Dilemma sorted

You may remember my post last month about my dilemma over what my next phone was going to be. Well now I think I have sorted this out. 

On my list was the BlackBerry Storm2. But this was only available on Vodafone here in the UK. Or for a price way over what I can pull out of my pocket from Expansys. That is about to change though. The BlackBerry Storm2 is on its way to O2 UK, so that makes me a happy bunny as I have decided that it will be my next phone. I don't know any pricing information right now. But as of now I'm a very happy bunny as I think I'm loving BlackBerry too much to leave it behind just yet.

Okay, excitement shared. I shall go back to being overjoyed by myself.

Great British Railway Journeys

I have found myself currently hooked onto a BBC TV show called Great British Railway Journeys which sees Michael Portillo (former Policitian), journey through four railway lines as described in a guide by George Bradshaw, written around 170 years ago. I only stumbled across it as I was browsing through the BBC iPlayer one evening when I couldn't sleep. The first one that I came across was his journey from Carlisle to Glasgow. 


This journey intrigued me as it was the last leg of a journey I took many years ago to meet my, now, partner. Though I didn't take the detour trips that Michael Portillo took through his journey, it still interested me to find out bits of history along this route. 


Since that night I searched to the iPlayer to find other episodes and discovered that there were many other episodes to watch and catch up on. 


I am not really a railway buff but I think it's the fact that the railway was my mode of transport to get to my destination to meet my partner, whom I have been with for a great seven and a half years, that has given me a bit of interest on railways. Something I don't think I was aware of until now. Or maybe it's just interesting to see that a guidebook, written in the Victorian period, can still be followed in our modern world today.


It's given me a bigger insight into Great Britain and makes me want to follow the exact same route. Most especially to ride on an old steam train that goes over Ribblehead viaduct. The sight looks amazing just by watching it, heaven knows how amazing it would be to actually see it with your own eyes.


There are four railway journeys made each week following the Victorian guide book. I have more or less caught up now, thanks to the iPlayer. Michael is currently on the third journey from Swindon all the way down to Penzance. This long journey is then broken down into about five episodes as he passes through towns, taking stops to visit places or old trades mentioned in the Bradshaw's guidebook.


Bradshaw was a cartographer and he was the first man to make timetables of all the trains that ran throughout Britain in the Victorian period. 


The first railway journey taken goes across the country, coast to coast, starting at Liverpool going through to the seaside town of Scarborough.
The second sees Michael journey upwards from Preston going up passed the border into Scotland with his final destination Kirkcaldy, a place close to Michael's heart.
The third journey (which is currently on) goes south-west on the Great Western Railway (GWR), starting at Swindon, going through Cornwall, ending up in Penzance.
The fourth journey, I believe is from Buxton to London.


It has been a very interesting and educational series so far. I can't wait for the rest.


Why not have a look for yourself. Early episodes can still be watched on the BBC iPlayer. Let me know your thoughts on the show. A mini fansite, independent of the BBC was created for the series, check it out at www.greatbritishrailwayjourneys.com.


BBC iPlayer is only available in the UK.

I want me one of these

I love baking, from a cookie biscuit to sticky toffee pudding. I came across this and I want one. Cookie pan that allows you to make a cake that looks like an Oreo. Hmmmm yum.

 

 

iPhone on Tesco Mobile coming Dec 14th

I know I don't usually post tech blogs on here but my tech blog is currently down as I am sorting out moving host, so I thought I'd blog here until I get that sorted.

Anyway, Tesco have announced the date for the release of the Apple iPhone on their network as being Dec 14th. They have also released the pricing of the tariffs you can get with the iPhone

#You can get it on contract for just 12 months, the shortest contract-length for the iPhone with O2 and Orange on a minimum contract-length fo 18 months. Unlimited Web and WiFi (with BTOpenZone) for the length of the contract and Pay As You Go owners get free Web and WiFi for 12 months. There is also a 24-month contract available.


There are two tariffs to choose from for Pay Monthly. The cheapest tariff is only £20/month and with that you can get £60 worth of calls & text per month. Your other option is £60/month where you get can get 'unlimited calls & texts' (subject to fair usage policy, as always). The price of the iPhone on the 12-month contract is also more expensive than other networks for obvious reasons (12-month contract). Pay As You Go prices are the same as on O2.

Full tariff details below. You can also check out the Tesco website for more details.

Guide to Jailbreaking your iPhone

The first time I got my iPhone I decided to jailbreak it a week after purchase. I had no regrets in doing so. Loved the fact that I could cooler apps than those found in the App Store and install themes, I even created a few themes for myself. Then after a 2.2.1 (if I recall correctly), I didn't decide to re-jailbreak my iPhone. Why? I can't really say. Could have been to do with the fact that it was a hassle to reinstall all the apps I download through Cydia as there was no way to save and restore them? Or perhaps because it became a secondary device after I started to use the BlackBerry 8900 as my primary device? Either way didn't jailbreak it again.

Until now.

Since I have been using the iPhone again a bit more than before, I thought I'd give the jailbreak another try. And I have just successfully jailbroken my iPhone.....again. Since the process of doing it this time around was so much smoother and easier than the first time around I thought I'd share the process with you.

WARNING: jailbreaking your iPhone does void your warranty. The guys at Apple will not be too pleased if you brought them a jailbroken iPhone to fix. That said, unjailbreaking your iPhone is easy, just restore your phone back to default and that's the jailbreak gone. Proceed at your own risk but as long as you follow the instructions you should be fine.

Another note to point out is that the process below only jailbreaks your iPhone, it does not unlock your iPhone. What's the difference? Unlocking your phone means that you would like to put another network simcard into your iPhone in the future. If you're not too fussed about your network then what are you waiting for? Follow the steps to jailbreak your iPhone.


Step 1 - Make sure that you have iPhone update 3.1.2 installed. I also recommended to backup your device, in case you want to unjailbreak your phone in the future.
Step 2 - Download the jailbreak program from blackra1n.com.
Step 3 - Connect your iPhone to you PC if it is not already connected. Run the blackra1n program. It is recommended that you run the program from C:\ drive, so move the file from where you downloaded it to to your C:\ drive. (Note: If you are running Vista or Windows 7 you should run it in compatibility mode and as "Administrator." To do this right-click on the file, go to Properties, then click the "Compatibility" tab. Makre sure the "run this program in compatibility mode for:" checkbox is selected and choose Windows XP Service Pack 2 from the drop-down list. Click "OK" to close the window. Right-click to run as the Administrator).  When you run the program you will get a very simple window with a button that says "make it rain", as shown below:

Step 4 - Click the "make it rain" button to start the jailbreak process. The message will than change to "entering recovery...", then "running...", leave your iPhone to do its thing. Once the jailbreak is complete you will see a picture of geohot's face (the creator of blackra1n), then your device will reboot.
Step 5 - Once your device has rebooted, launch the blackra1n app on your iPhone (it's a black raindrop icon). From here you can pick which installer program you would like to install. I recommended Cydia and Rock. Icy is for those who want to unlock your device (and this is near impossible if you've already updated to firmware 3.1.2)

Step 6 - Your jailbreak is complete. Once you have installed your preferred program(s). Launch any one of them from your iPhone and enjoy the apps.

The above procedure can be used on MACs too, there is a MAC version that can be download from the blackra1n website.

A couple apps I recommend downloading to get you going are:

• Winterboard - so that you can install themes
• Intelliscreen - allows you to see calendar entries, sms, email messages and other things from the lock screen
• Backgrounder - allows you to run apps in the background
  

I also recommended signing up to a RockID to allow you to save all the jailbroken apps you download so that these can be restored after an update (I haven't had to use it yet so I don't know if this works but I've signed up and enabled the save feature in the settings for the Rock app).

Other things to note: If Apple release a firmware update and you update, this will unjailbreak the device. You may have to hold off updating your device firmware if one becomes available. Always read the Cydia or Rock messages before updating the firmware as and when they become available. You may have to wait until there is an update to the blackra1in app before updating your device.

There you have it. A quick and easy process to jailbreaking your iPhone. Go ahead and liberate your iPhone now.

Help! What phone?

I've got myself into a bit of a pickle. For the past 9 months I have been using the BlackBerry Currve 8900 as my primary device. Prior to that I was using the iPhone. I fell in love with BlackBerry after being introduced to the device while working as an O2 Guru. I still kept my iPhone as a secondary device as I regularly use some of the utility apps and used the iPod but never used it as a phone.

I have loved everything about the 8900, just the instantness of getting messages, IMs, Facebook messages, comments, etc. But lately I've found myself picking up the iPhone more frequently, mainly to use the apps, games, reading my RSS feeds, twitter updates. I've thought about going back to using the iPhone but after a long hard think I don't really want to go back to using the iPhone, I'm into the interface, the touch interface. I miss using the touchscreen. I keep thinking about putting my sim into the iPhone, there's a tiny urge to do so but something stops me and it's because of the push notification that I get from the BlackBerry that I'll miss. So, I'm looking at other touchscreen phones I could get instead. I've thought about the Nokia N97 as I did enjoy my Nokia N95, from QuickOffice to the camera and would like go back to Symbian. Then again I've thought about getting and Android phone, purely because I have not used the OS yet and there's the geek in me that wants to try it out. Then there's the BlackBerry Storm 2. It's a BlackBerry, which will provide with the things I currently have and it's a touchscreen.

There's too much choice and it's doing my head in a little bit. But the two strong contenders are the HTC Hero and the BlackBerry Storm 2, with the iPhone trying to sneek itself in there. I think the only reason this is the case is because the iPhone has great apps that use quite regularly that I can't get on the other two. Actually, I'm not sure about the HTC Hero but I know I can't get the apps on BlackBerry, heaven knows I've tried. What are the apps, you ask? eBay app, SquareSpace app, twitter app (well I can get a twitter app on the BlackBerry but it's so much easier browsing through them on a touchscreen) and games are generally more fun on a touchscreen.






I've weighed my options and had a look at prices but being a student, already strapped for cash, I can only dream of owning those phones - the HTC Hero or the Storm 2, that is.

What do you think? Which should I get? Anyone know where I could get any of the two phones quite cheap (student budget), unlocked? Suggestions welcome.

Pacquiao Vs Cotto

The much anticipated boxing match between Manny Pacquio and Miguel Cotto has come and gone. I stayed up to watch the fight last night, with it's consequences during the day. I sat through three pre-matches before the big fight, I hadn't heard of any of the six boxers but was interesting nonetheless but I did nod off every now and then.

The match finally got on the way around 4:40am.....there abouts, I couldn't wake up my partner to watch with me. She had asked to be woken up but was already in dreamland. So, I lay there and watched the fight by myself.

The bell goes and the fight starts, I get a tense feeling, I wanted to reach for my BlackBerry and check my Facebook to check out friends status' and Twitter for any tweets relating the the match but I didn't want to take my eyes away from the screen, I wanted to watch every punch thrown. Instead, I thought about how millions of Filipinos around the world were probably glued to the TV just like as I was, to give support to the man who has become a national hero, bringing Filipinos around the world together with every match he fights. I can't think of any other person that has brought the Filipinos around the world to a halt and sit in front of the TV to watch him defeat boxing champions.

I was born and raised in the UK but I was brought up in a very Filipino way and Filipino Pride runs deep in me. It's great to a Filipino proud to represent.