Unlocking the iPhone

Skip to the bottom line to avoid all the horrid details! :)

A few months back I had finally decided to try to unlock my iPhone 3G. I did lot's of searches on the easiest/best way of doing so. I came across posts about AT&T laughing or ridiculing the request. I tried a few quick solutions to the tune of $20 - $30, which turned out to be little more than links and fancy instructions to what is freely available on the Internet. So, I took the jump and jailbroke my iPhone for the first step to unlocking it, only to discover that my modem firmware was a version which could not be unlocked. There was a hack available for that as well but the risk was breaking the GPS reception, so I didn't jump. But then there was supposedly a hack to undo the modem firmware hack if it didn't work. I finally decided to try it. The unlock worked but not GPS. So, I tried the second hack to undo the modem firmware hack, well that didn't work either. I was stuck without GPS. I tried lots of ways to revert to an older iOS with working GPS to no avail. Finally, I decided to call AT&T to ask for an unlock, actually for an older, "dumber" phone. AT&T was like, sure no problem, here is the code to unlock it. So, I decided to ask about unlocking the iPhone and they asked for my info and checked on it. No problem (an older iPhone out of warranty, 2 year contract over), just sync through iTunes and now it will be unlocked. But my problem was now with a hacked iPhone, I couldn't get it to update through iTunes. So, I tried a couple of more hacks, finally got the iPhone in a state so that it would update and sync through iTunes. My iPhone is unlocked for use on any GSM carrier and I have tried it on a couple of them.

BOTTOM LINE - iPhone out of warranty and contract, just call and ask for it to be unlocked - EASY!
AT&T's FAQ even explains it.

Tidbit about Apple Time Machine

If you have a large enough backup harddrive Time Machine looks like it should be a great ease of use solution, but I'll investigate other backup solutions for more flexibility of backup of specific files/folders.
link

Crisis in food, farms, and agri-business

I see lot's of articles concerning unhealthy food and unsafe practices being promoted by agri-business with their large bank accounts while the FDA and other civil government agencies target small agricultural producers trying to offer healthy alternatives to their well-educated customers that seek out their products. This is a great article that I think provides a fairly good overview of the issue and some sustainable solutions coming out.

I definitely believe that the next major crisis could be food or possibly water. We must begin to develop sustainable lifestyles and systems that accurately steward our natural resources.

‎"Progress" at what price?

Last Stand for the Xingu River

On a river in the Amazon Basin in Brazil, plans are progressing to build a massive dam, called Belo Monte. The dam(s) will have massive negative impact on the lives of people that have lived in the region for centuries as well as negative environmental impact for the region. Over the years the indigenous people in collaboration with others opposed to the project have been able to slow the advance of the project but it is still progressing and construction is very close to beginning. Those that oppose the project are becoming more focused and organized to stop the project.
Integrity, wisdom, humility demand that we look at the drivers for the need for more electricity production which the proponents say these dams will provide. Love, compassion, righteousness, prudence demand that we look at the impact on others and long term environmental impact that the actions will have and speak out for the oppressed and "weak", at least politically and monetarily weak.
Here is a petition to the Brazilian Government:
I support the demands of Brazilian civil society and urge you to defend the Amazon and its people and stop the Belo Monte Dam Complex.
Sign here.

ustream.tv vs justin.tv

I just found this draft from 3/27/2009. I don't remember the specifics of what I wrote here but I will post these rough notes. Hope it helps!

We started using ustream.tv instead of justin.tv. We could not get the XH-A1 Video Camera to connect to the firewire port on the Windows laptops and then we found camtwist for the Mac which is very nice for controlling the video input. Almost anything can be used as a video input.


viewers not having to login to access the integrated chat and can set their own name in the chat
the ability to change audio and video inputs without stopping the broadcast, of course CamTwist now fairly well covers that for the video
I just discovered the ability to type text as an overlay onto the video screen, very on the fly, I used it as a replacement for streaming the pp slides with the camera feed

Global warming debunked?

Scientist Piers Corbyn's website:
http://www.weatheraction.com/

Other links on climate change.

Push to get Genetically Modified Foods out of our food supply

My life is a stewardship for which I give account to God as to how I live. This is the perspective I am developing for every decision which I make in my life, including my health and how I eat. So, this is the context in which I post articles on my blog.
Ten years ago consumers in Europe forced food companies to not offer generically modified foods (GMOs). The power of the market place. This month in the USA there is a push to educate enough consumers about the options and how to avoid GMOs so that we reach a tipping point and cause GMOs to not be profitable for the food companies. Do it for your health and those to follow after us.

 Non-GMO Shopping Guide to print


App for the iPhone/iPod


Another App for the iPhone/iPod

From The Center for Food Safety