Fix for Zune Frozen, Video How to Reset Zune - ZY2K9 Fix

If you have a frozen Zune affected by the Dec. 31st ZY2K9 issue, here is a Youtube.com video to reset your Zune.

1. Press and hold the [Back] button and the [Up] on the pad for a few seconds.




More info on fixing a Frozen Zune
http://mostpopularinusa.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-fix-frozen-zune.html

Zune Z2K9 Fix

I don't have a Zune so I am not affected by the Zune Z2K9 failure that is crashing Zune 30s. Here is one recommendation from a user on Gizmodo.com.

-- snip from Gizmodo.com --

http://gizmodo.com/5121311/30gb-zunes-failing-everywhere-all-at-once

There's a fix:

"Your zune will need a "hard reset."

To do this, use a small screwdriver to pop off the plastic shielding where the zune cable plugs into and remove the two screws on either side of the plug. Next pop the cover off and locate the battery plug at the top left corner of the zune, using your screw driver, pop the cable connection half way off, and do this to the other plug on the right side. Wait 3 seconds, then push down the right connector and then the left battery connecter. Your zune should start up immediately. Press the backing of the zune down (make sure headphone jack is aligned) and put the screws and cover back in place.

It's an easy process but if you're unsure don't attempt it if you think you'll screw it or something. :)"

Not pretty, but it might help those of you who have this problem.

Congrats to the Miami Dolphins

As read my email including friend updates from social sites: Facebook.com, MySpace.com, Twitter.com, LinkedIn.com and Yelp.com, I am shocked at the number of people talking about the Miami Dolphins.

Las Vegas Airport Information - Snow Storm

My nephew's flight to Las Vegas last night was canceled due to the snow storm and he is currently waiting at his gate for the next flight to Vegas. It occurred to me that with the new iPhone 3G and other similar devices, you can use other more reliable websites to predict or estimate your flight status rather than relying on the TV monitor at the airport gate as your sole source. I'm sure many of us have waited patiently at an airline gate and not trusted the information provided by the airlines and wanted more detailed information so that we can make possible alternative travel plans.

For flights delayed due to the Las Vegas Snow Storm, here's some sites that I found.

FAA Airport Information - provides overall airport conditions status.
http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/flyfaaindex.jsp?ARPT=las&p=0

Las Vegas Airport Information - provides a list of upcoming flight arrivals and departures.
http://www.mccarran.com/

Bose Headphones with iPhone and Skype?

When traveling overseas, I like to use Skype and I've always wondered if I can use my Bose QuietComfort 2 Headphones with the accessory microphone cord I use with my iPhone to connect to my Dell laptop. I would really not wamt tp carry an extra headset for using Skype with my PC. I googled around and didn't see the answer, looked at the Bose FAQs and finally called Bose Customer Service. The answer from their customer service representative was that there is no known plug from Bose or any third party. A workaround is to use the Bose for your sound and buy a third party microphone for your laptop.

That's too bad.

Vonage Service Outbound Caller ID Not Yet Available in 2008

I noticed the other day that their Outbound Caller ID did not display the name of my business. I cannot believe that Vonage Outbound Caller ID is not yet available as of 2008. I have seen complaints dating back to 2006. When I called Vonage Customer service today, the rep told me:

• "It's available for their business customers only."


• "It's not available on any IP Phone Service"


• "The final answer is that the Vonage Outbound Caller ID is not available on their personal or business services".

Here are some links to other individuals complaining about this.

Vonage Outbound Caller Not Available
Vonage Outbound Caller ID Complaint in 2006
Cnet News - comment

When I subscribed to the Vonage Service several years ago, I did so thinking the service would improve in future years. I understand that displaying the caller id has been problematic for telco companies, but even my iPhone family plan displays the correct outbound caller id for each family member. The Vonage corporate tag line is: "A Better Way to Phone for Less". They list one of their features as "Caller ID with Name" but that is clearly deceptive advertising, it should read "Inbound Caller ID with Name Only".

Without Outbound Caller ID, Vonage is clearly not a viable personal or business phone alternative. Come on Vonage, it's time to step up your level of service!

Apple iTunes 8.02 and iPhone 2.2

I updated my Apple iTunes 8.02 and my iPhone to iPhone 2.2. These updates were installed without any problems except with my PC Windows or Dell laptop, I have not been able to upgrade my iPhone firmware for about a year. Luckily, I have a Macbook and I first synch my iPhone on my Dell, then backup and upgrade my iPhone on my Macbook. This release took less than an hour with my 16GB iPhone 3G.

This is a nice upgrade loaded with use features that include:

• Google Maps Walking and Public Transit Directions
• ITunes Store Podcast Downloads
• Apps Store sorting options
• The ability to disable the annoying Auto Correction keyboard setting (Setting > General > Keyboard > Auto-Correction Off
• Pressing the App Home Button is suppose to return you to the Application Home screen with this release but this feature did not work for me.

Overall, a very nice unexpected full featured iPhone update. Great job Apple iPhone Dev Team!

Google Mobile App to be launched on Monday 17 November 2008?

The new rumor is that Google Mobile App that allows voice search will be released on Monday, November 17, 2008.

http://www.google.com/mobile/apple/app.html

How much postage do you put on your Miami - Dade County Absentee Ballot?

I use to think the United States Postal Service website was great at calculating postage but when I mailed my Absentee ballot today, the site computed $.59 unless the envelope is an odd size, which it could be, then it's is $.79 cents. James Camner, a blogger on The Huffington Post site writes it will cost two first class stamps or $.84. My W says she took hers to the post office and the postal worker there said it was $.59. A Miami Herald website news article reports that the Post Office will deliver your ballot regardless of the postage you put on it. In Osceola county in Florida, the postage is $1.17 because of the number of initiatives on their ballot.

I put two first class stamps or $.84 on my ballot. If I were voting for the post master general or for the group that writes the ballot instructions, they surely won't get my vote today.

Happy voting!

Sequoia Capital Presentation on Startups and Economic Downturn

There is not much optimism in Silicon Valley.

Sequoia Capital on startups and the economic downturn

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: depression recession)

Digital TV Converter box installed - Miami, FL

Okay, my mom doesn't get cable TV so I requested and received one of
those $40 coupons. The expiration date was Oct 20, 2008 so today I
bought and installed the Zenith DTT901. It was $59.95 less $40.00.

I was curious to try it out on a small TV in my kitchen that previously only received analog
channel 6 NBC in Miami, Florida. After installing the Digital TV Converter Box, I now I recieve 10 digital stations that are crystal clear including ABC but not NBC. Many of the new
stations are in Spanish but I am shocked by the improved quality. Some other observations:

• The digital channels have a new numbering scheme. Just what we need, another non-standard numbering scheme for our TV channels.
  
• The box came with a remote which you use to change the digital channels. Just what my mom needs, another remote.
• There is a website that provides more information on the new digital tv channels and provides you information on which direction to point your antenna for the best reception. See www.atennaweb.org
  

The main problem I see is that there is a delay on some digital tv stations similar to what we see during a rainstorm. If this delay occurs too frequently, it would make digital tv unusable if it cannot be fixed with a better antenna. When my mom asks why we can't go back to her old television without the box, I'll have some explaining to do...just when I got rid of her old telephone, now another change for her. We'll see what happens in February 2009.

XM Radio Pricing after Merger with Sirius

Several of my friends purchased a Sirius lifetime membership for $499. As a loyal XM radio customer, I don't remember getting any news of that promotion. Here is XM's pricing to get the new Sirius Channels which includes Sirius NFL radio, Howard Stern, Martha Stewart Living and Playboy.

$458.00 - 3 years XM and Sirius
$322.00 - 2 years XM and Sirius
$186.89 - 1 year XM and Sirius
$16.99 per month - XM and Sirius
$50.97 per quarter - XM and Sirius
$12.95 per month - XM only.

I didn't like the idea of a lifetime membership when I first heard about it. That said, it sure sounds like a great offer now.

AOL Hometown FTP Settings - members.aol.com FTP Setting

To access your AOL FTP site using a FTP Client such as Core FTP LE, here are the steps and the settings that I used.

1. Login to AOL using your AOL Client software.

2. Host /IP / URL: members.aol.com
Username: anonymous
pw: youraolmembername@aol.com

Port: 21
x PASV (this box checked)
_ SSSH/SFTP (this box unchecked)

They are shutting down AOL Hometown or members.aol.com on October 31, 2008. The use of a FTP client is the best method to change and/or retrieve your files off AOL.

Good luck! If you have any questions, please add a comment to my blog.

AOL Hometown - Redirect to WordPress Site

AOL Hometown is closing down on October 31, 2008. I had a site on AOL Hometown from the beginning of the Internet in the late '90s. Here is how I moved my site from AOL Hometown or AOL Member Pages to the free www.Wordpress.com site.




1. Create your free site at http://www.wordpress.com/

2. Create pages in WordPress from your HTML pages in AOL.

3. To redirect your website pages, add the following code. This code uses HTML only and does not use Javascript. This is method is recommended my some Search Engine Optimization pros who do not recommend using Javascript. This is the best method I could find to hopefully preserve my Google page rank, Google search results and Yahoo organic search results.

The Economic Crisis of 2008 - Financial Crisis of 2007-2008

In the last several weeks, I have been emotionally exhausted after watching the television and reading the media coverage of the state of our U.S. and global financial markets, the coverage of our U.S. presidential election/debates and the $700 Billion Bailout Bill Congressional Hearings. The information provided with these media sources was not necessarily helpful in answering my important questions.

So today, I searched the Wikipedia.org website to find out what the Editors of Wikipedia.org (whoever they are) have to say about the our U.S. and Global Economies. There is a main article on the Wikipedia.org website: Economic Crisis of 2008 which includes a summary of another Wikipedia article: the Global financial crisis of September-October 2008 also referred to as the Liquidity crisis of September 2008. These are well-written articles that concisely explain how our economy and financial markets got to where they are today.

Wikipedia.org also contain a definition of several related words: What is the difference between a recession and a depression - or What is the difference between an economic recession and a economic depression. In other words, are we entering the Depression of 2008 or the Great Depression of 2008 - 2009?

These articles are updated daily which is necessary for these topics. They also attempt to be as factual as possible which is important during these are very tough times economically, financially and emotionally for all of us -- Americans and people around the world.

In other words, if you are pondering what to do with your financial investments right now, these articles are must reads!

iPod Wet Screen - Use Zip Lock Bag and Rice to Repair it.

Here is something to try if your iPod gets wet or damp and your iPod has a White Screen or a Blank Screen. In this case, the iPod functioned but you could not read the menu items on the screen. Before I tried this, I reset the iPod and restored the iPod but neither of these worked.

1. Wipe any water off the iPod immediately.
2. Do not use the iPod, turn if off if you can.
   
3. Use a vacuum to dry out the iPod. A hair dryer is not recommended.
   
4. Put the iPod in a plastic zip lock bag with a handful of rice or use Silica Gel Packets that come with most electronic items (I couldn't find any in my house since I usually throw them away). Leave your iPod in the bag for several hours and check it 2-3 hours or so. Apparently, the rice or Silica Gel Packets absorb the moisure in the LCD iPod screen.
   

In this case, the iPod Nano screen became active after only 1 hour. I absolutely could not believe this procedure fixed the iPod Nano LCD Screen after it got wet!

My next steps would have beeen to take the iPod apart then order a new screen for $29.95 + shipping or call Apple Care. I am glad I didn't have to resort to those options.

iTunes 8.0.1.11 - Windows Version Only

I downloaded and installed iTunes 8.0.1.11 for Windows and iTunes 8.0.1 for the Mac today. There were some reports of some users having problems synching their iPhones after installing this release. I didn't encounter any issues. Here is a list of its new features.

Apple has released iTunes 8.0.1, a significant update to the media playback/purchase, and device synchronization tool.

Among the enhancements in this release:

• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.
  

TV Converter Box Tutorial

Here is a great Hulu tutorial video about the TV Converter Boxes you may need for some of your non-cable or non-satellite TVs or for your parents. You will need the boxes by February 17, 2009. If you need to order one for them, go to: https://www.dtv2009.gov/

Charles Schwab Brokerage Accounts - Is Schwab Safe?

In recent days, I have been following both the Senate and House Bailout Bill hearings. During this time, I wondered, "how safe is online broker Charles Schwab & Co.?" Today, I received an email from Benjamin L. Bingeman, Executive Vice President Investor Services with a subject line: Schwab's stability and ways we can help.

The most important items in his letter:

• Schwab brokerage asssets are held separately from the company's asssets and are covered by SIPC or Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
  
• Schwab Bank deposits are FDIC-insured.

So who is SIPC ? How much does it cover and if Schwab brokerage accounts are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation? Can I then surmise that it is likely my brokerage accounts are safe with Charles Schwab & Co. I looked through SPIC's member database and noticed that all of the brokerage firms in the recent news were in their database.

Here is some info on SIPC from Wikipedia.

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) is a federally mandated non-profit corporation in the United States that protects securities investors from harm if a broker/dealer defaults. Investors are not insured for any potential loss while invested in the market.

SIPC was created by the 1970 Securities Investor Protection Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78aaa et seq, but it is not a government agency; rather, it is a membership corporation funded by its members.

SIPC serves two primary roles in the event that a broker-dealer fails. First, SIPC acts to organize the distribution of customer cash and securities to investors. Second, to the extent a customer's cash and/or securities are unavailable, SIPC provides insurance coverage up to $500,000 of the customer's net equity balance including up to $100,000 in cash.

House Bailout Bill

Here is a link to the House Bailout Bill text.

http://www.theopenhouseproject.com/2008/09/28/house-bailout-bill/