[Medz]

I've used one of those unlocking sites before, they're legit. I found someone on Ebay with great feedback who unlocked my phone for under $10. I used it in Lebanon with no problems.

Although if you've been a customer with a company for long enough, they'll usually give you the unlock code for free if you put up enough of a stink.

[King Mob]

I wouldn't characterize myself as advanced; 'high-end casual', perhaps. I've never had to deal with SIM cards though.

That thread makes the process seem simple enough. Call Verizon, get code, enter code and switch SIM cards. It requires the phone being active with Verizon though.

Does it have to be from Verizon? What is the European equivalent of craigslist?

[hack]

wouterslijst.

I'm shocked at the amount of wrongness in that thread. There's a guy that brags about some Estonian SIM that he used in Turkey and everybody oohed and aahed though I can tell you from my time living there that he got ripped off bigtime. Plus Verizon won't unlock it permanently, they told me today. It's a one time and expiring thing and you can do it every ten months. Seems like it's legit however to conclude that the success rate is not 100% and that's simply how it is.

Thanks Medz. Saw one on ebay with tons of positive feedback, so I'll drop $40 on the phone and cross my fingers. $50 with good odds of success seems like a reasonable thing to do. Alarmed that I may have to play with a million settings just to get it going, but we'll see...

[Medz]

I don't think Verizon was truthful when they said it expires. As far as I know, once a phone is unlocked it's unlocked forever.

[hack]

Their version is that on return, if I want to use it here, they relock it. What a crock.

[artyshellz]

You can go to any flea market in Toronto and get your phone unlocked for $20, it usually takes 20 minutes. If your town has no flea markets I suggest you find your city's version of China Town and find a store that does it.

[hack]

What flea markets do you mean in Toronto? I never heard of those...

[artyshellz]

I was just suggesting that if there is a flea market in your area you can probably get your phone unlocked there.

As far as Toronto goes, The Dr Flea's International Flea Market at Hwy 27 and Albion Road is good, but it's only open on weekends.

We also have an Asian style mall called the Pacific Mall at Kennedy Road and Steeles Avenue. It's a real cool mall, I've never been to Asia, but you really don't feel like you're in North America when you're there.

You can get your phone unlocked there at one of a dozen stores that sell electronics.

[hack]

Sounds good. I've been meaning to get up there and see what everyone's talking about, but I hear that in some of the dim sum places up there it's hard to get service unless you're Chinese.

[hack]

Who's read Evgeny Morozov on Jobs in the latest New Republic? Behind a paywall, but you savvy types can figure out a way around that.

Great story. Morozov understands the relationship between tech and society/politics/culture like no other, IMO.

[RugbyPike#11]

Happy iPad 3 day!

[RugbyPike#11]

So it turns out the iPad 3 is not the iPad 3, or iPad 2S, or iPad HD. It is simply "the new iPad."

[Medz]

Genius! That's the greatest name they possibly could have come up with! /whoDean

[whoDean]

Eh, who needs to evangelize for the immensely successful company Apple has become? Everyone knows about their attractive products by now. I'll just be happy with my Apple products like hundreds of millions of others.

The 2012 iPad looks great (the display is amazing) but there is no real reason for me to upgrade from the iPad2, I'll probably wait for next year's model.

[King Mob]

WTF was nothing sacred to this lockout? Even Whodean was affected. I will miss him crowing about the market dominance of the iPad and posting negatives reviews from obscure blogs whenever someone suggests that they like a non-Apple product.

[whoDean]

Obviously I am no longer needed as an Evangelizer, because everybody listened, but don't get me wrong, ideas like attaching an external hard drive to a tablet will always draw my ridicule.

[King Mob]

An ever vigilant protector.

[Dave Bing]

my iPad has been very useful for gathering dust.

[RugbyPike#11]

Perhaps if you wasted more money on this book, you could find a use for your iPad.

iPad Apps in One Hour for Lawyers

I finally broke and pre-ordered a new iPad yesterday. It took several attempts to get through Apple's servers.

[whoDean]

This app is popular in my wife's firm

iAnnotate PDF for iPad on the iTunes App Store

[RugbyPike#11]

I recently purchased a Triumph Speedmaster. Because my SUV gets such poor gas mileage, if I ride it to work 3-5 days a week, I will save more in gas than the payment.

[Dave Bing]

It's a gorgeous vehicle. Just be safe. I know so many people who have been hurt on bikes.

[RugbyPike#11]

I'm doing my best. I took a motorcycle safety foundation course over the weekend, and I bought a good full face helmet. That said, I'm still planning to avoid the interstate.

I have an uncle that was paralyzed in a motorycle accident. He lost use of his legs below his waist and above his knees. Now he rides a Sportster with a custom sidecar. The sidecar has a custom mount on the back for his wheelchair, and his dog or another passenger can ride in the sidecar.

[ThaMaestro]

I've been thinking about a getting a bike the last few years, but I know way to many people who have been seriously injured while riding. I just don't trust everyone else out there to be safe.

[hack]

A friend just got an electric thing. Goes up to 30/35 mph. On paper, this is great. When whether permits it we should commute this way. The thing I don't get about that, I guess, is that's just a tad too slow to go with the pace of traffic. I wouldn't want to be going too slow. I want to be going fast enough to not have to relegate myself to a little narrow strip of lane between the curb and the cars. I want to be in the middle of the lane so nobody's tempted to crowd me. And, I don't think people in North America are conditioned yet to keep a look out for these types of vehicles when they cross the street or turn, etc. It would seem to me that bikes, scooters etc. work better when there's a lot of them asserting their presence on the road, not an occasional one.

[RugbyPike#11]

For awhile, I was looking at houses close to a greenway that went all the way from a residential neighborhood to uptown Charlotte. An electric powered bicycle would be perfect for something like that. No traffic other than joggers and bicyclists until you're downtown, at which point you have a bicycle lane most of the rest of the way. Alas, houses near the greenway were pretty well out of my price range.

[RugbyPike#11]

Originally Posted by ThaMaestro

I've been thinking about a getting a bike the last few years, but I know way to many people who have been seriously injured while riding. I just don't trust everyone else out there to be safe.

That's one of the things you practice in the safety course. Monitor for potential hazards and plan escape routes. Hazards can be dogs, cars potentially pulling out in front of you, switching lanes, anything. Somebody pulled out right in front of my uncle. He may have been able to avoid the accident if he wasn't drinking, but that was over twenty years ago when people were generally more stupid.

I've been thinking about it for a few years, too, and come close a few times only to chicken out. My sister thinks I'm having an early mid-life crisis.

[ThaMaestro]

LOL... I never really even thought about it, until my two brother in laws bought theirs. That got the juices flowing for me. Now, one moved out of the country and sold his Harley Nightster and the other got his crotch rocket repossessed.

I was outside this past Sunday and heard someone start up their bike and take off on it and it had me jones'n again. Then my Uncle put his Harley Sportster 1200 XL Roadster up for sale. Has me thinking hard.

Maybe I'll look into one of those courses anyways and get a better feel for it and my confidence level. I have a 1 year old daughter and would like to be able to chase after her futures boyfriends on foot and not in a wheelchair.

[RugbyPike#11]

I'm really glad I took the course. My comfort level was very much improved after day 1, and I ended up scoring perfect on both the riding and the DMV test. Saturday morning, I would not have thought that was possible. The best part about my course was that they provided bikes, so when people dropped them, they didn't have to worry about scuffing their shiny new toys. On another note, don't buy a used bike from a community college. Those things have been dropped more than baby Matt Millen.

Edit: I did not drop my bike in the class, the droppers were mostly much older people and women.

[RugbyPike#11]

By the way, it came down to between a Harley and the Triumph for me. I would have been happy with either, and the Sportsters can be found for reasonable prices. I went with the Triumph because I wanted something a little more unique. Also, a couple buddies of mine are also thinking about Triumphs and we want to start a club where we wear tweed instead of leather, smoke pipes instead of cigarettes, talk in funny accents, practice our dry wit, and watch Monty Python movies,

[hack]

Immediately out of the picture must go that helmet of yours. You'll have to wear these now:

[hack]

I would love a bike for rural touring type of stuff.

[King Mob]

[hack]

Nice boots.

[RugbyPike#11]

Originally Posted by hack

Immediately out of the picture must go that helmet of yours. You'll have to wear these now:

Those are cool goggles. Where did you find them yoda?

[Dave Bing]

A buddy of mine is recovering from broken ribs, arm, collarbone. Guy swerved on the highway into his lane, unavoidable. He had a thick jacket and boots and full helmet. He was lucky. Still fucked him up pretty good.

My cousin is a doctor. He always tells people who buy bikes to make sure that they fill out an organ donor card. He has a dark sense of humor.

[hack]

Backroads on a Sunday, but hey -- you're playing very small odds, in reality. The vast majority of bikers do just fine.

[DYNOMITE]

Originally Posted by Dave Bing

A buddy of mine is recovering from broken ribs, arm, collarbone. Guy swerved on the highway into his lane, unavoidable. He had a thick jacket and boots and full helmet. He was lucky. Still fucked him up pretty good.

My cousin is a doctor. He always tells people who buy bikes to make sure that they fill out an organ donor card. He has a dark sense of humor.

Was on a fatal a few years ago, kid killed himself the first day he got the bike. His buddy dies also, had the bike for a week.

[The King]

I never got the bike obsession. Death traps.

[hack]

Suicide raps.

[whoDean]

♪♪♪ We gotta get out while we're young ♪♪♪

[Big Jerm]

Honey, tramps like us, baby we were born to run?

[ThaMaestro]

Since this was brought up in the national media recently and I have a feeling will soon be a debate in my house. I wanted to do an informal poll with the gentleman of the forum. With the variety of people on this forum from all over the world, I'd like to hear your opinions.

Circumcision:

Are you or aren't you? Do you resent your parents for getting you clipped or not getting you clipped? Did you get your son circumcised? If so why? If not why?

I've studied both sides of the debate and understand both sides. I'm circumcised and have no regrets or resentments towards my parents. No son, but may one day and know that there is a debate coming if/when we do.

Sorry for getting all Cosmo on you fellas here.

[hack]

1. In a thread with the word ``toys'' in the title...

2. Tough one. I went with the following pieces of rock-solid logic: because not doing it would have upset my parents. I used that as an excuse not to have to really think about what I would do were that not a factor.

3. I also did some research on this in a different context, and witnessed six in a week, not counting my son's: Sultan of Circumcision still reigns in Turkey - The Globe and Mail.

[ThaMaestro]

Thanks for the article Matt.

I don't think I would have ever thought about this until my wife (then girlfriend) had a conversation about it some years ago. I haven't really thought about it much since, until talk of another baby. I can see and understand the argument from the "intactavist" and could be swayed fairly easily to that side.

I think what rubs me raw... Err what bothers me about this whole movement is that it's mostly women who are arguing about how horrible it is and that they discount what men who have been circumcised say. I've been through it and I wasn't traumatized nor do I have any ill effects. I haven't missed my foreskin and my life hasn't been any better or worse because I was circumcised as a newborn.

[hack]

Expressing sensitivity to your child being in pain is a method for describing to others the deepness of your capacity to love, and that's fucking annoying. In all seriousness, if people think circumcision at birth under local anaesthetic is a trauma, they should talk to people who were circumcised later in life and under less-pristine conditions. I file this in the same category as those people who freak out because their baby or toddler has a cold. On some level they know that no life is an existence free or pain or discomfort, but seemingly not on any of the levels that govern their behavior in public.

[Lou Stefanic]

Good article, Matt. You should post more of your real work here.

[T-Dot]

Originally Posted by hack

Sultan of Circumcision still reigns in Turkey - The Globe and Mail.

severed urethras?

wtf?

[hack]

Thanks, but I figure posting here is my real work...

[Stefan S]

1) Not circumcised.

2) Other things being equal, I would not do it to my son. (That is, I might do it out of respecy or love for my wife or our parents/in-laws etc., but I do not see a poin.)

3) Hack, what Lou said. (And what you replied, too.)