Confessions Of A Berson Mind

This post will be all about cell phones:

Decided to write a post about my MMS issues with the combination of TMobile, my HTC Touch Pro 2, Windows Phone 6.5.x, and Manila (Sense) 2.5.  For every ROM I’ve installed with these settings, I haven’t been able to send picture messages straight away.  Found a fix at: http://thewingster.com/mmsfixm25.aspx — that works great, but I also make a few alterations to ensure success.  Here’s my tutorial.

1.) Flash a clean custom ROM.
2.) Install the fix found on that link immediately after a soft reset. If you wait until after you’ve opened a few text messages or done some other things, you may run into a permissions problem during the install.  Soft reset, then install.
3.) At this point, your picture messages may already work — mine do not.  The next step I undertake is to go to the Messages tab in Manila, and hit the All Messages softkey.  Next, Menu -> Settings -> Options.  In this window, I flick to the bottom, and change the photo resolution to Original, and choose whatever size I like for the camera (currently XGA).  I do this to ensure my photos won’t be sent in micro.
4.) Click done.
5.) Repeat the Menu -> Settings -> Options step, but this time, hit the menu button in this new window, and select MMS Server.  Make sure the SampleMMSC is selected, and click on it (that’s two steps). Here, I change the “Connect via” option to TMobile MMS.  If yours already says this, congratulations.
5a.) I also set the Send limit to 300KB.  One, because I once read that TMobile doesn’t permit messages larger than that (doubt this), and two, because my mobile data is slow enough as is — I don’t need to spend 4 minutes every time I send a pic.  Click Done, and get back to your home screen.
6.) Last tricky step: click the Start Menu -> and Settings. Then Connections -> Connections. In this window, go to the “Advanced” tab, and hit “Select Networks.”  You should see a dropdown that has Tmobile Data already selected — hit the dropdown and select Tmobile MMS. Then, click Edit. In this window, hit the edit softkey, click Next, and change the Access point name to “wap.voicestream.com” (no quotes).  Click Next and then Finish. Click OK and you should be back at the Network Management screen.  BEFORE you leave here, hit the dropdown again, and RESELECT Tmobile Data.
7.) A soft reset isn’t probably necessary, but not a bad idea.

After all these steps, my MMS works great — I send receive no problems, the pictures send and receive at the proper sizes…these steps work for my phone across a multitude of ROMS, and it’s not that tricky.

Hope this helps.

Back to Computer blogging.  Windows Vista will be released on January 30, 2007, and it will cause a huge commotion in the Computer Industry.  That may be all fine and good, but what should you, the actual user of real computers, know and/or care about with Windows Vista?  Here’s my quick take:

Vista is a complete recode of the Windows OS.  Now that may not mean much to you, but it should help justify the upgrade.  For all the people who got burned by the hideous Windows ME (which was a buggy, flashy coat covering Win 98), the transition to Vista from XP will be similar to the transition from 98 to 2000/XP.  Simply put, it’s different enough that you will NEED to change in the next 2-3 years.  But that’s also an important point to make…you have time.  You do not need to rush out and pick up the Vista disc at your local Circuit City the day it comes out.  You may, but I’d suggest you not.  Historically, Windows products become hundreds of percent better with the release of Service Packs, so I would advise you to wait until Vista SP1 is released to make the upgrade (I would expect that in about a year from the original release date).

Berson3 Computers doesn’t exactly have the luxury of choosing which software to use.  Be rest assured, although a few of the office computers MUST be upgraded to Vista to stay on par with the learning curve in the industry, still other computers will remain XP just for sanity sake.  Additionally, once the release of Vista is official, Berson3 will discontinue the release of PCs with XP preinstalled.

Seems sort of hypocritical, doesn’t it?  First I tell you to not upgrade for a year, but then I tell you that we’ll be selling computers with Vista installed.  What gives?  Simply put, it’s more of a “not broken, not fixing it” policy.  If you have a computer with a very nice XP installation on it, why change it until Vista is solid?  However, if you’re buying a brand new computer…then by all means, jump in at the deep end and benefit from the cool toys that Vista includes.  Bottom line = upgraders should wait, New PC purchasers should go ahead with Vista.

Speaking of cool toys, what does Vista include?  First and foremost is the new desktop environment, named Aero.  This means your desktop will be able to function in 3D, with enhanced visualizations, window movement, etc.  Aero is the prettiest Operating System environment to ever be released, even beating out MAC OS X.  Additionally, those of you who suffer from Malware (Viruses/Malware/Spyware), which we all pretty much do in the Windows world, things will get better with a new permissions system.  Without getting into detail, Windows has made it much harder for malignant programs to install themselves.  The problem is not a cure-all, and may not be long-lasting (malware coders are always thinking of new stuff), but it will certainly help for a couple of years, and that may be all some of us need until the next improvement comes out.

What’s not so cool?  First of all, Windows is coming in more flavors than I keep track of, meaning it’s going to be released in 5 different editions.  I think 5.  It might be 26 by now.  Which one should you pick?  Berson3 has done the research and recommends Windows Vista Home Premium.  Why?  It includes all the guts that you need for home use, doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. It’s much more complex than that…but like I said, we did the research, now you don’t have to.

Oh, back to upgrading.  A big question is: CAN you upgrade?   Vista has tough requirements that a lot of mainstream computers may not be able to hold up to.  Here’s the main gist:  1Ghz Processor, 1GB RAM, DVD Drive, 40GB HDD with at least 15GB free space (I actually don’t have that on this machine right now!), Internet capability, Audio Capability, and a DirectX 9 Video card with 128MB RAM.  I can tell you right now that NONE of the computers by big D that I’ve serviced in the past two years meet those requirements, and those are all MINIMUMS.  For those of you who remember upgrading to XP, the minimums don’t work so well.  Investigate more here.  As far as Berson3 is concerned, all computers released after November 15th, 2006, are Windows Vista Home Premium capable and include the free upgrade option (which is free for the software, and about $20 for the shipping).
That’s about it for now, post your comments or questions, and I’ll respond AQAP.

~CR3

Today’s tip has to deal with optimization of services.

Microsoft Windows XP comes preloaded with individualized portions of its software called services.  The logic behind the dissection of the interface is two-fold…1) If a particular service crashes, the entire OS does not crash (part of the NT Kernel logic) and 2) Not all services need to be running at all times.  As a matter of fact, many of the services included with Windows XP do not need to be used by the home user at all.  Even better yet, with the addition of Service Pack 2, Microsoft has chosen to disable a few of its useless/trouble-making services for you.

Here are a few that you can almost definitely disable without reprocussion:

Clipbook, Error Reporting Service, IPSEC Services, Messenger, Remote Registry, Webclient

How do you disable a service?  Open the Run dialog and type: services.msc    From the Local Services window you can select the service you wish to disable, right-mouse click, and select Properties.  From this box you select Disabled from the Startup Type drop-down box.  Your services will be “off” the next time you reboot.
There are plenty of other services that can be disabled, but you should do some more extensive research before you begin to haphazardly disable random services.