tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81867521489765877252024-03-14T02:15:39.430-05:00sector0 networksdcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-88258812688455138612023-01-20T19:00:00.002-06:002023-01-20T19:00:00.171-06:00EV road trip strategies<p>Presented at Fox Valley Electric Auto Association (<a href="http://fveaa.org">fveaa.org</a>) on 2023 Jan 20.</p><p><a href="http://bit.ly/3GG7FxZ" rel="nofollow">slides</a><br /></p>dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-60826392487441553522022-11-18T00:00:00.001-06:002023-01-14T02:25:19.929-06:00EV life with no home charger<p>Presented at Fox Valley Electric Auto Association (<a href="http://fveaa.org" rel="nofollow">fveaa.org</a>) on 2023 Nov 18.</p><p><a href="http://bit.ly/3CMAF5U" rel="nofollow">slides</a></p>dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-42591942815318292412020-10-24T19:24:00.010-05:002020-11-15T20:38:55.248-06:00Staresso review<p>Short link to this article: <a href="https://j.mp/3dUR1eX">https://j.mp/3dUR1eX</a></p><p>Staresso <a href="https://staresso.com/">https://staresso.com/</a> released a mini version of their manual espresso maker. I backed their Indiegogo project and have been using this for a few months. Disclosure: I have no affiliation with Staresso and purchased the item with my own funds.</p><p>Prior to a Staresso, I used an Aeropress for my daily and travel coffee needs. I switched to an Aeropress Go for travel because the parts are designed to nest together for compactness.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKY6FhKrbxyYG8owhrHbgLHl4uXfjrNUrd-B8RxA127jszVPsZK9iLg3PKgVFkGW42Pn9aWq74d8mhvFf4GHFHONRgnythF3Eu0PzS5LpnZLBPrh1wYgPAI0DI0NHt9nwgP71mLgw7DsP4/s4032/20200707_150106.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKY6FhKrbxyYG8owhrHbgLHl4uXfjrNUrd-B8RxA127jszVPsZK9iLg3PKgVFkGW42Pn9aWq74d8mhvFf4GHFHONRgnythF3Eu0PzS5LpnZLBPrh1wYgPAI0DI0NHt9nwgP71mLgw7DsP4/s320/20200707_150106.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The retail box</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDijG3CeS2qLHzGRQwJ5kV4idKKa_-1wLcTZ2tgYCJ2OaM3n0UWLcv7VVfZlHy4ugAgwFspMKAP4Ow3xTVYh4DcHBnN-KvBsy0wpql5q0vRh0CT6peNbhZxKipjakYdJ_eLuIc248oe_KX/s4032/20200707_150708.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDijG3CeS2qLHzGRQwJ5kV4idKKa_-1wLcTZ2tgYCJ2OaM3n0UWLcv7VVfZlHy4ugAgwFspMKAP4Ow3xTVYh4DcHBnN-KvBsy0wpql5q0vRh0CT6peNbhZxKipjakYdJ_eLuIc248oe_KX/s320/20200707_150708.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All the parts</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Parts description, top row, L-R: pressure chamber, stand, pump, carrying case with cleaning cloth. Bottom row L-R: cleaning brush, brew basket cap, brew basket, measuring scoop, cup. All the parts except the scoop fit together and inside the carrying case. The carrying case is hard sided and zippers closed.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The parts list may seem complex at first, but once used a few times, are pretty straightforward.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjoqJ_YIq80ql_6XHfCUSUky8fOhSUVsixJGr8YLb4I69jTNZdcCbqCGpCgRJBO14ODUzUGSgvgDKY4RetgqGtF37XX_tdBfEtIBToFgKmyQTt_Rpg1ZUeT6PdY9CidUwfXSgJIybQslm/s4032/20200729_152621.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWjoqJ_YIq80ql_6XHfCUSUky8fOhSUVsixJGr8YLb4I69jTNZdcCbqCGpCgRJBO14ODUzUGSgvgDKY4RetgqGtF37XX_tdBfEtIBToFgKmyQTt_Rpg1ZUeT6PdY9CidUwfXSgJIybQslm/s320/20200729_152621.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Size comparison</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">L-R: Staresso case, Aeropress Go, full size Aeropress with funnel, Staresso.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lrNOsFKSDmQ" width="320" youtube-src-id="lrNOsFKSDmQ"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The Staresso in action</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://youtu.be/lrNOsFKSDmQ">Link</a> to video</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">According to the maker, the Staresso brew basket holds 10 g of ground coffee. The chamber has marks at 50 mL and 80 mL. When filled to 80 mL, the output almost fills the steel cup, so I expect the cup to be around 80 mL as well. This is a bit more than 2 shots, where 1 shot = 1 oz ~ 30 mL</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">For comparison, I used 2 Aeropress scoops of coffee to 100 mL water. Each Aeropress scoop is about 2x the Staresso scoop. The Staresso uses half to a quarter of the coffee as the Aeropress, and less water, to produce comparably tasting output.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI8vt_ncf3Xv_KeRYaZxkU8v3FKXGA_69TTvmnKI_HyfAPb6mMDo8bEF6-ciDl51gsntpgnG7bShp1lzEAlDg8oUP-0FhkV1SW2ysngtpCCN1FCJlkMsGH7lG21lKCNSgsnkcaR8REXij/s4032/20200716_143606.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI8vt_ncf3Xv_KeRYaZxkU8v3FKXGA_69TTvmnKI_HyfAPb6mMDo8bEF6-ciDl51gsntpgnG7bShp1lzEAlDg8oUP-0FhkV1SW2ysngtpCCN1FCJlkMsGH7lG21lKCNSgsnkcaR8REXij/s320/20200716_143606.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Fine granularity</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfNaX2PMiV7hqlzVnyJZHZePmlvnwAlmH25hgVETXsl2hCFRlYKifEpGykP17pKMyelhA7pGnyz7x_vWnbeXOTPoeBTPHQTx-blB4k3PoI0cNszibcgcY4vFtkxmyF6Eh-SYjyOlGijy4/s4032/20200716_143913.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLfNaX2PMiV7hqlzVnyJZHZePmlvnwAlmH25hgVETXsl2hCFRlYKifEpGykP17pKMyelhA7pGnyz7x_vWnbeXOTPoeBTPHQTx-blB4k3PoI0cNszibcgcY4vFtkxmyF6Eh-SYjyOlGijy4/s320/20200716_143913.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Brew basket holds about 10 g. Scoop can be used to tamp the basket.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1qLn5yXm8tnBVZKjg3ViXw2_CNR-JiaiAvb-G1KMhM75w8JeQM-Sl2R6HCam_QzphgORPYNzGTEY6yRTaZlGu5s4ewKL1uAS8gv57wxcT3adh4cSmlf2H4EedmMiES8r530QngAXsHAo/s4032/20200712_152541.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1qLn5yXm8tnBVZKjg3ViXw2_CNR-JiaiAvb-G1KMhM75w8JeQM-Sl2R6HCam_QzphgORPYNzGTEY6yRTaZlGu5s4ewKL1uAS8gv57wxcT3adh4cSmlf2H4EedmMiES8r530QngAXsHAo/s320/20200712_152541.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alternatively, can use the pump plunger to tamp. It fits exactly in the brew basket.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The maker also claims the pump can produce 20 bars of pressure in the chamber and 15 bar at output. This is plenty for a proper espresso, and produces a nice crema.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JM8sGlNjf2WySXOiM_CtoLZc_-T9RyK7HQMyxG_Zw5fm6PdfGXishwZnfnszjgGHp8VGsxtIKDh35vhQDDPlDHICy7wW4bkAlbxC02GXSMwt_qFyUfjaVxY6xIBG6vWkZfaxFcO-8p26/s4032/20200707_153828.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5JM8sGlNjf2WySXOiM_CtoLZc_-T9RyK7HQMyxG_Zw5fm6PdfGXishwZnfnszjgGHp8VGsxtIKDh35vhQDDPlDHICy7wW4bkAlbxC02GXSMwt_qFyUfjaVxY6xIBG6vWkZfaxFcO-8p26/s320/20200707_153828.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">About 80 mL. Crema!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaP3qO6BSiPFawDiaFChGw_Fw3MjjcbMfJs36YPJKD52LKyIR5ZB59GCdWNjMICFgnYEbpnz44JWUIGSjfn4BzFT5HKv_0DoaxE8S7MFT7xKqne6xMs2JsmDqZBo0r_FXinOra8MDqKua/s4032/20200707_161025.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMaP3qO6BSiPFawDiaFChGw_Fw3MjjcbMfJs36YPJKD52LKyIR5ZB59GCdWNjMICFgnYEbpnz44JWUIGSjfn4BzFT5HKv_0DoaxE8S7MFT7xKqne6xMs2JsmDqZBo0r_FXinOra8MDqKua/s320/20200707_161025.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Drank half</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4mI0svz86l6ESxV4UAHBzfHJwxoJ7C5STm4-yjMSoIq6vU9H1jjspGjPI0MWkx3xAiR9vbKUpZr_gGQrw4wJX8J3RAe8cp0bxhF-BONlDofRZCMYZe_j0VthVy5PiKuIK2okOxSRLR3r/s4032/20200716_145441.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4mI0svz86l6ESxV4UAHBzfHJwxoJ7C5STm4-yjMSoIq6vU9H1jjspGjPI0MWkx3xAiR9vbKUpZr_gGQrw4wJX8J3RAe8cp0bxhF-BONlDofRZCMYZe_j0VthVy5PiKuIK2okOxSRLR3r/s320/20200716_145441.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">All gone!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I found too tight a tamp causes water to back up in the pump, so I settled with a medium tamp. This still produces a much richer yield with a nice crema, compared to the Aeropress.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In terms of time spent, the Staresso is faster than the Aeropress. Process breakdown: While the water is boiling, I hand grind the beans. The water is usually done by the time the grind is done. The time difference to boil 80 mL vs 100 mL is negligible, but grinding 10 g coffee for the Staresso vs 20-30 g coffee for the Aeropress is noticeable. I steep the Aeropress for 3 minutes, versus pumping the Staresso takes less than 1 minute. End-to-end time, from setting foot in my kitchen to sitting at my desk with coffee, including cleanup: Staresso 10 minutes versus Aeropress 15 minutes. For the time saved, less coffee and water used, and more robust tasting output, the Staresso is now my daily driver for making coffee.</div>dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-43620289718627150572014-11-09T23:06:00.000-06:002014-11-10T18:40:04.867-06:00Cheap solutions for 2nd p2p phoneshort link <a class="copyable-link v-middle" href="http://j.mp/1suyDK3">http://j.mp/1suyDK3</a> <br />
Now that Uber released their driver app for Android and Iphone, some drivers have commented that they still prefer two phones and were looking for a cost effective way to provide service to both phones.<br />
<a name='more'></a>I realize my hacker tendencies might devise solutions, while low cost, that are too cumbersome in initial setup or ongoing use to be practical or whose effort cost outweigh the dollar savings.<br />
I explored several solutions, of varying complexity and dollar cost.<br />
<br />
Some initial assumptions- you already have one smartphone with a sufficient plan to run nav, text, voice calls. This is your primary phone. You have a second phone with no service plan that you want to activate at minimal or no cost.<br />
<br />
Solution 1- tether the 2nd phone to your 1st. If your primary plan and phone support tethering, you're all set. Connect Phone 2 via wifi to Phone 1.<br />
<br />
If Phone 1 doesn't natively support tether, there may be mods you can do to enable or add support. With so many different model phones on the market, countless others have written howto guides for your specific model. This mod is beyond the scope of this post.<br />
<br />
Beware- your carrier may put limits on tether usage and may cut you off or charge you overages. Investigate your carrier options before incurring too much cost.<br />
<br />
Solution 2- add Phone 2 as an additional line on your current plan. Some carriers offer deals on family plans for multiple phones.<br />
<br />
Solution 3- When researching cheap standalone plans, I found Tmobile offers a $3/day prepaid plan. It gives you 200 MB at 4G speeds then throttles the speed. Also has unlimited voice and text. Prior estimates show the Uber app used about 10 MB/hr so a 200 MB plan gets you 20 hr. That's double the Chicago ordinance daily limit. I'm guessing the Lyft app is comparable in usage. If you run both apps, you'll turn off one of them during active rides, so I'm guessing two apps will consume less than 2x data.<br />
<br />
Where this $3/d plan shines is you only pay on the days you use the phone. This is suitable for very part time drivers. No tether complexity.<br />
<br />
Upon further evaluation, this $3/d plan can entirely separate your driver phone from your personal. Run both p2p apps on Phone 2. Pay only for days you drive.<br />
<br />
Of course, if you drive more often, a monthly plan (prepaid, postpaid, add on to current plan) might be more cost effective. Factor your drive frequency to determine.<br />
<br />
Solution 4- if you drive more often than just a few days a month, Tmobile has a $30/mo prepaid plan that gives you 5 GB at 4G speeds, unlimited text, 100 minutes. The voice and text shouldn't matter because your primary plan was assumed to be sufficient. The longest months have 31 days. At 10 MB/hr, 10 hr/d, you will use 3100 MB. This will fit entirely in the 5 GB plan.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-25699023880846306152014-02-07T17:17:00.000-06:002014-11-10T18:38:38.269-06:00Cheap / free mobile calls over voipshort link<span class="domain"> </span><a href="http://j.mp/1f2Dsmz">http://j.mp/1f2Dsmz</a><br />
Previously, I had used Talkatone to make free outgoing calls over Google Voice via xmpp. On May 15, 2014, Google is dropping support for third party xmpp access. After some research and experimentation, I found this workaround. Perhaps it's cumbersome, but it's a one time setup for ongoing free calls.<br />
<a name='more'></a>Google tells us they are incorporating voice calling into Hangouts. I hear the iphone version already supports this, but the android version is under development. As I only have an android, I am unable to test the iphone implementation. This howto can be adapted to iphone + Hangouts.<br />
<br />
EDIT 2014-03-20-4 20:57-05: I managed to play with an iphone with Hangouts installed. Seems you can indeed originate a call using your GV number over data without using mobile minutes. If this is what Android users can expect when Google implements this in the Android version, then this howto becomes obsolete. I'm fine with that. Fewer apps to manage.<br />
<br />
EDIT 2014-09-10-3 09:52-05: Android has an app GrooveIP that's all in one. Integrates with your native dialer and Google Voice prompts for inbound and outbound calls. No need for a bridge dialer. Instead of calls routing through GV, GrooveIP routes through another carrier ring.to. ring.to has partnered to offer free calls for GrooveIP users. Downside is not being able to set your codec. The chosen codec is a bit heavy on bandwidth. This shouldn't matter on a robust LTE or wifi network. Still, worth a look for its simplicity.<br />
<br />
EDIT 2014-09-10-3 21:03-05: Google finally released Hangouts Dialer for making data calls using your GV number. The feature set isn't as robust, but it's the easiest to use among the options discussed here. Dialer doesn't integrate with dial-aware apps, so there's no click to dial from Maps, Contacts, etc. One needs to copy/paste the number into Dialer. Call history is not searchable nor can one obtain call duration. The history also doesn't integrate with GV's call history. Attempting to view the call detail on the GV app will crash, but viewing call detail on a full website works. <br />
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I use Tmobile's prepaid $30/month plan. It gets me 100 voice minutes and 5 GB data. I only use the voice minutes if I have a weak data signal. Calls are voip'ed as follows:<br />
<ol>
<li>Sign up with a voip carrier. I use callcentric.com . Skip the E911 setup or Callcentric will bill you monthly. If I need E911, I can use my native mobile number. Disable voicemail by "canceling" the service in your dashboard. Otherwise, when Google Voice fowards to your Callcentric, its vm could answer before GV's does.</li>
<li>Setup Direct Inward Dial (DID). Callcentric offers free NY numbers and paid US/intl numbers, or use ipkall.com. ipkall has faster call setup times. With Callcentric's free NY DIDs, the caller hears several rings before my sip client even rings. ipkall rings right through. Downside to ipkall is, they delete inactive accounts after 30 days. The solution is to login to ipkall and/or receive at least one call per month.<br /><br />EDIT 2014-05-23-5 04:19-05: ipkall does not pass the caller ID, so I don't know who's calling. I also discovered Callcentric's DID long call setup times are because my SIP client de-registers. If I re-register, the DID rings through just fine. It also passes caller ID. So, I switched.</li>
<li>Add this DID as a target number in Google Voice. Optionally disable forwarding to your mobile's native number. The downside is, if you're in a poor data area but still have voice service, your sip client won't receive inbound calls. I setup GV to ring both my DID and my mobile native number. Inbound calls will ring both and I choose which to answer.</li>
<li>Install a sip client. I use CSipSimple. It has a setup wizard for Callcentric. ipkall only supports GSM, g711u, g711a. Use GSM if you want to save bandwidth (about 80 kbps bidirectional) or g711 for better quality (about 160 kbps). Even a moderate HSPA link can sustain 160 kbps. 80 kbps consumes 600 kB/min and 160 kbps consumes 1200 kB/min. 500 min of GSM is around 300 MB. 500 min of g711 is around 600 MB. This should fit nicely within data plans measured in GB. Most data networks can comfortably carry g711 traffic. Beware of latency!</li>
<li>Install a callback app. I use Voice+. Search the Play Store for "google voice callback" since searching for "Voice+" doesn't find the app. Configure Voice+ to intercept outbound calls and route to your DID.</li>
</ol>
Outbound calls:
Use your native dialer as usual. Voice+ will intercept the outbound call. GV will call your DID and CSipSimple will ring. Answer and GV will bridge the call to your actual target. From your DID's perspective, it's a free inbound call. Callcentric offers free inbound calls.<br />
<br />
Inbound calls:
Because your callers dial your GV number, GV will ring your native mobile number and/or your DID. Answer on whichever number you choose.<br />
<br />
Only need to tell people your GV number. Your native mobile number and DID are for routing only. Change them at will and you need only update your GV forward targets. No need to inform all your callers of number changes.<br />
<br />
Voila! Now all your calls consume data only and you can switch to a very low minute plan. I use Tmobile $30/mo for 5 GB and 100 min voice.<br />
<br />
If you want to simplify this setup some, skip Voice+ and dial out from CSipSimple. This will require you to buy minutes on Callcentric because they are originating your calls. Still, US and CA calls are $0.0198/min. Other countries have decent rates. Callcentric will let you rewrite the outbound Caller ID. They have a toll free number you call. It rings without answering. Open a support ticket with date, time, your Caller ID and they will add this to your account. They replied to my support ticket within minutes. Now choose your GV number as your outbound Caller ID.<br />
<br />
CSipSimple can optionally intercept outdials from your native dialer. Useful if you place calls from within apps (ie looking up a business in Google Maps and clicking to dial).<br />
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Beware, Callcentric bills $0.0088/min for outdials to US toll free calls. This is minimal, but if you want to avoid this and still originate calls via Callcentric, you can peer through a toll free server. Dial **275*1-8xx-xxx-xxxx . That's the beauty of voip networks. Many networks have peering arrangements with each other, so you can often call people on different voip networks for free.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-53152946736198169652010-05-02T07:31:00.001-05:002014-11-10T18:38:05.530-06:00Hotmail custom From addresses, unknown mobile workaroundFor completeness, I researched how to configure Hotmail to use custom From addresses. Hotmail's implementation has gaps that make it the least desirable of the three email services I reviewed so far (<a href="http://j.mp/bQFKv4">Gmail</a> and <a href="http://j.mp/9LPpau">Yahoo Mail</a> being the other two).<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Hotmail has <a href="http://by143w.bay143.mail.live.com/mail/HelpPane.aspx?project=MailClassic&market=en-us&querytype=keyword&query=erom_nrael&tmt=&domain=by143w.bay143.mail.live.com&format=b1">instructions</a> on how to use custom From addresses but I was unable to find instructions on how to set it up. Turns out, the usage instructions were incomplete. In addition to selecting a predefined custom From address during composition, Hotmail offers "Add an email address" in the From dropdown. Choosing "Add" brings you to the setup page.<br />
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Several things I found glaringly missing or undesirable: you can't edit the alternate addresses once configured. Also, Hotmail's help (linked above) WILL add the Sender header to your mail, making your From field look like:<br />
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From: yourname@hotmail.com on behalf of custom@otherdomain.com<br />
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I was unable to find a way to suppress the Sender header and Hotmail does not offer use of external SMTP servers. I confirmed through several test messages that Hotmail does indeed add the Sender header, which MS Outlook and even Hotmail itself will interpret as "on behalf of".<br />
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On the mobile side, I found no way to originate mail from a custom address. I did not try the Gmail-style forwarding workaround as I don't use Hotmail. Any readers who test this, please comment on your experience.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-54836534968305374592010-05-02T06:43:00.004-05:002012-08-24T15:30:12.792-05:00Mobile Yahoo mail custom "From" addressesPreviously, I posted a <a href=http://j.mp/bQFKv4>workaround</a> for using Gmail's custom "From" feature in nonstandard views. Here I discuss setting up and using Yahoo Mail's custom "From" feature.<br />
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I don't use Ymail as my primary, so I needed to research the steps some. Turns out, Ymail directly supports what I worked around in Gmail.<br />
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Ymail has good instructions on how to <a href=http://help.yahoo.com/tutorials/cg/mail/cg_ext_access1.html>set up</a> custom "From" addresses. You don't even need an external SMTP server and can skip "Step 3 Setup Mail Server". In the few test mails I sent, Yahoo does not add a Sender header like Gmail does. Of course, you're welcome to use an external SMTP server. Configure it per instructions.<br />
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Yahoo Mail also has <a href=http://help.yahoo.com/tutorials/cg/mail/cg_ext_access4.html>instructions</a> on how to use your custom "From" address.<br />
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Where Yahoo Mail excels above Gmail is in the mobile view. After setting up custom addresses, I browsed to Ymail on my phone and composed a message. Mobile Ymail offers a dropdown where I can select the originating address. Much easier and no workaround needed. Ymail directly supports alternate originations.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-26913895708242660302010-05-02T05:31:00.005-05:002012-08-24T15:26:21.729-05:00Mobile, nonstandard Gmail custom "From" addressesIf you use Gmail, you may be familiar with its custom "From" <a href=http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=mail&answer=22370>feature</a>. This feature lets you use your Gmail account to originate mail with an alternate From address, say a business address.<br />
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This is great when composing mail on your desktop, but I found this feature is not directly available in "basic HTML", "mobile web", or from the Android client. Here is a workaround I discovered.<br />
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Gmail makes it straightforward to set up alternate From addresses and their help has more detailed instructions. Because of the available help, this post assumes you have one or more alternate From addresses already configured. It will also assume you have selected a default From address (either your gmail.com one or one of the alternates). This post will detail how to use these alternate From addresses from any view other than "standard" or "full HTML".<br />
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Actually, I do want to elaborate on Gmail's <a href=http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&ctx=mail&answer=22370>help</a>. If you use Gmail's outbound SMTP, Gmail will include a Sender header which contains your Gmail address. Some mail clients (I know MS Outlook and Hotmail do this) will interpret the Sender header into the From field so your mail looks like:<br />
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From: yourname@gmail.com on behalf of customfrom@yourdomain.com<br />
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This can be confusing to some and inadvertently exposes your Gmail address to your recipients. I find this undesirable behavior, but recall reading somewhere in Gmail's help forum this is per SMTP standard. Yahoo Mail's custom From does not do this, which is what I prefer. However, I use Gmail because it has more features I like over Ymail's feature set. More on Ymail's custom From in another blog post.<br />
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Gmail's help does mention optionally using your own outbound SMTP server, but does not say this gets around their Sender header. Most ISPs offer their own outbound SMTP server, which works nicely with Gmail's custom From feature. If you have a registered domain, the registrar may include outbound SMTP or offer it as an add-on. Investigate your ISP or domain registrar if you want to avoid Gmail exposing your gmail.com address.<br />
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When composing mail in any view, Gmail will select the address you designated as default. In "standard view", the compose window has a dropdown box in the From field that lets you select your origination address. In the other views, this dropdown is absent. When might you use the other views? Suppose you're using an older browser and you're stuck with "basic HTML", or if you're browsing from a mobile and are in either "basic" or "mobile" view. Suppose you're using the Android Gmail client. I have not tested this with other views (ie Blackberry, iphone, PalmOS, webOS, other desktop or mobile mail clients). If you have other platforms and can test this, please comment with your experience.<br />
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Here's the workaround: First you must set "When receiving a message" to "Reply from the same address the message was sent to". This is under Settings > Accounts and Import > Send mail as.<br />
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If you now reply or forward a mail sent to a non-default alternate, the reply's From will be properly set. What if you want to originate a new message from a non-default address? The trick is to create dummy messages sent to your alternate addresses, then "forward" these dummies to your actual recipients.<br />
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Create a label that will sort near the top, for quick access, something like "0forward". The leading zero ensures this label will sort near the top, if not AT the top. Now, send a blank message to each of your alternate addresses. If you have more than one alternate, you may want to put the alternate address in the Subject field, to make it easy to identify which dummy message contains which alternate address.<br />
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Gmail has a quirk where if you send yourself mail, even to alternate addresses, these mails may not appear in your Inbox. If you encounter this, you will find your mail in the Sent label. Go there and label each of your dummy messages 0forward.<br />
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Now, any time you want to originate a message from your non-default alternate address, go to the 0forward label, choose the dummy message containing your alternate address, choose Forward. Edit the Subject, fill the To field, overwrite the message body. Because you previously selected "Reply from the same address the message was sent to", this also applies to forwarded mail. Your new mail will now have the desired From address.<br />
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Not sure why Gmail doesn't offer a dropdown or other method to select the From address in nonstandard views. I've submitted this feature request but have received no reply. Hopefully you'll find this workaround useful. Comments welcome!dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-9647877187077733462010-05-02T03:36:00.001-05:002010-05-02T03:54:06.219-05:00Perpetual connectivityAt a recent <a href=http://uniforumchicago.org>Uniforum</a> after-meeting, one of the topics was platform independent, lightweight computing. I commented that since I got an Android phone (HTC Hero), I found myself using it increasingly more than my laptop for certain tasks. These "lightweight" tasks involved email, checking weather, managing to-do lists, taking notes, etc.<br />
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The discussion had moved onto other topics by this time, but I continued thinking about the ramifications of perpetually connected smart devices.<br />
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I noticed myself keeping my phone on my person more, even when at home. It's much more convenient than going to my laptop. It takes even longer to do something useful if my laptop is asleep or hibernating. I've recently become more connected via Facebook and Twitter and having web access from anywhere in the house is very convenient. There's no need to text me anymore as I can receive full email on the same device. If the reply is short, I found myself more likely replying from my phone. Likewise with Twitter comments, which are short by design. I thought I would find the onscreen keyboard on my phone extremely frustrating to use, but am surprised at how fast I can type now. Some of the credit does need to go to the predictive input software. Keyboard design and predictive input I'll discuss in a future post. Longer replies are still more practical typed on a full keyboard on my laptop.<br />
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I'm frequently thinking of ideas and with my phone handy, I can quickly jot a note. Having a perpetually connected device opens up all sorts of possibilities where the note goes afterward. I can keep the note locally or I can save it to the cloud. But where in the cloud? I'm currently trialing <a href=http://snaptic.com>Snaptic</a> as my note app, which lets me save and share my notes. I can email the note to my Gmail account. <a href=http://sites.google.com/site/gdocsforandroid/>GDocs</a> interfaces with Google Docs, which will let me apply formatting and other word processing elements. There are a whole host of other apps. More detailed notes are still more practically entered on my laptop.<br />
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Sometimes, I would see or hear something interesting which may prompt new ideas. I am now able to look up information about them on the spot, wherever I am. Being perpetually connected has helped me learn more. More detailed research is still more practically done on my laptop.<br />
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I stopped watching TV some time ago because I never knew what was on and surfing through all the channels to find nothing interesting was a time waster. I only get broadcast TV, don't have a DVR, and the onscreen guide does not show upcoming events. Now, being able to check listings lets me determine if I want to watch TV. Now, one could claim watching more TV isn't very productive, but I think knowing what's on lets me determine when the next interesting show is on so I can better schedule other things I need to do, or decide if I even want to watch anything. Perhaps my watching habits have become more efficient. I still only watch a few shows, but now I can schedule them better.<br />
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I don't use the CD deck in my car anymore, instead playing music from my phone, either music stored locally or streamed. I'm sure this is nothing new, as portable media players have been around for awhile now, but I haven't seen discussion about mobile streaming music as one's primary music source. Maybe I haven't checked the right places? Sure, early Palm Pre ads featured Pandora, but I'm talking Shoutcast streams. I find Shoutcast more diverse anyway.<br />
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These are just a few examples of how perpetual connectivity has helped improve my life. Have I become more dependent on my phone? Maybe. I see it instead as a new tool to interact with the ever increasing volume of available information. My response to the dependence question is similar to my philosophy about pagers and voice-only phones: I like being able to decide when I am reachable. I can turn off the devices when I don't. Not having the device guarantees my unreachability. For smart devices, I like being able to decide how connected I am. I don't answer all my email immediately.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-27789209973727287862010-04-15T00:14:00.004-05:002010-04-24T21:22:03.608-05:00HP laptop surgery – it lives!Part 3 in the continuing <a href=http://sector0net.blogspot.com/2010/04/renewed-faith-in-hp-compusa-and-best.html>saga</a> of the broken trackpad button.<br />
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Thanks to my friends Phillips the screwdriver, a very well written and illustrated HP service <a href=http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01758220.pdf>manual</a>, outstanding HP design, and my HTC Hero phone (serving as camera), I succeeded in near total disassembly, replacing the top cover, and restoring my laptop to working order. Total surgical time: 1h 40m. I didn't lose any blood or otherwise injury myself, and ended the procedure with no extra screws, wires, or other parts.<br />
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Click each picture for a larger view.<br />
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I have previous experience assembling desktop computers, but with today's cases and components becoming increasingly compact, I have shied away from the prospect. I expected a laptop to be even harder to work on, considering how significantly more compact the components are. This was my first foray into laptop repair.<br />
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Much to my surprise, HP's design is actually very serviceable. I don't have another laptop design to compare, but working on mine was quite a straightforward experience. HP also offers a very detailed and illustrated service manual, which I am most grateful for.<br />
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I started by printing the relevant pages since I had no other computer to view the manual on. I did not realize how involved replacing the top cover was. First I needed to remove the hard drive and optical drive.<br />
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<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/hd_optical_screws.jpg><img height=120
width=160 src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/hd_optical_screws.jpg></a><br />
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I grouped all the screws in the order I removed them to help with later reassembly.<br />
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Next steps were to remove the switch cover (the power and volume control strip across the top of the keyboard) and keyboard. There were several delicate ribbon cables attaching both these components to the mainboard. I was surprised how thin the keyboard is and how short the keys traveled. Most of the laptop's thickness is in the drives, fans, heatsink.<br />
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<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/keyb_on_chassis.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/keyb_on_chassis.jpg></a> <a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/keyb_removed.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/keyb_removed.jpg></a> <a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/button_bar_detached1.jpg><img height=120
width=160 src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/button_bar_detached1.jpg></a> <a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/button_bar_detached2.jpg><img height=120
width=160 src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/button_bar_detached2.jpg></a><br />
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The new top cover:<br />
<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/new_top_cover1.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/new_top_cover1.jpg></a> <a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/new_top_cover2.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/new_top_cover2.jpg></a><br />
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Laptop underside:<br />
<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/underside.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/underside.jpg></a><br />
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Next step involved removing the entire screen. I tried to skip this step, thinking that I could work around it, however, the top cover has a scoop that sits under the screen hinge, so I had to remove the screen after all.<br />
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An intermediate step to removing the screen was to unplug several wires. Atop my screen is a webcam and microphone. Embedded along the frame is the wifi antenna. All these wires needed to be detached from the mainboard. This involved work topside and also underneath. After detaching these wires, I was able to remove the screen.<br />
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<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/screen_detached.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/screen_detached.jpg></a><br />
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The service manual warns to support the screen before removing the 4 screws securing the hinge to the base. I can see why. The screen is actually quite heavy, contributing to much of the laptop's weight. Once I removed the screen, the base was surprisingly light.<br />
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Finally, I could get to work on the top cover. After removing many more screws, I had some difficulty removing the cover. There were some snaps that held it in place. The screw locations in the drawing were also ambiguous, and I could not locate all of them initially. I eventually located all the screws by carefully lifting the cover and seeing where it was still anchored to the base. Cover removed successfully!<br />
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<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/old_cover_removed.jpg><img height=120
width=160 src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/old_cover_removed.jpg></a><br />
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My naked laptop!<br />
<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/mainboard.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/mainboard.jpg></a><br />
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Seating the new cover was also somewhat difficult. I had trouble aligning all the clips and was afraid of cracking the cover if I pushed too hard. I used the screws to gradually seat the cover.<br />
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The reassembly was uneventful, just a reverse of the procedure. Once complete, will it start?<br />
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<a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/assembled1.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/assembled1.jpg></a> <a href=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/assembled2.jpg><img height=120 width=160
src=http://sector0.com/hp_laptop_surgery/assembled2.jpg></a><br />
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Hey! It lives! I completed my first major laptop surgery. No blood was lost, no extra screws or parts left over.<br />
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I must credit HP's escalation department for so willingly working with me to find a viable solution that did not require my laptop to sit in a service shop for a week. They shipped me a top cover overnight, I received it this morning, they did not require me to return the defective part. I think this new trackpad is actually nicer. It has a matte finish which doesn't stick to my finger when I track. The old trackpad was so glossy my finger would occasionally catch when tracking. It was also a notorious fingerprint magnet.<br />
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Credit must also go to HP's design. I expected to fight cramped spaces and tiny screws and to also accidentally drop some screws into hard to reach nooks. I've had this problem on desktops, where the nooks are so small, I can't even fit tweezers in to retrieve a dropped screw. I've also worked on desktops with sharp edges, hence the blood loss. Not so with this laptop! I did not examine the exposed metal edges, but needed to go nowhere near the edges while working.<br />
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I have also reassembled desktops with screws and parts left over. This means I had forgotten to place them during reassembly, which requires a teardown to find where the parts came from. In some cases, I never did figure out where the extra screws were supposed to go. Not so with this laptop! I owe it to the excellent service manual with pictures showing where all the screws go.<br />
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My trackpad button is now working and I am most happy with the experience. Buy HP laptops!dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-14908259658189026982010-04-10T00:29:00.003-05:002010-04-19T23:53:41.062-05:00Renewed faith in HP, CompUSA, and Best BuyMy HP laptop's broken trackpad button <a href=http://j.mp/9lMrZw>story</a> continues....<br />
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HP's escalated support department and Best Buy's Geek Squad have renewed my faith in both companies.<br />
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As mentioned in a previous <a href=http://j.mp/9lMrZw>post</a>, the HP chat support agent referred my case to a Case Manager. The agent still has not emailed me, but a Case Manager did call and email me on Mon Apr 05, so I now have my case number and a single point of contact assigned to my case. Finally, a single person to deal with so I don't need to explain the problem to the next tech who can't read my file. I had been busy for the past few days but was finally able to call the CM yesterday, Thu Apr 08. I was unable to speak to my assigned CM, but the CM who answered the phone took over the case. We had a surprisingly useful conversation and he proposed some viable solutions.<br />
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He did reiterate the repair center's policy of needing the hard disk, but he understood my need to remove mine and ship the laptop without a disk. He noted my file to allow the repair without the disk. I also expressed concerns that 7-9 business days is too long a downtime so he tagged this as an express case, which reduced the turnaround to 3-5 business days. Still a long time.<br />
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I explained the chat agent said if I brought it to a local repair shop that the repair shop would likely charge me for labor. He recommended locally owned shops may charge less than big chains. Unfortunately, HP does not have repair shops everywhere and has only a few centralized shops by region. He did offer to ship me a replacement trackpad (not just the button) and I could either install it myself or have a local shop do it. Wow. I haven't had such service since the early 1990s when my Gateway desktop had a defective part.<br />
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Gateway at the time, without even blinking, offered to ship me a replacement part for me to install myself. Most manufacturers I deal with nowadays don't even want customers going inside the device and will additionally cover the components with "warranty void if removed" stickers. I know, I built computers for a summer job where we recorded all the serial numbers and tagged "void" stickers everywhere. I can understand this policy is to prevent customers from swapping in an already defective part and making a warranty claim. If we received a device for warranty repair, we would check >every< serial number to ensure nothing was swapped out. A bit excessive, I think, especially as someone with some repair expertise. Unfortunately, I have no experience replacing a trackpad and wasn't about to learn any time soon.<br />
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So, the next step was to at least get time and cost quotes from local repair shops. If they were reasonably priced, I'll take HP's replacement trackpad and just repair it locally. If the local cost was too high, I'll take a return shipping box, put my disk in another computer and continue working while HP repairs my laptop. I now had some viable options, much better than the limited option (singular) the chat agent offered.<br />
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I was near a CompUSA and Best Buy today, so I figure why not, I'll get price quotes. Find out just how expensive it'll be. CompUSA quoted me $100, but can turn around the repair in 2 hours. Worst case, end of day. Ok, that's impressive. Replacing a trackpad should take just a few hours, but I realize I'm not the only customer, so I expected they would need to keep my laptop for a few days. $100 is pricy, but I don't know what's involved in this type of repair, so ok.<br />
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My experience at Best Buy was mixed. They will service in-warranty HP laptops for free, but this shop was swamped with repair orders and quoted me a 3 day turnaround. They said the workload varies, so I can try calling ahead to find out how busy they are for that day. I don't know why HP's chat and phone support departments were unable to tell me of this Best Buy's repair center. Not sure if this is general Best Buy policy or if it was this particular location. Still, HP should know these things so they can direct customers to local shops.<br />
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Both repair centers did not need the disk. That's how it should be.<br />
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It's down to time vs money. CompUSA = $100, 2 hours to 1 day; vs Best Buy = free, 3 days, maybe less. Still better than shipping the laptop back to HP. That's ship time plus their 3-5 day repair time. Decisions decisions.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-7946055534888897532010-04-04T03:41:00.002-05:002010-05-02T17:25:08.338-05:00Multifunction mobile devices (MMD, not to be confused with WMD?)The recent iPad hype in the news and this <a href=http://j.mp/9eogx4>flowchart</a> got me thinking about multifunction mobile devices. I saw a TV news story that questioned the need for an iPad when one already has a laptop, mobile phone, digital camera, mp3 player, etc. That's a lot of devices to carry around, but a smartphone combines several of those, lightening the load significantly. I am a recent smartphone supporter, both in concept and device.<br />
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I consider myself a selective early adopter, as in, I'm selective in what I will adopt early, rather than adopting whatever new thing releases, just to be on the bleeding edge.<br />
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I am a long time user of PDAs before they were called such, going back to the Casio BOSS (Business Organizer Scheduling System) and Sharp Wizard in the early 1990s. Prior to that, I used various no-name, keyboard based, PDAs to carry my data with me.<br />
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When USRobotics released their first Palm Pilot line, it came in two versions, 256 kB and 512 kB. It was a major paradigm shift away from the foldover keyboard PDAs or the handwriting recognizing Apple Newton. On the Pilot, you needed to learn its input method, Graffiti. I never owned a Newton because the few times I played with one, the recognition was mediocre and the cost put it out of reach.<br />
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I promptly ordered the Pilot 512 and was quickly downloading apps. This was an example of my early adaptation of an as-yet unproven device format. The Pilot was innovative in letting the user community write apps, making PC sync a breeze, and having a pseudo handwriting recognition system that actually worked. Where the Casio BOSS made it cumbersome to sync data to a PC, the Pilot made sync'ing a breeze with its one-button cradle. Where the Newton had difficulty because of everyone's unique handwriting, the Pilot required you to learn its input script, which I was able to pick up pretty quickly.<br />
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USR kept innovating, and released a few more devices before I upgraded to a Palm3. More RAM (1 MB I think), a sleeker case, and a backlight! I forget what happened, but at the time, my Palm3 had a 3Com tag. My next upgrade was to a Handspring Visor Deluxe with a whopping 8 MB. Handspring continued to innovate the platform, adding Springboard, a cartridge slot for swapping functionality. I acquired the Backup Module, but I recall there being a phone module, a GPS module, maybe some foreign language modules.<br />
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I think around the late 1990s is when Handspring released the first Treo, an integrated phone-PDA, an early smartphone. At the time, I already had a mobile phone and was still happily using the Visor. I did not follow the smartphone's development because if I wanted to upgrade the PDA part, I did not want to be forced to upgrade the phone as well. Perhaps my many years of tinkering with PCs taught me that modularity trumps integration. I can easily swap in new components without needing to ditch the entire machine.<br />
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Smartphones continued to develop, finally integrating such functions as a camera, mp3 player, voice recorder, GPS, web browser, others. I thought such devices had gone overboard. Upgrading any one of the separate functions would require a whole new device. How wasteful. The mobile internet was still underdeveloped at the time and I found browsing on an early Treo very cumbersome. I already had a laptop and a tetherable mobile, which gave me a full keyboard and screen. It was more cumbersome browsing on the PDA than it was lugging around the laptop. I already had a digital camera that was more compact than the PDA and took better quality pictures. I was shopping for an mp3 player, used my mobile's SMS to send myself short notes instead of using a voice recorder, and already had a standalone GPS that I thought worked better than the in-phone GPSs I'd seen.<br />
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For the longest time I eschewed anything smartphone. When Handspring discontinued their Visor line, I bought a model identical to my current one on eBay as a future replacement when mine failed. The new Treos also added a physical keyboard and got smaller in overall size. Having a keyboard take up so much of the device form factor meant ever-shrinking screens, making the browsing experience additionally cumbersome. I felt the keyboard was a step backward from Graffiti. For a long time now, I had replaced Graffiti on my Visor with an alternate input method, <a href=http://www.thumbscript.com>Thumbscript</a>, which allowed for much faster text input. The physical keyboard made me want smartphones even less.<br />
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I was happily using my Visor and non-smart (dumb?) phone when finally my phone died. Up until now, I had been able to obtain the identical model in replacement, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to locate any in sufficient condition. At around this time I had the opportunity to demo a Palm Pre and an HTC Hero. The details of the comparison will be in a later blog entry. I decided I liked the Hero more and ended up keeping it, much to my surprise, being a long time and still current PalmOS user. It's taking me much longer than I thought to migrate my data from the Visor to the Hero.<br />
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Having used the Pre and Hero, I am now a smartphone convert. I was previously concerned about a lack of modularity, but with today's apps, one could upgrade their smartphone's functionality relatively easily. This still doesn't let one upgrade the hardware. If one wanted a higher megapixel camera, one would need an entirely new phone. If one wanted to change mobile carriers, likewise. What I want to see is a more modular phone. Let the user swap out the camera component, or the radio. The browser experience is also much nicer on the Pre and Hero and often I will do a moderate amount of browsing on the Hero without wanting to go to my laptop. The Hero's compactness also makes it much more convenient when I'm out.<br />
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Where do I think the iPad fits in all this? I think the form factor makes the iPad a bit more cumbersome. It's too large to fit in a pocket like a smartphone, but it looks more compact than a netbook and definitely more compact than a laptop (mine, at least). The iPad's functionality isn't up to par with a laptop. I still lug around my laptop because for some tasks, a netbook still won't do. The <a href=http://j.mp/9eogx4>flowchart</a> mentioned in the intro directs one to buy a laptop. For lighter weight tasks, my smartphone is plenty sufficient for now. Ask me again in a year or so, if / when the iPad has time to develop more functionality and / or netbooks become more advanced. Maybe I'll trade my laptop for a netbook before the iPad will develop into something I can use.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-87592197116725093712010-04-03T06:39:00.004-05:002010-04-19T23:49:49.308-05:00Broken HP trackpad button may result in data lossI have an in-warranty HP laptop whose left trackpad button broke today. I contacted support for repair options and they require me to send in my laptop. Estimated turnaround time is 7-9 business days! It gets worse.<br />
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I was using the button per design when I heard an uncharacteristic cracking noise. It appears one of the support pegs broke, leaving the button very loose and difficult to operate. I must push the button near the right edge. Pushing the button on the left edge or center raises the right edge far enough that I can possibly pry off the button with a fingernail. Very bad design.<br />
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HP's website says they have 24/7 chat and phone support. I try the chat first, thoroughly describing the problem and explaining that because I use my laptop for work, I cannot afford extended downtime. The agent says I will need to send my laptop to their service center and estimates I should get my laptop back in 7-9 business days. I said upfront I could not afford extended downtime. It should NOT take 7-9 business days to fix a trackpad button!<br />
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I ask if there is a local repair center where I can bring my laptop for a same day repair. The agent says the warranty will not cover such a repair and I will need to pay the repair center. HP's website also has a look up section to find "authorized partners". I enter my zip code and find such shops as Target and Office Max. Last I checked, these were retail outlets who sell HP products but do not have repair facilities on site. The agent eagerly asked for my zip code and apparently proceeded to do the same search, because his results were the same as mine. I explained these are retail shops and asked for actual repair shops. This was all the info the agent had.<br />
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Ok, fine, if I must send in my laptop, I at least need to remove the hard disk so I can use it in another machine while I wait for the unacceptably long repair. The agent tells me their policy requires me to ship the entire laptop intact. Absent a hard disk, they will return the laptop to me as-is. This is seriously impacting my work! The agent explains they do system tests to ensure the problem won't happen again and to find other potential issues. It's a trackpad button! You don't need my disk to ensure the button won't fail again. Besides, a repair center certainly has plenty of other disks they can use to run their system tests. There is nothing wrong with my laptop and I'm willing to waive the system test.<br />
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I also read in my warranty documents that HP is not responsible for my data. A careless tech could "accidentally" wipe my disk. Yet another reason to remove my hard disk before sending my laptop! Fine, what if I swap out my disk for a blank one? The agent again insists I must ship the entire laptop intact with the original parts or they will return the laptop to me as-is. The agent also could not assure the privacy of my data. That sounds like I have no control over a careless tech connecting my laptop to the internet and whatever "system tests" they run disabling my firewall, opening a free-for-all on my data. I cannot accept this solution.<br />
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The agent offers to escalate my case to a Case Manager, but is unable to provide a case number right now. He says the CM will call me in 2 business days. My schedule is highly variable and it is likely I will be unable to spend much time on the phone so I ask what number can I call to speak with this CM. The agent has no number I can call. If I miss the call, I will need to chat again to request another call. He promises to email me the case number in 2 hours. It has been 4 already. So, my case falls into a hole, with no way for me to refer to it. Tuesday, the CM will call at an inconvenient time and I'll need to start the whole support process over again.<br />
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Maybe I'll have better luck with phone support. I double check the website and yes indeed the phone support is also 24/7. After a surprisingly short hold time, I speak with a phone agent who informs me their system is "updating" and that I need to call back in 6 hours. That's not 24/7 support!<br />
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Considering my recent rapid turnaround with tweeting ATT and on my friend's recommendation, I search Twitter to find a relevant HP user to contact. I sent some tweets at HPsupport. Let's hope I get better service.<br />
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I had hoped for better support. I am a long time user of HP products, not just laptops, but printers (various LaserJets), graphing calculators (HP 48gx!), scanners and generally have been happy with their quality. The way this trackpad button broke is either just an outlier defect or the quality level has tanked significantly. Either way, HP has an opportunity to win back customer satisfaction in a reasonable way – find me a local repair center who can fix the button the same day, or let me remove my disk so I can continue working on another machine. If the latter, they better turn around the repair in much less than 7 because I am already unhappy there's no local center.<br />
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HP, I want to continue liking your products and services. Please help me.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-6823215306457723352010-03-30T19:24:00.008-05:002010-04-19T23:53:02.881-05:00Recent ATT DSL outage – mixed reviewsDialtone went out on Mar 19, 2010. While ATT gets credit for rapid repair once I found the right channel to contact, their followup procedures and internal miscommunications need major work.<br />
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I have had ATT DSL for several years now. When I arrived at my location, I did not have much info about local broadband offerings in my area and just wanted something started. I can always change carriers later.<br />
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The traditional offerings were ATT DSL and Comcast cable. I've had former unpleasant dealings with Comcast TV and broadband and did not want to repeat the experience, so my only choice was ATT DSL. At the time, ATT did not offer dry loop, so they required me to get dialtone on my line. I went with the most basic dialtone service they offered because I wasn't planning on actually dialing out over it. My household had gone all mobile and VOIP years ago. Although ATT now offers dry loop, I've since added a fax machine to my setup and need the line to outdial. For some reason, I am unable to fax over my VOIP. It's on my list of things to fix.<br />
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When ATT did their distance test, they determined I could only get 1.5 Mbps / 384 kbps. Unhappy, but fine, if that's all I can get. I missed my 4 Mbps at my previous location.<br />
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About a year or two ago is when I started noticing line issues. The DSL connection would bounce frequently and when it was up, often it would connect slower than the 1.5 Mbps I was paying for. Numerous complaints to ATT tech support yielded no results. Whenever they tested the line, it was up and at full speed. Intermittent problems are the worst to debug.<br />
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I had tweeted my unhappiness to ATTnews whenever there was an outage. At the time, a search yielded no other ATT Twitter users. A friend had seen a news article about how companies are starting to interact with their customers via social media and unhappy customers were getting faster response by complaining over Twitter. My complaints to ATTnews fell on deaf ears.<br />
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The DSL problems finally culminated on Mar 19, 2010, when my dialtone went out. There was no dialtone at the NID either, which indicated a network issue and not an inside wire one. I called ATT tech support from my mobile to complain and found it interesting they had an automated trouble ticket system to report no dialtone. The auto system promised a 24 hour resolution. I have my doubts, but we'll see. Meanwhile, I complained via Twitter. Now there appeared to be several other ATT users, namely ATT and ATTCustomerCare.<br />
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I was still able to get intermittent DSL service, albeit much slower and still bouncing. I called DSL tech support, hoping they could look into this in case it was separate from the dialtone issue. The DSL rep informed me the dialtone needed to be restored first, then they could investigate the DSL issue.<br />
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To my great surprise, I received a tweet reply from a service rep asking me to DM my account details. I investigated the profile to ensure they weren't phishing my info, and determined this rep appeared legit.<br />
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Less than 24 hours later, a field tech arrives and restores my dialtone. This is the fastest turnaround in my experience with ATT. Speaking with ATT tech support, I learned the problem was a ground fault on an aerial cable. The rep was unable to provide any more info.<br />
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This did not solve my DSL issue. Still bouncing, but otherwise behaving like it was. I suppose I was no worse off. I again complained on Twitter and got useful replies. Props to ATT for trying.<br />
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At about this time, two ATT customer reps started calling my mobile. They wanted to follow up to see if the issue had resolved. I left a message with one of the reps informing them the dialtone issue was resolved and of my intermittent DSL issue. No reply, but another field tech came out. Apparently, he was here to fix the dialtone issue, not aware that the dialtone was already restored. I informed this field tech of the intermittent DSL issue and he offered to test my outside lines. He discovered another ground fault in the lines in my back yard. He determined this was a latent issue and said it would likely manifest when it had recently been raining. The issue was also degenerative and might not have been discovered sooner because it had not gotten bad enough. He said I was likely to hear static on my voice line too. The field tech offered to rerun my signal over another wire pair and said that should clean up the voice and DSL quality. When he was done, he ran a line test and determined it was capable of 3 Mbps! Finally, after years of slow and spotty service, the issue was finally resolved.<br />
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ATT had done a lot to restore my confidence in their service if it weren't for what happened afterward. These two ATT customer reps continued calling me, apparently unaware of the issue status. On Mar 24, they send out a third field tech. This was highly disruptive! I informed this tech both the dialtone and the DSL issues were resolved. I tweeted saying the problem was fixed, please stop calling me and instead to contact me via the email address on file. This was Mar 26, 2010. One day later, still no reply.<br />
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I expect a national ISP to be able to read their own files, listen to their voicemail, and realize the issue was resolved. That was not the case. Apparently, it's too hard for a <b><i>*communications*</i></b> company to communicate interdepartmentally. These two reps continued calling, and even sent out a third field tech! Two ATT Twitter reps asked for the best email address where they could reach me. Again I told them to read my file. My address is on file. The field techs were able to find my location from my file. No one asked for my street address. The service reps found my mobile number in my file and should likewise be able to find my email address in the same file.<br />
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Finally, I get an email from one of the phone reps on Mar 29, a full 3 days after I requested email contact.<br />
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So, bottom line? I'm glad ATT is trying and they get credit for the fast response time after a tweet. Their miscommunication between departments after the issue had resolved and their inability to look up an email address in my file is just terrible.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8186752148976587725.post-50476938875019985422010-03-29T02:58:00.004-05:002010-05-02T17:26:21.897-05:00dizzying selection of customization optionsMy first foray into blogging and I spend two hours perusing all the customization options Blogger offers. I did have some meaningful things to say, but now I'm too tired.<br />
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Over the next few days, weeks, who knows how long, this site's layout is likely to change while I decide how I want it to look. People who know me know this process can take a long time as I can get picky about things. I am already unhappy with how much blank space there is on either side of the content. Yes, I am aware Blogger offers different templates that do fill in the full width of the browser, but I don't like the fonts. Yet more things I'll need to customize.<br />
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What? Gadgets? 2100+ of them? Maybe that's why it's taken me so long to start blogging: too many customization options distracting me from actually writing. This isn't a complaint as customization is good.dcnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13724820280193901647noreply@blogger.com0