Freezerpants.com

A brief dissertation on the nature of iPhones

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:33:00 +0000

Alternately: What I learned about iPhones while on Vacation

A few months back, I let temptation take hold. I broke down and bought an iPhone 3G from one of the, err, less than reputable places here in the UAE.

These places will, of course, happily charge you a ludicrous mark up for the device, which I simply was not prepared to pay considering I was going to Italy soon enough (more on that later).

It's not secret that I am a recovering cellular fetishist. At any given point in time I had a couple handsets on my person, with several more waiting at home. Always either super high-end or too unique to be useful to anyone but the insane.

Then I got my original iPhone. I was in love. I stopped looking at other phones. It honestly did everything I wanted it to do, and it did it well. Sure I Jailbroke it and installed grey-area applications. But I was happy, it was the one true phone for me.

Surveying the landscape of my bedroom, I decided to box all the other heathen phones up and sell them off.

It was here that I returned when I decided to buy my iPhone 3G.

As luck would have it, the guy was more than happy to buy my old iPhone (without the box or cables..I have them, they were just at home), dented corners, scratched lens and all, for a very, very good price.

I did the math, and deducting what he offered me for my old iPhone, the new iPhone was less than I would pay in Italy. But I wanted to be sure I was getting what I thought I was getting.

I asked outright about it's origin. Hong Kong? Italy? Belgium? Australia? Where did this come from?
His reply? "Yes".

So I tried a different tact: "Has this been hacked, or is this an officially unlocked phone?"
"Oh, it's officially unlocked, no problem."

I looked over the box. It certainly seemed genuine. But to be sure, I had him pop my SIM card in before I paid. It came right up on Etisalat. Satisfied, I paid and left.

That evening, closely examining the box, I noticed something odd: A copyright notice for the AT&T logo. I pulled a pasted sticker off the phone, and lo and behold, an AT&T graphic.

Over the next few days, I noticed erratic behavior. Calls dropped, terrible call quality, and most disturbing, you couldn't update the firmware while the SIM was in the phone. I started googling.

I didn't turn up anything solid, just reports from various countries that back-alley shops were popping open the cases and soldering SIM hack chips in. Apparently there are a number of different types, each of questionable quality, that all relied heavily on an IMEI exploit.

I began to closely examine my phone. Sure enough, there were rough-ish edges. As though someone opened the case. I continued to use the phone, and after updating to the latest firmware it seemed to do very well.

So well in fact, that I didn't really give it another thought. Until I got to Italy. Despite my best efforts, it simply would not connect to a Wireless carrier there.

Knowing full well that that very same SIM worked in Rome last year, I was dumb-founded. Etisalat is known for being a little...wonky, so I chalked it up to a new issue with their service and went on my merry way.

While out and about one evening, I decided to pop into a Wind shop and buy a couple of iPhone 3Gs. The kind that are actually OEM unlocked. The kind I wanted to buy originally.

Because of a very, very severe language barrier, I wasn't positive that these phones were what I needed. The shop keeper agreed to let me take them home and try to use my SIM, if they didn't work, he would refund my money. Got it back to the hotel, and presto! Right on the network. With my Etisalat SIM.

It was then that I noticed something interesting. The carrier unlocked version of the phone will actually allow you to select your carrier from the Settings menu. The UAE "hacked" iPhone definitely did not allow this at all, no matter what I tried. Problem found.

Long story short, I ended up commandeering one of the Italian iPhones for myself, and already I am much happier. The case feels seamless, supporting my belief that the UAE one was opened. And in general, it just seems to work "better".

I've not decided what I am going to do with the UAE hacked iPhone. I don't feel I could sell it off in good conscience, knowing it's an inferior quality version. Then again, I also know that it seemed to work OK with the latest firmware. Perhaps I will take it back to the shop and sell it back, just taking my losses.

As for the other Italian iPhone 3G? Well, I think my boss is buying it as a gift for someone. Maybe. I almost wish I grabbed more, just because the local market is flooded with these crap iPhones, but I was genuinely worried about customs.

TLDR Version:
If you buy an iPhone 3G, and you want (even someday) to use it on another network, buy an OEM unlocked version. Yes, they are more expensive, but in the long run it's worth it.

And don't buy a chipped version.

I wish I were Freelance Police

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 19:10:00 +0000

I'm a TV junky. I admit it. Back in the "Real World"*, I watched only a select few programs. Here, however, is a very, very, different story.

The problem is it's impossible to watch anything remotely close to "new" on the Satellite here, so I am reduced to downloading episodes. When you watch TV as it airs (or even with a Tivo) there is a forced wait between episodes.

Downloading on the other hand, well this is outright dangerous. You see, you can pick a show that's been running for seven years (Scrubs), download all the episodes and watch them non-stop.

Here is the catch: There are only so many "good" shows on. Then you turn to crap. Soon you're watching more than a dozen different shows, many of questionable quality, and you discover that you spend all your free time downloading freaking shows.

Then you build a server and automate the whole danged thing.

Which is wonderful, until you are caught up on everything. Then the ~~ice-weasels~~ cravings come. So you start digging back . Even then, it's not enough. Next thing you know, you're sitting up at two AM cursing your internet connection while you wait for episodes of Barney Miller to buffer on Hulu . It's a depraved life, to be sure.

I bought a new Macbook. It should be here in a few days (give or take, Aramex has funky schedules some times). Chuck, like most others, has reviewed it favorably, so I am excited to start lugging it around again. It's ridiculous, but I still miss my 12" Powerbook. Maybe this will finally be the laptop that fills that hole in my heart.

It's not really a secret, but Madeline and I have decided to call it quits. I actually waited a few weeks before finally telling my Mother. I just couldn't find it in me to hear the sigh in her voice when I broke the news.

I'll be traveling (not a moment too) soon. I'm headed back to Rome to hang out with Zuke, and in December to New Zealand to attend my friend Tanya's wedding. I'm really keen to meet the groom-to-be, I have a feeling that he is going to be every-bit as impressive as she. And seriously, they might have the coolest jobs ever.

Work.
Ugh.

As a policy, I try and avoid publicly discussing the job, but never knowing if you are coming or going begins to wear on a soul quickly.
I'm not done with the U.A.E., not by a long shot. I figure as long as there is interesting work (and a paycheck), I will stay.

But I have to admit, it might be nice to go home.

Caveat Emptor

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:51:00 +0000

Way back in the hazy days of August, I ran out of storage.

Again.

My desktop looked like a bad set from "Swordfish". A 1tb Firewire 800 drive, a 1tb USB2.0 drive, and a few errant 500gb USB drives. With each new device my computer booted slower, the noise increased, my precious desktop real estate declined, and juggling data got that much harder. I needed to do something dramatic.

But there was good news: Data Robotics just released an updated version of their hyped Drobo , and the intertubes buzz was all positive. It supports Firewire 800 and up to 4tb of storage (16tb theoretical). After weighing my options, I decided to take the plunge. I bought one.

Fast Forward several weeks, my shiny new Drobo was here. Giddy with excitement, I followed the (simple) instructions to a "T". I installed the drives, I installed the software, I hooked this bad mamma jamma up... and nothing.

The software didn't recognize the device. Console showed an arcane error that seemed vaguely relevant to Firewire and mysticism. But nothing. Zip, zero, zilch.

I went through the predictable troubleshooting steps. Replaced the cable, rebooted, tried reconnecting my previous Firewire 800 drive, tried daisy chaining them, failures all.
Everything pointed to the Drobo.

I decided to connect it via USB 2.0, ta-da! It worked perfectly. But it was working on USB. Which was not acceptable, at all. The only reason I opted specifically for the Drobo was I wanted to move away from USB for my mass storage needs.

I contacted tech-support. I was hopeful that they would have a fast miracle solution. "This is a known bug, we have a super secret beta-tastic firmware right here to fix you up!" they would say.

Trouble ticket filed, I waited.

And waited.

A week later, I finally got my first response. They needed more information. Of course. I happily gave them all the details, included the diagnostic output from the Drobo Dashboard software. Things were finally looking up.

Then I waited.

And waited.

Eight days later (today in fact) I got a response. It was from Steven, a Tier-3 Support Engineer.
Bad news it seems, the Drobo itself was in fact defective.

Unfortunately, I live overseas, and their RMA process will only handle shipping to/from the US. I would need to send the Drobo back to the states on my dime, then ship the replacement back here (including duties, again) on my dime.

While this is a perfectly reasonable policy, it still sucks.

With a heavy heart I responded to Steven. I thanked him for letting me know, I explained that I understood the RMA policy, that I felt it was reasonable. And I explained that reasonable or not, by the time I got done shipping this unit back, the replacement unit, coupled with duties and the original cost of shipping and duties, this Drobo was going to cost me $970. Nearly double the price of a brand new Drobo. It just wasn't cost-effective, time to cut my losses and run.

I expected that to be the end of it. Or will it?

As I wrote out the trials and tribulations of my poor little Drobo, Steven e-mailed me. He's going to talk to his boss about the shipping issues.

As a sane adult consumer living overseas, I have no reason to expect Data Robotics to pick up the tab on this. But it would be pretty freakin' sweet if they do.

Regardless of the outcome, dear interweb, if there is only one lesson I've learned while living outside of the USA and shopping online, it's Caveat Emptor.

And this is not my face

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:15:00 +0000

Since it's been several months, I figured I would update the site.
Just, you know, for giggles.

Astro, the MINI, has been here for a few months.
We've upgraded his wheels to glorious König Zero's

We've put a Mac Mini in, complete with touchscreen, GPS and 3.5g data. Astro is using an interface called Neon Boombox . It's lacking a little polish, but it's a work in progress.

I took roughly 1.2 babillion pictures of the install, and jotted down notes and thoughts. Ostensibly all of this would be molded into an article for "Shuffle", but alas it's just never made it that far.

I nearly bought a house in Conway, SC. In the end I had to walk away from the deal, which is too bad.

Tyler, Chuck, Cathy, Joe, Jenny and I took a cruise. Specifically, a KATG cruise. Good times were had by all, although my liver is thankful it's over.

This month is Ramadan here in the Gulf. Which means, well, google it. It's not too bad, just a little inconvenient at times.

Speaking of inconvenient... I (and everyone I work with) fell victim to Credit Card Fraud. They made off with about $1,400 , which sucks. What sucks even more is that all of my cards were compromised (as were all my co-workers), which means none of us has any freaking money to do anything with right now. Still waiting for Aramex to deliver my replacements. Hopefully another week.

Speaking of Aramex... I ordered a Drobo and 4× 1tb drives. Hopefully this gets me through this TV Season.

Which reminds me: If you haven't been watching "Weeds", start. It's a wonderful show, although the first two seasons were a lot funnier.

Updates: File Under "Random"

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 09:55:00 +0000

Well, Astro MINI should be in the port this afternoon...I am very, very excited about that.

Instamapper is a really awesome service, and it's completely free.

I can't even get out of bed in the morning without my Blackberry, and I've always been impressed by the GPS chipset the 8800 uses (very accurate, weak signal lock, etc), so the two seem to be a perfect combination.

Stalk me here

Anyone know of a good, "Free" PLM system? The few I've looked at seem to be poorly maintained or otherwise "lacking".

Adam and Melissa were married this weekend past, too bad I couldn't have been there. Congratulations to both!

I'm eager to find out if they like our gift.

My brother David and Tyler's sister Courtenay just left the UAE. They visited us for ten days, which was a great excuse to get out and see and do a lot of things I've put off for too long. Pictures on Flickr

I've got about a dozen programming ideas burning in my brain, but after work I can only seem to find time to play my PSP Slim before bed.

Oh, and Rob is spinning up a new project for us, http://factory-default.com . Details to follow, but it promises to be fun and interesting.

Speaking of, have you seen Linode yet? Check it out. I am trying to find the motivation to move Superimposable.org from it's current hosting on The Planet to Linode. I've been really happy with The Planet, but it's too expensive for my needs, and Linode offers a ton of really great features.

Twitter Bug

Tue, 06 May 2008 00:46:00 +0000

A few moments ago I discovered a bug in the way twitter handles protected updates.

Apparently, if you search for a username, it will provide you with that users most recent tweet. This could easily be exploited through scrapes to provide a "feed" of a users "protected" updates.

So much for privacy. One more reason to hate twitter.

For the curious, here is how it's done,

Simply enter the URL in this format:
http://twitter.com/tw/search/users?q=USERNAME

This seems sporadic with the "normal" twitter, but the mobile version showed the last update 100% of the time (that I tried, about a dozen from a few machines)

The mobile url is:
http://m.twitter.com/tw/search/users?q=USERNAME

You will need to be logged in for this to work.

Working Class AWESOME

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:46:00 +0000

I just got my new messenger bag / laptop sleeve from Working Class Heroes.

I can't rant or rave enough about these goods. The bag itself is soooo wonderful. I actually fondled the bags leather the entire way home from the post office. Before a few weeks ago, I'd never even heard of "aniline leather".

Today, I'm in awe. I didn't know leather could feel so..nice.

The sleeve for my beloved (albeit dinged) Airbook is a great fit. I doubt the two will be far separated. And wool felt. Who would have thought?

I do have one complaint though: The Working Class Heroes website stated that the "unfold" bag would accommodate a 13" laptop horizontally. Accommodate might be a little bit of a stretch. Yes, my Airbook fits, horizontally, but it's pretty effin' snug. And there is no way I can fit it, and the wonderful case I bought, in together.

Otherwise, super happy pleased.
Now, admire the leather:

Dear Steve,

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:37:00 +0000

You win.

While it wasn't my "first" Apple, the first Apple I voluntarily used (and loved to pieces) was my 12" G4 Powerbook. Not all that long ago, I know.

Since then, I've converted whole heartedly, replacing pretty much every device in my life with a shiny Apple product.

Tonight was probably the last straw though. I bought a nano just for the gym.

RobM suggested I start noting on the Apple stickers (that come with many of the products) what it was and when I bought it. Creating sort of a scrapbook of rabid fanatical consumerism. I think I am going to have to take him up on it.

The list so far

12" G4 Powerbook
13" Macbook, white
Macbook Air (ATA)
24" iMac (glass/black)
Mac Mini (this server in fact)
Airport Extreme Base Station
Airport Express
iPhone 8gb
iPod 4th gen
iPod 5th gen, 30gb
iPod 5.5 gen, 80gb
iPod Nano 3rd gen, 8gb
Apple TV 40gb, 1st gen
iWork
iLife (twice)
Tiger & Leopard
.Mac

Which of course is not to mention the several gift iPods, a gift laptop, the dozen odd machines I've evangelized until friends/family/employers purchased, a couple of mice, keyboards, DVI dongles, random accessories, so on and so forth.

As soon as my MINI gets here, I am even installing a Mac Mini in it.
And when I return stateside, I will finally order my Mac Pro.

I am (almost) at the point where I walk by the Apple store, frustrated. I already own all that.

So, you win Steve. I've collected them all. I am at the point where I will be hard pressed to justify another of your shiny products in my life. Simple product refreshes will not tempt me. I need something new.

Stupid / Random Observation

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 09:56:00 +0000

I was playing with webalizer the other night, and I foolishly had it generating reports into my sites root directory.

Which means it generated an index.html

Which means that freezerpants.com loaded index.html before index.php

Which means the past day and half or so, most people were getting a webalizer stats page instead of the site. Woops.

Temporarily fixed for now, thank goodness for Blackberries + SSH (since SSH is blocked at work).

Elsewhere..
Calling something a "social network" (or any variation of the sort) seems to guarantee a few things.

Within a few months it will be over-run by teenage girls
A few months later it will be over-run by strippers friend-whoring
A few months after that it will turn into a freaking marketing vehicle, starting with ARGs and then moving into blatant advertisement
The geeks will jump ship
The Teen hipsters will notice the geeks have left, and declare it dead
The hipsters will find the geeks in their new hiding place, restarting the cycle

Twitter, I am looking squarely at you, but it applies to all the others, past and future.

Elsewhere on the web..
I've been reading the blog of Menchuvian Candidate (found via Amy . If anyone knows her in MeatSpace, buy her a drink for me. Then read her site, it's awesome.

Meanwhile on the site...
I totally forgot that I set up an OpenID authentication endpoint here on the site ages ago. I used phpMyID , and if memory serves it was dead simple. Check it out.

Abu Dhabi AirRace 2008

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 21:32:00 +0000

The camera malfunctioned shortly after we started using it, so there isn't a whole lot of usable footage. In fact, this is about it.

The editing got messed up as well, but I chalk it up to my first attempt with FinalCut