Jason Antman’s Blog

So, I updated my Droid to Android 2.0.1 today. I’ll be honest that it didn’t work the way I’d hoped. When I woke up this morning (December 10^th 2009) I had an alert dialog on screen telling me that an update was ready. It gave me three options: “Install Now”, “Install Later” and “More Info”. The More Info screen didn’t show me anything useful. Well, I clicked the “Later” option, figuring that when I got home tonight I’d turn on WiFi, do a packet capture on the router, and save all of the traffic (specifically including the name of the update server). Well, it kept reminding me all day at annoyingly short intervals – probably about every 10 minutes or so. Finally, when I was home and had the WiFi setup, I went to try it again and… yup… when I clicked on the “System Update” button in Settings, the only option I had was “Reboot and Install”.

So… first big bitch about the Droid… Verizon pushed out the update without my consent. I kept hitting “Later” because that was the only way to get the popup to go away. Apparently. after X times of hitting Later (and each time your only real options are Later or Now) it will download the update by itself. Once the update is downloaded, I’m assuming that it *may* just automatically install on the next reboot. That would be a bitch thing to do.

Anyway, the “More Info” screen, which provides (as far as I can tell) the only release notes for the update, states:

This software update includes enhancements to your DROID by Motorola. Approximate install time: 6-10 Mins. You will be unable to use your device or make emergency calls for the duration of the install. The software updates automatically, and your DROID will power off and on as part of this software update. For more information please visit: www.verizonwireless.com/droidsupport

Not too helpful. And pretty cryptic.

Immediately when the phone turned back on, the first thing I noticed is that the spin-style unlock button has been replaced with an iPhone-style slide button, and the same for the mute feature. Maybe it’s just me, but I also noticed that the on screen keyboard seems to react better to quick keypresses – perhaps they’ve enabled multitouch for this?

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find much release documentation from Google other than the API changes – no full release notes or changelog like I’d like. And not even a summary of changes that I could find.

At the VZW droid support site, I found a link to a PDF of “Why to Update” (local copy). This sheet lists the enhancements made by the update (”AP:ESD56/BP:C_01.3E.01P”, build ESD56) as:

• OS stability is improved.
• Battery life is improved.
• Camera auto focus functionality is improved, and time between shots is reduced.
• Enhancements for three-way calling.
• Audio for incoming calls is improved.
• When receiving a call on call waiting, the speakerphone now remains on.
• Bluetooth functionality is improved; background echo is eliminated.
• Improved Bluetooth phone book transfer of contacts to in-vehicle Bluetooth solutions.
• After closing a GPS application, the GPS icon will now automatically be removed from the notification panel.
• Users can now receive SMS and MMS messages after an EMS message is received.
• SMS and MMS may now be sent to seven-digit addresses.
• Google contact merging has been updated to accommodate seven-digit numbers.
• Visual Voice Mail notices now arrive instantaneously.
• The corporate calendar widget user interface is updated.

This tiny one-page (and very styish – looks like and in-store advertising piece) sheet obviously isn’t anything that could pass for release notes, especially from Google. It doesn’t even mention anything about the changed unlock button!

I’ll keep looking around to find a real feature summary/release notes/changelog, but here’s my running list (I’ll update) of what I’ve found:

• Changed the unlock slider to a straight line.
• On screen keyboard typing seems faster.
• Photo taking is considerably faster, though it’s still painfully slow – it used to take about 10 seconds from shutter button to ready to capture next image, it’s now about 5 seconds.
• The UI seems to be a bit more responsive overall.
• I haven’t checked yet, but I’ve seen some forum posts about lost contacts and Facebook sync issues.

android android, droid, google, motorola, verizon

Many times, I’ve wished that I paid the $20 to get software for my Treo 700p to record phone calls. About a month or two ago, I had some issues with my phone and had to call Verizon Wireless. The poor woman was trying to open a ticket for me, but said that she was having some problems, as they were moving from one ticketing system to another, she was having some issues with the new one, and the old one was down at her location.

As she waited for a rep from another location to come on the line and enter the ticket, I happened to remark that I work in IT and had been doing some work with them (Eventum) lately. She mentioned that the old one was a proprietary system, but asked if I’d ever heard of Mantis. Of course, I said that I had. And was then asked if I knew much about it, and whether I might know what the problem she was having was caused by. Unfortunately, I had to say no, as I’d never used it for more than a few minutes. But I did get to confirm that a company as large and closed (they won’t support Linux, their phones run closed OS’s, and they block my port 80) as Verizon is happily transitioning from closed-source proprietary software to a GPL’d alternative. I also got another item to add to my list of telephone tech support people who have asked me (the customer) for support.

Unfortunately, I don’t see Verizon listed on the list of known Mantis users, so I have no way to fully confirm this.

Uncategorized mantis, ticketing, verizon

So, the semester is finally over. I made it through another one alive. And aside from a trip to Maryland for five or six days, I’m home until the 20th of January. That’s lots of time to spend running calls for the Midland Park (Volunteer) Ambulance Corps, here in my home town of Midland Park, NJ, with which I’ve been volunteering as an EMT-B for almost four years now. So far, in the past 24 hours (Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I’ve done 3 runs, which is above average for us – usually about 1.75/day). It’s also a lot of time to spend on some projects of mine.

I’ve already setup one of the SunBlade 150 machines as a desktop, and had to handle a lot of networking stuff (see the Solaris Tips page on my Wiki).

In other news, after getting some Christmas and Chanukah (yes, my father’s family is Jewish, and I’ve yet to find out a single accepted spelling for the holiday) money, I ran out to a Verizon store and picked up the phone I’ve been dreaming of for months – a beautiful NEW (my first not-used phone in 6 years) Treo 700p. So far, aside from some problems with the Chatter Email software (to my dismay, I can’t find a free (even as in cost, let alone as in freedom, IMAP client for Palm) and problems deciding whether or not to pay $25/month for data, I love it. I still need to deal with Verizon, as they wouldn’t let me activate the phone without a data plan, and the current $45/month “unlimited” plan is a bit much for me.

So, I have a few big projects planned for the upcoming down time:

1. Setup my other SunBlade as a mail server running Postfix, Procmail, SpamAssassin (with Pyzor or Razor), an IMAP server, and SSL for everything.
2. Setup a Soekris box as a WAP here at home.
3. Get Chatter Email on the Treo working right with folders (Maildir) on my IMAP (Dovecot) server.
4. Port my GnuPG/Java-based password manager application to J2ME on the Treo, and figure out how to sync the databases (just GnuPG-encrypted flat files). Also, port it to my Nokia 770 Tablet.
5. Get my Bluetooth Keyboard (an iGo Ultra Slim) working with the 770 – right now, the Bluetooth Plugin crashes the unit after typing a few characters.
6. Do a bunch of overhauling on the website, especially generating sitemaps (big issue when you have static content, MediaWiki, and source code) and submitting my CVS repo to Google Code Search.

Also, A few Links for your enjoyment:
A New York Times blog by David Pogue talking about “intellectual property”, “copyright morality”, etc. He even goes so far as to imply that making a single backup copy of a legally purchased DVD is illegal.

A Groklaw article on the February ISO Ballot Resolution Meeting on MSOOXML. If you’re not familiar with it, check out noOOXML.org and their petition listing the reasons to vote NO on the OOXML ballot.

A CNN article stating that it’s true that “Switching from a Windows-operated computer to a Linux-operated one could slash computer-generated e-waste levels by 50%.”

The Register – Windows vs. Linux Security Report.

Some interesting Earthlink (yes, apparently they still exist) newsletters talking about Linux for the Desktop and Open-Source Software.

Stay tuned. More updates to come…

Interesting Links and Resources 700p, palm, sunblade, treo, verizon

The “true” Internet is based on freedom. The original ‘net, a system of BBS’s and mailservers each with their own address format, was free.

More and more, that freedom is fading away. We have ads. Popups. Content filters. KGB-esque ISP’s. The great advent of centralized, high-bandwidth IPS’s, instead of person-to-person dial-up connections, has changed what the Internet is.

Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m bashing progress. I’m vary glad to have a home internet connection of 10 mbps down / 1.5 mbps up.

The problem that I have is that the concept of freedom on the Internet is based on its’ distributed architecture. In the old days, with dial-up links, there was no real backbone, per se, and the ‘net was really owned by its’ users, by everyone.

Part I: The Block

In 2006, we see an increasing trend towards the ‘net being owned and run by monopolies. Not to group them together, but companies such as Google, AOL, and Microsoft aim to provide an all-encompassing Internet experience. The former is a wonderful resource, while the latter two are evil. However, as these monsters evolve, and the Internet moves from a distributed architecture to that of one central pipeline, is freedom gradually fading away?

The case in point, and impetus for all this, was a recent event:
When I got my first high-bandwidth home connection, CableVision’s Optimum Online, it was amazing. And, though I’m sure they didn’t know it, it was perfect. My “dynamic” IP was leased for a few months at a time, so my domains just pointed right to it. I’d change them when it rolled over. Aside from the rollover day, and the fact that my IP didn’t reverse-validate (only a problem when trying to run a mail server, though I solved that by relaying outgoing mail), I had a completely functional connection.

Then, FiOS exploded on suburbia. Fiber-optic, high-bandwidth lines to the residence, claiming 5mbps down/1mpbs up. I was hooked. Verizon installed it on the first day it was available. The technician was still as amazed as I was, and was a real technician, not one of the trained morons that take over once the bugs are worked out.

The connection speed was amazing. Then I went to change over my domain names. Could it be possible? Yes. A conspiracy. Optimum had in their TOS that you couldn’t run a server, but I always figured it was a way to get rid of unruly customers. Well, Verizon thought otherwise. All incoming requests were blocked on port 80. Yes, they were attempting to actually prevent anyone from hosting their own web sites.

Well, simple fix. I had my domain names registered through GoDaddy, so I just bound Apache to port 10011 (an unused port) and forwarded my domains to http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:10011. Beautiful. For about 24 hours. Then they stopped working. I was in a panic. I had returned to college, and had no access to my machines. I frantically called my mother at home. The her ‘net was working. She could ping my machines. What could it be?

It took me a minute to think of it. I instructed her on how to find the WAN IP. She read it off. Sure enough, it changed. I updated the IP, logged in, and, of course! The Verizon DHCP lease was less than 72 hours. Enter dynDNS.org, a wonderful (and free service) that provides DNS resolution with a client program resident on one of your servers or routers, keeping their DNS records for you up-to-date. A bit of a kludge, but now jantman.dyndns.org pointed to my IP, and jasonantman.com pointed to jantman.dyndns.org:10011.

For over a year, it’s worked. I’ve harbored resentment against Verizon, but at over 100% more expensive, I can’t possibly afford their static IP FiOS. So, I’ve just been infinitely upset at Verizon’s desire to quash free speech, freedom of use and, in my opinion, part of what the Internet’s about.

Part II: The Conspiracy

Since then, my father (who works at a very large state agency) has never been able to view my web page. Nobody else has complained of this problem. I get indexed by the search engine bots, and get plenty of hits. But my father can’t see my web site.

Now, I know that his entire organization, (supposedly back-end also) is run on Windoze, or, as I prefer to call it, the Blue Plague. So, I was already suspicious of their IT infrastructure.

Well, finally, I gave in, and asked him to e-mail his IT guys. The response that I got: They block any web requests to any port other than 80.

From a security standpoint, I can see this as being a potentially useful trick. However, the sheer reality of it is baffling. Residential ISP’s block any requests to a server on port 80, and meanwhile, large companies block all outgoing HTTP requests to anything other than port 80.

At what point will the users take back the Internet, and put ourselves in control again? How is it that we have allowed pop-ups, spyware, and our ISP’s and corporations telling us what content they want us to get, and what content we can provide to other people?

When will we users finally stand up and say, “This is what we want. This is what is expected of you, and we will not let you tell us otherwise”?

Ideas and Rants dynamic IP, fios, internet, ISP, verizon