So first it was AT&T Wireless, then Cingular purchased it, now its back to AT&T??? WTF?!?!?!
In an effort to explain the craziness, Steven Colbert from the "Colbert Report" has put together this little graphic :)
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Web Messaging for one and all...
You're at work...you're bored...you're done surfing the internet. What else is there to do since your company has so lovingly blocked chat programs from being installed? Well I give to you Meebo, the browser based chat application!
It supports all the major chat programs (GoogleChat, AIM, MSN, Yahoo) and the interface is very clean and easy to use. From the few minutes I spent on it, it appears you can only sign in to one service at a time but since most people only focus on one service anyway I doubt this would be a big problem. And of course, you could always rectify this problem by opening multiple browser windows/tabs!
The chat windows are all contained within the browser window as well so you can easily ALT+TAB to something else if you're feeling the "fuzz" looking over your shoulder (aka the BOSS).
All in all a great little find on the net.
It supports all the major chat programs (GoogleChat, AIM, MSN, Yahoo) and the interface is very clean and easy to use. From the few minutes I spent on it, it appears you can only sign in to one service at a time but since most people only focus on one service anyway I doubt this would be a big problem. And of course, you could always rectify this problem by opening multiple browser windows/tabs!
The chat windows are all contained within the browser window as well so you can easily ALT+TAB to something else if you're feeling the "fuzz" looking over your shoulder (aka the BOSS).
All in all a great little find on the net.
Technology, In My Opinion....
Im sure we've all come across some point in our computing lives where we have a problem and have totally exhausted our ideas on how to fix it. Well there can still be a light at the end of the tunnel folks. I give you TechIMO.com! I've been a long time reader/poster of this message board and the members have helped me solve all types of issues...Java programming questions, how to troubleshoot Windows, how to get into Linux/Unix, etc. It really is a great community.
Just be sure to read the rules ;)
Just be sure to read the rules ;)
Friday, January 26, 2007
AllofMP3.com goes mobile!
If you haven't heard of AllofMP3.com then you obviously aren't very savy on the internet or at downloading MP3's. You should feel ashamed (and ripped off) that you've purchased music from the ludicrous iTunes store. $0.99 per song?!?! I laugh!
Well rejoice because now Im here to tell you about the lovely AllofMP3.com site. Hosted and run in Russia (the pirating capital of the world...next to China), this site has thousands upon thousands of songs for you to download and phenominal prices. The cost to you depends really upon what bitrate/quality you'd like to have for the song but it can cost as little as $0.01/Megabyte. Not too shabby eh??
Well I just found too that they have created a mobile catalog browser for the Nokia S60v3 devices! Cool! Now I can browse and download all the best songs whenever I want right from my phone!
Of course, this site wont have EVERY song imagineable but it will have pretty much every well known song you could think of today. Although I listen to pretty obscure songs sometimes, I've been able to find about 90% of the stuff I wanted on their site. It really is the best out there.
There is, of course, a desktop version as well. Both can be found at the AllTunes website.
So what are you waiting for?!?! Get to downloading!
Well rejoice because now Im here to tell you about the lovely AllofMP3.com site. Hosted and run in Russia (the pirating capital of the world...next to China), this site has thousands upon thousands of songs for you to download and phenominal prices. The cost to you depends really upon what bitrate/quality you'd like to have for the song but it can cost as little as $0.01/Megabyte. Not too shabby eh??
Well I just found too that they have created a mobile catalog browser for the Nokia S60v3 devices! Cool! Now I can browse and download all the best songs whenever I want right from my phone!
Of course, this site wont have EVERY song imagineable but it will have pretty much every well known song you could think of today. Although I listen to pretty obscure songs sometimes, I've been able to find about 90% of the stuff I wanted on their site. It really is the best out there.
There is, of course, a desktop version as well. Both can be found at the AllTunes website.
So what are you waiting for?!?! Get to downloading!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Initial Overclocking results
Well I finally made the first step and overclocked my Core 2 Duo the other day. Nothing really agressive, though. I went from a 266Mhz FSB to 333Mhz, which gave me an ending result of ~2.3Ghz. The memory multiplier I set at 2.0 which will run my memory (for the math challenged) at 667Mhz. Reportedly, my memory runs at 4-4-4-12 timing modes up to 667Mhz but for some reason my Gigabyte S3 motherboard didn't set it at that. So now its running at 5-5-5-15 (well I think tis 15...never remember that last number).
In any case, I haven't done any "official" benchmarks yet but I did manage to install F.E.A.R. which is a pretty standard FPS benchmarker these days. Running at HIGH settings for both CPU and graphics, I pulled out an average of 92 FPS. The lowest recorded was 42 and the highest was about 140. Not too shabby at all!
Since my memory is only set to run at 667, Im a bit leary about running it at any higher speeds. I guess I could test it and see what potential it really has past its recommended speed but Im not looking for much. I know the CPU can do more but right now Im a bit limited by my RAM (it sucks having a budget!).
But all in all the performance out of the box of this CPU is amazing. 500Mhz overclock from stock straight outta the box and without a hiccup at all.
In any case, I haven't done any "official" benchmarks yet but I did manage to install F.E.A.R. which is a pretty standard FPS benchmarker these days. Running at HIGH settings for both CPU and graphics, I pulled out an average of 92 FPS. The lowest recorded was 42 and the highest was about 140. Not too shabby at all!
Since my memory is only set to run at 667, Im a bit leary about running it at any higher speeds. I guess I could test it and see what potential it really has past its recommended speed but Im not looking for much. I know the CPU can do more but right now Im a bit limited by my RAM (it sucks having a budget!).
But all in all the performance out of the box of this CPU is amazing. 500Mhz overclock from stock straight outta the box and without a hiccup at all.
Friday, January 19, 2007
The iPhone already a bomb?
Well with Apple's iPhone announcement a few weeks ago at MacWorld, there was quite the buzz in the tech world regarding the sexy new phone from Apple. I must admit, I fell into it at first. The device is downright amazing looking, but what else would you expect from them? All the features sounded really cool until I started to realize a few things, such as no battery replacement options and the fact that its not a 3G enabled device. Extremely disappointing for me since a key feature I will look for in my next phone is 3G compatibility.
In any case, I recently found this article regarding "13 Reasons to Doubt the iPhone" and thought it a fantastic read.
Check it out here
In any case, I recently found this article regarding "13 Reasons to Doubt the iPhone" and thought it a fantastic read.
Check it out here
Sunday, January 7, 2007
Unbrand your Cingular E62!!!!
Well its finally happened! After 3+ long months of waiting for someone to fix the JAVA crippling that Cingular placed on the lovely Nokia E62, some smart person figured out how to unbrand/reflash the firmware to the stock Nokia unbranded firmware.
As any of you who own a Cingular smartphone/pda know, its J2ME capabilities were severely crippled due to Cingular's custom firmware installed when you purchase the phone. When using any JAVA app that required access to the net, it would CONSTANTLY prompt you for access to the web. Suffice to say using fun applications like Google Maps became extremely annoying. Well its all gone now thanks to a crafty person who unfortunately I cannot give credit to because I dont know who he/she is!
In any case, on to the good stuff: below you will find the specific directions on how to perform the re-flash.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Download and install Nokia Software Updater (NSU) from:
http://www.nokiausa.com/support/software/update_via_pc_1
IMPORTANT NOTE: Nokia Software Updater is very sensitive to software firewalls. During the many tests I have done, I found that I must completely disable software firewall, as granting full network access to (NSU_UI_CLIENT.EXE and NSL_HOST_PROCESS.EXE) was not enough to make NSU work. So, the bottom line is if you do not want an additional headache and want to receive quick results, then just temporarily disable software firewall before you run NSU in step 6).
2) Download and install Nemesis Service Suite (NSS) software in order to change the phone’s product code from here:
http://www.b-phreaks.co.uk/software.htm
3) Now we are ready to change Cingular's Product Code to Unbranded US_Generic Nokia’s Product Code which will allow us to upload the original (not modified by Cingular) Nokia’s firmware in step 6).
3.1 Connect your phone to USB and choose "PC Suite" mode (same as if you always do when sync your phone);
3.2 Open NSS and click on “Scan for new device” button on the right-upper part of the window;
3.3 Click on the icon “Phone info”;
3.4 Click on “Scan” and wait until you get "...Done" in the status string at the bottom of NSS window;
3.5 Now, in a "Product Data Edit" window check "Enable" next to "Product Code" string and type the next code: 0524513. Then press "Write" button and wait until you get "...Done" in the status string at the bottom of the NSS window;
3.6 Press "Scan" button again (same as you did in 3.4) just to be sure you still can get "...Done" at the bottom of NSS window;
3.7 Right click on a small icon (located above "Device Info" button) and choose "close device";
3.8 Now you can completely close NSS. We do not need it anymore.
4) Disconnect USB cable.
5) At this step we will reset the phone to the factory configuration:
5.1 On your phone press several times Red button, so to be sure you are in an "Idle Screen";
5.2 Press * button
5.3 Press # button
5.4 Press 7 button
5.5 Press 3 button
5.6 Press 7 button
5.7 Press 0 button
5.8 Press # button
At that point you will be asked if you want "Restore all original phone settings". Answer “Yes” and confirm the code (which is 12345 by default. Be careful and verify that you are typing a numbers, but not symbols).
When you provided the right code, your phone will be restarted and you will be asked if to you want a read a tutorial. Answer “No” to save you some time.
6) Now we are ready to update our E62 to Unbranded US_Generic Nokia firmware.
6.1 Connect your phone to USB and choose "PC Suite" mode;
6.2 Connect your phone to a charger;
6.3 Run Nokia Software Updater (NSU);
6.4 Follow the prompts. At the point when NSU says that you already have the latest firmware and if you want to download it again, confirm it with checkmark and let NSU do its work;
6.5 After about 15 minutes, NSU will finish its work, reboot the phone and tell you that your phone software is updated and you are ready to go.
6.6 Close NSU window. Disconnect your phone from USB.
6.7 You should have Unbranded US_Generic Nokia firmware in your phone now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Big thanks to Chris at EQO Mobile for finding this fix.
NOTE:Please be aware that this will most certainly be against Cingular's rules and they will most likely not provide support if they figured out what you did. How they would figure that out would be unknown to me but I had to say it.
As any of you who own a Cingular smartphone/pda know, its J2ME capabilities were severely crippled due to Cingular's custom firmware installed when you purchase the phone. When using any JAVA app that required access to the net, it would CONSTANTLY prompt you for access to the web. Suffice to say using fun applications like Google Maps became extremely annoying. Well its all gone now thanks to a crafty person who unfortunately I cannot give credit to because I dont know who he/she is!
In any case, on to the good stuff: below you will find the specific directions on how to perform the re-flash.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1) Download and install Nokia Software Updater (NSU) from:
http://www.nokiausa.com/support/software/update_via_pc_1
IMPORTANT NOTE: Nokia Software Updater is very sensitive to software firewalls. During the many tests I have done, I found that I must completely disable software firewall, as granting full network access to (NSU_UI_CLIENT.EXE and NSL_HOST_PROCESS.EXE) was not enough to make NSU work. So, the bottom line is if you do not want an additional headache and want to receive quick results, then just temporarily disable software firewall before you run NSU in step 6).
2) Download and install Nemesis Service Suite (NSS) software in order to change the phone’s product code from here:
http://www.b-phreaks.co.uk/software.htm
3) Now we are ready to change Cingular's Product Code to Unbranded US_Generic Nokia’s Product Code which will allow us to upload the original (not modified by Cingular) Nokia’s firmware in step 6).
3.1 Connect your phone to USB and choose "PC Suite" mode (same as if you always do when sync your phone);
3.2 Open NSS and click on “Scan for new device” button on the right-upper part of the window;
3.3 Click on the icon “Phone info”;
3.4 Click on “Scan” and wait until you get "...Done" in the status string at the bottom of NSS window;
3.5 Now, in a "Product Data Edit" window check "Enable" next to "Product Code" string and type the next code: 0524513. Then press "Write" button and wait until you get "...Done" in the status string at the bottom of the NSS window;
3.6 Press "Scan" button again (same as you did in 3.4) just to be sure you still can get "...Done" at the bottom of NSS window;
3.7 Right click on a small icon (located above "Device Info" button) and choose "close device";
3.8 Now you can completely close NSS. We do not need it anymore.
4) Disconnect USB cable.
5) At this step we will reset the phone to the factory configuration:
5.1 On your phone press several times Red button, so to be sure you are in an "Idle Screen";
5.2 Press * button
5.3 Press # button
5.4 Press 7 button
5.5 Press 3 button
5.6 Press 7 button
5.7 Press 0 button
5.8 Press # button
At that point you will be asked if you want "Restore all original phone settings". Answer “Yes” and confirm the code (which is 12345 by default. Be careful and verify that you are typing a numbers, but not symbols).
When you provided the right code, your phone will be restarted and you will be asked if to you want a read a tutorial. Answer “No” to save you some time.
6) Now we are ready to update our E62 to Unbranded US_Generic Nokia firmware.
6.1 Connect your phone to USB and choose "PC Suite" mode;
6.2 Connect your phone to a charger;
6.3 Run Nokia Software Updater (NSU);
6.4 Follow the prompts. At the point when NSU says that you already have the latest firmware and if you want to download it again, confirm it with checkmark and let NSU do its work;
6.5 After about 15 minutes, NSU will finish its work, reboot the phone and tell you that your phone software is updated and you are ready to go.
6.6 Close NSU window. Disconnect your phone from USB.
6.7 You should have Unbranded US_Generic Nokia firmware in your phone now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Big thanks to Chris at EQO Mobile for finding this fix.
NOTE:Please be aware that this will most certainly be against Cingular's rules and they will most likely not provide support if they figured out what you did. How they would figure that out would be unknown to me but I had to say it.
Friday, January 5, 2007
New Year = New Computer
Happy New Year!!!
Well in the spirit of change from 2006 to 2007, I decided to dedicate any Holiday money towards updating my home computer system. I knew that the Core 2 Duo's were the hot ticket this season and being an enthusiast, knew about their excellent overclocking potential. So obviously I had decided on the CPU, but what about the other components? Its been about 2 years since my delve in to the overclocking world and its been well over 5 years since my purchase of an intel based system (crazy I know).
So I spent about a week's worth of research on Toms Hardware, Hard OCP, and other hardware related sites to figure out which combo of parts will give me the best bang for the buck. I finally had decided on the following items (based upon peoples reviews and articles that used these components in overclocking the Core 2 Duos):
Intel E6300 Core 2 Duo @ 1.86Ghz
Gigabyte 965P-S3 ATX Motherboard
1GB (2x512MB) Corsair XMS Dual Channel DDR2
Wester Digital 250GB SATA2 HDD
I wavered back and forth on the video card. Toms Hardware has excellent articles on which video cards are the best for various price ranges and at the time, the one said to be the best for the ~$180 price range was the ATI X1950 Pro. Well I was looking around the net and couldn't find one card under $200. In fact they were all around $220. Too expensive unfortunately (I did have strict budget). I went back to the article and noticed that it had been updated! The new king for the price range was the nVidia 7900GS. According to the article the change was due to the inability of the author to find a 1950 Pro for the designated price :) I doubled checked around the net and the 1950 appeared to perform the same as the 7900GS so I was set.
So I gather all the components, pieced it together and installed Oblivion as soon as I could. I instantly noticed an amazing increase in performance based upon the fact that the auto config put the quality at ULTRA :) Suffice to say that the new hardware really does wonders on games!
I haven't yet tried to overclock seeing as though my current performance is much better than any of the games I currently own can throw at it. I'll have to run some benchmarks soon to let ya'll know of the baselines that I am getting. Then its off to attempt some overclocking and see what this Core 2 Duo is really made of.
Laterz
Well in the spirit of change from 2006 to 2007, I decided to dedicate any Holiday money towards updating my home computer system. I knew that the Core 2 Duo's were the hot ticket this season and being an enthusiast, knew about their excellent overclocking potential. So obviously I had decided on the CPU, but what about the other components? Its been about 2 years since my delve in to the overclocking world and its been well over 5 years since my purchase of an intel based system (crazy I know).
So I spent about a week's worth of research on Toms Hardware, Hard OCP, and other hardware related sites to figure out which combo of parts will give me the best bang for the buck. I finally had decided on the following items (based upon peoples reviews and articles that used these components in overclocking the Core 2 Duos):
Intel E6300 Core 2 Duo @ 1.86Ghz
Gigabyte 965P-S3 ATX Motherboard
1GB (2x512MB) Corsair XMS Dual Channel DDR2
Wester Digital 250GB SATA2 HDD
I wavered back and forth on the video card. Toms Hardware has excellent articles on which video cards are the best for various price ranges and at the time, the one said to be the best for the ~$180 price range was the ATI X1950 Pro. Well I was looking around the net and couldn't find one card under $200. In fact they were all around $220. Too expensive unfortunately (I did have strict budget). I went back to the article and noticed that it had been updated! The new king for the price range was the nVidia 7900GS. According to the article the change was due to the inability of the author to find a 1950 Pro for the designated price :) I doubled checked around the net and the 1950 appeared to perform the same as the 7900GS so I was set.
So I gather all the components, pieced it together and installed Oblivion as soon as I could. I instantly noticed an amazing increase in performance based upon the fact that the auto config put the quality at ULTRA :) Suffice to say that the new hardware really does wonders on games!
I haven't yet tried to overclock seeing as though my current performance is much better than any of the games I currently own can throw at it. I'll have to run some benchmarks soon to let ya'll know of the baselines that I am getting. Then its off to attempt some overclocking and see what this Core 2 Duo is really made of.
Laterz
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