And here is how:

1. Go to the T-Mobile retail store and get one of those Pay as you Go SIM cards.

2. Activate it and register for online account access at www.t-mobile.com .

3. Login into your account and in the settings change your device from “Unknown” to say HTC Wing 2.

4. Change your prepaid “rate plan” to Sidekick Prepaid. This will give you unlimited domestic SMS messages and data access for mere $1.50 a day. Note: Rate plan changes will propagate to your device in about 6-8 hours from the moment you do that. So better do it before you go to sleep, so that you could continue with next step in the morning.

5. You will have data access at this point, however you need to add an access point to browse internet with Safari and use Google Maps:

APN: hiptop.t-mobile.com
User: dummy
Pass: dummy

Add those in the Settings menu - Cellular Data Network. Also turn off 3G and enable Data Roaming Access.

Travel is fun, taking vids and pics while traveling too. Check out one of my projects -  www.citytips.us featuring some HD videos.

Update: Looks like i have managed to resolve it. Just upgraded application to the current build of 1.2 grails and built a war file, then deployed to tomcat via web manager. Works smooth, Linode restarts fine, no CPU spikes.

I have a spent a day today figuring how to zip a client’s web site folder on a Godaddy shared Linux hosting today (they made sure users don’t have SSH access on those) in order to transfer it to another server. Apparently, given the limitations of the account setup the best way was to write a php script by executing which i would zip the given folder contents, so that then i could copy just one file and unzip it on the target server.

And it can’t be easier than that - if you have a folder, which contains a number of other folders and files in them the script below lets you add to the zip file quickly and easily:


<?
// increase script timeout value
ini_set('max_execution_time', 300);
// create object
$zip = new ZipArchive();
// open archive
if ($zip->open('my-archive.zip', ZIPARCHIVE::CREATE) !== TRUE) {
die ("Could not open archive");
}
// initialize an iterator
// pass it the directory to be processed
$iterator = new RecursiveIteratorIterator(new RecursiveDirectoryIterator("app/"));
// iterate over the directory
// add each file found to the archive
foreach ($iterator as $key=>$value) {
$zip->addFile(realpath($key), $key) or die ("ERROR: Could not add file: $key");
}
// close and save archive
$zip->close();
echo "Archive created successfully.";
?>


In the series of posts regarding SEO I usually talk about ideas and tips for quick and efficient web site promotion.

This one is about e-commerce and Froogle.

As you know there are a lot of new and upcoming products that Google develops in its labs. The one which has been there for quite long is Froogle - shopping directory, or should I say - product directory. Everyone can get their site items listed there by providing a specially-formatted data file. If you change your inventory often - make sure you setup a ‘cron job’ to re-create your file frequently and you items will pop-up in the Froogle’s / Google’s search results more often.

By the way, it’s not only about products - the list of items is limited to your imagination:

Well, it’s pretty easy - Wordpress coding functions allow you to have list of pages/subpages output anywhere on the page via:

wp_list_pages

The outcome of it is the unordered list, where each <li> tag belongs to a particular class ‘page_item’ with those being nested as a page tree. Active page <li> tag has class ‘current_page_item’.

The idea for the drop-down is simple - keep not-current lines hidden and ‘open’ current active pages subsection.

This is done via simple CSS coding on your theme’s style.css file:

li.page_item ul {display:none; margin-left:0px;}
li.current_page_item ul,li.current_page_parent ul {display:block; background: #fff;}

and to make it all look cute, we add some color and formatting:

#nav ul li {margin-left:0px;}
#nav ul li ul li {margin-left:10px;}

#nav a {color: #cda251; text-decoration: none; padding:5px; font-weight: bold; font-size:14px; letter-spacing: 0.5px}
li.page_item ul {display:none; margin-left:0px;}
li.current_page_item ul,li.current_page_parent ul {display:block; background: #fff;}
#nav li.current_page_item ul li a, #nav li.current_page_parent ul li a{color: #666; margin-left:10px; font-weight: normal;}

#nav li.current_page_item a, #nav li.current_page_parent a {color:white; font-weight: bold; }
#nav li.current_page_item, #nav li.current_page_parent {background-color:#cda251; }

#nav li.current_page_parent ul li.current_page_item {background: #fff;}
#nav li.current_page_parent ul li.current_page_item a {text-decoration: none;}
#nav li.page_item a:hover {text-decoration: underline; }
#nav li.page_item ul li.page_item a {color:#666; font-weight: normal; }

Now, because of our page listing function is listing current ‘child’ pages of the active page, we need to have it reversed, so that when clicked on the child page a parent one still stays on top and the subsection opens.

This involves a bit of the coding in the wordpress page template (page.php):

• taking care about this issue, by creating a condition on which when a child page for this parent is clicked the function still lists child pages of this parent. In the example below a parent post with the page id =4 will always stay on top, when one of its children’s pages is clicked:

if (
    $post->post_parent == 4
    OR $post->post_parent == 18
    OR $post->post_parent == 20
    OR $post->post_parent == 258
    OR $post->post_parent == 16
    OR $post->post_parent == 10
    OR $post->post_parent == 14
    OR $post->post_parent == 60
    OR $post->post_parent == 710
    OR $post->ID==4) $child="4";

• making sure our page listing function is done correctly:

<div id=nav>
        <ul>
          <?php wp_list_pages("title_li=&child_of=".$child); ?>
        </ul>
</div>

As a result, when you browse page tree only active section opens up, with the parent page being highlighted.

One step from it would be creating a drop-down menu where if you mouse over some parent element, the tree would open up showing its children. And it would be nice, if the tree would close, once you mouse away from this section.

Here we would need to use some jQuery help, by creating a conditional function, which would show or hide particular menu lines:

• be sure to load jQuery lib first:

<script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-latest.js"></script>

• create a function for the menu class and hoverOver action:

<script>

  $(document).ready(function(){

  $("li.page_item").hoverOver(

      function(){

      $(this).find("ul").show();

    },

    function(){

       $(this).find("ul").hide();

       $("li.current_page_parent > ul").show();

       $("li.current_page_item > ul").show();

    }

    );

  });

  </script>

On some browsers you may get a situation when menu would open and close quite quickly, so that it creates a mess while browsing the tree. For this reason we will use hoverIntent function, done by brian@cherne.net, and replace a piece of our code with it:

 <script>

  $(document).ready(function(){
  $("li.page_item").hoverIntent(
      function(){
      $(this).find("ul").show();
    },
    function(){
       $(this).find("ul").hide();
       $("li.current_page_parent > ul").show();
       $("li.current_page_item > ul").show();
    }
    );
  });
  </script>

Now our list opens after a certain delay, creating pleasant browsing experience for your web site users.

Nokia N75 promo

Nokia N75 has had a huge success as a first descent USA 3G phone and is being used by many, but little do you know that Cingular/AT&T had removed some of the features from its firmware. Of course there is an official, Nokia-branded firmware available to make your phone more stable. This procedure is called de-branding. In case you are looking to do it now - look further down:

Required:

• unlocked Nokia N75 phone
• DKU-5/CA-53 USB cable (usually comes in the box with the phone) 

Disclaimer: this article is provided only as a reference to obtaining an upgraded phone firmware, and we don’t carry any responsibility as to this process outcome.

Backup all the data from your phone, as it will be erased during this process

To obtain an unlock code, call AT&T/Cingular customer care and ask for the “subsidy unlock code”. You can state traveling overseas and using a local pre-paid card there as a reason for it. Process usually takes 2-3 business days and the code along with the instructions is emailed to you.

Do not attempt next steps without the unlock code - you will fail.

1. Download and install Nokia PC Suite
2. Download and install Nokia Software Update
3. Download and install Nemesis Service Suite
4. Connect the phone to computer with USB cable
5. Backup the contents of your phone with Nokia PC suite backup application.
6. Open Nemesis Service Suite and click on the magnifying glass icon to read the phone. Then click on Scan and after that Read button:
7. 
8. Change the value Product Code from 0527376 (the subsidized Cingular model) to 0541358 (the Unbranded model), mark Enable on the right and click Write button.
9. Close the Nemesis Suite and open the Nokia Software Update.
10. 
11. Let it detect the phone, check for the new software, download it and finally update the phone firmware.
12. Wait for another 20-30 minutes for the process to complete.

That’s it - now you can restore the settings and everything else you have backup-ed before we began and enjoy your unbranded Nokia N75 with many new features now available in the menu. By the way one of the most important is being able to switch between network modes - UMTS/GSM or use both.

Nokia N810 WiMax edition

There is a lot of excitement going on now about Sprint’s XOHM network, which is promising blazing internet speeds with coverage sized a huge city-shaped hot spot. Now, we know about cell network data capabilities with major providers, recently started pushing their broadband network cards with unlimited data plans, but XOHM network is promised to deliver something new with cable-like speeds over the air.

So with much of it being buzzed about, XOHM is now available in a number of cities, with more to come in 2009. We haven’t had a chance to test network’s performance - instead this review is about one of a kind - Nokia’s tablet computer with WiMax capabilities - N810. Given a test drive device was usedd over my home WiFi network and performed pretty well, however its functionality is nowhere near the iPhone - with a lot of shocking glitches I have discovered within 3days of using this device.

Some of the issues did not make to the video review and were not caught by camera, so I will outline them now:

Why would a geek buy this device:

• ‘real’ (not on-screen) keyboard
• Maemo open-source operating system with a lot of handy apps developed to this day
• built-in presence and VOIP (SIP) client, which makes this device make and receive phone calls via WiMax/WiFi (you will need to setup an account with one of the voip providers first)
• built-in camera for the video-calls
• Skype
• music/video player

Why would a geek not buy this device:

• outrages price tag of $ 443.00, which makes it up to almost $ 500.00 with taxes.
• poor (and I mean it) design - if your headquarters are in Europe, could you spend a little extra to create something of the iPhone level?
• it has a touch screen, but it’s not a multi-touch.
• Maemo OS is way buggy and slow yet for it to be released commercially
• and last but not least: Internet browser is ugly and slow, and I mean it!

Frustrating experience after all, I have paid $500.00 for this - and alternatively I could get an Asus Eee PC, but that would be something more functional and totally different. So if this gadget had glazed your eye and your wallet feels like spending, think before you buy it, as I brought mine back to the store 7 days later.

Nokia shopping bag from New York Nokia flagship store

Here is a video review as a bonus to this post :