[Hack] Use Straight Talk's $45(ish) Unlimited Plan on an iPhone

Getting the most bang for your buck these days from your wireless carriers is hard.  Most carries have discontinued "unlimited" data plans altogether.  So unless you are fortunately enough to be grandfathered into one, like me and my family was then you just can't get a package that you dont have to watch your data reminiscent of the old days watching minutes.  Where is my free nights and weekends lol!  



I have spared you from prolonged rants, however click the "Show" link below to get the full experience!

A funny story, there is some piece of.. AT&T rep out there that sold my mother on the idea that she could save a few dollars a month by changing the package.  The grandfathered, unlimited data package that you can not get, nor will be able to get on the carrier or any other ever, quite possible package.  His rational is that we weren't using much data.  Of course not, half of west Tennessee was without 3G and the small town where me and my sis went to college, was no different.  We had wifi on campus and at home, and the evil grueling speeds of the edge network made it pointless to use their data.  That is until we went to the "big city" of Jackson, where I tend to spend much of my time.  They have had 3G coverage for a while. Now that we have 4G in my small town and pretty much every where we go, I use it a lot.  I have gotten my second notice that I have used yet another GB of data and will be charged $10 for the next.  Way to go ahole AT&T rep.  I would beat you if I found you!  I don't guess it would matter, if I used to much AT&T would just throttle me.  I mean why do the carriers offer unlimited data, if you use too much, they make it so slow its unusable.  My little sis gets the 4G logo, but gets dial up speeds.  What a drag.  So no netflix for her.  Sorry sis.  Now that I have gone way off topic.

Everything fell into place this morning after I had done a little research.  My buddy has a el-cheapo Blackberry look-a-like phone that uses the Straight Talk carrier.  He also has a $45 a month "unlimited" plan which includes data.  He came to me a while back asking if I could unlock his iPhone 3G S, which I did and after that whole fiasco was over, much to my dismay, the voice service worked with the Straight Talk (going to abbreviate that to ST from now on) SIM in the unlock iPhone, but no data service.

Immediately I assume that their "unlimited" data package is only for "feature" phones and not for smart phones, which they must detect and block.  But after thinking about it and finally finding a webpage to back up my theory (http://goo.gl/49PgI) I realize that since the iPhone was designed for AT&T only, changing the APN settings just didn't stand out. 

To use the ST carrier, I was going to have to change the APN settings on the iPhone.  The device is currently not jailbroken since I just had to restore it through iTunes to get it unlocked (officially by AT&T), however having a device jailbroken is not required for this task.  This method is approved with iOS 6, but I will test it on an iPhone 3G S running 5.1.1 this afternoon.  If I forget to post back, then its all good and follow the same instruction set.  You may have to install the ST profile from the website below (see the "Warning" section), but it will disable MMS features.  A small price to pay in my opinion cause who cares if you can send pictures via text message.  Email it yo!  You can even email it to someone's phone as a text message, so handled! (10DigitPhoneNumHere@mms.att.net for AT&T, not going to look up the other carriers right now, perhaps later).  

It just so happens that while checking with T-Mobile to see if they had coverage in our area, I got talked into purchasing one of their SIMs for $.99 (yup 99 cents, plus shipping so it was like $1.99).  From what I understand you must have a third party SIM that isn't your Straight Talk or an AT&T SIM.  Verizon iPad SIMs work (believe they are microSIMs which will work fine for iPhone 4, 4 S, or the new 5).  You may be able to work something out to get it to stay in the tray for the 3G S.  So I have this T-Mobile SIM, additionally its unactivated, in fact it's currently still on the credit card size card that they come on.  Well I did end up giving my friend that SIM to call and activate with them if ST devices to throttle him, and with the data he is now using, I guarantee it's coming, but I have another still on the card.

So here is the process.  What you will need:

• Unlocked iPhone (must be carrier unlocked  (see below for details)
• T-Mobile SIM (or other carrier than Straight Talk or AT&T, again Verizon iPad SIMs work along with many others such as Prepaid carriers)
• Straight Talk SIM (activated with whatever phone you had on the plan you are going to)
• Patience (or punching bag / squeezy stress ball)

1. Close all opened apps (See below, 1: Closing Background Apps)
2. Place T-Mobile SIM in iPhone (See below, 2: other carrier SIM, 3: cutting to fit microSIM)
3. Open Settings, General, Cellular, Data Network
4. When Data Network Appears ( the screen will move back to Cellular)
5. Swap T-Mobile Sim to Straight Talk Sim
6. Wait for the “NO SIM” splash to disappear
7. Press Cellular again and Data Network should still be there.
8. Go to Settings and make sure the information below is entered.

Cellular Data:

APN: att.mvno
Username:
Password:

MMS

APN: att.mvno
Username:
Password:
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: 66.209.11.33:80
MMS Max Size: 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL: http://www.apple.com/mms/uaprof.rdf

NOTE:  It has been reported that you may have to enter the APN a couple of times as it is slow registering and may replace it back to "phone" or whatever the default is.

9. Press Cellular to Exit.
10. A restart of the iPhone may be needed, and should be done. ( Hold down Top Button, slide to Power off and then start again with Top Button)

WARNING!!  The following method will disable MMS, so you will be unable to send/receive pictures/video/audio via text message.  This isn't a big deal, but possibly avoided.

Some people may have to install the Straight Talk profile found on the website unlockit.co.nz especially if you use an older version of iOS that doesn't allow for changing of APN settings.  Straight Talk profile installed first ( Go to http://www.unlockit.co.nz from your iPhone and follow your Nose) as this is the only way to set the Data Proxy needed (or some websites won’t work I have been told)

1. Closing Background Apps on iOS:  Double tap "Home" button, the round button on the front and is the only physical button on the front of device.  Press and hold on any icon that shows up on the bottom row that appears after the double tap, and start pressing the minus icons to close your background apps)  If you don't know how to do this, and are worried watch a youtube video, please dont reply to this saying I had you deleting your apps!  If you didn't know about this, congrats, you just learned why your iPhone acts all screwy and is sooo slow now.
2. You cannot use the Straight Talk SIM for the process, but you can for the actual use of the phone later.  Try another prepaid carriers SIM.  I have heard that Verizon uses SIMs in their iPad's and those will work just fine.  
3. There is an excellent visual aid found here: http://goo.gl/ocxQr or see below

[Review] Google Chrome comes to iOS!

Finally the day has arrived that Chrome has officially landed on the Apple App Store!  On launch you get the familiar Google login.  From that, I deduce that I will have no trouble with getting my bookmarks, but after taking the "tour", I seems that moving a tab from your computer to your phone (or iPad/iPod Touch) is just as easy.

 

The overall interface is nice and clean and about what I would expect from Google.  I really look forward to putting this app to the test and truly hope that like on my Mac, Chrome has found a permanent home and daily driver on my phone.

This is also a great opportunity to give the "BrowserChooser" jailbreak hack a try.  BrowserChooser by Ryan Petrich can be found on the BigBoss repo (a default repo) in Cydia which will allow users to change their default browser on their iOS device.  

Welcome to my iPhone Google!

[Tech Support] Clean your infected computer

It is really easy for some bad software to sneak its way onto your computer.  I'm going to talk about a few ways to remove these threats.  First I'm going to provide you all with a list of free tools that will aid in your computers recovery:

1.     Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (MBAM): Effective and easy to use.

2.     Spybot: Search & Destory:  Sturdy and versatile malware removal

3.     ComboFix:  Powerful windows repair tool and infection removal

4.     RKIll:  Stops all processes, such as infections with pop-ups (Fake Anti-virus pop-ups)

5.     GMer: Respected Rootkit remover, hard to use.

6.     Sophos AntiRootkit:  My Rootkit removal favorite

7.     SuperAntiSpyware (SAS):  Another good choice for malware removal

I use many tools to clean a computer and most are all free.  I have yet to run across a software package, free or not, that will remove ALL infections.  So finding a good combination that works for you is important.  Malwarebytes for example will allow you to run a free trial for their premium package, but I usually just hit the “decline” button and use the free version.  That leaves the program with Quick and Full scanning ability, which is exactly what I want it for.  Unless you just have plenty of resources on your computer (an over abundance or RAM), then you don’t need or want a bunch of monitoring tools running in the background of your system.  You can simply not click on suspicious emails and links, which is a better habit!

Many infections today include “fake antivirus” programs.  These are the infections that generate a pop-up screen that looks like a legitimate Anti-virus program and it tells you that you are infected.  By purchasing the full version, the application can remove the found threats; just enter your credit card information…see where this is going?  Your computer is not necessarily infected with what those applications say they are, they tell all computers that they have those infections. 

In addition to the fake antivirus applications, you will also get some that continuously popup some other time of screen or error message.  These infections often will keep you from opening other applications or Windows components such as Task Manager.

So what do you do if you can hardly work with the computer because of the popups or limitations?  If only you could run your infection removal tools to get rid of them.  I wanted to note that for some the infection just won’t allow for you to do anything.  In that even, you may want to start some of these processes in Windows Safe Mode (with Networking if possible), however you want to do as much in Normal mode as possible.  To get into Safe Mode, reboot your computer.  As soon as the computer comes on, hit the F8 key repeatedly until you get the black screen with the options to choose Safe Mode.  You actually only have to hit the F8 key once, but the timing is often so hard to catch that I just say keep on hitting it.  If the computer starts beeping, just ignore it.  If the Windows logo/boot screen pops up before you get a chance to choose Safe Mode, then you missed your window and need to restart.

With a bit of luck, you have a good restore point to go back to, so fire up System Restore by either typing it into the search box at the bottom of the Start Menu or enter "rstrui" (or you can hunt it down manually at C:\Windows\System32\restore\rstrui.exe).  If you cannot access this tool due to infection or there are no restore points, see below.  Now point to a restore point that is long enough ago that you know the missing icons was not a problem and let System Restore do it's thing.

If successful, that may get you back on track and should now have the ability to remove the infections that lie dormant (for now) on your machine.  Remember, System Restore doesn’t remove the infection; it really just replaces the Windows Registry (and perhaps some Windows components) that tells Windows what to load when an event happens such as start up.  So if you have gotten this to work, infection removal should be top priority before you go back to your work or games.

If that isn’t an option, try the handy little gem RKill.  RKill stops all processes that should not be running on a normal Windows install, causing the fake antivirus popups to cease for the moment.  RKill comes in several different variants just in case your infection won’t allow that variation to run.  It comes in .exe (executable, standard Windows application), .com (command file, similar to .exe), .scr (Usually a screensaver) and it also comes with various names all in the hopes that you can just run 1 variation.  If you can get it to work, RKill will do the job. RKill will then create a log file that pops up after it runs telling you what processes it stopped.  If you are fairly sure you know what you are doing and you know for a fact a file in that list is not something that should be running on your system, you can then go and hunt it down for deletion.  Might want to try to compress it (.zip) just in case.

Now that RKill has stopped the popups, you are in business.  Now is the time to run you removal tools.  I suggest running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) at this point and clear the infections.  After MBAM has completed, you should be ok to restart your computer so that it can finish its job.  Your computer should boot normally now. 

Because infections will often do things like hide all of your Desktop shortcuts or worse, at this point I would attempt to try the Windows System Restore route (mentioned above).  If that is the way you decide to go, starting the infection removal process will need to start over, but this really is the best way to go.

Once your computer has rebooted after successfully running MBAM, your computer is likely still infected with other fun stuff.  Time to fire up a secondary scanning agent such as Spybot: Search & Destroy or SuperAntiSpyware.  Once those have completed, you should be pretty safe.  Might even want to run the third application just to make sure, but that’s up to you.

Hope this helps out someone.  Tune in next week for more fun tips and tricks

[Hack] iBooks Author "Snow Leopard Hack"

iBooks Author "Snow Leopard Hack"

Ok, ok I stole this from OSXDaily.com (http://goo.gl/LZkrk), one of my daily reads. I have actually read this on a few different sites, however this did not work for me until I tried a small edit. See instructions below:
Apple's free interactive book creation app iBooks Author was just released, allowing for anyone to make multi-touch iBooks for iPad. Unfortunately it's officially for Mac OS X 10.7 only, and if you try to install it on Snow Leopard, you'll get an error message. With a little work we can get around that error message and install and run iBooks Author in Mac OS X 10.6.8.
This is not supported by Apple, although the app appears to work fine and if you just want to explore the application it's more than enough. If you plan on publishing with iBooks Author, you should use OS X Lion though.

1. From the Mac OS X desktop, hit Command+Shift+G and enter /System/Library/CoreServices
   
2. Locate SystemVersion.plist and make a backup copy of it to the desktop
3. Launch the Terminal and type the following:

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

1. Locate the keys ProductUserVisibleVersion and ProductVersion and change their strings from "10.6.8″ to "10.7.2″
   
2. Hit Control+O to save the file
   
3. Now launch the Mac App Store and find and download iBooks Author
   
4. After iBooks Author is finished downloading - do not launch it yet, instead open /Applications/ and find the app, then right-click on it and choose "Show Package Contents"
5. Now open the folder "Contents" and locate and open "Info.plist", you can use nano or your favorite text editor
   
6. In Info.plist, look for "LSMinimumSystemVersion" and change the accompanying string from "10.7.2″ to "10.6.8″ and safe the file
   
7. Now go back to the SystemVersion.plist file and open it again:

sudo nano /System/Library/CoreServices/SystemVersion.plist

1. Locate keys ProductUserVisibleVersion and ProductVersion again, but change their strings from to "10.7.2” back to "10.6.8”
   
2. Save SystemVersion.plist
   
3. EDIT: Before launching iBooks Author, move the app to the desktop. This will fix the icon and it should launch just fine. After that, close iBooks Author and then move it back to your Applications folder. Viola!
   
4. Launch iBooks Author
   The iBooks Author icon will probably keep it's strike through it, but the app opens fine and everything seems to work. You may also need to upgrade to iTunes 10.5.3 if you want to sync the iBooks to an iPad.

[Tech Support] Playstation 3 (PS3) Care

I have been playing the fairly new Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim game for Playstation 3 since about a week after its release.  Although the game is great, it still has several bugs that have been yet to be worked out.  It's not unlikely that my PS3 will freeze or even shut off completely while playing this game.

I went to Google and did some research on if this was damaging my PS and what I could do to prolong it's life in general.  To my disappointment I found very few definitive answers on the subject.  Sony is even very little help.  But I did find a few common things to do.  First I am assuming a couple of things.  One is that you have not removed the enclosure (the case) of your Playstation.  And the second, is that I own a Playstation 3 slim model and that since I do not have the older version, I don't know where the ports are, but it should be similar.  Common sense goes a long way!

1.  To prolong your Playstation's life the very first and most critical thing you can do is place it in an open and well ventilated area.  This means it cannot be placed in a small cubby hole in your entertainment center.  I know this really quite frankly sucks, because it is a pretty good looking unit and was aesthetically made to fit in with other devices in your entertainment center.  At least 1 foot in all directions should be open for the PS to breath.

Along with that, if you have any other devices that run hot that the PS may be sucking in air from, move either your PS or the other device.

This next thing is totally from my own thought patterns and I have nothing to back this up, but I believe that raising the PS a bit using whatever means would only help airflow from the 2 ports on the bottom side of the curved body.  With a quick look, you will notice there is no vents on the squared off "base" of the PS unit.  A book, or in my case 4 rubber pad lift my Playstation just a bit, adding a about an 3/4 of an inch more clearance for the vents to suck in air.  The PS units can get pretty hot, so use some common sense on what you put under it.

2.  Next is cleaning.  I have read that some vacuum the ports.  Some use canned duster to spray into the ports as you would computer.  The only problem I see with spraying into the device, is most of that debris and dust is just going to fly all over the inside of the unit and unless you have taken the enclosure off (which would void your warranty by the way), then most of that junk is going to stay inside the unit.  I think a little of both is the best route.

Any vacuum with a hose attachment should do just fine.  I spray into the ports using a can of Fellowes brand Duster and the proceed to quickly get the vacuum onto the ports to try to suck out all the floating garbage.

3.  What I know from reading is that the "Intercoolers" for both PS3 and XBOX actually cause more damage than they prevent.  Although I am not exactly sure why.  You would think cooler air being blown into the device would help air flow, but again from what I've read, this isn't the case.  So no intercoolers.  I do however have a small fan (think computer case small) blowing in from the back of my entertainment center.  This promotes good air flow in the space around my PS3.  I let the unit itself handle its intake and exhaust.

CD/DVD lens cleaners is another route that I have read bad things about.  The little discs with the brushes on the bottom to "gently" sweep away the dirt from the lens, can actually just scratch the lens.  Good idea, but it doesn't work.


I know this is mostly just more of the same, but I really wanted another place that people could go to get this information.  I hope it helps someone out there get another year or so of enjoyment from their Playstation.  Until next time!

[Opinion] My introduction to Arduino

I began writing a description of the Arduino unit and then I decided theirs was better.  

Arduino is an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It's intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments. - http://arduino.cc/en/

While looking at all the fun stuff on the website http://hackaday.com/ I noticed a pattern.  So many of the titles had Arduino in it.  Figured I would see exactly what it was an wow, a prefabbed unit desigend for people to build all sorts of goodies.  

Now its my turn.  I am thinking I want to start with what has been done, and then move on from there.  My first goal will be to use SiriProxy and my iPhone to control the temperature in my home.  Using VPN, I believe I will be able to adjust the temperature even while I'm on the road.  So for those weekends away, I can leave my heating down to a bitter 55ish degrees and when I'm on my way home, I can adjust it remotely and have it nice and warm by the time I pull in the drive.

Yes, I do realize that I must be a huge geek for being excited about this, but for those who were thinking the same thing, me being a geek that is, is only because this type of action isn't mainstream yet and you haven't had time to take it for granted.

I am truly intrigued at all of the projects popping up using Arduino, Microsoft's Kinect, and other setups.  The possibilites are endless and the platforms have already been developed and handed to us in a nice shiny box!

Time to get my learn on.  Fortunatly for me, my best friend is an electrician by trade, and he can expect that I will be hounding him about all sorts of basic electrical questions.  Capacitors, voltage, 

[Personal Note] The Walking Dead on AMC

I have just recently found a fun past time in AMC's The Walking Dead.  It's the first show that I know of on this subject.  Although post apocalyptic shows are nothing new to this fan, such as Battlestar Galactica, it is nice to have an ongoing zombie story to look forward to.

It's about the lives of several survivors who are living in a zombie-infested reality.  I was super stoked to find this on Netflix, yet it only wetted my appetite.  I was forced to download the remaining series to catch up.

Now I thoroughly await seeing the new episodes.  If you like zombie flicks, then you too may enjoy this one.

Lion update

I see it's been a while since my last post. Now that I've been using Lion for some time now, I can speak more about it.

Of course there are the common rants about Lion. Rosetta is a big one, but that's not really Apple's fault, they gave developers plenty of time to update their software. This causes people to grumble about having to spend more money to buy newer versions of their applications. But did you have to update to Lion in the first place? It was a well known fact that Lion didn't support Rosetta anymore, so if you upgraded and don't want to spend the cash, time to roll back that install to good ol Snow Leopard. SL is still a great OS, nothing wrong with sticking with what works. If it aint broke...

I really hated the resume feature of Lion personally. When I restarted my computer or application, I did it to clear the work space, not so I can continue with the mess I had before. If that was the case, I wouldn't have restarted. Of course there are plenty of applications that can solve the resume problem and even some command line tweaks if you are a do it yourself kind of person. TinkerTool (http://bresink.de/osx/TinkerTool.html) for example is one of many applications that can help you rid your self of a few "features" of Lion and tweak a few other settings. For just a resume fix, try Resuminator (found on OSXDaily.com - http://bit.ly/v0xRev).

Speaking of OSXDaily.com, if you are a Mac or iOS (iPod/iPhone/iPad) user, then you should visit this site often for a ton of great tips, tricks, and news.

I have recently acquired an iPhone 4S, so my trusty Captivate went to the Mrs. Which leads me down another rabbit trail. Got to remember to send my old Captivate to a trusted kernel dev for that platform. But back to the 4S for a sec. Now I get to learn how to use Siri, which is supposed to make my life so much easier. Hoping to wire my home into my network so I can use Siri to adjust my lights and temperature from the couch and the road by just asking about it. Thanks Siri Proxy Devs (http://bit.ly/u8wFCC). I'll post more on that in the future.

Guess it back to work time, so in case I don't get back to you all, have a merry Christmas everyone!

[Review] OS X: Lion

I installed Lion last Friday morning and so far everything is doing great. As with all OS upgrades, there are a few patches and fixes to get rolling to get all the software working as it did before. PowerPC software is out for sure (no Rosetta for Lion) A quick trip over to OSXDaily.com and it will show you how to check to see if you're running any PowerPC software that for sure won't be supported. Fortunatly for me and most of you, this shouldn't be an issue. If you find that you do have an app or two, try the vendor's website or MacUpdate.com

Here are some issues that I ran into:

Java isn't included and is now a separate download. It can be found on Apple's website: Java for OS X Lion

Right off the bat, I noticed that "Library" directory was missing from my users folder. No worries, it's just hidden. A quick terminal command easily corrects that:

chflags nohidden ~/Library/

Another issue I ran into was the my Truecrypt wasn't working. A simple install of the latest MacFuse took care of that issue. It can be found at here: MacFuse 2.1.9.

More to come..

Samsung Captivate: Updating to Gingerbread

I have been running Gingerbread (Android v2.3.3) on my Cappy for several weeks now, and I love it! There are two methods of going about this that I am discussing today.

DISCLAIMER: It is possible to ruin your phone by not reading and following directions. That is all. I will not assume responsibility.

AT&T ROM:
First the unofficial Official AT&T ROM installer (Odin 1-Click) can be found at http://bit.ly/kj5Xt3. They have created an installer package built on top of Odin. For those of you that do not know what i'm talking about, this is the software that lets you flash you Samsung Captivate with all sorts of goodies.

The downside to this official type ROM is that you are also getting all the AT&T bloatware to go along with it. However this ROM is most likely to run correctly because it was designed with the source code that isn't available to make a Gingerbread ROM for the Captivate yet.

Continuum:
I've been running this ROM for a while now and I find it to be very stable and is easily my favorite ROM out there. I look forward to the Continuum Team to put together a ROM based off the previously mentioned AT&T ROM, but for now, this is the one I would, err have chosen for my phone. This link will provide you with all the information and links to download one of the most complete and stable ROMs that I have came across for the Captivate. I hope you enjoy! http://bit.ly/mvx2k8

[Tech Support] Android Tip: Laggy Dialer?

Cleaning out your call logs will do wonders for a laggy dialer app.  I started using Call Log Trimmer and no more problems trying to get a call out due to lag.

Remove AT&T from the Samsung Captivate

Note: Most of this content was taken from the article found at BriefMobile: http://briefmobile.com/how-to-remove-att-from-captivate

Root the Samsung Captivate

The easiest method I have found to root my Cappy is the SuperOneClick Root package. This is ran from you Windows or Mac PC. It can be found on the good ol’ XDA dev site (registration may be required, but you will most likely be here again and again). SuperOneClick v1.8beta

Enable App Sideloading

AT&T has some weird reservations against app sideloading. That means, AT&T Android users can not use any apps not downloaded on the Android Market. Have no fear! You can remove this restriction easily. Check below for the basic instructions, or click to go to our “Enable Captivate App Sideloading” guide.
• BusyBox Installed
• Samsung Captivate with root
• SQL Database Manager
o We suggest trying the SQLite plugin for Firefox, you can find it here.
1. Turn on USB debugging: Settings >> Applications >> Development
2. Plug in your Samsung Captivateyo
3. Open up Command Prompt on your computer (Windows: start, search, type “cmd”, right click cmd, Run as Administrator)
4. Type in: cd _____PATH TO ANDROID SDK FOLDER______\tools
Example: cd C:\Users\USERNAME\Desktop\android-sdk-windows\tools
5. Type in: adb shell (Note: on a Mac, you have to enter ".\adb shell")
6. Type in: su
7. Type in: cp /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db /sdcard/settings.db
8. Type in: cp /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db /sdcard/settings.db.backup
9. Type in: exit
10. Type in: exit
11. Type in: adb pull /sdcard/settings.db %userprofile%\desktop
Leave Command Prompt open
12. Open SQLite Manager in Firefox by pressing Tools >> SQLite Manager
13. Click “Database”
14. Then click “Connect Database”
15. Navigate to “settings.db” on your Desktop
16. Expand the tables
17. Click “Secure” on the panel
18. Scroll down to ID 6, “install_non_market_apps”
19. Double click it and change “value” from 0 to 1.
20. Close SQLite Manager
21. Go back to the command prompt window, type in: adb push %userprofile%\desktop\settings.db /sdcard
22. Type in: adb shell
23. Type in: su
24. Type in: cp /sdcard/settings.db /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings
25. Type in: chmod 777 /dbdata/databases/com.android.providers.settings/settings.db
26. Type in: reboot
27. Disconnect your Captivate from your computer while your phone reboots.

Remove AT&T Bloatware Apps

Must have root and BusyBox installed before performing this process!
1. Open up Android Market and search/download “Titanium Backup”
2. Make sure your phone is not “Mounted” with USB
3. Press the Backup/Restore button
4. Click on each app and press un-install if you’d like to get rid of it. Do not delete apps off of this list, unless you know it is safe! This deletes these potentially forever… so be sure about things!
Delete-able:
o AT&T Navigator
o AT&T Radio
o AT&T Maps
o AT&T Music
o AT&T Mobile Hotspots
o Mobile Banking
o Mobile Video
o Where
o YPmobile
o AT&T FamilyMap
o Mini Diary
o MobiTV
o Write and Go

Remove AT&T Market Restrictions


Market restrictions? What? You mean AT&T really censors what apps I can and cannot see on my Samsung Captivate? Yes they do. But, no problem. Android developer Andrea Baccega has developed an app called "Market Enabler" to remove the censorship by emulating the T-Mobile market on the Samsung Captivate as well as other devices. Instructions below if you've already got root access:
1. Download “Market Access” and install the latest version of the APK file on your Captivate.
o Don't know how to install .apk files? Copy the file to your phone and then install "Apps Installer" or "Astro File Manager" from the market. It's easy! Just double click the .apk when you find it!
2. Close the Market down fully. If you were running the Market previously, reset the phone so it is not a running task. Or use a task killer and end the Market app.
3. Open up the Market Access application and go to "Backup value" in case you need to get back to the AT&T market
4. Then click "Providers" and find: "T-Mobile [US]"
5. Click and hold that option until it says "Emulate "T-Mobile" SIM?" -- click "Yes" there
1. You may have to Allow Market Access in Superuser Permissions
6. Click back to "Settings" click the checkbox next to "Emulate on boot"
7. All done. Now your Market is uncensored.

iOS 4.3.1 untethered Jailbreak (finally)

Thanks to the guys at OSXDaily.com, here are some instructions on how to Jailbreak your iPhone or other iDevice that you made the boneheaded move to update it to 4.3.1!

How to Jailbreak iOS 4.3.1 using Redsn0w 0.9.6rc9

1. Download iOS 4.3.1 IPSW and install it on your iOS device if you haven’t done so already


2. Download Redsn0w 0.9.6rc9 (Windows & Mac OS X versions available)


3. Launch Redsn0w and click on “Browse”


4. Locate the iOS 4.3.1 IPSW file you downloaded in the first step and click “Open”


5. Select “Next”


6. Select the checkbox next to “Install Cydia” and click “Next”


7. Make sure your iOS device is turned off and plugged into your computer and then click on “Next”


8. Follow the on screen instructions to put your iOS device into DFU Mode: Hold down the Power button for 1 second, then continue to hold power while holding the Home button for 10 seconds, then release the power button but continue to hold the Home button for another 15 seconds.


9. Once you are successfully in DFU mode, redsn0w will perform the jailbreak for you so let it do the work. Your iOS device will then restart automatically and you will be jailbroken

[Review] Serviio Media Server - DLNA

I am absolutely hooked! I have tried many different media server solutions for quite some time now and I believe I have finally found what I have been looking for.

First off some background.  I have been searching for the best solution to get my video library from my PC to my TV.  Since I already had a Playstation 3, that would be how I got video to my TV.  When I started this search, I had an older 50 inch projection TV with no DVI or HDMI inputs.  So PC to TV wasn't really a good option.  That is mostly because I did not have a computer powerful enough to devout to Boxee (or other alternative).  The PS3 can stream video from any DLNA complaint server, so that was what I began with.  Onward..

Previously I have been using Java PS3 Media Server and over all was quite happy with it. I had a few problems with it crashing on me when trying to view some movie files and it would crash on those specific files every time, regardless of the format, while it would play others in the same format with no problems, so I always assumed it was just a "bad encode" of those files. I have a pretty puny computer being used as my media server with only 512MB of RAM (its Rambus memory and its too expensive to add or replace) and PS3 Media Server used most of the resources while it was being used, especially while transcoding. Enough on that.

I installed Serviio, which was a pretty standard and simple process. I then pointed the "share" to my external 1 TB, NTFS formatted; drive that is my video collection. Next, I fired up the PS3 and it picked up the server by the time the PS3 booted up. I did have to wait quite some time for all my media to show up. The reason it took so long was Serviio (optionally) extracts the metadata for each file and goes to the Net to find information used to sort the media. It find directors, actors, and other useful info so that you can simply select "Angelina Jolie" and watch all the movies you have with her beautiful presence or hunt for all the bad@$% movies directed by Michael Bay. It also gets the cover art, so that you scroll through images rather than simply text. Having the DVD/Blu-ray covers is a must for me. It makes it look like your media collection is on your TV naturally rather than some kind of cheap hack, which really impresses my less techy friends. PS3 Media Server would display previously downloaded covers, but who has time to search for all of those things.

Serviio is DLNA compliant which basically the same thing as uPNP. I'm not sure what else is required to go from the standard uPNP to DLNA cert, but the PS3's requirements of DLNA are satisfied.

So far it has played every format I have tried without hesitation and I didn't have to do anything other than select it on screen through the PS3, unlike PS3 Media Server where you would sometimes have to select "Transcode". So far I have run .MP4/M4V, .AVI (xvid), and a couple of .MKV's all, which played flawlessly.

Now for the bad... which isn't much. It would be nice to have a little more options in the control console, although I can't really think off the top of my head what I would want, however there is very little tuning that can be done to the server, at least not through the console.

I have tried Nero Media Home, in which I quit using pretty quickly, in what I can only recall must have been a lack of format support (probably .mkv). Windows Media Player 11 worked great after I added the K-Lite codec pack, however I got tired of disabling sharing every time I wanted to rename, move, edit, or delete a file because Windows gives you the "file is in use" error. I did update to the PS3 Media Server for Windows v1.20.412 BETA at the same time I was installing Serviio and that seemed to fix the "Corrupt Data" problem I had gotten previously with some of my files.

I am very pleased at this piece of software and it has taken its place as my "main" media server. I intended to maintain both Nullriver's MediaLink and PS3 Media Server on my MacBook Pro for the ease of use while traveling, since I don't always have time to let it compile a media listing.

I almost didn't give this software a "10" because of lack of options, however after thinking about it, I don't feel I am missing anything as of yet. It works, it works great, and it is so easy my wife and son can use it! Wahoo, finally!

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Developers website: http://www.serviio.org/

For more information on anything related to Video files, then the folks over at VideoHelp.com should have the info you should need. If you can't find what you are looking for there, then it is a great place to begin you search for knowledge!

[Review] My first Time Machine experience

Today is the first time that i have ever had to use Apple's Time Machine software. A computer was brought into work to have the files from the client's old Mac to be transferred onto the new one. I opened the external hard drive where the backup files were and did a quick look over. I noticed user directories and applications along with misc documents. At first thought is that i hope there is a "backup" type file that will know where all these files go so that the applications will work once they are moved over.

Then it occurs to me, hey this is a Mac, and Apple really knows how to make an experience a good one.  I opened the Migration Assistant from the Utilities folder on the new Mac and one of the options was from "Time Machine".

It immediately recognized that this hard drive was loaded up by "Time Machine", from another version of OS X i might add, and gave me options to move the "User" and the files to their correct locations.

Within 10 minutes i had the whole process complete without any problems and the client now has 20+ gigs of applications and documents restored to the same folders as he had originally.

Just Magic, Apple.

[Opinion] Apple Mac's vs Windows-based PC's

Surely I'm not the only one who has noticed, but it seems that some people think the Mac vs PC war is still on. Really the war should have been put to rest the second Apple began using Intel processors to power it's machines. At that point Mac's used the same architecture as PC's and therefore making the software compatibility issue explode into possibilities.

All of a sudden Mac's could run Windows, right out of the box no less. Now you can easily swap to either operating system of your choice Mac OS or Windows to do it all! Some might think its because Windows is a better OS because it will support all the different hardware in a PC as Mac OS will not. However designing an OS to run on certified, good to go hardware doesn't make Apple foolish, it just means they are concerned with quality and not satisfied with their OS crashing due to driver incompatibilities.

Software was the real reason that divided the industry. It goes back to the same issue with VHS and BetaMAX. VHS was cheaper, and like it PCs sold more units. Since more people had them, more people programmed on and for them. Games and office applications thrived on the cheaper machines.

Apple products, being expensive, yet stable often ran critical systems or creative software. In the past, if you wanted to record music or video editing, the defacto software was found on the Mac's.

Anyway enough of the explanation. Apple Mac computers now run Intel chips and software that was written for Windows is now being ported over for Mac OS X. Apple conceded to their use of the IBM processor, to the more common Intel chip.

Apple products still to this day retain the quality if not improve to it with their market share. The Mac's can run Windows and it's software. And if that wasn't enough, companies like Valve Corporation have just recently ported their Steam product and more and more games that are featured on it over to the make every day.

The Apple Tax! That is all you are paying the extra money for, right? Just to fill Steve's pockets? Absolutely not! If you have ever had a problem and had to call a PC manufacturer and jump through through the hoops and wait and wait on hold to talk to someone that you can barely understand only to maybe fix the issue without their go-to-answer of "reload the computer back with the factory cd", losing all your pictures, documents and stolen music (gasp!), know exactly what i'm talking about. You will be hard pressed to find people that have dealt with Apple customer support and not so shocked that they were treated with respect, but that Apple did everything in their power to actually fix the issue. I have 3 stories of my personal experiences. One of my coworkers was having an issue with his MacBook (Pro). He called Apple and explained the problem and while over hearing him talk, he was quite happy with whatever they had been telling him before a solution was come to. This was around 10 am, and by the next afternoon, a box was sitting in our office. The contents was another box with Apple's logo on it and was form fitted to fit his MacBook. The postage was paid both ways and he sent it down to the mail room. Two days later, the MacBook was returned, working and clean! Yes, Apple had cleaned the machine or so it appeared. The smudges from his kids hands were missing from the screen. The gunk that builds on a keyboard was removed. Yes, you pay for quality parts. Yes, you pay for quality service. Yes, you get what you pay for!

All that to say is, that I don't really care which computer you think is so great. Apple makes a quality product in it's OS and hardware they place in their Mac's so how bout the "PC Fan-boys" respect that and quit trying to trash talk the Mac's. Most of the PC's on the market contain nothing but inferior hardware and even worse software. If you prefer your Dell over a Mac; great, fine, good for you. Then it is your preference and not because it's so much better, because a statement like that is ignorant and foolish. The only people that are cheering for your are the people that are ignorant to the facts also.

I have spent over 10 years working on PCs (loaded with Windows 95-Seven) and 2 years working with my Intel-based MacBook Pro. Given the choice, i would never use a PC by another vendor again, unless i needed a cheap box to use a maybe a media server for my home. My computer doesn't crash. It doesn't get viruses or spyware. It just works.

Of course i am open to hear arguments on anything i have said and will be glad to concede my points if proven wrong. Good luck with that.

{Review] Goodreader for iOS

One of the best investments I have made app-wise that I have made for my iPad & iPhone is Goodreader. It is a file viewer for both platforms. But it is so much more! I use it to view or download for offline viewing my Google Docs, Webdav (my website files) & Dropbox storage space. This is great for getting files onto my iPad, and since we can't use the storage space the only way to do this practically. I often uses this at work when I don't want to tote my laptop to a meeting but still need documents to be accessible.

I look forward to be able to use the storage space on my idevices one day, but until then, this is the best solution I have found and in case I didn't mention it before, it was only $.99! Great buy!

[Hack] Quick and Easy Jailbreaking - iPhone, iPod, and iPad

Well i just tried the Spirit jailbreak method on my iPhone 2g that i just updated to 3.1.3 firmware on. All i can say is WOW, 1 click and 5 seconds later, my iphone was rebooting and it was all done! I have yet to try this on my wifi iPad becaue i really don't have a need, but i may do this. *Warning* This is kind of beta for iPad, many of the apps downloaded are designed to work on the iPhone/iPad and may crash your iPad forcing you to restore it. To get the Spirit Jailbreak follow my link below. And pay the man, he just made this whole process, stupid-easy.

http://spiritjb.com/

{Tech Support] Keeping a PC running smooth

Since I see a dozen or more computers a week infected with, well, a whole host of bad stuff acquired from the internet. Spyware, Malware, Trojans, Viruses...what ever you want to call them, they really do a number on a computer. Here are is the process i go through to remove these threats and get the computers back up and running.

Assuming that you can get a computer to boot successfully into Windows Safe Mode (hit the f8 key while the computer is starting to get the Windows boot options and select Windows Safe Mode) then you have a pretty good chance to save your computer or at least get it going enough to backup your data and in a lot of cases completely fix the machine.

You will most likely need another computer to download the programs and a flash drive or blank cd to get the software to the infected machine. Maybe you can even use Safe Mode with Networking and you may even be able to download the software, but usually the Internet Browser is the first to get infected so don't bet on this option.

Finally, the list. These are the programs I would use to clean a PC and the links to the sites to get them.

• Spybot: Search & Destroy - http://www.spybot.com
• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - http://www.malwarebytes.com
• SuperAntiSpyware - http://www.superantispyware.com

These are all free programs (I believe there are paid versions of 2 of these, but the free ones do what i need them to, so you can select those for now)

I also use these programs, but they require a little more advanced knowledge of what you are looking for.

• Windows System Configuration aka msconfig - type "msconfig" in the run/search box on the Windows "Start Menu"
• HijackThis - http://free.antivirus.com/hijackthis/
• Microsoft Security Essentials - http://www.microsoft.com/securityessentials

If you are in need of a free Antivirus program, Microsoft actually has a pretty descent one, or so that is my current opinion. It even removes some of the other junk traditional antivirus programs over look. Check out Microsoft Security Essentials if you are tired of paying subscription fees and renewals. It also runs pretty good in the background without slowing the computer down noticeably.

Those should get you off to a pretty good start. To go even further, the very best tool is the Ultimate Boot CD for Windows. This is an operating system you run from a CD or a USB drive that contains most of the above mentioned tools. This allows me to fix computers that are so infected, booting to Windows just isn't an option.

All you need is a Windows CD (i believe it will have to be Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later) and you can use the. Do you have an old Windows XP disc? There are instructions on how to make a new Windows XP SP2 or SP3 disc called Slipstreaming. Check out their website (below) and aside from some copy of Windows, you will have all the tools you need to get one of these UBCD's created.

• UBCD4Win - http://www.ubcd4win.com/

[Rant] Emailing Tech Support

I work for an organization doing mostly telephone and/or remote technical support. And as tech support, you are often left wondering why in the world would someone send an email to their tech support staff with some vague comments like "I can't print"? Seriously? SERIOUSLY?!! The people in the organization know how that I will have to call them to get the required info before we can do anything about it. It's called protocol people, and unless it's your first day, week, perhaps month on the job why waste your time? When we get an email like this, we are going to have to hunt you down, which who knows how long that will take and then and only then after we get the information required, we can dispatch a field technician to remedy the situation. Don't email your Tech's!!  Quit being lazy and follow the protocol. They WILL have to speak with you at very minimum. Ok rant over, thank you for your time and have a nice day!