Just got around to installing the latest and greatest from Wordpress.org. Wordpress 2.5 is pretty nice looking. I reccomend installing it if you haven’t already. The change to the dashboard and the admin interface is worth it even if you don’t like any of the other changes.

Whew, this place sure is dusty.  Yeah, yeah, sorry I kind of abandoned the place. As I kind of predicted in my very first post here I mentioned I had the tendency to burn out quickly. Sure enough it happened. Well, I’m back again. For now.

I won’t be making any promises any time soon as far as post frequency go but I have been getting interested in blogging and trying to make some extra money online so I’ll see how that goes. More later as I feel like it.

If anyone happens to see this through their RSS feed reader (which I don’t think anyone will), this is a test post from Google Docs. No, I didn’t just write it in Google Docs and copy and paste, I will actually published (if this works) straight from the Google Docs interface. Let’s try it out.

I recently purchased the Samsung Sync A-707 for my wife and there isn’t a way to disable the shutter sound via the menu. I can’t take credit for the solution but there are a couple of ways to disable this sound. They can both be found at TheSyncHole. The Sync Hole is a forum where you can go discuss problems, features, and generally talk about the Samsung Sync. The first solution comes from pantsman over there on TSH. I’ll reprint it here but please follow this link for the entire discussion. Solution #1 requires a usb cable.

As always, you are messing with your phone. If you follow these directions and you get screwed it is your own fault but that shouldn’t scare you because this is really simple.

Thanks to those who got access to the file system. That was the harder part IMO.

1. Get access to your file system using BitPim. http://www.thesynchole.com/viewtopic.php?t=248
2. Go to /Registry (/ is the top level, click the + sign next to it if there is one then find Registry and select it)
3. Find CamSetting.ini in the list to the right, right click on it and choose save. Save it in a easy to find location. I would recommend saving it in 2 places just so you have a backup for later. I’m anal like that though.
4. Edit CamSetting.ini using notepad ( Crimson Editor is recomended!!) (or some other simple text editor) find ShutterSound= and change the number (0, 1, or 2) following it to -1
5. Go back to BitPim, right click on CamSetting.ini in the right window again and click Overwrite…
6. Browse to the version of CamSetting.ini that you edited and click ok.

Notes to make things even easier: You can actually just drag and drop the file into the window rather than going through the whole overwrite, browse process. Makes things a little easier. You should also be able to use WordPad (NOT WORD) on Windows and it will recognize line breaks (display settings line by line).

Voila! No shutter sound. Hopefully somebody will get this in the menu eventually since /System/Rsrc/Camera.rsr has Shutter 1-3 and None but this works for now. Enjoy. Smile

Oh one last thing in case it needs to be said. If you go into settings, none of the shutter sounds will be selected (technically “None” is selected but it doesn’t show). If you pick one of them then you’ll have to repeat this process to get them silent again…but why would you do that!?

And now for solution #2 from thejuicymuffin. No USB cable required, but again please follow this link for the entire discussion.

Well I just got my Sync on Saturday and I didn’t have enough money to get the data cable (the Cingular store was charging $40 for the cable with the earphones) so I was trying to find another way to turn off the shutter sound. And well, I found out how to.

Tutorial:

This is a tutorial on how to turn off the shutter sound, multi shot sound, zoom sound, brightness sound, and probably some other sounds on (of course) the Samsung A707. All you need is your phone.

1. (on the idle/menu screen) dial *#0002*28346#
2. Press back (the top right … button) 2 times
3. Press 6 ([6] YAMAHA)
4. Press 3 ([3] SP Vol)
5. Press 6 (6. SR[14] : 3)
6. Wait for the screen to refresh
7. Press 0 (to set the max volume (ringtone volume 7) to zero)
8. Press OK (the top left … button)
9. Then get out of the menu (you could press the red button)

The shutter sound and all other camera sounds (correct me if I’m wrong) will be off when your ring tone volume is at 7 (maximum), and when your volume is at 0 (silent) or if your profile is set to silent, the shutter sound will be off but the zoom sounds, brightness sounds and multi shot sounds will still be there. Also, when you turn your phone completely off and then back on this setting will be reset to normal. Just make sure if you use this “mod” you remember that your loudest ring tone volume is actually silent now (there could be some problems if you thought your phone was at its loudest volume and really it was off). Also, if you would like, you can change all of the other numbers to your liking so the 6th volume level could be as loud (or if you want louder) than the 7th used to be. Sorry for not giving credit to whoever originally posted the code (in step 1), I forgot where i got it from.

That’s it. There are caveats with each solution so please proceed carefully and at your own risk. One last time, be sure to read the entire thread for each solution over on The Sync Hole.

Last time I covered Search Engine Referrals. This time I thought I would go over where I’m currently ranked in Google’s index for some words and phrases used to find the site. And awaaay we go.

• “techky” - Good to see I’m still #1 here. Wheeew.
• “blackberry pearl disable shutter sound” - 8th result, first page. Woah. Nice, first page result.
• “samsung sync camera shutter sound” - 10th. First page yet again.
• “xterra 30000 maintenance” - 1st page. 5th result. Above the fold. Very, very, cool.

All in all, I think I’m doing quite well. Techky.com is on the first page of Google results for all of those search terms. I know they are quite specific phrases but you’ve got to start somewhere. Now I just need to move up the list and start getting hits for more general phrases.

It’s time to peruse the statistics for the latest search engine referrals. I like to do this occasionally just to keep track of how people are finding the site and what keywords they are using. Let’s get right to it.

15 of the last 16 keywords that have led to this site have come from Google. For those of you scoring at home that is 94%. Here is how those last 16 referrals break down.

• “removing camera shutter sound from samsung sync a-707″ - 8 references
• “disable blackberry pearl shutter sound” - 3 references
• “sgh a-707 diagnostic codes” - 2 references
• “techky” - 2 references
• “xterra 30000 maintenance” - 1 reference

Those are the general search terms being used. For those with multiple entries I generalized the most commonly used phrase.

As for future blog topics, there are several. I can make a post answering the question that people are looking for. The camera shutter sound being a good example of this. You can expect those posts coming down the pike in a few days.

I finally pulled the trigger and ordered the Blackberry Pearl 8100. I ordered the Samsung Sync for my wife. I’ve gone back and forth trying to decide whether I would get enough use out of the data plan but I think it is something I will use. Cingular does have a 30 day return policy, so if I see right away that it will be a waste I can always return the phone and find something else.

I ordered it late today so it probably won’t be here until Monday even with the free 2-day FedEx shipping. Crap. I really hate waiting on stuff like this when I order online. If I could just go to the local Cingular store I could have it today, but unfortunately to take advantage of my employee discount the purchase must be made online.

Oh, and a heads up for those that are able to take advantage of a Cingular discount through your employer or school. You will have to do so through the Cingular Business site. If you are on a family plan (as we are) you will have to make two separate purchases. There is no way to purchase both phones in one transaction. That is kind of ridiculous.

I hope I don’t have any problems with this but in order for me to get the Blackberry for $99.99 I had to order a new voice plan (450/5000), and a data plan that included text messages. I wasn’t able to just extend my current family plan (like I did when I purchased my wifes new phone) and add a non text message data plan. I spoke with customer service via online chat and they told me that I could just cancel the plan change a few days after I receive the phone and there would be no penalty. Hope he is right. Otherwise I copied the chat conversation just in case I need it.

On the heels of me only days ago recommending Image Zoom in my “Firefox Extensions I Use” post it appears that it is distorting some images on the pages I visit. Although I don’t know what, it’s possibly that is my fault because of something I did but I can’t figure out what. Check out these examples to see what I’m talking about.

With Image Zoom enabled:

With Image Zoom disabled:

Those images aren’t the same size simply because one crop is larger than the other, but they are both full 100% crops and not shrunk in any way. You can clearly see that the bottom image is much sharper. Yes, my headlines are generated pictures using the Image Headlines extension. What can I say i like the look and drop shadow. This is a rather recent occurrence since I only noticed it a week or two ago. I can’t remember if this corresponds with an update or not. Needless to say, I have disabled Image Zoom for the time being.Visitor update: Two unique visits via search result in the past day. One search was for “techky” and the other for “xterra 30000 maintenance”.

I’ve written about my current setup, what options I’m looking for this time around, and now it’s time to narrow the field to the 3 phones I’m considering purchasing. Here’s what I’ve come up with.

• Sony Ericsson W810i
• Samsung Sync (SGH-a707)
• Blackberry Pearl (8100)

The W810i gets a 4.39/5 rating on PhoneScoop.com. Not too shabby. It has a very highly rated Walkman feature that is great for playing music, a 2.0 megapixel camera (fyi, my first digital camera was only a 1.0 and I used it up until about a year and a half ago), it can record video, and has a built in LED flashlight. Very cool feature set.

I was able to go to my local Cingular store and play around with all three phones as well. The W810i was a good size that fit nicely in my hand. On the negative side it made a creaky sound when you pushed the buttons. No, I wasn’t trying to hulk smash them either. That sound did give me a “cheap” feeling. I also wasn’t thrilled with the menu system and I kept accidentally connecting to the internet because of a dedicated menu button. I read in some forums and on Phone Scoop about a problem with low call volume. That’s a big negative right now for me. My current V551 has a slowly failing ear piece which makes hearing the other person talk difficult so I am especially worried about this. This phone is going for $69.99 with 2 year contract.

The Samsung Sync gets 4.04/5 on Phone Scoop. Unlike the other two phones this one is 3G capable. That doesn’t really matter because there is no 3G coverage in Lexington. The Sync is similar to a RAZR but it looks a little longer and possibly a tad bit wider, but not much. Call volume is reportedly excellent. Battery life, the camera, and signal strength also received high marks around the internet. This phone also plays music and has touch controls on the outside. Overall I really like this phone.

As for negatives on the Sync, there aren’t a lot of consistently mentioned problems so I would say that is a good thing. Some were annoyed because there wasn’t an easy way to disable the camera shutter sound when taking pictures. After further research there are solutions to this problem on the net. The Sync comes in at a very affordable $24.99.

Last but most definitely not least is the Blackberry Pearl. This is one really, really, cool looking phone. It’s very thin and stylish looking. Phone Scoop users give it a 4.19/5. Several of the reviews said the ear phone and built in speaker phone were quite loud which is a very good thing. This is one of the newer generation of Blackberry’s that has the trackball instead of the click wheel on the side. The new trackball works a lot like the Apple Mighty Mouse scroll ball. I liked this feature a lot. Some reviewers didn’t like it at all but most of these comments were from people who were used to the click wheel. I would be a first time Blackberry owner so this didn’t bother me.

As for the negatives, one huge barrier for me is that this phone almost requires you buy a data plan to accompany the voice plan. The Pearl can be used as a regular phone without the data service but you would be missing out on a lot of features of the phone without the accompanying data plan. The unlimited data plan is $34.99 a month or $29.99 per month if you also have a voice plan. This is without a doubt my favorite looking phone but I’m not sure I can justify an extra 30 bucks a month on my cell phone bill. The phone costs $99.99 with the discount through my employer.

I’m going to think about it for another day or so and place an order. Since I will be buying two phones, one for my wife and one for myself, I will probably buy either the Sony or the Samsung for her since she really just wants a phone that does what it’s supposed to, be a phone. Any extra features are just a bonus for her. Myself on the other hand, I need to decide if I would get enough usage out of the data plan to justify the extra cost. We’ll see.

Like an O’Reilly “pocket reference” book it’s a quick and dirty post today. The cell phone search has been slow going. Partially due to me trying to read every review possible, and partially due to their not being a lot of cool phones right now. I have decided that I don’t want a RAZR. Or a V3i, V3t, V3r, V3x, or a V3xx. I didn’t get in on the beginning of the RAZR craze when they were the coolest, thinest phones around and I think I’m already over them and want something different. I’ll try to get a post up tomorrow with my top three or four choices at this point.

Visitors. Looks like there was at least one visitor.