Category: Computer/ Tech Related

RIM Just Bitched out Apple

July 18, 2010

Computer/ Tech Related

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In Apple’s press conference about their piece of shit iPhone 4 antenna, they pretty much denied that there was an issue, yet offered a solution anyway (free case anyone?). Feeling gulity much? Apple also ripped on RIM, Nokia and HTC that all these smartphones have antenna problems. That is bullshit. They’re just trying to make themselves look bad.

As much as I hate Blackberries and think Droids are better, I hate Apple more. So I applaud RIM’s statement, which pretty much says in a nice way: “Hey Apple, you fucked up. Don’t drag us into this and tell people all phones with internal antennas have this issue – our antennas are fine”

The statement:

Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.

Shut Up About the iPhone 4’s Antenna Issues Already

July 15, 2010

Computer/ Tech Related, Rants

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ATTENTION TV, NEWS and INTERNET: STOP COVERING THIS STORY ALREADY

If you haven’t heard that this phone is a fuckin shitpile by now, you are either Hellen Keller, dead or living here. There have been 300 articles per minute on my newsreader since June 24th about how the antenna is shitty. We get the point.

Now Steve Jobs felt the need to call an emergency press conference today at 10AM PST with less than a day notice so he can address these issues. Anything other than “I fucked up” or “We are not as amazing as everyone thinks because we have obsessed, blind followers” is a downright lie.

Here’s my problem with Apple. No matter how good or bad they are, people are obsessed. And any time there is news, it’s all the rage.

Ok people? Got it? It has an antenna problem, Jobs was warned, and he was a dick with PR about it. What more is there to analyze? So with that, no one cover this any more, I’m tired of reading it.

The Best Phone Advice I’ve Seen In A While

July 15, 2010

Computer/ Tech Related

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Courtesy of the guys over at Engadget (referencing the Consumer Reports article on how duct tape fixes the iPhone 4 antenna problem):

Don’t buy anything that needs duct tape to work properly. DO NOT BUY an iPhone 4 until this problem is fixed. And then still don’t buy one because AT&T is awful. Buy an Android instead.

Android App Of The Week: City Caller ID

July 15, 2010

Computer/ Tech Related

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Yes, I know it’s Thursday and I should be doing this Wednesdays. I wrote this at work so I couldn’t get a screenshot off my phone, then I came home and fell asleep. Anyway…

Today’s Android app of the week: City Caller ID. An oldie, but goodie. It’s relatively simple. City Caller ID places the city and state on your incoming call screen sothat you can recognize where a call is originating from.

Not only does it look up area codes, it also looks up the next three digits to narrow it down to a town. This may not be accurate for cell phones, but you get the general idea.

So what stinks about this app? The database isn’t stored on the SD card, so it uses about 3MB even though the app is 100kb or so. I contacted the developer and he said he was going to try to implement it, but got shut down. Still worth the download and install.

This is no longer available on the Android Market because some moron with a software patent threatened legal action against the developer. But I’m awesome and have the APK file for you, so grab it here. (You’ll have to put that on your SD card, go to settings–>applications and check unknown sources, then browse to the file using something like AndroZip or APK Installer and install. Little tricky for the newbies, leave me a comment if you’re confused.

Random Tech Rant You Won’t Care About

July 14, 2010

Computer/ Tech Related

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Windows 7 is absolutely amazing. I have a spare harddrive with it installed that I swap out on occasion to test it out, but my computer is too shitty to run it full time. Since XP does what I need for now, I’ll keep it until I junk this laptop (soon?).

So little by little, I’m testing software to see if it works and learning the new OS, because I’m still way back in 2002 and haven’t left XP yet.

Administrative shares are disabled by default, but I got those working with a registry hack. Yay

Here’s the shit part: What the FUCK did you do to the firewall? It’s so fucking confusing, and I know everything about computers. Okay, it’s simple to add programs as exceptions, but when you view it in advanced mode, it looks like a confusing pile of crap.

Second complaint, I couldn’t get my SSH server up and running or past the firewall. Well sort of. It only worked on port 22, which is exactly the port I do NOT want to run it on. When I changed the port in the config file, it refused connections from my other computer. Secondly, it only worked with the firewall off. Sorry. I tried adding port exceptions (inbound & outbound), program exceptions, etc to no avail. Suppose I get it working eventually. I don’t want my firewall off. There’s no way in hell I’m running an SSH server with password authentication and no firewall for anyone to scan and hack me on So now if I switch to Windows 7, I’ll have to have an XP box set up just to run my fucking SSH server, since it’s temperamental on Windows 7. Thanks. Fix it.

So if anyone actually understands any of this, I’ll give you a cookie (maybe). Oh and fuck the National League for winning the All Star Game. Christ, Phil Hughes. Way to put the Yankees to shame. Now I can’t get home field advantage.