I have seen confusion from both consumers and businesses, people that may be experts in their field of business or profession can find it hard to navigate the ever changing wireless industry.  The industry  jargon is rampant with terms such as LTE, 4G, 3G, CDMA, GSM, HSPA+, EDGE, WiMax, Throttling, Bandwidth Caps, Mbps not to be confused with MBps and so on.  Combined with hard to understand billing practices and constantly changing device options from multiple manufactures, carriers and mobile operating systems such as iPhone, Android, Windows, Blackberry and many other “Feature Phones” is enough to make many people long for the “good old days” of  bag and brick phones.

I have been helping businesses and consumers navigate wireless purchases for the past 17 years and am available for pre and post purchase consultation appointments.  Sure the wireless carriers have ramped up technical training for reps, however those reps are also trying to maximize a very complex commission plan, and may not have your best interest at heart if it means selling enough widgets to get to the next multiplier.  As a third party consultant my goal is to get you in the right device and protect your pocket book at the same time.

Basic Consumer or Business Consulting:

Prior to Purchase- Price:  $75.00| Time: Typically 1 hour | Services include existing bill review and needs consultation, followed up with hardware and rate plan recommendations based on your specific needs.

Complete Purchase Assistance- Price:  $75 per hour with a $100 minimum | Time: Typically 1-2 Hours | Includes the above  Pre-Purchase Support as well as assistance shopping online sources, or accompanying you with a visit to the a local retail store to purchase your new phones and plans.  Continued Assistance with Device Setup Post Purchase is also available at the same rate if desired.

Post-Purchase Support: Price:  $150.00 | Time: Up to 3 hours included | For the folks that have already purchased a new phone and need help.  Service includes specific device training, transfer of Personal Information to new phone from your old phone or web/computer based system (Act, Goldmine, Outlook, Gmail, Hotmail, SugarCRM, Top Producer Etc.)  Setting up of Personal and Work Email. Configuring Web or PC sync capabilities.  Pairing of Bluetooth Devices such as earpieces or automotive hands free systems. Usage Instructions, and tips and tricks to get the most out of your phone.  Installation of recommended software as well as software/hardware/usage specific instruction.

Consulting prior to purchase will save you from an impulse purchase and the pain of being locked into a two year agreement with a device or service plan that doesn’t suit your needs or performs poorly.  Post Purchase Support will enable you to get the most out of your investment.

Advanced Business or Government Consulting:

Business Check-up:  Price:  $320-$1600 | Time: Typically 1 day to 1 week depending on the size and scope of the business | Inspect, document and review existing business practices, communication methods and business processes and mobile workforce needs.  Review existing devices and services from a third party perspective.  Recommend optional rate plans, service features or devices that will either save money or enhance the Return on Investment of your wireless services.

I also offer Business Consultation based on a straight cost savings percentage or contracted rate.  These terms are negotiated on a case by case basis, and included ongoing account management, billing and technical support.

For more information or to schedule an appointment call Preston McNair at (843) 252-0556 or use our online scheduling tool.

Preston McNair, was a founding member of the Verizon Wireless Data Training Advisory Board, owned and managed one of the top ranked Alltel Wireless retail locations in the nation, was a Super Moderator on the popular technology site http://www.wirelessadvisor.com/, Provided Smartphone Training to 1000+ agents of The Multiple Listing Service of Hilton Head Island, and has been helping businesses gain a return on investment on their telecom services for almost two decades.

 How Do I Prevent Becoming a Target?

By following these preventative measures you can greatly reduce the chances your vehicle will become a target and be broken into.

Close all the Windows and Lock all the Doors on Your Vehicle

Many vehicle break-ins are from unlocked doors. Some thieves go from vehicle to vehicle trying doors looking to find one that is unlocked.  Most of my neighbors that experienced thefts had left their car doors unlocked.

Don’t Leave Valuables in Your Vehicle

Before leaving your vehicle remove any valuables or items that you don’t want to lose.  Stow your electronics, personal items, valuables, and accessories away and out of sight including power plugs, iPod adapters, cell phone chargers, navigation system windshield suction-cup mounts, CD’s, spare change, etc.  These thieves are quick and know the most common places to look for valuables, so for the best results, just don’t leave valuables in your vehicle.

Use a Car Alarm

If you have an alarm system in your vehicle, use it. The noise alone may be enough to scare away a thief and prevent your vehicle from being broken into.

Park Your Vehicle in a Safe Location

Park in a well-lit area, and avoid concealment from larger vehicles, fences, or foliage. If possible park near a motion sensor light. This will greater the chances that someone might see a crime in progress.

Install a Surveillance System

Typically before a string of break-ins the thieves have already cased your neighborhood.  A surveillance system is not only a strong visual deterrence to a crime in the first place, it’s also a great tool to help recover your property and prosecute the guilty after a crime has occurred.  We are currently offering a “Winter Break-in Special” for $1500 we will professionally install a Surveillance System in your home or office.  This system includes any combination of 4 indoor/outdoor Infrared Day/Night Weather Proof cameras with motion detection, and a dedicated digital video recorder. The system can be viewed via a web browser (IE or Firefox), Dedicated Software on a PC or MAC, or via your Mobile Phone (iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile or Android Devices.)  It can also be fed via HDMI into your TV.  Please call us at 843-252-0556 to schedule an appointment or visit our online appointment tool.

Report suspicious or criminal behavior. 

At least one person reported seeing two men in all black with backpacks at 3:30 am in my neighborhood.  She didn’t call the police because she knew her car was locked.  If someone is hanging around the neighborhood that is unknown to you, and has no apparent legitimate reason for being there, call the local law enforcement in your area.

To Report a Past Crime or a Non-Emergency Situation                                               Dial the Beaufort County Non-Emergency Line (843) 524-2777

To Report a Crime in Progress or an Emergency Situation Dial 9-1-1

I’ve personally used Khan Academy, and listen to as many TED talks as I can, I find them a bit more mentally stimulating than the typical reality TV today, and with the Roku connected to my TV I can watch most of this on the big screen.  Khan Academy has over 2,700 videos, close to 300 practice exercises and has implemented an online coaching system to help you progress through the lessons.

If anyone else has additional resources not listed please or experience with a particular site please add a comment, and I’ll update the original post.

General Sites:

Schools and Universities:

• University of Reddit with corresponding subreddit
• MIT Lectures
• Carnegie Mellon
• Johns Hopkins
• Tufts
• Rice – Connexions
• Utah State
• Berkeley
• Berkeley Part 2
• Berkeley Part 3 (videos)
• Stanford
• Stanford Part 2 (videos)
• Harvard
• University of Sydney
• University of Virginia
• Stanford
• Yale
• Yale Part 2 (videos)
• University of Washington CSE
• University of Chicago
• University of New South Wales
• Open Course Ware Finder
• Open Course Ware Consortium
• University of the People

Other General Sites:

• Wikiversity
• Youtube Edu
• 100 Best Intro Courses
• Khan Academy
• Open Culture
• TED
• Cosmo Learning
• Knol
• Academic Earth
• Free Video Lectures
• More Video Lectures
• Directory of Open Access Journals
• Learners TV
• IncrediCampus
• LectureFox
• Freelance-Teacher
• National Programme on Tech Enhanced Learning
• Study Blue
• WikiHow
• How Stuff Works
• Wonder How To
• Better Explained
• TeachMate
• Learning Schedule Tracker – Smart.fm

Specialized Sites:

Computer Related:

• Carl H Programming with corresponding subreddit
• Google Code University
• Learn about Linux
• Free Technology Academy
• Lynda.com
• Web Building Tutorials
• Building Websites via Academic Earth
• Opera Web Standards Curriculum
• Stack Overflow (Question Site)
• D Zone (Question Site)

Music:

• Funk University
• Piano Lessons
• Music Theory – Trainear.com
• Music Theory – MusicTheory.net
• Guitar Lessons at Ultimate-Guitar
• Guitar Lessons at The Stringery
• Guitar Lessons at The Next Level Guitar
• Guitar Lessons at Justin Guitar
• Bass Lessons
• Chord Book – Chordbook.com
• Chord Book – Chorder.com
• Guitar Neck Quiz

Language:

• LiveMocha
• Languages from BBC
• FSI Language Courses

Cooking/Food:

• Good Eats (alternate video source)
• Cooking Coarse (Youtube Search Summary)

eBooks/Online Books/Academic Journals:

• Project Gutenburg
• Planet eBook
• The Free Library
• Google Books
• Open Book Project
• WikiBooks
• Safari Books Online (paid subscription needed)
• Using Open Edu Resources – eBook (.pdf)
• How to Think Like a Computer Scientist – eBook
• Large list of science eBooks
• Scribd
• WorldCat – Worldwide Library Catalog
• Cornell University – arXiv.org
• Cite Seer
• Scirus
• Get Cited
• Online Library – ibiblio

Other Subjects:

• The Math Motherload
• Western Civilization
• Psychoactives
• Philosophy
• Make Magazine
• Self Improvement – 101 Linked Resources
• Custom Action Figures
• Exercise
• Yoga
• Raising Chickens
• Argument Mapping
• Investing
• Instructables
• Physics for Future Presidents
• Creative Live
• Let’s Make Robots
• InfoPlease – Almanac

Many parents give their kids cellphones to keep track while they are roaming the neighborhood, having been in the wireless business for many years I can tell you this rarely works out very well, and will always cost more than you expect when you sign up for the service.

Today I was flipping through the new Disney Family Magazine when I found an ad for 5Star Urgent Response.  5Star is a wireless emergency service that is provided by Great Call, the same people that sell the Jitterbug phones.  It’s available online, at Sears and Walmart.

The 5Star Emergency Responder is a keychain size transmitter that works to give kids some freedom while at the same time give parents peace of mind.   If the kid is lost, afraid or feels threatened with one click of a button the responder connects to a Certified Response Agent.  They will identify your child and their location, can conference in family or friends, help dispatch 9-1-1 emergency service, access a nurse, or provide any additional assistance, if needed.  In a true emergency the kids can also hold down the button and bypass the Response Agent and connect directly to 911.

The responder can also be tracked online, so if you send your kids out to play, or if they are lucky enough to walk or bike to school, you can check in on them at anytime.  The responders cost $49.99, and then $14.95 per month…with no contract required…that’s around 50 cents per day to give your kids some extra security and you some peace of mind.  The 5Star service is also available as an iPhone app, and as an add on to Jitterbug service.  Feel safe and secure 24/7 with the Jitterbug 5Star Urgent Response App.

The draw of the Jitterbug phones was originally a simple phone, with big buttons and a readible screen.  They still have that, now they also offer affordable price points for just about any budget as well as nationwide coverage.  Jitterbug has added applications and services to compliment their basic phone service:   Check In Calls, Medicine Reminders with Pharmacy Refills, 24/7 access to Live Nurses.  They have also rolled out their 5Star Urgent Response service to the Jitterbug phones.   This allows you to transform your Jitterbug to a personal safety device!  For $14.95 per month you can have Nationwide Wireless GPS enabled Emergency Response via Certified Agents at the push of a button.  They also offer a standalone responder the size of a key chain.

If you are looking to eliminate your landline they have “Simply Unlimited” Plans currently running $79.99 per month, these plans include Nationwide Coverage, Unlimited Calling and Unlimited Texting as well as some of their additional apps bundled in.

With Nationwide Coverage, Simple to use phones and advanced health and wellness applications Jitterbug could be an affordable safety and security solution for you or your loved ones.

Easy-To-Use Phones with Award-Winning Apps to Keep You Connected, Safe & Healthy + 24hr Operator Assistance. Learn more…

Having owned wireless stores for a number of years I find it painful to buy accessories at retail prices.  I still have some accounts with my old vendors, but buying for my personal use doesn’t make sense from them.  If you have a smartphone you can understand the need for a spare battery.  Below are a couple of possible methods to get a FREE battery and battery only charger for your phone.

METHOD 1:  First I signed up for O.co’s o’mail, Initially they sent a 10% off discount code, then 15 days later they sent a $10 off any purchase code.  I used this $10 voucher to purchase a spare battery and battery charger for my Thunderbolt, not only does this charge the batteries, but it also has an USB output that allowed me to charge my phone at the same time (with my existing USB cable.)  The battery charger combo is on sale for $9.99 with free shipping until 12/25/11, making this deal completely FREE after the credit!  If you don’t have 15 days to wait, or don’t want to gamble on the possiblity of a $10 off voucher move on to Method 2.

METHOD 2:   For the next two days Eversave is offering a $20 voucher for O.co for only $10, so you could buy two batteries and two chargers for only $10 if you use the voucher, not FREE, but still a really great deal.  Eversave.com is a daily deal site similar to groupon.com or woot.com.

Despite the prolific TV ads for Overstock.com or O.co as they now like to be called, I had never purchased from that site until last week.  The product was great and the shipping was fast.  I was concerned the charger and battery would be some low grade knock-off from China, however after using them for the past week, I would gladly recommend them to anyone looking to extend their phone use.

The free Magazine reader app Zinio is giving a $25 credit magazine subscription credit to new customers. I’ve been using Zinio for about a week on my android and it has become one of my favorite reading apps.  I like to read in my spare time, but don’t always want to jump into a book, nor do I want to carry around a huge stack of magazines.  Zinio is a good green solution and is available for Android, iPhone, iPad, desktops and laptops.  When you first sign up they allow you to pick a free 3 month subscription so you can try out the app.  After a day or two they credit your account $25  that you can use toward digital subscriptions of your choice.  Zinio is also running a  Black Friday Special with 50% off many Magazines, if you sign up now you may be able to get your $25 credit before the sale, you could possibly pick up twice as many Free Magazines… I love Free Stuff.

The Zinio app on the Android is pretty slick for a reader app. It opens to a Newsstand that shows all of your active subscriptions and allows you to download with just one click.  You also have the ability to shop for new subscriptions directly from the app.  You can purchase single issues or multiple issue subscriptions.  Zinio offers hundred of publications, so many it can be a bit overwhelming.  They do have them organized by catagories which makes the shopping a little easier.  Catagories include art, automotive, entertainment, home, lifestyle, men, news, science & tech, sports, travel, women…and adult if you enable it…for the articles of course.  When you purchase a magazine it is available on all of your devices, unless restricted by the publisher.

Once you load the app on your device and download your first magazine you can browse the covers then click on the one you want to read.  While reading you can  graphically flip pages one page at a time or switch to a multi-page format where you see the pages side by side like a real magazine.  On my phone the screen is large enough that I can easily read most articles however you also have the option of clicking on the TEXT icon and the app will eliminate the pictures and reflow into a text only version of the article for easier reading.

Normally I get my magazines free via online promotions and rewards.  Many from RecycleBank.com , however they send magazines the old fashion way by the mail.  So to stay green I drop off my old issues to the freebie shelf at the local library. It would be nice to see Zinio and RecycleBank combine their efforts to go green and offer Recyclebank rewards via Zinio.

 
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If you don’t need all the bells and whistles and want a simple e-reader to read books and periodicals, go with Nook Simple Touch. My mother in law carries the original Nook, and has been happily reading on the e-Ink screen for a couple of years.  She never has to stop reading due to a dead battery, unlike her cutting edge Son in Law. The new Nook Simple Touch gives you an “e-Ink” reading experience, which is more like natural paper and easier on the eyes.  It also gives you excellent battery life, two months on one charge according to the specs on their website.Black Friday NOOK® Deal- Only $79. Only Friday available at local B&N Store!

 
THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS PLEASE SEE OUR DISCLOSURE POLICY

The firmware I posted after Christmas for the 7″ Black Pandigital Novel eReader has been downloaded hundreds of times.  I’ve seen it referred to elsewhere as the “Preston Hack.” which I think is hilarious.

My primary reason for uploading it in the firstplace was because Pandigital’s website had some serious bandwidth issues and could not support the number of people trying to update to the newest versions of firmware.  Since that time they have added download capacity, a new version of their update software and some newer firmware.  Wanting to try the new firmware I ran the Pandigital software based firmware updater a couple of days ago and all seemed well, the Pandigital site downloaded the new firmware and saved it to my novel.  As instructed I rebooted into bootloader mode (hold power & volume + key for 8-10 seconds.)  The update screen appeared and then closed with an error and booted into the existing firmware.  I tried this again about a dozen times… argh… the “Preston Hack” (aka QVC firmware) seems to be locked down to prevent updates…not good Pandigital!

This will not be tolerated! I then proceeded to download every firmware file on Pandigital’s FTP server… and finally found one that would work.  The Canadian KOBObooks.com integrated firmware installed. (If you need the Canadian version you can download that here S64N_SLST_KOBO_BB_20101104.dat)  The Canadian firmware was about the same as the “Preston Hack” version, of course I don’t use KOBObooks.com and when reading in night mode the title bar is white, not black?  So I was back to looking for new firmware again.  I tried to load the new US version and once again the firmware is locked down!  It would not allow me to load any other firmware.  At this point it appeared I may be stuck with the Canadian version…crap.  So on my device at this time was:

KOBO Bookstore
Hardware version RD101-2GB-W
Firmware S64N_SLST_KOBO_BBB_2010_11_04
Kernel Version 2.6.27 Kobo@Android)

So my next step was to try to download the Pandigital Novel Android Open Platform Kit.  I’ve read elsewhere it doesn’t really do much and not to try it, but I don’t have much to lose.  When downloaded from the Pandigital site it downloads like most other updates as polaris_update.dat the same file name as the original firmware update.  Of course the Novel does not recognize it! I assumed it was a naming issue since the Canadian update above loaded when other polaris_update.dat files would not, so I decided to experiment. I took the existing firmware name (canadian):

S64N_SLST_KOBO_BBB_2010_11_04

S64N_SLST_KOBO_BBB_2011_01_11

S64N_SLST_KOBO_BBB_2011_01_11.dat

S64N_SLST_KOBO_BBB_2011_01_12.dat

I have loaded the apk’s into a zip file to share them with you.  All of them are Freeware with the exception of a couple of ad-ware (you will see advertisements from the developers on the screen.)  To install the apk’s unzip the file ANDROID_APK.zip (20.7 MB download) on your computer then copy to your eReader via SD card or USB connection.  Browse to the folder you placed them in using ES Explorer on your eReader.  Click on the file you want to install then open after installed (some programs may need a reboot in order to work properly.)

I’m still hoping to get a few other programs to work such as DropBox and a few other apps.  Once I find additional apps I’ll add them to the zip file.

Preston McNair