It happened a couple of weeks ago.

I went to the Sprint store with my brother 2 weeks ago to upgrade his phone, since I’m leasing his iPhone. And it turns out that they were out of his preferred phone. While I was there, I addressed a matter. It was time I address some very poor judgement that I used 2 years ago. I had never used the tablet. Sure every once in a while, I took it out and used the LTE internet. But I was always so concerned about going over the limit that I kept it home. And on the home Wi-Fi. So, I was paying $20+ a month for something that I didn’t use. I’m a man of integrity, so I kept my end of the contract. And this last summer, I paid the contract off. And while we were are the Sprint store, I cancelled the service. I told the clerk that I never used it. And that was the end of it….

It is possible to pay off a cell phone contract and cancel service without drama…

This week's misadventures on the internet...

So, Thursday I was summoned to Mrs. Fields. The owner (and sometime boss, but I try to avoid it now since current day-job has me full-time). And he gave me a non-functioning tablet with marching orders to fix it. Since I had to get up at uber-early in the morning Friday and Saturday, so I told him that I would work on it today, with it being returned Monday....

So last night, I get home from work, and I pull out the tablet. Initial diagnosis was a severely depleted battery, and after a few minutes on the charger, I got into download mode and flashed a recovery. Getting into file manager, and I see why it wouldn't boot up. Somehow he managed to completely wipe the tablet, system and all. Apparently he tried to do a factory reset from recovery. Never a good thing. If you need to do a factory reset in Andriod, there is way to do it. If you do it in recovery, you're more likely to completely wipe everything. I should know. I do that everytime I flash a new ROM to my phone. So needless to say, I found the stock firmware for it, and flashed the tablet back to factory condition. And an overnight sit on my charger, and we're good to go.

And then the Anniversary Update hit. It actually hit on Tuesday. Last night after fixing the tablet, I finally downloaded it. So far, I'm impressed. I am trying to use Windows 10 as my daily driver (there has been a recent sidetrack with the virus I got a month or so ago). But this is why I always have an up to date backup....

And to add to the indignity again...

The memory card in my tablet just kicked the bucket as well. Oh well. It was only a 32 gB one. And I have a 64 gB in my phone. I'll eventually replace it, but it's not a high priority matter.

But it does suck....

Edit: Went ahead and ordered another one from Spamazon. The price had gone down since I got my last one.

So, if you're wondering....

Apparently Windows Live Writer will no longer work with Blogger. Some of the rumors I've heard point to a possible open-source release (taken with a grain of salt, however. This is the internet, and it's also the same place that would have you believing that Elvis is alive and Belgium really exists)... I don't know what happened. Apparently Google changed/disco'ed some API that Windows Live Writer was using. Really disappointing, too, as that was what I was using. Tried the Scribefire extension for Firefox, and that waas a no-go. So for now, this blog is going to be written in the browser window. Or on my phone/tablet (I still have them, and they do still work).

Btw, yes I have been tinkering with the themes...

About the new phone

Ok, I got it last week. I think I said something about it. I also got a 64 gB memory card for it. So my phone now hame twice the capacity of my tablet (phone has 32 gB on it, plus the aforementioned 64 gB card, while the tablet has 16 gB and a 32 gB memory card). It figures, since I use the phone more than the tablet (not that I’m knocking the tablet. It has served me well, and will continue to.

Anyway enough about that. I got the phone. It has a quad-core 2.5 gHz processor (which is what I was running on my previous phone when I over-clocked it). My previous phone (HTC One M7) never had any issues with lag even when not overclocking it, so that’s not an issue. The main issue with my previous phone was space. 32 gB is normally plenty of space for one’s phone, but when you put the entire system on it, plus your apps, and then your music library, you can run out really quick. But with the memory card, I can go to town at Google Play, and still have space for my entire music library, and be able to download a movie or two).… I should point out, that my phone has more storage than my first computer, even after my first two hard drive upgrades….

As for software, as soon an I got it, I had it unlocked, rooted, and s-off’ed (all of which were pretty straightforward affairs, unlike when I s-off’ed my EVO 3D). It was a little bit more expensive than previous times, as I had to use Sunshine since there was no other way. And there are certain things that are just too darn hard to flash with just only unlocked phone. I immediately flashed Lollipop to it (I prefer to use the Venom ROMs, which is also what I usually ran on my previous phone). But after a few days, I went back to KitKat, just because that was what I was used to. I may go back to Lollipop in the future, but I’ll go with what I’m familiar with for now (the ROM developers are on XDA, and I have donated to them. Twice.

So far, I’m happy with the new phone. It does have an all-metal unibody construction, though I never notice it, as I keep it in an Otter Box. It is always better to smash the $30.00 case than the $700.00+ phone….

Why does this keep getting longer?

There was once a time when I could sit down to my computer, partition, format and reinstall a dual-boot system (WinME and WinXP) in two days straight. And this was nuking both drives, so I had to restore everything from CD. Then as my system kept getting more complex, eventually I stopped dual-booting windows, and still my times to from initial wipe to finishing the rebuild kept getting longer and longer. Days became weeks. My back-ups became bigger, but with a second hard drive (that was no longer being repartitioned and formatted every time) and my DVD burner, backing up was never a problem for me.

I started this rebuild on December 11. I now just finished it tonight, over two months later. I guess it’s because once I get my web browser reinstalled, I immediately start ‘using’ my computer again, and ‘moving in’ slows down considerably. I also guess that it doesn’t help that I now have a phone and a tablet. Both are Android and rooted (in fact the phone is S-Off). Come to think of it, I think I know why it took me over two months to reinstall everything on my tower. During this time that I was supposed to be working on my tower, I was busy wiping my phone, going from Jellybean and Sense 5.0 to KitKat with Sense 5.5, and KitKat with 6.0. Right now I’ve found the most stable configuration is KitKat with Sense 6. Of course that’s all out the window, now that Lollipop is now out for my phone.

I should also add that I don’t think I’m going to be dual-booting this tower. There is only space for one internal hard-drive in this tower, and there aren’t drivers in Linux for my internal components yet (as learned from a live-cd test). Maybe in virtual machines down the road.

It took me over two months to do it. But it is done…

Hello World, for the umpteenth time….

It all happened Thursday the week before last. I was sitting at the computer, and it froze. It had never done it before, but the standard solution is to turn the computer off and turn it back on. Which I did. And when I rebooted it, all I got was a beeping tone. A quick Google search on my tablet revealed that my motherboard had most likely gone to The Beer Volcano & Stripper Factory. I had previously noticed that my mom used to use a tower with a similar chipset as to mine. So I made her an offer for it. She agreed, and I took it home. I spent over two hours moving hardware over to the new computer (same chipset, same processor socket), and I then started to restore the OS. At first, things were going great. Then I had to readjust something in the tower. After which I got nothing. No video. Pulled my video card, and still got graphics off the onboard chipset. My mother’s computer would be a no-go and I would be sending it back to her (along with an upgrade from an Intel Celeron to an Intel Core 2 Quad Core and a wi-fi card upgrade).

Back to square one. I went to Worst Buy and asked for an increase of my credit card. And the idiots approved me. So I went and ordered a new computer. And it arrived last Thursday. I got an HP 500-214. Among the specs:

• AMD A8 6500 quad-core processor, up to 3.5 GHz.
• 8 GB of ram, upto 32 GB is supported. Previous tower only supported 4GB, and I ran a 1 GB video card, so I only used 3 GB.
• It had Radeon HD 8650 graphics already integrated with multimonitor support. I went ahead and put my Radeon HD 7750 card in, because it has a HDMI port, and I do see using my HDTV as a display in the future.
• Integrated Wi-Fi and LAN. While I do have expansion cards for both LAN and Wi-Fi, they are all PCI cards, and the computer doesn’t have any PCI slots.
• USB 3.0. My external hard drive is USB 3.0, and I like being able to transfer files in few minutes, as compared to upwards of an hour. And I should also add that I wasn’t really panicking when my original tower died because I had a recent external back-up.
• There’s also a multi-card reader,but it doesn’t support MicroSD, so I’ll use my USB reader.

And there are a few caveats with this new computer:

• Lack of expansion bays. There were only 2 drive bays in the tower, and they were both occupied. I still have a couple of SATA ports to work with, so I may visit this problem later. Or I may just rotate my 3 1TB hard drives though my existing USB external drive.
• Wimpy power supply. Only 300W. This may become an issue with the next video card upgrade.
• Secured BIOS. It took me an hour+ to figure out how to even access it. Here’s a hint: use the wired USB keyboard to try to access it, as your wireless keyboard won’t work until the OS loads…
• Windows 8.1. Windows Vista was WinME, Service Pack 1. Windows 8 was/is WinME, Service Pack 2. It’s crap. And it was preloaded. But HP does publish Windows 7 drivers for all the internals, so it is possible to downgrade to Windows 7, which is what I did. I did make a system restore set before I wiped the drive, though.

I don’t think I’m going to be tinkering much with Linux on this box, as I’m not really sure what the driver situation is going to be. But with a 2 TB hard drive, I may be dabbling with virtual machines instead. I spent most of the day today installing software and patches (I had nothing else to do today since I had to take a sick day today).

When it comes to the customer experience scores, I’m getting the exact same scores that I got with my previous tower. But this was also with over $400 worth of upgrades to the previous tower. And the only ‘extra’s’ I’ve put into this one are the TV tuner and the video card (which is an apparent downgrade…).

So, Hello World. This is my new computer.

I still got the skills…

I just finished rebuilding/reinstalling my system last night. I started this in July. Once upon a time, I would’ve been able to do this start to finish in 2 1/2 days. And that was a dual boot system with WinME and WinXP. Add an extra day, and I could get Linux working on it as well… Now it’s almost 2 months for one OS. Maybe it’s because I can do so much of what used to do online on my phone and my tablet. The only reason why I even run Windows on my tower is because of Flight Simulator. The only drawback is when I rebuild my Windows system is I also have to wipe the Linux side of my tower as well.

So, the next question, is OpenSuSE, Fedora, or Debian?

Coffee or computer?

Due to the nature of my work schedule, on occasion I have to be up überearly in the morning. And there are times when I'm too tired to even get to the kitchen & the coffee maker located therein. So last year I bought a new coffee maker. And I put it where I needed it the most: in my room. It was originally placed on my TV cabinet, and it shared the same power outlet. When I got my current TV it had to be moved. The only available real estate in my room is on my computer desk, sharing the same outlet as my computer. Ave knowing how much juice each one pulls,  this choice is presented to me: coffee or computer? This morning I actually realized that I was turning my computer off for a cup of coffee. I guess this is why I have my tablet. So I can blog about my decision of coffee over the computer....

Once upon a time, I had sworn off coffee (most likely an over-reaction to an unfortunate indecent at work, when I ended up tossing my morning coffee and the salami sandwich I had the night before) and drink. I'm giving coffee a try again. But I'm still dry....

What am I getting into?

Since I got my Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 (LTE) on Sunday, my old Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 Wi-Fi has been on the market. Actually I only decided to sell it today. Posted it to my Facebook, and I immediately got two offers (the greatest was 2 dollars, two jalapenos, and a loaf of banana-zuchinni bread from last year. But my sister and I came to a deal. And my old tablet has been sold.

That was pretty simple. What is now complicating things is that I was approached by another friend about buying a laptop. He told me the specs about it, and there was some negotiating. And in the end, I made an offer. Which was accepted. I told him I won’t have the money right away, but if he couldn’t sell it elsewhere, I’d buy it.

But I have to pay off my new TV first….

Yet another decision I'll soon regret...

So I upgraded my tablet yesterday. The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 had served faithfully since I got it from Wally World. But I felt it was time to upgrade. And Sprint had a special. A Galaxy Tab 3 with 4g data. For free. With a contract of course...

So of course I bit it and got one. I only have 1gB off data a month for it, but that's more than enough for what I plan to use it for. If I'm going to Netflix on the bus, or stream the game I'll do that on my phone (unlimited data). But for the occasions where I want to blog or Facebook on a bigger screen, this will do fine.

Underneath the hood, my new tablet has a faster processor, twice the space as my old tablet. And of course internet access.

And yes, I've rooted it already....

The end is near for Windows XP...

Truth in advertising: I'm writing this post about mainly my computer, but I'm writing it from my tablet....

In less than three months, The Anti-Christ will discontinue support for Windows XP. Which means if you're using xp, upgrade now. What Microsoft wants you to do is go out and buy a new computer and/or a new version of the latest incarnation of Windows. But the problem is that when it comes quality, Windows trends to skip generations. Windows 98 was good. Windows ME was Crap (that's probably why I became so computer literate. My very first computer had ME on it). XP was good. Really good (I upgraded as soon as it came out). Windows Vista was called Windows ME, Service Pack 1. Windows 7 was really good (came with my laptops). And Windows 8 is essentially Windows ME, Service Pack 2. Basically they tried to put the touchscreen experience on equipment that doesn't have touchscreens. Abd I'm not to thrilled with the ui experience. If you're absolutely forced to upgrade, look for Windows 7.

As for me, tonight, I'm doing one last system wipe. I'm sticking with XP to the bitter end. I think my next Windows upgrade is going to be when I buy my next computer. But I have my reasons for sticking with XP. All of my hardware is compatible with it abd I have drivers. But the real reason are my games. Some of them are really old, and XP is the most advanced os they'll run under. I don't think security will be an issue, as my Tower sits behind a NAT firewall, and Google Chrome will still support XP for while. Besides with two 1 tB hard drives, there's plenty of space for my new primary os: Linux. It's free, and unlike Windows 8, kde stills has the start menu...

So I’ve made some purchases the past few weeks…

It started with my tablet (read about it here). I was originally on the Wally World website to get socks and boxers, and I just had to get it (an a 32 gb memory card, the real reason why I updated my tablet being I was running out of the 8gb memory). So I told my co-workers I spent $300.00 on socks and boxers. Anyway I was at Spamazon, and I realized that my tower was a socket 775 motherboard (I learned this a couple of years ago right when I bought my first laptop, and I knew how to change the processor (if you can take the processor out to clean off excess thermal paste, then you can probably replace it). So I searched, and I found a used Intel Core 2 Quad-Core to replace my Pentium 4. And I upgraded the video card, too (still the budget end, but it’s a definite improvement over what I was running).

WIth the upgraded tower and my new tablet, I’m thinking about selling my laptop. It still runs well, but I feel it’s now redundant. I can’t take it to work, as it’s a 17.3” display, and I just don’t have enough space in my locker. I’ve had a couple of people express interest, but if this goes like all my other attempts to sell my electronics, I’m probably just going to end up giving it away.

Technorati Tags: Spamazon,Wally World

A new toy (or hello world)

I had a Kindle Fire. My brother gave it to me. It has served me faithfully, but from the point of view of a tablet, it sucks. It does kindle ebooks pretty well, and you can Netflix on it, too. But beyond that, you're going to have issues.  So I was was at the Wally World website last week too buy socks and underwear, said I ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy Tab II 7.0. What can I say? It has Jellybean (the Kindle has Gingerbread), 2 cameras, GPS, and a slot for a memory card. And it has the Google Play store on it (I had to root the kindle to get that installed), as well as the Amazon appstore & kindle app (and I didn't need to root it to get them installed either).

Rooting it was very difficult, but I got it rooted somehow. I'm right now not interested in running a custom rom on this device (which is good, as I could never get a recovery installed). Unlike all the other android devices I used, the /data directory is sized dynamically, so I can use the full 4 gB to install my apps without having to use a 2nd partition on my memory card (which I do for my phone). The email client is the same as my phone (in fact I like the email on the tablet better than the phone because of the bigger screen size...). Netflix is a piece of cake (I was watching little bit of Star Trek last night).

App-wise, it runs more apps than the kindle fire. If I have any regrets about the galaxy, it's that the paid apps that I bought for my kindle aren't compatible with this. But then again, I've more apps available from both Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, so there's a lot more versatility.

All in all, I heartily endorse this product. Please go out and buy this. And unlike the iPad mini, you can still keep your man card while using this...

Edit: good tech doesn't need to go waste. My kindle fire will find a new home with my father ...