Tether the T-Mobile G1 without any Messy Rooting or Hacking

Tethering has been around for the G1 since it hit the market, but it always required gaining root access to the OS by loading hacked-up version of the firmware. From what I’ve read, the process is fairly painless, and there are few reports of bricking. But, once you’ve rooted your phone, you’d have to load up the software and make changes to SOCKS proxy settings in your browser to connect through the phone.

I’ve been very interested in the idea of using my phone as a modem in a pinch, but I never liked the idea of rooting my phone and dealing with the manual updating and vices that come with it (I’m not a developer, so there’s not a huge benefit). However, there’s a new freeware app, PdaNet,  that sets up your USB-connected G1 as a tethered modem using the WiFi or cellular connection on the phone. PdaNet has already done the job for BlackBerry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, iPhone, and now, it’s been ported to Android (for G1 only, for now).

The Android version of PdaNet is considered a “preview release” right now. It only allows for connection through the USB, while, for example, the iPhone version can be set up to join a wireless ad-hoc network and others connect via Bluetooth. Though, if you know what you’re doing, you could set up the computer that’s connected to the G1 to share the Internet connection across to the WiFi connection in the computer which is joined to an ad-hoc, effectively using the computer as a router and wireless access point of sorts, with the G1 as a modem.

I was very skeptical of the software; very skeptical that it wouldn’t work as advertised. But, sure enough, it installed without a hitch and the connection was made without a fuss from neither phone nor laptop. There’s even a 64-bit version, but I haven’t tried that one yet.

Just be careful not to violate any terms of service you may have, or go over T-Mobile’s “unlimited” 5GB cap! Word on the street is, though, that T-Mobile will not block tethering, and the 5GB cap is a “soft” cap, meaning, once you hit the cap, they’ll throttle your speed down below edge speeds.  Of course, none of this counts if you’re connected via WiFi, but in that case, why are you tethering??

(via GAB, and Android Community)

Shadowrun Character Generator [SR4CG]

Shadowrun 4 Book Cover

I’m helping plug a buddy of mine who has spent considerable time, effort, and risked his personal health to learn and subsequently write a Shadowrun character generator in Visual Basic. This guy makes me so envious that he can sit down, learn a prgramming language, and have a working program running in that language in a matter of a couple days. The bum just picked up some PHP with MySQL database backing just so he can better host his own program.

Anywho, I thought the more links to the program, the better, as its currently in beta and he needs lot of feedback to get this thing polished. I don’t play Shadowrun, so as far as game mechanics, I’m worthless to him, but I try my best to break the program. But, you, my fair reader, it’s very possible that you play SR, and would be a great value to him with his eternal gratitiude as your warm-fuzzy-feeling-inside payment. (That, and a FREE chargen that you can help mold).

Without further ado:

• Download the DaisyBox Shadowrun 4 Character Generator
• Visit the official Dumpshock forum discussion thread

SR4CharGen Splash

Program Screenshot (Because he REALLY like the way it looks in Vista) (Click to enlarge)

Frustration with Upgrading My Zune Software [Solved]

I haven’t been able to upgrade my Zune software installation over the last couple of updates because I kept getting the “Setup must stop because the required package ‘Zune’ failed to install,” Error code: 0×80070643.

Most solutions included downloading and installing the full Zune package which includes all of the other components required. I tried that, and nada. I tried a utility provided by Microsoft called “Windows Install Cleanup” which allows you remove a program’s Windows Installer configuration information so there’s no trace, or anything saved, from previous installs.

So, when the big Zune 3.0 update came around, I really wanted to upgrade. I decided I’d do the one suggestion I kept avoidng: a complete removal and reinstall. I avoided this because I’d lose all settings and *gasp* play counts. (I like them, okay?)

I completely removed the Zune software using a program called “Unzoone.” I also cleaned up the registry to make sure all traces were removed with “CCleaner.” Finally,

Okay. This HAS to work, right?!

Restart.

Start Install…..

ERROR!!!!! GAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

So, I began yet another quest of Googling for answers. Finally, I happened upon this Locker Gnome blog, Digged (?), where it was suggested that the Windows Firewall must be turned on (mine’s always off) for the installation to complete. Sceptical, I tried it. Sure enough! That was the ticket. Now why in HELL would the Windows Firewall need to be enabled for this reason!?

AVG Needs a Better Marketing Dept [A NEW! BETTER! FASTER! One]

AVG inserted this little advertisement into my copy of AVG Free 7 alerting me to all the GREAT things available to me if I were to upgrade to AVG 8.0.

New? Check. Better? Check. Faster? Oh, you betcha.

Panoramic Photos on the Cheap & Easy [AutoStitch]

I’ll being filing this one under “Shared Discoveries” because I didn’t find this program all on my own; A friend of mine introduced it to me a couple of years ago on a trip down Highway 1. For some reason he wanted to take a panoramic photo so I tried setting my cheap digital camera to pano-mode. It’s supposed to make pano shots easier by allowing you to take a photo and then show part of that photo on the LCD screen so you can line up the next shot. However, as everyone knows, manual panoramic shots either with a built-in camera function or later trying to line up those shots in a photo editor are just awful.

So my friend starts taking random shots of this eroding hillside along the highway. There was no rhyme or reason, just snapping shots of the hillside. Then, he ensures me that this program he’s telling me about will be able to take all those photos and make a perfect panoramic photo out of it. I was skeptical, but sure enough, it did!

The program? From the project home page: “AutoStitch is the product of two years of research by Matthew Brown and David Lowe at the University of British Columbia.” And from Wikipedia, “The software uses the SIFT- and the RANSAC-Algorithm. This program differs from others such as photostitch in that it automatically stitches together even unaligned or zoomed photographs seamlessly without user input, whereas others often require the user to highlight matching areas for the photographs to merge properly. The only requirement is that all photographs be taken from a single point.”

In other words, AutoStitch is a free program (or “free-to-try” for non-commerical purposes) that takes a selection of separate photographs and “stitches” them together to make one large photograph. The resulting photograph doesn’t necessarily have to be a traditional panoramic photo. AutoStitch will make sense out of photos taken in any order, location, or size of particular scene. AutoStitch will also perform needed contrast, brightness, color and level image adjustments in order to create the seamless image.

Here I offer a couple of examples of AutoStitch’s work on photos taken by me on a recent trip to Yosemite National Park. Continue reading »