June 6th, 2026

Galaxies and the Chicken Update.

I want my microSD and headphone jack back.

A Galaxy So Old...

I couldn’t find too much stuff I’ve done lately that I wanted to cover. However, a couple days ago, I went to a couple thrift stores. One of the thrifties oftentimes has a good selection of classical CDs, and also has a tendency to have some electronics that are sometimes worth picking up. I picked up my favorite Sony VAIO PCV-RZ44G there. It was only $7. A bargain for a Northwood Pentium 4 (2.8GHz, H/T enabled), 1.5GB of RAM, and a lovely GeForce 5200, not to mention the hard drive inside that still works. I’ve also picked up a cheap Galaxy S4 there, though I need to grab another battery for it, as its current one barely holds a charge.

This time, I lucked out once again. I went to the counter and took a quick look under it. On one of the shelves was a phone in a case. I bought it, as it was fairly cheap, and, on quick inspection, was a Samsung, one I didn’t have in my collection yet.

Once I got home, I gave the gadget a look-over. It was imprisoned in a gaudy golden case, the kind that covers both front and back. The plastic bit that held the phone in had yellowed with age into a disagreeable yellow. I freed it, and then cleaned the phone. It was a Galaxy SIII, the Verizon variety in this case. The phone, once cleaned, looked alright, if not a bit yellow.

Eww. This case really does look ugly.

The front of the Galaxy SIII.

The rear of the Galaxy SIII.

I gave the poor phone a while to charge up, and then attempted to power it up, which it thankfully did. It then loaded into Android, complete with someone else’s stuff on it. Thankfully there was no lock screen passcode, so I was able to remove their Google account and reset the thing. Going off of the “last synced” date on the Google account settings, this phone was last used in May of 2016. That’s literally just over TEN YEARS AGO. The phone reset, and I was able to set it up to be my own brand-new (kinda) nugget.

These older phones have a special “charm”, if you will, with them. The dated-looking logos, the weirdly flashy startup animations and sounds, and just the sheer amount of tacky things Samsung threw into this phone still seem much simpler than my modern phone. Compared to my OnePlus 12, this thing still seems like a phone I’d use if it weren’t terribly out-of-date, and had better cameras. Its weight, along with its headphone jack, microSD slot, and removable battery all bring to light its thoughtful design.

Software-wise, Samsung could have made this thing less of a maze, but it’s no worse than my modern phone. It’s running Android 4.4.2, as opposed to Android 16 on my current phone. In fact, it seems simpler than my modern phones. Apps have a very basic design. There isn’t a ton that can be customized in many apps on it. And yet, it evidently provides a more-than-alright experience. Even the camera app is fairly nice on it.

Home screen on the Galaxy SIII.

Lock screen on the Galaxy SIII

Notification center on the Galaxy SIII.

Speaking of cameras, this thing has a pretty “meh” camera, compared to my phone, but it’s pretty ok by 2012 standards. It’s quite vivid on some colors. Unfortunately, it does not know how to handle “bright sun behind subject” quite right, and some photos look awful as a result. Otherwise, it’s tolerable, in all of its 8-megapixel beauty.

The camera UI on the Galaxy SIII.

Empress Josephine from the lens of the SIII.

SIII bookshelf photo.

OnePlus 12 bookshelf photo.

SIII doorbell photo.

OnePlus 12 doorbell photo.

Sadly, this phone is so old, most apps won’t run on it. Even Google, as far as I can tell, has cut off support for this phone’s Android version. And maybe it’s better that way. It’s from an era where technology felt like it was actually improving. It feels like it was meant to innovate, not sell me on more AI garbage and the same cameras as last year’s gadget (supposedly the S23 and this year’s S26 have practically the same cameras). Yes, there are modern phones that you can just stick a simple, near stock Android on (Pixels and LineageOS come to mind), yet those devices feel more complex, and more of a handful to use than such a phone as this old SIII.

I’m happy to have this phone for my collection. Yes, it’s old, and nearly useless for modern tasks. Yet most of the devices in my collection, especially the phones and tablets, fall into this category, and I enjoy poking around in them, looking back at what we had, seeing the lack of features, and at times, the gain of features these older devices have. It’s made a great addition to my growing Samsung collection, and I hope to be able to add more to it at some point.

Other Things.

As per normal, I’m still benchmarking things. I have a pink Dell Inspiron 1440 on the bench, along with the old NAS (HP Pavilion p6653w) finally getting a chance to shine in said benchmarks. I haven’t got super far in benchmarking either, but I’m slowly getting there.

I also have recently acquired a first-generation iPad. It needs some assistance in regards to its battery. It does, however, complete my collection of every iPad from the first generation to the fourth.

Chickens

And, to wrap this up, the bi-weekly, or, at this point, monthly chicken update.

The chickens are doing quite well. They got a nice swamp cooler installed. Agathae is laying now. The only problem that occurred due to her laying seems to have been a fight between her and Felicitas. I presume Agathae’s puffed-up attitude got Felicitas mad. They claim they’ve forgiven each other, and the peace seems to have been restored.

Empress Josephine flapping her powerful wings.