Last Modified April 18, 2012 @ 8:18 am
d9629a9ab7bba087848a537c3c8dbaa1
My name landed in the paper for the first time in a while since I was a kid throwing snowballs at my brother. A story relating to a major widespread outage of Comcast TV/Internet services throughout Delaware County had contributions by me. I was contacted by a reporter regarding the outage and how it impacted the services of the email/web related services with regards to Vazoom (www.vazoom.com)
Comcast you still rock!
http://delcotimes.com/articles/2012/04/18/news/doc4f8e26c2cf89c830961629.txt?viewmode=fullstory
Last Modified March 15, 2012 @ 10:50 am
bd53231f6d2a1f1b320a82adc6629d53
Gazing into the night sky reminds me of the neat space illustration books I had when I was a kid. I believe one of my first ideas on what I wanted to be when I got older was an astronaut. I loved my toy space shuttles. Last night I peeked up into the sky for the second night in a row and viewed Jupiter and Venus.
There is a great program called Google Sky Map that you can download to your smart phone which acts as your binoculars into spectacular views of stars and planets surrounding our world. Simply install the program and point your device up as if it were your eyes and you will be amazed at how accurate it is.
Jupiter and Venus appear to be in close proximity to one another once every 24 years according to Space.com. The last time they appeared this close in view to use was in 1988. The graphic below from Solar System Live gives an idea of how we are view the two planets from our standpoint.
Solar System March 15, 2012
Using the Google Sky Map program while pointed toward Venus and Jupiter with my phone, I snapped a screen shot image from my Android. Pretty neat!
My Screen Capture Using Google Sky Map of Venus and Jupiter on March 14, 2012
I also snapped a very low quality pic from March 14, 2012 looking up at the two planets.
Low Quality View From Camera Phone
Filed Under (House, News) by admin on 09-03-2012
Last Modified March 9, 2012 @ 10:25 am
b2b19867cc412a3ccb3bca0f2fba4179
Hey everyone! I realize have been neglecting the site however I am in the process of posting a bunch of items related to projects on the house. I actually just updated the About section a bit. Any section that I touch will come up in the Recently Updated section shown on the homepage of the site. There have been many projects since my last postings where a new paver walkway was installed.
Some of the projects include:
New Decorative Border Along Front Walkway Front Yard Areas
Planting New Bushes and Shrubs
Laying Concrete Foundation for new Stone Veneer Decorative Columns at Entrance
Installation of New Fence in Backround and Removal of Stumps
Filed Under (Tech Stuff) by admin on 29-11-2011
Last Modified November 30, 2011 @ 4:35 pm
b330c6679fb1bc66a4fd3a3f1ff45794
If you happen to have one of the new Android phones such as the HTC Amaze or even the Samsung Galaxy SII which happens to be my new phone 
.. you may be surprised to find that even though you pay for a “unlimited data” package of either 2GB or even 5GB with massive throttling of under 56K modem speeds thereafter you won’t be allowed to make your phone a wireless hotspot without adding a $15 package on top of your existing plan. But before you upgraded from your other Android phone you were ok. Don’t cry just yet or get angry even though you feel being billed twice for something you already pay for seems a bit unfair….there are plenty others who feel the same frustration.
So how do they know that you are attempting to use a computer as opposed to your phone to conduct Internet functions you might ask?
One way is due in part to a custom application running within the Android OS called TetheringManager which monitors the status of the this hotspot functionality on the phone itself. A detailed look into the application package content show references to AT&T and Tmobile’s online splash notification pages.
…TetheringManagerService$ShowNotificationDialogATT ….
…TetheringManagerServic$eShowNotificationDialogTMOBILE …
This results in an unsubscribed user being redirected to the splash screen shown below (Tmobile example).
It’s quite simple to get around this obstacle and it involves first rooting your phone or gaining higher priviledges which voids your warranty however opens up a world of possibilities for backing up your applications and doing lots of other tweaking nerdiness.
The process of getting root access is very easy and a simple search for your phone type and the word root access will typically yield good directions.
Once root access is obtained download a quick program like System Tuner from the Google Marketplace. (System Tuner requires you to turn on USB Debugging which is found under SETTINGS > APPLICATIONS > DEVELOPMENT)
Once you open System Tuner click System Apps located at the top and scroll down until you find TETHERINGMANAGER. Click it and then select Freeze located at the bottom. You should now be in business and able to browse the web without being asked to add on a package. This may violate the terms of your agreement with T-Mobile so user beware. Don’t abuse the use of it and pay your bills on time!
Filed Under (News) by admin on 23-08-2011
Last Modified August 24, 2011 @ 9:15 am
0ccfecc3387575f5c0fa3cac8e734112
An earthquake which just occurred outside of Richmond, VA is being told to be a magnitude 5.9 5.8. I was sitting in a lunch room with a couple of coworkers here in King of Prussia, PA when all of a sudden the floor started shaking. My initial thought was that a large truck had driven on by.
Cell phone service is currently down at least with my carrier T-Mobile. A few minutes ago I completely received no bars and my phone now states that it is January 5, 1980 at 7:24 PM. See picture below!
No Service and Wrong Time After Earthquake 8-23-2011
I had a co-worker take a picture of my phone. That’s kind of funny. If aliens are invading the planet your cell phone will do no good. Run!!
Filed Under (News, Travel) by admin on 01-07-2011
Last Modified July 1, 2011 @ 1:10 pm
866165059ca58e47de41e108a7acaf26
Back into the swing of things from the vacation to Puerto Rico which was awesome and there are many little projects around the house. Hopefully I will be posting some pictures of the following projects which have been completed or are in the process of being completed of course thanks in part to this girl named Vanessa!
a) Removed old plants and installed wall and new plants along both the side and front of the house
b) Had all trees and foliage removed from the backyard
c) Constructing new stone veneer ledges along the entry to my house
d) Negotiated with backyard neighbor to schedule the replacement of the rotted fence
Nerd #1
Nerd #2
El Morro Fort in Puerto Rico. Was blazing hot!
