My Review of the Epson-300W Scanner

After testing the Epson 300W Scanner, I’ve found it works…well enough… It has some great features, but they have been executed properly; it is very compact and perfect for traveling, but has several issues that I encountered during my tests and daily usage (test image/pdf gallery at the end).

Before we lay out all the issues of the scanner, in what seems more like a crucifixion, let’s first start with what is good about the scanner.

## The Good ##

1. Very quick scanning, it shoots through a stack of single-sided papers at 300DPI very fast and accurately. It was faster than my works Brother Workforce all-in-one
2. Built-in OCR PDF export, the built-in OCR scanning software is amazingly fast and accurate (only on desktop).
3. Very accurate automated rotation, adjusting, hole punch removal, and deskew, among other good settings.
• The scanner was amazing at rotating and deskewing all scans automatically and only had issues 3 times where the paper was too dark or hand written. It correctly flipped picture, papers, business cards, ID cards and everything else I scanned.  
4. The card slot, I love the quick card slot idea and when it worked, it was a nice touch (more on it below).
• Card slot would be more useful if it was accessible while the cover was closed.
5. The settings, this scanner has so many settings on a PC it’s amazing and they work pretty beautifully and quick.
• Magazine/Newspaper mode & image stitching were not tested.
6. It’s tiny, this thing really is portable (see pics)
7. Battery life is great.
• Charged it and tested it out 2 weeks and I scanned several items during the testing; it still has power and still in my work bag.
8. Great image quality, it goes up to 1200DPI and looks great.
9. Small files created at higher DPI, even with 600DPI it created small image file sizes and PDFs.
10. Effortless double-sided scanning.
• There are 2 scanning plates inside, making double-sided scanning just one step instead of 2 like other portable scanners I’ve tried.

## The Bad (very bad) ##

The first issue is the wireless setup.

1. There is no way to setup the scanner without the PC or smartphone app companion; there’s no WPS button on the device for easy configuration.
2. Using the smartphone app is overly convoluted, gaudy and glitchy with too many steps required; use manually switch to turn on AP, connect to es-300w direct AP and search for the scanner, then go through setup and manually add WiFi info, then manually turn the switch to WiFi mode and search again for the scanner. This is the procedure you need to do every time you need to switch networks.
• this setup is ridiculously tedious and prone to errors.
3. The apps failed numerous times to find the scanner during setup.

Big Issue #2 is the card slot:

1. The built-in card slot for business cards and plastic cards doesn’t work for intended use.
• Via the phone app it accepted no business cards (except 1 time) and “jammed.”
• Via Desktop the few times it actually worked to scan via the slot, it refused 5 business cards.
• Only worked on 1 of my 5 plastic cards, American driver licenses; didn’t accept old school ID cards, work ID or credit card.
• For best results, you’re required to set the size/type to auto and not business card or plastic card

Scanning issues:

1. The business card setting with the card slot using my phone doesn’t work. It scans but doesn’t fit any business cards tested (American and Japanese).
• Cards were cut off (last 1/4), but plastic card setting size worked for business cards but had issues (noted below)
2. WiFi scanning from phone and desktop have long delays between scans and settings, but DirectAP and USB were quicker.
3. Plastic card settings were the proper dimensions for business cards, but the cards (via the card slot) always shifted slightly causing the image to be missing part of the card.
•  Proper scanning with card slot requires auto size to be set and auto fix document skew.
4. Didn’t work well on longer pieces of paper (within max allowed). Door knob flyer gets cut off at 11″ every time, no matter what setting used.
5. Paper jams, the scanner jammed constantly; almost every business card in the card slot caused a jammed, long papers, thin papers, and multiple types of plastic cards, also caused jams.
6. Feed sensor is glitchy. Ever other scan attempt prompted me, saying there was nothing in the scanner (there was) and it would error out and make me start all over again.
7. You have to put documents in backward, instead of face up and natural feeling, you have to put them in facing down and it’s not a natural feeling.
8. You can’t have the phone app open if you’re trying to use the desktop scan application.

Phone application:

1. Missing half the settings that the PC has like OCR.
2. UI has a very old look and feel (like it’s 5 years behind).

PC Scanning:

1. No reference material for what certain options do, so you have to be versed in terminology or quick with Google.

Image quality:

1. Anything under 300DPI looked pretty horrible.

Another item to note, the scanner is missing built-in cloud connection and storage. For a compact travel scanner, you would think it would have scanning to cloud network built-in or onboard storage so you can scan on the go quickly and have it saved without the need to have a phone or PC available.

!!!  REVIEW VERDICT: I would not purchase this scanner as it is for the suggested retail price, but if it was on sale for $100 I might.  !!!

Scanning test examples:
     Note: All tests included the settings auto rotate, ignore blanks and text enhancement (most also used auto adjust contents & document)
http://ift.tt/2kxPRgi

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My Review of the Epson-300W Scanner

After testing the Epson 300W Scanner, I’ve found it works…well enough… It has some great features, but they have been executed properly; it is very compact and perfect for traveling, but has several issues that I encountered during my tests and daily usage (test image/pdf gallery at the end).

Before we lay out all the issues of the scanner, in what seems more like a crucifixion, let’s first start with what is good about the scanner.

## The Good ##

1. Very quick scanning, it shoots through a stack of single-sided papers at 300DPI very fast and accurately. It was faster than my works Brother Workforce all-in-one
2. Built-in OCR PDF export, the built-in OCR scanning software is amazingly fast and accurate (only on desktop).
3. Very accurate automated rotation, adjusting, hole punch removal, and deskew, among other good settings.
• The scanner was amazing at rotating and deskewing all scans automatically and only had issues 3 times where the paper was too dark or hand written. It correctly flipped picture, papers, business cards, ID cards and everything else I scanned.  
4. The card slot, I love the quick card slot idea and when it worked, it was a nice touch (more on it below).
• Card slot would be more useful if it was accessible while the cover was closed.
5. The settings, this scanner has so many settings on a PC it’s amazing and they work pretty beautifully and quick.
• Magazine/Newspaper mode & image stitching were not tested.
6. It’s tiny, this thing really is portable (see pics)
7. Battery life is great.
• Charged it and tested it out 2 weeks and I scanned several items during the testing; it still has power and still in my work bag.
8. Great image quality, it goes up to 1200DPI and looks great.
9. Small files created at higher DPI, even with 600DPI it created small image file sizes and PDFs.
10. Effortless double-sided scanning.
• There are 2 scanning plates inside, making double-sided scanning just one step instead of 2 like other portable scanners I’ve tried.

## The Bad (very bad) ##

The first issue is the wireless setup.

1. There is no way to setup the scanner without the PC or smartphone app companion; there’s no WPS button on the device for easy configuration.
2. Using the smartphone app is overly convoluted, gaudy and glitchy with too many steps required; use manually switch to turn on AP, connect to es-300w direct AP and search for the scanner, then go through setup and manually add WiFi info, then manually turn the switch to WiFi mode and search again for the scanner. This is the procedure you need to do every time you need to switch networks.
• this setup is ridiculously tedious and prone to errors.
3. The apps failed numerous times to find the scanner during setup.

Big Issue #2 is the card slot:

1. The built-in card slot for business cards and plastic cards doesn’t work for intended use.
• Via the phone app it accepted no business cards (except 1 time) and “jammed.”
• Via Desktop the few times it actually worked to scan via the slot, it refused 5 business cards.
• Only worked on 1 of my 5 plastic cards, American driver licenses; didn’t accept old school ID cards, work ID or credit card.
• For best results, you’re required to set the size/type to auto and not business card or plastic card

Scanning issues:

1. The business card setting with the card slot using my phone doesn’t work. It scans but doesn’t fit any business cards tested (American and Japanese).
• Cards were cut off (last 1/4), but plastic card setting size worked for business cards but had issues (noted below)
2. WiFi scanning from phone and desktop have long delays between scans and settings, but DirectAP and USB were quicker.
3. Plastic card settings were the proper dimensions for business cards, but the cards (via the card slot) always shifted slightly causing the image to be missing part of the card.
•  Proper scanning with card slot requires auto size to be set and auto fix document skew.
4. Didn’t work well on longer pieces of paper (within max allowed). Door knob flyer gets cut off at 11″ every time, no matter what setting used.
5. Paper jams, the scanner jammed constantly; almost every business card in the card slot caused a jammed, long papers, thin papers, and multiple types of plastic cards, also caused jams.
6. Feed sensor is glitchy. Ever other scan attempt prompted me, saying there was nothing in the scanner (there was) and it would error out and make me start all over again.
7. You have to put documents in backward, instead of face up and natural feeling, you have to put them in facing down and it’s not a natural feeling.
8. You can’t have the phone app open if you’re trying to use the desktop scan application.

Phone application:

1. Missing half the settings that the PC has like OCR.
2. UI has a very old look and feel (like it’s 5 years behind).

PC Scanning:

1. No reference material for what certain options do, so you have to be versed in terminology or quick with Google.

Image quality:

1. Anything under 300DPI looked pretty horrible.

Another item to note, the scanner is missing built-in cloud connection and storage. For a compact travel scanner, you would think it would have scanning to cloud network built-in or onboard storage so you can scan on the go quickly and have it saved without the need to have a phone or PC available.

!!!  REVIEW VERDICT: I would not purchase this scanner as it is for the suggested retail price, but if it was on sale for $100 I might.  !!!

Scanning test examples:
     Note: All tests included the settings auto rotate, ignore blanks and text enhancement (most also used auto adjust contents & document)
http://ift.tt/2kxPRgi

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My Experience with @Ghostek Products and how Bad they Are

I placed two orders with Ghostek, one for the Atomic 2.0 case and the other for the companion holster; it was the worst choice possible. The case came faulty (it was not waterproof as advertised) and the holster was an abomination. The holster was faulty, with protruding screws that destroyed and scratched the shit out of the front of my brand new case, and the quality was worth about a Chinese nickel; I don’t think I’ve seen a more cheaply or poorly constructed and designed piece of animal feces in my life. The holster is so cheaply made, you feel as though you’ll break it putting the phone in, and it holds the phone by the volume and power buttons, making it a further useless paperweight.

I contacted Amazon and Ghostek about the issues via Twitter, Ghostek refused to respond, but Amazon did and asked I call them; Amazon guaranteed a replacement case because Ghostek’s partner holster damaged it so badly and it was faulty. After Amazon, forced Ghostek to communicate with me regarding the holster; once communicating with Ghostek they offered to send a not faulty or cheap holster this time. Upon the arrival of the new holster (was rather speedy), I went to use and it cut deep into the thick layer of plastic on the front of the case (almost penetrating and destroying my S7 screen). Outraged, I contacted Amazon immediately and they refunded the price of the holster.

I waited weeks (over a month and a half) for my replacement case, but it never came; Ghostek never re-upped their stock of cases at Amazon., and all I received was a “delivery TBD” email from Amazon. After that, I have had 3 phone calls with Amazon and they have completely refunded my account for the case and sent me shipping labels to return the case.

During all this Ghostek contacted me, only after I left a 2-star feedback on their seller account and poorly rated their holster. They offered me a free case, to replace my damaged one; in return, I would need to remove the negative seller feedback. I agreed to remove my feedback, I figured that perhaps it was all just a big happy accident and that they might be a good company, but had a hiccup in the service.

I was sadly mistaken, I received the same piece of shit, mother fucking, craptastic and defective holster I didn’t even want anymore, and it still had all the same mother fucking issues as the previous two!

In closing, I now I have received a full refund for Ghostek products, returned the case and have 3 POS faulty holsters on my desk that I don’t  have a use for and I  don’t know where to send them back to, nor am I paying to send the garbage anywhere.

Reviews of Devices that I left on Amazon:

Atomic 2.0 Case

The case has issues and the company is horribly bad at their jobs.

1.    The was not waterproof as advertised, did their test and it leaked.
2.    Attempted to get a replacement, but nothing ever got replaced or came regarding the case.
3.    The cases’ aluminum body decreases cellular service and impacts the reception greatly. 
4.    There is no hip holster from the company that eloquently or even properly works with the device (it will always be in your pocket.
5.    The nano-membrane over the fingerprint scanner stopped working after a month, 1 month of use and I was no longer able to use the fingerprint reader on the phone to unlock or make purchases.
6.    Wireless charging barely works with the case on, you have to position it just right, and only works on 2 wireless devices I tested (tested 10, including the Samsung one).
7.    The company has little care for those that have issues with the products and try to sneakily keep a good rating by paying off customers to write good reviews, without having them denote it in their review (illegal).

Ghostek Holster

The holster is an abomination of crap and the company is horribly bad at their jobs.
The product came defective (screw’s protruding and scratching screen), asked for a replacement and replacement was also defective and even worse (see pictures). This holster ruined my case! It scratched my brand new case so bad that I had to request a replacement from Amazon; they’re replacing it (never happened, see below).
This is a horrible product, I can’t even use it. I have received a refund for the holster and not buying from the company again.

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Angry moment of the day:
Yesterday (Thu), getting ~12 hour notice that boss wants to show my apartment to new employee. Shows today and later tells me I need to clean the kitchen more. I work M-F and have to cook and bake everything I eat, of course the kitchen is going to be messy at the end of the week. 😬

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5 Million Gmail Usernames and Possible Passwords Leaked

 

!!IMPORTANT!!

This is a public tech update for all friends, family and fellows, recently a huge database of gmail usernames were posted online; NO, Google was not hacked! (unlike Apple), but there are affiliated passwords linked to said email accounts. It may not be the same password as your, but it could be.

Anyone who wants to can check if they are listed in the database by going to https://isleaked.com/en and entering in your email (and yes it’s safe). You can also double check the database by looking here and searching for your email (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5Ubvdjb2dQUR0FXM09rWkNCTFU/edit?usp=sharing). Some may have already received the courtesy email from IMDb, and I assure you that this did happen and Google was not hacked.

**  NOTE: This message is sent from an unmonitored email address.**        Replies will be discarded. Please DO NOT REPLY VIA EMAIL.**        If you need to contact us, please use the form at**        http://www.imdb.com/contactThis is an important message from IMDb.comAt IMDb we take your security and privacy very seriously. As part of our routine monitoring, we discovered a list of email address and password sets posted online. While the list was not IMDb-related, we know that many customers reuse their passwords on several websites. We believe your email address and password set was on that list. So we have taken the precaution of resetting your IMDb.com password. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused but felt that it was necessary to help protect you and your IMDb account.To regain access to your IMDb account:1. Go to IMDb.com and click the “Login” link at the top of our website.2. Choose “IMDb” as the provider to login with and then click the link that says “Forgot your password?”3. Follow the instructions to set a new password for your account.Please choose a new password and do not use the same password you used with us previously. We also highly recommend that you chose a password that you are not using on any other sites. We look forward to seeing you again soon.Sincerely,IMDb.com

 

 

Source feeds: 

http://time.com/3318853/google-user-logins-bitcoin/

http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/gmail-hacked-5-million-google-users-exposed-bitcoin-security/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet-security/11087756/Have-five-million-Gmail-users-been-hacked.html

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/gmail-hacked-not-quite-says-google-change-your-password-n200571

My Summer 2014 Anime Suggestions

For all my fellow anime lovers out there I thought I’d share my watch list for this summer season.

Sword Art Online II:

Second season of SAO (Gun Gale arc), Kirito is sent into a new MMOFPS game after some strange deaths have happened to the players, and gets a really special avatar that makes him look kind of like a girl, but is starting to get awesome.

Sword Art Online II

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Akame ga Kill:

Pretty awesome action fantasy anime about a rebel group of assassins and some fanservice.

Akame ga Kill

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Re: Hamatora (Hamatora S2):

Picks up where season 1 left off and is about some awesome super powered evolved humans. Full of action and mystery,  and had some good humor too.

Re: Hamatora

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Tokyo Ghoul:

About a kid who gets ghoul organs transplanted into him and he them becomes half ghoul. So far it’s a bit of drama and mystery mixed with some nice action and folkloric themes.

Tokyo Ghoul

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Tokyo ESP:

Action anime about people being selected by flying spirit fish and then gaining esper powers. Pretty awesome so far.

Tokyo ESP

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The Irregular at Magic High School:

All I can say is it’s freaking awesome, watch it!

The Irregular at Magic High

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Aldnoah.Zero:

Best mech anime this season. Humans of Mars vs. Earth

Aldnoah.Zero

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Also, if you missed last seasons “Black Bullet” or “No Game No Life” You need to go back and watch them.

No Game No Life

Black Bullet

The most honest three and a half minutes of television, EVER… Must watch!

on Jan 16 @Facebook & @Instagram will own & sell your name, likeness, all photos, and more; #DeleteInstagram

Jesse Wojdylo started the: Unofficial Delete Your Instagram Account Grassroots Program

 

Today Instagram unleashed brand-new terms of service, and they are not good ones. They have decided that they are going to use you to make money and pay you nothing…

 

New Instagram ToS: “you agree that a business … may pay us to display your photos in connection with paid or sponsored content … without any compensation to you. “

Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.

http://instagram.com/about/legal/terms/updated/

 

What to do:

First you’ll want to download all of your photos. Instaport will download your entire Instagram photo library in just a few minutes. Currently the service only offers a zip file download of your photos, then you have all your photos to yourself to put in a new place (Facebook, Picasa, Flickr, Streamzoon, etc…)

 

After you’ve removed your photos from Instagram, you can quickly delete your account 

Now What?:

Many people probably are thinking, okay, now how do I share and store my photos? Honestly, there’s a lot of sites that you can store your photos on; Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, Shutterfly, Dropbox, and SkyDrive, and others, but my personal favorite is Picasa. Picasa has seamless integration into all that is Google (G+, Blogger, emails, Drive, etc…), hence why I like it, but there isn’t a “Share All”/”Share to Facebook”/”Share to twitter” type of button (there should be though).

But most people want to be able to share to Facebook, Twitter, etc and all at once. The best app I know are EyeEm and Streamzoo, but there are others. Streamzoo is a lot like a mixture between foursquare and Instagram. It also has all the photo ability of Instagram (but more) and also has a point and contest/awards system too.

 

 

New MMORPG @RainderZOnline

Everyone, come play a new action MMORPG from Perfect World called RaiderZ. Join me and get free gifts for playing! This is seriously the best MMO I’ve played in a long time!

https://register.perfectworld.com/raiderz_splash/eb570a88ccb72455ded6f3760ef1176f

 

Server: Fleet Foot

Name: Hakarune

Dealing with @Centurylink and their shit … #win @comcast #android

Get home and Internet isn’t working…
Power cycled router still nothing; rechecked settings and tried to force connect, nothing.
Call Qwest/CenturyLink … get automated answering system
Go through the steps; press 1, press 2, etc…
Tells me Internet is down in the area and they’re working on it, then it hangs up. -.-
Call back, force AI to put me to a real person…
Real person has no answers except it may take 24 hours to be fixed…
I ask her why? She has no answer, … so I complain about how often service goes down and all they ever say is sorry….
Long silent pause…. then she apologies…
I ask why should I deal with such shitty quality service and help when Comcast is better (though they’re tools of the government and a bit more expensive).
She hangs up on me… bitch…
I enable my free Android WiFi hotspot and go looking at Comcast’s Website
win