Finally got this bad mamma-jamma back on a custom domain.
I believe this clip from South Park sums it up best - Nice....Nice
[update] Sprint Android Hotspot.
Quick update to my previous post on using your Sprint Android device as a Wi-Fi Hotspot.
It seems Sprint finally got wise to people using the Hotspot Widget app that was available in the Android Marketplace. I've been geting "critical system update" messages throughout the past week on my Optimus S and it turns out this patch is to fix the Hotspot exploit. Good news is, this patch does not apply to the Quick Settings method I laid out in my previous post.
If you haven't accepted this update on your Sprint Android device yet, I'd advise against it (it doesn't do anything else from what I have read other than patch the Hotspot exploit). If you have, the Quick Settings method still works.
I'm not encouraging folks to do this as it is technically a paid feature from Sprint and tethering without that option on your account puts you at risk but if you choose to do otherwise on your own, that's your choice. :)
[Updated 3.27.11] Safely Turn your Android in to a Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot for Free [No Rooting!]
Update 3.27.2011 : If you are a Spint customer and downloaded or automatically received the most recent system update this Hotspot method no longer works. If you haven't updated, njoi.
I recently got an LG Optimus S and I absolutely love it. Just wanted to get that out of the way.
It has a ton of features for an 'entry level' Android phone and a well-updated, recent version of the Android OS (2.2.1) that seems to not find its way to less expensive Android phones (I'm looking at you, Cricket).
One feature on the Optimus S which I was personally excited about was its ability to act as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot. Of course, I then found out it was $30 extra per month on my bill to have this luxury so I sort of forgot about it until.....
Earlier, I was researching rooting my Optimus S and came across two different articles both claiming to allow you to utilize the Portable Wi-Fi hotspot feature just by downloading a free app from the Android Marketplace. I tried the first method (found here) and while the hotspot function seemed to turn on on the phone, I was unable to connect to it with my laptop, even with full reception on the phone.
Then I came across a, seemingly, even simpler method that has worked aces thus far. Here's how to do it:
- Download Quick Settings from the Android Marketplace, AppBrain or your app dispensary of choice. There are several different apps that carry the name 'Quick Settings', you want the one with the green 'gears' icon. Just click the link earlier in this bullet point and it will take you directly to the app.
- Once you have downloaded and installed Quick Settings and start the application: Click your phone's 'Menu' key followed by 'Customize' in the Quick Settings app.
- Scroll down until you find the Wi-Fi Hotspot option. Once located, touch to the right side of the Wi-Fi Hotspot bar (see screenshot) and drag the bar to the top of the list of options.
- Exit out of Quick Settings and go to your phone's normal settings menu where you would normally activate the Hotspot feature. On the LG Optimus S, for example, you would press the phone's 'Menu' key, 'Settings' on the touchscreen, 'Wireless & Networks' and finally 'Portable Hotspot'.
- Simply tap the check box to turn the Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot on and it should notify you within a few seconds (it has taken as long as 30 seconds on mine) to confirm it has been turned on. You will also see a blue 'Hotspot' icon in the taskbar at the top of your screen (see screenshot).
- You can use your phone's normal Portable Hotspot settings as well if you would like to secure your network (recommended).
Speed-wise, it's not lightning fast but it certainly beats a blank, especially if you find yourself in a pinch somewhere where there's no open wireless networks. If you're need to quickly download a several hundred megabyte file, this isn't going to be very pleasing for you but if you're just looking to browse the web or check your e-mail, it's perfectly fine.
It is definitely better, such as in my case, than paying your carrier $30+ extra dollars per month for the Portable Hotspot service. On top of that, you do not have to make any potentially dangerous/damaging changes to your phone as you would if you were to 'root' it to gain access to the Portable Hotspot feature.
So, try it out and feel free to leave a comment to let me know how it goes!
Wordpress Social Bookmarking Plugin Rundown.
Social bookmarking has cemented itself as a nearly integral part of the web and has revolutionized how we not only pass along news, information and other tidbits but how we obtain it as well. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or any of the other seemingly countless sites out there, web surfers are using these services to get the word out about what they are interested in. If you are a blogger, or more specifically – a Wordpress user, you are almost doing yourself (and your blog) a disservice by not giving your users the option to share your articles with their friends, family and internet pals abroad.
In making my daily blog rounds, it seems like there are a few plugins, such as Sexybookmarks, that have a pretty large share of the Social Bookmarking market but there are quite a few very nice plugins (and some that leave a lot of be desired) that handle the task quite handily. In this article, I will go through a fistful of Social Bookmarking plugins for Wordpress and cover the good, the bad and maybe even a little bit of the ugly. If you aren’t currently using a Social Bookmarking plugin, then I hope this serves as a great starting place for you. If you already have one in place, take a look around you may find a better alternative.
So without further, adieu..
So what the hell happened? Plus.. My thoughts on migrating to Posterous.
Things were going on really well over at ohnine.org..really, really well actually. I was getting steady, continually growing traffic with just a handful of articles and the Halcyon theme and then *poof*. Looking at the domain now, the content is obviously different. To make a really long story short, here's the just of what I've been told by the domain name registrar: Apparently "someone" "pre-bought" or "reserved", or whatever the hell you call, the domain after I renewed it last year. For reasons that totally boggle my mind, the registrar (a large, well-respected one) ran their credit card batch for renewals after 12am on June 12th so instead of renewing the domain for me, it released it and the squatter snapped it up. That may be total bullshit but that is what I was told by their support folks. Aggravating.
I am really sad to see ohnine.org go, I had owned it for over 5 years and I had countless forums and other various accounts registered at addresses under the domain. One odd thing I did notice is that when I do a WHOIS on the domain, it still shows me (at an old address) as the registrant but the technical contact information has changed. At this point, I can't find a seemingly legitimate way to contact the new owner and I'm sure they either wouldn't sell the domain back to me or would want a ridiculous price if I did get in touch with them..so I'm over it. It's just a domain name, right? Lol.
So, in the meantime, I am in the process of moving most of my web operations, aside from FullMoonReviews, over to Posterous which is seeming ideal at this point. I've been toying with Posterous since earlier this year and must say it is a joy to use. I've spent the last several years customizing, tweaking and re-customizing and re-tweaking self-hosted Wordpress sites and Posterous is a walk-in-the-park by comparison. But that's not to say that Posterous lacks depth, on the contrary. It is chock full of features and options and is highly customizable. I'll even venture to say that it does some things better than platforms like Wordpress or Blogger.
Halcyon - A Posterous Theme - Version 1.25.1 [Updated July 9th 2010]
Download Latest Version Version 1.25.1Released July 9, 2010[Right-Click/Save As] [txt file, 23.89kb][Demo]
Scroll down for Installation/Customization assistance.
AboutHalcyon is a theme for the Posterous blogging/social media platform and is based on the Austero theme by Cory Watilo.The initial goal of Halcyon was to balance out Austero’s sidebar-heavy nature and to provide more room for content making it more like an actual blog theme that you might find for Wordpress or Blogger as opposed to the narrow-natured offerings that dominate the theme landscape of Posterous and its competitor, Tumblr. I realize that Posterous and Tumblr are often seen as a middle-ground between the short and fast pace of Twitter and a standard blog but I feel that Posterous has the power and features to be taken seriously as a full-fledged blogging platform and I made Halcyon to give it the room it needs to stretch and reach its maximum potential. Perhaps Halcyon's nicest feature is the inclusion of customizable CSS navigation tabs on each page. Not only does this give you the ability to link to pages on your Posterous, you can use them to link to your other sites or any site for that matter! Customizing the navigation tabs is quick and easy as well, just copy/paste in your link and you're good to go. Taking things one step further and borrowing from and expanding on an idea gleaned from a Wordpress plugin, I have also included buttons for numerous social media sites. Like myself, your Posterous is probably just one of the several social media and web communities you utilize. I wanted to make it easy for your visitors to be able to link to your other profiles, whether it is your Facebook or your Flicker portfolio. Customizing the button links is easy, as is removing the buttons for the sites you don't wish to link to. The buttons (and all Halcyon-related images) are optimized PNG files and are hosted on a fast, reliable private server as to not have to worry about the sometimes sluggish and unreliable performance of free image hosting services. Future plans for the theme include plug'n'go alternate navigation tab styles as well as different theme colors.I would love to hear any feedback or suggestions for Halcyon. Please feel free to e-mail me any time or send me a message on Twitter.
[Halcyon Users] Whoa, hey..what happened?!
So if you use the Halcyon theme for your Posterous, first and foremost..thanks! Secondly, you probably noticed that all of the images disappeared from your pages. Through a series of convoluted occurrences I won't bore you with the details of, I lost the domain name that the images were hosted on. My apologies for that.
I have now edited the theme with correct SRCs for all images and will be uploading it momentarily.
If you still continue to experience issues, please leave a comment on the release post and I'll get it sorted for you promptly.
Dave
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