Good bye, broken iPhone 4 backplate. You can see it below. The much-needed mini Philips #00 screwdriver came in the mail today, and immediately stared working on replacing the backplate. True to the video online, it was surprisingly easy, and I only ran into difficulty getting the new backplate seated properly. Eventually, it got it right, and my iPhone is brand new again and unblemished.
The cracked backplate to my iPhone 4
Grrrr.
As I previously mentioned, I accidentally dropped my iPhone 4 last Saturday afternoon, but all was not lost. I found out that replacing the front and back plates is not impossible, Nd relatively inexpensive. I ordered a replacement backplate and cover, and a mini Phillips #00 screwdrivd, and all three arrived this week.
Unfortunately, it’s the wrong screwdriver. Apple irritatingly doesn’t want people to muck around inside the products that we customers purchase and own. They use obscure screws to discourage people from opening them up. Why? I don’t have the foggiest. I ordered a mini Phillips #00 screwdriver (it’s teeny tiny), but they sent me a “Pentalobe” version instead used for many other Apple products.
After a fruitless search at Lowes, Radio Shack, a Rite Aid pharmacy, and a supermarket, I gave up and ordered another screwdriver from a different Amazon affiliate vendor for $2.50. Should be here in a few days. In the meantime, at least I have 2/3s of the solution in my hands.
Hey, who thought it would be a good idea to make an expensive phone out of slippery glass? A bunch of geniuses at Apple.
I had to make a quick run to the Indian grocery store this afternoon, as my wife was cooking up two dishes for this party tonight. I was wearing gym shorts, and had my iPhone 4 in my pocket. As I opened my car door in the strip mall parking lot, I felt/heard my phone slip out, and watched it crash to the ground. It landed face up, so I was initially relieved. Sadly, the back was more than just scratched — it had cracked and shattered. Luckily, I had the phone case in the car to cover up the broken (and sharp!) glass. You know, the case I bought in case I ever dropped the phone, but had stopped using because I’m an idiot.
I got home after grocery shopping, and looked up how to get it fixed. Turns out, it’s relatively cheap and easy to replace the either the front or back. Replacing the front is more time-consuming, but not impossible. Replacing the back requires removing two screws with a special mini Philips screwdriver. I ordered a replacement back (and screwdriver) for $6.70 from an Amazon affiliated retailer. I also ordered another phone case.
Seriously, a glass phone?
I bought my first external hard drive. Yes, my FIRST external hard drive. I’ve been backing up to a secondary 250 Gb hard drive since 2006 (since the HDD crash wakeup call of ’06), but with music, videos, and files, I’m running out of room. Inconceivable, to be sure, but it’s a fact nonetheless. I also need to rebuild my father-in-law’s home PC, and an external drive would be perfect for storing his data temporarily during the rebuild process.
I’ve unpacked the drive, plugged it in, and that’s all the setup required. Pretty cool.
Ah yes, we got a flat tire over the weekend. I hate it. What an inconvenience. I was out with Lily, having dropped off Josh to a birthday party at one of those bounce places. We had a tight schedule today, so I was trying to get as much as I could done. After hitting Kohl’s, I pulled out of the parking lot, and couldn’t ignore a low-level roar.
I pulled over near the next shop we had to get to (BJ’s Wholesale), and saw the rear right tire was flat. Argh. I called AAA, and they would have someone here soon. I took Lily in to get some grocery shopping done. I had until 12 noon before we had to pick up Josh from the party. I thought I would have time to still get him.
Sigh.
By the time we were done, I got a txt msg status that they would be further delayed. Double argh! I walked Lily to a nearby Chick-fil-A, to eat lunch and play, and I spoke to my wife, and she ultimately went to get Josh instead. An inconvenience to many. AAA’s tow company came just before noon, and we were back on the road soon enough. Still, it ate up too much time out of a busy day.
Now, we need to figure out how to add the cost of a new tire to the rest of the Toyota repairs we need to get done in the next few months.
I’m one of those guys always trying to figure out how technology can make my life better. I keep abreast of what tech is out there now, what is coming out currently, so I know when I should incorporate something into my life. I’m not an early adopter by any means. I like to keep my life simple, e.g. I don’t maintain eight different email accounts. Often times, I take time to understand how something works long before I try it. Case in point: I heard about CMS systems like WordPress from friends LONG before I switched over to it.
Twitter has been on my radar since it came out a few years ago, but I couldn’t figure out how it would make my life better. I’m on Facebook and that’s where I do my status updates for friends’ perusal. Twitter seemed to be an unnecessary overlap. I’m not a celebrity, nor do I want to follow the Kardashians and their breakfast adventures. I didn’t know many people on Twitter either.
So what was my rationale to finally sign up? I think I see a potential use for micro-blogging. There are funny little thoughts & ideas that run through my head that are too insignificant for blogging, and don’t need to be posted every few minutes to Facebook. I use to use Flickr for posting dumb-but-funny mobile pictures, but now it won’t show every picture. I can use Twitter for posting pics instead.
To bring my micro-blogging and blogging together, I’ve added a Twitter widget to my WordPress page. I will continue to try out Twitter, explore it, and find out if I like it. So far, it’s certainly interesting.
I went to one of my local bike shops that I frequent to research a new helmet, new pedals, and new shoes. While I was there, I checked out a 2011 Trek Madone that they had on display. The frame is carbon, so it was very light. It’s a beautiful bike, but certainly out of my price range!
 2011 Trek Madone 6.5 Project One |
 2011 Trek Madone 6.5 Project One specs |
After 2+ years, the battery in my key fob for our Toyota Highlander was running low. After a few too many warnings, I considered taking it to my Toyota dealership to replace it. However, you know it’s going to take too much time and a little too much money to have them replace a simple battery. I researched online, and found out it was extremely easy. You need to use the valet key to pry open the fob, then replace the battery, which can be found at your local Radio Shack. It was fairly easy, and the battery cost me about $5.00. Much better than driving all the way to the dealership!
 Toyota Highlander key fob innards |
 Toyota Highlander key fob (battery) |
It’s been six years since we bought a new PC. In March 2005, we got our Dell Dimension, and it was good for its time. A P4 3.6 GHz Intel processor, later upgraded with 3 GB of RAM, later upgraded with a 320 GB and 200 GB hard drives, and a decent-for-its-time Nvidia video card. One of the highlights was the move to a 19″ LCD monitor to replace the hulking CRT monitor taking up valuable desk real estate. Over the years, I’ve survived and recovered from one hard drive failure, done the minor upgrades, done a few rebuilds, and migrated from Windows XP to Win 7.
Sadly, I’ve reached the end of the upgrade road. I’ve upgraded what I can, but there’s not much more I can do. I could use a new video card, but that would necessitate a new power supply. However, the weakest link in the chain won’t be improved — my single process P4. It’s time to move on up to a quad-core processor. I’m debating purchasing vs. building my own, but I’m leaning towards an outright purchase. HP seems to have the best deals, but building my own would allow me better components. However, building a new PC with similar components will cost me $400 more than just buying a PC. The only reason I think I would want to build my own is that the video cards that HP is offering with their “high performance” PCs are not that good, according to reviews. I suppose they’ll do for now, and I can replace the cheapo video card at my liberty in the future. I’m still evaluating though.
I’m looking to keep the PC purchase at about $1000 or less, and I’ll probably live with my 19″ LCD for now, but I have my eyes/heart on a 24″ or 25″ HD monitor. I’d love a large monitor. Here are the specs:
The last wrinkle in this situation is the recent announcment that Intel is having an issue with their brand-spankin’ new Sandy Bridge I7-2600 line of CPUs and chipsets. I’m planning to get a Sandy Bridge, but I may be delayed in my purchase by a few weeks until the end of February before I can order the machine (or the parts.)
One of the problems with the “premiere” Tivo Premiere — the spinning green wheel of death. The Tivo freezes up, you pull the plug to do a hard reboot, and then wait 10 mins for it to start up again. People have called the Tivo Premiere the Windows Vista of DVRs, and I would agree with that assessment. It’s even more ironic that Vista features a similar green spinning wheel while it’s thinking or an app is freezing.
Tivo Premiere Spinning Wheel of Death
Sigh. I could really use a firmware update right about now.
