nopunintended.org

Middle of the road..

Leon — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 09:51:55 +0000

With Fox News entrenched on the right, and MSNBC firmly in the left, this NYTimes editorial advocates, to some extent Jon Stewart's 'middle-of-the-road' journalism, a void CNN has tried to fill in the last few years. Conversely, Stewart himself covered CNN's inability to sit in the middle with his own segment last week. The clip with Blitzer and Snoop Dogg is hilarious.

It all of course, comes back to Stewart's infamous Crossfire segment back in 2004.

A Donkey in Boston.

Leon — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 08:59:15 +0000

A continuing thread for anyone who ever visits Boston and gets a chance to visit the Boston Civic Hall. The Democratic Party mascot - the ass - sits outside.

Top to bottom: Ryan in Boston, 2005, Myself in Boston, 2008, Noel in Boston, 2009

iPhone 3G Unlock with no SIM

Leon — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:38:12 +0000

Jailbreaking an iphone 3g with no sim

assumptions: iphone 3g (not 3gs).
unable to determine current firmware on phone.
unable to determine which carrier phone is locked to
phone is in 'emergency calls only' state, and is locked to unknown carrier
using Windows XP (should work on Vista)

must have:
redsn0w
iphone 3.0 firmware (.ipsw file)

files & reference: - I 'd read these links first before attempting

http://blog.iphone-dev.org/
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/06/25/jailbreakunlock-iphone-30-windows-redsn0w-edition/
http://www.simonblog.com/2009/06/25/complete-guide-jailbreak-iphone-3-0-using-redsn0w/
http://limitededitioniphone.com/how-to-put-the-iphone-into-dfu-mode/
http://www.iclarified.com/entries/index.php?caid=2&scid=11&seid=1

Phone will say 'insert sim with no PIN to activate iphone' and have usb + itunes icon

connect iphone to pc
put it into DFU mode - not this step is possibly crucial to unlocking it when no SIM is available
should appear in windows as usb device
open itunes 8.2
restore iphone os 3.0 to it - use shift-restore and select the downloaded IPSW, or if you are certain

the firmware already matches what redsn0w supports, just let it download the default update from itunes

download redsn0w + iphone firmware that MATCHES what you just downloaded

redsn0w - open and browse to ipsw
redsn0w will patch ipsw
put iphone into DFU again (follow prompts)
redsnow will upload patched ipsw
after a few restarts iphone should load up hacked firmware and launch into springboard
it should show 'insert sim'

connect to wireless network
open cydia
enter in URL for ultrasn0w in sources

install ultrasn0w
status window should say complete
reboot phone
insert any known working SIM

test by calling & SMSing

the Liberal Lion

Leon — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:11:56 +0000

In memory of Ted Kennedy’s passing, here’s a few photos from my quick visit to DC last year. I managed to pop in and say hello to the intern at Ted Kennedy’s Senate office in the Russell building.

Manual Competence

Leon — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:41:13 +0000

Matthew Crawford appeared on the Colbert Report (24-6-09) last week. His book, "Shop Class as Soulcraft" explores the difference between manual labor (mechanics, plumbers) and knowledge work (office jobs), and the growing disdain for the trades industry in today's world. Matthew himself runs a motorcycle workshop and has a PhD in political philosophy.

What struck me in the interview was this line from Crawford - "We impoverish ourselves intellectually when we devalue manual competence".

I think sparkies are smarter than my fellow white-collar workers think.

Interview here however I don't think it's viewable outside the US.

UPDATE: I've embedded the clip below:

100 days in.

Leon — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:50:14 +0000

Here are some random achievements of Obama's first 100 days, with a focus on spending and the wars.

22 Jan - Executive Order issued ordering closure of Guantanamo Bay
4 Feb - Obama signs into law S-CHIP reauthorization act. $32.8 billion to extend coverage to an additional 4 million children.
17 Feb - Obama signs into law the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009". Provides $787 billion to stimulate the US economy.
Obama also commits an additional 17 000 troops to the ailing War in Afghanistan.
24 Feb - Obama addresses a joint session of Congress
26 Feb - Obama announces a 3.6 trillion budget, entitled 'A New Era of Responsibility'.
27 Feb - Obama announces US will end its combat mission in Iraq by August 31, 2010.
9 March - Reverses Bush stem cell order.
24 March - OMB issues a memo saying that the Global War on Terror has ended - Overseas Contingency Operations begins.
26 March - Obama outlines new strategy for Afghanistan and Iraq. Afghanistan president, Hamid Karzai issues a statement of support.
30 March - Obama lays down terms of auto-bailout. White House asks GM CEO to resign.
2 April - Obama & world leaders attend the G-20 summit. Leaders pledge 1.1 trillion in financing the IMF.
15 April - Major economy speech given at Georgetown University. "..by no means are we out of the woods..."
18 April - Handshake with Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela signals new approach to foreign relations.

Smackdown

Leon — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 02:47:36 +0000

Here's a few zingers from the left. What's the common theme? A naive/stupid-sounding Republican questions a senior member of the Obama administration (and in Gore's case, a former Vice President) as part of a committee hearing.

Steven Chu (Secretary of Energy) is asked - "How did the oil get underneath Alaska?" 6 seconds to respond. The Representative from Texas simplifies it to '..so it just drifted there'.

Hillary Clinton (Secretary of State) is quizzed by Representative Pence (Indiana) on Obama's meeting with Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela.

Al Gore is asked if his advocacy for climate change over the last 30 years was done all for personal financial interest. Congresswoman Blackburn doesn't seem to get it.

Obama’s administration = Carter’s 2nd term?

Leon — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:54:07 +0000

The piracy incident off the coast of Somalia brings some sharp comparisons from Republicans. Republicans continually compare Obama's rhetoric and discourse to that of Carter. Trying to 'sweet talk' the baddies out of doing more harm. Compare and contrast to the 1978 Iranian Hostage Crisis and failed rescue attempt.
Stuff to look out - the affect of the UN resolution on North Korea's missile launch, and the US' attempts to have the Security Council enforce tougher sanctions, as well as Obama's handling of the fragile US-Iran relationship.

iphone 3g unlocking

Leon — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:10:36 +0000

Looks like iPhones in Australia can be carrier unlocked, or software unlocked. This method applies to a Vodafone iPhone 3G sold preunlocked.

Check the status of phone using the Vodafone IMEI checker:
https://unlock.vodafone.com.au/voila/handsetunlock/self-service.html?method=selectService

If the phone has been carrier unlocked, the page will show instructions on how to unlock it. Basically the phone needs to be connected to iTunes, and a restore and update is performed.

On first connect, iTunes may prompt to register (associate with apple ID/register details). You should be able to cancel the registration. It may help to disconnect and reconnect the phone if the 'cancel' or 'register later' button does not work.

Latest update is ~200mb. Once the update is applied, iTunes will apply the update to the phone and verify the update. A status bar should also appear on the phone to indicate progress.

On my first restore attempt - the restore failed with an unspecified error. Unplugging and replugging in the iPhone brought it into recovery mode. Another restore attempt was successful.

On successful restore, iTunes should display a message to say it has been successfully unlocked. Mine looked like this:

wuerker cartoon

Leon — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:32:59 +0000

Found this interesting cartoon on Politico.com. Click on it to see my flickr page with annotations.