* Posts by Radiodoc

21 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Feb 2012

Fairphone goes on sale to all

Radiodoc
Happy

Re: Dual SIM

"they claim that's dual active which would be ideal. Never had a phone that could do that - does anyone have any experience of how that sort of thing works in practice?"

Very well indeed - I had a HK$260 dual Sim phone (GBP ~22) which I had one DUAL number on the SIM, one a number in the Philippines so that anyone there could send me a ONE PESO SMS = a few UK pence to anywhere in the world that I was..... and it also included a PAYG Hong Kong Local phone number too.

The second part of the dual SIM was filled with another PAYG Hong Kong Local phone number - so I had a choice as to which HK number I used... and effectively - a backup if one of the SIM's credit got exhausted.

A HK$48 Rechargable SIM sell for about 50% of the face value in ShamShuiPo, Kowloon, and I almost always discard the value expired SIM as it costs HK$48 to buy a HK$50 recharge card. The only time I have "recharged" is when I still had a large credit balance left as the SIM was about to "Time-out".

I've no objection to tossing out my old mobile numbers - they are expendable here.

I've NO desire to pay vast sums of cash for connections that I seldom need to use.

IT'S ALIVE: Groupon stock up, spreadsheets still soaked in red

Radiodoc
Facepalm

Sick " copywriters' "

From: "Groupon" <info@news.groupon.hk>?= Encoding: -Detect automatically-ArabicBalticChinese (simplified)Chinese (traditional)CyrillicGreekHebrewJapaneseKoreanRussianThaiTurkishUkrainianEnglishEuropean (Central)European (West)European (South)European (North)worldwide (utf-8)Date: 2013-05-10 09:18

""Discount

65% Price

HK$99

$99 MyNight Fashion Sports Bra Set (Valued at $280)

While holding chests up with hands is one way to support cleavage during volleyball matches, it leaves gals with nothing but their faces to spike the ball. Save face with today’s Groupon. Today’s Groupon: A MyNight fashion sport bra set ... more ""

+++++++++

Whilst I occasionally buy into some of Groupon HK's offers - I must admit that I consider that their copy writers ought to be taken out and shot.

Flights of fantasy?

No !

More like that they were high on illicit drugs which have interfered with sane descriptions of items being peddled.

Philips pushes out SDK for multicolour Zigbee LED lights

Radiodoc
Black Helicopters

Chinese made LED lamps are MUCH more economical on the wallet

Huh, my latest purchase - down Apliu Street in Sham Shui Po, HK - cost me HK$50 = less than GBP 5 a time for 5 Brilliantly WHITE LEDs in a mini screw-in E14 type.

There are "Incandescent lamp color" ones too - BUT I much prefer ones that give me brilliant white illumination & all the while consuming 5 Watts of power in total!

She, who must be obeyed - has not demanded that I remove these bright 3 Watt, an earlier incarnation, from her bedside lamp..... and they are cheaper by far than the compact fluorescents that are in the other rooms where bright lighting is a must!

Yes, I love living in the S mall A rea of R epression, HKSAR, where I can speak my mind against the Commie Running Dogs / Locusts who have, until recently, plundered our shops for baby formula - 'cos they can't trust their government to make sure that food is not adulterated etc!

25% of Groupon share value WIPED OUT after rates slashed

Radiodoc
Facepalm

Groupons - a one-time visit.

Here's some speil from today's (Friday 1st March) HONG KONG Groupon offers :

$328 H2O MOP® Steam Cleaner, $388 w/ Delivery, Disinfects & Cleans Floors, Carpets, Windows, Cars w/ Ease (Valued up to $1359)

G ypsies, magicians, and genies in bottles can disappear in a puff of smoke, as if they were never really there to begin with. Show dirt and bacteria a little magic trick of your own with today’s Groupon.

& another - at random :-

$298 German-Made Sanitas Automatic Blood Pressure Monitor w/ WHO Classification for Safe & Accurate Measurements (Valued at $598)

Without accurate, finely-tuned equipment, people would be forced to judge blood pressure by measuring the amount of steam pouring out of their ears. Keep explosive pressure under control with today’s Groupon.

Personally, I wonder about the sanity of the copywriters!

As a matter of fact, my family DO make use of Groupons.

I got a nice a/b/g/n Router for HK$598 - saving $300, and numerous "foodie" discounts.

BUT I have never been back to buy the same foods or electrical items at full retail price.

Asia has fastest internet, launches most cyber-attacks

Radiodoc
Boffin

High speed okay - if the ISP doesn't rip you off!

I live in Hong Kong (which, for our geographically-challenged American fiends, is NOT in Japan).

I started out - over 30 years ago with an Apple ][+ to use to decode RTTY. [Radio Teletype news services when I was in Oman]

Later on, back in Hong Kong, I fired up a 300 Baud, phone line powered modem for connection to the local Bulletin Board Systems!

Finally, I got to 9600 & then 14.4K Bauds, & thence to 28.8K & 56K.

Finally, the big jump to 1.5Mbps down & 640K up.

In the following years, to 3Mbps, 6Mbps, and then to 8Mbps so that Now-TV could hog most of the bandwidth.

Finally to 100Mbps Up/Down with fibre to the computer in 2011 - I see that PCCW/Netvigator is pushing higher fibre connect speeds to the ill-informed.

But with URLs such as Speedtest.net showing that it can't even manage anything approaching 100Mbps data flows outside of Hong Kong - only fools & horses would go higher than the 100Mbps being offered right now. I pay HK$172 = US$22 = 12 Quid for UNLIMITED data flows 24/7. Oh the joys of "Far Cathay"!

Globalstar: Don't be afraid of our private Wi-Fi superhighway plan

Radiodoc
Big Brother

Damned Yankee Hegemony

Pretty much ANY router I buy in Hong Kong has been artificially limited for channels 1 to 11 *&* my IBM T60p's will not even find any channel above 11 - except for 5Ghz band where I use Channel 44 on them.

This restriction on channels above 11 on 2.4Ghz band is a pain in the arse.

I can't buy a decent router in HK and ship it to {say} Japan where THEY have up to Channel 14 to play around in.

LOHAN's mighty orb launch live NOW

Radiodoc
FAIL

Always "Late Delivery" !!

No much good reading of this (regrettably) epic fail - THIS copy of the reg e'Zine - as ever - arrived on MONDAY morning here in China.

Well, unfortunately, it is Par for the course. Always delayed!!!

At last: The brain-controlled helicopter

Radiodoc
Thumb Down

Terrible AUDIO "quality"

The entro "music" seemed "ok" but after that - the audio went from bad to worse!

Russia launches internet blacklist to protect the kiddies

Radiodoc
Black Helicopters

Ras Putin !

Seemed to me - for a long time - that Putin ought to be known a RASputin !!

Asus pledges Android 4.2 update for Google Nexus 7

Radiodoc
Flame

I suppose that there's NO Channel 13?

Just like the Asus TF101 - this Nexus can't be "persuaded" to operate on any channels ABOVE Channel 11 ???

'Hypersensitive' Wi-Fi hater loses case against fiendish DEVICES

Radiodoc
Alien

Bullsh1t not baffling MY brains.

I sit - almost every day - within no more than 3 feet of a Belkin router beaming out radiation on Channels 4 & 44 (Chosen solely 'cos "4" in Cantonese is "Dead/Death [My "in" joke] ) also a Dlink beating out its signal on Channel 10, *&* TWO "FON" access points each one radiating TWO Wi-Fi signals on Channels 1 & 7, and with an occasionally powered up PCCW router on Channel 5 to feed my NOW-TV converter. Likewise seldom used Dlink mini router for when hotels only provide a LAN cable - when as a family, we need at least 2 Wifi connections.

I'd transplant one router to Channel 13 - but Yankee Hegemony would then stop me using that channel for my Asus TF101 *&* my (admittedly) long in the tooth IBM T60P's - Damn the Yanks!

Yes, I know people here will say of my saturated Wi-Fi - "It's OVERKILL" - but at home I need to Wi-Fi service my wife, my daughter & my maid, and even - occasionally - my neighbors & myself too from our 100Mbps "fibre to the computer" set-up.

I'm 72 years old, and this plethora of radiation has not done me a scrap of discomfort or verifiable disease, even with a low cost dual SIM phone strapped to my waist for much of the day - every day!!!

Asus doubles up phone-slate combo's specs with Padfone 2

Radiodoc
Flame

Watch out for Yankee Hegemony

With Asus TF101 Tablet & I expect their other Tablets & devices, and other manufacturers too - they'll be limited to Wi-Fi Channels 1 thro to 11 - which ain't much good for people travelling to {say} Japan!!

My Chinese made Lenovo Netbooks cover Channels 1 to 13, BUT my Yankee hegemony infested IBM T60p's can only go 1 to 11 and the 5Ghz band!

Guess WHICH type I take to Japan ?!??!!

Helpful tip - the name begins with an "L" !!!

Skype touts FREE* Wi-Fi across the UK

Radiodoc
FAIL

FON tastic ??

I've been using two of the first original FON Access point since they first came out - Cost me a mere HK$44 [~GBP3.6] each and later another HK$ 22 for their discounted Hi-Gain - stick it on the windows antennas.

They are still working, but I had to cut into one of the Wall-wart power units when a capacitor dried up and there was insufficient power output to get it to work.

I only leave them on to provide Wi-Fi to my maid's room *&* to supposedly give me free access to others' FON devices when I travel - HOWEVER - I've never found ANY free FON access when travelling in Europe, Australia - or China.

I'm just thankful that the quality of the hotels I stay in usually provide free Internet access.

FON ?? Seems to be a complete waste of time seeking a FON connection - except my own!

And I usually use any one of my 3 OTHER routers iattached to a 100Mbps fibre to the study to provide me with the best connections!

Most Hong Kong iPhone 5s to be smuggled into China

Radiodoc
Go

Some things are cheaper over the Bamboo Curtain - at least for oldies!

HK-MTR charge an extortionate fare from Sheung Shui, the last station before the frontier, quite disproportionate to the distance travelled.

Once across into Commie-land's Shumchun - my costs for the SZMTR [different system /different card] are ZERO 'cos I'm old ! Same goes for their tourist areas - like Windows of the World - free to me at 70 !

Doesn't make me want to live there - or haul smuggled goods from HK to China.

Microsoft issues emergency IE bug patch

Radiodoc
WTF?

Why is it ever so - it takes THREE days to get the news here in China !!!

I have noted that - although the link is supposedly published on FRIDAY - I FINALLY got it on Monday at 14:30 China Time = GMT +8 hours.

i.e. ALWAYS late!

Acer Iconia Tab A700 32GB HD Android tablet review

Radiodoc
FAIL

Why no listing for Channel coverage ??

It's all very well spouting on about this, that, and the other Tablet. But there's seldom ANY mention of WHAT Channels they can be used on!

Presumably Yankee Hegemony demanded that the Asus TF101 - bought & using in Hong Kong - will never find or connect to anything above Channel 11 ! Same goes for my "long in the tooth" IBM T60p !

And far too many Wi-Fi routers that have gone thro' my hands in HK are similarly restricted - and you don't know till you try to set 'em up!

Amongst all my portables, I can only use Channel 13 on my Commie Chinese-made Lenovo S10-2's !!

Archos 101 XS 10.1in Android tablet review

Radiodoc
WTF?

Why is it......

..that the makers of most, if not all, of these ruddy Tablets are NOT explicit as to WHAT Wi-Fi Channels they will accept?

I do NOT want to waste my do$h AGAIN on a Tablet that has restricted Wi-Fi channels - probably due to Yankee Hegemony - as I will want to use it in Japan - which has Channels 12 *&* 13 !!

I can be cut off from a valid channel there because my Tablet of the moment [TF101] is totally incapable of even "seeing" such channels!

Whilst router makers can usually be found to specify WHICH channels they cover, it is a downright disgrace that Tablet makers are so conniving as to fail to even mention the channel range in their specifications.

I found out "the hard way" when I set one of my routers to Channel 13, and it couldn't be seen by my Asus TF101, nor by my IBM (Hegemony strikes again) more ancient T60p's.

However, my Lenovo S10-2's cover ALL the 2.4Ghz band - no problem at all.

First Irish-speaking virus holds bloke's computer to ransom

Radiodoc
Unhappy

Ah, 'tis "the luck of the Irish" - begorrah!

Asus CEO sounds netbook death knell

Radiodoc
WTF?

Watch out for Yankee Hegemony

One thing that routers tell you - at least when you get to the Set-Up Screens - is what 2.4Ghz Channels they can be set to!

I have an Asus TF101 Tablet - and NOWHERE can I find ANY reference to the fact that Yankee Hegemony has apparently demanded that Asus restrict operations to Channels One to Eleven.

I live in Asia - occasionally travel to Japan - where Channels 12 *&* 13 are valid options - but NOT for this crappy Asus TF101. Not only won't it operate up there, but also masks those channels too!

My Chinese Lenovo S10-2 functions from Channel 1 to 13 !

Also, it isn't too surprising that my old Yankee IBM T60p [Made in Commie China] is similarly Wi-Fi restricted too - but at least, it does work on Channel 44 on 5GHz band.

I've not tried any other channels on 5GHz - I chose "44" 'cos in - Chinese "44" sounds like "Death, Death" - and I already have "One foot in the grave at almost 72 years old. <Wry smile>.

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity 64GB Android tablet review

Radiodoc
FAIL

Be careful that the Yankee Hegemony does not up & Byte you!

Hmmm !!

The TF101 I've got here in Hong Kong has been "hobbled" to suit overbearing "Uncle Sam" domination - i.e. It goes no higher than Channel 11 Wi-Fi.

Not only that, but ASUS neither refuse to respond to my questions - nor offer to provide a "fix" for losing 2 otherwise useful channels!

Yet Japan uses UP TO Channel 13, so when I go to Japan - I have to seek out Wi-Fi services at Channel 11 or lower.

Ever tried listening - via browser - to Boomerradio.com??? After ~9 minutes I get the sounds of a Rattlesnake's rattle over-riding the music & have to stop the program and restart - it was still the same after my TF101 went away for "servicing" by the HK Asus official repair-shop.

My suggestion to all purchasers is to check whether later (per?)versions have these faults before you buy later models !!

ViewSonic V350 dual Sim Android smartphone

Radiodoc
Thumb Up

Dual SIMS *&* three phone numbers on the cheap!

I use a "down-market" Mobile with TWO SIM with TWO numbers on one of them.

One has a single Hong Kong Mobile number, and the other SIM is for another service provider's local HK Mobile number *&* a PHILIPPINES mobile number as well.

This allows me to receive SMSes (only) from the Philippines at a cost of ONE Peso - an almost microscopically small amount compared with the rest of the world (i.e. about 1.4 UK Pence per SMS) and for that the SMSes have reached me in Australia, Russia & the Baltic.

All this from a "cheap as chips" Chinese "Malata" brand phone costing me HK$240 = about GBP20, and the previous one of a similar brand cost me little more than GBP12 - and I sold that at a profit after using it for about a year.

Okay, so it's not got a huge screen or Android on it - but I only use it for phone calls and the occasional outgoing SMS when on the move. "SendmAssage.com" is my totally FREE SMS sender from my computer. and NO, the URL is spelt correctly!