Hijinks Inc.

Blog

  • Troubleshooting iPhone Reception Problems

    When I first started using my iPhone I was having some major problems with getting consistent cell reception, I ended up having to send it back to Apple for repairs, but there are a few things you can try before that.

    Reset Network Settings: Go to Settings -> General -> Reset -> Reset Network Settings (Confirm prompts to reset).
    Turn Airplane Mode on and then off: Settings -> Turn Airplane Mode on -> Turn Airplane Mode off.
    Restoring the iPhone: Open iTunes with your iPhone connected and hit Restore (mainly if you’re having problems with a jailbroken iPhone).
    Eject your SIM card: Eject the SIM card using a paperclip and then reinsert the card (the idea is that the card isn’t making proper contact).
    Add some tape:     Eject your SIM card and remove it from the tray, next add a small piece of scotch tape to the tray (under where you place the SIM card), reinsert the SIM card in the tray and load it into the phone. Again, the idea is this forces it to make a better connection.
    Swap your SIM card:     You might just have a bad SIM card, swing by AT&T and have them swap it out for a new one.

    And if all that fails, it’s time for a call to Apple iPhone Support @ 1-800-MY-IPHONE (1-800-694-7466).

  • Facebook Adds “People You May Know” Feature

    Facebook has updated their creepy stalker utility offerings today by launching “People You May Know”, which as the name implies suggests random people you supposedly know. Out of 20-some people it suggested I actually knew one of them, nice job Facebook!

    [ Check out the creepyness yourself ]

  • DHL = Fail

    Earlier this week I placed an order for a new toy, something I was greatly excited about getting. Thus, you can imagine my dismay when DHL began to ship the package in the wrong direction.

    Seriously, it started out in Fort Worth, TX and instead of shipping it to their Kansas City Hub, they sent it to Wilmington, OH… that’s not even in the general direction of Nebraska! What the crap?! To illustrate their failure I have prepared this map:
    Google Map

    Sure, it’s their money they’re wasting… but still. The good news is, that despite going the wrong direction, the package did make it within the scheduled delivery time.

  • Passing thoughts…

    I’ve been watching alot of basketball lately, which is weird because I usually don’t leave the channel on a b-ball game unless it’s late in the NBA playoffs or if it’s a 2nd or 3rd round NCAA tourney game. It’s just that ever since the madness that was the NBA trading deadline, I’ve actually been fairly interested in the NBA. I haven’t followed the NBA since Jordan was in his prime, let alone actually looking forward to watching a game. But things seem to be changing in the NBA. The focus is less on the thugs and more on the truly talented individuals, who actually are good people for a change.

    Houston just finished a 22-0 run through the middle of the season. That qualifies as the 2nd longest winning streak in NBA history, and they don’t even have an all-star player (they did for the first 14 or so wins, but then Yao went down with an injury and they just kept winning). Their roster is made of guys that play hard for the full 48 minutes every night, and always look for the open man, instead of how to get their shot on Sports Center. Boston finally found the right mix to end the streak, but it says alot for a team to put it together for 22 straight.

    My thoughts on the NCAA tourney after the jump.

    (more…)

  • iTunes Error -9808

    A friend of mine suddenly couldn’t access the iTunes Store after upgrading to the latest version, every time he tried to purchase something he kept getting the following error:

    “We could not complete your iTunes store request,an unknown error occurred (-9808)”

    I couldn’t find anything online about it, so here’s how we fixed it under Windows XP. Go to Start -> Control Panel -> Internet Options -> Advanced Tab, make sure that both the SSL 3.0 and TLS 1.0 options are checked. Then under Security make sure that the “Check for server certificate revocation (requires restart)” is unchecked. Then click ok, restart and fire up iTunes.