Comparisons of two Three Kingdoms: The Three Visits sets - Chinese (Decool 20502) vs Korean (Oxford TK-3712) [Piotrus Brick Reviews #4]

 Hello guys,

So, a few weeks after I completed Oxford's TK-3712, as I have been getting more and more into modern bricks, including non-Lego brands, I discovered a similar set from Decool (20502). As someone in my neighborhood was selling theirs cheaply (20 bucks), I picked it up, and now I can show you how they compare.

This is my fourth brick set review. For the previous ones, see:

* 1 Oxford ZB-3673 Zombie Chase

* 2 Oxford ZB-3672 Zombie Police Bureau Attack

* 3 Oxford TK-3712 Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The Three Visits

For photos, see https://www.reddit.com/r/buildingblocks/comments/1gekhhm/comparisons_of_two_three_kingdoms_the_three/ - I couldn't post this review in the comments as I intended due to some server error.

Set review:

TL;DR: Both are very nice. I think DeCool might be slightly better than Oxford, but they are both solid.

Set information:

Decool:

• Company: Decool, China
• Set brick count: 690
• Set manufacturer price: Decool website lists it at 59.20$, and out of stock, but it seems the set is still relatively widely available and at about half of that price.
• Set name: 三国小侠：三顾茅庐 . The official English name of this seems to be "Three Kingdoms Heroes-Three Visiting Thatched Cottage" although there is also a picture with "Courage of Three Kingdoms: Make Three Calls At The Thatched Cottage". Leaving the Engrish aside, this is a reference to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Visits , an event from the history of China. Read Wikipedia article for more if you want to know, it's about a meeting of some historical characters, represented here by minifigs.
• Set code: 20502
• Release year: 2020
• Set official page at the manufacturer: https://decool.toysol.com/En/ProductShow-224089.aspx
• Additional links: http://brick4.com/set/20081/Three-Visits-to-the-Hut (includes a link to a Chinese review with more photos), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Te_1BqV2g&t=1s (seems like an official add with a speedbuild), manual (tnx guys): https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/1gdzv8n/where_can_i_find_decool_20502_instructions/

Oxford:

• Company: Oxford Bricks, South Korea. Read about them on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_(toy_company)
• Set brick count: 517
• Set manufacturer price: 56,000 KRW = ~42 USD as of the time I am writing that. The set is relatively new, so there are still good deals (good discounts) out there (at least on Korean net; I got mine for 33k KRW). Note that a lego set of comparable size, according to ChatGPT, would cost usually around 50-80 USD.
• Set name: 삼고초려. Note: the set does not have an official English name, but that pretty much translates similarly to the Chinese set and is about the same event.
• Set code: TK-3712
• Release year: 2024 (estimated, could be 2023)
• Set official page at the manufacturer: http://oxfordtoy.co.kr/pro/detailox.asp?m_code=20291&p_code=10
• Additional links: http://brick4.com/set/41981/-

Note that this review will be about the Chinese Decool set and how it compares to the (newer) Oxford set, which seems to be a reimagined/redesigned version of Decool set (both have many similar elements, from overall layout to major components - a building, a bridge, a waterfall; and both have nearly identical minifigs). For the review of the Oxford set, check my dedicated review linked above. Also, I got Decool set second-hand, mostly built. I just needed to assemble the trees and fix a few minor elements that fell apart.

The comparison:

• Theme: The Asian design and feel of both sets is a novelty, at least for me, with my prior experience limited to medieval Lego. (Yeah, I say it in every review, b/c I have been reviewing those Asian sets, lol). Verdict: both sets win :)
• Price and size: Both sets have very comparable price points (both official and on a secondary market), so Decool with 690 bricks > Oxford's 517. Verdict: Decool wins (but both are still much cheaper than a Lego set of comparable size)
• Overall design:
  • Decool set has darker colors than the newer Oxford set which feels more vibrant; both look quite nice, and I think it is hard to pick a winner based on the color palette (it's subjective).
  • Interestingly, despite Decool having ~20% more pieces, it doesn't look bigger; if anything, it looks smaller - perhaps because it mos more squarish, whereas Oxford set is more of a long rectangle. Decool set is a bit taller, because of its base and design. ,Again, neither looks better to me, although maybe taller is more impressive in most cases?
  • For buildings, Decool gives us an Asian style gazebo, and Oxford, an Asian style hut. Both are nice, stylish, and similar in size. It is hard to chose the winner here; in fact, I'd say they complement one another (one day I might try to MoC and merge them both into a larger diorama...). Decool's table does come with a banana and a cherry, as well as the teapot, whereas the hut has no props (just a bed inside), so Decool might be a bit superior here, if we count the details - but you could counter the hut stylish door frames compensate for that. Either way, both are nice pieces.
  • For the trees, again they are very comparable. Decool went with two medium sized trees on the waterfall, Oxford gives one large and one tiny tree. They have different colors, but frankly, I can't pick a favorite here. However, Decool can pull ahead if we count in the props - here, two birds. Oxford set has props fo the trees.
  • The waterfall is where I can finally say that Decool original design seems superior to Oxford's. Not only it is a bit larger, which could be overlooked, but its water part is made from three different colors (light blue, dark blue and transparent) vs only a single color in the Oxford design. Here, I call Decool the clear winner.
  • The bridges in themselves are similar - Decool is shorter, but has more decorations. But if we add in the gate, with Chinese lanterns, then Decool wins, since Oxford has no counterpart for that.
  • Gardens are a tough call. Decool is more traditional, with a highlight of props, here - two rabbits. Other than that, it's just two types of plants. Oxford has bushes, a small tree/branch, and a cool looking bamboo garden. It's a tough call - rabits vs bamboo? I think that's a tie, for me at least.
• Minifigs: Perhaps this is because the Decool set is older (2020) than the Oxford one (2024?), but since both are using Decool minis, I could compare them (see photos), and Decool older minis are slightly inferior. The primary difference is that the old minifigs have only one facial expression (front), but the newer ones come with two (front and back). You can see them in photos (one expression is identical for both). Other differences are pretty much aesthetic. Now, this is "bad" only by comparison, the minifigs in the older (original) set are still very nice. However, Decool comes with 5 vs Oxford's 4. The extra fig, however, seems to be not a historical character but just some worker/helper? That said, it is still an extra nice minifig. Verdict: Decool wins, if slightly (one extra mining vs no double facial expressions; your mileage may vary if you value double expressions over an extra minifig...)
• Decool has instructions available online. I have not been able to find them for Korean (Oxford) sets (brick4 links to Oxford search or manuals page but as far I can tell it does not seem to contain TK3712). Verdict: Decool wins
• Pieces quality: keeping in mind I only build a small part of Decool set, I did not notice any significant issues with the bricks, everything fits nicely. But maybe Decool is not using the same plastic for all pieces, but their branch (green parts of the tree) bricks feel softer and are more malleable than Lego (and Oxford). Can't say it is bad, but it is different. Other pieces feel normal. Verdict: ok quality for both sets
• Side note: Decool set is apparently modular to its related set http://brick4.com/set/20082/Oath-of-the-Peach-Garden . Oxford has no such counterpart (yet?).

So what's the overall verfict? I have to say Decool wins, slightly, because at effectively the same price, it comes with +20% bricks and an extra minifigs. Its waterfall looks better, and the four animal props are cute too.

But if you have a hard time choosing, why not get them both and combine into one - and you can get some of your expenses back by reselling the extra minifigs :)

The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino

A while ago I 've written a Wikipedia article about one of the most popular Polish World War II-era songs. Working with another Wikipedian (Nihil Novi), we translated the lyrics into English in 2008.

Polish lyrics are by Alfred Schütz (d. 1999). They may still be copyrighted (although they are available on numerous webpages, books, YouTube vidoes, and so on). The translation below is available in few places, and won't be available on Wikipedia due to possible copyright issues. As I felt bad about this work disappearing from our cultural repository, I am sharing it here. It may go down if I ever get a cease-and-desist letter from the Schütz estate... but let's hope it won't happen

(As with most copyrighted works, it is next to impossible to figure out who owns the copyright, and if there is such a thing as"Schütz estate" at all... sigh).


Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino
The Red Poppies on Monte Cassino 

In Polish	In English
Czy widzisz te gruzy na szczycie?	Do you see the rubble at the top?
Tam wróg twój się kryje jak szczur!	There, like a rat, lurks your foe!
Musicie, musicie, musicie!	You musn't stop, you musn't stop
Za kark wziąć i strącić go z chmur!	But from the clouds the enemy throw!
I poszli szaleni, zażarci,	And so, onward and upward they went;
I poszli zabijać i mścić,	They went to avenge and to kill,
I poszli jak zawsze uparci,	On the enemy's destruction, bent;
Jak zawsze za honor się bić.	To their honor they harnessed their will.
Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino	The red poppies on Monte Cassino
Zamiast rosy piły polską krew...	Drank Polish blood instead of dew...
Po tych makach szedł żołnierz i ginął,	O'er the poppies the soldiers did go
Lecz od śmierci silniejszy był gniew!	'Mid death, and to their anger stayed true!
Przejdą lata i wieki przeminą,	Years will come and ages will go,
Pozostaną ślady dawnych dni!..	Enshrining their strivings and their toil!...
I tylko maki na Monte Cassino	And the poppies on Monte Cassino
Czerwieńsze będą, bo z polskiej wzrosną krwi.	Will be redder for Poles' blood in their soil.
Runęli przez ogień, straceńcy!	The forlorn hope charged through the fire!
Niejeden z nich dostał i padł...	More than one was struck and felled...
Jak ci z Samosierry szaleńcy,	Yet like the horsemen at Samosierra,
Jak ci spod Rokitny, sprzed lat.	They charged with a force unrepelled,
Runęli impetem szalonym	Like those at Rokitna years ago.
I doszli. I udał się szturm.	And they made it, and carried the day.
I sztandar swój biało-czerwony	And they planted their red-and-white flag
Zatknęli na gruzach wśród chmur.	In the rubble amid the clouds.
Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino...	The red poppies on Monte Cassino...
Czy widzisz ten rząd białych krzyży?	Do you see the white crosses in a row?
To Polak z honorem brał ślub.	That's where the Poles pledged their all.
Idź naprzód - im dalej, im wyżej,	The farther, the higher you go,
Tym więcej ich znajdziesz u stóp.	The more you'll find them fall.
Ta ziemia do Polski należy,	This soil belongs to Poland,
Choć Polska daleko jest stąd,	Though Poland be far from here,
Bo wolność krzyżami się mierzy -	For 'tis crosses measure freedom's span —
Historia ten jeden ma błąd.	That is history's lesson dear.
Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino...	The red poppies on Monte Cassino...
Ćwierc wieku, koledzy, za nami,	A quarter-century has passed,
Bitewny ulotnił się pył	The dusts of battle no longer rise,
I klasztor białymi murami	And the monastery's walls at last
Na nowo do nieba się wzbił...	Once again climb, white, to the skies...
Lecz pamięć tych nocy upiornych	But memory of those nights terrible
I krwi, co przelała się tu -	And of the blood that once flowed here —
Odzywa się w dzwonach klasztornych,	Echoes in the monastery bells
Grających poległym do snu...!	That toll the fallen to sleep!...

Titles, good intentions, (unintentional?) censorship, sci-fi, ]oh my.

I initially attempted to post this as a comment to a blog. After two days and numerous attempts, I am giving up. Either the blog owner(s) are censoring my comment, or there is some weird technical snafu.

Response to  World SF 2011 Retrospective Part 1

I appreciate Kaz's and this blog's attempt to cover Polish market, but if you are going to do something, please, do it properly, or don't mislead the reader with a title that suggests a comprehensive overview ("a recap on Poland", "Overview of recent Polish science-fiction"). State your intentions or biases clearly up front in the blog ("this blog entry will cover some recent releases on the Polish market, with the focus on female writers, and with a disclaimer that the author does not read Polish and relies on secondary sources"). Otherwise, one's good intentions may backfire, as shown by the blog comments, where numerous readers comment in similar vain as I. In fact, I came to that blog through a Polish premier sci-fi and fantasy magazine (Nowa Fantastyka), which commented on Facebook about that blogpost, curtly (and roughly translated) as: "a person who knows little of Polish sci-fi and fantasy is writing weird things about it".

As several others have said, if you want to have a good overview of a specific non-English market, get somebody who reads that language. And if you cannot, then pretty please, don't mislead the readers with claims that you'll do something (comprehensive overview) when this is not your intention (and/or ability, due to lack of literacy in a given language).

Overall, I think that it is a great that somebody is trying to provide the English-speakers with some information on the rich happenings in the rest of the world. I hope that the The World SF Blog keeps trying. It is human to err, after all - but those that don't try, at least, will never succeed.

On a sidenote, any overview o Polish 2011 should wait for the results of various 2011 award ceremonies, most notably, the Zajdel Award. Readers interested in the overview of Polish sci-fi and fantasy up to about 2005 may also want to check the Wikipedia article on the subject. This article could use an update for the last few years (hint!).

Make a backup and restore from it on N900 (Maemo)

Note: this is an instruction for N900 (Maemo) users who are not very familiar with Linux. If you live and breathe Linux, go to Maemo wiki page on Manual backup and restore instead.

Recently, my N900 developed a severe case of USB port failure, which required me to send it in for repairs (luckily, it was still covered by the 1-year producer warranty). Annoyingly enough, Nokia as part of its privacy-protection policy will erase all your data (presumably reformatting/reflashing your phone, or whatever is the correct term for what they do to smartphones there...). And no, you cannot opt out of this :( Kind of makes me curious - what guarantee do I have that Nokia techs will not snoop around my phone all they want anyway before they clean the data? But I digress.

Unfortunately, there is no good guide to making backups (or restoring from them). The manual  has a brief and decent information on creating or restoring from a backup (p.102-103, see also p.111); it however assumes your backup will be on phone's drive or a microSD card, which is not always the case, and forgets some crucial details (such as the importance of the file structure - more on that later). Maemo wiki pages (Manual backup and restore and what I presume is the page about the backup app) are, as usual, written in the higher geek, which may be fine if you know your way around Linux. For non-Linux users like myself, they are (as almost everything on Maemo wiki), pretty useless :( I found only one page online with a partial guide and some screenshots... hence, I decided to write this one.

It took me a while, but I was able to master the N900/Maemo backup/restore, and I even figured out how to do so with a faulty usb cable, no microSD, no wireless or Internet connection. Even in the perfect situation, with no hardware failures, backup/restore is not very userfriendly - I certainly wouldn't expect my parents to be able to do it.

So, to save you all some time, here's my guide to back and restore with N900.

1. How to access the default back-up application (in high geek the app seems to be called osso-backup, not that I can find that name in the application GUI...):

1.1 Access menu (top left, the symbol below - but if you don't recognize it, really, how long did you have the phone?):

1.2.Scroll down to the backup application, open it.

Here are the three applications useful for backup operations.

2. How to make a backup (using the default app mentioned above).

2.1 Click on New backup button in the bottom left, the procedure is fairly simple. On the first screen, you name your backup and select whether the backup's location is your phone's harddrive or a microSD card (if you have one in your phone); on the second you can (de)select stuff to backup (but why would you...?) and once you click select button, the backup will proceed. It should take about a minute or so.

The backups will be saved in the "backups" folder in the whatever passes as the top-level (root) directory (for Maemo's default File Manager and my Windows Total Commander when it accesses Maemo; note that there is some weird Linux hidden structure that you can access with other apps, like Mindnight Commander; I find it confusing as heck...). Whatever you chose as the name of your backup will be the name of the relevant subfolder in the "backups" folder (so, if you named your backup "backup december", you'll find the "backup december" subfolder in the "backups" folder). Simple, right?

 This is the backup app main menu. Pretty self-explanatory, no options are hidden at the top or are "right-clickable" anywhere, as far as I can tell.

Note that based on the screen above, you'd expect to find a "backups" folder in the root directory, and within it, two folders: "Backup test" and "Backup december."

2.1.1 As the backup app itself notes, it will back up Communications and Calendar, Bookmarks, Settings, Application list. What it means is that it will not backup anything else, such as: Application settings, your documents, photos, music files, and such. If you want to back them up, you'll have to manually copy them to wherever you keep your back-ups (and I strongly suggest you keep them somewhere outside your phone, like on your computer harddrive).

2.1.1.1 Now if your USB cable is working, you can transfer the backup folder to your computer. I suggest you transfer the entire "backups" folder, because you'll need it for restoring (it is not created by default after a fresh install...).

2.1.1.2 How to copy that stuff? Assuming you have a working USB cable, I use Total Commander on Windows. Your platform and soft may vary (although for Windows, I do believe TC is "the best" file management tool there is...), but you should be able to access N900 and copy files over just like you'd do with any removable drive

2.2 Note that if your N900 is connected to something (your comp, presumably) by a USB, and that device can access files on your smartphone, the backup application will not work, it will complain about "USB cable connected." If you are just charging, it should still be ok, but if you connected in the mass storage or pc suite mode, it won't.

2.3 If you have a microSD card, after you click the new backup option, the backup app on the screen where you name your backup will have a choice of where you want to save your backup (location: your_device or external_memory_card). You can also copy the "backups" folder between those locations manually. If the proper file structure was preserved - as in "backups/your backup name" is in the card's root directory), the backup app will see them.

Frankly, unless you find  yourself in the unlikely situation with broken USB port, no Internet/wireless and an urgent need to make the backup before your device fails completely, skip the 2.4 and go to 3 (restore) section.

2.4 If you want to use Bluetooth, don't - unless it is your last resort. It is much more painful than using the device drive/copy over the USB method (preferred) or the microSD; I had to do so because I found myself with a device with a broken USB port, no microSD (I should've just bought one...), no wireless or Internet connection. If so do you:

2.4.1 Make the backup on device harddrive as instructed above.

2.4.2 Establish a Bluetooth connection between N900 and the device (your comp) you want to transfer files over. This is the part I find very annoying, I was following the manual / guides on both devices, yet it took ages before they saw one another. I have no desire to waste hours of my life trying to replicate it, plus even if I did, it would only cover Windows XP on one end. If you know any good guides to N900 Bluetooth, post them in the comments.

2.4.3 Once you have a Bluetooth connection between your platforms, use the phone's File Manager to transfer files. Annoyingly, it cannot transfer folders, fortunately, you'll only have to transfer six files. Start the File Manager, click on your N900 (or the microSD if this is where you saved the backup), go to "backups" folder, go to your folder, click on each file, chose share, chose Bluetooth. On your target device, don't forget to copy the files to the "backups/name of the backup" structure properly. Note that File Manager, just like the backup app, will not work if another device can access the smartphone's file structure (which shouldn't be the case if you have restored to using Bluetooth, but keep that in mind for some weird occasions).

To use File Manager Bluetooth transfer, "right click" on the file, chose Share, and this menu will appear.

2.4.3.1 Alternatively, you may be able to use some better file manager on your computer to access N900. I think I was able to use something on XP, but I am not sure (it was a month or so ago). If you cannot, use the File Manager option I discuss above.

2.5 Come to think of it, you could probably use an email to send the files, or share them through a website, FTP or in some other ways. As when I was doing my backup I had no Internet connection or even wireless, those where not an option for me.

3. How to restore (using the default app).

3.1 Select backup to restore (highlight it), click restore. Keep in mind that the backup has to be in the proper file structure ("backups/your backup name") for the backup up to see it. The backup app can find them on N900 harddrive or the microSD. Note that a fresh install will not have a "backups" folder, so if you just copied the "your backup name" folder, you'll have to recreate the "backups" folder in the phone's root directory (or on the microSD card). This caused me some grief as I did not realize the importance of the "backups" folder early on, and I spend a while researching things on the net trying to figure out what to do with those files, before I realized (myself, no help to the net) that I need to recreate the backup folder structure in the phone's root directory... on the bright side, this folder is just a name, nothing special (but keep in mind it is a lowercase "backups", not "Backups").

This will NOT restore your applications, to do so you need to go to Application Manager, and from the top menu, chose Restore applications. This will give you a list of the applications you can restore, based on your backup file, all checked by default. Uncheck those you don't want, proceed to the installation (make sure your device is plugged in, this will drain the battery quickly). This may take a while, check the device periodically to click through some license/warning screens. I ended up redownloading and installing 300mb content in an hour period.

 To restore applications, go to Application Manager, click the Application manager pull down menu at the top, and you'll see the following three options. Chose Restore applications, obviously.

Of course, this will not restore stuff not backed up (documents, music files, etc.). Copy those over manually (if you have backed them up manually before).

If you have some problems, try to ensure you have no more than one backup to restore from (I am not sure how the app handles multiple backups). And it seems to give me grief when I try to restore applications for the second time ("operation failed" trying to generate an app list), so make sure you select what you want properly the first time (or you may have to install them manually one by one later).

I hear there are other backup applications out there. Links to any how-to-use guides and reviews there will be certainly appreciated.

Oh, and for a while now I've been thinking that I should post a review of N900... we will see :)

Preeliminary survey results of ICT use by social movements worldwide - snippet

So I am in the depths of analysis, but here's a short set of interesting numbers I just compiled. I was looking at member age ranges by sampling frame, here's the percentage of organizations with young membership (18-30 as percentage of total number of organizations in that frame...

ALL    21.84%
PITTSBURGH-BASED    14.29%
GLOBAL   16.34%
POLAND-BASED    26.43%
INNOVATIVE*   37.04%

*INNOVATIVE - my snowballing sampling scheme, based on surveying the movements/organizations whose webpages revealed significant Web 2.0 knowledge.



It appears that innovative organizations have the youngest membership; followed by Polish in the middle, and at the other end, we have the global/Pittsburgh organizations.

Now, here are the same stats for the oldest membership (over 50):

ALL    11.21%
PITT    10.71%
GLOB    16.99%
PL    5.71%
IN    7.41%

Global organizations have the older membership, but Polish ones are again an interesting outlier, having an even smaller number of old-membership organizations than the Innovative group. I wonder if this is because older generation in Poland has no tradition of activism?

So, as expected, we can talk about young members using new tools more often, but the Polish data does make for another interesting and unexpected story

I am now compiling the data, expect more in the coming months. I hope to be able to give you full analysis coming Spring.

Briding of global digital divide

I was looking at some archival stats on Internet usage.

Compare the Top 10 Internet languages in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and the latest (Dec 2009 for me, your mileage may vary as that link is dynamic).

Look at the 2004 numbers: it is very much the core, developed, First world, China aside.

Still, its pitiful penetration numbers aside... what was (is?) wrong with France, Spain and Portugal? Their penetration numbers are China-like (~10%), whereas the rest of Europea was around 50%.

Now, look at 2010. In addition to China, whose penetration number have improved greatly (from 2004's 8% to 29.7%), note the inclusion of Arabic (17.5%) and Russian (32.3%). 

Oh, don't get confused with langauges and countries. I was for a moment shocked with low penetration numbers for French, Spanish and Portugal, but remember - those languages are spoken in many periphery, developing, Third World countries in Africa and Latin & South America- thus the pitiful results (here are EU stats, and here is a breakdown for Spanish language, for example).

One of the most interesting numbers, for me, is the diminishing percentage of English-speakers as the % of Internet users - from 35.9% in 2004 to 30.1% in 2009.

And how about tripling of Internet users totals in non-Top 10 languages (from 100m to 300m), or nearly doubling of Internet users totals (from 800m to 1,400m) in that period?

Around 2006 the stat site started to report "Internet Growth for Language (since 2000)". For 2006, it was 128% for English, 346% for Chinese, 436% for non-Top 10 languages, and 189% for all languages. In 2007, Arabic enters the chart, with 940% growth (!). For 2009 we have 251.7% for English, 1162% for Chines, 2297% for Arabic, 525% for non-Top-10 languages and 400% for the world.

Global digital divide still exists, no doubt about that.  But it is being bridged, as the rest of the world is catching up. 'bout time...

PS. Here's an interesting take on this from The Economist.

Abdication of Jimbo

Well, maybe not a total abdication, but Jimbo has relinquished a substantial portions of his powers. See his announcement and the context.

In an upcoming academic article I discuss why calling Wikipedia a monarchy/dictatorship, while not too off the mark in its very early stages, is no longer true. It's nice not to be contradicted by the current events :)