• Article Here

Very short version is that Yelp was being accused (by many) of strong-arming small businesses into paying up to bury negative reviews and “favorite” positive ones to get a better overall review on the service.

Those are some pretty serious allegations for a site that is supposed to be user driven based on real experiences. Why bother having people post their reviews if you’re not going to post them or be bribed into deleting/removing bad and promoting good?

Anyway, on to why this is now a post on my site…

I’ve never found a need for Yelp. The first time I ever even looked at it was when I was in San Francisco a couple years ago for work. Figured it might have some good info on food and such. To be honest, I didn’t care for it. Didn’t really find it that helpful for my own experience. And then the story above broke and I figured I didn’t need to bother with it anyway! Even if the allegations were “untrue” … they had to come from somewhere, right?

Where was I… oh ya, so last month Jen and I tried a new restaurant in Corning called Effin Texas. Supposed to be a Texas BBQ place. We basically had a terrible experience (and I’ve talked to a few others who had very similar or worse!). When I have a crappy experience somewhere, I want to tell people… and in this case, Yelp came to mind based on how popular it is with other people.

So I added Effin Texas to the site and added my (2/5 star) review. I was the first one to review it (they had only been open a week). Since then, I’ve added a few other reviews to the site for various things – bowling alleys to pizza places. Some good, some not so good. All them have been legitimate and honest experiences.

On a whim today I decided to check my profile and see if anyone thought my reviews were “useful.” Well, in doing that, I saw the link to Effin Texas and wanted to read of some other experiences. See if they have improved. Shockingly, their review average was now 4.5 stars. And my review was no where to be seen. Turns out it had been “filtered.”

I wasn’t the only one. There are a total of 8 filtered reviews for this place. ALL of them are negative (most complain about them not allowing kids). There are only TWO visible reviews. Both positive. I don’t know about you people… but this looks to me to be EXACTLY like that first article described at the top of the page. I’m not saying anyone paid anyone for anything in this situation.

But how can it be possible that their filter system magically filters ONLY the negative reviews for this place and leaves the good ones? I don’t know. But I’m done with Yelp. Until someone can explain to me how the hell that works… I’m done.

Anything good or bad to say about a place, I’ll share on foursquare. If you have a smartphone, they have an app for you. Even if you don’t check in to places, the Explore feature is amazing – though it will be even more awesome if you do check in to places so it can learn what you like.

• Rick Santorum is Coming for Your Birth Control
• Rick Santorum Opposes Contraception

Now… moving on. I may be registered as a Democrat – but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t vote for the most qualified (or least-crazy) person for the job, regardless of party affiliation. I just want a person to run the country who isn’t a complete retard and can some day make the USA a place that can be respected elsewhere in the world.

Not a place where someone tries to shove their (incredibly retarded) beliefs down everyone’s throat via our government.

Rick Santorum is against any and all forms of birth control. And he wants the USA to be against them too.

Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.

Let me be blunt… WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY?

Who is Rick Santorum to say how things are “supposed to be?” Because of how he interprets an ancient book about his lord? I’m sorry, but these types of people push me even farther away from any sort of belief in God. These types of people are ruining Christianity and the bible. RUINING IT.

And he also wants to ruin this country… wait, he actually wants to make things how they’re “supposed to be.” And that’s… better, right?

Oh, and if you think this is not about religion, you might be crazier than he is.

Here’s the deal: if you want to believe in something that I may or may not agree with, that’s fine. If you want to live your life in a way that supposedly is supported by those beliefs, awesome. I’m not going to get in your way. I’ll even respect your decision to live that way and believe those things. Isn’t that supposed to be what is awesome about our country?

What I will NOT support or respect in any way is someone who cannot extend me the same courtesy. How does something like contraception even become a debatable issue with our government? Does he also not want to teach evolution? Would he make a constitutional amendment outlawing that too? I know! Let’s make an amendment that says 20% of everyone’s annual income has to be donated to Rick Santorum’s Church of Crazy Assholes!

/rant

It was probably a month or two ago at this point, but we had some new drywall and new windows put into each of our bedrooms because of the mold and other problems. And after that was actually completed, we were able to start putting our bedroom back together again.

It started with a new dresser for me. In moving our furniture around we discovered that not only did our walls have a ton of mold, but it was on the bottom of my dresser too. Too much for us to want to cleanup and save. It was an old dresser that was going to be eventually replaced anyway. So we replaced it with one from Target. Not anything fancy, but at the time, it was the best we could find that was affordable and nice looking.

Then we added a wall mount for the TV from Monoprice. We only have a 32″ LCD in there but being on the wall saves some dresser space and all that. Plus, it looks better.

A few weeks before xmas we decided to replace her dresser too. Except this time, we got the matching 6 drawer one to the dresser I had gotten weeks before. So we finally had some furniture in our bedroom that matched. So after going through xmas and getting some money as gifts, we decided to finally get the nightstands too.

So what you see to the right is our set, from Target – except they’re actually a little darker than this picture would indicate. They’re technically “espresso” colored. But we have one of each of the dressers and 2 of the night stands. Turned our pretty nice I think. And it’s also nice to finally have a matching set of bedroom furniture – even if it is all just random Target stuff. It’s not crap by any means, but it’s not any fancy hardwood either.

We also added a bit of “art” to the walls. While at my aunt/uncle’s for xmas yesterday, I walked down the spiral staircase to the lake and took some pictures (with my phone) at dusk and got a nice peek of the sunset on the other side of the lake. So I printed off 3 of the photos from that as 5x7s, bought 8×10 frames and put the three of them vertically on the wall. Came out kind of nice I think.

What could be next? Comforter. Ours is getting a bit shabby.

Here’s one of my photos we used for the art on the wall…

Seneca Lake Sunset

Until now.

I was selling a Tron: Legacy package that I had won via Twitter from Progressive Insurance. It included a tshirt, a light up pen, a drawstring bag and a poster. The poster was oddly two sided with a mirror image on the “back” of it. All of this stuff had been packed away in its original box in our apartment for about a year.

As cool as it was, I really had no use for it. The poster was nice, but I really don’t have the room for it (a “man cave” … maybe). So it was time to sell it. eBay was the obvious solution… but I didn’t really know what to charge. I arbitrarily decided on $35 considering tshirts aren’t cheap, neither are posters… and I’d consider the whole thing kind of rare.

So I listed the whole thing here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/180764008008

Nothing was happening with it for a while but with about a day to go, I got one email from someone asking about the bag and the pen. I told her that I’d offer them for sale separately if no one bought the whole thing. Of course not 2 hours after that, someone did buy the whole thing. I probably would have been better off selling it separately to the lady.

I package the stuff in all the original materials and send it out. In the transaction though, the buyer requested that the poster be “protected.” I don’t deal in posters and wasn’t going to go out and buy a separate tube or packing materials JUST for the poster when the whole package was the sale. I informed him I’d be sending it in the original materials and figured that should be good enough considering that’s how it came to me.

Apparently not so much. First contact:

Hi, I received the Tron items today. They arrived right on time via Priority Mail. While I appreciate the bonus items, I really was after the poster. I think I asked that you protect the poster. It was raining out and fortunately, the contents did not get wet. However, since it was not in any plastic or tubing of any kind, there are just numerous creases on the poster. This is not the way to ship a poster.

Also, I looked into this prize package, and the poster given away is supposed to be the autographed one sheet. Is this correct? I don’t see any signatures anywhere.

First of all, they weren’t “bonus items” … they were what was for sale. Everything together. It was never advertised as “poster and other stuff.” Also, it rained but didn’t get wet. OK. Non issue. Why bring it up? Might as well say there was a fire down the street, but the poster didn’t burn, thankfully. And this person was not looking at the correct prize package. If this purchase was made assuming this was some special signed poster, that’s not my fault. My auction said nothing about signatures or even implied there were anything of the sort. If there were questions about what it was exactly – that’s what the ask a question option is for.

My reply:

I have to first admit that I don’t make a habit of shipping posters and made an assumption that if the original shipping materials were good enough to ship it to me, it would good enough to ship to someone else. I’m sorry if that is not exactly what you expected. Had they sent me just a poster, I would then assume they would have used one of the tubes you’re thinking of. But as there was more to the package, that was not possible. I am actually a bit lost as to why the rain is mentioned though considering you admit it didn’t get wet.

I’m not aware of any autographed posters with this particular prize pack. The main “Get on the Grid” sweepstakes did include some autographed items from different levels of the contest (see here: http://disney.go.com/tron/index_flash.html#/sweeps – the official rules outline those prize packages) – but this specific package was from Progressive – and not from the Tron contest linked above. Also, the listing never mentioned anything about an autograph – if you expected one, I’m sorry.

Speaking of Progressive, I finally was able to track down the announcement from @Progressive with my id: https://twitter.com/#!/progressive/status/15894398940217345

I’m willing to “make things right” as much as I can, and in this case the most I’m willing to do is to refund the extra $4 that you chose to pay for the expedited shipping. If this is agreeable, let me know and I’ll send it right away.

Right. All fair points I think. And considering that the main problem is one of expectations of the poster, I think even the $4 is more than fair. I figured best case that $4 could have gone to a tube for the poster – which I didn’t use – so the money goes back. I thought that would actually be the end. Nope.

Sorry, I wasn’t aware of another contest and the one you linked to on twitter seemed to be an independent one with limited winners. I had thought Progressive also sponsored the Disney one as well.

I mentioned the rain as the package was stilling out in the rain for an undetermined amount of time. UPS will at least wrap the package in plastic if it rains, but that’s the laziness of USPS. It’s not your fault, but I have received posters in the past in a tube with additional plastic on the poster to further protect it.

The box you used seemed like it was the original box, but did you see dents and creases on it when you unrolled it? I know the t-shirt isn’t heavy, but it likely compressed the poster further. I just feel really dissapointed it was shipped to me this way. One other seller didn’t bother to pad the end of a poster in the tube and the entire side of the poster was ruined. I pay $50+ for original posters and they need to be in mint conditon.

Grr. The weather, again, not my concern. It rained. The package was not affected. Still not my problem. Not a bargaining point. I also don’t care the least what any other sellers do with their posters. Nor do I care at all what you pay for posters. Again, not my problem. Even more annoying that the poster wasn’t the item for sale. It was EVERYTHING that was for sale. Explained this already.

At this point I just refunded the $4 and gave up. This was getting stupid. It got stupider.

I appreciate your shipping refund offer, but I don’t think that’s enough to resolve the issue. I’m not trying to be difficult at all regarding this, but I am stuck with a defective poster, especically after I requested the poster be “protected”. I am a seller too so I would not want any auction to come back. I have no way of knowing if it was damaged during this shipping or when you first received it. I was at least expecting a new mint poster(shirt, pen etc appear to be new) but I have one with creases.

Shipping on this is probably $10-15 and I am fully prepared to send it back as I do not want a defective poster. We can resolve this in the following ways. Let me know what works best for you.

1. Seller provide a larger refund – I don’t think the damaged poster is worth $35. After fees and shipping, you are keeping $20?
2. You accept a return of this item and refund the full amount. I am out the shipping cost and so are you.
3. Seller files a claim with USPS over a damaged item.
4. Buyer files a claim with eBay for Buyer Protection.

*sigh*

A buyer protection claim? For a fucking poster that was in excellent condition and wasn’t the poster the buyer thought it was? Excuse me if I just declare this all bullshit. My final reply says the rest… so I’ll just leave you with that. Feel free to chime in yourself in the comments. Even if you think I’m in the wrong…

I have to be a bit honest here… because this is slightly confusing to me. You say youre not trying to be difficult, but one of your options is filing a claim with eBay. Over a poster with some possible crinkles in it (yes, very much simplifying the situation). And from an auction where you seemed to expect an entirely different poster, despite the description being very clear. Not to mention where the poster is a small part of a whole package. I’m frankly a little dumbfounded. In all the years I’ve been selling, I’ve never once had any issue even close to this. Not trying to sound unreasonable but this is all feeling a bit ridiculous to me. If I were the buyer of course I’d want to get what I’d paid for, but I’d also be sure that I knew exactly what I was getting.

Let’s just simplify this whole thing. I’ll send you another $15 and we’ll call it over and I’d be fine with neutral feedback. I don’t need anything back.

The end. I hope.

I’ve been a fan of ZAGG for a while now. Their InvisibleShield is a fantastic screen protector and I’ve had it on my 3GS, 4, iPad, and now my Galaxy S2. I’m also on my 2nd set of SmartBuds headphones (first set developed a short while I was traveling).

In the social world ZAGG is probably best known for their crazy give-aways. An iPad per week. An iPad per day. And if I recall, there were even quite a few iPod Touches given away. That’s a lot of Apple to be handing out to people. And in addition to those, they often also gave discount codes for their site (up to 40% or 50% off, if I recall). I used quite a few of those for my stuff and also gave quite a few away to friends and twitter followers.

They’re back this year with even more shenanigans. And by shenanigans I mean that on Black Friday they’re going to be giving away an iPad 2 every hour for the entire day. Yes, every hour. An iPad 2. For free.

Entry is easy: enter your email (trust me, it’s cool, they don’t spam you). Where?

Here: http://www.zagg.com/community/contest.php

So on Friday, 11/25, starting at midnight, head over to that site and start putting in your email each hour for a chance to win. That’s it.

You might have heard that part before. And if you’ve been paying attention to Jen and I elsewhere on the internets, you’d know it goes further than that.

Here’s the very short version: we are taking a road trip to Las Vegas in the spring to get married.

How awesome does that sound? Pretty awesome I think. Here’s the thing though – you can follow us through our planning, preparation and even the trip. We have quite a few resources setup for you to read into our deepest thoughts on the matter. Whatever your social desires, we have ways for you to check in on us:

• Website: OMGSheSaidYes.com
• Facebook: OMGSheSaidYes
• Twitter: OMGSheSaidYes

So whenever we post to the website, it posts to Facebook and then Twitter automatically. We may post to Facebook randomly and that then automatically posts to Twitter. So if you’re a Twitter person (or just don’t want to check the Facebook page every day), you should be able to get EVERYTHING we do there… If not, you can just periodically check in on the website or Like the Facebook page for updates.

We’ve already got a few recent updates on the website, so head over there if you’re curious and see what we’re up to. We’re totally open to comments and feedback, so feel free to chime in on Facebook or the website!

Android as a whole is nice. But there are some things that either don’t make sense to me, or I don’t care about.

The font sizes for one. For having such a large screen, it feels like everything is HUGE on it. Like I just bought a 24″ LCD and set it to 800×600 resolution or something. WHY? One of the first things I’ve done in almost any app is look for text size options and make them as small as possible. I realize some things need to be larger to make for a better touch-based experience… but come on.

GPS is SLOOOOOW. My iPhone 4 would lock on GPS and let me check into foursquare REALLY fast. It feels like it takes the SGS2 a lifetime to get a GPS lock and load the correct venues. Apparently there are worse devices out there – but comparison-wise this feels like a lifetime.

Pre-loaded apps, aka: bloatware. AT&T and Samsung can shove these things up their asses for all I care. There’s no reason to put so much crap on a device and then NOT allow someone to remove it. And in my case not allow me to turn it off and make it stop working.

I’m specifically referring to the AP Mobile news widget. I added the widget once to see what it would look like – hated it immediately – and proceeded to go into the settings to make it go away. There is a scroll setting and a refresh setting. I set both to None – thinking this would kill it. Then I removed the widget from my home screen. This was when I first got the phone weeks ago…

Fast forward to this weekend and I was reviewing my AT&T data for the billing period and decided to install a data manager app on my phone to see what uses data. Mostly out of curiosity. Turns out… AP Mobile is a data-hogging bitch. Even when not in use. Remember me turning it off before? Ya, it was still off. I added the widget back to my home screen and verified the setting was still set to refresh of None. It was.

I then set it to refresh of an hour, removed the widget, added the widget back, set it to none, and removed it again. Still using data. And when I say this thing is using data, it uses 3-4 MB every 10 minutes or so. Add that up over a month and that’s a LOT of data. Unacceptable. Next step was to Force Stop the application in the Settings menu. This worked… for a while. It decided to start itself up again and use more data. And since it’s a pre-loaded app, there is no uninstall option. Awesome.

To AT&T support we go. This was the first of 3 chat sessions where I try to figure out what to do about this.

info: Welcome to AT&T Chat. My name is ‘Vicki Clay’ and I’ll be happy to assist you today.
Vicki Clay: I apologize for the inconvenience caused by the app using so much data Mr. Kintz. Thank you for completing the pre chat survey.  We’re happy to have you as part of our AT&T family and I will be happy to assist you today. It is my priority to resolve any issues and respond to any other questions or concerns that  you may have.
Allan Kintz: so is there any way to remove this app or stop it’s data usage without rooting the device? i’d like to avoid that if i could
Vicki Clay: I’m checking the tutorial on how to remove applications on your device. I’ll send you a link to what I find.
Allan Kintz: well i do know how to uninstall applications – but this one does not have that option
Allan Kintz: and like i said, i’m not even using the widget and have set it to not refresh for data – but it continues to do so
Vicki Clay: I’m sorry but I do not find any tutorial on the device you are using. Is it an AT&T phone?
Allan Kintz: yes… Samsung Galaxy S II.
Vicki Clay: Did this application come embedded in the phone?
Allan Kintz: yes
Vicki Clay: I apologize, but you will not be able to remove an application that is embedded into the software of the phone. I can suggest contacting the manufacturer to see how to manage the software if you like.
Allan Kintz: but doesn’t at&t decide what applications go on the device? i’m confused.
Allan Kintz: thing is though that i dont even need to remove it – i just want it to stop using data when i’m not using the app or widget
Vicki Clay: The number for Samsung is 1-888-987-4357.  They are open Monday – Friday: 9am – 8pm EST and Saturday: 10am – 7pm EST.            The web address is http://www.samsungusa.com.
Vicki Clay: Is there something else I can help you with Mr. Kintz?
info: Your chat transcript will be sent to akintz@gmail.com at the end of your chat.

So… they punted it to Samsung. At least she gave their contact info…..

Keep in mind, at this point I’ve seen enough on the internet to know that I’m not the only one with this problem. Lot of others have run into this and there’s always the same answer. Root it. I’m sorry but that is not a solution. That is a “work around.” It does not solve the problem of the app I’m not using eating up my data. Anyway… Samsung was next. I’d like to find an actual answer…

Phillips: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?
Visitor: Hi, I have a Galaxy S II on AT&T and have a problem with one of the apps. The AP Mobile app continues to use data – even though I am not using the widget for it, and have set the widget refresh to None. There is no way that I can find to uninstall the app and if I Force Stop it, it starts up again. I have talked to AT&T and they decided it was a Samsung problem.
Visitor: This specific app has used over 10 MB of data just this morning already. I’d like to either make sure it is dead – or completely remove it. And I’d like to avoid rooting my device if I can – because that is an option.
Phillips: I understand that you are experiencing data consumption issue with AP Mobile app on your Samsung SGH-I777 device and would like to uninstall the app. Am I correct?
Visitor: Yes.
Phillips: Thank you for the confirmation.
Phillips: I will assist you with the required information.
Phillips: Let me confirm if you have downloaded the app for Android market.
Visitor: No, it was pre-installed on the device.
Phillips: Thank you for the information.
Phillips: I am sorry, we can not uninstall the preloaded apps on the device. They come with Android Operating System.
Phillips: However, let me check if there are any settings for the app.
Visitor: There are settings for the widget. There are 2 refresh settings, I have set them both to None. In fact, I added the widget, set the refresh to 1 hour. Removed the widget. Added the widget back, set the refresh back to None and removed the widget again and it still uses data.
Phillips: Thank you for the information.
Phillips: Would you mind holding 3 minutes while I gather the required information on your request?
Visitor: sure
Phillips: Thank you.
Phillips: Thank you for holding.
Phillips: I have checked with the information and found that the app uses more data to check for updates. As you have set the refresh time to none and still find the data is consumed.
Phillips: I suggest you to remove the widget and check if the issue persist.
Visitor: But I have removed the widget……
Phillips: I apologize for the inconvenience this might have caused to you.
Phillips: Did you try removing and re-inserting the battery on the device after deleting the app?
Phillips: This refreshes the circuit on the device and brings the settings to normal.
Visitor: I have not pulled the battery since removing the widget, no. I suppose I can try that.
Phillips: Sure, please go ahead. This should fix the issue.
Visitor: It is coming back up now. I’ll keep an eye on the data throughout the day and see if it is better. Thanks.
Phillips: You are welcome.

So… that did not help. At all. Took about 10 minutes to figure that out so I went back into yet another chat…

Sierra: Hi, thank you for contacting Samsung Technical Support. How may I help you today?
Visitor: I was actually just in a chat a few minutes ago with someone named “Phillips” … and the problem is not resolved… here’s the short summary:
Sierra: Okay, please go ahead.
Visitor: New Samsung Galaxy S II on AT&T (new being bought 10/4). The AP Mobile app that came pre-installed on the device continues to use up many MBs of my data – even though I’m not using it. I have set the refresh setting of the AP Mobile widget to “none” and removed the widget and it does not help. The previous person I talked to “Phillips” suggested pulling the battery since I had not done so after removing the widget. I have done that and the app has used another MB of data in just the last 15 minutes. Need a better solution.
Visitor: I have the option of rooting the device if I want to – but I shouldn’t have to do that just to remove an app or get it to stop using my data. Already talked to AT&T and they said it was a Samsung issue. Feel like I’m getting the run-around.
Sierra: I understand that you area experiencing issue with the AP mobile application on your SGH-I777 mobile device. Am I correct?
Visitor: yes
Sierra: Thank you for the confirmation.
Sierra: May I know from how long you have been experiencing this issue?
Visitor: Likely since I got the device – but just noticed it last night when I installed a data tracking app to see what was using my data.
Sierra: I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you.
Visitor: I was checking my AT&T bill and noticed my data usage this month was abnormally high. That’s what prompted me to install an app to check on it.
Sierra: Let us troubleshoot the issue.
Sierra: Please let me know if you have removed the widget from the phone.
Visitor: Yes.
Visitor: I have also added the widget, set the refresh to 1 hour. Removed the widget. Added the widget again and set the refresh to none. Then removed again.
Sierra: I am sorry to hear that.
Sierra: I have gone through your previous chat correspondence with Philips. As you have removed the widget and still facing the issue, the issue might be with the device.
Sierra: Let us perform a hard reset on the device.
Visitor: Is that anything like pulling the battery?
Sierra: You may lose the data when you perform the hard reset.
Sierra: No, hard reset is restoring the device to its factory settings.
Visitor: Ah…
Sierra: I will provide you with the steps.
Sierra: Please follow the below steps to Hard reset the Captivate Phone :

1. Turn the power off. Pull the battery out and replace it if the Power button doesn’t work.
2. Press and hold the Volume Down and Power buttons.
3. Release the Power button while continuing the hold Volume Down until a menu appears prompting you to select Fastboot, Recovery, Clear Storage, and Simlock.
4. Select Delete all user data using the Volume Down button.
5. Press the release Power button.
6. Select Volume Up for Yes.

Sierra: Please let me know once you are done.
Visitor: So will I get any of my apps/data back after this? I realize it’ll wipe everything at first, but how much of that is backed up?
Sierra: You may lose all the third party applications installed on the device when you perform hard reset.
Sierra: All the pre-installed applications will be there as it is on the device.
Visitor: I’m going to have to take some time before I do this. I need to back some stuff up and move some things to my SD card. I will save the instructions and try this later today when I get a chance.
Sierra: Okay, you can try with the above steps after backing up the data. If the issue still persists, you can contact us again through chat. We are available 24×7.
Sierra: Do you have any other questions for me?
Visitor: Not at the moment, no. Thanks.
Sierra: You are welcome.

1) I don’t have a Captivate… as I mentioned already. I just ignored that part. But the instructions weren’t exactly the same anyway. 2) Don’t any of these people read what is right in front of them? Like the 2nd chat above where the guy asks if I’ve removed the widget yet. Yes, I did. Like I mentioned to him twice already at that point.

But as hesitant as I was to do the reset, I did follow through and try it. It was annoying, but I did it. I actually thought this fixed it too… for a while. Then it started up again. AGAIN! This time I decided to swing by the AT&T store on my way back from lunch and see what they say. Absolutely no help there… but my main reason for stopping was to make them aware of my data issues and if I couldn’t get this app fixed or removed and I went over my 2GB limit, I wasn’t paying for it.

I have yet to go into another chat with Samsung… not because I don’t want to find the answer but because I’m sick of having to explain the same damn thing to different people every time I try to get help and still getting no solution. I rooted it (if you saw my previous post, you already know this). I’m actually bothered that this was the “answer” to my problem. It shouldn’t be. I should be able to remove this crap if I don’t want it or worse yet, it causes problems. The fact that I cannot is annoying.

Ya, my iPhone had apps that I couldn’t delete either (Stocks, Calculator, etc) but they didn’t chew up my data just sitting there.

I’m still pretty frustrated about it… but I’m still trying to give this a fair shot.

I’ve been reading root info and stuff for the last few weeks and all I can say is that the way these people write these things, it doesn’t seem as easy as they make it out to be. I have yet to find clear, explicit instructions for someone like me who knows very little about it. Don’t get me wrong, I can learn this stuff pretty easily – but I think it’s more of a problem with terminology than anything else. Not sure.

Anyway, there are a few helpful threads on XDA that you’d want to read through. To start with there’s the Easily Root Your SGS2 thread. It’s a good read – but to me became pretty confusing – especially when my patience was at a minimum already thanks to the days’ frustrations. And then there’s another problem… I have a Mac. It looks to me like most of that info is for Windows users.

Ya, go figure. The Apple user wants to root an Android device.

Luckily I found some help in that thread above… and it pointed me to another thread. It was time to get down to business… except for one thing: I AM IN NO WAY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING YOU DO TO YOUR PHONE OR ANY OTHER DEVICE. YOU FOLLOW ANY OF THESE STEPS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY. I only have to say that because people are dumb. Keep that in mind…

Also worth noting, if you currently are not rooted and have the stock software from AT&T/Samsung, these specific instructions and files will basically be exactly the same – but with root privileges. All of your data and apps should remain intact. But again, not responsible, your own risk… blah blah blah. If you somehow manage to lose everything, it’s just not my problem.

So, if you have a Mac and want to root your AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II, here we go:

1. Download:

• Heimdall 1.3.1 Command Line (OS X 10.4+)
• EZ 7z for Mac
• Rooted Stock Kernel for AT&T SGS2

2. Install on your Mac:

• Install Heimdall
• Install EZ 7z for Mac

3. Extract:

• Extract PDA.tar from UCKH7_stock_odin.7z using EZ 7z
• Extract zImage & factoryfs.img from PDA.tar using the Mac’s built-in Archive Utility

4. Move Files:

• Move zImage and factoryfs.img to an easily accessible folder (Desktop?)

5. Prepare Phone:

• Power Off your phone (pull battery if needed)
• Connect USB cable from your computer to the phone
• While holding Vol Up AND Vol Down, turn on the phone
• Press Vol Up button to Accept custom OS notice
• It should now show the Android guy and say “downloading” (don’t worry, it’s not downloading anything yet)

6. Root Phone:

• Open a Terminal window
• Change the directory to where you moved zImage/factoryfs.img
• Type the following command in the Terminal window, press Enter and wait (you should see a status bar start moving on your phone after running it):

heimdall flash --kernel zImage --factoryfs factoryfs.img

Let the phone reboot when completed. You’re done. Well, more done when it finishes booting and you click Allow on the superuser access request.

This is exactly how I did it just a few short hours ago. Now you can go download Titanium Backup or whatever other SuperUser app you want to use. And in my case, immediately go into Titantium and Freeze the AP Mobile app. POS that one is…

So just to be clear – I can’t take any credit for this. Any of it. I’ve really just put it all together and ordered it in such a way that for me, made it extremely easy (yes, even easier than it was explained on the forum). I like things simple and straightforward… I just didn’t feel like I was feeling that from the other threads and didn’t want to clog them up with even more questions.

In any case, all of the thanks goes to those guys on XDA for their hard work and providing the necessary information. Seriously, go thank them.

I was going from a 160-ish HP, FWD, naturally aspirated car with quite a few suspension modifications to a 100% stock, 265 HP, AWD, turbo monster. Time to throw out the rule book. Everything I had learned in the last few years about pushing my car is practically useless. And I approached every event in that same way… starting from scratch.

I just wish that someone had reminded me at the first two events that I had this new, fancy thing called traction control – and that I could turn it off. No matter… even with the traction control off I still finished 3rd in PAX at both events. I’d call that acceptable.

Throughout the season I’d end up as low as 7th in PAX and as high as 1st! That’s right, I even managed to win my first PAX trophy once this year (Event #7, Arnot Mall). And again, as a reminder – PAX is meant to equalize or handicap everyone’s times as if they were driving the same cars. So you’re essentially comparing driver to driver.

Even from the beginning of the season I had just assumed that I’d win my class (D Stock) for the year… but that was more or less because I’d never have any steady competition, as usual. Early in the season I noticed I was also leading the PAX points for the year… suddenly I had a new goal. PAX is far more impressive than just a class championship, IMO. But the thought of winning something like that with a brand new car was a bit of a pipe dream early on in the season.

As we approached the 6th and 7th events, I started to realize it may be possible! As it came down the wire it looked like it was going to be a 3-way battle and I was literally in the driver’s seat to hold on (yay for cliches!). A surprisingly ridiculous time at our Arnot Mall event gave me my first PAX event win and extended my points lead going into the last event. It was down to 2 of us.

After my 4 morning runs, I was really worried. I needed more time – but then found out we’d only get 2 runs in the afternoon. Ouch. Thankfully I managed to push just enough in the afternoon to better my morning times… by about half a second. Turns out that’s all I needed. I didn’t need a PAX win… I just needed to be within a second or so of Nile, breathing down my neck. I was just a half second back. Plenty of time.

Final PAX Results

Eight events. Our six best times. And I get the win by a whole 1.2 points. I looked back a few years and this is definitely one of the closest results in the last few years. And really it makes me more excited for next year.

I already have better tires stashed away for next season (ran OEM tires this year). I have a front sway bar and some brake pads on my xmas list… and I’m hoping these things give me just that little bit extra for next year to stay competitive in PAX yet again.

So how did I really do this year? Well, here’s a full summary with photos and videos!

Back? Awesome, let’s go.

So after waiting over a week to get an appointment because they only have ONE certified Subaru technician (this makes me very nervous) I dropped my car off yesterday to finally get everything fixed (and by “everything” I mean fixing the wheel bearing, replacing the steering rack, fixing the rear seat latch rattle, and checking out a rattle in the passenger door). Thankfully Subaru’s warranty program gave me a decent loaner – a new-ish Subaru Legacy. It was in absolutely terrible condition because apparently Simmons-Rockwell doesn’t give a shit about their loaners… but whatever. It could have been worse.

I went about my day and by about 3:30pm, I was getting curious – so I called up to see what was going on. It was apparently just going on the alignment rack (something was being calibrated, so they couldn’t do it sooner). Cool, should be done soon then. About an hour later the guy called and said it was done. I asked if everything was fixed and done completely… he couldn’t answer me.

Not because he was mute – but because the technician that worked on it had already left for the day and apparently told no one what was actually done or if there were any issues or problems. But according to the service rep, it was “done.” Fine. I just want to pick it up and be done. I’d worry about the paperwork later. But really, how does that even happen? How do the service reps NOT know what has been done to the car when they’re returned? How does someone allow that technician to go home before someone is aware of what he did?

Anyway… I pick it up after work, drive home… and it seems fine. I was surprised actually. Then I got in to go to work this morning. Started it up and turned the wheel to back out and then came the screeching… for some reason it was making a horrible noise the more I turned the wheel to the right. Turning back to the left was OK and even turning to the right again was OK after I had already turned that way. But very obviously something was not correct. Figuring I’d just have to end up back there at some point anyway, I ignored it for the morning.

Later I left work to come home for lunch and something didn’t feel right. It was kind of fighting me on the drive home. There wasn’t any play in the wheel but something felt wrong. I decide to check the fluid when I got home. Figured hey, they replaced the whole steering rack, maybe the system is just bleeding out (FYI: you need to bleed a power steering system just like you do a brake system – any air in the lines is also a problem). I look at the fluid and it is about 3/4″ BELOW the Minimum Cold line. Errr what? Yes, WAY below the minimum fluid level.

I have multiple issues with this… 1 being that if they’re changing this stuff, do they not know the system needs to be bled? And 2, if they did bleed the system, how did no one think to refill the fluid reservoir? HOW?!

This was actually a bit infuriating to me. Instead of going back to work I took off for the dealer. This needs to be addressed NOW. Nevermind that on the way there I found that they never even fixed one of the other problems I asked about – a rattle in the passenger door – which to me sounded like just the door panel vibrating against something when the music was on. Nothing done with that what-so-ever.

I get back to S-R and get a chance to talk to one of the service reps… she wasn’t there yesterday so I had to explain what was “done” yesterday and the problems I have now and all but insist that it is to be fixed immediately. I’m honestly trying to be polite at this point but it is getting pretty difficult. I’m pretty sure I’ve given these people more than enough chances and really shouldn’t be bothering with them again – but there I was… like an abusive relationship.

So she gets me a loaner (actually started to get me just a random POS -non subaru- loaner – but I stopped her and explained that yesterday I was given a Subaru based on my warranty and would prefer that again). I go on my way and tell her that I was OK if they had to keep it overnight to fit it in and get it fixed the next day – I just wanted it completed and done right.

I get a call at about 4:30pm that it is better. They apparently found an ‘air bubble’ in the power steering line and topped up the fluid. I asked about the door panel and she said they didn’t find anything with the door but she moved the visor around and a sound went away.

Let me explain one thing really quick: If I say there’s a rattle in the door panel – whatever you think you found with the sun visor is NOT THE PROBLEM.

Moving on… I go on to explain that there’s no way that’s the issue and it is most certainly the door. Again I explain that it gets worse with music (which I’m sure that I explained before – though possibly to the FIRST service rep I talked to the day before – when it wasn’t fixed or even looked at). She said they’d take it for a drive again and listen (no idea why they needed to drive it to hear it, it’ll rattle sitting in the parking lot).

I wait a bit to pick it up and go after I get out of work and make a couple stops. They said they found the rattle… and that they ordered a speaker. A speaker! Now I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt… but I’m about 80% certain that it was NOT the speaker that is the issue. But again… I’ll let them apply their fix and see what happens. I’m supposed to trust them as the “experts” … right?

Oh… there was one other part they ordered along with the speaker; the trim cover to my rear seat latch – which they broke AGAIN! Yes, they broke this once before when they first replaced the seat latch and striker. And apparently they did it again. At this point my level of frustration is just astronomical. I’ve still been putting off calling Subaru about the whole thing because I want to be sure it is done and over with. Then I can call them, explain my grief and start using another dealer for service. I can’t keep doing this to myself… or my car.