About gonzobrains

I am a multi-cellular organism.

A subtle way to see if someone likes you.

So what’s an effective yet subtle way to see if someone likes you?   Try to add them on Facebook.  Try to add them on LinkedIn.  If they don’t answer within, say, six months or so, then get the hint.

How to contact me

My email is gonzobrains@gonzobrains.com. I’m not surprised I haven’t managed to make it clear how to contact me. I guess my blog needs some massive rework. I should probably switch to a white-background theme as well. The black “hacker” look probably isn’t all that easy on the eyes either.

Other links:

my website: http://www.gonzobrains.com

freelancer.com profile: http://www.freelancer.com/users/988764.html

Linkedin.com profile: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=24288496

oDesk.com profile: https://www.odesk.com/users/~~eee946933968786a

facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/pages/gonzobrainscom/250559118343457

Recent iOS developer rates

I found this on Google a couple of days ago. It’s about 2 years out of date, but I wonder if it still reflects going market rates?

http://osxdaily.com/2010/09/07/iphone-development-costs/

How to access database inside an Android Emulator

Hey everybody,

So I was stuck trying to debug a problem with a missing table in an Android app.  I knew the table was in the original database, but I had to be sure it was in the actual database the emulator was using.  The easiest way to check this is as follows:

1.  Run the adb program.  Use “adb shell” to create a shell in which you can access the emulator.
2.  Switch to the directory where the database is located.  The “cd data/data/<application package name>/databases should do it.
3.   Execute sqlite3 <database name>
4.  Run whatever SQL commands you need to do in order to prove your sanity.

Big ups go out to Chris Kopec for his excellent tutorial located here.

gb

How to Protect Your Internet Privacy

privacyphoto © 2009 Alan Cleaver | more info (via: Wylio)

The police are watching you.  The government is watching you.  Your boss is watching you.  Even your own mom is watching you.  It’s like that old Rockwell song; someone is, indeed, always watching you.  Is there any privacy anymore?  It seems with the advent of the Internet that personal privacy has completely disappeared, with every spammer, website, and government agency tracking and recording your every online move.

Is there any way to avoid spilling your life’s every intimate detail while surfing the Web?  The simple answer is “yes.”  It’s quite easy, actually.  Encrypt your emails.  Use SSL when transmitting financial details and other sensitive personal info.  Don’t do stupid things like post photos of you vomiting rum and coke all over naked strippers at a night club (you’d be surprised how the obvious things can escape peoples’ common sense).

Aside from the above advice, one of the most important and effective strategies to maintaining your online privacy is the make use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN).  A VPN acts as a secure tunnel through which your data can safely burrow its way from your computer to its destination.  Originally designed for large corporations as a way to protect its communications with remote workers, this advanced technology is now available to normal mortals like you and I.

To make using VPN technology easy, I highly recommend using a VPN service like iVPN.net.  These guys totally rock, with fast connections, reliable servers, and customer service that is second to none.  I was surprised at just how well even bandwidth consuming applications like Skype and YouTube performed through their VPN service.  When you use a VPN service like iVPN.net, you protect yourself from hackers and other bozos trying to sniff your data off the local wifi hotspot.  You’d be surprised how many websites don’t encrypt your data.  When data gets sent unencrypted, it is vulnerable to attack.  It has been shown in the past that hackers lurking in wifi cafes were able to gain control of Facebook accounts just by using simple tools that intercepted Facebook cookies from unknowing victims.

The easiest way to protect yourself is by using a VPN service like iVPN.net.  So peep them out at the following URL:

iVPN.net VPN Service

If you want more details about how a VPN service works just shoot me back a comment or three and I’ll post a few more articles for more details.

gb

tumbleweed badge…yay!

I meant to update this a long time ago.  So I just started becoming moderately active on stackoverflow.com.  I must say, that it is a tremendous help with regards to iOS and Android mobile app development!  I asked a question there that received no answers and got a tumbleweed badge!  Yay!  Anyone else get one?

If you wanna check it out, try viewing one of my questions for starters:

sample stackoverflow.com question

gb

How to unlock a Blackberry 8310

Unlock my Blackberry!

So my parents decided to desert their Blackberry 8310 devices.  Unfortunately, I don’t want to stick with their carrier.  So after seeking the unlock codes online I had to figure out how to unlock them.  Here’s how to do it:

1.  With battery and SIM card installed, turn on the device.

2.  From the main screen, navigate to Settings and select it with the trackball.

3.  Navigate to Options and select it.

4.  Navigate to Advanced Options and select it.

5.  Navigate to SIM Card and select it.  You should see information about your SIM card.

6.  Enter MEPD (all upper-case).  You should see extended information about your SIM card.  You will not see any of the text you enter appear on the screen.

7.  Type MEP (all upper-case).  Then ALT-key and the number 2 key on the keypad.  You will not see any of the text you enter appear on the screen.

8.  You will be presented with the prompt Enter Network MEP Code.  Type in the unlock code and press in the trackball/trackpad when finished.  Be sure to enter it correctly as you only get a limited amount of tries to enter it in successfully.

6.  The Network attribute should now be set to Disabled.  Your phone should now be unlocked.

gb