Adorable Galaxy S4 Mini

It really is a smaller version of S4: 4.3" vs. 5", 3.8 oz vs. 4.6:

Its dual-core loses nothing to it bigger brother's quad-core, in terms of responsiveness. Its smaller battery, 1900 mAh vs. 2600 mAh, lasts as long too, thanking to lower frequency and less core CPU, and smaller and less resolution screen. Other than smaller fonts, my old eyes cannot tell the quality difference between the two screens.

It is very much like the original Galaxy S(1), even significantly lighter and slimmer, with a larger battery and screen. Quite a progress, ha, after four generations.

Having used 5.5" and 5" for almost a year, this baby feels much more comfortable for one hand operation. If you don't want those large phones but do want their power, then this mini is the one. Both Verizon and Sprint offer this cute phone, but none of them is global. The one I got is a Sprint and I have made it work on either networks:

• First I root it with Kingo Android ROOT and removed the bloatware (see the list at the end).
• Got its MSL/SPC with SPCUtility.apk.
• Dialed ##3424# to get into diag mode and used DFS (Pwd 2012112120131219) to write PRL and configure data settings to get it on Sprint and Verizon EVDO (3G) networks. Wrote MIND, MDN and PCS (same as MDN) and got PagePlus voice to work. This procedure is very similar to Sprint S3.
• Installed WiFi Tether Router to use it as a hotspot.
• Installed Lumicall, VO3G worked like a charm, even louder than S4 and had to lower MIC input level.
• Installed Boat browser and watched online video for hours via Miracast (Screen Mirroring), no problem at all.
• Installed InstaTV Pro to watch local HDTV from HDHomerun, but HD channels are not watchable while SD channels are perfect. Seems its WiFi is not as strong as that of S4 and S3 (both are flawless on HD).

List of removed bloatware (Sprint stuff - those in black, must be removed for normal operation):

AccuweatherPhone2013.apk
AccuweatherPhone2013.odex
Activation.apk
AlarmWidget.apk
AlarmWidget.odex
AllShareCastPlayer.apk
AllShareCastPlayer.odex
AllshareControlShare.apk
AllshareFileShare.apk
AllshareFileShare.odex
AllshareFileShareClient.apk
AllshareFileShareClient.odex
AllshareFileShareServer.apk
AllshareFileShareServer.odex
AllshareMediaServer.apk
AllshareMediaServer.odex
AllshareMediaShare.apk
AllshareMediaShare.odex
AllSharePlay15_stub.apk
BasicDreams.apk
BasicDreams.odex
blot.txt
Blurb.apk
Books.apk
ChocoEUKor.apk
Chrome.apk
CHS_J_Device_only.apk
CloudAgent.apk
ConnectionManager.apk
ContainerAgent.apk
ContainerAgent.odex
CoolEUKor.apk
DigitalClock.apk
DigitalClock.odex
DirectConnect.apk
DirectConnect.odex
DirectShareManager.apk
DirectShareManager.odex
DroidSansSherifItalic.apk
Dropbox.apk
DropboxOOBE.apk
DualClockDigital.apk
DualClockDigital.odex
EasyFavoritesContactsWidget.apk
EasyFavoritesContactsWidget.odex
Flipboard.apk
FotaClient.apk
FotaClient.odex
FWUpgrade.apk
FWUpgrade.odex
Gmail2.apk
GoogleBackupTransport.apk
GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleFeedback.apk
GoogleSearchWidget.apk
GoogleSearchWidget.odex
GroupPlay_20.apk
Hangouts.apk
Hearingdro.apk
ID.apk
InteractiveTutorial.apk
InteractiveTutorial.odex
Kies.apk
Kies.odex
kieswifi.apk
kieswifi.odex
KLMSAgent.apk
KLMSAgent.odex
KNOXAgent.apk
KNOXAgent.odex
KNOXStore.apk
KNOXStore.odex
LocalFOTA.apk
Magazines.apk
MMAppFramework.apk
MMAppFramework.odex
MobilePrint2.apk
MobilePrint2.odex
MobilePrintSvc_CUPS.apk
MobilePrintSvc_CUPS_Backend.apk
MobilePrintSvc_Epson.apk
MobilePrintSvc_HP.apk
MobilePrintSvc_Samsung.apk
Music2.apk
MusicFX.apk
MusicFX.odex
MusicLiveShare.apk
MusicLiveShare.odex
MusicPlayerWT.apk
MusicPlayerWT.odex
NoiseField.apk
NoiseField.odex
PageBuddyNotiSvc2.apk
PageBuddyNotiSvc2.odex
Peel.apk
PhaseBeam.apk
PhaseBeam.odex
Phonesky.apk
PhotoTable.apk
PhotoTable.odex
PickUpTutorial.apk
PickUpTutorial.odex
PlayGames.apk
PlusOne.apk
RoseEUKor.apk
S-Voice_Android_phone_J.apk
SamsungAppsUNA3.apk
SamsungApps_hdpi.apk
SamsungGames_qHD.apk
SamsungHubUpdater.apk
SamsungHub_phone_qHD.apk
SamsungIME.apk
SamsungIME.odex
SamsungSans.apk
Samsungservice.apk
SamsungTTS.apk
SamsungWatchON.apk
SamsungWidget_ProgramMonitor.apk
SamsungWidget_ProgramMonitor.odex
SBrowserTry.apk
SBrowserTry.odex
SBrowser_SPR.apk
SBrowser_SPR.odex
sCloudBackupApp.apk
sCloudBackupProvider.apk
sCloudDataRelay.apk
sCloudDataSync.apk
sCloudQuotaApp.apk
sCloudSyncCalendar.apk
sCloudSyncContacts.apk
sCloudSyncSBrowserBookmark.apk
sCloudSyncSBrowserTabs.apk
sCloudSyncSNote.apk
SecEmail_J.apk
SecEmail_J.odex
SecExchange.apk
SecExchange.odex
SecLiveWallpapersPicker.apk
SecLiveWallpapersPicker.odex
SecSetupWizard2013.apk
SecSetupWizard2013.odex
SensorService.apk
SimpleWidget.apk
SimpleWidget.odex
SkyfireToolbar.apk
SlideShow.apk
SlideShow.odex
SmartBriefing4x2.apk
SmartBriefing4x2.odex
SMemo2.apk
SMemo2.odex
SNoteProvider.apk
SNoteProvider.odex
SNS.apk
SPlannerAppWidget_NAmerica.apk
SPlannerAppWidget_NAmerica.odex
SPPPushClient_Prod.apk
SprintAndroidExtension.apk
SprintDM.apk
SprintSyncMLSvc.apk
SprintTouch.apk
SprintVoicemail.apk
Sprint_Installer.apk
StoryAlbumStub.apk
StoryAlbumWidget.apk
StoryAlbumWidget.odex
Swype.apk
SyncmlDM.apk
SyncmlDM.odex
S_Translator_CSLi.apk
S_Translator_CSLi.odex
Tag.apk
Tag.odex
talkback.apk
TravelService.apk
TravelService.odex
TravelWidget.apk
TravelWidget.odex
TripAdvisor.apk
Velvet.apk
Videos.apk
VVM.apk
WeatherWidgetDaemon.apk
WeatherWidgetDaemon.odex
WfdBroker.apk
WfdBroker.odex
YahoonewsPhone2013.apk
YahoonewsPhone2013.odex
YahoostockPhone2013.apk
YahoostockPhone2013.odex
Zone.apk

PagePlus, what's ahead?

"TracFone Acquisition of Page Plus Completed

America Movil announced January 16th that its subsidiary TracFone Wireless has completed the acquisition of substantially all the assets of Start Wireless Group, commonly known as Page Plus Cellular."

---This is today's announcement from PagePlus.

When PP did a TV campaign couple years ago, many PP lovers were happy to see that. I said: a very bad thing, because it only meant that PP had a new greedy owner and/or it was seeking for a buyer. Nobody listened to me. I did not know how to argue with them, I don't own a MBA, but I have my common sense and unique vision.

So, what we can expect from PP from now on? This is a photo I took several days ago in a store:

As you see, for $100 you only get 400 minutes for a year from Tracfone while you can get 2000 minutes from PP for $80. A difference of more than 6x, $0.25/min vs. $0.04/min, now from the same company, and don't forget PP's network, Verizon, is way better. Will TracFone lower its current price to match that of PP? If not, what's the other result(s)? Use your common sense.

Enjoy while it lasts, and be prepared like an old Chinese saying: 人无远虑，必有近忧。

The best stand you can buy for phone and tablet

Simple, effective and not a rip-off, found in a Bed, Bath & Beyond for $1.99. I never understand the point of a stand that's heavy, bulky and cost $20. Plastic (weighs nothing), folds flat (easy to carry with), soft rubber slots, universal and in three colors. It's Vibe folding tablet stand, works for phone too.

泰捷视频 - 手机上最佳电视直播

电脑上看电视有了“64码高清网络电视”之后，基本上完美了。手机上呢，我一直在找，总算找着了，就是泰捷视频。除了直播，也有电视剧和电影等。

先到泰捷的网站去下载TV版（手机版在S4上不出图像）：

http://www.togic.com/livetv

安装完了之后就可以看了。不过要看央视频道的话，还需要登记一个免费账号：

http://my.togic.com/admin/login.html

然后把手机绑定到这个账号，央视频道就会自动推送到手机上了！而且，你还可以很方便地管理你的频道，甚至自己定义（添加）频道：

自定义的方法很简单：建一个新TXT文件（UTF-8，比如ctv.txt)，将频道源写进去，比如：

CCTV-1综合,http://live.gslb.letv.com/gslb?stream_id=cctv1&tag=live&ext=m3u8&sign=live_tv
CCTV-3综艺,http://live.gslb.letv.com/gslb?stream_id=cctv3&tag=live&ext=m3u8&sign=live_tv
CCTV-5体育,http://live.gslb.letv.com/gslb?stream_id=cctv5_800&tag=live&ext=m3u8&sign=live_tv
北京卫视,http://live.gslb.letv.com/gslb?stream_id=bjws&tag=live&ext=m3u8&sign=live_tv
湖南卫视,http://live.gslb.letv.com/gslb?stream_id=hunan&tag=live&ext=m3u8&sign=live_tv
江苏卫视,http://live.gslb.letv.com/gslb?stream_id=jiangsu&tag=live&ext=m3u8&sign=live_tv

然后把文件名的后缀改成tv（比如ctv.tv)，登录你的togic账号，就可以把这些节目源加到你的账号里，然后就会出现在手机上了。这个文件也可以用到其它的手机电视apps，比如龙龙直播。顺便说一句，不看央视的话，龙龙直播相当不错，只是要自己去找央视频道源再加进去还是很麻烦。

这下好了，不用再搬个笔记本看电视了，用手机Miracast到电视机上实在是太方便好操作了，把HTPC和电视盒子都永远留在蛇年吧！

Warning: Acrobits Push Notification

Once you enable push notification, you'll see in your asterisk log that your SIP account is registered every 10 minutes from this UA:

204.236.220.22 UDP Acrobits SIPIS (http://www.acrobits.cz)

Even after I uninstalled Acrobits 4.02, this UA is still registering with my SIP account. I searched, but could not find a way to remove this. I had to change my password for this SIP account to get rid of this.

This is truly stupid. Push is supposed to save battery so your phone does not have to be awake to wait for income calls. However, Acrobits still keep your phone awake all the time, ever since V2.0. What's the point to push? Just to hijack my account without offering a way to opt out?

My current setup of VO3G

[update] http://kot.voip01.com

Home: OBi200 + SipSorcery + Google Voice + ipkall

OBi200 does VO3G (VOIP over 3G) like a charm, all Linksys cannot. I never use OBi's Google Voice feature though, because it does not use 3G-friendly codec such as G.729 and I always worried that one day Google would block such service and now it is true (XMPP ends this May).


Instead, I've been using SipSorcery which can dial GV directly plus many other features. I subscribed to SS many years ago when it was free. To bad, it is no longer free for new subscribers and price is too high. All relatives in my family have an ATA and they all are connected to SS; so calls between us are direct-line - superb voice quality, and totally free. I've been thinking of setting up such a server in a VPS, so more friends can enjoy this after this May.

A DID is required for free GV calling. Initially I used ipkall but switched to CallCentric. Recently, CC is no longer reliable with GV, so I switched back to ipkall and so far so well.

Mobile: Galaxy S4 + Lumicall

The Galaxy S4 is a global phone that can connect to 3G networks in all countries. So, it is great to be able to place and receive calls anywhere on this planet with a single GV #. All needed is a good app like .

I used to use Acrobits 1.94 but it became more and more unreliable. The newer versions keep my phone awake. I also tried many other such apps:

• Talkatone: easy and simple, good quality, but long delay, unreliable income calls.
• Bria: keep my phone awake. It can dial SIP URI though, e.g., sean@kingoftweaks.foo.
• MizuDroid: cannot use TCP transport, unreliable income calls and keep phone awake. The latest version (dated 1/19/2014) added TCP and is supposed to allow phone to sleep, but it is now very much like CSipSimple in every way, even more buggy and sluggish. I never like CSipSimple.
• Linphone: proximity sensor does not turn off screen (just black out, must press power button to turn off). Like CSipSimple, it is not consistent, but CPU and RAM usage is constantly high.
• Vimphone: based on Linphone, fixed the proximity sensor bug, much less RAM usage and G.729 codec included in addition to iLBC! Keep phone awake.
• IMSDroid: Both G.729 and iLBC included, keep phone awake.
•  Zoiper has GSM and iLBC30 that work well with ipkall, no need to buy G.729. The only downside is small but constant CPU usage while idle and keepalive packets are sent every 30 seconds (a huge waste for TCP transport).
• Many others not worth of mentioning.

Lumicall is based on SipDroid, G.729 included, no iLBC though. Due to a bug that always enables proxy even with this option unchecked, the same register info must be filled into outbound proxy settings too. Better use TCP on 5060, not TLS. It uses very little RAM and no CPU during idle, but still totally reliable income calls. Unfortunately, it added too much call encryption stuff into Sipdroid, bugs as well.

Sipdroid is the only SIP client that's programingly done right - push instead of poll that consumes CPU constantly. Unfortunately it does not include G729 and/or iLBC. The included G711 cannot do VO3G and GSM is not supported by most ATAs but ipkall does support it though.

I found this Sipdroid + G729:

http://bbs.gfan.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=3232780

The only problem is: no income call after few hours, because SIPDroid becomes not registered even it shows is. I have to exit it and open it to get it re-registered.

A final word: to do VO3G adequately well, you need the right phone and network. Among Samsung, you need at least Galaxy S3 or Stellar. Old phones such as Galaxy S, cannot handle VOIP.  EVDO (CDMA, Verizon and Sprint) is currently the network for VO3G, because there are still too many 2G places on GSM network (AT&T and T-Mobile) and LTE is still scare.  On EVDO, the phone gets a public IP - no nasty NAT issue (one way audio and unreliable income calls).

T-Mobile APN difference

• fast.t-mobile.com - the latest APN, can connect to all available t-mobile networks including LTE, H+ and etc.
• epc.tmobile.com - the former APN for 4G, can connect to all available t-mobile networks like above.
• wap.voicestream.com - ancient, but still works.

If your plan does not include hotspot feature, such as the $30/mon plan, you must add manually one of above APNs, because the default APN won't allow tether. Furthermore, t-mobile detects web browser's agent; so you have to change it to, say,  iPad or use VPN.

Every Android needs Greenify

Android always allow apps to start automatically and run under the background. Except few, all Android apps consume constantly CPU and drain battery for nothing. Greenify by Oasis Feng comes to rescue, it freezes these bad guys while they are not working for you. Now my S4 drops only 1-2% battery overnight with MailDroid and WeChat pushing turned on and Acrobits connected!

I add almost all apps into the hibernation list, except aforementioned MailDroid, WeChat and Acrobits. Greenify is quite smart, it won't hibernate an running app if it is indeed serving me, such as OpenVPN, Touchpal and MortPlayer. Boat browser (not the mini) is the only app I don't let Greenify freeze it, because it does not always consume CPU like other browsers and it is a hassle to reload a page each and every time while Greenify waking them up.

The paid version can also freeze system apps, but I'd rather remove them instead and, if needed, reinstall them (not copying them back to /system/app) as non-system apps.

GMail can be greenified and push will still work, because push is not handled by GMail app itself but by system service that will open up GMail when a message arrives, even if GMail is hibernated at the moment. This comes to the grace of Greenify - it does not disable an app, it only pauses it and keeps it available.

Google Voice, on the other hand, handles push by itself and should not be greenified if you don't want to miss your GV SMS and VM.

It is great to see such great apps developed by great Chinese developers! ES File Explorer is another great one. Wish many other Chinese developers of PPS, iFeng, LeTV... will learn to behave themselves.

$2 smartphone dock for charge and sync

Saw this dock in DollarTree, gave it a try, neither charge nor sync worked. Then saw the micro USB cable, looked like very good quality, gave it a try, both charge and sync worked like a charm!

Replacing the cable is very easy, no any special tool required, no soldering. The dock is very easy to open, no screw, no glue. The only little trick is to add a small piece of carton to the plug seat which is 1.5 mm thinner than the original cable's.

Watch this video for the procedure:

A list of global phones that do both GSM and CDMA

All the followings are Verizon phones and can be used on Verizon (including voice) and Sprint (no voice) 2G/3G networks including MVNO such as PagePlus and BoostMobile.

HTC Incredible 2 and Samsung Galaxy S3: 2G and 3G on China Unicom and 2G on AT&T and T-Mobile.

HTC DNA: 3G and 4G on AT&T, in addition to above networks.

Samsung Note 2: 3G and 4G on T-Mobile, in addition to above.

Samsung S4: LTE on T-Mobile and AT&T, in addition to above.

If you have the money, S4 is the one, otherwise Incredible 2 can be found really cheap. Some Moto phones are global too but too crappy and/or locked to worth of mentioning. The Nexus 5 is too new to know its details.

The smallest productive computer

Among the latest Windows 8 tablets, the ASUS T100 is the most ideal for integrated keyboard, but it is 10" - too large and heavy as an ultra portable PC (UMPC - another failed Intel concept). Fortunately, we now can have an 8" UMPC, thanking to a unique keyboard made for iPad Mini by HYPE.

Watch this video for details:



It is much smaller and lighter than the T100, so far the most optimal size and weight for mobile:

Mr. Steve Ballmer will love this - no more Start button:

A very neat clamshell:

Now go find your favorite Bluetooth mouse and, finally, you have the smallest computer that's still productive.

Now let's clean phones

In this article, we cleaned our PC, now do the phone. This is a list of apps removed from Verizon Galaxy S4 (Android 4.3 MK2). You need to root the phone first, then use ES File Explorer. Enable root explorer in ES and mount R/W. Find the following apps under /system/app, select them, cut and paste to a folder in sdcard.

Later if you do need some of these apps, cut and paste them back. Alternatively, you may touch on the apk file to install it. For example, if you do want the video Trim app, simply touch on " TrimApp_phone_J.apk" (this specific app needs a reboot after install to show up as a video tool). This way, it is no longer a system app so you can remove it easily as a normal app or use the free version of Greenify to hibernate it.

Therefore, you should remove as many apps as possible as long as it is safe to do. It may be safe to remove even more than what are listed below, but I'm already happy enough after these and don't want to spend more time to test out. Before you try to remove more, enable USB debug so you can copy it back with adb shell in case it is a necessary app, otherwise you'll have to do a factory reset.

This list can be used as a reference to other phones.

AccuweatherPhone2013.apk
AccuweatherPhone2013.odex
Aetherpal.apk
AirMotionTryActually.apk
AirMotionTryActually.odex
AlarmWidget.apk
AlarmWidget.odex
AllShareCastPlayer.apk
AllShareCastPlayer.odex
AllshareControlShare.apk
AllshareFileShare.apk
AllshareFileShare.odex
AllshareFileShareClient.apk
AllshareFileShareClient.odex
AllshareFileShareServer.apk
AllshareFileShareServer.odex
AllshareMediaServer.apk
AllshareMediaServer.odex
AllshareMediaShare.apk
AllshareMediaShare.odex
Amazon_Appstore.apk
Amazon_Audible.apk
Amazon_IMDB.apk
Amazon_MP3.apk
Amazon_Shopping.apk
Amazon_Widget.apk
AnimatedScene.apk
AntHalService.apk
AntHalService.odex
ANTPlusPlugins.apk
ANTRadioService.apk
ba-syncservice-app-signed.apk
BasicDreams.apk
BasicDreams.odex
BestFace.apk
BluetoothTest.apk
BluetoothTest.odex
Blurb.apk
Books.apk
ChocoEUKor.apk
Chrome.apk
Collage_fhd.apk
ColorBlind.apk
ColorBlind.odex
com.gotv.nflgamecenter.us.lite.apk
ContainerAgent.apk
ContainerAgent.odex
CoolEUKor.apk
DigitalClock.apk
DigitalClock.odex
DigitalClock21.apk
DigitalClock21.odex
DioDict3Service.apk
DirectConnect.apk
DirectConnect.odex
DirectShareManager.apk
DirectShareManager.odex
DroidSansSherifItalic.apk
DualClockDigital.apk
DualClockDigital.odex
EasyFavoritesContactsWidget.apk
EasyFavoritesContactsWidget.odex
EasyLauncher.apk
EasyLauncher.odex
ELMAgent.apk
ELMAgent.odex
Episodes.apk
Episodes.odex
Eraser.apk
FactoryKeystring_FB.apk
FactoryTest_FB.apk
Flipboard.apk
framework-res.apk
FWUpgrade.apk
FWUpgrade.odex
GearManagerStub.apk
Gmail2.apk
GoogleBackupTransport.apk
GoogleCalendarSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleContactsSyncAdapter.apk
GoogleDrive.apk
GoogleFeedback.apk
GoogleSearchWidget.apk
GoogleSearchWidget.odex
GoogleTTS.apk
GroupPlay_25.apk
Hangouts.apk
Hearingdro.apk
InteractiveKeyguardTutorial.apk
InteractiveKeyguardTutorial.odex
InteractiveTutorial.apk
InteractiveTutorial.odex
Kies.apk
Kies.odex
Kindle.apk
KLMSAgent.apk
KLMSAgent.odex
KNOXAgent.apk
KNOXAgent.odex
KnoxAttestationAgent.apk
KnoxAttestationAgent.odex
KNOXStore.apk
KNOXStore.odex
KNOXStub.apk
LocalFOTA.apk
Magazines.apk
minimode-res.apk
MMAppFramework.apk
MMAppFramework.odex
MobilePrint3.apk
MobilePrint3.odex
MobilePrintSvc_CUPS.apk
MobilePrintSvc_CUPS_Backend.apk
MobilePrintSvc_Epson.apk
MobilePrintSvc_HP.apk
MobilePrintSvc_Samsung.apk
MobilePrintSvc_WFDS.apk
MobileTrackerEngineTwo.apk
MobileTrackerEngineTwo.odex
Music2.apk
MusicFX.apk
MusicFX.odex
MusicLiveShare2.apk
MusicLiveShare2.odex
MusicPlayerWT.apk
MusicPlayerWT.odex
MyVerizon.apk
NfcTest.apk
NfcTest.odex
NoiseField.apk
NoiseField.odex
PageBuddyNotiSvc2.apk
PageBuddyNotiSvc2.odex
Peel.apk
PhaseBeam.apk
PhaseBeam.odex
PhotoRetouching_fhd.apk
PhotoTable.apk
PhotoTable.odex
PicAction.apk
PickUpTutorial.apk
PickUpTutorial.odex
PlayGames.apk
PlusOne.apk
PreloadInstaller.apk
PreloadInstaller.odex
RoseEUKor.apk
S-Voice_Android_phone_H.apk
SamsungBooks.apk
SamsungContentsAgent.apk
SamsungGames.apk
SamsungHub.apk
SamsungHubUpdater.apk
SamsungIME.apk
SamsungIME.odex
SamsungLink18.apk
SamsungMusic10.apk
SamsungOCR2.apk
SamsungOCR2.odex
SamsungSans.apk
Samsungservice.apk
SamsungSetupWizard.apk
SamsungSetupWizard.odex
SamsungTTS.apk
SamsungUpdates.apk
SamsungVideo.apk
SamsungWidget_ProgramMonitor.apk
SamsungWidget_ProgramMonitor.odex
SBrowser.apk
SBrowser.odex
SBrowserTry.apk
SBrowserTry.odex
sCloudDataRelay.apk
sCloudDataSync.apk
sCloudQuotaApp.apk
sCloudSyncCalendar.apk
sCloudSyncSBrowser.apk
sCloudSyncSNote.apk
SecDownloadProviderUi.apk
SecDownloadProviderUi.odex
SecEmail_J.apk
SecEmail_J.odex
SecExchange.apk
SecExchange.odex
SecFactoryPhoneTest.apk
SecLiveWallpapersPicker.apk
SecLiveWallpapersPicker.odex
SecNoteMyFiles.apk
SecNoteMyFiles.odex
SensorService2_5.apk
SetupWizard.apk
SHealth2_5.apk
SimpleWidget.apk
SimpleWidget.odex
SmartBriefing4x2.apk
SmartBriefing4x2.odex
SMemo2.apk
SMemo2.odex
SNoteProvider.apk
SNoteProvider.odex
SNS.apk
SPDClient.apk
SPDClient.odex
SPenSdk3.apk
SPlannerAppWidget_NAmerica.apk
SPlannerAppWidget_NAmerica.odex
SPPPushClient_Prod.apk
StoryAlbumWidget.apk
StoryAlbumWidget.odex
Swype.apk
SyncMLSvc.apk
SyncMLSvc.odex
S_Translator_CSLi.apk
S_Translator_CSLi.odex
talkback.apk
TravelService.apk
TravelService.odex
TravelWidget.apk
TravelWidget.odex
TrimApp_phone_J.apk
TripAdvisor.apk
Velvet.apk
VisualVoiceMail.apk
VisualVoiceMail.odex
vmmhux.apk
VMS.apk
VMwareReady.apk
VoiceSearchStub.apk
VZNavigator.apk
VzTones.apk
VZWAPNLib.apk
vzwapnpermission.apk
VZWAPNService.apk
VzwSilentSSOEngine.apk
WeatherWidgetDaemon.apk
WeatherWidgetDaemon.odex
WfdBroker.apk
WfdBroker.odex
WlanTest.apk
WlanTest.odex
wssyncmlnps.apk
wssyncmlnps.odex
YahoonewsPhone2013.apk
YahoonewsPhone2013.odex
YahoostockPhone2013.apk
YahoostockPhone2013.odex

Tweaking OpenVPN over 3G, 4G and LTE

The default configuration of OpenVPN server is not optimized for mobile networks. In my house, for example, I get only 2~3 Mbps download over H+. After adding the following lines to the server.conf file, speed bumped up to 8 Mbps:

tcp-queue-limit 128
txqueuelen 2000
tcp-nodelay
sndbuf 393216
rcvbuf 393216
push "sndbuf 393216"
push "rcvbuf 393216"

In downtown where LTE is available at full bars, I get whopping 22.68 mbps dn / 2.61 up:

As always, YMMV, but now you know where you should look into if you are not satisfied with your current VPN speed. Once again, this is why you should use VPS for VPN, because you have full control of it. When you buy VPN services, you cannot do such tweaks.

[update] 15000 is too large for txqueuelen and causes interruption to ICS-OpenVPN (OpenVPN for Android); 2000 is enough for a LTE connection. Also for ICS-OpenVPN, rcvbuf and sndbuf values must be given to it as custom options, because the default values used by it, 65535, are too small to perform faster than 10 Mbps over a LTE connection. OpenVPN Connect does not have such issues.

Direct link for downloading old versions of WeChat

Many users regret upgrading to V5, so here is a link to download old versions directly from QQ (Tencent):

http://dlql.qq.com/dldir1.qq.com/foxmail/wechat43android.apk

For other old versions, change the "43" to "40", "42", "45", and "50" etc.

威信

Fast charging Galaxy S4 and Note 2

You must have a charger that can output 2 Amp current. This is obviously, the easy part.

Then the cable must be thick enough to not drop voltage. Ordinary USB cable (for 1A chargers) won't do 2A fast charging even used with a 2A charger. For a 1 meter long cable, 12 AWG wires are enough (I did not test lower AWG or longer length).

Now the last part for conducting a true fast charging for S4 and Note 2: the D+ and D- pins need to be shorted. Samsung is now compatible with iDevice, i.e., the D+ and D- can also be set to either 2.8V and 2.1V (for iPad) or 2.1V and 2.8V (for iPhone). If you make your own cable, you don't need wires for these two pins, just two wires are enough (for V+ and V-, respectively), but you must short these two pins on the micro USB plug (i.e. on the phone side, not the charger side). Fortunately, most fast chargers fit these conditions, as you'll see shortly.

To test current, use a Kill A Watt. Read watt, not VA, then divide it by 5 to get the charging current. For example, the reading in this photo is 10 watt, so the charging current is about 2000 mA.

If you don't have a Kill A Watt, you may use the Battery Monitor Widget by 3c. Note that such apps cannot read realtime charging current. You have to set the history update rate to 60 seconds or so and mA retrieval method to estimated, then you can see estimated charging current in history like this:

Fast charging is activated only when battery level is below 80%. At higher level, current is reduced to 1200 mA and lower:

When screen is on, charging current is reduced from 1900 mA to 1200 mA:

Now let's see which 2.1A rapid chargers can really do full speed fast charging for S4:

This $5 MERKURY 2.1A rapid charger found in Ross is the cheapest one that can really do fast charging for S4 (cable not included):

This cheap dual-port Case Logic also works perfectly with S4, with either ports. Again, no cable included. This is my favorite charger - very slim, the color shell can be easily removed, see above photos, making it even slimmer, and the case can be easily opened with two screws to do any mods:

This Innergie PocketCell 3000 mAh power bank can really charge S4 rapidly, thanking to its 2.1A output which is very hard to find in power banks - most of them can output only 1A or less. It charged my S4 from empty to 82% in one hour and 20 minutes before itself was totally depleted. It is currently on clearance in RadioShack for $15, a steal.

This DigiPower Home and Car Power Kit can also charge S4 in full speed at 1900mA, if you use a right USB cable. With the cable included in the package, you can only get 1600 mA at the best.

So, finding an inexpensive fast charger is easy, the real challenge is to find a high-current USB cable. If you can find one that can do 1600 mA, you are lucky. Like the DigiPower, Almost all 2.1A rapid chargers come with either a crappy cable that cannot do full 1900 mA, or no cable included at all like the Merkury and Case Logic.

How fast is fast charging? About 1.3~1.5 hours vs. 2.5~3.5 hours. Something once you experienced, can no longer live without.

If you are buying a charger, pick up a 2.1A one. Even if you cannot find a good cable to get full speed @1900 mA, 1600 mA is still much faster than 1A. When buying a power bank, don't just read the mAh, also make sure it can output at least 2.1A!

Use your phone to play music

Seems like a dummy subject, but read on or you'll regret.

I've tried all music players for Android, but they all prevent my phones from deep sleep and thus consume unnecessarily too much battery. These include the Google and Samsung Music players that come with almost each and every Android smartphones and tablets.

The only one that does not do so called "wake lock" is Poweramp by Max MP. However, it has its own problem - using constantly about 1.4% CPU and causing an overall CPU usage to about 15% which is too high for just music playing:

After more searching and trying, I found another music player, MortPlayer Music by Mirko Schenk. It does not use any CPU at all, very nice (once again, German knows programming):

Like all other music players, it does wake lock though. Fortunately, there is a way to disable wake lock - Advanced Permission Manager by SteelWorks. Use this great tool, I successfully removed wake lock from MortPlayer and now I have a perfect player on my phone!

As you can see in above, MortPlayer is no longer in the list of wake lock offenders. By the way, Advanced Permission Manager can do much more, such as preventing many Chinese apps from auto start and crippling them. Another such great tool is Disable Service by wangqi060934. Many Chinese apps are very annoying, such as endless pop-ups, you need this great tool to disable their garbages.

Wake lock is a very bad thing to battery life. To check which apps do wake lock, use Wakelock Detector by UsumApps.

Constant CPU use is another very bad thing to battery life. OS Monitor by OS Monitor is the tool for this.

With above four mentioned great tools, your phone will love you, vice versa. And your music is now green , no longer blue.

Note: as long as music is playing, phone won't go into deep sleep. Even so, MortPlayer is still the best for the least CPU consumption.

It's a new year, let's clean house

Our computers always go slower and slower, three simple steps to get them back to work.

1. Clean up auto starts

This is the #1 cause for a slow computer. Start, Run, msconfig, then you'll see a window like this:

Uncheck everything, except the one for your laptop's mouse/touchpad. If you use Classic Shell, then check it. Believe me, you don't need anything else to be checked. Should you find something stopped working after done this, then simply find it and check it back.

2. Clean up 3rd-party services

Still in this Window, click on the "Service" tag, then check "Hide all Microsoft services", then you'll see all the 3rd-party services listed:

Uncheck everything. Again, should you'll find something stopped working after done this, then find it and recheck it. As you can see above, how many garbage I threw out! Or, think it this way: if all these craps are running in your computer all the time, how slow your computer will be!

3. Clean up scheduled tasks

Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Task Scheduler:

Right click on each and every item and disable them all. Your computer does not need any of them. Some Google stuff will keep coming back, you either uninstall anything Google (such as Chrome browser, Google Pinyin etc.), or make the update folder non-readable (C:\Users\YourUserName\AppData\Local\Google).

Above 3 steps will not break your computer, not at all. If a function no longer work, then enable the related startup and/or service. You should do them every now and then to keep your computer healthy and smooth.