Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Farewell to this blog!
Rouge has changed career and is no longer actively updating this blog. iPhone is great but there's more to life than just writing things here. One more, there really is an iPhone 3.0, not just the firmware but a physical hardware, really!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
My Blog looks totally abandoned
Its been awhile since I last posted any topics about the Apple iPhone, theres just so many blogs out there discussing the same topics over and over again. I think I have one major advantage over them and thats my ******* with Apple.
Heres some things I wanna share over the past few months that no other blogs have confirmed or published
1. The iPhone software update 2.2.1 not only fixed issue with safari and mail but it fixed an issue brought by 2.2 where in people will suddenly see an error upon sending text message "Error Sending Message". It also fixed an issue if youre unable to delete any email from your inbox using AOL.
2. Did you update/restore your iPhone in your office computer? Did it hang on "Verifying iPhone Software"? Dont blame the iPhone, you have some bad registry settings lying in the PC. Try using your home PC and it will resolve the issue.
That's all I can think of for now.!
Heres some things I wanna share over the past few months that no other blogs have confirmed or published
1. The iPhone software update 2.2.1 not only fixed issue with safari and mail but it fixed an issue brought by 2.2 where in people will suddenly see an error upon sending text message "Error Sending Message". It also fixed an issue if youre unable to delete any email from your inbox using AOL.
2. Did you update/restore your iPhone in your office computer? Did it hang on "Verifying iPhone Software"? Dont blame the iPhone, you have some bad registry settings lying in the PC. Try using your home PC and it will resolve the issue.
That's all I can think of for now.!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Online Apple Store Philippines is up
Good news to all Pinoys, the Apple online store Philippines is now open for business. If you wanna start shopping check out this link http://store.apple.com/ph
Be sure though to have an AppleID ready for online shopping. I have an article in the past regarding creating one.
They currently have all Apple product line available except for the iPhone which should be available at all Globe outlets.
Be sure though to have an AppleID ready for online shopping. I have an article in the past regarding creating one.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
AT&T: Spanish Voicemail Prompt?
It looks like AT&T (US) is down today in terms of voicemail. When you call someone and they don't answer, you'll get the prompt in Spanish instead of the regular English prompt. This is not an iPhone issue but a network problem with AT&T so better call them and ask for a turn around time for the downtime.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
I can't help but to blog about how worst Digitel is
Last January 2008, I submitted an application for a DSL connection and got it approved for the "999 Plan." The Plan is with the ISP DIGITEL which includes a 512kbps contract locked in for 30 months with Php 999.00 monthly recurring charge. The reason for the connection is because my sister left her daughter here in Taytay with us while she works halfway accross the globe in Italy. She wanna be able to see her daughter every once in awhile via cam to cam chat using Yahoo Messenger.
There was an option for the Plan 777 (Php 777.00/month with upto 384 kbps) which should be enough for the purpose we want but I chose the plan 999 because I also plan to do P2P downloading via bittorrent and thought that the faster the connection, the better and the quicker. The service was good, I get good speed better than my last ISP (Smartbro), Youtube doesnt lag, websites are fast, I can download upto 1.7 Gb of torrent data overnight and enjoy upto 10 downloaded movies during my restdays and was very happy with it. I was overwhelmed with the service and even recommended it to my friend and neighbor who then decided to get the same internet service from same ISP Digitel. She chose the plan 777 since she only wants to do YM and social networking.
2 months after the initial service, I noticed that I'm not receiving bills (statements). I thought that it was normal but people from Digitel customer service started calling my home number and reminding me to pay over 2,XXX. I told them, I havent made any payments yet because I don't even know how much to pay since I'm not getting any paper statements. The agent then asked me for my address and I told them the same address I've written on the application. She said she's gonna update the local office in Taytay. Two weeks later, I got 2 individual envelopes for February and March unpaid bills and made my first ever payment. I still experience the same issue until now, In fact I havent received my August and September statements and the last statement for June and July was left at my door and it rained that time and the envelopes got wet ( i was still able to decode the paper and figure out how much to pay). By the way, I always pay online now from bpiexpressonline.com using my ATM card.
Enough of the Introduction. I already gave you an idea now how great and lousy this ISP is here is the REAL deal.
1 month ago (August 20, 2008), I tried to log onto blogger.com (this blog) and noticed that the website for blogger.com is not loading. I tried surfing other websites and noticed how sluggish the websites are. I even lost patience in youtube since its not even loading frames. I though it was a temporary problem and let that go for the mean time and did my blog in the office and it went fine. The next day, I tried logging on my Yahoo Messenger in the same home PC but it gives me an error message that "There was a problem signing into Yahoo! Messenger. Please try again a little bit later." I really don't think that I have a problem with my Yahoo account since I can still access the Yahoo web interface using Firefox and do email and chat there. Then again I ignored it thinking it was a temporary problem. As a technician, I did troubleshoot that issue by doing some steps based on how I would troubleshoot a Mac (I'm a mac technician) such as:
1. Resetting the Modem multiple times ( I always turn off my modem together with my PC )
2. Clearing all junks and temporary files and cache by running a software that would do this (Advanced Windows Care) and even "Clear all Private data" in Firefox
3. I also tried removing all startup programs by running "msconfig" and do diagnostic startup in Windows Vista. That left my PC vulnerable to virus since it will also stop my Antivirus from opening on startup.
4. The modem can also be connected via USB port and connecting it via USB didnt make any difference.
The problem went on for 2 days. The torrent client I'm using can't even download more than 100MB of data overnight. I stopped downloading since I'm just wasting energy on downloading data less than 100Mb per night. The issue went on intermittently for Yahoo Messenger. iTunes was also experiencing issue with connecting to Apple Software Update server when i tried to update my iPod nano to version 1.1.3. It reports back a network connection issue but I was able to update my iPod in the past without any problems. Thinking that the issue was with Digitel, I then called Digitel customer service via 17-10 on the bundled landline and my journey has now begun.
And so I called 17-10 to report the issue last August 22nd, an agent answered and said they couldn't help me and that I have to call tech support by dialling 249-3282 from my landline. And so I did call. Another agent answered and I explained my situation and asked me if I restarted my modem and I replied "I always do restart my modem" They had me run speedtest based on their own speedtest website http://dslspeedtest.digitelone.com/
To give you an overview of what that website looks like, heres a shot
The button seen in the picture if clicked will test your speed of connection. Whenever I run the test, this is always the same variable range of speed that I get (see below)
View full size
I told the agent that the speed is just 20-25% of the speed that I am paying for. She then replied that I can't really get the exact 512kbps of speed. Agent said that 512kbps is the maximum theoretical speed of my connection but the actual connection that I should have shouldnt drop 80% of that speed (409.6kbps). Her explanation reminded me of Judy Anne Santos' Meralco commercial of buying an ice and some melted while on her way home which makes sense. So ok, but why am I getting this kind of speed. She then said that they will forward this issue with their technical team and gave me a case number 4369927 and we ended that call.
The next morn, A guy from Digitel called me back and said that they will reset "port" on their end and that I should standby and run the test again later during the day and check if issue was resolved. That night, I run the test again and still get the same speed. I reported and called back the next morning with the case number and the guy who took the call said. " According to the records po, you called about a slow internet connection speed, nagtry naba kayo mag reset ng modem (check). " They always ask me what website I am using to check my speed and I always say that its their official website for speedtest. They have doubts about how other speedtest site will test their intenet speed such as latency. The agent then gave me another case number 4379313 and said theyre gonna follow up on this. That was the last case number generated for me as of this writing.
I then made several calls every other 2 or 3 days and dealt with the same questions from each agent during the last week of August.
>> Did you reset your modem?
>> What speedtest website are you using and whats the speed result from 1st to 4th lapse?
I really started getting very irritated with the agents since all of them are saying the same thing that they will make a follow up but nobody is really calling me on the landline now. My parents are always at home and that nobody from Digitel called since then.
September 4th, 2008. I called Tech Support again and this time, I proactively written down and remember the name of the Agent who assisted me. her name is Erika. Then again, as part of their call flow, she asked me all the question above and that she will make a technical report and asked about anything else I can help her with. She sounded like she wants to end the call immediately based on her tone when she asked me "would there be anything else for today?" so I became really irate. I then asked for a specific turn around time for this since the issue has been happening for 2 weeks and its really ruining my life. I feel like an idiot everytime I call them and they're like a bunch of robots to tell me the same thing over and over again. They always make follow ups but all I really need is an action and correct this. I hangup on Erika and dialled 1710 for customer service and to my surprise, she was the same agent who answered the call. Erika again, Huh! a multi-split agent! I then asked her how much I owe then and to finalize it and that I will not have plans on paying for any early termination fee. She then asked me why I am cancelling the account, I then told her how impaired my internet connection is and she asked me for my case number like I never gave it to her a moment back. As a part of their callflow, she will make a technical report and submit it (again?). I then explained that I will still give them a chance to fix my issue for 1 more week and ask for a rebate. She said I cant get a rebate because I still have internet. That made me alot angrier and I decided to hangup on that useless call.
I then made calls every other 2 days just for the heck of calling them and letting them know that there is a customer waiting, making an effort to get attention and get the issue fix. It was a week of another bill since its September but I have no plans of making any payments until this issue is cleared up and that a rebate is applied for the inconvinience and time plus effort I spent dealing with them every other day.
September 17th. I am still experiencing same unresolved issue. I was thinking about completely forgetting about Digitel, pullout every wires they attached to my wall and burn the modem and telephone they gave me. I also noticed that I am getting no sleep and feel really stress thinking about this situation for the past week. I am really getting annoyed everytime I think about the situation and getting ignored by this company. This is the vey first time I felt this way to anyone or anybody. I feel like I am really stupid believing that my issue will be resolve.
I made another call to tech support. The agent who assisted me sounded nice and apologetic and his name is Vincent. He was more knowledgeable I guess because he has more workaround that we tried. He suggested about putting preferred DNS (Domain name Server). I then told him I'm on Vista and he has to walk me through how to do it. He put me on hold and came back telling me he doesnt know how to do it in Vista. I told him that if this issue continues until september 22nd which is the monthsary for the first call I made, I will just terminate the service without paying any termination fee and get something else. We ended the call and I google about changing the DNS and figure it out, I called back and got the DNS which is 202.138.128.50 - 54. I'm still using that DNS but it didnt make any difference.
Today is September 18th 2008 Friday. I'll be updating as soon as this issue progresses.
P.S.
I'm sure its not my PC causing the issue because I can tether using my Nokia phone and get 280kbps from Globe. I'm sure its not my PC because I brought this computer to my neighbor's modem (digitel) and it can get 340kbps of speed. I also can use wifi and get full speed. By the way my PC is a portable notebook. HP/Compaq V5000 is the brand.
I would love to read any comments from readers.
The next morn, A guy from Digitel called me back and said that they will reset "port" on their end and that I should standby and run the test again later during the day and check if issue was resolved. That night, I run the test again and still get the same speed. I reported and called back the next morning with the case number and the guy who took the call said. " According to the records po, you called about a slow internet connection speed, nagtry naba kayo mag reset ng modem (check). " They always ask me what website I am using to check my speed and I always say that its their official website for speedtest. They have doubts about how other speedtest site will test their intenet speed such as latency. The agent then gave me another case number 4379313 and said theyre gonna follow up on this. That was the last case number generated for me as of this writing.
I then made several calls every other 2 or 3 days and dealt with the same questions from each agent during the last week of August.
>> Did you reset your modem?
>> What speedtest website are you using and whats the speed result from 1st to 4th lapse?
I really started getting very irritated with the agents since all of them are saying the same thing that they will make a follow up but nobody is really calling me on the landline now. My parents are always at home and that nobody from Digitel called since then.
September 4th, 2008. I called Tech Support again and this time, I proactively written down and remember the name of the Agent who assisted me. her name is Erika. Then again, as part of their call flow, she asked me all the question above and that she will make a technical report and asked about anything else I can help her with. She sounded like she wants to end the call immediately based on her tone when she asked me "would there be anything else for today?" so I became really irate. I then asked for a specific turn around time for this since the issue has been happening for 2 weeks and its really ruining my life. I feel like an idiot everytime I call them and they're like a bunch of robots to tell me the same thing over and over again. They always make follow ups but all I really need is an action and correct this. I hangup on Erika and dialled 1710 for customer service and to my surprise, she was the same agent who answered the call. Erika again, Huh! a multi-split agent! I then asked her how much I owe then and to finalize it and that I will not have plans on paying for any early termination fee. She then asked me why I am cancelling the account, I then told her how impaired my internet connection is and she asked me for my case number like I never gave it to her a moment back. As a part of their callflow, she will make a technical report and submit it (again?). I then explained that I will still give them a chance to fix my issue for 1 more week and ask for a rebate. She said I cant get a rebate because I still have internet. That made me alot angrier and I decided to hangup on that useless call.
I then made calls every other 2 days just for the heck of calling them and letting them know that there is a customer waiting, making an effort to get attention and get the issue fix. It was a week of another bill since its September but I have no plans of making any payments until this issue is cleared up and that a rebate is applied for the inconvinience and time plus effort I spent dealing with them every other day.
September 17th. I am still experiencing same unresolved issue. I was thinking about completely forgetting about Digitel, pullout every wires they attached to my wall and burn the modem and telephone they gave me. I also noticed that I am getting no sleep and feel really stress thinking about this situation for the past week. I am really getting annoyed everytime I think about the situation and getting ignored by this company. This is the vey first time I felt this way to anyone or anybody. I feel like I am really stupid believing that my issue will be resolve.
I made another call to tech support. The agent who assisted me sounded nice and apologetic and his name is Vincent. He was more knowledgeable I guess because he has more workaround that we tried. He suggested about putting preferred DNS (Domain name Server). I then told him I'm on Vista and he has to walk me through how to do it. He put me on hold and came back telling me he doesnt know how to do it in Vista. I told him that if this issue continues until september 22nd which is the monthsary for the first call I made, I will just terminate the service without paying any termination fee and get something else. We ended the call and I google about changing the DNS and figure it out, I called back and got the DNS which is 202.138.128.50 - 54. I'm still using that DNS but it didnt make any difference.
Today is September 18th 2008 Friday. I'll be updating as soon as this issue progresses.
P.S.
I'm sure its not my PC causing the issue because I can tether using my Nokia phone and get 280kbps from Globe. I'm sure its not my PC because I brought this computer to my neighbor's modem (digitel) and it can get 340kbps of speed. I also can use wifi and get full speed. By the way my PC is a portable notebook. HP/Compaq V5000 is the brand.
I would love to read any comments from readers.
Monday, September 15, 2008
iPhone Takes Screenshots of Everything You Do
Read on...
from Wired.com
Your iPhone is watching you.
If you've got an iPhone, pretty much everything you have done on your handset has been temporarily stored as a screenshot that hackers or forensics experts could eventually recover, according to a renowned iPhone hacker who exposed the security flaw in a webcast Thursday.
While demonstrating how to break the iPhone's passcode lock in a webcast, iPhone hacker and data-forensics expert Jonathan Zdziarski explained that the popular handset snaps a screenshot of your most recent action -- regardless of whether it's sending a text message, e-mailing or browsing a web page -- in order to cache it. This is purely for aesthetic purposes: When an iPhone user taps the Home button, the window of the application you have open shrinks and disappears. In order to create that shrinking effect, the iPhone snaps a screenshot, Zdziarski said.
The phone presumably deletes the image after you close the application. But anyone who understands data is aware that in most cases, deletion does not permanently remove files from a storage device. Therefore, forensics experts have used this security flaw to gather evidence against criminals convicted of rape, murder or drug deals, Zdziarski said.
"There's no way to prevent it," Zdziarski said during the webcast. "I'm kind of divided on it. I hope Apple fixes it because it's a significant privacy leak, but at the same time it's been useful for investigating criminals."
And though the handset only snaps screenshots when users press the Home button, Zdziarski said this is only one way forensics experts collect evidence. Other methods include taking data from the iPhone's keyboard cache, Safari cache, Google Maps lookups and so on. Experts and hackers can also recover deleted photos or e-mails from months ago.
In addition to exposing the privacy leaks, Zdziarski walked webcast attendees through the steps required to bypass an iPhone's passcode in order to gain full access to it.
The method didn't look all that easy, but Zdziarski said it could take as little as 60 seconds to break the iPhone's security. To make a long story short, the process involved using Pwnage to create a custom firmware bundle and tweaking it with rather arcane methods to delete the iPhone's passcode protection. Once set up, the technique can be used over and over on different iPhones, Zdziarski added.
Despite the intricacy of the method, Zdziarski stressed that anybody with the time and digital sophistication has the ability to break the iPhone's security.
"This flaw can only be exploited by somebody with physical access to a device, but your phone could get into the hands of someone with more malicious intent," he said. "Obviously, you don't want to trust any of your data to a passcode."
A full recording of the webcast, hosted by O'Reilly, will be available shortly. We'll post a link as soon as it's available.
Those interested in learning how to break iPhone security can pre-order Zdziarski's book iPhone Forensics: Recovering Evidence, Personal Data, and Corporate Assets.
Apple did not return phone calls for comment.
Source: Wired
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Fwd: USB ports and your iPhone 101
I prefer more connecting my iPhone directly to a local USB port on the back of my computer. Why? Thats because USB ports directly connected on the motherboard are more powerful. Using USB hubs will surely extend charging time and will prolong syncing or backing-up time. That's because all the devices connected to that hub share all the power and divides the speed to all peripherals connected into it.
0A
How do you determine if you are using a hub?
It will be obvious if you are using a USB hub. A USB hub is a device that connects to another USB port. A USB port found in front of your PC tower could possibly be a USB hub. A USB hub can also be embedded on your peripherals. One good example of a USB hub is the wired Apple keyboard. Although it is a keyboard, it also functions as a USB hub. A monitor or display may also have a USB port on it. Typically, the USB port on this devices are only good for flash drives and self powered devices.
What are examples of self-powered devices?
Common examples of self-powered devices are printer, scanner, and other USB devices that doesnt work without plugging into the wall or AC outlet. These devices will work on low power USB port because they only use the data path on the USB connection. Although the iPhone is self-powered by its battery, but it is programmed to charge when connected to a USB port. So to maximize the time while connected to a USB port, better plug it into a local USB port.
What are the devices that may require high power USB port?
Portable Hard Disk Drives. Multi-slot memory card reader, TV Tuner, Bluetooth/Wireless Adapter, A USB20Hub, and other devices that operates only in battery such as your iPhone, iPod touch, iPod Classic, iPod nano, iPod shuffle and other media players.
How do I locate a high power USB port?
Its on the back of your PC or Mac for sure.
Are there any different USB speeds?
Yes.! As of this m oment the fastest is the USB 2.0 with a maximum data transfer speed of 480Mbps. The older speed is USB 1.1 with maximum transfer of 12Mbps. The upcoming USB 3.0 will have 4800Mbps. I'm just puzzled if the iPhone 3G will support that max speed since USB 3.0 was introduced before the iPhone 3G. (USB 3.0 will be backwards compatible with all USB version so it will be20compatible with the iPhone)
Posted by Rouge
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Genius: The new iTunes 8 feature
I haven't really had a luck in trying the Genius feature in iTunes 8 because of my crappy internet connection with Digitel that really sucks the hell out of me. In case you need guidance on how these feature work, you can always visit the knowledge base article from Apple from the link below.
iPhone 2.1 Software Update Available on Friday
Rejoice, long-suffering iPhone users -- Apple on Tuesday announced an update to the software that operate their iPhone and iPod touch. A free upgrade from 2.0, iPhone 2.1 software is expected to be released on Friday, September 12, 2008.
Also available with the newly updated iPod touch that Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced at Apple's "Let's Rock" event in San Francisco, the new 2.1 software is a free update to iPhone and iPod touch users who have 2.0 installed. If your iPod touch is still running 1.x software, it will cost US$9.95 to get the 2.1 upgrade.
The 2.1 update fixes bugs, and reduces the number of dropped calls experienced by iPhone users with the 2.0 software. It also provides "significantly improved" battery life, crashes less, and provides "dramatically faster" backups to iTunes. New performance enhancements have also been made.
Then again for all pinoys who own an iPod touch with OS 1.x, for you to purchase the software update 2.1 iTunes, you can always use an iTunes Gift Card. Gift cards are available at all Power Mac Centers. Update is always free for all iPhone 3G users who legitimately purchase their iPhone 3G at Globe. Jailbreakers may need to wait until 2.1 is bricked.
Source: PCWorld.com
iPhone 3rd party applications quitting finally explained
Issue: All of a sudden, all third party applications I downloaded from the App store will just show up for 2 seconds when I open them and goes back to the home screen. I tried rebooting the iPhone, deleted the app and redownload it, it doesn't seem to help. I even tried to "reset all settings" and redownload them all, nothing seems to help. I already restored the iPhone in iTunes and that doesn't make any difference. Do I have a bad iPhone?
Answer:
No. You don't have a bad iPhone. You are having problem account authorization with the applications.
Is this a bug?
I would say it is. I hope Apple will address this in the future software updates either in 2.0.3 or 2.1.
What do you mean I'm having authorization Problems? I did the download directly from the App Store and used my AppleID and Password, is there something wrong with that?
No. That's the most convenient way of getting an App thru the App Store. It's really hard to explain how this happened because it doesn't seem to be logical. But there's a fix for this issue you are experiencing.
So What's the Fix?
=0 A Simple. You just need to deauthorize your computer and authorize it back. Then resync your applications. That should work for everybody.
Delete all the 3rd party applications from your iPhone.
1. Open up iTunes in your PC/Mac. Connect your iPhone in your computer. Make sure you are signed in the iTunes Store. To sign in, click Store on the top menu bar, then Sign in…Use your AppleID and Password.
2. On the top menu bar, click on Store>Deauthorize Computer. Enter your AppleID and Password.
3. Authorize your computer again by clicking on Store>Authorize Computer. Enter your AppleID and Password one more time.
4. Sync the applications from your iTunes Applications Library back to your iPhone. If you don't have it on your iTunes,=2 0you can redownload them from iTunes for free.
Once syncing is finish. Your applications should be working fine.
What do you think may have caused this issue.
Here are 2 possible reasons
- You " reset all settings" on your iPhone and then downloaded an App from app store using a different Apple ID and Password. Just stick to one AppleId and Password to avoid this problem.
- You sync the iPhone from a different computer that is not authorized for your purchases. If you have multiple computers, make sure that each is authorized. To authorize the computer, follow the steps described above. Remember that you can only authorize=2 0up to 5 different machines using your AppleID.
An Original Post by: Rouge
iTunes 8 is out for download
iTunes 8, the new version of the program we all love is now out for Download at the Apple Website
Download it here.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Just Stand Up 2 Cancer
Just Stand Up to cancer performace by Various artist is now available as an Mp4 download for your iPhone. You need to download it to your computer first via rapidshare and sync to your iPhone as Movie.
Link to the video is here
http://tinyurl.com/standup2cancer
Exclusive Single from iTunes is available for download here
http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=289089106&s=143441
Link to the video is here
http://tinyurl.com/standup2cancer
Exclusive Single from iTunes is available for download here
http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=289089106&s=143441
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