The Nordic Njerd

I have an original iPhone that I wanted to use without the AT&T cellular service.  We bought a new iPhone and didn't need this one for calling.  After we removed the SIM card to put into the new phone, the old phone still worked for apps and music though it warned us that it had no SIM card.  All was ok until I decided to restore iOS to get rid of all the original data and settings.  After that it needed to be reactivated through iTunes, but would not do so without a SIM card.

I talked with both AT&T and Apple who told me that I could use a SIM card from my current 3GS iPhone and iTunes on my Mac to activate the phone. Note that I had already tried a blank SIM card at AT&T's suggestion. There is no way to connect to iTunes or do anything with an unactivated phone.  I could not even jail-break the phone.  But this should be no problem since once I activated the older phone, I could just put the SIM back in the newer phone.  Except for one problem, the older phone uses a different $20 data plan because of the slower EDGE only phone service.  For that reason, AT&T had problems activating the phone through iTunes and even trying to do it manually. They said that the $30 data plan would be restored when I put the SIM back in the 3GS iPhone. After claiming that the old phone was activated and they could ring the number, the phone never rang and was not activated according to iTunes.  I also talked with Apple support who tried everything until they went to escalate the call and I lost the connection.

I called AT&T back again, but I would have had to go through the whole trouble shooting process again. I finally decided to just get another phone number and new SIM card.  The guy from AT&T support said they could waive the normal activation fee and that I could cancel the new phone number account at no charge.  But he could not send me a SIM card for an iPhone though he could for other phones.  I would have to go to a local AT&T store and beg them to do the same thing for my iPhone. Instead, I got a SIM mailed to me for an old Motorola Razr phone that I still had. I had to supply the IMEI number from the Motorola phone.   When I received the SIM today, I just put it in my old iPhone and it worked perfectly.  The old iPhone is reactivated and running like normal.

Well, almost like normal.  I still have a problem with the on-screen keyboard in the portrait orientation. It is difficult to press the .?123, Space and Return keys to work.  Part of the time, the Shift, Delete or other 2nd row keys will "press".  Interestingly, the problem does not occur in all applications.

I doubt the ordeal is over yet though.  Supposedly, my 3GS iPhone is back on the $30 unlimited data plan and I still need to cancel the new phone number account.  Will see how the billing turns out.

One last point: in the process of removing the SIM card, I used a safety pin instead of a paperclip.  When I went to put a SIM card back in the old iPhone, it would not go in all the way.  A local store named World of Wireless fixed my problem for $20 though now the SIM does not pop out.  I need to pry the SIM carrier out.  Beware! Do not use a safety pin.  I think the sharp point might slip inside the slot and mess something up.

Last week, my daughter mentioned that the brakes on our 1993 Buick Century were not working very well.  The next morning, after driving it around the block, it barely stopped back in the driveway.  Further investigation showed that the brake-line to the passenger side rear wheel had rusted and sprung a leak. Since I could not drive it further and I had replaced brake-lines before, I decided to fix it myself.

Now, typically, all cars that I have worked on had one brake-line to the rear axle which then had one flexible hose splitting to two steel brake-lines, one to each rear wheel.  This car had had separate brake-lines  and hoses to each rear wheel.  The brake-line was over 13 feet long and was routed around the engine and firewall.  Since most of the brake-line was solid with surface rust, I thought I could cut it off and splice in a new section.  That's when the "fun" began.

The first rule of fixing an old car should be to take off the old part and take it with you to the auto part store.  That I did not do.  I went to one of my local auto part stores and picked up a 60" brake-line, some fittings and a new brake hose.  Might as well replace the hose at the same time.  Well, it turned out that the new brake hose did not match the old one and I had to make my second trip to the parts store.  That parts store did not have the correct hose, even though their computer said the hose was for a 93 Buick.  So I picked up a correct hose at another store.  By then I had the old hose with me to match it up.

Note that I also borrowed a brake-line flaring tool at the first store so I quickly cut the old line, flared it and connected it with the new brake-line and hose.  Now it should be a simple job of getting the air out of the brake-line. Problem was that both connections in the brake-line leaked.  I tightened the connection from the new line to the new hose, but stripped the threads.  Back to the second parts store for a new hose and brake-line.  Luckily, at this point the parts only cost about $20.

Back home, I cut some more off the old brake line since my first flare was not good enough and I had some extra bends in the new line to allow for such problems.  I could just stretch the new line out another inch to make another flare.  But my second attempt was no good as well probably because the old line was rusty.  I went back to the first parts store another 8" brake line and couple more fittings since the first line would not stretch any further and I need to get farther along to a better portion of the old brake line.  Well, the new 8" brake line would not even screw into the fittings.

Another trip back to the first parts store showed that they had given me a "Japanese" brake line with a larger diameter fitting.  My trust in this store giving me the right parts was waning by this time.  Unfortunately my third flaring attempt was unsuccessful as well and my 48 hour loan on the flaring tool was nearing its end.  At this point, I decided that I would just replace the whole 13 foot brake-line with one piece, but I had to buy a 25 foot roll of brake-line to do it.  Another $25.

After a few days rest on the weekend, I got back into fitting the new long brake-line.  I cut off about 14 feet of the roll to use.  I bent the rear end of the line to fit around the axle, flared and connected it to the hose and routed the rest of the line up to the master brake cylinder on the driver's side of the engine compartment.  I did not remove all of the old brake-line and ran the new line near the top of the firewall where it was easier to work with and bend. A big problem was figuring out which of the four brake-lines at the master cylinder was the correct one to replace.  A repair manual would have helped. My first guess after trying to follow the two left brakes lines under the firewall was wrong.  I tested the line by injecting brake fluid into it with a syringe.  When it didn't come out the other cut off end, I tried the other line which passed the brake fluid.  I cut the fitting off the old brake-line and reused it since it was a different thread.  After pressure testings the new connected line, I discovered that the fitting at the rear wheel leaked and was still incorrect. In checking with the parts store, I found out that the flare not only needed to be a bubble-flare, but the fitting needed to be a European metric thread.

So what is this thing called a "Bubble Flare"?  I discovered that my 93 Buick did not have standard flared brake-lines.  Actually, the standard is called a double-flare.  A single-flare is often used for larger plumbing types of fittings.  The 93 Buick (and many other GM cars during that period) use a bubble-flare.  All of the flaring kits that I could borrow or buy locally are for double-flaring, but I discovered through the internet that the first step in making a double-flare will work as a bubble-flare.  I also discovered that the flaring tool has to be in good condition.  I actually bought a new tool that was so cheap that it broke after the second flare.  I rented a couple of tools that were worn out.  Finally, I found a flaring tool to borrow that was new and never used.  My last two flares worked perfectly which of course is why they were the last two flares.

Well, after about a dozen trips to six different auto parts stores over a week period, I finally have the brake line fixed and the Buick is again drivable.  Unfortunately, I also discovered that it needs new brake pads in the front so that is the project for next week.

Well, I didn't get the frame fixed in time to take the 37 Chevy to the MSRA street rod show, but I did attend the show on Friday and Sunday.  On Friday, I spent 5 hrs there with my brother-in-law and saw a portion of the Mecum Auto Auction.  We followed the auction of a 28 Ford Model A coupe that my brother was interested in.  It sold for $15,000.  I watch the Mecum auction every Saturday night on cable TV and it was fun to see it in real life.  I had cramps in my legs on Friday night so stayed home on Saturday, but found out that Mecum was broadcasting live on their web site and through Ustream.

On Sunday, my son came with me to the swap meet and I bought a set of 4 aluminum wheels, shown below.  These should spruce up the old car quite a bit.  I should be able reuse a few of the tires that I already have.

On both days, we walked for miles though did not see all 12,000 cars that were there.  The cars are driven into the fair grounds in the morning and have to leave each night.  It is unlikely that they are in the same spot each day.  I did get some good photos of another red 37 Chevy coupe that was valued at $76,000.  Also got photos of a 1950 Studebaker like one that my sister-in-law used to drive and of a 1940 Chevy coupe like that a friend of mine owned.    I could have taken many more pictures like I have in the past, but have become more selective.

Over the past month, I have investigated the use of iPads in our local elementary school where my wife teaches.  Last week, I presented my findings to a small group of teachers, the prinicipal and technical support staff.

While most of the presentation was a general overview of the iPad, there were a few specifics relative to education that I will review here.  I had 68 slides of which about 40 were direct screen shots from the iPad, Mac or PC screens. The presentation was developed with Apple's Keynote application on a Mac and presented through Keynote on the iPad.  An iPad VGA adapter cable was used to connect to an overhead projector, but does not support direct projection of the iPad screen.  Only output from Keynote, YouTube and other video apps can use the VGA adapter.

Available applications - Last week, there were 520 iPad education apps; today 636.  Of these 508 are paid and 128 (29.1%) are free.  In addition last week, there were 14780 iPhone education apps; 15188 today.  Interestingly, 12356 of these are paid and 2832 or 18.6% are free. The general thought is that iPad apps are more expensive than iPhone apps, but that is not true so far for education apps. Note that most iPhone apps run on the iPad and iPod Touch unless they require specific hardware such as GPS or phone capability. These numbers were derived from the iTunes app store on the Mac where counts are shown.

According to 148Apps.biz, there are 204,812 apps in the iTunes App store. 27.35% are free and 7.7% are classified as education, 15% as games, 11% as entertainment and 17% as books.  The average price of an app is $2.77 and it would cost $568,303 to purchase one copy of all apps.

Restrictions - The iPad and iPhone have a setting to control "student" access to apps and media content files. Using the Settings app, you can turn on Restrictions under the General setting category.  To apply restrictions, you need to enter a 4-digit passcode twice to set it and again to change or turn off restrictions.  Note that Restrictions apply to all users since the iPad does not have separate user accounts.

You can Allow or Disallow access to the Safari, YouTube and iTunes apps.  If you turn off these apps, their icons don't even appear on the Home page.  You can also disallow Installing Apps, In-App Purchases or the collection of Location information.

If Install Applications is turned off, there will no App Store icon on the Home page, but this does not prevent the deletion of apps.  Students can still delete apps through the normal method.  They can touch an app icon for a second or two until the icon starts to shake.  Then if they touch the X at the upper left corner of the icon, the app will be deleted. The only way that an App can be restored is through iTunes on the PC/Mac.  The iPad Install Apps needs to be turned back on temporarily because it also prevents any changes of the Apps layout in iTunes.

Apps Rating - There are content Rating categories for nine countries including the U.S., though all countries do not have rating systems.  You can set restrictions using that country’s ratings system for the following categories of content: Music & Podcasts, Movies, TV Shows and Apps.  Apps can be rated by 4+, 9+, 12+ and 17+ years of age.  If apps are restricted at a 4+ level, all apps rated 9+ or higher are prevented from running. Again, their icons will not appear and they will not show in a search.   Apps "Not Yet Rated" are included in 17+ rating.  If "Don't Allow Apps" is selected, then only the main iPad apps will appear on the Home page.

But how do you know what the apps are rated? If you restrict their use to a certain level, they don't show up on screen or in Search, but otherwise there is no indication of the rating at the iPad level.  You need to look at the Library Apps section of iTunes on the PC/Mac where the ratings symbol is shown after the app title and also in Get Info about the app.

I have a couple of new additions to my old TI99 computer systems in the last week.  First, I now have 10 reconfigured cartridges that include brand new circuit boards with a 64k EPROMs.  These were developed, manufactured and distributed by members of the international TI99 user group which is hosted by Yahoo! Groups.  This group has 619 members from all around the world and is very active with over 72000 messages in the past 10 years.  The group also has two user conferences in the Fall each year.  One conference is in Chicago while the other moves around in Europe.

These new circuit boards include sockets for the 64k EPROMs which can be programmed with a long list of TI99 programs, some new and some old and very rare.  There are jumpers to configure the board for 8/16k, 32k or 64k EPROMS. I have three 64k versions, one with TI-Workshop and the other two set up as multicarts.  A multicart can hold up to 7 regular 8k programs along with a Multicart program that switches between them. The other 8 EPROMs are set up as 16 or 32k and include one program each.  It is possible to put multiple 16 or 32k programs on a 64k EPROM, but then the circuit board need to be modified with jumpers and switches.  Each new circuit card is mounted in an old TI-Invaders cartridge with a new label added. Additional information can be found at Jon Guidry's web site. Note that the cartridge with the white label in the picture is a multicart.

The second addition to my TI99 systems is a CF7+ Slim Profile card that attaches to the side port on the TI99/4A computer console as shown in the above picture.  This is normally where the PEB (Peripheral Expansion Box) cable attaches.  The CF7+ is circuit board that includes a Compact Flash memory card that emulates an array of floppy disks and three disk drives.  The number of floppies emulated depends upon the size of the CF.  A 32MB CF can emulate 39 floppies that can in turn be mounted on one of the three emulated drives.  The card also includes 32k of RAM that can be used to extend the main TI99 memory. The card includes a PIO parallel expansion port that can be used for a printer.  In essence, the CF7+ replaces a PEB with memory card, printer card and disk drives and controller.  The only limitation is that there is no serial RS232 port or other expansion capability.  I am not sure where the "7+" portion of the name comes from.  I think an earlier version did not have the PIO port or 32k RAM.  Earlier versions also extended outward from the TI99 console whereas this Slim Profile version has all components parallel to the side of the case and extends out only about 3/4 inch.  The card itself is 3 inches high by 3.5 inches long.

Another part of the CF7+ system is software that runs on a Windows PC, Win98 on a Dell PC in my case. Two DOS programs come with the CF7+, a dsk2cf.exe to transfer .DSK images files to the CF and a cf2dsk.exe to backup CF volumes to the PC.  A CF To Disk Transfer Utility program that is a graphical front end to the previous two transfer programs and further documentation is available on Stuart Conner's web site.

It has almost been three weeks since I received my new iPad through UPS delivery. I really think it is a paradigm shift in computing.  I currently have an iPhone, a MacBook Pro (MBP) laptop and a MacPro tower in addition to this iPad.  If I had to give up one of the four, it would be the MBP. But if I could only have one of the four, it would be an MBP, possibly a new upgraded version.  When I travel again, I would probably just take the iPad and leave the MBP at home unless someone with me wants internet access as well.

I am actually using the iPad as a touchpad and a keyboard while editing this article on the MacPro. The Mobile Air Mouse Pro app has versions for the iPad as well as the iPhone. It essentially changes the iPad into a large touch pad for the Mac or PC. In addition, it has a keyboard layout that can be hidden and works in either portrait or landscape orientations.  It work pretty good though the right-click equivalent using a two finger tab is sporadic.  It also communicates through wi-fi which is flakey and slow through my local router.  This problem was alleviated by setting up internet sharing using my MacPro airport wi-fi and connecting direct to the MacPro.  Note the other apps work fine through my local router and routers at other locations.  it is just the latency that is a pain with the touchpad method to the Mac.

The mobile mouse pad also shows the Mac dock and allows switching between apps. The keyboard also has all function, arrow and control keys as well as four programmable keys. It uses a server app on the Mac which is is configurable for different apps.  It has special buttons to control iTunes and Safari.

I actually had some problems editing this Joomla article directly on the iPad.  The iPad keyboard would not pop up to enter text in the main editor field.  It worked fine for other text fields.  The work around is to switch to editing HTML, but I chose to use the touchpad method and edit it on the Mac.

I could add much more about using the iPad, but am enjoying using it rather than writing about it.

I recently purchased a professional scanner after years of struggling with cheaper scanners.  My first scanner back in 1997 was an EasyPhoto Reader which just scanned photos up to about 4 inches wide. I also had flat bed scanners, the latest which is a Canon LiDE 20 that my wife still uses.  Three years ago, I bought an HP PhotoSmart All-in-One printer with scanner, copier and FAX built in.  That has both a flat bed and an automatic document feeder, ADF.  It scans well for one side of paper through the ADF, but not for photos.  Photos need to be placed on the flat bed.  Multiple photos can be placed and the software is supposed to separate the scans for each.  But that requires two steps, one to review the prescan and photo detection, and typically a second step to correct the identification.  

Last year I purchased a portable IRIScan 2 scanner that required a feeding each page or photo separately. Big problems was with color scanning since it blotched out portions of a photo.  It worked ok for text pages and did OCR with the included ReadIris software.  It also had a mode for business cards that worked pretty good using the CardIris software to OCR text, recognize fields and produce a vCard output. 

After seeing a promotion from Mariner Software for their Paperless software package that included a Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M scanner.  I investigated further and in early January 2010, purchased both separately and saved about $60 overall.  List price on the scanner is about $500 but I got it for $404 through Amazon.  This scanner comes bundled with Adobe Acrobat 8.0 Pro for the Macintosh as well as CardIris and ABBYY FineReader.  A version of this scanner for the PC includes Acrobat 9, but not the Pro version.  CardIris allows scanning of business cards, recognizing fields and outputs to VCF format files that can be imported into most address book applications.  FineReader is integrated to automatically convert scanned documents to PDF and recognize text.

The scanner feeds paper at about 20 pages per minute.  The ADF hopper holds about 50 pages, but I have scanned 60 pages at one time.  It scans both sides of a page and intelligently determines whether anything is on the second page.  It automatically orients a page and is accurate most of the time.   Note that as fast as this scanner is, I find that most of my time is loading paper, waiting for the text recognition or entering descriptive titles about the documents.  For the text recognition, a fastest processor is beneficial.  For multiple sections from one large collection, I can enter a title that is incremented with a 1 to 3 digit number.

I can put photos of various sizes in the ADF together and it determines what the size is.  Direct input to the Mac's iPhoto app is available.  I separate photos by size, orientation and whether there is writing or dates on the back.  The ones without writing, I scan in simplex mode, one side only.  The ones with writing, I scan both sides to capture the information in iPhoto where I can type it in later to identify .

The ScanSnap Manager has six options for output.  I can save the scans to a file for which I can define an incremented name or accept a time-date stamp for the file name.  I can also have scans sent through to email or just print out like a copy machine.  It will also output direct to MicroSoft Word or Excel.  The final output is for CardIris discussed above.

So far I have scanned about 1000 photos and 11000 pages.  I am on a mission to get rid of paper and have filled 4 recycling bins so far.  The scanner has a consumables menu which displays the total number of pages scanned and has counters that can be reset for the pad assembly and the pick roller.  The pad assembly should be replaced every 50,000 pages and the pick roller every 100,000.  So far, the scanner is working great.  My biggest problem is with pages sticking together due to holes from staples or ring binders.

This blog was hosted on Blogger at BlogSpot.com for the past 3 years and has just been moved over to Joomla! 1.5.15, a content management system, running on my 1and1.com hosting service.  This system should make the blog easier to maintain and to access.  I also plan to add some other sections, more like a general web site.  Joomla runs on the MySQL database and is written in PHP.  

I tried hosting the blog on WordPress at my 1and1 hosting service, but was not happy with the placement of graphics.

I have used iPhoto for years, since it was introduced by Apple for the Macintosh in 2002. At this time, I have 9914 items in the iPhoto library. A few of these are actually Quicktime movies from my new iPhone 3GS. Many have been imported directly from my Canon A85 digital camera. Others have been scanned in, saved directly into iPhoto from email messages or dragged in from any other window on the Mac, even from Windows XP.