GeekScribes

I got to play with an HTC Desire running Froyo (Android 2.2) over a couple of days now. At first, I was all “Angry birds”! Then I was all “Paper toss!” and whatever other apps that people tend to fancy from the market.

However, after a few days’ worth of use, I’ve uncovered a few annoying quirks that plague Froyo. I’ll admit that I’m not really sure whether the bugs are to due to Froyo or whether they affect that particular device. It’s not nice to have to fork out a truck of money and then reading forums to see people saying “turn down battery”, “turn off Wifi” etc… in an effort to save battery. If you bought a smartphone and can’t use it fully, what’s the point?

For testing, I also flashed a Gingerbread-based ROM (Redux ROM). This should help in determining if issues were fixed.

Anyway, here’s a rundown of 10 of them, and possible fixes, where I’ve found them.Let’s see.

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A friend recently asked me the question in the title. “What is RSS?” along with “How does it work,  and how do I use it?”

As a result, I’m writing this post for people who don’t know what RSS is. I’ll try my best to keep this post as simple and as non-technical as possible, including diagrams where I can. I hope that after reading this article, you will learn what RSS is, what it does and how to use it. Let’s get started!

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I dedicate this article to all those people who will be writing their dissertation soon, especially those currently at the University of Mauritius. I know most of you folks of UoM will be using Microsoft Word, possibly Word 2007 to write your document, so I’m covering a set of tools which I made use myself while writing my own undergraduate dissertation. I’ve included a section for beginners too, in case you don’t have extensive knowledge of Microsoft Word.

Technically, I should recommend that you use Latex and Lyx to produce a professional-grade publication, but I know learning Latex and Lyx will take time and time is something you people won’t be having. So let’s just see what Word 2007 can do for you. I hope you find the points below useful in some way.

Note: This article may take time to load because I’ve included a video at the end to show you a live example of all the various points at work, so if you are not understanding something, just see the video at the end.

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First post of 2011! Yay! So I thought I’d start with something that can help protect the environment and at the same time, save you some cash. Quite a good idea, no?

So as the title says, we’re going to try to have your printer drink less ink, and hence reduce the amount of money you invest feeding it. You should know that I tried and am still using those measures for a laser printer, but I believe that what works for toner should work pretty much the same for liquid ink. I have no idea about how dot-matrix printers will react, so don’t ask.

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It’s that time of the year again! You have to offer gifts, and you think, hey, why can’t I just give someone one of those cool tech gifts I keep hearing on the news? Like one of those flashy mobile phones? Or that device that gamers gesticulate in front? Yeah, but which one? Read this guide and you will probably find something to gift, according to your budget.

Do note that I will not list any specific seller, nor specific prices. I’ll leave the choice of the seller to you, while the prices are indicative only. Do try Amazon, Ebay and your local shops.

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This will be a rather short port. I was using Skype 4.2 when I got the following error message while trying to show someone what sound Skype makes when it rings.

This error has also been reported to occur when call events happen but I’ve not personally witnessed it.

Turns out the solution is simple, but quite awkward. The steps are:

1. Go to Tools → Options.
2. Under the General section, choose Sounds.
3. Click the Enable all Sounds button.
4. Click the Save button. This is important! Changes will only take effect after you click Save and exit out of the Options window.

Now if you were like me, and trying to test ringtones, you can go back to Tools → Options → Sounds (steps 1, 2 above) and playback your sound (green play button) and you won’t get the error.

An alternative solution, if you get the error during call events is:

1. Go to Tools → Options.
2. Under the General section, choose Sounds.
3. Click Mute all Sounds button.
4. Click the Save button.
5. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to return to the Sounds window.
6. This time, click Enable all Sounds button.
7. Click the Save button.

Hopefully those steps should solve your problem, and I hope this simple solution is useful to you.

(source: Skype forums)

As you probably know by now, Orange has announced a price cut on its ADSL packages, and a speed-doubling measure on its MyT packages. The discussions have been raging on for the past few days on various fronts, including Twitter and CarrotMadman6′s Article on the price cuts.

MyT users are probably rejoicing by now. ADSL users too maybe, but probably in a lesser measure. I’m an ADSL user. I’m definitely not rejoicing. I believe Orange has successfully performed corporate tricks on its users, and has come out with a profit, all while announcing the price cuts / speed boosts.

Let me begin with the more obvious of the ripoffs:

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