Troubleshooting iPhone Reception Problems

When I first started using my iPhone I was having some major problems with getting consistent cell reception, I ended up having to send it back to Apple for repairs, but there are a few things you can try before that.

Reset Network Settings: Go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings (Confirm prompts to reset).
Turn Airplane Mode on and then off: Settings -> Turn Airplane Mode on -> Turn Airplane Mode off.
Restoring the iPhone: Open iTunes with your iPhone connected and hit Restore (mainly if you’re having problems with a jailbroken iPhone).
Eject your SIM card: Eject the SIM card using a paperclip and then reinsert the card (the idea is that the card isn’t making proper contact).
Add some tape: Eject your SIM card and remove it from the tray, next add a small piece of scotch tape to the tray (under where you place the SIM card), reinsert the SIM card in the tray and load it into the phone. Again, the idea is this forces it to make a better connection.
Swap your SIM card: You might just have a bad SIM card, swing by AT&T and have them swap it out for a new one.

And if all that fails, it’s time for a call to Apple iPhone Support @ 1-800-MY-IPHONE (1-800-694-7466).

iTunes Error -9808

A friend of mine suddenly couldn’t access the iTunes Store after upgrading to the latest version, every time he tried to purchase something he kept getting the following error:

“We could not complete your iTunes store request,an unknown error occurred (-9808)”

I couldn’t find anything online about it, so here’s how we fixed it under Windows XP. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Internet Options -> Advanced Tab, make sure that both the SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 options are checked. Then under Security make sure that the “Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)” is unchecked. Then click ok, restart and fire up iTunes.

Prolonging the Life of Your Laptop

Spending a large amount of time in various coffee shops has given me the opportunity to observe quite a few people breaking basic rules of laptop care, probably due to the fact that no one ever told them that what they were doing was stupid.

Here are five tips for prolonging the lifespan of your laptop computer. Please note, this list is merely in the order I thought of them and not necessarily ranked by severity.

[ 1 ] Don’t put your computer in standby, or worse leave it on, and then put it in your carrying case/messenger bag! Even if it’s only a five minute drive to your local coffee shop.

[ 2 ] Don’t close the lid while the laptop is still on. Planning on leaving your laptop on all night to finish that illegal BitTorrent download? Take the time to turn the screen off in your power prefs (or using the functions keys on your laptop to dim the screen) and leave the lid open. Closing the lid causes heat that would normally escape through the keyboard to build up and could damage your screen in the long run.

[ 3 ] Don’t use your laptop on a bed, blanket, pillow, or any surface that your laptop is going to sink into. This blocks the airflow to cooling vents on most laptops, leading to heat issues.

[ 4 ] Don’t eat or drink around your laptop. Pretty obvious, right? Yeah, but I still break it almost every day (in fact, I’m breaking it right now!). And because I ignored this rule my laptop was killed a few months ago by a poorly placed glass of iced coffee *sniff*

[ 5 ] Don’t run with scissors, right? Same applies to laptops

Installer.app Crashing

If you have problems with Installer.app suddenly crashing when you’re trying to install new software, fear not! Here’s the quick and easy way around that. This solution should apply to any firmware version, however I’ve only tried it on 1.1.3.

It has to do with not having enough free space, so first you’ll need to uninstall a few applications, then download BossTool (under the Utilities category).

Next, open BossTool and click “Free Disk Space”.

Now hit the “Relocate Applications” button, you’ll see a pop up asking you to confirm, do so and let it do it’s thing.

After it’s completed head back over to Installer.app and try installing several new applications, it should work just fine now.

Cutting Monthly Costs

Take an hour, sit down and go through your monthly expenses, gather your bills from the past few months and figure out what you can cut out in order to save yourself money. For example, I canceled my satellite radio, and switched to a text messaging plan with fewer monthly texts to save money a total of $23.75 a month.
The more you’re willing to sacrifice the more you can save, some things you may consider for cutting costs

• Cable
• Online gaming (Xbox live, WoW, etc)
• Magazine/newspaper subscriptions
• Movie rental subscriptions (Netflix, Blockbuster Online)
• Gym membership you never use

Of course with things like Blockbuster online, you might actually be saving yourself money instead of renting locally or going to the movies in theater, so take that into account.

Next, take that money you were already spending each month and put it into a savings account (see: Longterm Savings Growth).

An Illustrated Guide to Coffee

I love coffee, but that doesn’t mean I have a clue what goes into most of the drinks I consume.

Well, now you can find out at a glance just what was in that Caffe Mocha you just ordered, thanks to Lokesh Dhakar’s “Coffee Drinks Illustrated” an illustrated coffee guide. Simplistic, yet brilliant work. Even if you don’t drink much coffee it’s worth a look, pretty interesting stuff.

Free Internet Anywhere (cell reception required)

Today, I present to you, in it’s entirety, the quick and easy (mild case of nerdiness required) way to rock the free internet scene with your cell phone.

And now, after building up your hopes… I shall cruelly dash them against the sharp rocks below! Here’s what you’ll need to get this to work.

• Phone: Motorola E815, Razr v3, V710*,
• Computer: Any Mac running OS X 10.4 with Bluetooth
• Provider: Alltel (although rumor has it that a Verizon account/phone with mobile web service does the trick as well)

Note: Verizon ships its phones with dial-up networking disabled, due to the fact they are jerks. To enable it, enter ##DIALUP on your phone. That‚Äôs ##342587. You’ll need to type it in as quickly as possible for it to work. The phone will show a confirmation once you‚Äôve successfully enabled dial-up networking. As logic would dictate, doing this again will disable your new found dial-up networking. This only works with older versions of the firmware, so if you have a newer phone with current firmware you’re out of luck (unless you want to downgrade your firmware).

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