Samsung are offering a $425 rebate to Note 7 customers

http://www.zdnet.com/article/were-you-a-samsung-galaxy-note-7-owner-get-almost-half-off-on-a-note-8/

Sorry Samsung Mobile USA but the problem is i paid $747.50 for a S7 and now you want to give me $425 for it....?


How about you refund me the cost of the S7 i purchased 8 months ago then i pay full price for the Note 8 which would make me whole before you and T-Mobile decided to brick our Note 7's against our wishes.

Samsung bricking ALL Note 7 devices

Proving yet again you never really own "connected software" and just 'rent it'

FU Samsung US - http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2016/12/09/samsung-may-distribute-update-brick-note-7-next-week/

I am kind of curious to know whether phones running Cyanogen mods if T-Mobile can still push the update through to brick your phone.

It brings up a really interesting question for consumers as we move into an IOT pervasive world……when after the sale do the rights belong to the consumer? When do you have a situation where a vendor can “reach in” and withdraw a consumers rights??

Where is the ACLU when you need it :)

and yes in case you are wondering what i'm replacing my Note 7 with.....I ordered the Huawei Mate 9 through Amazon where they are selling the unlocked international dual sim version with 6gb ram and 128gb rom for only $899 - http://amzn.to/2hdvx2l 

The real question is do I dump Tmobile once this unlocked "fully paid for" phone arrives.

Samsung Note 7

Smaller display, no stylus, no iris unlock, no reversible usb3.....thanks but i'll be sticking with my Note 7 thanks.

http://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=8082&idPhone2=7945&&idPhone3=7821

Anyone wanting to setup a class action for happy Note 7 users who want to keep their devices please feel free to get in touch. #LegalUseRights

Samsung KILL ALL code push

Well we got the KILL ALL code push text message today.

.....very interesting that EFF/ACLU/Consumer rights groups are mute here.

Basically when Tmobile pushed out the 60% charging update I was like ok……and used a custom cyanogen ROM to restore my rights but after this current announcement for the 19th of Dec deadline where all Note 7’s will be prevented from charging…..wtf??

Basically I’m over it and placed the order for the Huawei Mate 9- http://amzn.to/2hdvx2l and am done with Samsung, screw it. As someone who currently has 2 samsung tv’s, 3 monitors, 2 blu ray players and 2 Note 7’s……I’m unlikely to ever purchase Samsung again for a very very long time. Put that in your cost model and tell me how it works out for you.

Tmobile sucks

I'm so pissed Tmobile they just pushed through a software update limiting my SamsungUS Note7 to 60% battery power.

FU JohnLegere !!!

Proving yet again you never really "own" connected software and just "rent it"

Will be rooting my Samsung Note 7 this weekend and restoring back to 100%

The irony is every time I answer a call, text message, turn on my phone I see this message reminding me how much I hate Tmobile and how they treat loyal customers.

Australian Immigration and Citizenship Test

There has been some discussion in Australia over the last few years about immigration and assimilation. One of the suggestions apart from compulsory English language tests (on a serious note.... what a joke I'll vote for it when it's compulsory country wide for everyone including existing Australians)

On a much lighter note a number of potential questionnaires have been circulating for approval.

I think that the test below comprises of the appropriate mix of lifestyle, mateship and important Australian knowledge to assimilate nicely. Any thoughts?


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. For any Americans reading this you might need to grab a translator to assist you :)



Immigration and Citizenship Test

1. Do you understand the meaning, but are unable to explain the
origin of, the term 'died in the @rse'?


2. What is a “bloody little beauty”?


3. Are these terms related: chuck a sickie; chuck a spaz; chuck a
U-ey?


4. Explain the following passage: 'In the arvo last Chrissy the relos
rocked up for a barbie, some bevvies and a few snags. After a bit of
a Bex and a lie down we opened the pressies, scoffed all the
chockies, bickies and lollies. Then we drained a few tinnies and Mum
did her block after Dad and Steve had a barney and a bit of biffo.'


5. Macca, Chooka and Wanger are driving to Surfers in their Torana.
If they are travelling at 100 km/h while listening to Barnsey,
Farnsey and Acca Dacca, how many slabs will each person on average
consume between flashing a brown eye and having a slash?


6. Complete the following sentences:

a) 'If the van's rockin' don't bother ?
b) You're going home in the back of a ?
c) Fair crack of the ?


7. I've had a gutful and I can't be fagged. Discuss


8. Have you ever been on the giving or receiving end of a wedgie?


9. Do you have a friend or relative who has a car in their front yard
'up on blocks'? Is his name Bruce and does he have a wife called
Cheryl?


10. Does your family regularly eat a dish involving mincemeat,
cabbage, curry powder and a packet of chicken noodle soup called
either chow mein, chop suey or kai see ming?


11. What are the ingredients in a rissole?


12. Demonstrate the correct procedure for eating a Tim Tam.


13. Do you have an Aunty Irene who smokes 30 cigarettes a day and
sounds like a bloke?


14. In any two-hour period have you ever eaten three-bean salad, a
chop and two serves of pav washed down with someone else's beer that
has been flogged from a bath full of ice?


15. When you go to a bring- your-own-meat barbie can you eat other
people's meat or are you only allowed to eat your own?


16. What purple root vegetable beginning with the letter 'b' is
required by law to be included in a hamburger with the lot?


17. Do you own or have you ever owned a lawn mower, a pair of thongs,
an Esky or Ugg boots?


18. Is it possible to 'prang a car' while doing 'circle work'?


19. Who would you like to crack on to?


20. Who is the most Australian: Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson, John 'True
Blue' Williamson, Kylie Minogue or Warnie?


21. Is there someone you are only mates with because they own a
trailer or have a pool?


22. What does “sinkin p*ss at a mates joint” and “getten para” mean?

Windows Live Regional Debacle

ARRGGG - trust me reading below is the short version.

There are 4 different locations on your pc and browser (and I think even the live.com login preferences though I could never tell if this made a difference) that determine your ability to download the "form feed" application for the Live.com toolbar.....without which ie7 loses functionality compared to ie6.

Besides it's not like it is a piece of 'geographically sensitive' content in the first place.

It's definitely a love hate relationship with me and Microsoft.


Cheers,
Dean







Hello Dean,
My name is Lene and I am a Subject Matter Expert within the Windows Live Toolbar department.
Your e-mail was escalated to me and I would like to assist you with your issue on getting the Form fill button.
I know how importance this feature is to you.
Please change the Regional and Language Settings to USA. To change the default system language, you may follow these steps:1. Open the Control Panel. 2. Open Regional and Language Options.
This should resolve your issue. Even though you followed the steps below because your language is set to Australia you will be unable to download "form fill" as it is not available outside the USA.
We appreciate your continued support as we strive to provide you with the highest quality service available. Thank you for using Windows Live Toolbar.
Sincerely,
Lene


Hello Dean,
Thank you for writing back to Windows Live Toolbar Technical Support. My name is Arlene and I understand that you need assistance in getting the Form fill button. I realize the importance of this matter.
Here are some steps that have proved successful for some of our customers. It is possible that you may have performed some or all of these steps previously, but the key seems to be the order in which they are performed:

1.
Clear the Windows and Internet Explorer Temp files by using the Disk Cleanup Utility. To do this, follow these steps:
a.
Click Start, and then click My Computer.
b.
Right-click the disk on which you want to free space, and then click Properties.
c.
On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup.
d.
After the program has finished determining how much space you can clear, select the check boxes next to the files that you want to remove on the Disk Cleanup tab. Make sure that you select Temporary files and Temporary Internet Files.
e.
Click OK.
f.
Click Yes to continue with this action, and then click OK.
2.
Install the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility to prepare to remove any leftover parts of the toolbar or the add-ins. For more information about the utility, visit the following Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;290301
a.
Visit the following Web site:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/9/d/e9d80355-7ab4-45b8-80e8-983a48d5e1bd/msicuu2.exe
b.
In the File Download box, click Save.
c.
Save the file to the desktop.
d.
Locate the Msicuu.exe file on the desktop, and then double-click the file.
NOTE You may not see the ".exe" part of the file name.
e.
Click Next to start the installation.
f.
After the installation is complete, you can move the installation file to the Recycle Bin.
3.
Run the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility. To do this, follow these steps:
a.
Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Windows Install Clean Up.
b.
Select the programs that you want to remove, and then click Remove. Select Live Toolbar, MSN Toolbar, and any toolbar add-ins that you can identify.
c.
Click OK, and then click Exit.
4.
Make sure that Windows Installer no longer detects the Toolbar and the Toolbar add-ins.
5.
Remove any traces of these items from the registry. To do this, follow these steps.
IMPORTANT This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, visit the following Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986
WARNING If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
a.
Click Start, click Run, type regedit , and then click OK.
b.
Expand the folders.
c.
Locate the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft folder.
d.
In the Microsoft folder, make sure that the MSN Toolbar and MSN Apps folders are not present. If these folders are present, right-click each folder, and then click Delete.
e.
Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft folder.
f.
In the Microsoft folder, make sure that the MSN Toolbar and MSN Apps folders are not present. If the folders are present, right-click each folder, and then click Delete.
6.
Install the latest version of the Live Toolbar. To do this, follow these steps:
a.
Start Internet Explorer.
b.
Visit the following Web site:
http://toolbar.live.com/
c.
Click Download.
d.
In the File Download box, click Save.
e.
Save the file to the desktop.
f.
Locate the downloaded file on the desktop, and then double-click the file.
g.
Click Next.
h.
Follow the prompts to install the toolbar. You may want to add or remove certain add-ins.
i.
After the installation is complete, you can move the installation file to the Recycle Bin.
7.
If you want to keep the toolbar, step 6 is the last step. If you do not want to keep the toolbar, remove it. To do this, follow these steps:
a.
Click Start, click Run, type the following command, and then click OK: control appwiz.cpl The Add or Remove Programs dialog box opens.
b.
In the Currently installed programs list, click Windows Live Toolbar, and then click Remove or click Change/Remove.
c.
When you are prompted, click Yes to confirm that you want to remove the program, and then click OK.

We appreciate your continued support as we strive to provide you with the highest quality service available. Thank you for using Windows Live Toolbar.

Sincerely,
Arlene

What a balls up

For anyone on the newtech list who went to NY Video Meetup and noticed I didn’t present……..below is the story.


Basically the organizer got upset that I handed them a usb drive and asked them to load up the pdf I intended to walk through while talking tonight give only to be told powerpoints = self promotion and “we don’t do decks”.

I wouldn’t mind so much but I wasn’t even talking about the http://www.livefanchat.com/ websites – I was showing people attending how to add a Facebook tool to their websites in order to increase engagement times. Totally altruistic in what I was hoping to talk about tonight. (lol I can do plenty of self promotion at times but this wasn’t it).

I don’t know how I was supposed to react when after 5 minutes of offering to show them the pdf in advance, offering to browse the http://www.livecourtchat.com/  website and show them how the chat worked, offered to basically do anything apart from coding the website in front of them which is what I think they were after.

What a balls up I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life.

Anyway, for those of you interested here is how you add the Facebook live stream plugin to your website -
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/62529146?access_key=key-kfrs702xvnesbycjx7v

Its not rocket science but this was the tool we used to get 68,483 visitors to our website in 5 weeks with no advertising.



Regards,

Dean Collins
LiveFanChat



________________________________________

From: Dean Collins
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 7:02 PM
To: 'Steve Rosenbaum'; 'Filip@magnify.net'
Subject: RE: [web-13] NY Video - July Openings -

Steve,

See below EXACTLY what I offered to talk about tonight – I’ve also attached the 4 emails and although the word demo is used at no point do you ever say no ppt.

I was there to add value to the community and show the people attending how to implement longer engagement times on their websites visitors with live chat.

I’m very disappointed that you equate ppt automatically with self promotion – did you really expect me to code the website in front of the room?


Regards,

Dean Collins
LiveFanChat inc
________________________________________

From: Dean Collins
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 12:32 PM
To: 'Steve Rosenbaum'; web-13-announce@meetup.com
Subject: RE: [web-13] NY Video - July Openings -

I can talk about http://www.livecourtchat.com/  if you think it’s appropriate? (though obviously I’d much rather talk about our sports sites though).

Basically I could explain how with only 30 minutes work including domain registration etc we used the #CaseyAnthony YouTube videos to attract the following stats to http://www.livecourtchat.com/

63,936 visitors in the 5 weeks the trial has been running.
We have served 346 man days, 11 hours 35 minutes worth of video (so far).
Most active visitor in the past 5 weeks has been 97.103.223.187 with 413 visits



Regards,
Dean Collins
LiveFanChat inc

________________________________________

From: web-13-announce@meetup.com [mailto:web-13-announce@meetup.com] On Behalf Of Steve Rosenbaum
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 12:15 PM
To: web-13-announce@meetup.com
Subject: [web-13] NY Video - July Openings -


Hi all, just a quick note to let you know we have a few spots open for demo's, preso's, and cool content creators at this months NY Video Meetup (July 14th, AOL HQ).

So hit me back if you'd like a shot -



Best,

Steve Rosenbaum
Co-Organizer
NY VideoMeetup
steve@magnify.net

Mark Jensen V' State of Wisconsin

Please note these are only my opinions and observations from watching the trial live on cnn live video feed/court tv with significant lapses (and no notes) - as for why I started watching the trial I was doing some research about a webtv project and for the first few days it was just interest....then I got sucked in to the whole story and couldn't wait to see how it played out.

Reality tv has NOTHING on real life TV - this stuff was riveting for hours on end.

I'll probably post something about this trial on my blog www.collins.net.pr/blog later next week, I’m still formulating my thoughts but some of the background can be found here

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/21/jensen.verdict/

Yes the 'event' (be it murder or suicide), took place over 10 years ago but Mark Jensen wasn't charged formally until some years later for a number of reasons I'll explain below.

In fact although DA Jamboise says he thought this was a murder from the first day he saw the dead body (which concerns me greatly on how the trial investigation was conducted, along with the witness 'conducing' if not downright tampering by Detective Ratzberg), DA Jamboise did not have the sufficient 'evidence' (ethylene glycol crystals) for some time after the event due to mishandling of the evidence and poor third party laboratory testing.

There were major screw ups in the computer forensic procedures (probably enough for a mistrial - I hope) including detective ratzberg getting frustrated with the crime labs not looking at the computer the day they were supposed to so he went down and turned it on without a write-locker on the hard drive and basically thrashed around files on the computer looking for what he could (ineptly) see.

You also had a prosecuting computer witness lie on the stand about third party cookies (and thankfully was later impeached by someone in her own department who watched the testimony who came forward and said she lied (i hope she has since been fired).

So there was a significant time from the death – to the ‘come down for a chat’ (an 8 hour interview that I would have been asking for a lawyer on in the first 5 minutes it was so much of a setup – FFS they asked the guy to drop by on his way in to work and then grilled the guy for 8 hours).

You then had a pathetic toxicologist that screws up the amount of ethelyne glycol that was supposedly consumed (660ml), and because it was so much they said had to be murder with someone forcing it down her throat.

OK so are you ready for the kicker.

When the guy gets a lawyer by the name of Craig Albee (trust me this guy is on my speed dial if I ever get charged with anything), they have their own researchers look at the data….turns out it was a minor amount she drank. They screwed up the calculation.

So then they turn around and say because it was ‘so little’ she must have been poisoned.

Now here is a woman who says she is in ‘fear’ of poisoning and her husband is going to kill her. And he is supposedly able to hide the taste in a drink (anti freeze is fluorescent green and tastes like crap!!! Tell me what you are able to mix this in to hide it.

Oh here is another prosecution flip flop – they said it was mixed in Benadryl the cough syrup, until they find out years later that the only Benadryl in the house was gel caps….then they changed their mind and said it was juice.

Where did they get the Benadryl story from – let me introduce you to Mr Kluge – so Kluge worked for Mark Jensen after his company merged.

Apparently the month before the death of Julie Jensen they were at an ‘away event’ for a country wide work meeting. Kluges wife was thinking he was having an affair so he said he was up until 3 in the morning talking with mark, now this may have been the case but 7 years after event Kluge comes forward and says they were talking about ways to kill there wives and that he was going to do it with Benadryl.

So we get closer to the court date and Mark is taken into custody (he was out for years even while charged but the DA manages to get that revoked), so here you have a white collar 40 year old in prison…what do you think happens – thugs start beating him up, stealing his stuff, getting him to make phone calls on his behalf.

Then one of the thugs says I’ll take care of the problem for you I’ll kidnap kluge for 6 weeks so he cant testify if you give me a $1000. So Jensen is probably thinking how can I get this idiot away from me, I’ll play along and stall him as long as possible.

(of course all the calls are recorded so they get found out and Marks like well I was never going to do it anyway – but Jamboise is like…see this is why kluges testimony is so critical, never mind the fact that the looser didn’t even come forward until 7 years later – oh and there is this great scene where Kluges own ex-secretary says "I worked with kluge for 15 years – I wouldn’t trust a word that falls out of his mouth").

Ok so we get to the trial – states pathologists gets up on the stand and says yes I was wrong with the amounts but as it’s small you can see she must have been poisoned.

Then comes the kicker…..recross examination, Jamboise asks pathologist, well if I had a witness that says Mark Jensen poisoned his wife and then in her dying breaths roll her over pushed her face into the pillow and then suffocated her what would you say to that.

Pathologists (who has had all the evidence for 10 years) says in like a fake surprise wow well that would make sense then lists some other supporting bruises etc and jamboise says shazaam so the cause of death is ethylene glycol poisoning ‘with’ suffocation.

Albee goes nuts – say wants a mistrial, no notice was given, says wants time to prepare alternate case etc etc

Judge says nope and it’s on with the kanagaroo court we go. (having said that the judge was pretty good about most rulings).

So in they walk a jailhouse stooge, who has been convicted on numerous fraud and theft charges, and for selling fake visas to the USA to Lithuanians. An he say “oh yeh mark told me in jail that he rolled her over and then suffocated her” (in other words they change the plan to something that suicide by poisoning couldn’t cover which is what the defenses strategies is all about).

Oh btw in case you didn’t think the jailhouse stooge didn’t say this for free – he was paroled out of an 8 year prison sentence (in other words free and walking around now in return for his testimony).

Anyway I’m sick about writing this but hope it gives you an idea on why I think this case will be overturned, hopefully sooner rather than later.

He may have done it, he may not have but there is now way in hell he deserves to go to jail for life based on this crappy trial in a kangaroo court where the prosecution have made so many screwups.


Cheers,
Dean