UEFI menu to change the boot order by pressing Fn+F2. As you directly notice you can't even see the DVD drive.

In the following you should select 'Boot Mode' and chose 'Legacy Support' instead of 'UEFI'.

And in 'Boot Priority' you should also change from 'UEFI First' to 'Legacy First'.


Go to 'Exit Saving Changes' and open the BIOS again. Now you can see a bit more and also the DVD drive like you were used to in the older days.

Finally you should put the DVD in the first position ahead of the HDD. Save the changes and your inserted DVD will boot.

You'll be able now to install Windows 7, 8, 10 or anything from your DVD drive.

Another step forward: WhatsApp for Windows

Today WhatsApp finally released its desktop version. It's a step forward following the WhatsApp Web version - but is it really better?

Actually it looks more or less the same as the web version. The connection between the computer and the phone also works via scanning a QR code on the screen with your phone.

So still no connection via email address or another user ID possible. A solution like in LINE I'd prefer more. But maybe they'll think about it in the future.

The Windows version is recommended to work with Windows 8 or higher, but some users also mentioned that it's also usable with Windows 7. In the same step there was also a Mac OS version released.

The only difference to the web version is that the desktop app has it's own window and that you can see the amount of new messages with a white number in a red circle at the WhatsApp icon in the taskbar.

I hope they use this desktop version to create better chat backups in coming updates. A HTML export shouldn't be such a big deal. And other messengers have it - so hopefully it's going to come.

Anyway, I see the introduction of a desktop version a step in the right direction which they will hopefully use to build on.