tzlee.com/blog

Author: Justin Lee

  • Finally, I’m an iPhone 3G (not 3GS) Owner

    Not exactly very proud to be a super late adopter of the iPhone 3G, but I’m certainly glad I received it on the evening of Tuesday September 1, 2009 as scheduled. My primary aim wasn’t actually to get an iPhone, but to switch to SingTel ‘cos StarHub’s signal strength was terrible in almost every place I work. Well, it’s not surprising they were all SingTel buildings – ComCenter, Telepark, etc.

    I'm a happy man with a new iPhone 3G.
    I'm a happy man with a new iPhone 3G.

    Since I was doing a switch to SingTel, I thought, what the heck, I’ll just grab the iPhone 3G that’s going for only $88 at SingTel’s online shop. I’ll finally get to enjoy 3G data speeds that’s lacking in my current iPhone 2G. One other thing I’d love to have is the improved clarity of the iPhone 3G speaker so I can make calls in the car when I forget to activate my bluetooth!

    So with a new iPhone 3G, what should I do with my iPhone 2G that has a cracked glass? Should I spend $200+ to replace the glass and cover so it looks like new, and either sell it or pass it on to my siblings, or should I sell it for $150, or should I just use it?

  • Opteka 500mm Mirror Lens Going Outdoors

    I decided to take the Opteka 500mm mirror lens along with me today and took some shots. Note all the photos have been digitally enhanced, cropped and resized for web viewing.

    As suggested in my previous post, this lens works best when taken with high shutter speeds. Try not to get +0.0 exposure on your camera or you’ll get overexposed photos. The photos will look pale, but some post-processing with Photoshop should fix them.

    Verdict? The Opteka 500mm mirror lens is a good toy for some fun. The photos are decent enough for some web photos, but one should not consider it for professional use.

    Enjoy the pics! Photos taken with an Olympus E-420 and Opteka 500mm mirror @ f/8.0. No tripods used.

  • Hamster Pups on Day 7

    Nothing much changed. They still sleep all day and look like tiny little sausages, though tiny little hairs and ears have grown.

    Hamsters sleeping, day 7.
    Hamsters sleeping, day 7.

    They’ve begun grooming themselves and eating some food. Hopefully in two days’ time they’ll wander around the cage so I can play with them!

  • Opteka 500mm Mirror Lens First Tests

    I bought a cheap Opteka 500mm mirror lens off eBay and the UPS package finally arrived on Wednesday after two days of failed delivery attempts. Hooray!

    500mm in a box.
    500mm in a box.

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  • The Wife Shall Shop Alone

    Why one wife now chooses to shop alone
    Why one wife now chooses to shop alone

    I shall try it someday.

  • Ten simple steps to Skype over 3G on the iPhone

    Skype prevented users from making calls over 3G data networks on the iPhone for contractual reasons, but I think many would love to have it working. Here’s a summarized version of getting Skype to work on the iPhone.

    I’ve tested it on the 2G and it seems to work, though voice call quality is choppy.

    The pre-requisite here is to have a jailbroken iPhone with Cydia installed, and also knowledge of basic UNIX command line and the VI editor.

    If you do not have a jailbroken iPhone, do not ask for instructions here. You should find them online elsewhere.

    1. Install or update to the latest version of MobileSubstrate via Cydia. This fixes a crash on Skype.
    2. Install VoIP3G via Cydia. This enables you to make VoIP calls via 3G.
    3. Install SSH and VIM Enhanced via Cydia. You will need this to edit some files in your phone.
    4. Connect to a Wi-Fi network, preferably the same network as your computer.
    5. Get the phone’s IP address under Settings > Wi-Fi.
    6. SSH to the phone as root with the password alpine (this is the iPhone default if you haven’t changed it).
    7. Go to /Library/MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries and edit VoIPover3G.plist.
    8. You will see a line that looks like the following…
      Filter = {Bundles = ("com.Fringland.Fring");};
    9. Appened “com.skype.skype” to the array (it might already be there), e.g.
      Filter = {Bundles = ("com.Fringland.Fring", "com.skype.skype");};
    10. Save the file, restart your iPhone, and reinstall Skype.