In Call Volume Too Loud After Update

The biggest issue for me was that the ear volume during a phone call was way too loud. I had to hold the phone away from my ear to hear properly and that meant that everyone around me was hearing my cell phone conversation too. This is both rude and embarrassing. Pushing “Down” on the incall volume button on the side of the handset did nothing. While Sprint and LG are working on an official fix for the Android update, I think I found a workaround that works for now.

It seems that during the update, the value for setting the in-call volume on the phone is inadvertently linked to another volume setting on the phone. Unfortunately, that means that using the volume button to change the call volume does not work because it is changing a setting that is no longer being read properly. To fix, the volume issue, you need to fix the setting so that it can be updated. The following procedure worked for me.

1. Go into the Settings -> Sound menu and change every volume setting so that NONE of them are set to the maximum. (I don’t know why this matters, it just does.)
2. Make a call (to voicemail is fine) and push the UP button for the in-call volume so that the display reads at least one up from the lowest setting.
3. Pull the battery out of the phone and wait 30 seconds to get a full power off and reset.
4. Put the battery back in.
5. Make a call and use the button on the side of the phone to adjust the volume to a comfortable level.

No Spelling Suggestions While Typing

Another issue I had, along with many Sprint customers, was that the spelling suggestions, known as predictive text, did not work with the updated Android keyboard.

Sprint’s suggestion for a workaround is to use the Swype keyboard, which has a functioning as you type spell checker and suggestions.

As someone who had previously downloaded the much better free Gingerbread keyboard to my Froyo OS LG long ago, I simply re-downloaded that keyboard app. The predictive type on this keyboard still works.

Sprint and LG Android Fix Update

Until LG and Sprint release fixed update of Android, or issue a patch of some sort, these workarounds allow you to enjoy the better functionality and security of Gingerbread without losing important features on your phone. If, however, you prefer to go back to the old Android version on Sprint LG Optimus, Sprint has released a temporary solution that allows you to downgrade or revert back to Froyo from Gingerbread.

Sprint LG Optimus Gingerbread Update Makes Volume Too Loud is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

This online sports comic only started up this fall, but there are already plenty of funny strips. Go check it out, you won’t be disappointed.

Blood Runs Blue BYU Comic is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

Updating cell phones always makes me nervous. It seems that no matter which carrier you are on, sooner or later, a mobile phone update messes up your cell phone. And, cell phone providers being the customer unfriendly companies they are, they don’t offer a way to uninstall the update easily, since it is obviously your fault, or a problem with your specific phone. More specifically, it is a problem with your specific phone that is not covered in any way by your service agreement and any repair or service is entirely your responsibility.

On the other hand, maybe there are some good updates in the latest release, and I have heard that there are some potential security issues with older versions of Android. So, I bit the bullet and clicked update. I left it plugged in, which is apparently a good thing since some users are reporting that their phones won’t charge after getting the Android update from Sprint if the phone was not plugged in when the update occurred.

My phone is currently fully charged. In fact, one of the updates was to change the text displayed on the screen of my phone from saying, “Charged” to saying, “Charged. Please disconnect power supply to save energy.” Thanks, I guess.

The other obvious change is that the system bar at the top of my LG Optimus is now black. In fact, there is a new color scheme of black and electric lime green. Frankly, it looks nice. No complaints.

In the few seconds I have had to play with it, it seems faster and smoother. Furthermore, my LG Optimus S from Sprint now has the Gingerbread keyboard built-in, which means I get to save 1.5 MB or so by deleting the Gingerbread keyboard app that I had been using to get the better keyboard on my older version of Android.

What I would really like is the ability to take screenshots of my phone, but for some reason, that function is still not available in Android unless you root your phone and install a developer kit.

The one thing that hasn’t changed is that the Sprint ID button is still there instead of the infinitely more useful globe browser button that comes on the standard Android install. I know Sprint is proud of the Sprint ID concept and used it to market this particular phone, but the reality is that once you have a Sprint ID installed and customized, you pretty much never use the button again. If you do, you certainly use it less than you use the browser.

Maybe I’ll get around to rooting my phone this year and getting rid of the Sprint ID button. Of course, I’ll have to wait a while now, because each new update (deliberately or not) breaks the previous rooting of the phone so it will be a little bit before some hacker gets around to rooting the LG Optimus Android install again.

Update: Sigh. Looks like my fears were not unfounded. Apparently so many users are having trouble with the Sprint LG Optimus Gingerbread update that they have stopped the rollout. Fortunately, my problems are minor so far. My in-call volume is too loud and I cannot adjust the incall volume down. Also, the keyboard no longer does any sort of auto-suggest. I’m assuming the keyboard needs a dictionary update but haven’t looked into how to do it yet. Instead, I re-installed the Gingerbread keyboard from the app store that I had before the update. It auto-suggests and auto-corrects as I type now.

Sprint LG Optimus Android Update is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

I use the "Star" function in TweetDeck to bookmark tweets that I want to follow up on later. That’s because none of the usable Twitter clients out there allow for a "bookmark" or "read it later" function. Some people claim that would defeat the purpose of Twitter, but the fact is that users in my feed often share interesting, relevant and COMPLEX information via links that they Tweet about. Since I read a lot of my Twitter feed in between other projects, and often while on my Android smartphone, delving into these articles in "real time" doesn’t make sense. That leaves me with two options: either wade back through my feed until I find those links again (those that I remember, that is), or flag them somehow so that I can find them all again later.

Using the star functionality to flag item is just fine except for that it implies an approval of the item BEFORE I get a chance to actually read it. I don’t really like that, even if my stars aren’t exactly the kind of thing that moves the heavens.

If someone is looking for a new feature to add to their Twitter client, I suggest a bookmark or save for later function.

Oh, and more important than that, can someone PLEASE make a mobile Twitter client with the most important Android feature there is? Make a client that can be moved to the SD card? I don’t need a stupid widget. When I want Twitter, I open Twitter.

P.S. While we are at it, Google can you figure out how to allow an app to be installed to the SD card AND have a widget? Not every widget has to take the kind of power or instant access that being in the main memory offers.

August Reading List

• CreativeJS – A new blog about JavaScript and HTML5
• How To Turn Gmail Into a Reading List
• Google News New Editor Picks
• Bill Gross Circa 2001 Similar to Today
• 10 JavaScript Performance Boosting Tips
• Useful Code Snippets for WordPress Theme Development
• jQuery Boilderplate

There are a lot more of these, but if I spend all my time linking them here, I won’t get the chance to read any of them.

On the bright side, with the links securely saved here, I can clear seven tweets out of my "favorites" column on TweetDeck.

Happy Friday, Everyone.

Things I Need to Read is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

I had an HTC Touch for a few years. I’m not a cell phone power user and I spent most of my non-phone call time on the HTC reading news, using Google maps, or settling disagreements or looking up that kind of trivia that seems to pop-up whenever you are out with friends.

When the power button on the top broke, it was time to get a new cell phone.  I had no interest in paying several hundreds of dollars for a device that is basically a phone plus a GPS and internet browser.  In addition, I had the old school, original, Sprint SERO plan which gave me 500 minutes of call time (plus unlimitted calls to other Sprint users, which includes my wife, and thus makes the 500 minutes more than enough time.)  More importantly, it gave me unlimited text messaging and data all for $30 per month.  There was no way I was giving up that cell phone plan because there is nothing out there near as cheap and Sprint’s coverage in the Denver area is actually quite good.

It all added up to the elimination of any of those gee-whiz, top of the line, phones like the iPhone or Evo, or whatever.  At the time, there were no Windows 7 mobile phones so my choice was the aging Windows 6.x line of cell phones, old out of date Palm phones, or Android.  I ended up with an LG Optimus S cell phone on Sprint and it has worked out just fine.

Along the way, however, there has been one thing missing from my Android cell phone. There is no built-in way to sync Android with a PC.

Syncing to the Cloud

I am well aware that “the cloud” is all the rage these days.  However, I am a techie from back in the day.  I’m still a freelance technical writer today.  In other words, I believe in being responsible for my data.  It’s nice when someone, or something, else backs up important data for me, but I don’t trust anyone as much as I trust myself.  It hasn’t happened yet, but the days will come when an online service provider loses a bunch of data that cannot be recovered, and when an major service has a significant security breach resulting in a lot of data becoming public.

So, while I am happy to have my email synced with Gmail automatically on my Android device, and I’m perfectly content to sync my contacts there as well, I want my text messages between me and loved one archived on MY COMPUTER, not out in the cloud somewhere.  I want my photos of my kids backed up to MY COMPUTER, not to Picasa or Flickr, or whatever is out there.  Since Google’s entire business strategy is to make it so you don’t need a computer for anything but accessing the web, they don’t have a desktop sync in Android by default.

I can get my photos easily enough by just copying the files manually or through Dropbox, but getting all of my text messages is trickier.

Fortunately, I recently discovered a free desktop synch program for Android called Android Manager.  It provides the same kind of backup and synchronization between a PC and Android phone as ActiveSync provided for Windows Mobile phones with Windows.  Coupled with Evernote to synchronize my “memos”, it provides pretty complete data coverage for what I end up creating and saving on my phone.

Interestingly, it does it over WiFi instead of a USB connection, which would be really cool, except it does not work over the Internet or anything.  Rather, you have to be connected to the same wireless access point with both your PC and Android phone.  That works out OK once you have gotten your first sync in, but it takes a really long time for the first sync, especially if you have a bunch of photos on your phone. If you buy the OEM version I guess it has a USB synch option, but for now, this works OK.

Now all I need is a decent calendar/to-do list combo that is able to convey BOTH of those simultaneously to a well-designed widget in order to remind me what I should be doing at 3:30 p.m. when I look down to check the weather.

Synchronize Android Phone with Windows 7 is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

These days, there is less concern about sharing or hosting files on your own online profile or via one of the big free services like Live Spaces, Dropbox, and so on. However, there are still times where it would be better if particular files were not associated so closely with your name (competitor information, for example). And, even with generous online storage limits and high bandwidth traffic limits capable of handling most legitimate sharing purposes, there are still occasions where hosting on a dedicated file sharing service is better.

There are literally hundreds of online file sharing services, but some of the most popular are Rapidshare, Hotfiles, Depositfiles, and Fileshare. These file sharing websites offer anonymous free file hosting storage and sharing with varying features. You can require a password to access files or just allow anyone who gets the URL to be able to download the file.

Free Online File Host Services

Unlike social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter, or specific purpose file sharing services like Flickr and Photobucket, the file sharing websites like Rapidshare and Depositfiles allow users to share any type of file. They also allow bigger files to be uploaded and most importantly do not require files to be associated with the user wishing to host the files online.

Therefore, a user could host all manner of controversial, topical, or large files and documents with little fear of repercussions or harassment.

For a researcher, access to exactly this type of books, research reports, notes, and white papers is very important. Rather than waiting days (or weeks) for an interlibrary loan of a doctoral dissertation written by a Harvard PhD candidate or just as long for one of the numerous law journals or other publications produced at colleges and universities around the country, an electronic version can often be found online with some diligent searching, or even with the help of a friendly librarian or fellow researchers.

Take a break Citibank rewards catalog 2010 review.

The catch to this utopia of free file hosting and unlimited bandwidth downloading for free is that it is not really free at all. Rather, each file hosting service permits anonymous users to download a small amount of material at a time. Some services go so far as to restrict free downloads to just one file per day or some equally low amount of megabytes in a 24 hour period. To get around this restriction, the file host offers a premium membership for a monthly fee or annual fee.

File Sharing Collaboration Strategy for Business

In theory, paying for access to unlimited files shared online would be a good business strategy. However,  there are simply too many of these file sharing services out there, and it seems that every uploader has their favorite. To buy memberships to all of them would be absurd. Even a collection of premium memberships to Rapidshare and a handful of other major players could cost hundreds of dollars per month, not to mention the administrative burden of managing all of the premium accounts, usernames and passwords.

It is a situation crying out for a type of co-op where researchers, freelance writers, students, and others could each purchase a premium membership to one of the file sharing services and then share access between members of the cooperative. Of course, that requires either the insecure sharing of passwords and usernames while hoping for the best, or waiting on the person with the right membership to find download and then either re-upload or otherwise distribute the files needed to the original requester. Some sort of online service could manage the process for individual coops, but would need to be low profile to avoid being banned or blocked by the sharing services.

In the meantime, there is a very elegant solution allowing users to download for free from any file host like RapidShare, DepositFiles, HotFiles, and more. It is an open-source program called JDownloader. JDownloader works by handling all of the waiting, logging in, and downloading of files on the file hosts. If a captcha must be entered, JDownloader displays an unobtrusive pop-up box at the necessary time and the user can quickly enter the required Captcha without having to monitor a timer or countdown manually.

Furthermore, the software will wait on the user’s behalf for the next free time to open up, whether that is one hour or 24 hours and then automatically start downloading the requested files. It is not an instant process by any means, but online research requests can be queued up and then retrieved over a few hour or overnight if necessary.

JDownloader monitors the clipboard for URLs and then automatically adds them to its download queue to be reviewed by the user before the downloads are started. Downloading a dozen links off of a website requires simply right-clicking and choosing Copy URL for each link. No real waiting is required, because by the time the user can copy a new URL to the clipboard, JDownloader has already added it to the list of file downloads.

If you need to get a handful of books or files off of multiple file sharing websites, give JDownloader a try. It might just be the solution you are looking for… at least until I figure out that co-op thing… or someone beats me to it

A final break if you need one for small business owners using section 179 deduction on taxes.

Free file sharing storage downloading is complete.

More small business strategies await you.

Download Faster Any File Sharing Site Rapidshare Hotfile DepositFiles with JDownloader is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

In addition to writing about new utilities, I also am constantly looking for new computer tools that will make me more efficient, more productive, and therefore, more successful, all while earning more money. That, my friends, is a tall order.

The key to finding new software is to keep up on technology by reading several of the numerous resources and websites out there that publish Internet news, computer tips, and review new software programs. This works great for finding new things to write about. However, it isn’t so great for finding a specific new utility or program to do something right now. You either have to remember what was already written about and go looking for it, or you have to wait for someone to hit your particular need on the head.

Like Inigo Mantoya, I hate waiting.

Search for Free Computer Programs and Utilities Effectively

Unfortunately, searching for new software isn’t as easy as just typing what you are looking for into Google. For starters, if you are looking for something that is new to you, or that you are not all that familiar with, you might be searching for all the wrong keywords.  This happened to me last year when I wanted a utility to make may Windows XP computer boot up in a certain order so that I didn’t get error messages about there being no network connection from programs that booted up before the wireless network was ready.

I searched in vain for boot order utilities and various other keywords. The problem was that there are plenty of good, well-known utilities, that REMOVE programs from your startup. I didn’t want to remove these programs, I wanted them to start at boot-time, I just wanted them to do so in an order that made sense.

Finally, a colleague pointed me to a program called Startup Delayer. Then, the light bulb came on. There are plenty of utilities out there that affect how your programs boot by delaying, or otherwise stalling certain ones. This has the effect of altering the boot-up order, but they don’t describe their features as “Change Windows XP boot order.”

Once I had the right keywords, I was set. As it turns out, you can substantially speed up Windows boot time by using a startup delayer. Just like if you double-clicked a dozen program icons at the same time, Windows would try and run them all at once making every program take longer to start up, when Windows boots, it tries running all those programs at the same time. By delaying the programs that don’t affect your routine or the user interface (like those that run in the background) just a few seconds, your computer comes online and is functional faster. You just don’t notice the other processes are still starting up in the background because you can already start typing, or whatever.

The other, more annoying, problem is that there are too many websites out there that do nothing but catalog EVERY program that comes along. That isn’t very helpful when you don’t want to try out 10 utilities, you just want to pick and choose from the best.

Even trying to search for reviews or descriptions is useless because tons of websites don’t do anything other than copy and paste in the software description right from the developer’s webpage. That is hardly objective. There are plenty of other lazy, sneaky, tricky, or downright unethical websites clogging up search results for computer software as well.

So, how to find useful new software fast and easy?

Use the site operator for your searches.

The site operator works by typing site: into your search query followed by the domain name of the website you want to search. This limits your search to only a single domain. Find a handful of trustworthy sites that feature the kind of software you like and you can use those to find your new utility. Then, click near the top left of the results screen where it says More Options. Click on Past Year. That will help limit your searches to the current crop of software and utilities and make sure that rave reviews you are reading are about the current version AND that they are comparing to the most recent versions of competing utilities.

There are plenty of good sites out there. Currently, I use (in no particular order): makeuseof.com, lifehacker.com, and downloadsquad.com. If I would rather browse, I head over to filehippo.com.

Today I need a new replacement clipboard utility. The one I have isn’t very easy to use and hogs a lot of memory, so it is never running when I need it. I want one that keeps more than one entry on the clipboard, though I don’t need it to keep 100, and it I want it to run in a very small amount of memory. Preferably, I want one that doesn’t require the super resource hogging .NET.

So, I’m off to search: clipboard utility site:makeuseof.com then clipboard enhanced site:downloadsquad.com, and so on.

Wish me luck.

*

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Best Way Find Good Utilities Programs and Software Online Fast is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

In all fairness, the more accurate "safest car seats" comes in with an estimated CPC of $0.98, so it isn’t all that bad

It just gave me a chuckle on an otherwise boring day.

-WG

What Google AdWords / AdSense Says About Society is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

Re-robbed from ellybabes – I just highlighted what I’ve done in BLUE, I probably want to do all the other ones that don’t involve hospitals or being attacked

ellybabes said: Robbed from K8 the GR8 – all the things I’ve done are BLUE, all those I want to do are in RED.

1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. I have played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (and fed it too)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (was still in grade school)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke in public
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris (Seen in person on the ground)
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check/cheque
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (Laid off, technically J )
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Ridden an elephant

And, as number 101, had a new post inspire a new Category, instead of the other way around.  My new "Time Waster" category now has a post.

To Do or Not To Do is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC

But, I noticed this today and can’t help but wonder why this would in any way be a necessary thing.  Unless you were inviting people, do they really need to see that you have a reservation somewhere? 

Now, posting your review after dining at the restaurant might be a useful thing, but this up front posting doesn’t really make sense to me, especially at the level that there might need to be a dedicated button to handle such a once in a year posting as opposed to some sort of manual posting.

The question then is this:  Is Open Table – and several other businesses – trying too hard to somehow be linked / connected to social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter, or is there a legitimate need being met?

Social Networking Going Too Far or Business Just Trying Too Hard? is a post from Best Hubris. All content exclusively written by Freelance Writing Business of ArcticLlama, LLC