Saturday, June 30, 2012

How if fixed my 3GS/Gophone Data access problem - no jailbreak







I had been having the hardest time getting anything to work on my iPhone 3Gs once I put it on a prepaid gophone plan. Nothing that was written online seemed to be up to date at all and it really started ticking me off when people started saying it wasn't possible. FIRST let me tell you what I did and what I shouldn't have done, please read the whole thing before completing any of the steps:


1) I bought a cheap phone from att's "gophone" section.

2) I activated the sim card via the gophone. bad idea but fixable , once you activate a sim its "locked" to that phone so I should have activated it after I inserted it in my iPhone.

If you did it the way I did and need to fix it:
Call 611 from the gophone, tell them you meant to put the new sim in your old gphone and you need to have the sim reset so that you can have that phone number on your previous phone. (i told them I had an old samsung phone I wanted to continue to use - idk how they would feel about me putting it in my iphone) they did this in a matter of 5 (or less) minutes for me with no trouble.



3) I added minutes, I initially had chosen the $50 unlimited plan. wrong choice again

Any smart phone cannot be on an unlimited plan (so says att - haven't found a way around that yet unless you buy a "smartphone" like the at&t fusion which I don't know if that falls under the category of "smartphone" anyway), it has to have a "data package"

What you need to do is choose a plan that suits your talk and text needs and add a data package after that. I chose the $25/month plan for 250 minutes and unlimited text. I think their biggest data package is $25/month for 1 gig of data. You can add more if you want to if you use that up before the month is over. For me I actually have just been using the $5/month for 50megabits and refilling as I need simply because its cheaper since I'm around a wifi connection 90% of the time.



4) And finally to make all this work, go to www.unlockit.co.nz from your iPhone on a wifi connection, press continue from the welcome screen, click custom APN, your carrier is going to be toward the bottom I spent countless time, all wasted, selecting other At&t options, the one you want is AT&T (PAYG) . Install the new APN, turn your iPhone off or put it in airplane mode for a few seconds and bring it back. Turn off your wifi and after that you should have a working data plan assuming you purchased one. If this doesnt work go under your settings, go under general, go under reset and "reset network settings".



Hope this helped anyone having the same problem I was

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Shakeology - first impressions

I just got a sample of "Shakeology" with my Beachbody package (I ordered Brazilian Butt Lift -*giggling slightly* on a side note, my lower body is some kind of hardcore sore due to the first day of that DVD) Anyhow - I drank my first Shakeology drink this morning (chocolate flavor), my second for lunch (half a serving with a granola bar, I also had a taco a bit earlier) and I gotta say the stuff was surprisingly tasty. I'm not really overweight, my BMI is 22.5 but I want to stay at a flat 22 so I'm exercising and trying to eat right - and much to my surprise I get to try this sample of Shakeology. So here are my pros and cons thus far.


Pro:
Pretty darn tasty - I like to put it in my Ninja single serving blender thing with one serving of milk and a few ice cubes, I think I will try it next time with frozen coffee ice cubes. Sounds like a winning recipe to me.

Pro:
It definitely curbs hunger, I have seen a few reviews that say otherwise and honestly it wasn't my expectation that it would curb my hunger. I am a VERY hungry girl. But by the time I was almost finished with my first full serving I was honestly having trouble finishing the whole thing. The thought of snacking wasn't really appealing (THIS IS HUGE FOR ME I LOVE SNACKING)and I didn't eat until after noon - and even then it was just a single taco.
Con:
The cost. OMG. Its $120 plus shipping, plus tax. So about $140 for a "30 day supply". I am keeping in mind my boyfriend uses whey protein and last time I checked that stuff was between $40 and $60 for 15 to 30 servings depending on what you get and what brand. On the low end of things - if you get a $60 jug with only 15 servings I guess the price is comparable - before you tack on tax and shipping. But still. This stuff i crazy expensive. On the plus side as far as expense tho - this is DEFINITELY more than just a protein shake. Its a super supplement and meal replacement. And, today when I drank that half serving, I felt pretty good. I could probably cut the cost in half with similar results. If I could I think it would be worth it.
Anyway - Once I get thru my trial package, I will update and let you know if I still think it may be worth it.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Goodbye Mortar and Pestle, Hello Ninja Kitchen!





My sweetheart got me a Ninja food chopper for my birthday Like this one this year and after about 3 months of using it I have no idea how I lived without it.


I used to crush garlic by hand -not that crushing garlic is that hard- but it leaves a mess to clean up out of your Mortar and Pestle plus if you're using a wooden one like I was, it leaves it smelling like garlic. I don't have that problem with my ninja and it only takes about 1 1/2 seconds for it to annihilate a few cloves of garlic. It has a nice lid that makes it double as a storage container and protects the part of the unit that contains the motor from food, therefore making it a fast and easy clean up.


I also received a Ninja system Like this one that I have a deep love for. This comes with a dough paddle - which to be honest I don't use too much because I have the bread machine and that requires less attention, but it also comes with a cookie dough paddle for the FASTEST batch of cookies you have ever seen. The 2 smaller containers are so quick and simple with whip up shakes in, everything about this thing is LOVE LOVE LOVE.


ok ok there's this one thing that does get on my nerves a bit - washing the main canister on the "Kitchen System Pulse" (Not the chopper) can be a pain. Its actually fine until you get to the lid - dough sticks in there so badly. But if that's all I have to worry about I'm doing good. I absolutely love the 4 blades though. I had a black and decker food processor before this and I liked it very much, the only reason I still keep it around though is because it will slice and grate. I can't really do that with my Ninja but it is still, hands down the BEST food processor/food chopper/ cookie dough mixer/shake maker I have ever had.

The Panda Washer

I recently bought a panda washer, I have done about 7 (maybe 10) loads in it. I'm loving it so far, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a quick way to do laundry without having to fill up an entire washing machine, or those like myself who live in apartments, or even for vacation. This is an extremely lightweight and flexible little machine.

I did an experiment with my work clothes that have miscellaneous stains and dirt on them anywhere from motor oil to limestone and the clothes came out fantastic. The only bad thing I really have to say about it is that it has trouble with heavy fabrics in medium quantities. I'm a size 3 to 5 girl and I can only put 2 to 3 pairs of my jeans in there. Given along with 2 to 3 pairs of pants I can also put a lot of other lightweight items, say for example 2 pairs of jeans 4 lightweight polyester shirts and a few pairs of underwear. That works fine. And the best part is that is gets them as clean as a regular washer.

Here's my list of pro's and cons, you can also view my youtube video (link below) and see the washer in action.

Pros: Lightweight, easy to use, does a lot of smaller items at once, cleans surprisingly well, great for apartments or vacations (insanely lightweight when empty), has a handle on the back for great portability, works on any standard outlet (U.S.)

Cons: No automatic rinse cycle, filler hose is hard to use on some sinks (that's the only part of the whole unit that deserves the word "sucks" - that hose really does blow), has trouble with medium quantities of heavy fabrics as i stated above, long drying time due to no spin cycle. Towel capacity is very low, maybe 2 medium to large towels (extremely large towels I'd only put one) and maybe 3 small towels - they suck up all the water and then twist together making the machine jam.


Panda Washer Video