Jaded Dima

Silent Ringtone for the iPhone

2009-08-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

It is unfortunate that the iPhone does not provide with the ability to block or silence some of the calls, coming from some particular phone number.
If you are anything like me, you have a desire to completely silence calls from certain people, who a crazy but are still useful to know. Just not at 2 am. And turning off your iPhone is not an option, as you'd rather be able to stay in contact with your aunt Griselle at any time of day or night, as her cookies are delicious. Delicious! So what do you do?
Simply download this small file SilentRingtone. If it does not open automatically, drag it into an open iTunes window, and it should take care of it from then on. The new ring tone should appear in the ring tone list inside the iTunes.
Assign the ringtone to any contact you'd rather not bother you using the edit function inside the Contacts app on your iPhone. When that crazy Mary calls you nothing will happen (though the iPhone's screen will light up showing the contact's name and it will vibrate if you are in the silent mode or have the vibration enabled at all the times) but no sound will be made.
Problem solved.

One of the First Images I Captured With a Digital Camera.

2009-04-23T13:44:00.001-07:00

Big Sur, originally uploaded by dkitsov.

Image: Fern

2009-04-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

A method to better calibrate an LCD monitor with eye-one (i1)

2009-04-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report I have discovered a method for a more accurate calibration for the LCD screen (monitors, displays), using Gretag Macbeth (now an X-rite company) i1-Match series of color management solutions.

I haven't written it up yet in a nice way, but the idea is that the reference file with 49 RGB patches, while good enough for CRT calibration and a calibration with the profile creation that uses a conversion matrix, the data acquired is not enough for the LUT table method that is preferable for LCD screens.

There is a way to hack i1-Match into using reference data that contains either 99 patches (Gretag Macbeth LCD ref file) or even more if you desire. All is needed is a couple of copy paste moves and a two file renames.

Will publish it later, stay tuned.

HIgh Quality Color Profile for Epson3800/Kirkland Pro Glossy

2009-03-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

It doesn't seem that Costco has an official support site for the Kirkland brand inkjet paper that they sell, so no color profiles are available. Never fear, The Dima is to the rescue!

Well at least for those of you that are using an Epson Stylus Pro 3800 with the Ultrachrome K3 ink-set.

I have created a custom profile using outstanding test-charts by Bill Atkinson that he provides for free to all interested parties.

I used a 1452 RGB target which was measured three times and averaged using weighted method to compensate for the possible measurement errors.

In order to use this profile successfully you must use following settings when you print out of Photoshop or any other color aware application:

Setup a soft-proofing space as such: View>Proof Setup>Custom>Device to Simulate>EPSONKirkProGloss.icc. Chose either perceptual or relative colorimetric intent, tick the black point compensation. (You must have a calibrated and preferably profiled monitor for this to work well)
Print your file with the following settings: Photoshop manages color. Intent that matches the one you setup in your soft-proof settings.
In the printer driver chose custom. Use Premium SemiGloss paper setting, it will change your black to photoblacK if it's not already active.
Under the Custom, click advanced and choose SuperPhoto 2880 as your resolution.
Turn Off High Speed and Finest Detail.
Printer Color Management is set to Off (No Color Adjustment)
Click Paper Config and type 3 as a paper thickness, don't change other settings.
Click all of the OK's and print.
This settings are for the USA made Kirkland Professional Glossy Inkjet Photo Paper Itm./Art. 126755 and Itm./Art. 933656. sold at Costco.

Download Link

Save it in your profiles folder Windows>System32>spool>drivers>color

If you done everything right it looks amazing!

Use at you own risk. Have fun printing.

Traffic Pilot for the iPhone is in the Works

2008-11-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

Berkeley's traffic.berkeley.edu confirmed that they are working on the iPhone version of the software, that uses the cellphones with the GPS to analyze traffic conditions. The users of this software recieve realtime traffic updates using their cellphone.
This surely will be one of the "killer" iPhone apps out there. There is a gotcha, however. The project is run with Nokia as one of the partners, so I am not sure that they would agree to release an application for a competing platform.

Le Gai Moulin is a Must Visit in Paris.

2008-11-09T21:19:00.000-08:00

View Larger Map
I was brought here by my partner on the second day we stayed in Paris. The place is small and noisy, yet I could not ask for anything else! It is noisy because it's popular and the proximity of the tables to each other due to the lack of room promotes the interaction among the guests. Not the small part of the noise come from the manager/owner(?)/entertainer - Monsieur Moulin. He is both the "gai" and the "moulin" of the name of the restaurant, which is located in the gay neighborhood in Paris. Monsier Mouline's wit and charm would be good enough reason to visit Le Gai Mouline, even if the food was terrible. Fortunately, the food is anything but terrible. High quality and a great value!
The food is traditional french and the dinner menu, in the mid twenties, is rather varied. I went to this place three nights in a row and not a single night has I been disappointed with the food quality. This restaurant has a very rare property these days - a consistency! The food was consistently good, well presented and simply delicious. You will be served fresh bread before you order. This bread is one of the most delicious breads I had in my life and may be compared in style with Ciabatta from Emeryville, California.
I will recommend this place to anyone and everyone. Even if you are not gay, you still must go - the food and the environment are that good.

A Fix for DIRECTV2PC "Internet Connection is Not Available" Trouble.

2008-10-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

So you got yourself a DirecTv box that is capable of supporting DirecTv2PC. You have installed the soft, got your activation code, but unfortunately are not able to activate the DirecTv2PC on your computer due to inability of the program to connect to the web. You were careful enough to unlock the 443 port on you router and enable it in your firewall settings, but it still won't work.

Here what you do to resolve the issue:

Locate hosts file, usually in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc.
Insert this text: 203.73.94.101 activation.cyberlink.com
Save, without changing an extension of the file.

That's it. This works beautifully on WinXP SP3.

Edit Oct 23, 2008: For the info on how to change the content of the hosts file on Vista, please follow this link to the Tim Hibbard post.

How to Stimulate the Economy.

2008-10-21T23:32:00.000-07:00

Scratching the economy on the butt is way less expensive than the 700 billion bailout.

Directv HDDVR Software Upgrade.

2008-10-21T23:03:00.000-07:00

There was a software upgrade distributed today to Directv HD DVR boxes. The upgrade took over an hour to complete and promises 1080P.
The more useful feature is alpha input using the number keys (a-la cell phone). It works as advertised.
Also, I can now see my Directv box as a media device on the PS3. PS3 won't play any of the recorded shows, as they are in the format (or format envelope) not supported by Sony PS3.
My attempts to download DIRECTV2PC were not successful: DirecTV.com is down for the maintenance.

I haven't notice any improvement in the unit responsiveness, despite the anecdotal testimonies of some users that it is the case. Placebo effect, perhaps.

AT&T Full of Shit.

2008-10-14T22:02:00.000-07:00

I had a guy from At&T ring my door bell today. He was going door to door trying to sell AT&T fiber optics U-verse. He told me that in 2009 my TV, Internet and the phone service I have from AT&T will stop working, because government is forcing them to switch to digital fiber and stop servicing analog [!] copper wire connections I have.

I was not sure I was actually hearing what he was saying correctly. I asked him if he was sure that he is not talking about February analog TV broadcast cut-off. I told him I would not be influenced by it, because it has nothing to do with the phone service or the internet service I get from Astound. To which he replied that my phone and my internet will stop working because government of the United States of America switching everything to digital in the February and that my analog [!!!!!!!!] internet and my phone will stop working.

I told him that he was lying in order to make a sale, he said that he was not.
I could not believe my ears! OK, so I understand that he was full of it, but what about people who are less informed about the technology? I told the guy to get off my property or I will call cops.

I am rather curious if what he told me is what the AT&T teaching their sales people to say, or was he telling lies on hes own to boost his sales.
I just hope that this AT&T U-verse scam sales practice is an isolated occurrence (in Walnut Creek, Ca area) and not a company's official sales strategy.

iTunes 5002 Error Message. How to Fix It.

2008-09-16T00:29:00.000-07:00

In the iTunes click on the Applications in the side bar, without your iPhone/Ipod Touch connected.

Double click on any of the apps that have a generic app icon instead of the proper icon. You will be presented with the option to locate a missing file.

Navigate to your iTunes library folder into the Mobile Applications folder and choose an app.

If the application is missing, then erase it from the iTunes and re-download it.

How to Avoid a Lengthy iPhone Back-up Procces Without Messing With Terminal? Easy!

2008-09-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

Lately you could see a lot of posts on the Apple support forums and wonderful sites like Boing Boing and Mac Os Hints about what to enter into a terminal window to disable iPhone (and I assume iPod Touch) back-up process. The back-up might take up to an hour or longer in some severe cases.
There is an easier way that doesn't involve tinkering with the Terminal.app.
Just click the "x" next to the progress bar.
The back-up will stop and the sync will continue.

Do let the iTunes to create a backup from time to time in order to have a copy from wich run a restore in case it might be needed! Also, never cancel a backup that is a part of software update process.

Follow Up: iPhone Syncing With iSync

2008-09-10T23:58:00.000-07:00

Anna asked in the comments to my iPhone syncing with iSync post, how it actually works.

The software version of iSync on my PowerBook is 2.4 and I am running Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.11.

The procedure as follows:

Disable automatic iPhone Syncing in iTunes,

Start the iSync utility and go to the preferences.
Make sure that Enable syncing on this computer and Show status in menu bar boxes are checked.
Quit iSync utility.
In the menu bar click the iSync icon and chose Sync Now
Your connected iPhone will now sync, even though there will be no indication on the iPhone screen. The iSync icon in your menu bar will rotate. This will only synchronize non-iTunes items.

This will not work if you try to sync from the mane application window of the iSync utility.

Hope it helps.

New Genius Feature is NOT Like Pandora!

2008-09-09T16:23:00.001-07:00

I keep hearing that the new Genius feature in the new iTunes 8 works just like Pandora radio.
That is not true. From the user point of view: when use Pandora I do not need to pay for tracks Pandora suggests. With the iTunes, I do.
The principle of the way Genius runs is more reminiscent of Netflix, where the recommendations are based on what other users that rated the same movies you did the same way you did, say about those movies that you haven't rated yet. Pandora, on the other hand actually knows what the artists or songs specifics and unique features are.

My App Updates Goes Crazy.

2008-08-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

The saga of malfunctioning iTunes software/iPhone continues.
I plugged in the iPhone to download 2.0.1 , and was informed by iTunes that there is 1 (!) update available for my installed applications.
When I clicked the link to check what new joys the app developers have for me I have gotten a page with 41 updates available.
Unfortunately those 41 updates were for just 4 apps: 21 updates for AIM, 4 updates for Break Classic, 8 for Dial O, and 8 for Jirbo Jive.

Check out the screen captures.

After I clicked install all of the updates, iTunes has downloaded only 4 updates.
Upon syncing the iPhone iTunes has informed me of not being able to install the updates: error code 0xE800002E

Update: Tuesday Aug 5, 2008, 1pm. I have uninstalled the apps in question by disabling them from the Apps bar during the iPhone syncing, and then enabling them again. This have seemed to fix the 0xE800002E issue. The multiple apps updates still show up in the iTunes store though.

Has apple nuked the fridge with their app store in particular and with the launch of the iPhone 2.0 in general?

2008-07-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Don't get angry at me, Apple fun boys. I am one of you. I own several Apple Inc. products and I am happy with the most of them. But there is a troubling tendency in how Apple handles many things of the late.

When I bought my original iPhone on the June 29 of 2007 I did not buy it for the superior technological advantage it supposedly had over the competitors. In fact it did not have any technological advantages. There were faster phones, with higher speed networks available, phones with longer spec and features lists. But none of that mattered. What mattered the most was the consumer friendliness, the ease of use and user satisfaction. In other words it simply worked.

So, when the new iPhone was announced, I was happy to learn that all of that user friendliness will now come in a more robust package with the faster network speeds and the GPS. Or so I thought.
Apple began destroying the experience by requiring the in-store activation. My decision to own an iPhone in the first place was partially based on the fact that I would not need to deal with the mindless drones behind the desks of the regular phone company store. You will say that Apple Store employees are much better, and I will agree with that. But I must point out that, even with the friendliness of the Apple retail staff, the wait in line for a few hours was pretty much unbearable.

Then, of course, the app store on the iTunes.
The application updates process is still broken as of August 30th. Application versions are all mixed up. Wrong versions are being downloaded, and there is a difference between what the iPhone thinks has an upgrade available versus what the desktop version of the iTunes thinks. This is anything but "It Just Works" philosophy of the Apple we have grown to love.
Has apple nuked the fridge? Is it becoming a new Microsoft?

P.S. Don't even get me started on how long did it take me to configure a network with an Airport Extreme and an Airport Express on it, after the automatic configuration utility has failed.

A definite proof that www.cuil.com is full of it.

2008-07-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

People from cuil.com claim that they have more pages indexed than Google. In order to compare the obvious supremacy of cuil.com to the shameful inadequacy of Google I did a simple query to both.
I searched for the name Obama, you know, the guy who might be our next president. However, I did not search in English - I used Russian.

The result might surprise you.

cuil.com - 0 results.

goggle.com - 663.000 results.

How did they manage to index almost 3 times the size of the google's index and, yet, return 0 results is beyond me.

If your iPhone doesn't sync with your PowerBook G4.

2008-07-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

So, you plugged your iPhone (or an iPod, for that matter) into your Mac. Your Mac doesn't see it. What to do? It might sound stupid, but I found that simply changing an USB port you plug a cable into might alleviate the problem.

Apple's Remote App Doesn't Know It's an iPhone Application.

2008-07-22T23:52:00.001-07:00

Apple has a truly great iPhone and iPod Touch application called Remote. This application is a definitive answer for my search of a good iTunes remote control.
Remote literally puts your entire iTunes library into the palm of your hand. You can browse your songs, shuffle, control the volume, see the artwork. Remote app works seemlesly.
It doesn't seem to be aware though of it being a primiraly an iPhone application.
Let me explain. You know how in the Apple iPhone TV commercials there is a hand that browses for the seafood restaraunt, or a hand that discovers that the new sales contact info was freshly pushed to the iPhones contact list, or the hand that is scrolling through the New York Times web page? Then a call comes through from the hand's only real friend - Johnny Appleseed. And the Pirates of the Carribian pauses, and the Fiest 1234 is on a pause as well. You remember those commercials.
Anyway, when you are using the Remote application on your iPhone and the phone rings the music plays on. It doesn't pause. It takes you a few seconds after you answer to slide to unlock, enter the passcode, relaunch the remote app and finally pause the playback so you are able to speak to and hear the other party. I see it as a minor usability issue, which, however, goes against the concept of the iPhone as an Apple device.

Your portable GPS can be used to create a historical traffic conditions database.

2008-07-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

If you are not familiar with a Dash Express GPS, please read about it here. It is truly an innovative product. I am not going however to advertise this product, however awesome it might be, in my post but rather talk about something it made me think of.

Dash Express has an amazing capacity of using a real or near real time traffic data from each individual device which is being redistributed to all other dash devices using a wireless network. When there is no Wi-Fi or wireless network that the device can use it falls back to the preloaded historical traffic info (which, Dash Express People say, is in 15 minutes chunks). So, even the lack of the real time traffic data does not prevent this device from creating a somewhat useful route, better than your run of the mill GPS portable. In a sense, it is an indirect way of knowing "shortcuts", which streets and which roads are faster, which have fewer lights etc, etc.

As far as I know non of the big name players on the personal GPS market use the historical traffic info in their products. Yes, I am aware of the XM Nav Traffic on the Garmin and Pioneer units, as well as OTA traffic broadcast on Garmin, Sony, TomTom etc, etc. Which is nice, but it does not cover surface street, and only works in the major metro areas.
I am not sure that any of those companies use an extra info layer of the historical traffic data in their devices.

How would, let's say, a Garmin device acquire such a data? I guess they could license it from someone, but I am not aware of any companies that posses such a database. I am sure that the Dash Express people do, but I can bet that they are not interested in selling it any time soon.

It is simple, they should just use their own devices to collect such data. I know, I know, non of the Garmin units have a wireless modem built in yet. But, most of the GPS units log your track - a location you were in, the speed you were travelling with, the exact time and date and such. If this is not a historical data info, then I do not know what is. Furthermore, most of the portable GPS devices can be synced with a desktop or a laptop via USB. I connect my own GPS to my PC about once a week for a few different purposes. I will agree that a track log from any single device is worthless in this aspect to anyone than, maybe, your wife or yourself, but the data from many devices compiled over time will become statistically complete. It may be then used - it may be incorporated in the routing algorithms and become an extra data layer on the device maps.
I think it is a good concept. Guess I should patent it. What do you think?

Colorimeter measurement supports a claim of the iPhone yellow screen fix with the 5A347 release.

2008-07-15T22:20:00.000-07:00

There were reports regarding the iPhone 3G screen being too yellow.
It looked absolutely fine on the iPhone I got.

Later still many have claimed [AppleInsider] that the restore to the 5A347 release from 5A345 "fixes" the "problem".
So, I used my trusty Gretag Macbeth i-one colorimeter to see for myself.

First I would measure the white and gray fields on the iPhone with 5A345 set at the medium brightness with the auto brightness adjustment disabled, then I performed the restore to the 5A347, using the iTunes and repeated the measurements under the same conditions.

To begin with the original measurement showed the white point set to 5500K~~, which is awesome, and as many of you know is a standard for the many industries as far as the color management is concerned.~~ CRI of 75 with white point brightness of 246 lux.

After the software restore the numbers were as such: 5755K, CRI = 74 and the brightness of the wight point at 241 lux.

For those of you unfamiliar with the color temperature concept, 5500K is yellower then 5755K.
The color curve showed no change in the blue part of the spectrum but some (very minimal) tweaking in the green and red, significantly more so in the green. This goes well with the whole change in the yellowishness theory.

So here you go, real, hardware measured data.

Subjectively though, I could not see any difference and I found the color rendition to be perfect on the original release anyway.

Measurement methodology was such: two measurements (averaged) for each brightness, 8 measurements total, with a calibration of the eye-one colorimeter after each sampling.

Questions? Comments?

A 45 minutes iPhone 3G activation wait three days after the launch

2008-07-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

It has been three days since the launch of the iPhone 3G.

As all of you know on Friday there were technical issues with the iTunes store which is used for the iPhone de-bricking and the activation.

Even though the issue with the iTunes seem to be resolves the activation still takes up to a 45 minutes per phone at the Walnut Creek, Ca Apple store. According to the store employees the issue is with the AT&T populating the activation info way too slowly. Interestingly enough, the number transfer procedure from a different carrier is faster then the upgrade for the existing AT&T customers.

From the words of the Apple store employees they are able to process 25-30 activations an hour in comparison with the up to 700 transactions last year, during the launch of the iPhone 2G.

Netflix! She is keeping it!

2008-06-30T15:55:00.001-07:00

So!

We spoke they listened!

Netflix is keeping the profile feature!

Hunter Fan Thermostat has a problem! It cannot operate fan properly.

2008-06-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

So here is a letter I wrote to the good people at Hunter Fan

Hello. There is a software bug in the thermostat 44860.

According to the retail packaging and the owners manual it is possible to run the fan in the program mode - i.e. the fan will run according to the fan mode that has been selected during the Creation of the custom program (p.43, item 11 of 44002-01 r060607).

In reality, thermostat will not run the fan according to the program. The REFRESH mode, even when selected as the fan mode in the custom program will not ran.

As the ability to use custom fan modes in the thermostat program was purchasing decision factor for me, I was hoping to resolve this issue by calling the technical support. Not so, unfortunately. I was told that the technical writer made the mistake,and that mistake was carried over to the packaging design. I find it hard to believe. As I understand, technical writers use the specifications to create the manual, and so do the software engineers who design the software for the thermostat. It is not like the see it in the dream the night before.

If it was in fact a mistake on the side of the technical writer, why is it even possible {!} to choose REFRESH mode for the fan in the CUSTOM PROGRAM? Obviously it is a software/firmware mistake and from the looks of it, is fixable by literally one line of code.

Alright, let's assume for a moment that it was indeed a mistake on the side of the technical writer (which we already know is simply not true). Does it mean that you don't have quality control? Does it mean that no one is actually responsible for anything in your company? Does it give the right to the tech support to be passive-aggressive on the phone?

Now, I would believe that we are dealing with something unfix able from the software point of view if you were still using mechanical parts mechanically linking the bi-metal to the relay switch, but no - it is actually digital, there is a code involved. When the thermostat starts the fan, or the compressor, when it stops them I hear a click: a command has been send to a switch. Is it really that difficult to put in a line of a code, that would send such a command to a fan switch when the thermostat is in the program mode and the fan is programed to run in the refresh mode? Well, according to your lead designer it is absolutely impossible (from the words of the tech-support person, who supposedly talked to him and relayed all of my concerns to him in just 3 minutes while I was on the second hold). It seems to me it is time for you to either replace tech support personnel, or maybe even your leading designer for you thermostat division with someone a bit more competent. I heard China has plenty of talented engineers. After all, you already manufacture your products in China, shouldn't be much of an adjustment to outsource the Research and Design to the Peoples Republic as well.
I guess it is very naive of me to expect the product to perform the way it suppose to perform. I guess it is not an American way.
Apparently, two biggest fans right now are John and James Hunter. They must be going 1000 rpm in their graves from the shame of what a disgrace of a company their family business has become.

The perfect one

2008-02-26T23:08:00.001-08:00

Those of you who know me well enough know that I am a perfectionist.

After long and arduous experimentation, trials and mistakes I believe I am ready to say that I have devised an almost perfect Sugared Candy Pear Martini.

You will need:

1 - 1,5 oz Absolute Pear

0.5 - 1 oz Limocello or other Lemon Liqueur

1.5 - 2 oz sweet and sour mix

1 - 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon or key lime juice.

Use more or less vodka, limoncello and sweet and sour to regulate candyness of the drink. Generally, more vodka/less limoncello - means less candy.
Put all the ingredients in the shaker with ice and shake vigorously at least 10 times. This will chill the drink through liquid - ice contact.
Serve with a slice of a pear or sugared lemon in a sugar rimmed glass.

Enjoy!

A simple solution to the problem of parallel universe(s) and super dimensions.

2007-09-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

I am so tired of reading about "scientists" mathematically proving an existence of parallel universe or mathematically building models of extra dimensions.
So here we go. NO, NO, NO, NO.

There is no time, it is an illusion. No time = no time travel = no alternative time-lines = no extra dimensions = no parallel universes.

OK?

Is Visalus a scam?

2007-08-17T18:01:00.001-07:00

While the product they market seems to have some legitimate use, even though not FDA approved, I am rather bothered by the fact that it's a MLM enterprise.
What do you think?

PDF Attachement Spam

2007-08-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

During the last few days I have received a couple of the online-pharmacy spam e-mailsinto my g-mail account. Thesee-mails were not filtered out by GMail's spam detecting bots. Essentially, these e-mails were without any inline text, but with a PDF file attached.
My conclusion: Gmail anti spam algorithms aren't aware of PDF files content.

Edit: Adobe has commented on the possibility of PDF spam filter implementation. Read about it on CNET.

Sprint PCS Termination Fee

2007-07-28T18:34:00.002-07:00

Sprint PCS Will Not Produce Any Evidence of Contract, Charges Early Termination Fee

So, I got myself an iPhone. Really nice little gadget, plus the reception I get on the AT&T network is so much better everywhere I normally use my cellphone: home, at work, etc. etc. This post is however is not about the iPhone.

Unlike some people I had no problem activating my new iPhone, it worked smoothly and my number of 6 years transferred flawlessly from Sprint PCS network to AT&T network. Here I were, happily enjoying my newly found connectivity until I received a final bill from Sprint PCS with a promise to charge my checking account to the amount of 150 American dollars as an early termination fee.

I have had my phone with Sprint for over two years, and I do not recall changing my plan but I might have done so.
I decided to call them and after a 15 minutes wait I was talking to a guy who told me that supposedly I have changed my plan with them in the December of 2006 and it was then that I have signed a new two year contract agreement with them.
I replied that I do not recall any such thing and that I were not able to access my account info or any of the previous statements on the Sprint web site, and that I would like to have a copy of that contract agreement with my signature sent to me for my records.
The guy on the other end of the line answered that it is not possible, because the don't do that.
I was surprised and I asked him how can I believe that I have actually signed a contract, if they cannot provide me with a copy of one.

His reply was: but we sent you one in the billing statement you received after you have authorized the change.

me Then you would have no trouble sending it again?

him No, sir, no we cannot do that.

me Why?

him Because you changed your plan over the phone?

me Have I?

him Yes, I have a record of it here.

me But you just told me you sent me a copy of a contract with signature. How was it possible if it was a verbal agreement?

him I am sorry I made a mistake.

me So, you do not have any proof?

him You could go to a local Sprint PCS store, they will be able to make a print out for you.

me A print out of what?

him Of an agreement.

me I am not going anywhere, if they can give it to me, you can send it to me.

him No, I cannot do it, sir.

After that I just told him that I am not going to pay anything to them until they will be able to produce a hard copy proving that I have actually signed anything at all.
I am also going to send them a letter protesting a charge. I have already stopped all and any charges to my checking account from the Sprint PCS.

Disclaimer: the dialog posted is not an accurate transcript of the conversation. It is only to the best of my recollection. I am in no way affiliated with either AT&T nor Apple Inc.

iPhone syncing with iSync

2007-07-23T22:48:00.000-07:00

I was curious if I could sync my iPhone with iSync. Yes it is possible. There is a trick to it. One must have the status of iSync shown in the status bar and initiate the sync by clicking the status icon and choosing Sync Now. It will sync everything except for music and other iTunes stuff. Interestingly it will not show syncing notification on the iPhone screen.
I came to realize that iSync is used for non iTunes related syncing when, while playing around with the settings if the utility I changed the Protect your Data on your Computer setting from default of 5 percent to any. After that every time I would Sync in iTunes and any info at all has been changed in the contacts, an alert window would pop up asking for a permission to update the contacts on my Mac. Before it would only pop up if the change was 5% or more.

Opps I am late. Apperently it has been already discovered: Link

Mac Os 10.4.3 fixes Canon Raw file compatibility.

2005-11-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

Several photography related fixes were included in the Apple's release of the upgrade for its Mac Os Tiger version 10.4.3.
OS level support for many RAW file formats now bug free. I was particularly happy to see support for both CRW and CR2 Canon Raw file formats supported in Finder, iPhoto and the Preview application. Also DNG format now has a better support by Apple applications. I believe that these fixes and new RAW file formats support were added by Apple in order for the new application for the photographers - Aperture, to work correctly, as the Aperture relies on the OS and its image format handling capabilities.

AppleInsider | Safari updates improve website compatibility

2005-08-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

Yippy!

My favorite website Goggle Suggest now works in Safari!!!

Link

Russian Lawyer Tries to Stop The Simpsons in Russia

2005-08-10T00:37:00.000-07:00

WWW.GAY.RU have reported that a Russian lawyer Igor Smykov continues his attempts to make illegal the showing of The Simpsons on the territory of the Russian Federation. He filed an appeal with the Moscow City Court (highest municipal court) to overturn the ruling of the Hamovnichesky District Court. The appeal refers to the ruling of the Hamovnichesky court in which it found against the plaintiff Smykov in his complaint against RenTv, that is airing The Simpsons on the territory of Russia. Smykov claims that The Simpsons is promoting drug abuse, violence and homosexuality. Smykov wants The Simpsons to be marked as Adult Audience Only and demands 300.000 rubles (~10000USD) of compensation for the emotional distress.

New DirecTV TiVo! software in depth (well, kind of)

2005-08-04T15:37:00.000-07:00

As I have promised earlier, here are some thoughts on a latest DirecTV TiVo! software upgrade.

It does seem to make my Hughes box to run a little bit smoother and faster when performing functions like navigating the menus and settings. The speed improvement is especially noticeable when in the Season Pass Manager. Subjectively it seem to process the requests to change the position of the multiple shows on the priority list at least twice as faster then before.
The ability to show the list of the episodes of the same show in the folders is mildly convenient. It have almost compensated to some extent the pain of not being able to sort Now playing list by the expiration date, as it was possible before through the Slow-0-Record-Thumbs Up hack.

The DirecTv style guide is redrawing much faster as well, while the TiVo style program guide is faster still.
There were some minor tweaks with the icons that indicate the format of the sound and the video of a particular show.
Now, about the video quality. I am not sure if this would be obvious to the owners of the Standard definition TV sets, but if you own a HDTV set and use an S-video output to get the picture to the screen you might notice an improvement in the image clarity and detail. It might be just a trick of my imagination, but shows like Queer as Folk, or anything else that was shot in HD seem to look better then before even when received by non-HD TiVo.

One positive thing about USSR.

2005-08-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

There was one positive thing about the USSR. We did not have religious nuts running the country. Yeah, yeah, I know what you going to say - first learn how to speak the god damn English and then critique. But come on! Where is the bloody separation of the church and the state here?

Link

Encoding of the MP3 tags on Mac Os X

2005-07-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

After I started to use Mac OS one problem was constantly annoying me.
iTunes would not properly interpret mp3 tag info of my Russian songs, that I had to copy from my old Windows XP machine.
Instead of the song name in Cyrillic i would see a pseudo-Unicode gibberish. I tried to reimport, tried to rewrite iTunes library file.
Nothing would work. Luckily, after a long search online I have found a reference to the Unicode Rewriter on one of the Mac Os Hints (link) forums.
This java program worked beautifully. Check it out.

They've Done It Again! Yet another poorly designed service from Microsoft.

2005-07-26T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am going into the deeper examination of a new Microsoft service - MSN Virtual Earth. After playing with it for a while yesterday and today I came to the firm conclusion that it's just yet another poorly designed product/service with no other reason to exist but to show them (Google Maps) that Microsoft can make draggable web maps too.

User interface is awful, map's behavior is disgusting - it literally runs away from you, some areas of the map are blacked out and you need to reload the page to see them.

Scratch pad is absolutely useless other than for jumping from one place to another. You cannot, for example use the items in your scratch pad to create a route and driving directions. If you click a Drive To or Drive From Link in the small pop-up place tag (that is of course if you are able to keep that pop-up up at all), you are send to the different web page (maps.msn.com). And guess what, you will need to enter the Start or Finish address all over again even if you have it in your scratch pad on MSN Virtual Earth. After you do that, the directions are shown not on the MSN Virtual Earth map, but on the handicapped maps.msn.com.
When using the Google Maps you are always in the same window, on the same page, and if you chose to find the driving directions and click From here or To here in the pop-up location tag, you'll actually be able to enter the destination address right there, and see the results eight on the draggable Google Maps with all of the benefits of the satellite imagery and street overlay graphics (that are pretty accurate I might add).

So, yes, MSN Virtual Earth has higher resolution of the outdated satellite photos, but Google offers a pleasant user experience of a product/service that actually works.
Yay!- maps.google.com; Boo!- MSN Virtual Earth.

Plane lift-off in SFO on MSN Earth

2005-07-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

So here we can see a plane lifting-off in all of it high resolution glory.

MSN Virtual Earth Vs. Google Maps

2005-07-24T23:44:00.000-07:00

The Microsoft answer to the Google Maps is finally here.
I won't go into the usability and features exploration here but will concentrate on the quality of maps instead.
Interestingly enough, even though the map data provider for both services is the same - NAVTEQ, MSN Virtual Earth has a lower scale, showing more detail of the terrain than the Goggle Maps or the Google earth. Microsoft offers at least three times higher resolution than the Google Maps.
That said, Google has a better overlay alignment of the graphic maps over the satellite image. The map and the image actually match, whereas the MSN Virtual Earth has a little problem with it. The graphics of the streets are crude and do not align with the photo imagery of those streets.

This is pretty much it.

Practical side to the AdobeRGB versus ProPhoto RGB discussion.

2005-07-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

After reading the mentioned article I have decided to find all the truth about it myself. I used an image I took last year in San Juan, Puerto Rico as a test dummy.

to purchase this print please click here

I converted this image from a CRW file format as a 16-bit ProPhoto RGB image using the Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw. Then I saved it as a PSD file and resaved as a copy after a conversion to AdobeRGB using the Adobe ACE with relative colormetric and a black point compensation.

After opening both 16-bit files inside the ProPhotoRGB color space and pasting the AdobeRGB tagged file as a layer into the ProPhotoRGB tagged image I switched a blending mode of the pasted layer to the Difference mode, thus getting the following image.

click to see a Flickr! of this image

It is granted that the original image does not represent an ideal test subject as it can't contain all of the colors involved. It is, however a real world image, and it does show the actuall application implication of using different profiles when converting RAW images and chosing a workspace.

Now, about the real world application.
The ProPhotoRGB version of the image and AdobeRGB version of the image were both printed on the Canon i9900 printer, using a custom profile for the paper built with the Eye-One Match 3 from GretagMacbeth hardware and software solution. This is how the custom printer/paper combination profile compares to the AdobeRGB colorspace.

Shaded shape is AdobeRGB, mesh is a printer profile.

As you can see many of the colors fall out of the range of the AdobeRGB color space. Yet all of this colors are contained within the ProPhotoRGB as it is a much larger color space.

After letting the prints dry I have evaluated them visually under the 5000K light and under the available daylight. The prints were very similar, but the ProPhotoRGB print had slightly "punchier" orange in the color of the building. The AdobeRGB print had more magenta in it and was further from the image rendition on the calibrated CRT screen then the ProPhotoRGB print.

Interestingly enough, when both versions were viewed on the screen there was virtually no difference in the color appearance. This is probably due to the limited capabilities of the CRT color reproduction.

As an added bonus I have printed an 8-bit image version but could not see a quality difference from the 16-bit version with a naked eye. This, however, might be due to the nature of the image subject. When using the difference blending mode procedure described above as well as boost in saturation and brightness of the resulting image the minor difference was descovered. Here is the map of it.

please, click for a Flickr! of the image

So, here you have it. There is an undeniable destinction in theory, that, while having a practical realization, not absolutely critical as far as ink-jet printer concerned. Also, color space proved to be more affecting the final output then the 8-bit versus 16-bit difference.

I will follow up with the instrumental measurment analysis of the different prints of the test image in the near future.

Resolving a problem with Palm synchronization using iSync 2.1

2005-07-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Making iSync 2.1 work with PalmOs devices.
This tip applies only to the devices supported by iSync 2.1.

Yesterday I have tried to enable iSync with Palm Treo600. As usual, I have followed all of the procedures, read all of the official apple support articles, yet it would not work.
When I was trying to enable Palm devise from within iSync I would get a message reporting that I have not installed Palm HotSync nor have I used it. Reinstallation of Palm software did not help. So I decided to reinstall the iSync. Which in its turn messed up the whole OS and forced me to the MacOs Tiger Archive and Install and then to Erase and Install.
After all of this it still would not work. However it showed me that I am not of a peril and it is likely OS fault.
Anyway. Here what you should do.
Before enabling Palm Device Syncing in iSync you should, of course, install the latest version of the Palm desktop. Then you need to change permissions for the folder and its content at /Library/Application Support/Palm HotSync. You should ctrl+click the folder and choose Get Info. There make yourself an owner of a folder and allow yourself to read and write. Also opt in to apply the setting to the enclosed files and folders.
After this follow the iSync procedure as recommended by Apple, to enable the Palm Os syncing.

What a difference the green ink makes.

2005-06-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

So. It was a time for me to change a green ink tank. I decided to do a little experiment, to see how much of a difference in color fidelity would printing without a green ink tank make. Granted, I am not sure that the printers driver was aware of the fact that the green ink tank was absent.

The difference is obvious. Look closely at the lemon tree leaves and a fruit.

With the green ink tank.

Without the green ink tank.

Pink Ford Thunderbird

2005-06-01T11:49:00.000-07:00

I have spotted this 1957(?) Pink Ford Thunderbird on one of the vista spots at the Sequoia National Park in California this Memorial Day weekend. Two cool ladies, that were riding it were kind enough to allow me to take a picture.

Follow up on the DirecTiVo software update.

2005-05-24T23:23:00.000-07:00

As I have reported earlier DirecTV initialized a software update procedure today (at least in the East Bay of SF Bay Area) for some DirecTv with TiVo models.
Good news, then bad.

It really does work faster.

Sort by expiration date hack was removed.

More details will follow.

BREAKING NEWS! DirecTV Tivo software upgrade is here!

2005-05-24T16:33:00.001-07:00

directivo03
Originally uploaded by dkitsov.

BREAKING NEWS! DirecTV Tivo software upgrade is here!

2005-05-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

directivo02
Originally uploaded by dkitsov.

BREAKING NEWS! DirecTV Tivo software upgrade is here!

2005-05-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

directivo01
Originally uploaded by dkitsov.

The long awaited DirecTV Tivo units upgrade is here!

Minolta Normal AF 50mm f/1.4 Autofocus Lens review

2005-05-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have originally written this review for epinions.com couple years ago.

Here we go. My first Minolta camera was the Minolta Dynax 7. I bought it in the summer of 2001. Well, thinking about being Cartier-Bresson, second edition, I decided not to have a standard and cheap mid-range zoom like 28-80 3.5/5.6 and to buy powerful 50mm lens with the quality optics.
When the lens arrived (I ordered it on B&H Photo&Video) and I installed it on my brand new camera I was amazed by the brightness of picture in the viewfinder, it was also crystal clear and sharp. However, after first test film my enthusiasm started to slip down.
What do you usually expect from a lens that is 1.4/50mm and costs about $240 (shipping and handling included)? Correct! You expect to get some vivid and sharp pictures. Well, the pictures were vivid in colors but, alas, not as sharp as you would expect.
As a mysterious Russian soul I tried to blame it on myself (what if I left my fingerprints on UV filter (you must protect your lens) or had a dust on the lens) but everything was OK with that. Aha, exclaimed I. Probably printer in the photo lab was out of focus or the positioning frame that holds the film during the paper exposure was not well adjusted. But, again, after reprint in another lab the same problem persisted: the more or less OK center but awful corner sharpness.
After that, I decided not to use lens at f-number of 1.4 and use it at least at f/2, 2.4. It still be the larger opening than other lenses can usually provide. And it was ok until I took a close-up picture of a leaf with an ambient (clouds) and frontal directional (sun) light. After the developing, I noticed subtle yet noticeable blurred white spots that were semitransparent. There were few of them.
After I looked inside of the lens through the frontal optical element, I saw a few white spots on the surfaces of the inner lenses. That was it and I made a decision to send it to Minolta Factory Service Center in California. After 6 weeks or so (I've been promised 2 to 3) I received it back. Spots were on the same places, documentation stated that the lens was tuned-up to the factory standards.
After that it happened one more time. I send the lens back (time, postage, insurance) and after that manager promised me on the phone to send me a new one, but warned me, that she can not guarantee that the new one would not have the same defect. As she explained me that were not the dust, that was a bubbles of the air entrapped in between two optical elements during gluing them together.
I swear, my cheap Nikon lens did not have all this defects and picture was sharper and without confusing spots on the image. Finally, when you are paying $240 for just fixed focal distance lens you are expecting some quality of the workmanship for your money.
The sent lens had bubbles too, in the different spots of optical system of the lens.
It is all too bad, because I really liked my Minolta camera. Even though I do not feel that the company really cares.
I think that I am going to change my camera system. (Edit: and I did)
Sorry for being too emotional.

BIG military plane flying low.

2005-05-21T10:52:00.000-07:00

Shortly before 1pm SPT on April 26, 2005 I heard a loud noise. I was in my house. I got out on the balcony and saw a huge plane making circles above my head in the sky, flying very low.
Here are some pictures.

I tried to call 911, but all the lines were overloaded.

Blog everything!

2005-05-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

Shall we?

As far as internet concerned there is no other way of the information delivery but blogging. That is why yours trully have decided to gradually move all of the written stuff from the past years over here.
Not sure anyone going to read it, but hey, what if?

Cheers.

Dashboard trouble under Tiger 10.4.1

2005-05-18T09:30:00.000-07:00

I am having a weird thing happenning to my dashboard under 10.4.1
Check out the image:

My kitten. Name is Sashka or Sashimi.

2005-05-12T09:41:00.000-07:00

Here she is!