“I just bought a bike?” What was I thinking when I posted that. I think if I remember right, someone told me to post that.
Well, two years later… I no longer have a bike, but am a proud owner of settlement cash from a very nasty motorcycle accident. Short version: Dude in SUV pulls out in front of me to cross a divided highway (State Route); No where to go, no time to stop, 60mph impact, 30ft flight, 10mi EMS trip. Fun stuff. I was wearing a plethora of full motorcycle gear, which (literally) saved my skin. 6 weeks physical therapy, full recovery. (Ask me when I turn 50 if this is still true.)
< Insert a rant > If you’re reading this on Facebook, because of recent “upgrades” to the great FB, no longer are you forced to visit my blog to get the rest of the story. Unfortunately, it will all appear in the Note. But, please visit yoderized.net and drive my traffic. Thanks < end rant >
And before that?? “Some XV6800 Action Going On Over Here?” Well if that smartphone isn’t from the stone age… I definitely would not be boasting of a GPS hack on that thing these days. My pattern for phones has changed since last posts of course:
LG Chocolate 2 –> Samsung SCH-i760 –> HTC Touch Diamond –> HTC Touch PRO –> HTC Touch PRO2 –> BlackBerry Storm2 –> and finally king of all smartphones… HTC DROID Incredible (which I happen to be running a rooted 2.2 Froyo - for anyone who cares)
I might keep this blog updated… But then again who knows? Tech Stew was supposed to get back on track too, and that never happened. I just can’t bring myself to shut down my own websites though! Though it is a little discouraging when I could not remember my password to log into my blog to make this post…whoops. I might post great life stories or technological must-knows. Til I write again…
Successful hack. GPS worked perfectly. Took a while to get it set up though, but definitely worth it. The first step was to load an unlocking ROM on the device. After that, I loaded the radio ROM that had been modified from a hacked ROM for the Sprint model. Once that got loaded, I had to load an unlocked version of the software ROM to replace the original software ROM. Next step was to relock the device. Probably would take me about 10 minutes to do it now that I know what I’m doing. Took 3 or so hours though between finding the ROMs and the expirements to get it running right.
Great little set up. I tested it with Google Maps Application, and the GPS pointed me to my current location. Another successful phone hack.
So I’m playing with a HTC XV6800 on the Verizon Wireless network. I have a friend that has one and is getting me to unlock it to activate gps on it (which is currently unavailable on the Verizon network). There’s a certain joy I get from successfully hacking a cell phone. He let me borrow it to work on it. I activated my line on it and have been toying around for a while (don’t worry, he has another phone he’s using his line on) I like the features and the QWERTY keyboard on it. I currenly have a VX8500 (the new chocolate). I must say I like that better though. I’m not a big fan of the bulky pocket pc phones. Also, I would never use most of the features on it. Sure they are nice to have, but not worth what I miss out on.
My biggest problem with smart phones is DATA PLANS!! AH!!! Yes I realize that you can just pay per Kb. I just don’t find that very practical. I would much rather use airtime to send and receive pixflix messages (which is what voice phones use when activating data) than shelling out roughly 40 cents per for data charge. Depending on how your MMS settings are, you may be charged more. It’s not such a bad deal if you use data all the time or you use the internet tethering feature, than getting the “unlimited” data package isn’t too bad. Even though we know its not truly unlimited.
Anyways, thats my take on smart phones. Much rather have a voice phone personally both for size and practicality with using data. However not to bash smart phones, the functionality is great, and I’m having a great time tinkering around with it and using it, however I couldn’t see myself using it day to day.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it’s been a little while. Things get busy you know. Okay, you’re right, I have no excuses. First things first though - I must deal with comment spam. “Comment spam? You have no comments…” Actually there are a few if you look closely - Okay I’ll stop defending my popularity (but really there are a few comments). But yes, that is true, I don’t seem to have thousands of comments, but what you don’t see is the 6,519 waiting moderation. “Wow, you’re popular.” Why yes, thank you, I am very popular (to link spammers). Basically, the website needs a little revampage and could use a little recoding to defend from spammers! So until further notice, I’m afraid your comments will be overlooked.
On a happier non-spammish kind of note…I’m back! Stay Tuned..
As you may or may not know…I just love crabby customers. I love my job but I don’t always like that crabby customers. Sometimes I get a kick out of them, and once or twice I’ve had to make an excuse to walk away to get someone else because I was going to start laughing. Just one of those things I suppose. The occasional angry customer is sometimes a blast.
So yesterday I was up front and some hillbilly, his buddy, and his little mullet wearing kid were up front by the air conditioners. So he yells over “Hey bud I want this air conditioner.” I don’t work in appliances. I work in computers, electronics, and housewares. So, naturally, I was caught off guard by it, but I had to help them since none of the other salesmen were around. I asked which one, and he said “This one!” He wanted Continue Reading »
How many calls to customer service and tech support does it take to get an answer to a question? Apparently 7 times.
Well it all started when I finally got a cell phone. Now that I’m going to college, my parents finally said I could get one, whereas previously I wasn’t allowed because it wasn’t necessary. So I got added onto the family plan. I expressed the need to have a text messaging plan. They said it was okay, but that I had to pay for that myself. I got the $10 monthly unlimited IN txt pix flix messaging (to Verizon customers) and 500 additional messages to people with other carriers.
I had sent and received a bunch of picture and video messages before I finally read documentation that said that there was an airtime charge to send and receive pictures or videos. This fine print was still very vague on exactly the charges and when they apply. After I had sent and received a bunch I checked airtime usage on my account. It didn’t show up. Immediately I was completely confused and called *611 for help.
The guy I talked to told me that there is a KB charge for data sent over the network - 1.5 cents per KB. He said this was for both a PDA and a standard voice phone. I about flipped. I didn’t like the answer he gave me, so I called again.
The next guy I talked to told me that there is absolutely no charge of data or airtime at all since I have a messaging plan. I liked that answer much better, but it was too hard to believe. I called back again.
The girl I talked to told me that there is an airtime charge to send and receive and that it deducts from my plan even on a night or a weekend. Didn’t like that answer either. Continue Reading »
Theres a certain Chinese restaurant that is on the same mall strip as the appliance and tv store where I work. Naturally, since I love Chinese food, I happen to go there a lot for take out. Well…I got my wisdom teeth removed a few days ago, and I can’t exactly eat whatever I please. Even though I ate a DQ cheeseburger and fries yesterday, it did take me about one hour to eat it since I was chewing like a chipmunk on my front teeth. I was craving “real” food so badly yesterday. Well now that I am over the “real” food craving, I thought I would pick up a bowl of egg drop soup to eat for dinner.
So I called up the Chinese place just like usual and asked to place a carry out order. I then said I wanted an order of egg drop soup and that was all. The guy on the phone said “Just one egg drop soup?” I said, “Yes.” He then said, “OK, it will be ready about a minute.” Normally they say “Ready in five ten minute” and ask for your phone number. Well he didn’t ask for my phone number. I left after a minute to walk down there. When I arrived, the owner was at the counter and said, Continue Reading »
I’ve got some good news on the two eBay disputes. The one with the Citizen watch has been resolved - sent my watch back and I was given a full refund. I guess persistence pays, literally.
Laptop is still in a complicated situation, but has, however, made some progress. I received a personal check in the mail…yes a PERSONAL check. I was supposed to be receiving a cashiers check. Well after dealing with trying to get rid of this laptop for so long, I didn’t feel like messing with sending it back and making the lady send me a cashiers check. So I just went ahead and deposited it. I emailed her telling her that since she sent me a personal check I would have to wait 10 business days to make sure it cleared. She didn’t seem to mind and just told me to email her when I sent it out.
Well we all know about the GPS that is built into cell phones, and how the government can track where you are with that built in GPS. Well who ever thought this was coming - the FBI has the ability to activate the microphone on your cell phone even when the phone is powered down enabling them to listen in to conversations and more. Fox News video below.
Apparently our freedoms have vanished away. I Shouldn’t have to take a battery out to stop big brother…