netflix plugin manual install for windows 7 media center

http://bit.ly/3p938l

set up dd-wrt with overplay vpn to the US

I was able to use the below config to only have one network in my home where some traffic is excluded from the tunnel to overplay (i.e. corporate, etc)

 

This way, my dd-wrt is able to send all traffic via US while making sure my local traffic go directly via my local ISP

After every reboot, it takes approx 2 mins for everything to set up properly by itself

 

This guide is mostly taken from http://www.overplay.net/blog/dd-wrt-overplay-pptp/

But it wasn't working initially for me and I had to change it a bit to make it work

 

dd-wrt:

Services -> VPN

Enable PPTP client:

Next to 'Server IP or DNS Name' enter 174.36.153.138 (west US)

Next to 'Remote Subnet' enter '10.20.0.0'.

Next to 'Remote Subnet Mask' enter '255.255.0.0'.

Next to 'MPPE Encryption' enter 'mppe required,no40,no56,stateless'

Next to 'MTU' enter '1450'.

Next to 'MRU' enter '1450'.

Enable 'NAT'.

Enter your OverPlay username and password into the 'User Name' and 'Password' boxes.

Click 'Save', and then 'Apply Settings'.

 

Then, under Administration -> Commands, enter:

(192.168.1.1 is the gateway that your dd-wrt connects to for internet)

(130.57.0.0/16 is the network to be excluded from the tunnel)

 

rm /tmp/overplay.sh

echo "sleep 60" > /tmp/overplay.sh;

echo "route add -host 174.36.153.138 gw 192.168.1.1" >> /tmp/overplay.sh;

echo "route add -net 130.57.0.0/16 gw 192.168.1.1" >> /tmp/overplay.sh;                     

echo "route del -net 0.0.0.0/0 gw 0.0.0.0" >> /tmp/overplay.sh;

echo "route add -net 0.0.0.0/0 gw 10.20.0.1" >> /tmp/overplay.sh;

echo "iptables -t nat -I POSTROUTING -o ppp0 -j MASQUERADE" >> /tmp/overplay.sh;

chmod +x /tmp/overplay.sh;/tmp/overplay.sh &

 

Hit save startup, then reboot

android wifi tethering for sony xperia x10

I installed Barnacle Wifi Tether and then in settings i set athwlan0 as the LAN port. 

Another iPad limitation, no file attaching in browser

how to change swipe orientation on xperia x10

just touch the top part of the arc .at the very tip of it and swipe it the opposite way and it will move for  you.As for answering a call i also would like a shortcut without swiping

a true iPad killer

It doesn't exist yet.

A true iPad killer can easily exist:
- 10 inch screen
- much lighter, soft touch plastic back ala nexus one
- usb port and card reader for transferring files in
- cloud synching with google services
- multitask!!!!!
- light ARM based CPU, a tegra or snapdragon
- 1-2GB of ram
- Battery of at least 5 hours, the max a person will use it at any one time.
- Android

Once this exist, I will sell iPad and will not turn back

ipad month 1

Following my previous rants (http://t3ch-sp0t.blogspot.com/2010/05/ipad-day-1.html), I think I have settled on my final impressions on the ipad.

I am not that angry anymore on my inability to easily copy over my music, videos, data, and basically anything I want to consume that I already own pre buying the ipad.

I've basically given up on holding it like I envisioned I would when I bought it.
Apple's decision to make it an aluminium tablet is typical style over substance that unfortunately typifies Apple's approach nowadays.
As long as the item is shiny, it is enough to get you on the impulse buying side of your brains.
There is no justification in actually using an aluminium construction.
It weighs it down, it reduces reception, and it is bloody cold on your skin on a typical winter day.
iPad is too heavy to be used for a long time comfortably due to cosmetic reasons alone.

I've also given up on trying to multitask on the thing even with the help of Backgrounder from the jailbreaking community.
The paltry ram on it (256MB) is too small beyond belief.
The iPad has to draw about 4 times more pixels on the screen and it has the same amount of memory as the iPhone 3GS, and half of the high end Android smartphones!
Half the RAM of a smartphone..,. and let that word sync in...
So Apple splashes on the aluminium back while skimping back on the amount of RAM that you can get on the iPad.

What does the lack of RAM means to a typical user?
Open up 3 web tabs, exit, run a game, chat, or whatever, go back to your web browser, and what do you know, the pages needs to be reloaded again. Lucky you if you have unsaved form or email on that browser.

However, among the dark clouds there are a few ray of light that brighten the landscape a little bit though not enough...
Some apps are brilliant, like Air Video which solves my movie converting problem hands down elegantly
A1 and Atomic Web Browser that saves me from the awful browsing experience of Mobile Safari, and Backgrounder from the jailbreaking community that saves me from the insanity of reopening my document from scratch every time.

I have pretty much given up having the ipad as a photo and music hub, the process of connecting to itunes to transfer every single time puts me off it.
In the age of cloud and wireless synching, what does Apple do?
Bans it off the App store of course.

Here's Apple's philosophy for you:

We want you to live the way we tell you to, we know what's good for you...
Everybody else that threatens to give a credible alternative to what we provide you deserves to be destroyed with impunity
As long as it is shiny it is good...

iPad, hardly a magical and revolutionary device

xperia x10 make generic and update process hutchison 3 australia

Get the generic firmware from here

http://www.xperiax10.net/2010/04/14/debrand-your-xperia-x10-tutorial/ 

Use the US one

Follow the instruction here

http://www.xperiax10.net/2010/04/14/debrand-your-xperia-x10-tutorial/comment-page-1/#comment-309

Basically we are tricking the phone to flash the generic version to debrand the handset causing it to be able to receive update

enable dxva on windows 7 with pure codec

http://iphonedaily.net/other-news/hardware-acceleration-h264-movie-hdtv-low-cpu-usage.html

ipad day 1

Just got the ipad last night, and here's what I think after a few hours of playing around with it.

Hardware

It's great, but you would know that from reviews on the web, newspaper, etc. 

Still dangerously slippery at the back, the only safe scenarios when using this is leaning back on the sofa, one leg on another, steve jobs style 

Thickness of the bezel is perfect to put your fingers on, but there should be way to indicate where the volume rockers are as the device has no real way of 

showing up down left or right.

If someone could stick a velcro strap at the back where you can slide your hands across ala old camcorders, it would solve the grip issue I'm having with the ipad.

It feels like trying to hold on to a slippery eel.

Screen is perfectly sharp, just like my macbook pro, it's basically a high end led backlit display panel, so no complaints there.

Interface

If you have used an iphone before, then you would be at home.

Unfortunately, if you are frustrated at how wildly inconsistent some of the UI design across multiple apps are, then you will be even more frustrated here.

There is no clear convention of where things should be, on how go to hit the "menu" button

It feels a lot like an old adventure point and click game where you pixel hunt all the time, only this time it's four times as hard.

Coming from an android user, I really miss the back and menu button.

Instead of trying to find where an on screen button should be, why can't I just hit the menu button and expect the menu to pop up, no matter which app I 

am currently running.

And to have that big gaps between apps on the ipad screen is a major miss from Apple.

The ipad could have had a lot more displayed on the screen, or they could make the icons bigger and display more info, say your next appointment on your calendar,

your first unread email on your email icon, the forecasted weather on the weather icon, missed calls, it could have been so much more.

The iphone interface is good on a small screen, on a big screen it's stupid.

I mean look at the amount of wasted space here

The gaps actually are bigger than the icons!

App Store

Apple app store still has the most number of apps, especially games, albeit missing a lot of apps due to being rejected by Apple.

I explained that in my android versus iphone review, so I'll leave it at that for now

iphone versus android

But the most annoying problem I have with it at the moment is:

- why can't I stay on the app page after purchasing/downloading one?

Let's say you are browsing for a particular app going through the "most downloaded app" page, let's say I found two apps on page 3.

When I click download and install on the app, it jerked me out of the page install the app and left me there.

If I go back to the app store, I will be back to the main app store page again.

That, to say it mildly, is bullshit.

The walled garden experience

Using the iphone OS on the ipad is akin to living in a high walled castle with golden walls, great food, and comfy bed.

The place may be nice and shiny, the food maybe good and expensive, and the bed is a Sealy 5 star. But you're not going anywhere fast.

Sure, by locking yourself up you will be protected from the sometimes malicious world out there. Sure your servants can pamper you all day long, 

but it's still a prison.

Let me give you some examples:

- Just synched the ipad, i got a few photos on my dropbox account and my nas that I want to sync to the iphone.

So you download the dropbox app, and copy the photos over right?

WRONG! You would need to copy the photo to iphoto on your mac, sync it to itunes (prison warden), which will then sync it to your ipad.

What if you have more photos on your memory card? Same thing, copy to iphoto, sync with itunes, then to ipad.

- What about music you say? You have neatly organised folder with playlist on your nas, and want ipad to play it back, surely it's a matter of 

opening your nas share and copying to your device so your device can pick them up? Yeah... fat chance

- OK, let's say someone emailed me a pdf document 200 pages long, and I want to read it.

So I open up the mail client, open up the attachment and start reading.

Halfway through I realised I'm not gonna finish the document in one sitting, I can surely save the document somewhere right?

I mean I have 64gb of storage after all...

HAHA (Nelson's laugh from the Simpsons), ipad does not allow you to save a document anywhere

- I can go on with previously purchased ebooks, personal word documents, videos, and they all ended up the same, in tears...

The castle may be great and all, but I still prefer the fresh air of the outside world.

Salvation may just be around the corner, we could always break out of jail...

vintage microsoft #epicfail

Kin one and two

http://www.engadget.com/2010/05/05/kin-one-and-two-review/

Telstra Nexus One Android MMS setting

Press 'Menu'.
Tap 'Settings'.
Tap 'Wireless Controls'.
Tap 'Mobile networks'.
Tap 'Access Point Names'.
Press 'Menu'.
Tap 'Add APN'

Now key in the following settings:

Name: internet
APN: telstra.internet

Press 'Menu'
Tap 'Save'

Press 'Back'.
Press 'Menu'.
Tap 'Add APN'

Name: Telstra MMS
APN: Telstra.mms
MMSC: http://mmsc.telstra.com:8002
MMS proxy: 10.1.1.180
MMS port: 80
APN type: mms

Press 'Menu'
Tap 'Save'

nexus one video setting

I'm also using Handbrake for converting my movies for all my Android-Devices. They are working perfectly on my Hero and on my new Nexus One.

These are my settings (Profile)

Container
MP4-File

Picture
- Width = 320 - 800 (choose what you prefer, I mostly chose 720)
- Keep Aspect Ratio = On
- Anamorphic = None

Video Filter
- Detelcine and Decomb = Default
- the rest only whenn needed. I chose 'Off'

Video
- Video Codec = H.264 (x264)
- Quality = Constant Quality RF22 (higher = smaller filesize but in loose of quality)

Audio
- Audio Code = AAC
- Mixdown = Stereo
- Samplerate = 44.1
- Bitrate 160
- DRC = 0

Advanced
insert this line in the settings field at the bottom and hit enter:
8x8dct=0:bframes=0:cabac=0:no-fast-pskip=1:analyse=all:weightb=0:me=umh

HTC Desire keyboard for Nexus One

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=624416

Why Nexus One (Android) is better than the iPhone

Following the original nexus one reviews in Gizmodo and Engadget, I decided to do an updated review comparing it with iPhone 3GS. Basically whether you should switch to an Android device from an iPhone. Or if you're shopping for a new device, whether you should get an Android instead.

I wouldn't rehash the reviews that are already done on the web.
If you want some background on nexus one, check out the reviews on Gizmodo and Engadget
http://gizmodo.com/5443835/nexus-one-review
http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/04/nexus-one-review/

Please do note that the reviews above have an iPhone bias associated with them, i.e. doing things not the iPhone way is wrong.

I was a longtime iPhone users, I imported the original iPhone 2G from the States, and was part of the early jailbreaking/unlocking crowd. Back in the day, this was mostly a command line affair, unlike the current single click GUI solution.

Anyway, after using three successive iPhones (2G, 3G, 3GS), I started to notice the deficiencies with them, and the fact that they have largely been ignored by Apple.

Apple's method is to do things one way that satisfies 80% of its potential customers needs. For the remaining 20%, or for some people who wanted to do things a bit differently, it's basically tough luck.

Apple locks the device experience and allows zero customisation on its device with the intention of reducing complexities associated with the device.
This works, as evidently shown by the sales figure of iPhones .
However, customisations are essential to make sure a phone suits the user, instead of the users getting used to the idiosyncrasies of the phone. With the iPhone, I never felt that the phone fits me 100%, or do things the way I want it to. It's always around 80% there and no more, and there's nothing I can do to change that.

A few examples:
- A lack of multitasking
This is a big one, for most users this won't matter. However, in some situations, let's say you are chatting on the go, and you needed to check something on your browser, or you want to listen to streaming radio at the same time. On the iphone, this is not possible (sans jailbreaking and stuffing around with Backgrounder).
Or, let's say you are in the middle of your app and a call comes in, let's hope that you save often, or your app is smart enough to do so otherwise you'll lose everything you've done so far on the app.

- Lack of customisation
Don't like the stock keyboard? Wish you can type in numbers without switching screens? Keep looking. Wish you could change the sms app not to auto pop up everytime or to give you a different notification sound or to delete during the pop up. No way, jose. Want to display your upcoming appointments without going to the calendar app? Good luck. Want to turn off wifi, change brightness, turn on/off bluetooth without going through 10 clicks? You're out of luck.
I could go on, but I think you get the idea

- No notification system
Technically, there is one. However, it's an equivalent of a child crying for your attention and stopping everything that you do.
Working on a long email, or listening to music on your down time? Well, you better get used to the constant annoying pings and pop ups from all sources.
Android does this elegantly by showing up on the notification bar on the top.
Again, you can customise it so that it behaves like the iPhone if that's your cup of tea. Going back to the second point, the lack of customisation is sometimes embarrassing as some feature phones have more customisation options than the iPhone.

- No widget support
Want to quickly check the latest cinema time, while checking the latest tweet, news, and sms AT THE SAME TIME?
Try and see if you do all the things above in less than 15 seconds on an iPhone and without popping in and out of 10 different apps.
In Android, you can have all this in 1 screen, on your main screen, or just one sweep away.
Other example of widgets: media player, email, weather, appointments, and the list goes on.

- Too much control
One of a great thing about Android is the variety of the app. Basically almost everything on the app can be customised including the main screen. Apple forbids this so your iPhone will look the same with 10 million other iphone users out there.
You're basically stuck with what Apple gave you.
Apple also controls the apps that are being posted on the App store.
Let's say some dude came with a really cool way to read your sms on your iphone. Too bad, since it's duplicating the functionality that the iPhone SMS app already provides, you can't have it.
Basically, Apple exerts too much control over the app development community.


There are many more things, however the list above summarises most of the advantages of Android compared to the iPhone.
I may do another piece on this in the future when I have the time.

android main man cyanogen

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=5490371&postcount=919

htc keyboard on android 2.0+

http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php/How_to_install_HTC_Keyboard

Check out what he did with my bike... the Mongoose Maurice 2010

One gear No idea from chris akrigg on Vimeo.

Why the iPad is perfect for most users

After going through Apple iPad keynote from Steve (link on Apple website), and getting over my  initial disappointment with the iPad I have finally justified why the iPad purchase is a no brainer:

1. Price, at USD499 and probably AUD599 the base model of the iPad is priced perfectly.

It is cheap enough as an impulse buy

2. eBook reader, many people lambasted the lcd screen as an ebook reader as it will definitely give you an eyestrain over hours of reading time. However, after pondering it for a while, I realised that most people only read in short spurts.

We have a lot of distractions daily and I could never find a solid 2 hours where I read continuously at any one time.

Most of the time, you read when you commute, in the loo, or just during a lazy weekend afternoon.

There are many instances when I was using my sony ebook reader that I wished I could google or youtube a particular term that was mentioned in the ebook. The iPad would be perfect for all this.

Or let's say, I am in a park with my iPad, when I just don't feel like going through a particularly boring chapter in a book, I can watch an episode of Family Guy instead.

3. This would easily replace my lame digital picture frame, just have the iPad docked.

4. let's say on one weekend, a couple of friends showed up at your door, and decide to watch Footloose.

Sometimes you just don't feel like downloading or ripping a particular movie as you just want to watch it once and it takes too long to download (not to mention that it is illegal). It would be easy just to rent a particular movie on iPad and start watching.

5. Updating facebook, blogging, and twittering at home would be a dream on this device too

In a nutshell, the price and battery life are crucial. Price wise they nailed it, battery life wise it needs to last betweem 5:30PM when I get off from work and 12:00AM when I go to bed. And it needs to last with one single charge under heavy usage too...