..and we’re done. FWIW, I have to change two files in wp-includes, links.php and templates-functions-general.php, to get rid of the list items in the link list over there on the right, and to format the archive link dates over there on the left.

Yes, I wrote that mainly to remind myself in the future.

I am the master of unlocking.

Well, not really. But I did find a very cool undocumented feature on my Nokia 6015i phone - the ability to use real audio samples and not just MIDI.

I had heard that some Nokia phones can play .qcp files, which are a special format Qualcomm developed using their PureVoice tech. I dunno for sure, but I’m betting that PureVoice is used for voice recording on the phones. Anyway, I found some .qcp files online, copied a couple over to the phone using Nokia’s free PC Suite (I just dragged them over in the file browser, and placed them in Gallery/Tones). On the phone, I opened the Gallery and sure enough, they played!

Unfortunately, when I went to use them as ringtones, they didn’t show up in the list. CURSES. If this was anything other than a phone, I wouldn’t have tried this, but phones are totally illogical, so I renamed the .qcp to .mid - I did it via the file browser but I bet I could have done it on the phone, too - and then the files showed up as ringtone selections. And they worked.

The next step was creating my own .qcp files. My ultimate aim was to get the CODEC and alert (!) sounds from Metal Gear Solid, so first I downloaded WAV versions here and here, then grabbed a copy of a conversion tool from Qualcomm themselves. I used the Windows XP version which you have to register for, but it’s free.

You run the player/converter and open the .wav file. Then go to Properties and change the encoder settings to make sure that the codec is “PureVoice (Superior Quality)” and the Rate Set is “0 - Fixed full rate (14000 bps)” for best quality. Next, select File > Convert to convert the WAV to PureVoice, and finally File > Save to save the .qcp

All I need now is the ability to put custom Java apps on the thing and then I might start thinking about using it to call people.

The universe doesn’t want me to put ringtones and pictures on my phone.

Yes, I forgot to mention - Amy and I got new cell phones a couple of weeks ago, and what an ugly scene that was, as we fought over who got the “cool” phone. We got a Motorola v262 (which I think is either an older or just the CDMA version of the v260) and a Nokia 6015i. The fight was over the v262, and I lost. In hindsight I don’t mind really, as I’ve grown to prefer Nokia’s menu system.

Anyway, our wireless provider has chosen to use BREW, so the only way to get custom pics and ringtones etc. on there is to pay through the nose with the BREW service. Or buy a data cable. So off to eBay I went.

After digging through hundreds of listings for Chinese knock-off cables selling for 4 bucks but with shipping of $15, I finally found someone selling an actual Nokia DKU-5 cable. Pretty cheap too, but I could tell it was a Nokia cable because the listing pic showed the Nokia driver CD.

One week later, he shipped it.

Four days after that, it arrived. Except it wasn’t a Nokia DKU-5 data cable, it was a regular USB cable such as you’d use with an MP3 player, camera, or PSP. And because I have an MP3 player, a camera, and a PSP, I already have 3 of these cables. I looked back at the auction pic, and yes, I received what was pictured. I just couldn’t tell at the time because the pic was a bit blurry.

I emailed the seller, and he says he was sure he had the right cable and he’d look for it. This was almost a week ago. Negative feedbacking will ensue if I don’t hear anything more.

Figuring I wasn’t going to get the DKU-5 from this guy, I went and bought one of those Chinese knock-offs from another eBay seller. I made the stupid assumption that if there were so many of these things on eBay, they should work just fine. Duh. Anyway, this guy was very quick, the cable arrived promptly.

I spent two hours trying to get Nokia’s PC Suite software to find my phone. Thinking it might have been my USB ports, I tried on Sam’s machine, with the same results. Then I discovered that I had to install a particular driver for the cable, as it doesn’t use the same chip as the real DKU-5, it uses the PL-2303 chip (and is actually classed as a serial device, so you need a USB-serial driver), and needed the drivers from Prolific’s website. Once installed, I was able to happily.. ..still not connect with PC Suite. So I tried some third-party phone management software, MobiMB. This found my phone straight away, success!

Well.

I successfully transfered a MIDI file to it, but the phone refused to play it. No matter, I figured it was just because I threw any old file on there, not one that had been converted with Nokia’s software. But when I tried it on my own PC with MobiMB and some pre-converted tones, I found that none of those worked either. Hmm. Maybe you HAVE to use Nokia’s software?

I tried transferring an image though, and that worked fine. My phone now has a cute pic of Amy in nekomimi. Back to the MIDIs.

I wondered if because the phone was connected with MobiMB, it might somehow allow PC Suite to work. And it sort of did. PC Suite reported the phone as connected. I just couldn’t access it.

Sigh.

I found that MobiMB can display the link quality of your connection, presumably intended for infrared and Bluetooth connections, as cable should be stable. Except mine wasn’t, it was jumping all over the place and generally reading “poor”, with lots of errors in transmission. And as I’m taking the cable out of the phone yet again, I notice it feels a little loose. Looking down, I see that the plug has come away from the plastic cabling. Oh yeah, great build quality.

Seeing as it’s already almost broken, I took Alain’s advice and tried to see if there was anything I could fix. I did see one bent pin that was almost touching another and got my hopes up, but straightening that out did nothing.

I’m now watching two more eBay auctions for legit DKU-5 cables.

(And why don’t I just buy them outright from say, Nokia’s website? Because they’re 50 bucks. And I’m not paying more for the cable than I did for the phone)

A working downgrader has been released to take your 2.00 firmware PSP back to 1.50 - thus opening the world of homebrew software to you. Congrats

Aha! So that’s why comments were borked. If you import another CMS’ content into WordPress, you may be left with a user with a blank name. When this happens, comments will be broken for anyone not already logged in.

You’re told to delete this phantom user, but if you do that all the posts it made will also be deleted. The better solution if you ask me is to simply edit the blank user so he or she has a name.

We bought a dishwasher the other week. I don’t like spending money on non-fun things (like the PSP I bought.. more on that later), but I never have time / energy to do the dishes everyday, so I’d skip days and have to spend an hour in front of the sink. However, I don’t have the electrician or plumber chops to install a dishwasher. Amy came up with the perfect solution - portable dishwasher. When you need to use it, you wheel it up to the sink, connect the hose, turn on the hot water, and plug it in.

A trip to Sears later, and we have our new Whirlpool machine. It’s new and shiny and cool and stuff.

I set it up and did a test cycle, but when it’s finished there’s about an inch of water in the bottom. Hmm. Amy theorizes it didn’t complete a cycle properly because there was nothing in there to wash, so we load it up and wash. Clean dishes, but an inch of leftover water, soapy and greasy. This is obviously not draining properly.

My first thought is that it’s our low water pressure, but I Google around. One anecdote mentioned that they called Whirlpool and was told that some water left in the bottom is normal, and in fact necessary to keep the pump from drying out. So I don’t panic, and continue washing dishes. But I notice that now there’s no water draining out at all (I stopped up the sink and watched closely while the dishwasher ran - sink was still bone dry at the end), which is clearly not the correct behaviour. Also, the now two inches of water in the bottom have caused the safety float thingy to trip, so I’m sure the dishes aren’t even getting washed properly. I did the only thing I could do - siphon out the water with a rubber hose. I did this for a few nights, ending my day with a moutful of soapy, greasy dishwater. Sometimes I’d get lucky and get chunks of food. Mmm, snackalicious.

I got tired of that pretty quickly, and some more Googling turned up one glimmer of hope. It was some guy’s blog, evidently a repairman of some kind, who would write an entry every day about the things he had to fix. One entry mentioned a Whirlpool dishwasher that wouldn’t drain, and how he found the drain hose kinked up behind the dishwasher.

So I went and lifted up the dishwasher with Amy’s help, and sure enough, the hose was trapped between the outer panel and the uh.. inner panel? and it was kinked up. I shoved it free, massaged out the kink, and ran a test cycle. My fingers didn’t need to be crossed though, because almost immediately it flushed out some nasty backed-up water. Since then it’s been fine - no water is left in the dishwasher at all, and the dishes are looking cleaner and with fewer spots.

Wow, this sure was a long post, considering it could be condensed to “Our dishwasher didn’t drain. The hose was kinked. Now it works.”

A modded Xbox is a wonderful thing, second only to the pot roast from the other day, maybe.

I softmodded the Xbox a couple of days ago, in an amazingly simple process that cost me $2.49 for a USB cable from this guy. Plus $4.99 shipping & handling.

Read on for the full experience.

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