Thursday, December 20, 2012
Activated my Straight Talk SIM with my iPhone 3GS. I completed the process successfully. I thought the user experience of Straight Talk activation was awful primarily due to the deluge of instructions: on the activation kit sleeve, on the activation card (6 panels, 3 in English and 3 in Spanish), on the SIM on two sides, on the service card. There are too many instructions, and some are repeated and therefore redundant. Another problem is that much of the instructions is printed in extremely tiny text, some of it 5-point text! Some people will not be able to read this tiny text without assistance. Another problem is that upon completing the activation process I was given further instructions: "When your CURRENT PHONE stops working, follow the steps below in your NEW PHONE" and that I should expect my phone to stop working within the next 48 hours. So for the next 48 hours I think I need to carry around my activation kit so that I'm ready for when my phone stops working. After a few minutes I realized that the instructions don't make clear when you swap the SIM. The activation card says to insert the SIM after activation. But the end of the activation process says, "When your CURRENT PHONE stops working, follow the steps below in your NEW PHONE" and says nothing about when to insert the SIM. So confusing. I swapped SIMs. Upon inserting the new SIM I received a text message: "Your STRAIGHT TALK # is ##########. Welcome to STRAIGHT TALK." where ########## was my phone number. I did not know how to update the APN settings in my phone, and the Straight Talk instructions said merely, "For instructions on updating your phone, please refer to your phone's user manual or manufacturer for assistance." It would be better for these instructions to instead say, "Search Google. For example, search Google on 'how to update iphone apn.'" This led me to http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2283 which had incorrect instructions ("You can view the APN settings on your iOS device in the following location if it's permitted by your carrier: iPhone: Settings > General > Network > Cellular Data Network") because at Settings > General > Network there was a Cellular Data item but it was an on-off switch, not a place where I could insert settings. The 2nd Google search result led me to http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/?p=631. The instructions on this page said, "...and Choose United States, Straight Talk and install the Profile" but the only options I found were: Create APN, Submit APN, Promotions, and Help. I didn't know which one to choose, so I guessed Create APN. This let me choose United States and Straight Talk. I selected the Create APN button. It created an APN profile to install. I selected the Install button, followed by a warning and then Install Now. It asked me to enter my phone's password, so I did. The profile was successfully installed. Then I read about the T-Mobile SIM swap method to make MMS work and http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/?p=631 said that others have reported that it would not work with iPhone 3GS. With the Straight Talk SIM in place, I tested a phone call and a text message with image. Both worked, but the text message was probably not a true test since it said "iMessage" in the field in which I typed the message. From start to this point took about 2 hours. Breakfast at home: oatmeal with diced gala apple, cinnamon, unsweetened soy milk. I hate what Apple has done to TextEdit. It's super slow now when opening or saving documents, and it presumes incorrectly that I want to save things in Apple's cloud. There appears to be no way to specify that I want my computer to be the default location for opening or saving documents. Rode Muni to work. Sent scanner selection to Stephan for review. SOP IT wiki: Created "How to handle printer, scanner, fax problems." Sent scanner selection to Frances and Cindy for review. Scala's Bistro. Linkchecking, kiosk work. Holiday lunch at Scala's Bistro with the OSACA: Cindy, Joel, Lucia, Danielle, Shirin, Rick, Lisa. (Rodney and Don couldn't make it.) Bread, butter, and olive oil for the table. Shared appetizers: fritto misto (calamari, rock shrimp, padrón peppers, fennel, green beans, sherry-cayenne aïoli) and beef carpaccio (angus beef, capers, lemon, wild arugula, olive oil, parmigiano). Cindy had a caesar salad and side of brussels sprouts, Joel had a chickories salad (pink lady apples, arugula, walnuts, point reyes blue, yogurt dressing) and a coppa salami pizza (green onion, braised peppers, garlic confit, fontina), Lucia had orecchiette and italian sausage (spicy calabrian sausage, broccoli de ciccio, olio verde, pangrattato), Danielle had pansotti (with squash, brown butter, sage, and crispy guanciale), Shirin had linguine and clams (manila clams, garlic, roasted tomato, white wine, calabrian chilies), Rick had steak frites (green peppercorn sauce, pommes frites), Lisa had orecchiette and italian sausage, I had ricotta herb gnocchi (white shrimp, kohlrabi, olives, lobster buerre monte, basil, cambrian chili oil but without the cambrian chili oil). For dessert, the table split an order of coffee toffee gelato. Documented the procedure for resolving a problem with a printer, scanner, fax, or all-in-one device in the SOP IT wiki. Followup with Stephan about a question about how cuda works. I set my tag value to zero but none of my messages arriving in my inbox are tagged, so I think cuda is broken or I'm misunderstanding how it works. Followup with Shawn H about the Service Now UI problem I reported. Check-in with John G about website content development. Followup with Frances, Stephan, and Cindy about a scanner order for Frances' team. Thanked Marquita B from CPFM for the patch-and-paint she did in the student lounge following the removal of the computer. Announced completion of the student lounge computer. Asked Rodney to move the IRC reservations form to Qualtrics. Chatted with Susie about people content type. Followup with Nancy W about front door cardkey access to Laurel Heights. Followup with Ariel and Stephan about network issues for Joel and Rick. Tina B stopped by and gave me a small bag of assorted, seasoned nuts. Rode Muni home. Dinner at home with Patrick: butternut squash with brown rice syrup and spices, side salad, hot water. Continued editing Patrick's new book: pages 52 to 63.