Archive for the 'Tech Review' Category

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iPhone 3G Stuck Pixel Solution

Well, we all new this day would come… I have re-invested in another black, sleak and sexy 8GB iPhone…

Thus far this is my 3rd iPhone, dating back to my original purchase back in 2008, where i discovered that the iPhone was a slight dissapointment, part apples fault for extremlypoor software and part O2 (UK) for having such a piss poor network around my area (3G, Yea where !). Well that one went back, i had no intention of paying out £35 a month for a phone which hardly worked and a network which hardly delivered…

Introduce 2nd iPhone, purchased on the 4th April 2008 (yea, i know what you thinking… eh?)… Well, this one was purchased with the 100% intention of cracking the hell out of it and running it on Orange (who my current contract is with and who have a dam fine network everywhere iv ever been)… Alas a wrench was thrown into these works by Apple’s new modem firmware (Baseband) update which was rolled out in 2.2.1, rendering the Yell0wSnow cracking application useless… so this one was reduced to being a very expencive paperweight, but served a good use, in that I could play around with the phone again, see if the original software bugs had been ironed out.

Alas this unit suffered a fate worse than the simple ‘return within 14 days’ i had planned for it, after a bit of a cleaning session with the ‘Apple supplied cleaning rag’ part of the screen has completly stopped working. Apparently this is quite a common problem, and apple are very kind in their replacement of defective units. But, given i was planning on returning it anyways, I cant really say i care hehe !

Well, onto number 3… After being dissapointed with number 2 (I know it wasnt its fault, how could it resist the giant imaging machine giving birth to its 2.2.1 firmware update)… I looked to where I purchase all my goodies these days, eBay !

And what did I find, a kind soul selling unlocked iPhones for £20 less than O2 were selling them instore, the chap had loads ! well, that was settled, ‘BUY IT NOW’ and off I went ! The new unit arrived this morning, orange sim inserted 10 seconds later and away i went hehe !

After about an hour of constant gadget playing and downloading app’s music and other stuff I returned to the springboard to be confrunted with a very annoying red pixel… NOT GOOD…

It was kinda like fate telling me to give up, 3 iPhones, 2 faults in 2 days… not good, but i wasnt gonna give up that easily, after a little google searching i found this little website which promised the earth (alas didnt deliver). Simply load up the site on your iPhone and run the fix screen link… I wouldnt suggest watching it for too long, else you might be tempted to start donating all your money to strange religions.. The idea is that with the pixel only being ‘Stuck’ it might be possible to break it free by brute furce. Give it a run for anout an hour or so, and see if it works for you… from all the reviews found, this works for about 50% of people, the others are stuck with a blue, green or red dot for the rest of time hehe !

But, as said, this approach did not work for me, hence why i took to a more physical option, (Note, be very careful). load up an application which will allow you to touch the part of the screen with the stuck pixel without messing up too much, then gently massage that part of the screen. Its important to apply quite a bit of pressure, but not so much that you increase your stuck pixel into a cracked screen. After doing this for about 10 seconds, i returned to the springboard and noticed that the pixel was fading in and out (black to red to black… etc) so i went back in and kept at it for another 20 seconds… Presto FIXED !

Im pretty sure that this does not fix the problem permanantly, but so far its stayed working perfectly all day without a sign of my little red friend… So, of you got a stuck dot, give it a rub !

UPDATE : The pixel did return about two more times, but another quick rub got rid of it, and it havent seen it now for well over a month !

UBitMenu Brings the Microsoft Office 2003 Menu Back to Office 2007

word-2003-2007Windows only: We love Office 2007′s ribbon for its impressive keyboard shortcut integration, but for those of you who miss the Microsoft Office 2003 menu that’s entrenched in your muscle memory, UBitMenu can help.

This plug-in adds a new Menu entry to the Office 2007 ribbon (specifically in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint). When clicked, your ribbon displays the classic Office 2003 menu, complete with the buttons and file menus you’re used to from your old Office 2003 install. As Samer from FreewareGenius points out, not every single bit of functionality remains in the UBitMenu toolbar as is available in Office 2003—due mostly to changes in Office—but most of the features you’re used to remain in all their glory.

Even if you’re keen on the Office 2007 ribbon, UBitMenu is a nice tool to ease the transition from 2003 to 2007 while you’re polishing your new Office mojo. UBitMenu is a free download for non-commercial use.

MoviX2 Creates a Bootable, Self-Playing Video

movix_fullWindows/Linux: MoviX2 puts a tiny Linux system on a disc or thumb drive that boots up and plays almost any video file you burn it with, making a handy tool for demonstrations or less-than-capable computers.

Yes, yes, we know—most people can simply use VLC Player, or burn a video to DVD. If you need to play a video on a system without a DVD drive, though, or make it seriously simple for someone to watch (“Put disc in drive. Restart. Done”), MoviX2 fits the bill.

Terminal-savvy Linux and Windows users can hack together an ISO with their video of choice if they’d like, or use one of the graphical options at the project site—Windows users should grab MoviX2 and the most recent package ending in .exe and follow these instructions, while Linux users can just grab the latest MoviX2 files. Need more help? Check out the MoviX2 documentation, and you’ll find it’s not too hard to get a disc imaged and burned with a bundled MPlayer—which means it handles a whole heck of a lot of formats and codecs.

MoviX2 is a free download for Windows and Linux systems only.

Windows 7 Lives !

sevenMicrosoft finally giving us a serious look  at the ‘What Vista should of been’ operating systems, Sadly named ‘Windows 7′… The Build 7000 Beta is now avaliable online in multiple places, including the most reliable of which, Bit Torrent hehe. After Microsoft bragged their download servers would be able to cope with the demand, were proven wrong about an hour into the launch when all went quiet lol…

All things being said though, I did actually use the official Microsoft download, and got a solid speed of 1.13Mbps off it, so whatever they did to fix the problem definatly worked ;)

In regards to the actual operating system, not much of a chance to really play with it yet, suffice to say iv installed it (Identical installation to windows Vista) and so far im a little impressed… RAM usage is down, within the Microsoft Virtual machine im running it within the standard install runs about 300Mb, which is good compared to Vista’s excessive 450Mb right after installation !

Additionally, were all way to familiar with Windows Vista’s HDD thrashing ability, after boot up constantly thrashing the hell out of any hard disk attempting index or search for new files, or looking for intelegant life (who knows)… Well Windows 7 still does this a little, but seems to calm down and settle into its position of subservance much quicker than vista…

Overall, it cant be said im massivly impressed with the interface, all things being equal i wasnt that displeased with the transparent Aero interface introduced with Vista, but i could understand how some people found it annoying, so far application wise the only thing iv really opened is MS Paint, which im amazed to see now has a Ribbon in it, lol… nearly 2 decades of MS Paint being the simplest way draw horns on your grandparents, and now you might need to find the draw tool first lol….

Expect a more detailed review of this in a few days, after iv had some time to seriously play around with all the features, but for now it seems like Microsoft might of learned a lesson from Vista, but its too early to say really, still time for them to fuck it up !

Asus Eee Keyboard PC

010709_rg_asuseeekeyboard_01This years CES expo is proving full of unexpected revelations and dissapointments… Take this for example, while apple are standing up in front of hundreds of eager mac fanboys and announcing all their releasing is new iLife and iWork (oh yea, and a new laptop which was A) expected anyway B) Too dam expensive for 90% of consumers C) Incorporating a battery technology which everyone is wondering why we cant get some form of for the other Mac Products). Asus stand quietly in the corner and shock us with the development of their Keyboard PC, fully incorporated PC within a standard size keyboard, packing HDMI, VGA, Ethernet, 2x USB Audio in/out and what looks like a Card Reader.

010709_rg_asuseeekeyboard_03The lads over at Apartment Therapy seem to be under the impression that this little gizmo is the worlds best solution to a Media Center PC, but im gonna have to disagree, unless their idea of a Media Center includes VGA, Power, Audio & Ethernet cables running across your living room floor towards the television ! Sorry chaps, but i think you may either need to tell us that the whole things wireless, or you got the strangest concept of Media Center mobility iv ever heard of…

Personally Im looking at this and thinking its more likely to be one of the best Mac Mini replacments for windows users iv ever seen, the size of it makes it massivly portable and all thats needed when your setting up is a monitor (VGA or HDMI television) and a plug socket (and one more thing which ill get to in a min)… This little beauty has a few areas where it would suit perfectly, all depending on what price tag asus are gonna slap on it when its launched onto the market…

A) Average home users, lets face it… its a Mac Mini for windows, and how many of you have hunted around for a windows alternative, only to be confrunted with either nothing or a severly underpowered machine which is made be some strange unknown brand… hmm (carefully raises hand)… of course HP and such are making small scale machines now, but nothing sits quite within the size & spec range of the Mac Mini.. This is taking a great idea, and modding it to be perfect for the ‘simpelest’ of home users who just wanna unpack and plug in !

B) Office workers… from an IT techie point of view i love this concept (okay, yea it makes it easier to steal lol), but immagine the simplicity of using these in an office of deskworkers, or a college/uni environement… no towers, no additional keyboards… just this and a monitor, and if it breaks down, all thats needed is a quick swap out of the uni and everything is back and running…010709_rg_asuseeekeyboard_02

Okay, I know im kinda deluded about some things here, for starters, its all gonna be laptop components, so instant high price, the LCD touchscreen is also gonna slap a bigger price tag on it, and not to mention its ASUS, so its prob not gonna be nearly as impressive as first impressions make it out to be… But overall, if you take away all the little niggling worries surrounding what this might be, and just look at a raw product… I like it lol

Oh, and one last thing… The other item thats kinda missing from this products assets, anyone spotted the lack of a mouse hehe !

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Fluxbox is now the combined effort of a group of former University of Plymouth students, who use this site to document their IT endeavours and general random rants, we invite you to join or world, where everything is in a state of flux !