Staggering through Life

Ad of the Week - Bangkok Insurance

2008-07-25T16:07:07Z

This has to be one of the best insurance ads I have ever seen. It is an ad for Bangkok Insurance.
Enjoy

iPhone 2.0 coming back from the 1604 error

2008-07-22T10:56:46Z

Now, I do not really advocate going around the official way of doing things, but sometimes it is impossible to do things the official way. For instance, I wanted to get an iPhone contract with O2 when the iPhone first came out last year, but they refused to give me a contract based on my credit score even when i offered to pay off the one year contract from the start, so I bought the iPhone anyway, unlocked it and started using it.

When the 2.0 software came out, as with every other iPhone user, I couldn’t wait to upgrade. Unfortunately, upgrading meant losing my phones unlocked status. So I had to wait for someone to come up with the unlock for the phone. On Sunday, the iphone dev team came up with an update to their pawnage tool which could unlock iPhone 2.0 firmware. However, somewhere along the line, I managed to upgrade the iPhone to the 2.0 firmware, put the phone in restore mode and any attempt to restore the phone will result in a 1604 error. For anyone who might have hurridly upgraded their iPhone 1^st generation and run into this problem, here is what I did to get my phone restored, upgraded and unlocked.

You’ll need these software so you might as well get busy downloading them. Although I use a mac, for some reason I had more success with windows, so the software here are windows based.

iTunes 7.5 (Windows Version)
iPhone Firmware 1.1.4
Kiphone
Ziphone
iTunes 7.7
Pwnage tool (Mac version)

Ok… let’s begin..

First off, if you have iTunes 7.7 already installed, uninstall it and install iTunes 7.5. I had some problems with iTunes 7.5 on my Mac so I used the windows version. Note, you will have to rename the iTunes folder in your my documents music folder before iTunes 7.5 will work. Otherwise it will complain that the library has been created by a newer version of iTunes and will immediately quit.

Once you have iTunes installed, put your iPhone in DFU mode. If like me, you somehow placed you iPhone in restore mode, put off the iPhone by holding down the power and home key until the screen goes black then release it. You have to get the timing right otherwise the iPhone will just restart again. Once you have put off the phone, connect you iPhone to the computer via the usb. If the phone comes on again, turn it off.Hold down the power and home key for 10s then release the power key and hold the home key for an additional 10s, iTunes will start detecting the phone once you have entered DFU mode.

iTunes will now ask you to restore the phone, hold the shift key down (alt on a Mac) and click the restore button and browse to your 1.1.4 firmware. If all goes well, it should restore the iPhone. Once it has finished restoring the iPhone, it will throw up an error and go into restore mode. This is normal. Use Ziphone to kick it out of restore mode (do not activate or unlock it yet). Once it is out of restore mode and it is on the activation screen, use kiphone to downgrade the baseband (check all three boxes). This is because when you upgraded to 2.0, the baseband also got upgraded. Once kiphone has done its work, restore the phone again, it shouldn’t give any errors this time and use ziphone to activate and unlock it using the do it all option.

Upgrade your iTunes to version 7.7 and download the latest firmware (download only do not restore). Using instructions from here, create a custom firmware using pwnage, restore your iPhone using the custom firmware and voila, you have your unlocked and activated iPhone.

Ad of the week - Dairy Milk’s Drumming Gorilla

2008-07-10T11:52:26Z

I love a good advertisement. I’m one of the weird people who actually loves sitting through advertisement during breaks in shows. Maybe it is because I am interested in video editing and see my self one day creating an advert that will be truly memorable, or that consumers will enjoy watching.

Dairy Milk Drumming Gorilla

Now I know this is a very old one, but you have to admit it is a goodie. So what makes this advert such a good one, I really cannot say. Maybe it is the mystery surrounding the advert, since you are not sure what the advert is about or even if it is an advert till the very end, maybe it is just the fact that you have a gorilla drumming or maybe it is just the sound of Phil Collins voice. For me personally. it was the initial few seconds of the start of the advert, before the gorilla starts drumming, when you can actually see the gorilla *feeling* the music, getting into the mood/zone. That was what killed it for me. What did it for you?

N.B

Dairy milk have changed the advert to one about trucks which i absolutely do not like…. but that is just my opinion.

Obama’s speech on Nigeria

2008-07-08T14:31:20Z

Going through the comments left on website, I came across a blog also written by a Nigeria albeit one with more literary wizardry and creativity than I can only aspire to attain. One of his articles “Obama’s speech on Nigeria” is quite a good read and provides a satire view on the truly unique but sorry institution that is democracy in Nigeria

A House or Flat?

2008-07-07T10:10:10Z

Ok, I’m planning on moving to London sometime soon and the invariable house hunt has started. House hunting in London is a completely different ball game than house hunting anywhere else. From figuring out which area in London you want to live (north, north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west) to what zones, and also trying to stay away from the rent scams that are currently rampant on gumtree.

Through a posting on gumtree, I came across an estate agency called Brinkley’s. Although the flat i was calling for had already gone , they were very helpful in helping me find alternate flat viewings for me. After a few viewings, I was in a dilemma, I had whittled my possible choices down to two, one was a one bedroom flat in a modern development area, the other was a one bedroom house in a quiet, residential estate. Both residences are reasonably near to train stations and are in good neighbourhoods. The choice was basically based on living in a block of flats vs living in a house.

Personally, I prefer the block of flats because in my opinion, they look nicer, you have your own balcony and it is styled in a modern layout. Seems to suit the image of a working professional living in the city. The house on the other hand is in a quiet suburbia styled environment and reminds me more of the sort of place I’ll move to once I start thinking about a family.

Ah decisions, decisions, house or a flat???

Not another Social network thingy…

2008-06-25T16:04:52Z

I am actually getting tired of people inviting me to join this social network or that social network. I am already a member of more social networks than I can manage - from Flickr to Facebook and so are most of my friends. Yet every now and again someone invites me to join yet another social network.

What is the fascination behind social networks? I mean, (ranting at no-one in particular and everyone in general) I already connected to you through Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin. You have my address, email, phone number and even updates on what I am doing daily via Twitter. So why do you think you need to connect to me via another medium? Enough with keeping tabs on me already.

Now don’t get me wrong, I do not have anything against social networking, I just don’t see why you need to be connected to people via every social network you can find. Has it become a thing of pride, or something to brag about? You hear people say, I have 10,000 friends on Myspace or 500 friends on Facebook. I bet you you do not talk to all your 500 Facebook friends, or can even remember half of the people you are connected to on Myspace? So what is the point. The whole point of social networking is to connect to people you are actually interested in either professionally or personally, not just every Tom, Dick and Harry.

What started this little tirade was an invitation to join Plurk, which as far as I can see is just another twitter. Since i am already on twitter, I do not see any reason to become a “plurker”. Well unless they come up with some features that blows twitter out of the water, they will just another twitter to me.

On second thoughts, I do like the look of the advance plurks and the fact that you can share media with it, so inspite of the tirade, if you find me inviting you to follow me on plurk, let’s pretend the first few paragraphs do not exist .

Image from wittysparks

Rent scam on Gumtree

2008-06-23T15:01:43Z

I recently decided to move to London as part of a career change I am thinking of doing. As part of this process, i decided to use Gumtree to get a feel of what sort of places are out there, how much they generally cost and which areas seem to have the nicer places. About half way through my searching, I came across this beaut of a place, looking at the pictures display, I was expecting to see an asking price of £300 - £400 a week. you can imagine my surprise when I saw £175. My first reaction was disbelief, followed by a healthy dose of skepticism. There must be something wrong with this house for it to be this cheap, however, due to prompting from my girlfriend I contacted the seller to hear what he/she had to say.

From her first email, she said she was 45 years old, a doctor with a hospital in Scotland who needed a tenant to stay in her house in London, fair enough, However, when she started asking for proof that I will be able to pay, coupled with grammatical errors one will not expect from someone who has studied to P.hD level, red flags started to pop up everywhere. Enough said, I will let the email thread speak for itself.

Tolumi wrote:
Hi Emma

Name is Tolumi and I am interested in the house you posted on gumtree. The one in Oakhill hamsptead. Will it be possible to get more information regarding the house as well as book a viewing?

Cheers

Tolumi

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On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 9:27 PM, Emmanuel Anderson wrote:
Hello,
Thanks for your response. I am a very comfortable brain surgeon,45
I own my hospital in Scotland .I would like to rent out one double bedroom Garden house with Broad Band Internet to a very easy going person at 175 per week/700pcm including all bills.available now for you to occupy for a long time,My House is very comfortable fully furnished House on ground floor of brand duplex house.Located in quiet residential area is fully furnished with large fitted wardrobes, offering heaps of storage space. Large fully equipped kitchen,toilets and unlimited wireless internet and very close to the underground station is Hampstead heath.Including an underground parking space. I dont want any problem for myself.., i need to know the person that will occupy my house that is, the person that will take care of my house like theirs because am letting the flat out because am presently in Scotland attending to some patients and as well as going through a forum. It is not compulsory that i rent out the flat but if i can get a reliable and tidy person that will take care of my flat for me i can let it out and come over for the viewings as soon as possible so i need to know them better i.e what you and your partner are into.
Waiting to read from you.
Dr Emma Anderson
M.B., B.A.O., B.Ch., D.O.R.C.P.I.,
M.R.C.G.P., MTTS

—————————————————————

On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 10:02 PM, Emmanuel Anderson wrote:
Hello ,
Thanks so much for the reply and interest in my House. However,i will be willing to meet you,get to know you and show you round the flat so that you can see what you are renting.The house is situated on OAKHILL PARK, HAMPSTEAD LONDON,NW3,But the issue is that i have been having problems with time wasters with regards to making the payment for the Flat and this was really a wasted time since you know i am presently in Scotland on a seminar as well as attending to some surgical patients,but have my Laptop here to reply to emails.However,how am i going to be sure that i will not be disappointed when i come around to show you the flat?Please understand that i am NOT asking you to pay for what you have not seen.People have told me that they will pay upon us meeting if they are satisfied but they all don’t have the money to pay,everyone of them is looking for a free or cheaper Flat to rent despite the fact that i have made the rent Cheap.Pls,i need your suggestion here because you can’t pay for what you have not seen,it is not advisable.However,i am also discussing with my Colleague here as regards idea on what i can do.I will get back to you or you suggest on what to do so that we can arrange a meeting and the viewing of the flat.Thanks while i will be waiting read from you.
Do not hesitate to ask any question. feel free to ask me any question.
Hence,It is available for long term rent so 6month is condone
waiting to read from you. Regards
Dr Emma Anderson
M.B., B.A.O., B.Ch., D.O.R.C.P.I.,
M.R.C.G.P., MTTS
N.B:
Do you have the money to pay me if you like the Flat after viewing?
How many are you to occupy the Flat?. What is your full name? Name of your employer?

—————————————————————

Tolumi wrote:
Hi Emma,

I understand your point of view and I can guarantee that if I like the place, I’ll be able to pay for at least 6 months maybe even a year within a week of an agreement between the two of us (parents helping out). One of my mums friends is also a surgeon in London, and can vouch for me that if I like the place (if you further need reassurances), I would be able to pay for it. I would also like to know if there are going to any additional tenants in the house or is the house a one bedroom flat.

cheers

Tolumi

—————————————————————

wrote:
Hello,
I really appreciate your interest in the flat,you sound interesting…i need to tell you that i’ve experience lots of disappointment that why i’ve been curious and i would have love to make an agency handle this for me but the last time i did,he increased the cost rent i stated and also collected more commision fron my tenanct which i dont like….When i asked my colleague here in Scotland. she said for both of us to be on a saver side that you don’t have to commit 100% without seeing what you wanted,but i will likewise tell you that a proof of an assurance that you will be paying for the rent and the refundable deposit when i come down to sort viewing with you will be needed.
I cannot come all the way from Scotland and be disappointed…i will like to have a proof that you will be paying for the rent and the refundable deposit when i come down to sort things with you..
Well i’m still suggesting on what to do on the proof….you should try to understand me.May be i will call my lawyer and see what he suggest ..hope to read back from you soon
Regards
Emma Anderson
M.B., B.A.O., B.Ch., D.O.R.C.P.I.,
M.R.C.G.P., MTTS

—————————————————————

Tolumi wrote:
Hi,

Fair enough. First of all, if it is alright with you, I can go and take a look at the place, just the environment how easy it is to get there on the underground, parking (since I have a car) and how long it will take to get from there to London Central, as those might be the only other factors that might prevent me from taking the house so I can at least guarantee those won’t be a factor. I would have suggested some sort of deposit, but I am not going to do that for a house I haven’t seen when the person showing the house isn’t around (no offense). Maybe after you get intouch with your lawyer, he will come up with a more mutual benefiting solution.

Cheers

Tolumi

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On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 11:21 PM, Emmanuel Anderson

Hello,
I have lots of poeple that is really interested in my flat but i do think you are more responsible on what you have stated in your previous email sent to me and i hope you understand my concern too though.I would have love to receive bank statement,reference and bank slip but sorry i have been sent fraudulent one in the past by time wasters .I wasted 225 euro coming from Scotland Based on this particular flat but people don’t have the money to pay, they just want to see how beautiful it looks which is so outrageous and risky to my job, so i decided to called my lawyer and he suggested that for both of us to be on a safer side,he said that we can both do it this way that for you to show that you have the cash to pay for my rent and deposit and you will not disappoint me when i come down from Scotland to sort the viewing, the best you can give me as a proof is to show that you have the cash in hand to pay.Is that you should go to any money gram outlet close to you, to send the rent 700pounds + refundable deposit 700pounds to your partner’s name to your own name in your present address or your partner’s send it to you …all i need is the scanned copy of the transfer receipt for confirmation on their customer care line if the money is real available for you to pick up for me when i come over to sort the viewings with you and handing over of the keys.The charges for the transfer is refundable by me when i get to london so you dont need to worry about that..

Feel free to ask me any question.
Regards
Dr Emma Anderson
M.B., B.A.O., B.Ch., D.O.R.C.P.I.,
M.R.C.G.P., MTTS

————————————————————

Tolumi wrote:
Are you shitting me??? Though I was hoping otherwise I kinda got the feeling that the whole thing was a scam and I guess I should have trusted my initial suspicions. Do u really think I’ll be dumb enough to send you £1400 pounds for a house based on only pictures and your word? You must think I’m on another level of stupid. Anyways, just to let you know, I am going to put your ad as well as this email conversation online as another of the fraudulent rent schemes going on. Hopefully, people like me who will think it is too good to be true will google it, find my post and not fall for your nefarious scam. You are soooo lucky the police can’t get you based on your email adress.

Tolumi

Here are some pictures of the house that was used. It all goes to show, when something seems too good to be true, it probably is

Is Romance Dead?

2008-06-21T22:09:23Z

Now, I am talking with regards to a particular race… blacks although it might apply to all races, but as I am black, they are the only ones I can talk about. Anyway, along the way, romance seems to have become the least important thing in the grand scheme of things. Not that we blacks are not romantic, it just seems that voluntarily expressing our affections sometimes can be seen as a sign of weakness. Now, I am just as guilty of this as every other guy, and it can take some prompting and prodding for me to attempt to do anything romantic. Although I do have to admit that seeing the smile on your girls face when you eventually do can make it all worth it.

Just curious, are you guys romantic by choice or demand?

Adeiu Solid Snake…

2008-06-19T10:04:59Z

So at approximately 12am on Wednesday, I finished Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots. As I put down the pad, a feeling of fulfillment filled me. It was everything I thought it would be and more and I could finally lay Solid Snake to rest in my mind.

Metal Gear Solid had always seemed more of an interactive movie than a game to me. While this final series is no different, it does take game story telling to a different level and half way through the game you find yourself caught up in the intricate story lines as well as bonding with the characters through their personal struggles, doubts, fears as well as courage. While the cut scenes can be long, i didn’t find them boring (except for the mission briefings) and sometimes was reluctant for them to end. The soundtrack complements the game completely and can sometimes makes you start reminiscing of the original metal gear solid games (for example, when you go back to shadow moses island). While some songs make you think for an instance that you are in a James Bond movie (Final fight with Liquid).

In my opinion, Hideo Kojima has succeeded in creating a total immersive experience that blurs the line between gaming and Hollywood. All the questions you could possibly have are answered in this final installment of the Solid Snake series and there is no higher note to say goodbye to Solid Snake than Metal Gear Solid 4.

Microsoft Tables encourage Flirting…

2008-06-17T10:44:34Z

Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a complete Apple fan boy (I really do hate that word… fan boy ). While I do not hate Microsoft, I’ve just seen the blue screen and the four rings of death too many times to support them (Windows and Xbox 360) wholeheartedly and I am yet to see any screen or rings of death on any of my non Microsoft products, but that is another story.

Even with all that, I cannot help but be impressed by the new Microsoft initiative that is Microsoft Surface. Microsoft Surface is basically a table surface that is fully interactive with the environment you are in. For example, imagine you are in a restaurant with your friends and have just finished your meals, your bill can be viewed on the table and if you put your credit cards on the table, you can basically drag your meals to your card and pay for it in that manner. Also, according to a BBC article, you can also flirt, chat and exchange pictures with people in the same restaurant and on different tables. No more awkwardness of walking up to a girl and having the whole restaurant witness your discomfort if she says no . For all you gamblers who need their fix anytime anywhere, there will also be gambling versions.

It’s all well and good… as long as we do not get the Blue Microsoft Screen of Death. Now that will be a scary table to have your meals on.