Tethering option missing from iPhone 4S
I received my shiny new iPhone 4S on Launch day about a week and a half ago. I’ve been super excited with the 4s and the slew of new features that iOS5 brings to the table. I had been running the beta iOS 5 software for some time, but a final stable build was greatly welcomed.
Some time ago I had given up my unlimited data plan on AT&T so I could use the tethering/hotspot feature. I went to use it for the first time this last Sunday while I was on the road and found the feature missing from the settings on my phone.
I called AT&T to figure out the issue, but first got a small billing issue out of the way, promising to pay my overdue balance in early November (story on this coming up later). The AT&T Customer Service Rep was mostly clueless, he checked to make sure the feature was enabled on my account, which it was. He told me that he would have to refer me to Apple Support.
I decided to call Apple Support shortly after on my own as they were experiencing long hold times. I was on hold for at least a half an hour before being able to talk to someone. I got asked some standard questions, have I tried resetting device, etc. and spent a majority of my time on hold while the Apple Rep tried to resolve the issue. Eventually he said I will need to try to restore my phone as new and import my contacts, etc…
I was fairly upset because I spent about 2 hours total on the phone trying to figure out this issue when I should just be able to use my tethering feature hassle-free. Since tethering is something I don’t use everyday, and it’s a feature I pay more money to have, it better be there when I want to use it, not cost me 2+ hours of my life!
I tried this yesterday, but I restored from my backup, so the issue still remains. I need to try to restore as a new device and re-import my contacts and whatnot… The bummer deal with this is I also lose my data such as saved games and whatnot. It’s a bit of an inconvenience, one I’d rather avoid, but it looks like I don’t have much of a choice at the moment.
I don’t currently have the time to restore as new, but when I do I will let you in on the results.
Why wouldn’t you upgrade from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4S?
A lot of people say it’s a waste of money to upgrade your phone if the new features don’t live up to the hype. New features aside, why not upgrade from your iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S and make some cash along the way?
How can this be done you ask? Well, it’s quite simple. Sell your iPhone 4, buy the iPhone 4S and profit!
I can’t speak for other carriers, but with AT&T you don’t always have to wait the full 2 years to upgrade your phone. I bought my iPhone 4 at launch last year and am currently eligible for an upgrade. On AT&T Dial *639# from your cell phone and shortly after you will get a text message back from AT&T telling you if you’re eligible for an upgrade. I got a txt back from AT&T saying that I’m eligible for an upgrade with a new 2-year commitment with an $18 upgrade fee. An extra $18 sure beats an extra $400 any day of the week!
Step 1 – Check the going rate on ebay
Next to the search bar on ebay click the link to the right that says “Advanced”. Just a few boxes down make sure you click the box that says “Completed Listings”. Type in “iPhone 4″ into the search box and scope the results for completed auctions to get a sense of how much the iPhone 4 is selling for. Currently it’s fairly safe to assume you’ll get about $350 for your iPhone 4 16GB if it’s in good used condition.
Step 2 – Sell your iPhone
Assuming you’re comfortable with the going rate, post your phone on ebay. Start the bidding at 1 cent, no reserve, no buy it now, free shipping. Your phone is going to sell around the going rate, it just will. If you have the original accessories and box, mention this. It will help people feel like you’ve taken care of the phone if you still have all of the original accessories.
Step 3 – Buy your shiny new iPhone 4S
I was able to come up with enough cash to pre-order my phone on the first day it was available for pre-order. I got a notification saying that my phone is expected to be delivered on launch day – Friday, October 14. I posted my iPhone 4 on eBay to end 2 days before the release date of the iPhone 4S with a 2 day handling time. This way I don’t have to go a single day without a phone!
That’s it!
Now you have your shiny new iPhone and you’re up about $100 minus some ebay fees and shipping costs. Maybe in another state you’re up even more if you didn’t have the $45 tax on the iPhone 4S that we have here in California. Why wouldn’t you upgrade when you can do this?
Trying My Hand at Afilliate Marketing
So I’ve decided that I’m going to give affiliate marketing a shot. If things go well then I’m sure you’ll see me updating this page a lot more often with relevant info.
I’m currently working on getting accepted into an affiliate network. I’ve applied to a few, but it apparently takes some time to get approved and may require a follow-up phone call.
With already having some past experience with advertising on Facebook, Google, MySpace, and Bing I’m feeling pretty confident that I can make something happen here. My marketing before was done just for my band and gaining facebook fans and mailing list subscribers, but I felt like it was done with some success.
I’m going to try to get in the habit of updating this more often, I realize I’m only talking to myself at this point, so I’ll think of it as an online public journal of sorts for now. Maybe one day something will come from it.
RIP Steve Jobs
While I was working online yesterday afternoon I was shocked to see the headline about the death of Steve Jobs, it was hard to believe. Even though we all know he’s had some struggles with his health in recent years, it’s just something I didn’t expect to happen so suddenly.
Today it’s really begun to sink in and it’s put me in quite a somber mood. I’m not usually one to really take celebrity deaths very personal, but I believe you’d be hard pressed to find a person who’s life wasn’t enriched by Steve. Be it bringing the idea of personal computing to the masses, the incredible pixar films adored by young and old, or my iPhone sitting on my desk who’s cracked screen seems to reflect our loss.
It’s no surprise that Steve Jobs was a visionary and one of the greatest inventors and marketing geniuses of our time. It’s all over the web and I won’t be able to say anything that hasn’t already been said, that’s the kind of impact he’s had on this world. Yet I still feel the need to express what I feel as a personal loss even though I never knew the man.
Growing up I was a PC kid. In 1996 when I was in 6th grade we got our first Windows 95 computer. I stuck firmly with what I knew up until I went to head off to college. I had a few close friends who were into Macs, I’d always give them crap just for fun. But seeing how I was going into Media and Design, an Apple computer seemed to be the way to go. The summer of 2004 I bought my first Mac, a 15-inch powerbook w/ G4 processor and I’ve never looked back.
I’ve been a huge Mac fan for over the past 7 years. I can’t even comprehend the amount of hours I’ve spent on Apple equipment in the past 7 years. Be it doing graphic design, designing a website, recording music, editing some video, playing a video game, watching a movie, listening to music…
Steve Jobs, you are an inspiration to us all. We should all hope we could have a fraction of the effect that you’ve had on this world. The world is truly a better place because you were in it. It is clear that you will be missed by many.
I’m going to do my best to take your advice and follow my heart, stay hungry, and stay foolish. RIP.
4 Day Weekend :-)
Since I started my job at the news station in July, I’ve been up by 4:00 am 5 days a week. Even with all the shows our band has been doing on the road, I’d manage to make it back into town in time for work, even if it meant not getting any sleep. Well, I decided I needed a little break and have myself a 4-day weekend 
I started off by sleeping in until after 9am, when I would normally be getting off of work. Great start! I hope to be a little productive this weekend as well. I’m going to start off by continuing the free online Java classes provided by Stanford.
I had just finished the Karel the robot courses and now I’m moving onto some straight up beginning java programming. Nothing super exciting at the moment, but I’m excited to get to the point where I can make something besides “Hello, World!” or add 1 + 1.
Today’s challenge is to figure out how to start from scratch writing a program in Eclipse so I can follow along with the book. Because it’s not described anywhere in the course materials or the book. Google, here I come.
EDIT: I figured it out. added screenshot
Western Digital Elements 2TB External Hard Drive
Expecting to receive my Western Digital WD Elements 2 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive today! I’ve had a feeling that one of my external drives is about to fail after it acting a little odd over the past several weeks. Some of the oddities include strange noises and problems with getting the drive to mount properly. I figured that it’s about time to upgrade to a 2TB drive and ditch my 2 350 GB drives.
Looking forward to having only 1 external drive and having a TON of free space, hopefully for a while to come. The drive has great reviews and is super affordable. In fact I just noticed today that it is actually $15 cheaper then when I ordered it just 2 days ago! AGH! What a steal for $94.99.
Edit (12:31 PM):
I tried calling Amazon earlier today to see if they would offer a refund for the price difference. The Customer Service Rep stayed really short with me saying they don’t do price match guarantees. Bummer deal.
I later noticed that the price dropped another $5 today to $89.99. I looked up what it would cost to return the hard drive and just order a new one, $6 and some odd cents. Seems like a good enough deal to send it back and just order a new one!
I made another call and asked about a price match again, but mentioning that I was just going to ship it back and order a new one if they wouldn’t price match. After asking for my order number and being put on hold a couple of times I was informed that it was against their policy to do a price match, but that they would make a one time exception and refund me the $20 price difference.
Thank you Amazon! Here’s the proof…
Winter is here
On Saturday the band loaded up and hit the road towards Humboldt. Normally about a 3 hour drive from Redding, it took us more like 5 1/2 hours from when we left the house. After gassing up and stopping for some Dutch Bros, I checked the road conditions on my phone before heading out and everything was supposed to be clear. We started heading West on Highway 299 when about 15 miles into our trip the road was blocked off with a chain requirement.
Not having chains we had to turnaround, stopped by Les Schwabb and grabbed a set of chains for $80 and then back on Highway 299. On our way back out of town for the second time, a sign was lit up saying chains were required, it wasn’t when we first passed it.
Our chains actually ended up breaking and I fell back on my butt in what looked like slow motion while I rolled backward until I was on my back. I was a little wet, but we all had a good laugh about it. The chains had a little piece of rubber with a hook on the end which is the last process of locking in the chains in place. The rubber piece broke, and for a moment things looked gloomy, but we took quick action to rectify the situation.
I grabbed a tiny screwdriver to pierce a new hole in the rubber piece. I then took a screwdriver and screwed it through the hole and then ripped the screw out in attempt to make a slightly bigger hole. Used some pliers to undo the metal hook, it was pretty tough to bend, but eventually got it. Then put the metal link through the rubber and closed the link back up and we were good to go!
The chains were needed for only a couple of miles. We passed through a few more patches of snow on the drive, but no other chain requirements. We made it in plenty of time to setup for the show!
Had a very beautiful drive home on Sunday with plenty of blue skies peeking out from behind the clouds.
Band Practice
Headed to band practice. w00t! Getting ready for the show this Saturday in McKinleyville. Have to practice our 3+ hour long set. Weather is supposed to be pretty treacherous this Saturday and Sunday. Snow levels dropping down to 1,500 feet. Should be fun!
