Month: December 2013

General

When In Rome

By on Monday, December 16, 2013

There’s a saying “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”. I suppose that means speaking in the Roman language, which is Latin (so it would be:  si fueris R?mae, R?m?n? v?vit? m?re; si fueris alib?, v?vit? sicut ibi). It does make sense and I wholeheartedly agree. No sense getting into a miscommunication and getting yourself sold off to slavery or, worse, getting the wrong end of a gladius. Besides, it’s the perfect opportunity to practice your Latin.

So I was in Davao over the weekend and I had the opportunity to talk with people and practice my not-to-often-used Cebuano. What struck me is that the ostensibly more upscale workers (salesladies, receptionists, clerks, etc) would talk to me in Tagalog even though I was initiating the conversation in Cebuano. I don’t know if they are taking pity on my Cebuano or they’re practicing Tagalog. Personally, I don’t think my Cebuano is that bad. Nor do I think they need to practice their perfect Tagalog.

But if they indeed are practicing another language, they might as well be practicing English. Tagalog offers no competitive advantage. English at least is our global competitive advantage. Other countries are trying hard to improve their English skills. Everybody should continue honing their English. And more importantly, I get to do so, too.

0
General

Unlocking the iPhone 4S

By on Thursday, December 12, 2013

I wanted to unlock the iPhone 4S so that I can be more flexible in carrier selection. My first, and preferred, option was for the carrier to unlock it. AT&T, for example, does that for out-of-contract phones. The IMEI of the phone is actually officially registered with Apple as unlocked essentially making it factory unlocked. Unfortunately, the local carriers do not unlock phones whether it is still in-contract or out of it.

My next option was unlocking using software. This means installing 3rd party tools that Apple does not approve of. Thus jailbreaking is required. Unfortunately, the phone is already on the latest iOS version and as of this writing, there is no jailbreak available. Nor is downgrading to an older iOS version possible unless I have SHSH blobs which I don’t.

My last option is an interposer SIM. It is essentially a pseudo-SIM that interposes itself between the new SIM and the phone. It’s a marvel of miniaturization. They basically fit in the new SIM, an adapter, and a microprocessor within a SIM tray. Once inserted, you simply “program” the interposer SIM to emulate the old SIM. You actually just input the IMSI of the carrier.

The best-known interposer SIM is the Gevey. I actually wasn’t able to get a Gevey, but instead was given an X-SIM. But it works the same way. And yes, it does work!

0
General

iPhone 5s Case

By on Monday, December 9, 2013

I’ve said that putting the gorgeous iPhone inside a case generally fuglifies it. But there are exceptions such as the Sena UltraSlim Leather Pouch that I used for the iPhone 4/4S. And now there’s the Apple iPhone 5s Case.

Probably one of the things that Apple learned from the antennagate controversy is that bumpers and casings are good business. So along with the recent iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, they released corresponding casings. The iPhone 5c case looks like Crocs and won’t be mentioned again. Ever.

The iPhone 5s case is a full back and side coverage case made of aniline leather reinforced with plastic. The inner side of the back is lined with a soft velvety material to protect the glass and aluminum back of the phone from scratches. That’s three layers but the overall casing is still very slim. The power and volume buttons are covered but remain easy to use. There are precision-cut(!) cutouts and holes for the Lightning port, silent switch, headphone jack, camera, and speakers. The holes for the speakers are especially neat.

The case comes in several conservative (black, brown, tan) and trendy (blue, red, yellow) colors. Supposedly the aniline dyeing process infuses the color deep into the leather and not just on the surface. This means that minor scuffs might not be very visible. Unfortunately, aniline leather is rather fragile and in this case, no pun intended, rather thin. This case is definitely more stylish than protective. But I believe that’s the intent. A premium case for a premium phone. It is a perfect match for the iPhone 5s.

 

 

0