Chuck's Blog

For anyone who doesn’t already know: a ssh client for BlackBerrys (BlackBerries?) is available for free. It’s called BBSSH, and is currently under pretty active development. Being the administrator I am I downloaded and installed it on my Storm2, but noticed one funky thing: it refused to go into portrait mode, or even hide the keyboard. Also it had a weird border around it.

I’m new to these phones, so I very confused until I did my research. Turns out all you have to do to fix this behavior is to go into Options->Applications, select BBSSH, open the menu, and click “Disable compatibility mode.” Once this is done things behave as expected.

I just unlocked one of these Samsung Hype‘s today, and for anyone who is wondering how hopefully this helps you out.

First, go on eBay and get unlocking codes for your specific phone. Just search for “Samsung Hype unlock” and you’ll get the results you need. The vendor will require your IMEI, which is located under the battery in your phone. Giving them this and the model name of your phone (which is SGH-a256,) and  they will send back a 10 digit code you need to unlock your phone. This will only work on your phone because unlock codes are tied to IMEI’s.

Second, put in an unrecognized SIM card. For example, if your on Rogers you could use a card from T-Mobile. Then power up your phone and select the option for unlocking the phone, and enter your 10 digit code. If you entered it correctly than congrats, your done and should be able to use your phone with the foreign SIM card. No funny numbers need to be dialed here unlike most phones — which is exactly what confused me.

If your not willing to go on eBay and purchase an unlocking code than unfortunately your out of luck. I spent hours trying to find another way, and I can tell you there just isn’t one. It’s only about 5$ USD for the code though, so it’s not a wallet breaker.

Successful holiday’s this year, actually managed to pick up a nice and powerful WiFi adapter with a wonderful antenna to wardrive (NOT piggyback) with. Only been out for one session so far, but still some of these access point names amused me.

• belkin54g_not_yours (Weirdly not encrypted)
• unknown_virus
• donthackme
• Hidden

And some disappointed me. Like honestly, >5 unencrypted linksys routers in a 3 mile radius? Not good folks!

Yesterday I found myself stumbling around Amazon searching for Christmas gifts. Out of pure habit I checked the electronic gadgets section, and managed to find an interesting little device for around 50$ USD: The Zipit Z2.

It is marketed as a instant messaging device, but a quick Google search finds it capable of being flashed to run a basic copy of Debian. This makes it really cool, as it can then be used as a small, portable SSH terminal. And since by default an install of Debian has fairly little included the device can be fairly secure. This makes it suitable for running simple personal things, like alpine and irssi to keep in touch with people without giving up passwords to a possibly keylogged kiosk.

One thing to note though is that the device’s default firmware requires a subscription to use. Therefore when purchasing one of these you need to be sure to not select any subscription, else you will be charged around 150$ instead of 50$. If your tempted to use this as it is advertised consider flashing it to Debian, and installing a simple IM client. Even irssi connecting to a bitlbee server is more than sufficient for the average user.

I’m a nerd. As such I find nerdy gadgets awesome, and this by far is one of the coolest ones in awhile. Meet the WiFi access point detecting shirt.

It’s a pretty simple device overall. It works by having a decal on the front that actually is powered by a few AAA batteries detect wireless g & b access point signals nearby. When a signal is strong then all the bars are lit up, else less bars are lit up. The decal can then be removed when one wishes to wash the shirt.

This is a great toy for those who travel a lot, as you could simply wear this to determine the best reception point in an airport lobby or hotel room. Even those of us who don’t travel often probably wouldn’t mind using it to see how close to Mc. Donalds we need to park in order to use their free WiFi connection.