02 Sep 09 Using Snow Leopard VPN to connect via T-Mobile Hotspots

Accross the UK, and the US, and probably many other coutries, T-Mobile have Hotspots for WiFi access. They are even available on trains, so I use them on my weekly commute to London.

The only problem is that is it an Open WiFi, so once you’re connected, in theory all your traffic is very easy to snoop. Windows users have the luxury of a Cisco VPN free download from T-Mobile to secure the connection, but no Mac option.

Luckily, the release of Snow Leopard included the addition of Cisco VPN to the Networking of OS X - so now Mac users can secure up too.

Below are the settings I’ve extracted from the Windows program and configured OS X to use. These should work for anyone who has a T-Mobile Hotspot account and connecting through a T-Mobile Hotspot (doubt it’ll work outside their network).

First, fire up the Networking Preferences pane, and click the + in the bottom left to create a new connection:

Next, for Interface, you want to choose VPN.

Then VPN Type: Cisco IPsec

Service Name: T-Mobile VPN (though anything will do)

Next, you need to fill in the following settings:

Server Address: wlan-vpn.t-mobile.co.uk

Account name: <put your full T-Mobile Hotspot username>

Password: <your Hotspot password>

Lastly, you need to add some bits to the ‘Authentication Settings‘, so give that a click.

Shared Secret: T-Mobile

Group Name: T-Mobile

Hit OK. Now click Apply in the bottom right, then Connect.

It may ask for your password again (the T-Mobile authentification server isn’t very reliable it seems) but shortly after, your T-Mobile Secured VPN should then connect, and you can browse safely!

24 May 09 Running Apps in the Background on the iPhone

“It’s not possible” I hear you say. Well, it is if you decide to Jailbreak your iPhone.

Jailbreaking is where you allow the iPhone to run unapproved-by-Apple software. Doing this requires a little bit of techy knowledge - but there’s thousands of sites that will tell you how to do this. There is some debate about whether it’s illegal to jailbreak a phone. Apple says it is (says, being the operative word) but its really akin to modding a car - yes, you invalidate the warranty, but you change run-of-the-mill car into your own personal statement, by your design. Jailbreaking is much the same.

One of the useful applications available on Cydia (the jailbreaker’s version of the App Store - but most programs are free!) is “Backgrounder”.

This program is very simple to setup. Once installed, it allows you to instead of close programs when you drop back to the ‘Springboard’ menu, you can allow them to run in the background. All you do is hold the Home button instead of the usual quick-click - and its ‘backgrounded’. You can change this (as I have) to be double-click on Home, which seems a bit more intruitive (as hold Home is what you do when an App crashes, and it forces it to exit).

When you return to the front menu, the application gets a ‘badge’ to show its still running. From the image below you can see Twitterific and Phone (which is always running) are currently backgrounded.

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04 May 09 Windows 7 review: 32-bit is dead - long live 64-bit

Well, it doesn’t seem like you can visit any tech site without Windows 7 being mentionned - so consider the bang-wagon jumped on!

When the 7000 beta was released to the public, apart from Microsoft’s servers coming to a massive crawl - the response was pretty much unanimous. Finally the upgrade to Windows XP we’ve been waiting for (because Vista still sucks!).

I tried out the beta on my ‘workhorse’ laptop and overall was very impressed. The only issue you’ll have with a new OS is if your hardware isn’t supported out of the box - there’s no chance of getting a driver from the manufacturer - it’s not out yet!! Sadly, my laptop at the time seemed to be missing a couple of bits, so I had to regretably fall back to XP. I’m not running Vista as for some reason (even though the laptop comes with a Vista Basic license) it just doesn’t like running. I get corrupted graphics, and random crashes, regardless of driver updates. XP, however, solid as a rock.

With the release of the Release Candidate, Windows 7 has been polished up and debugged and should pretty much be as it will be when it hits the shelves. Great thing is: a) if you applied for a ‘beta’ key - this key works with the new release candidate too, and should give you a whole year’s worth of free Windows 7 usage! And b) if you didn’t get a key - tomorrow (Tuesday 5th May, 2009), Microsoft will be giving away more serial keys to anyone who wants one!

So what’s so good about Windows 7?

Firstly: 64-bit. “Eh, what’s that?” I hear you cry… (more…)

28 Apr 09 Bridging the gap: extending your WiFi

I do some work for a local print & marketing company DTMS Print, looking after their computer systems & networks.

Slightly strangely for a business, it is entirely wireless. The BT Master Socket is in such a place that running wires and having hubs, etc, is just going to be too much of a mess - and since 2 / 4 employees work off a laptop, it’s easier just to make it all wireless.

I built 2 PCs for the shop-floor - one for behind the counter and another on the shop floor in the consultation area so images, websites, etc can be viewed by the clients without having to bring them out-back.

This posed a problem, though: the consultation area is the exact opposite end of the building to the BT Business router (which doesn’t support external aerials!) and therefore struggled to get signal. Since reliability is essential, I needed a quick and cheap (since its a new business with tight cashflow) solution. (more…)

27 Aug 08 Unlock ANY phone, without software!

Phone unlocking is a bit of pain. Many handsets nowadays are released on certain networks, and you can’t use any other SIM in them. Most of the time you can get them reflashed and unlocked down the market for a tenner, or maybe with a bit of searching and a suitable data cable, you can do it yourself.

Sometimes it doesn’t work though. The iPhone 3G for example. They have been struggling to unlock it as Apple have actually done a good job securing it this time (unlike the original iPhone), so although you can Jailbreak the phone (install your own, 3rd party software), you can’t unlock it through software, yet.

In walks Ghost SIM cards. These are tiny sim-card shaped devices that you slip in the sim card tray with your SIM and they trick the phone into what network they support, are, etc, and your locked phone becomes unlocked instantly. There’s some question over their legality, as its not fully known exactly they do to the network/phone to trick it, but if you’re not too scared it can be a great way to get your Orange UK sim working in your girlfriend’s O2 iPhone 3G…
Remember this device will make your SIM work in any locked phone.. So pop out your sim & the little device, pop into another locked phone, and you’re off. The inital outlay should pay for itself once you’ve used a couple of locked handsets. Even comes with a 2 year warranty and flash upgradeable!

I did try a SIMable first, but it was so unreliable, I couldn’t trust it. I missed so many texts, and calls - it just wasn’t working. It’s quite old now too, apparently the Rebel is a far newer design - plus being upgradeable should make it pretty future proof.

http://rebelsimcard.com/ It’d recommend having a look at some of their bundle deals, as buying the sim-card cutter (which you don’t need, but its easier than trying to square-up your hole-punch) and the sim-reader (to do the upgrades) you’ll save yourself at least a fiver.

12 Aug 08 Creating a charging post with cable-tidy

If you have any amount of gadgets, there will always be the mess of chargers, or the even worse situation of not knowing where you last put that only charger you have for your device.

Being organised and keeping them all usable, in one place, vastly reduces stress, and that crawling under the bed to plug in a charger at 1am scenario.

In our bedroom, we have a computer desk with the obligatory keyboard shelf. Ergonically these shelves are a no-no and you’re far better putting the keyboard up higher, on the actual desktop. Usually I would remove the shelf to allow more leg-room, but this time I thought I’d create a little charging-station so my gadgets have a home at night plus I always have the chargers to hand!

First, I purchased a 6-way individually switched extension cable. I went for individually switched so that you could switch on just the charger you needed. A main charger, whether plugged into a device or not, draws the same power from the outlet. So save the planet and turn off your chargers when not in use!

I fixed this to the underside of the shelf, allowing for maximum space for plugging in and out of items (as I thought it would be too cramped on top of the shelf) and easy-access to the on/off switches.

The cables then tuck-round to the top of the shelf. The Apple cable is kept loose, as its the only USB cable we currently have (so need it to plug into the PC sometimes) and the other two currently go through a quick-n-easy homemade cable tidy using an old CDR cake box. Simple make 2 holes either side of the cylinder, and wrap your cables around the spindle instead. Et voila, a very simple, free, cable tidy!

So there you have it. A charging station with in-built cable-tidy, all for the cost of a 6-way extension off eBay (£7 posted). Enjoy.

09 Aug 08 Make the next 5 minutes of your life worthwhile

How much of your day do you actually do something that is meaningful or learn something new or just enjoy a new experience?

This site might make you cry, but it is amazingly simple and beautiful. It tells the story of a man’s 98-year-old father and his struggle with Alzeheimer’s. Perfectly narrated with amazing pictures. Click this link and the next 5 mintues of your life will feel strangely richer. You may need tissues.

http://www.dayswithmyfather.com

08 Aug 08 The Big Bang

In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and is widely regarded as a bad move. (Douglas Adams, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy)

What better time to start a geeky blog than at a geeky time?

08-08-08 @ 08:08

Welcome. Now, where did I put my Babelfish…