iPhone again, iPad wtf?

As I mentioned last entry a while ago, I got an iPhone. I was really sick of my Blackberry not being able to play music, which I was under the impression that it could. Everytime I'd go to change a song it would freeze or skip, or just crash in general. I got fed up and just went and got an iPhone on Telus. I was with Virgin before and decided that I would cancel my plan (I was paying too much anyway) and switch to Telus. So now I am paying $15 less a month for basically the same thing. I've got the favourite five plan. I had ten contacts before, so I have less free contacts, but it's made up for by included picture and video messaging. I didn't even use all ten contacts anyway, not enough people call me. I have unlimited texting anyways.

But I have to say the phone is wonderful. It can do everything and has become a super awesome entertainment device for me. It's great because it's an iPod and a cell phone in one, plus other things. The idea of getting the iPhone was because using a phone for voice calls for me is basically a secondary function. The primary functions are texting and data, so it works out great.

The only thing I wish I knew before I activated my iPhone and set it up was that installing the firmware upgrade was going to prevent me from jailbreaking it. I would have kept the old firmware that came on the phone so I could have jailbroken it. I now have 1.1.3, and only firmwares up to 1.1.2 can be jailbroken; as in they haven't figured out how to jailbreak this OS yet. I've read in places that people are saying it's "impossible", but nothing is impossible. I want to jailbreak it to be able to customize the icons on the home screen (which Apple doesn't let you do, you have to keep their apps on there even if you don't use them). I personally will never use the Stocks app, so I would like it gone to give me more space. Also, I use a different weather app than what comes with the phone. It's also taking up space. Not to mention the fact that jailbreaking allows you to install free apps that perform many of the same functions of the ones you have to pay for on iTunes. Obviously Apple doesn't want this because they think they will lose money from people who are installing these free versions of apps (I say "think" because likely these people won't pay for them anyway, whether or not they get free ones or not).

Despite all that, I am loving my iPhone. Although I really hate the hold Apple has on their market, I am still willing to use my iPhone proudly since they haven't done anything too atrocious yet. Hopefully Apple doesn't go that route, and if they do, I hope something as widespread and comparable to the iPhone comes out.

On that note, here is an article: the new version of iTunes what isn't mentioned in this article is that every update of iTunes does something to block jailbreaking further. Needless to say I will NOT be updating iTunes.

That brings me to my next point of wonder: what the fuck is the point of the iPad? Basically to me it's a giant iPod touch. Won't people look a little retarded walking around using that as their music player? It's not like it can be used as a phone or anything useful other than playing music and maybe some apps you can use over wifi. Not to mention that it's huge, but that goes without saying. Basically you have to lug around a laptop sized device without laptop capability.

There are other issues with the iPad, such as the actual software components themselves. Even though I would never buy one of these anyway, and hopefully no intelligent person would (they cost around $500 for something you could buy for $300 that does the same thing, which is an iPod touch), people have issue over what kind of hold Apple is seizing over the usage of their products. See this petition for an example. I really hope despite all of this digital restriction that the hackers figure out how to do what they want soon. Oh well, I know I won't ever be buying an iPad.

I've always been a fan of Apple's products, both genuinely and because they are the main opposition to Microshaft. I really hope they don't do anything to change that really soon. As easy as it is to hate money grabbing corporate pigs, I don't like doing it (although some might beg to differ) because it severely limits my options. But at the same time I am not going to knowingly give my money to companies that fuck their customers over and use any means to get people's money. I have a huge problem with companies who do that. As soon as the customer becomes less than first place in the hierarchy of priorities, that's when companies need to either change or quit.

iPhone

I broke down and got an iPhone. I am such a nerd. I have had the itch to get one for a while now and got pissed off that my Blackberry was fucking up when listening to music. I am now a Telus customer. More later.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

my non-digital hobby

Everyone in this world likely has more than one hobby. Some are related to each other, some are not. Along with computers, the internet, and technology in general, I have a more "classic" type of collection, a collection of something that is, in contrast to technology, very old. I like to collect playing cards. I have no idea why or how this hobby got started, but I have liked playing cards for a long time. Something about the fact that they have so much history behind them and have persevered through centuries, and still can be customized to modern times while maintaining their integrity. That's really the only analysis I can give. I also noticed that there were many varieties of playing cards, and I wished to own as many of them as possible. I found a local magic shop not too long ago, and in the magic world it seems this hobby is really quite common (the shop owner showed me some parts of his personal collection, including a deck that goes for around $300). So, to many people's surprise, I am not a magician. Nor am I excessively enthusiastic about card games, although I do enjoy them but don't play very often (mostly because of a lack of people who wish to play with me). My next step, other than spending money on more cards, is to find something nice and presentable to store my playing card collection in. Right now they're just sitting on the dresser which is rather unsightly and impractical. And it will be especially important now since I have more cards on the way. Much to my delight I found a magic website with an excellent selection. I also found out that I had some extra PayPal money sitting in my account... it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the inevitable result :)

random update while procrastinating

As the title says, I should be doing other things. I should have been doing other things for the past four hours, but my brain is set on playing computers. I installed Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my netbook (the netbook which I wrote about in a past entry). Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a version of Ubuntu that is optimized for netbooks, and has the priority of battery life and low CPU usage (since netbooks are typically not as powerful as regular computers). If you have a lovely netbook, you can go here and download UNR if you're curious. The best part is that it auto partitions. I wrote about my struggles with partitioning a while back when I first installed Ubuntu on a machine, so this is a nice breath of fresh air. There is also a Windows installer, but I tried it and it gave me some error that it couldn't obtain the ISO file. If you do decide to try Ubuntu, it's really easy to install, but despite that, if there are any problems (and this goes for anything post-installation as well) go to the Ubuntu Forums and make a post with your question. They are very good at answering questions, and can dumb it down if you're like me and are not a turbo computer user.

I am pleased with the progress of Ubuntu. I used it before, but stopped using it due to hardware problems (as in it wouldn't recognize my wireless device). This problem has been fixed, and the only problem I have is that the sound doesn't work on my desktop, but it sounds to be an easy fix. I am too lazy to do it now, but we will see in the future.

I really hope that someday Ubuntu, or Linux in general, kicks some Microshaft ass. The monopoly and money grabbing has to stop. Microshaft likes to rip people off every chance they get. Having to pay hundreds of dollars for an operating system that is inferior is retarded. Also for an office suite...although I use OpenOffice anyway, which can be downloaded for free here. OpenOffice is made by the people who made Java, and it's a totally free version of Microcrap Office. It is compatible with Office files, although there are occasional instances where things display strange, and it's more like pre-Office 2007 (which is better, in my opinion, since Office 2007 is something people should be wiping their asses with). The only reason I do/would willingly use a Microshit product is that there is no other acceptable alternative, I get it for free/can steal it, or other products are not compatible with Microshaft's products. The reason my stuff needs to be compatible is because I am in university and need to hand in digital documents. If they don't open on the teacher's computer, I am basically fucked. Most software is really good at compatibility (open source programmers are awesome for making things that are free and useful), but occasionally something doesn't work.

The main thing that is keeping Linux based operating systems from taking off is the fact that they take a lot to configure. I am not a power user and I still needed to take about two hours to configure my netbook to be usable to me. That is also a generous amount of time since I know what I am doing. Most average computer users don't know anything about the concept of a package manager, and the average computer user makes up the majority of the computer market (hence the term average). Ubuntu is slowly getting close enough to becoming an OS that is usable for the average person, but it still has a long way to go. I am in no way saying we should take away the customizability of Ubuntu, since that is part of what makes Linux great, but it should have more things that work out of the box (like hardware, basic plugins, etc.). That also doesn't mean that power users have to use Ubuntu, since other Linux distros might be more suited for heavy computer users who know a great deal about Linux and computers in general. Another reason why Linux isn't taking off, which I don't know about for sure but I am guessing, is that Microshaft doesn't want people knowing about it and what it can do, so they do things to prevent competition (why else would Microshaft have a near monopoly on the operating system market?). Some might think I am paranoid for thinking that, but I've been quite surprised by some of the things I've heard of large corporations doing.

Anyway, the world of Ubuntu will unfold before me (as I am typing this on my old desktop with Ubuntu on it), and I am enjoying almost every minute of it. If you have some kind of interest in computers, and computational diversity, try it, it's ridiculously easy to install. You don't even have to install over Windoze if you don't want to (I have a partition on my HDD just in case I absolutely need something from Microshaft). It is very rewarding for me so far :)

Live Messenger scam, beware!

Please pay attention to the people who might be adding you to MSN Messenger. I recently got two friend invites, one from the email address ZulaMatise7427@hotmail.com, and the other FredricBringhamxr6588@hotmail.com (please feel free to spam those email addresses as much as you like). I opened up a window to ask who the hell they were, at the same time, and got the same responses from them in the exact same order, all of them trying to hint for me to click a link to "watch them on cam". If you get this, please do not click on the link!! I haven't done it but I can almost guarantee it will lead to spyware, viruses, adware, malware, or all of the above. What's better is that the "girl" says that they need your credit card information for "age verification". The reason why I am posting this is, unfortunately, some people are probably stupid enough to click the link and do what the "girl" tells them. It will likely be some disgusting perverted guy who thinks he is finally getting lucky...but anyway, the other reason why I posted it is because it is extremely likely these are not the only email addresses used by the piece of shit who's idea it was to spam people on MSN. Even more likely since I just blocked and reported the above email addresses, so likely the thieving piece of shit will make other accounts. I just find it quite sad that it will likely work with some retarded, horny victim....

This is all just evidence of what this world is coming to. People are getting more and more creative with ways to scam other people. The more outlets for communication and monetary transaction there are, the more ways people can get fucked by other people. What's even worse is that in a lot of cases the law can't protect you, either because the scam activities cannot be traced back to anyone, or the simple fact that the offenses took place on a website hosted in another country. The law does not transcend international boundaries, and unfortunately the citizens of some countries think it is acceptable to scam people outside their legal jurisdiction, therefore proving just how slimy they are. But no one is off the hook, I very much think people who fall for things like the bot thing truly deserve it. Really, how stupid do you have to be? One of the biggest reasons people keep scamming, I imagine, is because it works! Especially when it comes to people being led by their genitalia and not their brains, or people who are retarded enough to actually believe they are personally being contacted by a Nigerian prince to store his billions of dollars of savings in exchange for a hefty sum of his cash. Does Nigeria even have princes? I will have to look that one up.... (EDIT: I believe I am right in saying they don't, although other African countries might)

My point in this is that I think people should be given IQ tests in order to be able to use the internet. Knowing all of the damage that things like computer viruses, and the cost of the consequences of online scams, I think it would do a great service to the world if people using the internet were more focused on integrity, rather than just crackz and cumshots. I personally enjoy a nice, clean internet that I can travel around without needing to hold a hunting knife in my pocket while doing so. People need to be smarter when using the internet, and not fall for all of these scams, pyramid schemes, chain letters (it's basically the same principle as scams), and the spreading of false information (which is dangerous). If it looks, feels, or seems too good to be true it is! If it is from a "legitimate" company (companies can be just as big of scammers as anyone), you are likely not reading things in their entirety, and the company will find a loophole with which to rip you off. I could definitely go on about this topic for pages and pages, but I will keep a lid on it.

it's been a long time; my virus

So it's been a while since I've updated this thing. I guess I just haven't been very talkative lately. I have been quite busy with school since September, so that might account for some of the lack of posting. I have also moved since then, and that made things a bit chaotic.

I have been having some problems with this laptop lately. I tried installing Windows 7 a few months ago, and I noticed that it slowed the internet on my laptop down to a crawl (I was getting maybe 1.5mb/s download). It definitely had something to do with my laptop in particular, and I am sure it was the wireless (since it was saying something about not having a correct driver). I said 'fuck that shit' and uninstalled Windows 7 and reinstalled Vista (which was a severely annoying process, of course). The problem went away for a bit, and then I installed some updates for Vista, and it happened again. Most of the updates were insignificant (like Windows Defender updates), but there was one that was a Platform Update (the KB number ended in 44) that was the likely cause since it was the only thing that had more than just minor updates (and I believe I read something in the description about it having to do with the wireless). At this point I had Vista Home Basic back on my computer, and I had access to a free copy of Vista Business through the university (which is how I got Windows 7), so I decided I would install that. I installed it and everything was okay for a while. After a bit, the internet slowness started again. I have been looking into it ever since. Lately, according to other customers, my ISP has been experiencing some problems with lag and stuff, but that doesn't completely account for it (other computers in the household are not experiencing the same problems this computer is). Combining whatever the problem is with the problems the ISP are having leads to me being very, very pissed off. I have been told everything from "optimize your internet" to "powercycle your modem and router", but neither has worked.

Now I will bring up the virus/malware my computer seems to be infected with, which may or may not be connected to the internet problems (I would like it if it was since that would mean I know the cause of the problems). I noticed that recently, whenever I do a Google search and click on a link in the results, it will redirect me to some advertising page. It is really annoying because it happens 2 out of 3 times I search. I have done virus scans, spyware scans, a rootkit scan, etc. but nothing has come up so far. I've also cleared my Windows and browser cache, my cookies, my recycle, etc. I currently have a thread going on in the Tech Support Forums here, in case someone who is reading this is having the same problem. I really hope it does something to improve the problem with my internet. But it seems to me like my investment in Norton has been pretty useless, since it hasn't even picked up on whatever is wrong with my computer. I keep reading that one of the main culprits for viruses is uTorrent and BitTorrent. I would really, really hate to have to give up downloading torrents. But I doubt I would give it up. I just need to stop downloading pirated software.

On a pretty random note, I have decided to install Ubuntu on my desktop again. I installed Win XP Professional on my desktop (I had dual boot Ubuntu and Win XP Home) because it was also free from the university, and I had to reformat really badly, and it installed over Ubuntu for some reason. It's going to suck having to configure it all again, but hopefully they have improved it since I used it last. I am most worried about the wireless support, since I could not get it to work last time, and I don't have the option of using a wired connection with where the computer is located. So, hopefully that goes okay.

Well, I am bored. Slightly hungry as well. I also must check on my Ubuntu download. I have been hanging around on the DSL Reports forum lately for some reason. It is a good place for DSL broadband internet questions, concerns, reviews and other stuff. It is the unofficial support forum for my ISP and they're really quite helpful. It's Canadian and American, so I highly recommend it if you're having problems with your internet. They do non-ISP caused problems as well.

Lockerz.com invites

I just found this site, Lockerz.com and when I first saw it, I thought it was too good to be true. But it's not, even if only for the fact that in order to get points, you only have to invest time, not money. I have heard of sites that give you points for signing up for "offers" that you have to pay for. This is similar with the whole points thing, except you don't have to pay for anything, and you get points for logging in, referring people, answering the daily question, and from the looks of it, more features are coming soon.
My goal is to save up for a big screen Samsung TV. It's 3000 points, and I have 64 already, which is why I am so eager to get points. It's not one of those sites where you can spend a fucking century trying to earn enough points for anything good. The numbers are actually obtainable! I know the prices are going to go up, which is why I am trying to blitz people into being referred by me. So, here is where readers come in. Please sign up for me! It doesn't matter if you even ever go back to the site ever again, I still get points from the referral. So please, visit HERE and gimme your email address so I can send you an invite! :)