iPhone microphone glitch

During vacation in Florida, my old new (will explain later) iPhone 4 become muted when making phone calls. Neither the regular microphone at the bottom of the phone nor the mic for the speaker on the top worked. Except for making phone calls, Skype, VOIP phone app, etc. worked fine for both microphones. I made an appointment at the local Apple store and the "Genius" there told me that it has to be replaced. Since the 90 day warranty (I recently paid $170 + tax to have it replaced due to a real hardware issue) just expired 3 days ago, I have to pay another $170 for a new iPhone 4.

At the same time, he did mention that this could be a software issue as the voice memo is working fine. Well the only way he suggested to clear that is to restore the iPhone as a new phone, which didn't help after spending quite a bit of time to resetting the phone and restoring it.

Luckily I brought my new Blackberry Z10 with me, so I did have a phone to use during vacation.  Once I got back home, a more thorough Google search turned up this post from MacRumors.  It referred to this blog post stating that this is a software glitch which disables the microphone for the native phone call App in iOS. The solution is to play the iPod app (or Music app in iOS 7).  Initially, this solution didn't work. However, I do have the impression that this problem happened when I was using the Microsoft Sync via Bluetooth on the rental car.

After connecting to my Bluetooth headset and playing music for a second then disconnecting it, the problem was solved.

What's surprising is that this seems to be a rather common problem based on the feedback/comments on the blog dated back to 2011.  Why on the world didn't Apple solve the problem or, even recognize it by the "Genius"?

Failed solid state drive: episode 2-the looks

After my first SSD failed, it turns out that I did have some important data not backed up. My friend Peter at work tried to recover it and didn't get anywhere. We called a few data recovery companies (using Google, what else?), and was told that they would all take a "look" for $5k.

Five grand to just take a look? No, thank you. Guess my data isn't that important to me.

I happened to be on a business trip to China where I thought I might had a chance for a cheaper "look". Before going, I found a company called "飞客" or "Fix"(as its web site is www.fix.com.cn) which seems legit. I called them and they said that they would "take a look, but no guarantees." There will be no charge if they can't recover the data. So, at least this is a free "look". What made me trust them is that I did talk to an engineer instead of someone who only know how to work the phone and get $5k for a "look".

Four weeks late, I was in Shanghai. After sneaking out a lunch break, I went to their Shanghai branch office with the SSD. An engineer talked to me and took the drive while asked me to wait outside.

After half an hour (whole lot more than I expected), he came back telling me the bad news: the drive is beyond their capability to restore.

Wait,

here's a slim hope: he called the headquarter in Beijing where they have better facilities and more experienced engineers. They said that I can get another "look" there. Since my last stop is Beijing after three days, I opted to bring the drive there myself instead of shipping it from the Shanghai office (for free, they said and no recovered data, no pay).

A slim hope is still hope.

First day in Beijing, I went to the headquarter near the university district. After talking to a girl at the reception, an engineer came out for another "look". I'm sure this would be the end of the "looks" for this SSD. It would straight go to the trash bin if this "look" doesn't work.

After half an hour later, he called me who's wondering around downstairs and let me know it's recoverable (while not sure how much can be recovered). I can take a look at the recovered data before deciding to pay for it.

And the cost is 1500 yuan or $220.

This sound promising! They would keep the drive for a few days and call me when it's done. Before leaving, they asked me to signed a contract as well as a confidentiality agreement which stated that they would not keep the data afterward. So far, very professional. I just hope "a few" days would not exceed my stay there.

The next day, I got a call from them and "almost all data are recovered"!

I went there in a hurry. It's right at lunch hour and the reception girl was already dressed and ready to leave for lunch with a friend. She saw me and stopped at the door. Then she went back for the engineer who then showed me the data on their computer. They wanted to make sure that I'm happy with the recovered data. Once I said yes, he went back with my portable hard drive to copy the data, while the reception girl decided to ask her friend to bring back a take out.

The copy took pretty long: more than one and half hour (the recovered data is about 40GB, may be they need a USB 2.0 port on their computers).

Anyway, after paying 1500 yuan as promised, I got my data back. All lost data (less than 0.1%) were in the Windows directory so nothing with value was lost.

It's a happy ending.

Peter said that all failed hard drives from work will be shipped to China from now on.

The line you wait in

In a recent trip to Honolulu, I personally experienced the different treatment based on class,

the fare class.

As a savvy traveler, I shop for the cheapest flight and buy non-refundable tickets. I therefore do not mind to be put in the last for standby. However, this class-differentiating treatment is done by no else, but the TSA, a US Federal government agency. They clearly state, at the entrance of the HNL, if you have a first class ticket, or belong to an elite frequent flyer program, you're entitled to cut in the long security line: enjoying the same previlige as the pilots and crew members.

I admit that the world is not equal and money talks. As someone put it, we've seen it in Disney World, what's wrong with that? The problem is, this is done by our government and I wasn't taxed any less for this "special treatment". On top of that, this is something no politian would dare to vote for but instead, leaves to the secretary of DHS to decide, which says something about the problem.

Enjoy the essay "The Waiting Game" from the Time magazine by Steve Rushin:

"Depending on whom you believe, the average American will, over a lifetime, wait in lines for two years (says National Public Radio) or five years (according to customer-loyalty expert Nick Wreden, whose post-office branch you might want to avoid).

The crucial word is average, as wealthy Americans routinely avoid lines altogether. Once the most democratic of institutions, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers. Poor suckers, mostly."

Zumanity: the Human Zoo

It is actually better than the Fantasy. The best part is at the beginning that two actor/actress playing in the transparent glass water bowl.

Fantasy at the Luxor

Backstage show:

My travel map

My travel map

1. Hangzhou, China


2. Cancun, Mexico


3. La Jolla, CA, USA


4. Marina del Rey, CA, USA


5. Maui, HI, USA


6. Gaithersburg, MD, USA


7. Chapel Hill, NC, USA


8. New York City, NY, USA

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Chicago trip

This is the best time of the year to visit Chicago. Beautiful skyline from the lake shore. It's a business trip that we have to stay in three different places.

The first place is the AmeriSuite Vernon Hills. It's about 20 miles north of the city in a nice suburb area. It's about 3 miles to the Vernon Hills MetroRail station on the North Central Service line. You may park there for free and the train ride to the Union Station is about 50 minutes. Unfortunately, the hotel shuttle won't go there, so rent a car is needed. The hotel is within walking distance to many big shopping centers in the area.

The hotel staff is nice and friendly. Hot breakfast is one of the best I've seen among those providing it for free. The room is relatively small for a suite but it does have a pull out sofa in the not so separate living area along microwave, frig, and sink. Again, the living area and bedroom are not really separate with the TV in the middle so both sides can view the same TV. Bathroom has a fan that works well but pretty loud. There is a mid-size pool without Jacuzzi. Fitness room is also small.

Main complain: our room is next to the elevator which is very noisy when it's moving. It sounds like a huge AC unit next to you. Since a kids summer camp was there over the weekend, so we can't switch room.

Since the Q-Center is full and we have to stay in theCountry Inn in St. Charles. It's about 5 miles from the Q-center and the shuttle bus does go there. Since we're the only one use the shuttle that day, the manager used his own car to pick us up at the end of the day. Like him, everybody in the hotel are very nice. We stayed in their King suite room. Similar to the AmeriSuite, the Country Inn is also located in a shopping area in a nice suburb. It's a much nicer hotel but smaller. The room is big, two separate TV for the completely separate living and bedroom rooms. The king bed is very comfortable and there's also a ceiling fan in the living room where the AC is hard to reach if the bedroom door is closed.

The breakfast is also hot but not as good as the AmeriSuite. The fitness room and the pool are very small but Jacuzzi works fine.

The room key always needs to be reset at the front desk, which is not very convenient. It also only have wired high-speed Internet. Wireless would be better.

The last place we stayed is the Q Center. I have mentioned earlier that it's the only thing left running in the Mighty Arthur Anderson. The staff are professional and nice. The meeting area is super and it has WiFi throughout the big complex. The standard rooms are extremely small.

Google Map driving directions from New York to Paris

Heard this from a co-worker and tried it myself. So funny...

3,800 mi (about 29 days 7 hours)
Step 1: Head southeast on Chambers St toward Broadway, 0.2 miles

Step 6: Turn right onto the F.D.R. Dr N ramp, 0.4 miles

Step 23: Swim across the Atlantic Ocean, 3462 miles
....


I guess most of the 29 days been spent on swimming at 2.2 meters/s or 120 meters /minute. Pleaes note the current world record on 100m freestyle is 47.84s.

Hampton Inn Cleveland downtown

Great location. I even got a room with a view (ok, partial) to the lake. It's on east 9th st, which goes all the way to the lake. Only the north east corner rooms on higher floors can have the view. The building has about 14-15 floors, so only 10 rooms have views. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is on the water front behind the black office building on the left.


It's also within walking distance to the city hall, the Brown stadium, Science centre, the gallaria, etc. The weather was nice that day and I walked around for about two hours. A bit windy, but very nice.

The hotel itself is also fine. One of the best I have stayed, better than some five-star.

Good:
the people (front desk and valet) there is very nice, there were no shampoo in the room, after a phone call and it's delivered in 2 minutes. room is clean and updated; very comfortable bed and dawn comforters; free wireless Internet (password given by front desk); real hot free breakfast;
Bad: not much, if you're really picky, here goes
No pool, didn't check out the gym either; very limited temporary parking space in front when check-in/out; self parking is across street at the church lot, you have to drive around the block to get there and the entrance is VERY narrow;

Cleveland Trip

Every time before I stayed around the airport. We booked downtown Hampton Inn this time and it's quite a pleasant surprise. Quite different from what I was told.

Mamma Mia

Great musical. Have heard most of songs, probably in Disco bars. My favorate is the last song Sophie sings: I have a dream. Couldn't find a good profession video on YouTube, but here's a very good one.

SOPHIE:
I have a dream
A song to sing
To help me cope
With anything
If you see the wonder
Of a fairy tale
You can take the future
Even if you fail
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream

COMPANY:
I have a dream
A fantasy
To help me through
Reality
And my destination
Makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darkness
Still another mile
I believe in angels
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream
I'll cross the stream

SOPHIE:
I have a dream
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream

I can't wait for the movie, produced by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson. Rita is Greek, may be it will be shot in Santorini island?

Grand Hyatt New York

We stayed there for a long weekend.

Very good location. Literally steps from the Grand Central. However, this is the only thing "Grand" about this hotel besides it's "grand" rate starting at $350/night + ~15% tax. It doesn't even have a pool. Since it's on Park Avenue, I'd understand it belongs to one of the Park Hyatt's brand, but Grand? It's about 10-15 minutes walk and two stops on Subway from Time Square, which is where we went for the Broadway shows. Unlike Time Square, there are not many places close by open after 10pm.

It's an older hotel with very well maintained lobby and meeting facilities. The rooms, well, are really showing their age. The paint on the room doors start to peeling off that I still can't believe it's an Hyatt. I intended to take a picture of the door, but forgot to do so when checking out.

The King room we got is big and has modern decoration, while the bathroom is extremely small, comparable to those in 2-star motels such as Sleep Inn. We requested a quiet room which was facing inside. No view, but it is very quiet.

No coffee maker in room. We got vouchers for two 12oz coffee/day at the shop downstairs ($2.50/12oz). It's really good coffee, so is the napkins.

Final words on my first JetBlue trip

The flight was delayed for another two hours on the way back home. May be it's the de-icing crew to blame, but JetBlue has a problem if this becomes a norm for all its flights out of JFK, which is their main hub. One of the main reasons for the mess over the past two weeks is that their crew and pilots had been stuck in JFK so planes in other airports had to stay grounded.

Besides, Direct TV stopped working after 15 minutes on the plane. The XM satellite radio works though along with the FOX in-flight TV shows.

In the end, transportation is all about on time. No matter how comfortable and convenient you are in an airport or on a plane, ultimately my choice of air travel will be whether I can get from point A to B in a controllable time frame.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), JetBlue flights sits in the bottom half for on time arrivals, while Southwest ranks the highest among large airlines. Not surprisingly, Southwest also ranks the top at profit margins. Its east coast hub, BWI, is one of the top airports that has the best on time arrival record as well.

The love Hate affair with JetBlue

This is the first time ever I fly with JetBlue. Heard it many times, but it's the first time on it.

Let's start what I hate:
The delays at JFK is horrible. If they really care about their customers as they claimed, or they simply just want to survive the brutal post 911 airline market, they got to get out of JFK. The volume of the airport that causes constant delays is killing them. My flight to JFK was delayed for more than 2 hours and the return flight is at least 1 hour late at this time (I'm writing this piece inside JFK thanks to this delay).

One other thing is how they designed their JFK terminal 6. The walkway to the airtrain station and short term parking lot has only entrance/exit outside the terminal building! what do they think this is? With subfreezing temperature and heavy snow in Big Apple, it doesn't take a geniuous to make everything inside the building, as much as possible.

Beside that, I love almost everything they do. This includes in-flight movies/tv shows (that's probably why their customers could stay more than 9 hours on the stranded plane last week). On top of that, they have put free wireless Internet in the terminal and many power outlets for peope to use their laptop.

Anyway, it's a tough call. Depends on who they want to target, this may make business sanse, who knows?

Christmas in Houston

We thought it should be pretty warm down there and it was in the 80's when we first arrived. But today, it's in the 30's and 40's, which is really cold for Houston.

1776 at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston

We were told that the theater is within walking distance from Boston Commons. Well, it is within walking distance, but we walked almost an hour to get there. It is outside the theater district. Although the play is well worth the walk, there are better ways to get there. We almost missed the play and had to take two of the last three non-adjacent seats.

Cancun trip: Wind surfing lessons

The resort did offer free short lessons in windsurfing and sailing on catamaran. Unfortunately, it's pretty windy throughout our stay except one day. They also only have gears with large sails that is difficult to beginners.

I took on the windsurfing despite these problems. In the first day, after a short on the beach lesson, I made the mistake that drifting to deeper water and ended up about 100 meters from shoreline. In this picture, I'm the small dot on the left of the peer.



Since I hadn't master the basics on getting up the sail from water by myself in strong wind, they ended up having to rescure me using a moto boat.

Cancun Day Two

The Moon Palace Resorts is very nice, including the facilities, location, and staff. Unfortunately the check-in efficiency is very low. It took almost 15-20 minutes for each guest to check-in. They need make copies of all the credit cards, passports, tourist cards, etc.

We got a room in the far end of the Nizuc section. About 1/4 mile from the Nizuc lobby and a full mile from the Sunrise (main) lobby. It has a partial ocean view, which is very nice. The floor is in marble. A little cold but not slippery as mentioned by someone in Tripadvisors. It's nice they provide the slippers. I love the all marble separate shower. It's large and had a step to sit on. The in suite Jacuzzi is just okay. A little dirty at first. Since the outside pool is so nice and there are a couple of super size Jacuzzi by the poor, I guess there's not many people is using the ones inside the room. Plasma TV is fine, but not too much program. Well, nobody's here to watch TV. It does have plenty of soccer either from Mexico or from Europe.

Cancun Day One

The flight felt much shorter than it was with the new on-flight entertainment system that you can choose different movies, TV shows, and even your own music play list from a rather limited selection. This is the first time I use such a system that you can pause and replay shows for each individual passenger. It even has a USB port for playing for own mp3 collections.


I watched "Click" for the trip. It's just a so-so movie with an old story line that some guy (Adam Sandler) regretted (and successfully re-lived it the right way) his life choices. It's all about Adam Sandler himself. While Kate Beckindale is very sexy, that's about all she does in this movie.





The airport was very crowed. The immigration and customs were pretty efficient and fast. When getting out, we were facing a "you've-been-warned" crowd that trying to grab you to their bus/cab/etc. However, the two people we talked to did point us to the right direction where our pre-arranged drivers were waiting for us.

Cancun

Going to Cancun for a week. It is time for a break.