Root Access

Overflowh

22:13

@Boris_yo Like a tiny Big Brother o.o nice..

That Brazilian Guy

Fuck Dell!!!

Shit, I said "fuck".

Fuck, I said "shit"! I hope the SE team doesn't disable me.

Boris_yo

@Overflowh Are you conspiracy theorist?

jmort253

lol

Boris_yo

@ThatBrazilianGuy What happened to your laptop?

allquixotic

@ThatBrazilianGuy awwwwwwwwww! I'm tellin'!

Canadian Luke

22:21

Mod here... What's going on?

That Brazilian Guy

@CanadianLuke NOTHING. GO AWAY.

Boris_yo

@CanadianLuke lol Enclave here. Why isn't your video feed working?

allquixotic

@CanadianLuke nothing, just ~~Rud~~ the Brazilian Vampire cussin' up a storm. :3

Canadian Luke

WWWWHAT???

/bans TBG

Boris_yo

@allquixotic He woke up hungry and thirsty for blood.

Canadian Luke

22:22

There, mod term is done, I'm leaving!

allquixotic

I could pretend that he's a bot, and send him "commands", that he then answers, and maybe if he pretends to be a bot that cusses he'll be banned

Overflowh

@Boris_yo Oh, no.. I simply red 1984, and think that something is going to happen :D

Canadian Luke

@Overflowh Going to?

Boris_yo

@CanadianLuke I hope you will get your retirement money from your SU position.

allquixotic

??tell 12197608 no

That Brazilian Guy

22:23

@allquixotic NO.

Boris_yo

@Overflowh And what is the answer to 1984?

Overflowh

@CanadianLuke It's wrong? Feel free to correct my english

allquixotic

??listcommands

That Brazilian Guy

@Boris_yo The answer is always 42

Canadian Luke

Going to means it's going to happen in the future

I'm implying it's already happening

@Boris_yo What money? I don't even have a mod-like position in SU

That Brazilian Guy

22:24

@allquixotic The commands currently implemented are ??swear, ??be_banned. To teach new commands use ??go_to_school

Boris_yo

allquixotic

??go_to_school

Canadian Luke

??reban

That Brazilian Guy

@allquixotic You do not have the necessary reputation to run this command. To be able to use it, send a cheque to my uni plz ok thx bay

Canadian Luke

??ban_again

allquixotic

22:25

slow bot... must be running on an original 8086

Canadian Luke

??ban_dana

Overflowh

@Boris_yo Honesty

allquixotic

??swear

Canadian Luke

I gotta run though, and do some work

That Brazilian Guy

@CanadianLuke Dana Scully is obsolete

Boris_yo

22:25

Before Santa comes, if men should hang socks, then why women should hang stockings?

Canadian Luke

Don't worry guys, @jmort253 here is a mod too, he can keep it under control ;)

Overflowh

@Boris_yo (and totally destroy things like NSA, Apple and so on, of course)

Boris_yo

@Overflowh 1776

@Overflowh To bring us to stone age once again?

jmort253

No no diamond at the moment.... I was actually hoping to pick the brains of the Super User elite!

Overflowh

@Boris_yo Umh?

allquixotic

22:26

don't worry, @jmort253, our community has decided that cussing is OK here, and unless things cross a really painful line of vulgarity or immaturity, they don't tend to get flagged

(of course, an SE employee might still be offended, in which case it shall all be immediately and irrevocably redacted)

Boris_yo

@Overflowh Hmm you are not one of us. You have not passed the test.

That Brazilian Guy

6 mins ago, by Boris_yo

@ThatBrazilianGuy What happened to your laptop?

I'd really love to know. I paid more than my salary for a new one, it's been 10 days and still no notice from Dell. (Yes, my salary isn't that big. Yes, tech stuff is really expensive here).

Overflowh

@Boris_yo What test?! :|

jmort253

@allquixotic Whatever works best. :D

allquixotic

@jmort253 feel free to ask us

Boris_yo

22:27

@Overflowh The test of Killuminati

allquixotic

but you might not want to ask the Super User Elite Android application

that app is not known for its natural language processing abilities

jmort253

Anyone here ever heard of a device I can plug into my computer that lets me switch between a speakerphone and a headset without dealing with the stupid sound settings on the computer?

Overflowh

@Boris_yo Nice name.. What does the K mean?

allquixotic

@jmort253 speakerphone....?

you mean like a speaker?

Boris_yo

!!urban killuminati

ChatBot John Cavil

22:28

@Boris_yo Killuminati Pac was talking about killing illuminati. Illuminati is the elite ruling circle, the 34th degree of the Freemason click, which is a century old brotherhood of anglo-saxon protestants. He was tellin you to kill that shit. They're the cats that maintain all the inequality and oppression, supposedly. He came out with this whole theory after his prison stint, and after reading Machiavelli's 'The Prince.' Now it's on us.

jmort253

Have a WebRTC phone we're putting in an auto-shop, and we want the guys to be able to hear it ring yet when they answer the call switch to headset

That Brazilian Guy

I bought ONE LATOP. Dells sends me a receipt for: 1

210-AAXV

Oak 14 MS-Haswell, 5437- BCC
1

331-9442

E4 Power Cord,250V,1M, Brazil
1

331-9690

KYBD,86,BRAZ,C14S
1

340-ABEX

Documentation, Portuguese
1

370-AAWS

6GB (1 x 2GB + 1 x 4GB) 1600Mhz,BCC
1

400-AAOK

1TB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
1

429-AAFK

8X DVD+/-RW Drive Tray Load
1

490-BBMT

NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M 2GB DDR3
1

555-BBCB

Dell Wireless-N 1705 + BT4.0
1

555-BBKO

Dell Wireless-N 1705 + Bluetooth 4.0, BZ
1

619-ABUQ

WIN 8 EM,64,BPOR,CSMR,LATAM

jmort253

yeh, but something that's abstracted from the computer's device settings manager.

allquixotic

@jmort253 uh.... WELL, if the speakerphone has a 3.5mm jack, and the headset has a 3.5mm jack, it should be doable, for sure

jmort253

The computer would just see, like "jmort253's cool new invention device"

That Brazilian Guy

22:29

REALLY DELL?

Next they'll be sending one receipt for each mounting screw

jmort253

so instead to dig in control panel, change settings, restart app, I'd just switch the setting on the fly

with most applications, you can't switch devices without going through a lot of hassle.

unless the app has settings built into it, but even then... mileage varies.

Boris_yo

@ThatBrazilianGuy This is for their disclaimer. In case something is missing it is not their responsibility.

allquixotic

@jmort253 yeah, I totally get that

there are some apps that can handle it gracefully without restarting the app, but a hardware switch is 100% reliable

jmort253

like, imagine a headset with a button on it that you click and it switches to like an attached speaker or something

the computer never knows the difference

That Brazilian Guy

@jmort253 something like a splitter or multiplexer?

jmort253

22:31

so, as a result, no fumbling in device manager, etc.

@ThatBrazilianGuy kind of like that, but really simple.

sort of like the mute or volume buttons on your USB headset.

That Brazilian Guy

Interesting. Never seen anything like that

allquixotic

@jmort253 amazon.com/TC-716-Stereo-Selector-BLACK-VERSION/dp/B0001F347K

jmort253

Ideally, Google would implement device controls into the browser's API..... but we're not there yet :D

allquixotic

most TRS 3.5mm jacks are reversible, so if it says "input" it can probably also be made to work with output, with limited caveats. I don't know if that will definitely work for you. but it's a start

jmort253

@allquixotic and so begins the journey. I'll start there! :D

Resume the cussing! :)

Thank you!

That Brazilian Guy

22:34

@jmort253 Have I ever told you about my ISP? =P

jmort253

@ThatBrazilianGuy I don't think so....

allquixotic

@jmort253 I'm thinking if you have an ordinary PC speaker on your desk that will play the ringing sound, you'd plug that and the headset into the selector, and then plug the selector into your PC's "stereo out" jack

Boris_yo

@jmort253 Are you project manager in real life of a company?

allquixotic

the selector seems to be designed in such a way that you could also have one guy wearing the headphones and have the call broadcast over the speaker if there was another tech standing in the room who wanted to hear it

you can have headphones only, speaker only, or both

jmort253

@allquixotic Sort of what I was thinking... but was hoping there'd be something USB and wireless as well.... but this is a start.

allquixotic

22:36

@jmort253 well if it were USB then it would have to have a sound card embedded in it, which means you would not be using the on-board motherboard sound card... that has some disadvantages

jmort253

@Boris_yo I do some PM stuff, but I'm mostly developer, support, whatever the need is at the moment.

allquixotic

latency, bus contention and quality of the DSP/DAC can all be issues in USB sound card dongles... by comparison, on-board motherboard audio is quite superior, in most cases

jmort253

@allquixotic We do have some experience with that. I have a sales guy wearing audio jack earbuds in his ears to hear audio, then he puts his logitech usb headset over top of that and uses it for the mic.....

If he uses USB, the callers sound staticky to him.

allquixotic

@jmort253 if wireless is important, I'd think about possibly using Bluetooth combined with Virtual Audio Cable and some custom software

here's my pitch, as an alternative to the above; hear me out:

jmort253

ok

Braiam

22:38

@ThatBrazilianGuy and then you get into the star wall D:

@allquixotic the reply button is back :D

allquixotic

buy a bluetooth headset if you don't already have one. k. that's step one. bluetooth headsets have rechargeable batteries that can last like 10 hours per charge, and a good range and quality

then you plug an ordinary PC speaker into your motherboard's on-board sound card

then you get Virtual Audio Cable software for like $40

then you tell every sound application on your system to play to the default sound device, and set the default sound device to Virtual Audio Cable's line 1

then you write some software that dynamically enables/disables copying of the audio stream from the VAC line (which is effectively a loopback) to the headset, the PC speaker, or both

and hook it up to a hotkey

really not that hard if you are familiar with C++; even if not, there are wrapper libs like OpenAL that make it easier

you could even get a separate hardware switch over USB or whatever that just acts as a "key" on a "keyboard" (or "joystick" - I put the term in quotes because the OS would see it as an input device like a joystick but it's really just a toggle switch) and capture that

jmort253

@allquixotic Yeh, this is sort of what I pictured....

That Brazilian Guy

@Braiam Nah, to really get stars, what you need are pet references.

jmort253

Anything C++ would likely need to be made at the Chromium level... this is a WebRTC Chrome app.... so we're limited to the API's the Chrome Dev's give us....

allquixotic

@jmort253 any reasonably modern PC should be able to handle copying 44.1 KHz / 16-bit PCM from the VAC Line In (which will be a loopback of what gets played to it on the output end) to the PC speaker and/or the bluetooth headset

@jmort253 PNaCL? :)

jmort253

22:42

Nope... Packaged Apps....

But I have looked at Native Client....

hmmm ...

allquixotic

@jmort253 do you have any sort of control over the client? are you able to install a custom software package on their box?

jmort253

I'd have to think about that...

allquixotic

because if you can get any sort of native access just temporarily to do an install, you can drop down Virtual Audio Cable ($40 license) and your native code without worrying about Chrome

jmort253

Thing is, I feel like Google crippled C++ NaCl by writing their own compiler.

So it might not let us access the hardware...

Boris_yo

@jmort253 What do you support?

allquixotic

22:44

you don't have to access the hardware; if you are able to get a native exe running on the system as a service or something, you don't even need to worry about Chromium or NaCL

jmort253

We do have a native app that talks to the chrome app via TCP.

So... that could work too.

allquixotic

if it's going to be a problem to get something installed on the native side, you're pretty much SOL as far as getting VAC installed anyway

jmort253

makes sense...

allquixotic

and without VAC you won't have the critical feature you need of the audio device, which is the loopback

the loopback is what takes the sound that's written to the device's output buffer, and loops that back through as a capture channel for you to read (and then copy to the output device(s) of your choosing dynamically)

jmort253

Well, I appreciate your help. These are great ideas. We'll sift through them and figure out a plan...

allquixotic

22:46

the whole solution would end up fairly DIY, except for the VAC part which is a pre-packaged COTS software, but I think it could work

and adding a hardware switch wouldn't be incredibly hard

jmort253

ideally, it would jut work like a phone.. ring thru the speakers, but the person talking would come thru the headset.

Here's something fun: retrortc.versatica.com

allquixotic

if you only want the ring to come through the speakers and not even need a switch, the best thing to do is code up your phone software (assuming you have the ability to control it at that level) to output the ring to the PC speaker, and output the voice stream to the BT headset

then you wouldn't need VAC at all, or a hardware switch, or a program to copy sound buffers around

jmort253

@allquixotic Unfortunately, that level is deeper in the stack. I've suggested this to Google here: groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/forum/#!topic/chromium-apps/…

allquixotic

ah, I see, so you're depending on their stack and they aren't providing that capability

jmort253

Hence, the tradeoffs of building on top of someone else's platform :D

allquixotic

22:49

yeah, I can see that

jmort253

at this time, they're not... but I'm hopeful... they've been really responsive to folks working in the WebRTC and Chrome App arena....

allquixotic

I don't have a whole lot of experience with WebRTC, but who does; it's a fairly new tech

Hennes

@ThatBrazilianGuy Heh. At least you did not have an item (0 (none) No power chord" on your bill.

jmort253

For sure, but it's going to really increase the capabilities of how we communicate and interact with different devices.

allquixotic

sounds like it's trying really hard to be a phone and failing... but I fully expect that kind of lolz from a brand new technology

jmort253

22:52

Yeh, I could even see some new hardware devices coming out of this.

We don't need full VOIP phones with a softphone, but something to handle audio redirection is really all that's needed...

allquixotic

well, now that MSFT is killing the Skype API, they probably won't be particularly friendly to Skype-enabled hardware, either, unless it's their own, so those guys working on Skype hardware might go to WebRTC hardware

jmort253

Possibly. There definitely could be an opportunity there.

Of course, we've also toyed with the idea of integrating Android into the process.

allquixotic

I love Android, but I can't immediately see how you'd use it in this case; granted I am not familiar with your workflow

jmort253

if we do a ring-all strategy, then you can answer wherever you want, computer or your cellphone, and you'll likely hear it, since phones were sort of built to broadcast the ringtone but not the voice packets.

many of these ideas are hacks

allquixotic

huh... so the call would be routed in through your RTC gateway or whatever, and it'd ring the PC speaker on the workstation in the shop, as well as every CSR's cellphone based on some background Android service running on the phone

Canadian Luke

22:54

WTF... Anyone ever work with Receipt Printers?

jmort253

especially without trying it in production.

We have an Android app as well @allquixotic.

allquixotic

@jmort253 ahh

jmort253

and we basically have it set to try the desktop first... then rollover to the android app.

play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.synclio&hl=en

allquixotic

maybe I'm a traditionalist when it comes to voice communications, especially for workloads like this, but my mind starts to spin when I think of the possibilities of VoIP (and the pitfalls!), and I start knee-jerkedly reaching for a PSTN-based system with some kind of wireless headset like they have in Ace Hardware (don't know if you have any of those where you are)

Hennes

A smuggler boasts that his ship can make the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs, and that he can bench-press more than 120 volts.

Tweeted by HardSciFiMovies on November 15, 2013 at 5:04 PM

jmort253

22:57

@allquixotic I don't think we've ever had a PSTN line in our offices.

Hennes

A space crew explores an ominous subterranean alien complex, which contains breathable oxygen levels. Everyone keeps their helmets on.

Tweeted by HardSciFiMovies on November 13, 2013 at 5:49 PM

allquixotic

heh

Hennes

Uh, we had PSTN for a fax. Not fun

jmort253

But yeh, you're putting your hands in Internet uptime, DNS, networks, and media server software...

allquixotic

at least with PSTN systems, there are already pre-canned solutions on the market for just about any use case you can describe -- it may end up costing a pretty penny to purchase it and get a service contract for it, but it'll work

and PSTN's hardware, soup to nuts, tends to be a heck of a lot simpler and more rugged than what you just mentioned

jmort253

22:58

The advantage of the VOIP stuff is all of the workflow integration we can do.

allquixotic

true

jmort253

For instance, if you have a CRM, we can take the callerId and dynamically look up the customer's records.

Or, read from a database and push outbound calls to you from your website, as well as hook up other channels like social media.

Hennes

Uggh. This is some story everyone here should know:

A man invents an amazing machine that can calculate almost anything, and saves the world from a brutal dictator. He is chemically castrated.

allquixotic

our office has VoIP phones now, and call quality and features are much nicer

jmort253

It definitely gets the job done. It allowed us to change a call center from brick and mortar to a work anywhere/from home model.

allquixotic

23:00

@Hennes Turing?

Hennes

Aye

allquixotic

@jmort253 I know someone who was a remote / work from home employee for a call center, and the primary problem they kept having is that the connection between employees and the central infrastructure would be severed somehow more often than they'd like

either the employee's ISP would conk out, or the infrastructure would be flaky, or worst of all, the public routing in between would bottleneck or throttle or whatever

jmort253

@allquixotic We had an outage at the office once....

allquixotic

the reliability they needed just wasn't there

jmort253

power outage I think....

didn't matter.

allquixotic

23:02

hehe

jmort253

Everything is in the cloud.

Hennes

@Overflowh Hi @Overflowh. Welcome to Root Access! If you have any question, feel free to ask, don't ask if you can ask. I am not a bot. This is not an delayed time automated greeting (as not immediate scare new people)

jmort253

So while the central office was sort of just hanging out, the folks at home continued to operate and provide outstanding service to customers.

Hennes

IHmm, the clouds are quite low here (we have fog)

jmort253

We've certainly had the opposite happen too, when Google or Amazon or someone has an outage....

allquixotic

23:03

if I had to do something like that today, and I were in the US, I'd get some kind of awesome contract with Verizon for data plans and regular smartphone upgrades, and have everyone do their VOIP from company-owned smartphones, connecting them to peripherals as necessary to make them a workstation

jmort253

but it's nice to not have to deal with the server-related stuff yourself sometimes...

allquixotic

Verizon LTE's reliability is nearly unshakeable, at least in my area, it's many orders of magnitude more reliable than landlines, and even stays on during power outages

you could run all your apps through the phone's web browser and just ship the user a little box with a phone, a charger, an HDMI cable, and a bluetooth keyboard and mouse

jmort253

@allquixotic Verizon is pretty awesome in Portland too. I have 4G LTE unlimited data, and last time I had any problems was up at Mt.Hood.

allquixotic

user wouldn't need to buy a desktop or laptop, or have one shipped to them from the company with company software

Hennes

Why the HDMI cable?

allquixotic

23:05

@jmort253 right on, I have 4G LTE unlimited as well

@Hennes to use the phone as a workstation ;p

Hennes

Ah

I do not usually make a connection between HDMI (televisions, bluerays) and PCs (DVI, display port)

allquixotic

I'm on the Droid Maxx, and two generations ago with the original Razr, Motorola had released a production Android smartphone running ICS that was capable of serving as a practical desktop computer, given an HDMI cable and a keyboard and mouse

Braiam

I want a ponny

allquixotic

the Droid Maxx is much more capable than that first-gen solution

jmort253

@allquixotic I got lucky with it. I ported my cell phone number to Synclio so I could more easily test our software with family/friends, and I followed instructions on the Google Voice forum to port the number without cancelling my account.

allquixotic

23:06

I can't imagine what's coming next that'll be better

jmort253

I got a new number without having to pay fees or lose the data plan.

allquixotic

@jmort253 nice, very nice

I got lucky once when a rep selling me a new phone (it was the Razr Maxx HD) convinced me to sign off on the paperwork (well, electronically on the pinpad) agreeing to terms that would cancel my unlimited data; he told me that it was just a display issue and I'd keep my unlimited

but in the system the "cancel his unlimited" actually processed through as the display indicated

he called some secret number on his cell immediately and got it reversed in the backend

so I kept my unlimited :D

jmort253

Those reps... you gotta watch them..... but yeh, sounds like you got lucky

allquixotic

well my rep wasn't trying to dupe me; moreover, once he realized he had effectively lied to me, he called up central and got them to fix it.

he was my go-to guy whenever I needed help after I realized I could rely on him, but the place he was at got re-purposed as an "Executive Wireless" (friggin re-seller) store instead of a Verizon Wireless store

jmort253

You got a good rep then.... probably an actual Verizon rep?

allquixotic

23:10

@jmort253 yes he was a VZW employee

jmort253

I got duped by going to one of those places in the mall, which aren't really Verizon stores....

allquixotic

but I guess he either got relocated or laid off when his store converted to a non-VZW store

jmort253

They saw me coming a mile away lol

allquixotic

yeah, those places are scummy, so scummy

I don't go to them anymore

jmort253

The guy was literally tying to pocket my little 16gb card while fiddling around with the paperwork on the computer.

allquixotic

23:11

wow

jmort253

Diamond Wireless --> -1

allquixotic

Executive Wireless is just as bad

VZW shouldn't do business with either of them, but I guess it's cheaper for VZW to let that scum run the stores instead of them paying for the brick and mortar and all that

jmort253

Whenever you're a reseller though, you've got a potentially poor business model.

allquixotic

VZW reaps the profits of the service contract but they don't pay the cost of operation of the store

pretty nice deal for them

jmort253

They're basically buying the stuff from VZ, who gets it from the manufacturers, and then now these clowns have to then sell them and make a profit.

thin, narrow margins lead to unethical practices, lol

allquixotic

23:13

heh

did you get 1700 MHz AWS yet?

I think I did, but I'm not sure.... my speeds are considerably up during peak hours when they were limited before due to contention

manually flashed the new radio on my Droid Maxx to enable 1700 MHz

jmort253

1700 MHz AWS? I don't know Googling....

allquixotic

oh -- there was another wireless spectrum auction semi-recently and Verizon got some licenses from the FCC for 1700 MHz Advanced Wireless Spectrum

previously their LTE was restricted to the 700 MHz licenses that used to be for analog TV

they added new spectrum, but devices will need a cellular baseband processor firmware update to take advantage of it, and not all towers are pushing 1700 MHz yet

jmort253

I have a 2 year old Droid Bionic, so I'm not sure it will be up for the task...

allquixotic

they're basically just going to do load balancing between the existing spectrum and the new, initially leaning heavily towards pushing any 1700-enabled devices onto that spectrum to alleviate some contention from 700 MHz

I doubt your Bionic would get the update; that's quite old

jmort253

I'll prob replace it soon.... it's getting to be that time....

allquixotic

23:18

pretty sure, like, the Razr HD, Droid Ultra/Maxx/Mini, Moto X, iPhone 5c/5s, etc will get it

@jmort253 well I can strongly recommend the Droid Maxx if you can put down the retail for it; it costs a pretty penny, but it's a very solid phone

upping from a Bionic will feel like going from a 486 to a Pentium 4 :-)

jmort253

I'll check it out.

lol

allquixotic

RE: the current line of Motorola phones, here's the quick TLDR lowdown: the Mini is small; the Moto X is good but fairly limited battery capacity, although you can customize it with fancy colors (the "wife phone"); the Droid Ultra is for people who can't afford the Droid Maxx or can't handle a few mg of additional weight; and the Droid Maxx is for people with money who want a super long lasting battery and the best features available

all of them have exactly the same SoC, so app performance is identical

main differences being the battery, screen, and degree of aesthetic customizability

and size of course in the case of the Mini

jmort253

Battery is a big one for me

First thing I did when I got the Bionic was upgrade to the larger battery.

allquixotic

yeah, outside of tablets I haven't seen a bigger battery on an Android device than the Maxx

jmort253

Right on.

allquixotic

23:23

tablets ofc need bigger battery because they're generally more power-hungry

jmort253

I wish they'd make a smaller tablet though. it' would be cool to get a smart phone that's just a data plan only.

allquixotic

actually, if you buy an LTE tablet retail and stick a Verizon SIM in it with a data plan, it'll be a data only tablet, and you keep your contract

FCC contract for the spectrum mandates open device access

you could even put your SIM in a Jetpack hotspot

they legally cannot stop you

jmort253

FreedomPop, a Sprint reseller, made a 4G hotspot sleeve for the iPod, so you essentially get data to the sleeve, then broadcast it as wifi.

allquixotic

and if they do, you find a good lawyer and you sue them into oblivion

jmort253

Thought about doing that.

I actually experimented with just wifi calling only for a couple months....

I suspended my VZ service and just used voip apps.

allquixotic

23:26

as for 4G hotspot tethering, on recent Motorola devices (including the current lineup), any rooted user can pretty easily edit a sqlite database and change a 1 to a 0 to enable unrestricted hotspot feature, it's even built right into the firmware, you just have to enable it

jmort253

It worked out pretty well, until I was away from wifi and actually needed to make a call

You can do that with the PDANet app

allquixotic

they can't stop you from rooting a device you bought retail either

jmort253

formerly FoxFi

I use it on the bus.

allquixotic

oh, the PDAnet / FoxFi app doesn't work on moto phones unless you're rooted and flip the entitlement bit

jmort253

Moto? Motorola?

allquixotic

23:27

yep

jmort253

I must have got lucky... it works on the Droid Bionic.

allquixotic

they completely disabled the non-root wifi tethering functionality

jmort253

And I didn't root it.

allquixotic

the Bionic is too old; it doesn't have the "fix" that broke it for all of us newer devices

jmort253

lol the "fix"

allquixotic

23:28

I believe you have to have Android 4.1 or later for it to be broken

jmort253

Yeh, thats the one nice thing about older stuff....

you get to delay the inevitable hand-tying that happens.

allquixotic

and the nice thing about newer stuff is you get to use stuff like 1700 MHz band, that you'll probably never get, since the Bionic is ancient history by now and they aren't updating it ;p

jmort253

for sure... a tradeoff....

allquixotic

the multitasking experience is worlds better with the faster SoCs of the day as well

listening to music, surfing the web, downloading updates all at once, no problem

Hennes

Ehm. Mod question. OR really anyone who knows:
Can any question be migrated to any other side? Or is that too time restricted (like in the close queue where it can get marked as off-topic, should be on site ABCD)

allquixotic

23:30

some nights when I don't feel like firing up my desktop, I will just roll into bed with my phone and that's my computer for the evening

will watch youtube, check my email, chat around in here with the regulars, maybe add a comment to a Q on superuser, then sleep

Hennes

Specifically I tried to answer this but I realised tha I am not sure

jmort253

@Hennes anything older than 60 days can't be migrated.

Hennes

@allquixotic Hmm, my phone lacks a PS2 plug for a keyboard (a requirement for me)

Ah, thanks. This one is not that old so I did not give silly advise

jmort253

Moderators can migrate a < 60 day old question anywhere, but usually it's best to just close if something isn't on topic.

allquixotic

@Hennes PS/2? seriously? a phone that would be able to slot a PS/2 port would be unacceptably huge, or very awkward shape

Hennes

23:32

I like my model M keyboard. And my only surviving one has PS2.

So I need that or a small PS2 to whatever the phone uses adaptor

allquixotic

@Hennes plug from PS/2 to a USB keyboard adapter that translates the keystrokes to USB, then get a USB OTG cable for your phone, and voila

PS/2 -> USB-A -> microUSB OTG ... done

jmort253

creative... I have one of those laying around too.

Might have to try that.

allquixotic

'course you'll want to use a powered USB hub for USB client devices plugging into your phone, so you don't kill its poor battery

someone even managed to make a (device specific IIRC) USB OTG cable with a charging circuit, so that the phone would act as a USB host device and accept USB client devices, but also be able to charge from the same singular micro-USB port

think you needed a particular USB hub with it also

jmort253

See, this is why I come here... I know I'll learn something new.

How to hack different hardware parts together to solve a particular problem.

AGirlSaidMySmileIsCute

yo yo yo waddup kids

allquixotic

23:35

that little problem (that can only be hacked around, unfortunately, until/unless a new USB standard comes along) is the reason why most thumbdrive-sized computers have a micro-USB port for power and a full-sized USB port for USB host devices

it'd of course be much cleaner to have a single port that you plug into a hub that gives your device power and passes on the client devices' packets

which is not impossible, but certainly not something you'll find at Best Buy

I gotta head home but I'll be back to QQ before I jump into my evening sessions of alternating youtube watching and game playing, so talk to you guys soon. don't be a stranger @jmort253 you're fun to talk to and we need folks like that here ;p

i see you twittered me haha

jmort253

I've recently rediscovered Twitter :D

Thanks again for the advice!

allquixotic

i'm not in love with social networks in general, outside of SE, but twitter is one of the less obtrusive ones....

btw, my best ever VZW speedtest... i was right next to a tower at the time :D

jmort253

That's amazing speed.... puts my home Internet to shame...

allquixotic

i get like 16/10 at home because the signal's attenuated by things called walls, but before 1700 MHz was announced i was only getting like 7/3

jmort253

I might as well be connecting to the Internet with a tin can and a string.

allquixotic

23:40

lol

ADSL?

jmort253

Qwest DSL

1.2Mbps

allquixotic

I'm surprised you have home internet when you have unlimited LTE :P

I use like 100 GB per month and they don't threaten me or anything

jmort253

I figure I don't wanna rock the boat on that... I figure they can tell if I'm using the phone as a hotspot....

allquixotic

I try, very conscientiously, to use data deliberately and not to waste it, but when I am paying for a Netflix subscription or a service like Steam, ya damn right I'm gonna use it

jmort253

and like being able to use that when I need it.

allquixotic

23:41

well, they might be able to tell, but that hasn't made them disconnect me, yet

jmort253

Maybe I'll be more bold then.

allquixotic

I think what they'll end up doing is cancelling all unlimited plans at the same time, once their ~~CEO~~ Emperor orders, "Execute Order Sixty-Six."

until then we're safe

just watch your back; your friends might shoot you with blasters

jmort253

yep.... it's days are numbered....

lol

allquixotic

but yeah I would be very surprised if you got singled out and disconnected for data usage on unlimited

the death of unlimited will be all at once, not individual "over-consumers", unless you're literally torrenting pirated material 24/7

just use data deliberately and don't let things get out of control

100 GB isn't much to a company like Verizon

jmort253

Then it might be worth paying FoxFi the nominal fee for their paid app....

very true.

allquixotic

23:43

ya, or Klink and use home networking equipment to do the routing/wifi

Klink and other ADB based tetherers still don't require root, even on the very latest phones from all manufacturers

for a fixed home networking setup you could certainly tether over USB to any given computer and make the computer your hotspot

or even something like an HTPC or a thumbstick computer

thing is, the core Android Debug Bridge protocol itself, which is extensively used for troubleshooting, debugging apps, development, etc. (perfectly legit stuff, right?) inherently allows, and cannot prevent, apps that just pass through the internet connection of the phone to a downstream USB host device

jmort253

I'll have to experiment. Thanks again! :)

allquixotic

so unless/until Verizon starts preventing phones from ADBing at all, you can always rely on Klink

and that hasn't happened yet

that's my recommended method for people who are afraid to root

buy Klink, pick a PC with a good wifi chipset that's centrally located in the building, and make it a wifi hotspot sharing the Klink connection

of course with your Bionic you can continue to use the wifi hotspot in the phone

but that dies when you upgrade

Braiam

@allquixotic you live in a prison :(

allquixotic

@Braiam lol

every structure could be perceived that way :P

jmort253

@allquixotic I'll let you know how that goes.

allquixotic

23:49

it's 6:48 PM and I'm still at work? k, well, not any more \o/ home time. yeah keep in touch @jmort253 -- best of luck with... whatever you decide on, both with the phone and the VoIP stuff :)

poof

!!afk back by like 9pm GMT-4

ChatBot John Cavil

@allquixotic Hurry back, ok?

Canadian Luke

@jmort253 I never did say this... Welcome to my home (chat room)!

jmort253

@CanadianLuke Thanks!

Nice place :D

Canadian Luke

It's awesome when we have bots too

jmort253

I'm.... intrigued by that.... and confused....

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