drunkencomputing

‘Cause I’m the mother fuckin’ captain, bitch!  Want to do 100% of the work expected of you, plus an extra 25% because you actually might give 1/3 of a fuck about your job?  Want to get recognized for 0% of it, but get treated like a complete shithead?  You’re on the right track!

The selfish/cocky/too-stupid-to-realize-it/just-plain-don’t-give-a-fuck-about-you train will leave the station approximately 25 minutes after the Underappreciated Express and will arrive at the same time, riding your coat tails.  But wait, they’ll also demand everything from you and leave you with nothing…not even self-dignity!  Get the bags!

Both trains leave with destinations to Work, Home, and Friendship.  The only place we don’t arrive at is Family.  Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you are are unsure which train you need to take, please ask the station attendant and he’ll point you in the right direction.

This is a voicemail I’ve had sitting in my inbox for almost a year now, and I thought I should finally record it and post it.  It’s Buddah, singing a classicial song for all to enjoy: buddah_1_sep_07

The past few days have been very beneficial to my nerdiness.  I’ve learned a lot about x86 and x64 architecture just by using teh googles and del.icio.us.  I’ve ventured into the x64 OS land, and even got 6GB of RAM in the process.  My main computer is now responding faster than I can handle–which has never happened before, and it’s taken me aback a bit.  Double-clicking an icon to get an application to open and have it sitting there immediately after the second click is kind of scary.  Also, running a server OS (Windows 2008) for a desktop has been a boon as well.  It’s amazing the things you can learn on the internet, and if you just try them out yourself.  Check it out here: http://www.win2008workstation.com/wordpress/

Perhaps the most rad aewsome thing is that I just found OS 4.5 for my Blackberry Pearl, which has a bunch of sweet enhancements for the device, chief amon them is HTML email viewing.  Before, I would have to scroll through HTML code to get to the body of an HTML email message, which was very annoying (as Rachael will attest).  Now, however, that will not need to occur.  As I type this, the OS is loading on my Pearl.  Wish me luck.

P.S., You can get at OS 4.5 for your Pearl (8130) here: http://www.mediafire.com/?o5apky1nvdf

This morning I crossed the Blatnik bridge in the early morning haze and saw orange-vested construction workers picking up orange barrel and white lane tape.  My first thought was, “this is just another cock-tease,” and that the bridge wouldn’t truly be opening back up to two lanes.

I pressed, not really believing that after 1+ months of single-lane/uni-directional traffic, that the bridge I’ve relied on for the past 8 years for every-day transportation would once again be open.

Well, on my way home today, I was suprised to see…the Blatnik is 100% again.  I peed in my pants a little bit with excitement.  No more sneaking under 535 up Garfield to cut ahead of the rush.  No more 15 additional minute drive time over to the Bong to get back home, followed by a sheer clusterfuck on the Belknap viaduct.  Just me and the old John A.

So enjoy, fair Twin Ports travelers, and revel in the amazement of the Blatnik bridge.  While I’m eating my celebratory DQ ice cream cake with a frosted Blatnik bridge on it, think of what life would of been like before the Bong bridge…when only the Arrowhead bridge could get you across the bay.  My, how we’ve evolved.  Here’s to the fully operational Blatnik!  *stuff ice cream cake in his mouth*

OK, maybe it won’t save your life, but it will save you some space. I rarely post HOWTOs since most of them I get from teh Googles.  But, this one I figured out for myself.  Until OS 4.5 comes out for the Pearl (8130), I’ll be rocking a newer OS than what Verizon has released, that speeds up the device and saves some space.  So without further ado:

Prerequisites:

1. Make sure you have the latest version of Desktop Manager (I have 4.5). You can get the latest one here, from your computer: https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/browseSoftware.do, and select “Desktop Manager” from the list.  You need at least version 4.3. You’ll probably have to provide some demographic information about yourself before you can download it.
   
   
2. Get OS version 4.3.0.127. On your computer, go here: https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/contactFormPreload.do?code=B132ECC1609BFCF302615847C1CAA69A&dl=3F8B32645E1C2547B6862AB43B018213&step=4.  Note again you’ll have to put in some demographic info to download it. Click the link to download the operating system software 4.3.0.127 for the 8130.
   
   
3. Get MemFree, from BerryCoder. On your phone, go to: http://berrycoder.com and hit the link for MaxMem. Follow the onscreen prompts.

Steps:

1. Check your OS version. To do this, on your Pearl go to “Options->About.” Jot down your OS version & platform version to ensure you make the upgrade stick.  You’ll probably want to start from at least OS 4.3.x.x, I don’t know how it will work with anything prior to 4.3.
2. Check how much free space you have. This step is just to show you how much space you’ll gain. In the end, I saved 7MB. That’s pretty ridiculous. To get your memory usage, again on your Pearl go to “Options” but this time go to “Status”. A few lines done you’ll see File Free and File Total. “File Total” is how much room is on your Pearl, while “File Free” is obviously how much space you have free. It’s a long number, but write down all the digits anyway.
3. Upgrade Desktop Manager to 4.5 (if required). If you don’t have Desktop Manager version 4.5, run the setup program for the Desktop Manager software you downloaded in the prerequisite #1 above. Just follow the on-screen prompts.
4. Run a backup of your Pearl. This step is crucial. To do this, plug in your Blackberry to your computer via the USB (don’t do it over Bluetooth). Run Desktop Manager and click the Backup and Restore button. Click the Backup button, and it will ask you where to save the backup file. Put it in a place you’ll remember in case bad stuff happens (rarely does this occur, but you never know).
5. Trick your Blackberry. This sounds skeevy, but the OS you downloaded above is actually for another company’s phone…not Verizon or Sprint’s. It’s no problem, though, because as long as the OS is intended for your exact phone model (such as the 8130, which the Pearl is), you’re good to go…all OSes are made by the Blackberry people anyway, the provider’s just review them and post them on their site as they get to it. To trick your Blackberry, go to the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research in Motion\apploader on your computer and delete the file vendor.xml.

6. Fire up the 4.3.0.127 upgrade. Get ready to live! Disconnect your Blackberry from the computer after the backup, close Desktop Manager, and run the setup program you downloaded in prerequisite #2, above. Follow the on-screen prompts. Once completed, plug in your Blackberry via the USB
   (again, not via Bluetooth) and start the Desktop Manager. If the Desktop Manager doesn’t automatically prompt you to perform an upgrade (it should), just click Application Loader. From the submenu, hit the Start button under Update Applications. The upgrade will begin.
7. Get yourself a cold one. At this point, it’s between you and God as to what happens. I’ve never had a Blackberry upgrade crap out on me (and I’ve done upgrades more times than any normal Blackberry user has, thanks career!), but there is a first time for everything. While you’re enjoying your beer, don’t freak if you see the device reboot and appear to startup or hang for a few minutes. Also, don’t freak if you see the Desktop Manager just sitting there waiting to say “Connecting to Device” and it appears that it never will. You need to give it—not shit—like 30 minutes for the whole shebang to be over.
8. Check your OS. You probably should have finished not one, but maybe even two beers by the time the whole OS upgrade is done. Once it’s all back and the Blackberry is just sitting there, repeat step #1 above to check your OS version. It should now read “4.3.0.127″ with a new platform number. Compare this to the version number you wrote down in step #1. If it’s different, you’re awesome. You’ll probably notice a bunch of applications are waiting for you to set your preferences in them (such as Facebook, WeatherEye). You can do it now, or later.

9. Check out your free space. You should have saved a few megabytes (MB) of space on your device. Check the “File Free” number and compare it to what you wrote down in step #2, above. I went from 13,598,450—or just around 13.5MB—to 14,909,360—or just under 15MB. Jot down the new “File Free” number, because we can do better.
10. Backup again (recommended, but not required). I recommend you maybe run another backup of your device at this point, in case the next step has some adverse effects you don’t enjoy. You can always restore the backup from step #4 above, too, but better safe than sorry.
11. Free up some memory with MemFree. You should of installed MemFree on your Pearl in prerequisite #3. If you didn’t, shame on you for not following directions. But please do it now. Launch MemFree from your Pearl. You’ll see six options to remove stuff. You can remove as many of these as you want. A detailed explanation of each:
12. 1. Remove VAD: VAD is “Voice-Activated Dialing” and is only useful if you use a hands-free device and dial with it (such as a Bluetooth headset). You can remove VAD and still use a Bluetooth headset, but you’ll only be able to answer the phone. Select Remove VAD if you don’t use any hands-free (like me, it’s for sailors), or if you are a man and can hit a number from the address book on your Pearl with your eyes closed, and have it route up to your hands-free device.
    2. Remove PTT: This gets rid of the “Push To Talk” function of phones. If you don’t know what it is, hit the button. If you don’t use it, again, hit the button.
       
    3. Remove MDS: Hit this button no matter what, unless you use your Pearl on a corporate email system (such as at work). If you’re using a Pearl for corporate messaging, you’re an idiot too, FYI. Get the Curve and save yourself some finger cramping.
    4. Remove Media: Hit this button to get rid of default pictures and videos your Pearl, unless you use one of the hideous pictures that came with the phone as your background.
    5. Remove Themes: If you still use the default Pearl theme, you can hit this button with no worries. However, if you’ve installed your own theme (you go, girl!), you might not want to remove this stuff. You can hit the button and remove only selected themes, but you have to pay attention to what pops on screen. For instance, if you hit the Remove Themes button, it will ask you to delete a “…Zen…” theme. Deleting this will make any “Zen”-like themes you may have installed not work. You can say “No” to delete the “…Zen…” theme when prompted, and your Zen-based themes will work. The same goes for the “…Today…” theme as well. Don’t delete it if you have any “Today”-based themes.
    6. Remove RIM Internal Tools: Go ahead and hit this one.NOTE: If at any time MemFree asks you to reboot, hold off until you’re completely done removing stuff.

13. Reboot and reap the rewards. Close MemFree when you’re all done removing the stuff from above. When MemFree is closed, yoink the battery out of the back of your Pearl, let it sit for a few seconds, then plug it back in. Let the device power up, then follow the step #8, above. You should see that the “File Free” number has gone up again. I was at 14,909,360 after the 4.3.0.127 upgrade. After running MemFree and rebooting, I went to 20,098,312…or a little more than 20MB. That’s an overall saving of 7MB, which is a big deal.
    

You’re good to go. You should also be seeing some additional speed increases as well with your Blackberry. You’re welcome for that, too. Now enjoy!

One more note, if you plug in your Blackberry to your desktop and run Desktop Manager again, it may say that it wants to update your phone again.  This is because it will see the stuff you deleted with MaxMem is gone, and it will attempt to reload it.  Just cancel the update if it appears in Desktop Manager.  Likewise, you can just do this “update” with Desktop Manager if you end up uninstalling anything from your device you didn’t want to.