Next week doth come bearing gifts

GGoogle is "allegedly" doing a lot at the moment. They've just "allegedly" announced there is a special event happening next week, where they will "allegedly" announce the Nexus 7, "allegedly" along with the new version of Android, 4.3. 

All of those allegations aside, they really have announced that there is going to be an event on the 24th of July, and it's a safe bet that it will involve Chrome and/or Android, due to the fact that it is "breakfast with Sundar Pichai" the head of Android and Chrome. 

Software

This one is probably the most likely, as it has been leaking for a fair while, most recently on XDA where Jeff Williams ("allegedly") bought a Nexus 4 on craigslist, and it just happened to be running a pre-release version of Android 4.3. This is awesome, because the tech community then turned this into a system backup and dumped this on the interwebz, available to any Nexus 4 users running TWRP. The changelog seems to be small, and mostly background things, with no groundbreaking new features being released to the forums. However, no Android software update would be complete without...

Hardware

Nexus 7...2...whatever you wanna call it, it's leaked too! TechRadar  and Android Central are at odds spec-wise, TR claiming "7-inch LCD display, a 1.2MP camera on the front and a 15MP" against Android Central's "7inch display, 5-megapixel rear camera, a 4,000mAh battery and 4G LTE connectivity...1920x1080 display resolution rumoured..."

Neither party is willing to commit to a CPU choice, with both having solid cases to back them up. 

Update- a best buy advertisement has surfaced showing a "new, available Tuesday" nexus 7 available for $229. What that means for Australia is a little less obvious.

Pricing is the usual, $230 for the 16GB and $280 for the 32GB, however here in Aus we're looking at a much bigger price hike due to the much loved Australia Tax. 

Engadget received information that stores could be recieving stock on the 20th of July, so it's understandable that hype for the 24th announcement has increased dramatically. 

Sources

http://ausdroid.net/2013/07/18/google-event-scheduled-for-24th-july/

Android 4.3

http://ausdroid.net/2013/07/18/android-4-3-now-unofficially-available-for-the-nexus-4/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=android-4-3-now-unofficially-available-for-the-nexus-4

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=43704783&postcount=478

http://www.androidcentral.com/hands-leaked-android-43-rom-google-edition-galaxy-s4

Nexus 7.2

http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/17/new-nexus-7-coming/

http://www.androidcentral.com/next-gen-nexus-7-pictured-tiny-photo-snapdragon-600-cpu-listed

http://www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/take-cover-the-nexus-7-2-is-leaking-all-over-the-place-1166677

My life...seriously, this is all I do in my life

So Big Ears is gonna be about General again, which means I'm gonna talk about technology, cause I can.

Essentially all I want in life right now is to be an IT guy, or work in a computer shop. The reason for this is I really like tinkering, both with software and hardware, and I want a job in the computer/IT industry that's not too demanding so I can play with my phone/tablet, and keep up to date with the news in the tech world, be it Gaming, PC, Mac, Android (usually android) or iOS.

While I'm in Sharing is Caring mode, here are the devices currently spread around my house, in chronological order of purchase

iPod Touch 2G- My first "smart device" which I purchased in 2009 for my...whatever birthday was that year. This device currently runs whited00r 6

HTC Desire Z "Steven"- With my iPod I quickly fell into jail-breaking, and got into Cydia, modding, hacks and other fun things. This was when I discovered Android. However I really wanted a physical keyboard, and I'd fallen in love with the software on my dad's Desire HD, so the Z was the only thing I wanted. The only issues I've ever had with this bad boy (other than errors with ROMS I put on it) is battery life and a digitizer issue. Both have been resolved, (The whole touch screen needed to be replaced. If you would like to know how difficult that is, look it up. Most shops I went to said they wouldn't do it, or would charge me $100 bucks or more because it was such a difficult job. I bought a new one off ebay and did it myself, saved about 150 dollars.) He is called Steven because I am a very vocal driver, and one day I was using him as a GPS. I started yelling at him, yelled Steven at one point, and the name stuck. 

17inch Macbook Pro, 2011 model- Yeah, yeah, "Apple is the enemy, why do you use their stuff!!" I got it as a freebie, and Apple makes good hardware. Take away the overpricing and its actually a pretty decent computer. Currently Tri-boots Mac, Ubuntu and Windows (occasionally). Mods: 8gb Ram, considering a new hard drive at some point when I have money. 

Nexus 10, 16GB- Ever since my dad bought a Galaxy Tab I've wanted a tablet. When the Nexus 10 came out (exactly two weeks before my birthday) I went crazy, almost bought one then and there in my physics class. However sense prevailed, and I texted my mum to check. She said wait until tonight. Lesson learned: never ever call to confirm, always buy and beg for forgiveness later. It took 3 days before stock was back up again, and I had to downsize for the 16 gig model. I am never gonna forget that. Ever. The current ROM is Paranoid Android 3.56, and is probably the best thing I have ever bought.

Nexus 4 8gb- This is yet another story of crazy but noobish tech head winning at life. A fellow Android nut who purchased a Nexus 4 when it first came out, one of the first 1000 models made, had a red light of death issue, so he bought another one. I kept the first one, and had it working in a week, literally scoring a six months old, slightly used, but still excellent phone for $21 plus shipping! This also runs Paranoid Android 3.57

So that's it. Well not quite, in my family of four we have 3 tablets, 5 smartphones, two computers, 5 laptops, a wireless printer, 2 terrabytes of NAS (birthday present for me. That was the point my family realised I was a bit nerdy) and a HTPC. That looks over the top, but when you take into account that 2 of the 5 smartphones are 3 years old, 2 of the laptops don't work all that well, 1 computer is so old it barely runs Pac Man, and 2 of 3 tablets were very cheap (Nexus 10 and an Aldi tablet) you realise we are thrifty. Old tech gets re-purposed, new tech is bought top of the range and not replaced until it dies.

That is my tech life. 

Easter Egg Hunts BANNED

"New regulations will expose childcare centres to penalties if children are required to take part in religious or cultural activities, such as Christmas tree decoration or Easter egg hunts."
(http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/ban-on-naughty-corner-easter-egg-hunts/story-fn7x8me2-1226033109685 4/4/2011)


What is this? Will pre-school be the same without Easter eggs?
The website above shows a picture of painted eggs, with the caption "Forcing children to paint Easter Eggs could be banned under new childcare laws."


Take a moment to think about the effects of those words. Forcing. Sounds kinda like the carers are standing over the kids with a whip doesn't it? Of course the government get plenty of support then, wont it? But what if the kids want to do it?
Easter egg hunts are being banned due to the fact that not everyone is religious. Sure, the kids should be given the option to not do it. But why ban it when other kids want to do it? Do the kids get a say? What happens if they all complain?


Children cannot be "required to undertake activities that are inappropriate, having regard to each family's family and cultural values, age and physical and intellectual development".


This is just another step by a government trying to please everyone. As a century, nation, and culture of whiners, I think we just need to accept that sometimes people's toes get trodden on. Sometimes, you cant please everybody. The article above also talks about childcare centers being fined for separating violent kids from the rest. When you have 5 kids in a group on the floor, do you let one kid smack the others? No.
When you have a group of teenagers together, and one pulls out a knife do you let him get into an argument? Or do you call the cops.
Why have we become such a fearful nation. Why is it, that rather than actually looking after our kids, the government spends its time covering its back in case of a lawsuit?