An error occurred while signing: SignTool.exe not found.

Ever get either of these two errors while trying to deploy a .Net app? Specifically, while trying to publish a Click-Once deployed app (it can happen in other cases too)?

I’ve got a freshly built PC with Visual Studio 2013 installed and one of the first apps I created was a simple WinForms app with Click-Once deployment and I got this error.

After much frustrated Googling, I found no answers, so I figured this one out myself.

Here’s why this error happens

[GARD]

The signtool.exe file is actually missing. But, that doesn’t mean you don’t have it on your PC. There are multiple SDK versions likely installed on your machine, but the signtool.exe isn’t in all of them and where ever Visual Studio is looking for it is NOT one of the locations that has it.

Solution

I searched my hard drive for signtool.exe and found it here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.1A\Bin

Then I noticed that in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows

there were multiple version folders. I placed a copy of signtool.exe in each one of them inside their bin folder. If they didn’t have a bin folder, I created one.

Turns out, the v7.0A\bin folder is where it needed to be (at least, on MY machine). After placing a copy of signtool.exe there, it solved the problem.

[GARD]

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2014-09-13

DynDNS.org e-mail database compromised

The compromise of the DynDNS.org e-mail database is not “news” on this day, though it may be news to YOU. The point of this post is not to broadcast news, but to demonstrate:

Why you should protect your E-Mail address.
How to protect your E-Mail address.
How people have a responsibility with the E-Mail addresses people have entrusted with them.

[GARD]

1. Why you should protect your E-Mail address

What do I mean by “protect” your e-mail address? After all, you HAVE to give it to people in order for them to send you e-mail, right? Well, kind of, but you don’t have to give everyone the SAME e-mail address. I’ll explain shortly, but first, here’s what happens when you don’t protect your e-mail address.

You get spam

If you give out the same e-mail address to everyone (and again, I’ll show you how to not do that shortly), then at some point, someone you gave it to is going to spam you or sell it to a spammer or their user database will get compromised and your address will be stolen and sold to spammers.

You get phishing attacks

Once spammers have your e-mail address, they’ll send you fake e-mail messages trying to trick you into signing into a fake bank website or some other fake site that replicates a business you probably have an account with, then will STEAL your REAL money.

Look at what happenned to ME when a spammer somehow compromised DynDNS.org’s email database and got MY e-mail address:

There are no toll roads where I live and I don’t have an account with E-Zpass (I’ve never even heard of it), so I knew immediately that this was a phishing scam, even without Google’s warning. Also, the English is poorly written. But, if I weren’t as alert and if Google hadn’t flagged it, AND if I were an E-ZPass customer, it’s possible I’d have been tricked, and I’m sure many other people are tricked frequently.

You can’t trace who leaked your address

If you give the same e-mail address to EVERYONE, then you will receive spam on that address and have no way to determine who leaked it. In my example above with the fake “E-ZPass” phishing scam email, I know EXACTLY who’s responsible for leaking it. It was DynDNS.org. How do I know? Because that phishing email was sent to an email address alias that has only EVER been given to dyndns.org and is NOT one that would have been guessed. Here’s DynDNS’s response. They are STILL ultimately responsible.

2. How to protect your E-Mail address

I promised above I’d tell you how. Here it is:

In short, you use a different email address for EVERY website you sign up with (and that’s VERY easy to do!!!!). View my links for instructions on how to do that. It’s actually quite easy, but I go into detail on 3 different levels (basic – for beginners).

Once you do this, if you ever get spam, you can look at the TO address and that will reveal which website you gave that address to, which reveals who’s responsible for either spamming you, selling your address to spammers, or having compromised the protection of your e-mail address. Then you can block that address so you don’t have to deal with the spam anymore.

In DynDNS’s case, they claim it was their e-mail marketing company that accidentally leaked the addresses. Doesn’t matter though. DynDNS should never have entrusted that third party or should have researched their security measures. DynDNS is fully responsible since they’re the ones that collected the addresses.

3. How people have a responsibility with the E-Mail addresses people have entrusted with them

If you’re on the receiving end of people signing up to your website or newsletters or services of any kind, you have a moral/ethical responsibility to protect those e-mail addresses. In DynDNS’s case, they failed. Even though they’re claiming it was their partner marketing company that failed, the responsibility still lies on DynDNS’s shoulders. It is YOUR (you, the custodian of other people’s addresses) responsibility to ensure the security of them. If you share that e-mail address with others, you MUST inform your users BEFORE they give you their e-mail address as AS PART of the process of receiving their e-mail address. It is also your responsibility to ensure the integrity of the security of the partner with whom you give those e-mail addresses. In short, you really should NEVER give those addresses to partners. If you need to send out mass mailings to your customers who have entrusted you with their e-mail address, you must honor that trust and have your own, in-house e-mail marketing.

YOU are the gate-keeper of those addresses and if it falls into the wrong hands, even because of lax security by a third party, it’s STILL 100% your fault. You shouldn’t have given that trusted data to someone else OR you should have fully researched their security measures.

[GARD]

If you ever discover a breach, either internally or externally, it is your responsibility to inform all of your users as soon as you find out.

2014-02-01

Quicken 2014 Bug

I’ve reported on many Quicken bugs over the years and have reported them all to Intuit multiple times. I’d be embarrassed to admit how many hours I’ve spent on the phone, walking them through their own bugs. It’s all been 100% fruitless. They don’t care or can’t comprehend that their precious product isn’t perfect. So, I will now only report it on their website and blog about it here, hoping that maybe they’ll feel just a tiny shred of embarrassment. And, of course, for your benefit to know that it’s not just you experiencing this bug. It is a real thing.

So, what’s the bug THIS time?

If you download your transactions from your bank, and one of them is a deposit, then you attempt to change the name of the deposit from say, “DEPOSIT” (which the bank gave it) to the actual payer, say “John Smith”, Quicken will CHANGE THE TRANSACTION DATE to a date in the future, saying “It’s too late to make a payment to John Smith”. Here’s an actual screen shot:

Forget that this is a deposit of only a penny (that’s a whole other blog post!) The point is that this IS a deposit and I want to change the name from “DEPOSIT” to “Verizon Wireless”, who is the one that sent me the check. Quicken 2014 insists that I must be setting up a payment and refuses to keep the actual transaction date that’s already there.

I even accepted the transaction as “DEPOSIT”, hoping that after it was already in the registry, that I could change the payee to the right name and it still exhibits the same bug.

Solution

I know of no solution. As a work around, I just put “Verizon Wireless” in the memo field instead, leaving the bank’s choice of “DEPOSIT” in the payee field, which is NOT the right solution. So, no solution, only a less than desired work around.

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2014-01-18

Sick of the NSA Spying on you?

Check out Android Spaces

Setting aside the tin foil hat and paranoia jokes, no one likes being tracked or their private text messages being scraped up by the U.S. government’s massive computers, nor their phone metadata being logged, nor even the possibility of someone being able to listen in or record your phone calls (the NSA denies they listen to calls, but others with even FEWER ethics CAN).

Here’s what you can do to protect yourself on your Android SmartPhone

Encrypt your text messages. There are 2 good options:

Install the TextSecure app. This app will automatically detect which of your contacts also has this app installed and will automatically encrypt your SMS text messages with those individuals. TextSecure is available on iOS too! This means you can have encrypted texting sessions with both iOS and Android users!

Root your phone and install CyanogenMod 11 (or higher). CM 11 has built-in support for TextSecure encryption, coded directly INTO the Operating System. This means, you don’t have to install the TextSecure app. Automatically, ALL SMS apps on your phone suddenly support TextSecure encryption. But, you have to turn it on. The feature is called “WhisperPush”. Simply find the WhisperPush app on your phone, run it, and follow the instructions. It’s the simplest setup you’ll ever experience.

Encrypt your voice phone calls (yes, you can do that)

This used to be stuff of only fiction in spy movies, but it’s a reality today and YOU can do it within minutes of reading this article. First, install the app RedPhone from the Google Play Store. This app is made by the same people that make TextSecure. Both you and the person you’re calling (or receiving a call from) have to be using this in order to have a secure, encrypted phone call. When you install the app, the first time you run it, it’ll ask you to register your phone number. Now, anyone else with the app, when they call you’re number, the app knows you have it and will offer the caller the option to make the phone call encrypted. Note that this uses your DATA connection and NOT your phone connection. You’re not actually making an actual phone call. It’s more of an internet audio chat. But you don’t need to know that other than if you have a data cap, this will use your data. As far as you and the other caller are concerned, for all practical purposes, it’s a phone call. But your carrier will have no record of it AND anyone trying to listen in will only see a stream of random bytes streaming. It’s totally encrypted… just like in the spy movies!

Encrypt your E-Mail

This is a bit more difficult. I’ll provide another article on how to do this. The short version is you need to install djigzo from the Google Play store to manage your keys. Then you’ll need an e-mail client that can use those keys to encrypt and decrypt your e-mail. K-9 Mail is supposedly one of those apps. For the record, I’ve NEVER gotten this to work.

Encrypt your phone

Android can encrypt your entire phone. Don’t confuse yourself. This does NOT encrypt ANY internet traffic to or from your phone. It encrypts the files on the phone itself.

Go to Seetings –> Security –> Encrypt Phone

Warning! This can take an hour or so! Make sure your phone is plugged in AND has at least an 80% charge. You do NOT want this failing in the middle of it. It will also require you to set a lock screen PIN or password, if you don’t already have one. Once you do this, you CANNOT flash anymore ROMs on your phone (if you’re rooted). So, make sure you’re good to go with the ROM you have.

Add a PIN or password to your phone

This one is obvious. You need to set a PIN or a Password on your lock screen, otherwise, anyone can use your phone and see your data.

Add extra PIN for individual apps

Install the app AppLock from the Google Play store. Open it up and set your settings. You’ll set a PIN and you’ll select the apps you want to have an extra layer of protection. Hint: DO NOT use the SAME PIN here that you’re using for your phone lock screen.

This app will pop up a PIN prompt whenever someone tries to open one of your extra protected apps. For example, you may want to enable your backing apps and credit card apps via AppLock so that you have to know that extra PIN in order to lauch them. This way, if you let someone borrow your phone, they can’t go snooping into your financial data.

Hide apps and/or files on your phone

Maybe you have some apps that you don’t want other people to know or use. Go to the Google Play store and download an app called Hide It Pro. When you install it, it’ll show up on your phone as “Audio Manager”. It’s deliberately deceptive. The purpose of this app is to hide apps and/or files on your phone. You protect them with a password of your choosing. If someone’s snooping around on your phone, all they’ll see for this app is a music icon with a label, “Audio Manager”. And if they launch it, it’ll even have working audio controls. Those controls are totally for faking out people snooping on your phone. Long press on the app title at the top of the screen (inside the app) and you’ll be prompted for a password, which then takes you into the real app where you can select apps and files to hide. They won’t even show up anywhere on the phone with the regular phone interface.

Hide your browsing and internet traffic

Your ISP can see all the sites you go to, and so can the NSA, and so can anyone else snooping on your wireless connection (or even your wired connection). And websites know what IP address you’re using, which means they can ask the ISP that own’s that IP address who is using it, and they’ll give them your name, address, and phone number. What you need is something that bounces your web page requests to random computers all over the world. Yes, this is exactly what you see “hackers” doing in hi-tech spy movies and YOU can do it too… VERY EASILY. Install the app Orbot on your phone. Follow the directions. It’s super simple. If your phone is rooted, it can obfuscate ALL of your internet traffic. If your phone is NOT rooted, it can work with a few apps on your phone (web browser and e-mail, in particular) and bounce all your traffic from those supported apps all around the world. It’ll slow down your connection a little, but it’ll also protect you against nosy, 3 letter acronyms including ISPs.

Click here to follow me on Google+.

Follow me on Twitter @CSharpner.

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2012-12-26

Best Android Apps to start off 2013

Check out Android Spaces

Here are my “Best of” Android apps to start off with in 2013.

I’ll list them by category and explain the purpose of each one and why I’m choosing it. Each category will be a separate post because, as you can see of the length of the list, it would be quite long if it were all in one post. Each bulleted category below is a LINK to the article about the apps in that category. The list of categories below will only have hotlinks to articles for which I’ve completed. Keep checking back as I post more articles… one for each category below.

•	Phone/Communication Apps
•	Finance
•	Shopping (Everything here is FREE)
•	Imaging
•	Utilities
•	Audio
•	Games
•	Calculators
•	File Management
•	Security
•	Geo Location
•	Launchers
•	Productivity
•	Social
•	News & Reference
•	Time (Clocks/Alarms/Calendars, etc…)
•	Networking
•	Weather

Phone/Communication Apps

These apps have to do with phone calling features or communicating with IM or Texting or live video communication.

Click here to follow me on Google+.

Follow me on Twitter @CSharpner.

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2012-12-26

Best Android Apps to start off 2013 (Phone/Communication Apps)

Check out Android Spaces

This article is one of a series of articles about the best Android apps available as of the beginning of 2013. Click here for the main article that includes links to this article and links to all the other categories of “The Best Of” apps for beginning 2013. Let’s get started with the Phone/Communication category, which lists the best phone and communication apps available at the ending of 2012 and beginning of 2013.

Google Voice

Google Voice is, by far, one of the most valuable FREE Android apps available. [GARD] There’s a LOT of confusion and misinformation about what this app is. So, let me first explain what it is NOT!

Google voice:

IS NOT a replacement for your phone’s dialer.
IS NOT a VOIP app (It doesn’t let you make calls over the internet, bypassing your carrier’s minutes).
IS NOT JUST an app. It’s also a service available from many devices and software.

So, if it’s not the above, then WHAT is it?

It’s two parts, so let’s list them, then explain them:

It’s a SERVICE provided by Google (not an app).
There’s also an Android app, using the same name, that provides a UI to the Google Voice services.

Note that you MUST first create a Google Voice account. If you already have a GMail account or any other Google account like a Google+ account, just log in to it, then go to http://voice.google.com and activate your voice service, get a new phone# (it’ll walk you through it) and then make at least one phone call from GMAIL via your web browser (that’ll activate the voice chat features you’ll need for greater features I describe further down in this article).

The SERVICE:

Google Voice as a service is a service in the same sense that Google Search is a service or that Google Maps is a service. The mapping technology actually lives on the Google servers, distributed across the planet. They provide multiple UIs to access the mapping service, like the web UI at http://maps.google.com and the iOS Google Maps app and the Android Google Maps app, and Google Earth for Windows (and many other platforms). Google Voice is also a service that’s hosted on Google’s server farms and there are many UIs available for Google Voice too, including the web interface at http://voice.google.com and the Android App available in the Google Play store here.

The Google Voice service provides the following features:

A free phone number from any area code in the United States (and many other countries).
- Note that a “phone number” is not a “phone line”. It’s JUST a number!
Free voice mail.
- V-Mail available from a web UI.
- V-Mail forwarded to your e-mail.
- Access via a web browser.
- Access via any real phone.
- Access via the Google Voice app on Android.
SMS Texting (via any of the available UIs (web browser, Android App, iOS app, certain hardware, and many 3rd party apps)).
Telemarketer blocking.
Individual number blocking.
Caller ID.
Make/Receive phone calls via your PC’s browser (in G-Mail).
Conference calling.
3 way calling.
Call hold.
Call forwarding.
Forward incoming calls to any real phone (like your cell, your work phone, your home phone, etc…)
Plus many other features.

The Android App:

The Google Voice Android app is just one of many front ends to the Google Voice Service. The Android app is available here in the Google Play store. Note that the Google Voice service is supported by MORE than just the Google Voice app available from Google. There are many other apps that add significant value to the Google Voice service, two of which I’ll include in this article. Installing the Google Voice app on your Android Device (which does NOT have to be a Phone!!!) will give you the following features: [GARD]

Free, unlimited SMS texting (just like your expensive texting plan, but free).
Google Chat, including video chat.
Make calls from your Android device through your GV number (don’t confuse this with VOIP. This feature will NOT make a call over your internet connection. It just uses your regular cell phone minutes, but it’ll dial your GV # first, then from there, make an outgoing call from your GV# so that the party you’re calling will see your GV# on their caller ID and not your cell phone number (this feature is only available on phones, BTW, not tablets or other Android devices).

The free texting service is reason alone to install this app. Click the link in the prior sentence to read all about it, with full instructions on how to do it. Do that, then cancel your expensive texting plan and have your cell provider BLOCK texting from your phone so you don’t accidentally send text messages using your carrier’s expensive plan.

Groove IP:

Groove IP is an app in the Google Play store. There are 2 versions, the lite, free version available here, and the full featured, paid version available here.

This app is a 3rd party app that uses the Google Voice service (so, you need a free Google Voice account), but provides something fundamentally important on your Android device that the Google Voice app does NOT! [GARD] It let’s you make and receive phone calls directly to and from your Google Voice number over the internet. This is a very very important distinction that so many people have a difficult time understanding. Remember, the Google Voice app does NOT exist to let you make phone calls over the internet, bypassing your phone carrier’s expensive minutes plan. Groove IP DOES!!! Groove IP turns your phone or tablet (any Android device with a speaker, microphone, and internet connection) into a phone that uses ONLY your Google Voice account. If you make or receive a call to or from your Google Voice # with this app, YOUR CELL PHONE PROVIDER IS UNAWARE OF THE CALL AND SEES IT ONLY AS INTERNET USAGE!!!! Why do I keep underlining, bolding, and italicizing these things? Because I have to explain this to people about a dozen times before it sinks in. I don’t know why, because it seems pretty simple, but I think people have a preconceived idea of what the Google Voice app does and just can’t move past that. This app WILL let you make and receive phone calls using ONLY your data connection. It will NOT be recorded as a phone call made with your cell phone provider. It will NOT use up minutes on your minutes plan, as the image above claims.

You start the app, log in with your Google account, and this app gives you its own phone dialer. From here, you can make a call, as long as you have a decent internet connection. It doesn’t matter if it’s a wifi connection or via the cell towers… just as long as it’s an internet connection.

As long as this app is on and logged in (and there’s a setting to make it do that when the phone powers on), if someone calls your Google Voice number, you can answer it with this app and carry on a normal “phone” conversation… and it’s all FREE (meaning it won’t use your plan’s minutes). Of course, if you have a limited data plan, you’ll need to monitor usage, but it’s pretty small in usage. (Sprint and T-Mobile customers still have unlimited data plans available).

Yes, you can STILL use your regular dialer and still make and receive calls using your regular cell phone number.

If you install this on a tablet, your tablet becomes a phone! YES, REALLY!

The difference between the paid version and the free version is the free version limits your use to JUST your wifi connection. So, if you have a tablet that doesn’t have cellular data capabilities, there’s no advantage to buying the paid version. Just install the free version. If you have a tablet with cellular data capabilities, the paid version lets you continue to use your tablet as a phone any where you have coverage. Ditto for your phone. Of course, there are no minutes used when talking on a call made or received with this app.

Talkatone

Talkatone is almost identical to Groove IP, so rather than repeating everything I’ve already said, read the Groove IP review above, then continue here for the few differences.

OK, now that you’ve read the Groove IP section above, let’s continue…

In addition to all the features listed above for Groove IP, this all also provides texting over your Google Voice account and lets you send pictures to other Google chat users. So, this app overlaps in features with the Google Voice app (texting).

[GARD]

This app is also available on iOS.

Mr. Number

Mr. Number (available here in the Google Play store) is invaluable in that it shows you who’s calling, even if they’re caller ID information is blocked. It’s especially useful for avoiding telemarketers (or bill collectors). It gathers information from other Mr. Number users who mark their incoming calls as spam or not, which is sent back up to the Mr. Number servers and if they ever call you, then Mr. Number steps in immediately, before you answer, to tell you. Then, you can just ignore the call, force it to hang up on them, or block them. You’ll never receive a call from them again.

Absolutely Invaluable!

Mr. Number is NOT the only app/service that provides this capability, but it’s one of the most popular. Popularity is important with this kind of app because its database of spammers is crowd sourced. The bigger the crowd, the more extensive their database of spammers, bill collectors, and survey takers.

This app is also available on iOS. That’s important because it increases the pool of people contributing to the data.

Call Master

Call Master (available here in the Google Play store) is similar to Mr. Number, but much more powerful. It requires a rooted phone. It can dig in underneath your native phone and do some extra powerful stuff that a regular app just can’t do without root access. This is definitely an app for power users, but it is very very powerful.

From its description in the Google Play store:

Advantages:

★ Your phone never rings
★ Your screen never turns on
★ Private call and SMS inbox with log sweeper
★ Reject unknown, withheld and private numbers
★ Password protection
★ Route message content to other numbers
★ Clear frequent call lists

Features:

★ Block MMS before download
★ Filter SMS by content
★ Text variable creation, routing and replies
★ Global regex and wildcard filters
★ Custom notification icons
★ Vibration and LED feedback
★ Backup encryption and password protection
★ Powerful logging and sorting system
★ Number testing
★ Independent contact library for total privacy
★ Profile scheduling
★ Light and dark themes

YP Mobile

YP Mobile (available here in the Google Play store) provides your basic yellow pages phone book, plus the familiar stuff you find in other “local services” apps for finding restaurants, gas prices, etc…

[GARD]

Not much more to say about it. This app is no more or less special than others of its type, but I’m including it as one in that type of category. Others are Yahoo!, Yelp, and Where. Personally, I find Google Maps a superior tool for finding local businesses and their phone numbers as it shows a map of your results, so you can see, visually, immediately, what’s close by, then just tap whichever one you want on the map to get the details and phone numbers.

You Chime In

What are some of YOUR favorite apps in this category? Let us know in the comments below.

Conclusion

This completes my list of “Best” phone-specific apps available to start off 2013. There are, of course, other communication types of apps and this is, by no means, a comprehensive list. These are the apps in this category that I use on a daily basis and install on a new phone or tablet as soon as I get it.

Click here to follow me on Google+.

Follow me on Twitter @CSharpner.

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2012-12-09

Google Play Gift Cards SUCK!

[Update] See updated addendum at end of article.

If you buy Google Play gift cards with the expectation that you can buy a Nexus 7 tablet or other products from the Google Play store, DON’T BUY THE GIFT CARDS!

Why? Because you CAN’T buy things like a Nexus 7 tablet. I just purchased 10 $25 gift cards for a total of $250 to buy my son’s Christmas present… a Google Nexus 7 tablet. As anyone can clearly see, the Nexus 7 tablet is front and center on the Google Play store home page.

The gift cards say nowhere that you can’t use your store credit from gift cards to buy tablets. Here’s what the actual gift cards look like:

If you can’t read the text on the back of that card, here it is:

Get music, movies, books, Android apps and more on Google Play. Purchase and enjoy your content on both the web and your Android phone/tablet.

To redeem on the web:

Go to play.google.com/redeem.
Scratch label off of card & enter code.
Start shopping – your gift card value will be added to your Google Play balance.

To redeem on an Android phone/tablet:

Launch Google Play Store app on your Android phone or tablet.
Select Redeem.
Scratch label off of card & enter code.
Start shopping – your gift card value will be added to your Google Play balance.

Terms & Conditions

Use of card subject to additional terms and privacy policy: play.google.com/about/card-terms.html. Valid only for users 13+ years of age and resident of U.S. Redemption requires Google Wallet account and internet access. Limits may apply to redemption and use. No fees or expiration dates applicable to this card. Card may be used for purchases of eligible items on Google Play only. Any refunded amount will be credited back to your Google Play balance for future use under same terms. Card is not redeemable for cash or other cards; not reloadable or refundable; cannot be combined with other non-Google Play balances in your Google Wallet account, resold, exchanged or transferred for value (except as required by law). Once card is purchased, risk of loss and title for card passes to purchaser. Google Payment Corp. and its affiliates disclaim all express or implied warranties as to the Google Play card and Google Play. For assistance or to view your Google Play card balance, visit support.google.com/googleplay/card-help. To speak to customer care call us at 1-855-466-4438. Issued and © 2012 by Google Payment Corp. All rights reserved.

As is clearly seen, there’s nothing on here to inform a gift card purchaser, while they’re still in the store, that you can’t use it to buy tablets.

To top it all off, there’s no way to get refunds from these cards. What the hell and I going to do with $250 credit in the play store? In 2.5 years in the play store, I’ve spent a total of about $25. At that rate, it’ll take me 10 years to use up that credit, and I put this credit on my son’s account so that his tablet would arrive already set up with his account. What’s worse is this was what I had budgeted for my son’s “big” Christmas gift. Now that money is tied up in a useless place. I’m not Google… Piles of money don’t just show up in my checking account every night.

[Update] I just got off the phone with a representative at the Google Play store. He knew what I was going to complain about just as I started. He was very sympathetic with my position and said he’s aware that this is a HUGE problem! They’re getting LOTS of calls with this same issue. He also said there’s absolutely nothing, whatsoever, that he, nor even his supervisors can do. He felt incredibly bad and said he’s taking the contact information of everyone that calls with this problem so he can contact us as soon as this situation changes. He said they (his peers) have been complaining up the chain about this problem to no avail.

So, my problem still remains completely unresolved and all my money tied up in their store.

Did I help you? Can you help me now?

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working version of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2012-10-06

Can’t play 3D Blu-Ray DVDs?

Can’t play 3D Blu-Ray DVDs on your new Samsung 3D Blu-Ray DVD player? Getting this error?

“THIS BLU-RAY 3D DISC REQURIES A COMPATIBLE
3D HDTV & BLU-RAY 3D PLAYER OR A BLU-RAY PLAYER
THAT HAS BEEN UPGRADED WITH THE NECESSARY
FIRMWARE TO ALLOW 3D FILM PLAYBACK.
2D PLAYBACK IS NOT AVAILABLE VIA THIS DISC.”

Here’s how to fix the problem:

First, I’m assuming the blatantly obvious, that you actually HAVE a 3DTV and your 3D Blu-Ray DVD player is connected to your 3DTV with an HDMI cable.

There’s actually a menu option in the DVD player menu system, buried deep inside, that you have to fix. The Samsung tech support rep I spoke to on the phone had no clue and wanted me to take the disc back and swap it for another. Don’t do that. Here are the menus to fix it:

From the main screen on your DVD player (press STOP on your remote if you’re seeing the blue screen error above), go to settings and choose “Display”.
Choose “3D Settings”, then “3D Playback Mode”
It should be set to “3D –> 3D”………………….

The DVD will then switch to sending a 3D signal to the TV. Just like on a Windows computer, when you switch resolutions, it’ll give you 15 seconds to accept the change, or it’ll switch back.

Select OK and it’ll do the 3D video test.

Notice that my TV overlays another dialog box, notifying me that it’s now receiving a 3D signal. Your TV might do something similar. Note the dialog box behind that? The one sent from the DVD player? It’s got a 15 second count down and you’d better choose “OK” from your DVD remote or it’ll switch back to 2D mode.

Done! Notice that in the image below, both the left and right eye images are showing. My camera is not filtering them, so we see both… just to validate that it’s working.

Put your 3D glasses on and enjoy!

Did I help you? Can you help me now?

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

2012-10-06

Don’t spend $100 on an HDMI 3D cable

If you go to an electronics store like BestBuy or HHGregg for a cable to play 3D content, they’ll try to sell you a high end HDMI cable for a ridiculously high price.

Click here to follow me on Google+.

Follow me on Twitter @CSharpner.

They’ll tell you you HAVE to have it to watch 3D content because HD 3D content uses too much bandwidth for the cheap HDMI cables to handle. 3D HDMI cables are rated at 10.2Gb/s (10.2 billion bits per seconds).

IT’S NOT TRUE!

[GARD]

At least, not for the cheap ones that claim they can do 3D… or more specifically, these low cost 3D HDMI cables DO work. I just verified it with my own 3D equipment. The picture below is an affiliate hyperlink directly to the product on Amazon.

I ordered 6 or so of these and they work on all of my HDMI equipment, including the 3D DVD player connected to my 3D TV. The work on all of my HDMI equipment, including the following: all links are affiliate links to Amazon.com

	Sharp 70″ 1080p 3D LED Smart TV with FREE 3D Glasses
	Roku 2 XS 1080p Streaming Player
	LG 42CS560 42-Inch 1080p 60Hz LCD HDTV
	Samsung BD-E5900 3D WiFi Blu-ray Disc Player (Black)
	NEW VIP 722K Dual Tuner HD DVR Dish Network
	Toshiba DR430 1080p Upconversion Progressive Scan DVD±RW Recorder w/USB & HDMI (Black)

See these images?

You’ll find an actual working versions of them at the top and bottom of this article. Please click the appropriate buttons in it to let your friends know about this article.

Check back later for updates too!

Click here to follow me on Google+.

Follow me on Twitter @CSharpner.

2012-07-23

Shovelware on your phone

Check out Android Spaces

Do you use the pre-installed software that came on your phone? I don’t mean the popular stuff like Google Maps and such… I mean the proprietary stuff… the stuff from your Carrier like T-Mobile or Verizon? Or the stuff from your handset maker like Samsung or HTC? For example:

Getting started with S Memo

Not to pick on Samsung or their reportedly “good” app “S-Memo”… That’s one of many examples. Usually proprietary software sucks or costs money to use or sux AND costs money to use. But, sometimes, some of it is quite nice. That’s purportedly the case with Samsung’s S-Memo, but I’m not here to promote that software.

Click here to follow me on Google+.

Follow me on Twitter @CSharpner.

In fact, regardless of how nice it might be, I’m choosing to not even bother with it. And, there’s an important reason why:

It’s not available on other phones and never will be!

One of the draws of the Android platform is that it’s hardware agnostic. That means, I can run Android on a plethora of devices from an almost countless number of hardware providers and software written for Android will wok on the vast majority of them. Why would I want to get mired down in an app that I cannot take with me when I decide to switch to another phone? That would be like buying a Dell computer with a proprietary spreadsheet app that’s not compatible with Excel or LibreOffice. Then, if I want to buy say, an HP computer, I can’t use the Dell spreadsheet app or the spreadsheets I created with it. What’s the point? Specifically, what’s the point for ME? I can see the point for Samsung… If I start using it, it locks me into their hardware. But that doesn’t help me or you.

So, regardless of how awesome it may be, I’m just simply not going to use it. There are PLENTY of other note taking apps out there like ColorNote, OneNote, EverNote that are NOT tied to one maker’s hardware

What about you? Do you use any of the proprietary software that came with your phone? If so, what do you use and what are your plans for making the switch to another phone at some point in your future that doesn’t provide it?

Here’s why this error happens

Solution

1. Why you should protect your E-Mail address

You get spam

You get phishing attacks

You can’t trace who leaked your address

2. How to protect your E-Mail address

3. How people have a responsibility with the E-Mail addresses people have entrusted with them

So, what’s the bug THIS time?

Solution

Here’s what you can do to protect yourself on your Android SmartPhone

Encrypt your text messages. There are 2 good options:

Encrypt your voice phone calls (yes, you can do that)

Encrypt your E-Mail

Encrypt your phone

Add a PIN or password to your phone

Add extra PIN for individual apps

Hide apps and/or files on your phone

Hide your browsing and internet traffic

Phone/Communication Apps

Google Voice

The SERVICE:

The Android App:

Groove IP:

Talkatone

Mr. Number

Call Master

YP Mobile

You Chime In

Conclusion

Here’s how to fix the problem: