So today marked the release of the 3.1 OS + iTunes 9 upgrade from our friends in Cupertino. For those of you that have not partaken in the bounty of iPhone tethering, http://help.benm.at/help.php was a nifty little site that enabled an option on the Settings app in the iPhone which allowed one to enable and disable tethering. The only caveat was that you had to have iTunes running on your windows machine to get a (very fast) connection on your pc.

3.1 has removed this. I've confirmed that this is no longer possible. AT&T, not satisfied with the amazing success of the iPhone, desires to stick its consumers with a 'tethering fee' of $15 per month. This fee is ON TOP OF the unlimited* data plan.

So let me get this straight, AT&T asks Apple to disable the mobileconfig that allowed tethering so that AT&T can turn around and sell the feature the phone comes with for $15 per month?

Sounds alot like nickel-and-dime antics. I think I'll be jailbreaking my phone once again... just waiting for the iPhone Dev Team to work their magic.

Callings

I had an epiphany this morning in Bishopric meeting. We had just finished going over those things that needed going over and like very few mornings, had a few spare minutes to chew the fat. One of the participants in the conversation had made a comment about how he was called into a Bishopric very young (early 20's) and it had a very negative impact on him. He ended up going inactive for a number of years. One of the others in the conversation had relayed a similar experience where he could have gone inactive and the presiding authority had even expected him to do so but he did not.

While I was pondering on that it occurred to me (as I know I have always known but never really thought of in this light) that in leadership it is extremely important to make sure we follow the Spirit of the Lord in our service. Callings should come from the Lord and not from our desires to surround ourselves with our friends. How sad would it be for us to answer for our stewardships if we did not follow the Spirit as often as we could. I think the Lord wants those in leadership callings to listen to His spirit because the Lord knows when someone is ready and able to serve. Some individuals may be spiritually prepared and worthy for any given calling, but if the leader is not paying attention, the Spirit could be trying to prompt him in another direction because now is not the right time for this worthy individual. It could be that his work is struggling. It could be that his married life is crumbling and he must focus all his efforts on that. The calling, though well intended, if not from the Lord will do far more harm, perhaps everlasting harm. It may be that uninspired calling that tips the individual (though the choice is his/hers) into a decision that will have eternal consequences.

I, for one, would rather not have that to answer for. :)

Bad Gas

This post is dedicated to all my loyal fan.

I left for work on Monday with less than 1/8 tank of gas; knowing full well that I would have to fill my car up in order to finish the 25.5 mile journey to the office. Sure enough, my gas light went on and as luck would have it, a Citgo was less than a mile from my location. I pulled in, filled up with the high-test that my car requires (because I bought the car before looking inside the gas-cap or the manual to see the 93 octane requirement). Then I left.

I made it 5 miles.

My car started sputtering like a fool caught in a lie. I was in fifth gear and you would swear I was a teenager stuck in that awkward gear between neutral and first trying to make it uphill. While my car was thus in the throes of fury, I threw it into neutral and coasted to the red light ahead. Luckily it was rush hour and only half the city was behind me at the light. When the light turned green I tried to go but first gear accomplished very little as my engine did not want to power the car. I barely made it across the intersection and into the parking lot to the right kindly waving at all the people convinced that I wanted to see how bright their headlights could go and what neat cadences they could make with their horns. I think a few of them were trying to tell me that I should ask God for help but they were pointing to him with the wrong finger.

Anyway I sat in the parking lot of the liquor store for the better part of 5 minutes. It was before 6am so it was not open. Not that it mattered, I doubted they had anything potent enough to make my car go any faster than a shuffle. I decided I probably would not make it the 10 miles left to the office and the 25.5 miles back home so I turned around and tried to make it back home. Thankfully once my car made it to 35 mph and around 3k rpm it was stable. I was able to barely touch the gas to maintain my speed and most of the trip home was downhill. Of course when I came to the single light the entire way home it was red. The most painful part of that is watching it turn yellow and knowing that I would have a hard time starting up again. I ended up making it home (barely) but when I tried turning my car on to take it into a shop it would not idle. It started and immediately sputtered out.

To my chagrin, the gas I put in my car from Citgo was a new experimental fuel. Citgo assumed that cold-fusion had been universally adopted and that most high-test vehicles now come equipped with this amazing technology to convert gasoline + water into clean, efficient energy. I must have missed the recall notice from mazda that usually comes in the mail with Ed McMahon's declarations of my impending wealth. Needless to say the fellow that runs the Citgo station understood every other word I said to him concerning the fuel I bought from his store. I don't think he fully understood the responsibility his store had for selling me bad fuel because he offered me Funyuns and a slushie as a parting gift with no mention of insurance companies, owner's names, or payment for my sick car. I was nice to him as I pointed on the map to his home country and back at his chest as a subtle reminder of two long-lost friends soon to be reunited. I believe he understood the point I made with amazing acuteness because as I type my car is being fixed and he is counting the cash necessary to pay for said repairs.

Let's just hope that when I go to collect the funds to fix my car, he gives me the cash and not the buckshot from the shotgun behind his counter.

My piece of dell...

So, two and a half years ago I bought a Dell Inspiron e1705 with an nvidia geforce go 7800 gs with 512 mb ram 80gb sata hdd bluetooth 1920x1200 native rez.

I actually liked that machine... until now. Yes, I realize it is reaching the latter-years of its existence. I just wish that the thing would stop having issues. First the battery completely conks out at around 1.5 years. My wife bought me a new battery for Christmas. My laptop and I were back on speaking terms. Then there was the AC Power Cord recall. Grr? They sent me a new one. Rosy times again... Now the new and improved AC Adapter from our fantastic manufacturing genius friends in China has gone kaput. The LED won't light up and it emits a nice high pitched beeping sound that I am almost certain makes my dogs cock their heads to one side in wonder.

Aside from the power woes I don't mind the laptop at all. I am just frustrated that we've had to shell out about $100 just to replace things that should outlive the unit itself.

My twilight prediction...

I'm going to make a prediction. I think a path that Stephenie Meyer will take with Jacob is to reveal that he really imprinted on Bella. After recalling how Jacob explained imprinting to Bella, I remembered her making a light hearted comment about the condition. To this, Jacob responded very defensively... Almost as if he, himself, were afflicted...

Even though it can be pointed out that on at least two occasions the question of whether or not Jacob has imprinted has come up and he has denied it both times, I think he did so for a couple of reasons. The first time Bella asked him I think he was just too embarrassed to admit it. He hadn't expressed his love for her yet and knew that he was a long-short to win her. Part of his anger and frustration is that he probably intended to reveal his imprinting on her the night she jumped off the cliff. His plans were derailed because of the course of action that inevitably put Bella out of reach for him. He feels like he was getting her ready for the perfect time to tell her the truth, but before that time came, she went to Italy...

His imprinting on Bella is also supported by the insane tenacity that he is demonstrating in trying anything and everything to keep her. He explained to Bella that when you are imprinted you want to be anything to the person that they want. This would explain why he is so eager to be her friend. And when he infers that she wants her lover (which is actually Edward) Jacob can sense this and wants badly to fill that role. His feelings for her seem to run much stronger than the usual teenage infatuation. There's a primal sense of urgency in his actions. It's almost as if he really feels (and the end of Eclipse gave me more confirmation of this) like he cannot live without her... like anyone that has imprinted cannot live without their soul mate.

For the sake of confusion... Let's call the imprinted werewolf imprinter and the target of his desire imprintee.

Jacob has also said that the imprintee will inevitably fall for the imprinter. He said something to the effect that 'all the affection and attention' will turn them and that 'being their everything at all times' will turn the imprinter into everything the would/could ever want. This is yet another source of frustration for Jacob because his charms aren't really doing what he's been taught they would do.

There it is. My prediction that Jacob will reveal that he has imprinted on Bella. Of course, this information will come out after the wedding and will probably be the source of much drama.

Coding by Twilight...?

My wife recently read a series by an LDS author named Stephenie Meyer. The series is called Twilight. I soon found myself reading the series and getting as caught up with it (probably more) as my wife is. I don't feel like boring anyone with the details as a simple wikipedia look up would deliver a far better synopsis than I would be able to. I would like to vent a few frustrations I had while reading this series (which will be ending with the final book due out August 2).

I loathe Jacob Black. I have a hard time deciding if it is due to Stephenie Meyer's (SM) failure to build his character up in my mind over the 2nd and 3rd books or because of some deep-set antipathy towards individuals like him. I got the distinct feeling that SM tried very much to build Jacob in the 3rd book into someone that the reader could relate to. At every turn I found myself shaking my head (sometimes in fury, sometimes in frustration) at the things that Jacob did. I suppose if SM's intent was to get a reaction out of me, she succeeded... greatly. His personality is despicable. His childish attempts to manipulate Bella into choosing him make me gag with disdain. The ultimate frustration came when he forced himself upon her. I could not believe that SM would actually go in that direction in order to have Bella realize her love for Jacob. I find myself refusing to believe that Bella is truly in love with the Jacob-dog. I really do not think that True Love can be dragged out of somebody. My conclusion is that she just doesn't know how she feels about Jacob. I would venture a guess that her hormones had a great deal to do with the things she thinks she feels for Jacob-dog. Teenagers are generally a carnal bunch. Under the right circumstances I'll bet that any two teenagers could swear to their undying love for each other. The raw truth is, it isn't love. It is 150-proof lust.

Edward is the real man's man. He is the soul of control. He has insane power but has the ability to keep that power in check. I wish that SM would have gone deeper into the difficulty that Edward has to restrain himself from tearing Bella apart. I think that a memorable, well-thought out analogy would have worked better than a few idle comments sprinkled here-and-there. Edward's patience rivals Job's. His primary want; his true desire is for Bella to be happy. If Bella chose someone else Edward would not stand in the way. He would not resort to manipulative (Jacob) tactics to selfishly keep Bella to himself. Jacob's attempt to compare himself to the mother of the baby in the story of Solomon made me physically ill. His statement that he was willing to let Bella go in order to keep her from being ripped apart was in and of itself a barbed comment. Even after all he did, he was still trying to manipulate and coerce Bella into choosing him because he was screaming LOOK AT ME I CAN BE HONORABLE PICK ME PICK ME. I'm glad Bella has seen through it.

Maybe at the end of this series we will see the real man win. I think this could be part of the dilemma of the book. Jacob, still somewhat human, is actually less human than Edward, the vampire.

Fun with Nelly2PCM

I'm currently on the bench with the consulting firm I work for. This leaves me with way too much time to explore fun technologies and even the occasional blog. During my travels, I came across a site that discussed a solution to Adobe's NellyMoser encoder nightmare that is imposed on anyone that wishes to transmit real-time microphone audio streams. If that didn't make sense just think softphone. The solution was a google code open source project called nelly2pcm. The irony and point of my post is that within 12 hours of the post, the nelly2pcm google code project received a DMCA cease and desist; effectively shutting it down.

In my infinite boredom I decided to port the nelly2pcm source to java. I have a twisted sense of fun so to me this sounds like a blast. The current nelly decoders at best use a command line native console app to convert .flv to ulaw and from there off to pcm. I figure hey... why not have the converter in 100% pure java?

I am of the opinion that voip/sip communication is going to be far more prevalent in websites and even in blogs. Let's see how long this port takes me before I get dragged into a mundane money-making venture...