I used http://revolutionary.io/ to root my ThunderBolt. While Revolutionary is only a developer preview right now, it was very easy to use and worked very well! Once I was rooted I loaded CyanogenMod7 and used ROM Manager to flash a compatible version of ClockworkMOD recovery. So far so good. 4G LTE, WiFi, and GPS are all working flawlessly.

If you have an Android phone and are not happy with the stock ROM your manufacturer/carrier provided, I HIGHLY recommend CyanogenMod. Remember though: root at your own risk. It will void your warranty.

After some discussion we decided that I would leave Sprint and join Susan on a Verizon family share plan. On release day, March 17, I purchased the Verizon HTC ThunderBolt. For those of you who don’t know what the ThunderBolt is yet, it is Verizon’s newest Android phone and first 4G LTE capable phone. Coming from the Sprint HTC EVO 4G, an earlier cousin of the ThunderBolt’s, I feel right at home with the ThunderBolt as they are very similar devices. The ThunderBolt offers a 4.3″ display, 2nd generation Qualcomm® MSM8655 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 768 MB of RAM, 1GB emmc, and a 32GB microSD card. Also included are front and rear cameras, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and WiFi hotspot capability (which Verizon is throwing in for free until May 15th).

I am and have been really excited about 4G service. Having had the EVO 4G for the last year and not able to use Sprint’s 4G service (Sprint does not offer 4G in Detroit yet) has really been painful. Verizon’s 4G LTE network I am happy to report is stupid fast. Using the Speed Test app I consistently see between 8 Mbps and 10 Mbps down. I cannot report current upload speeds as Speed Test is not currently reporting accurate results for upload. A forthcoming update to the app will resolve this issue.

I am extremely disappointed to see that Verizon choose to load the ThunderBolt with as much crapware as they did. These largely useless applications consume a lot of precious memory and some of them are battery hogs! The first step for any new ThunderBolt owner should be to disable the BlockBuster application’s background update. Battery life on the ThunderBolt is about what we can expect from a high power 4G phone. Not to say it is acceptable. I learned early on with the EVO that I need to carry a spare battery with me at all times. HTC really needs to find a way to shoehorn larger batteries into these phones. The included 1400 mAh battery just does not have enough juice in it. The ThunderBolt’s 4G radio is quite the battery sucker. If I perform any high amount of downloading over 4G service, the battery goes quickly. WiFi, however, is much easier on the battery. After some tweaking I can usually get the battery to last an acceptable amount of time. See my prior post for tips on better battery life.

The ThunderBolt feels really solid in my hands. It is a well constructed device that appears to be able to take a beating. Side note: this is a really good thing too because my fiancée has a ThunderBolt as well and she is quite hard on her phones! The device is hefty in my hands. If you’re looking for small and light, this is not the phone for you! Other than the battery door, the body appears to be of metal construction. Interestingly, the antenna is integrated into the battery door.

Overall I believe this is a really great device. The device is snappy with no lag at all. Verizon’s 4G service is really fast, although not easy on the battery. I only have a few complaints regarding the device. The crapware is excessive and unnecessary. Most people will never use it. The USB port is on the lower left side instead of the bottom. This makes watching movies with the kickstand and charging at the same time impossible. The battery life is not as good as it should be. The battery door is not easy to remove.

If you are looking for a fast device with the fastest available network, the ThunderBolt is for you!

1. Don’t use Live Wallpapers – I know they are pretty, but they can
really drain the battery.
2. Set the display brightness to a lower setting, for example 25%.
3. Set the display timeout to 30 seconds, the default is 1 minute.
4. For applications that background sync or download background data,
decrease the frequency they sync or update. Usually no more frequent than every hour or two.
5. Turn off Friendstream (delete the widget)
6. Keep Bluetooth turned off unless needed
7. Use WiFi whenever possible, but turn off WiFi when not using it.
8. Turn off WiFi network notification.

No matter what anyone tells you DO NOT install a task manager. The
latest versions of Android are quite good at doing this itself. Task
managers can do more harm then good.

Just Say No: Is It Time to Say Goodbye to Apple? & Apple iTunes 10

” ” Placing search phrases in quotes searches for that exact phrase.

OR Placing OR in a phrase searches for either term. (must be capitalized)

… Placing … between numbers searches for numbers in that range.

site: Search within a specific web domain. For example: site:garrettkelley.com

link: Search for sites that link to another site.

related: Search for results that are related to that site.

~ Placing ~ in front of a word searches for that word and all of its synonyms.

- Placing a – in front of a word excludes that word.

define: Get word definitions from several sources.

time: Get the current time for any location.

info: Get information about a website.

convert Google can convert different units for you. Example: convert 10 miles to kilometers

If you would like more tips and tricks for using Google, check out GoogleGuide.com.

Last Friday the renovation work on my Mom’s kitchen began. Which means I have been assisting with that project. I went shopping with Mom on Saturday for a new over the range microwave and dishwasher. Several hours and 4 stores later we settled on a Kenmore dishwasher and GE microwave from Sears. Overall, it is a pretty large project. The kitchen is being gutted with the wall between the kitchen and dining room being removed. The sink and dishwasher will now be in an island. New cabinets along with a pantry and broom closet will be installed. The carpet in the dining room is going and the hardwood floor beneath will be resurfaced. All in all it should be an excellent change for her.

My latest project has been the configuration of an AsteriskNOW server. I’m hosting the Asterisk server inside a VMware Server virtual machine. The server is configured to use SIP and I currently have 5 extensions configured for myself and a few friends. I’m using a Cisco 7970, my roommate a Cisco 7960, and another friend is using the X-Lite soft phone. The project has presented a couple of challenges. One is configuring phones outside of my local network to work properly with NAT. Secondly, the configuration for a 7970 is different than that of a 7960. The 7970s now use XML files for all of its configuration. Nonetheless the 5 extensions work and can call each other. The next phase of this project is to integrate the Asterisk box with my VoicePulse account. This will allow us to make calls on the PSTN and also receive calls from the PSTN. I’ll provide another update as to how that goes.

Sorry for the long post, I needed to bring you all up to speed on what I’ve been up to.

I certainly feel better knowing that my computer is way ahead of the curve in regards to the hardware stats!
Link: Steam hardware survey

This is a WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 200-series, 9-series, and 8800-series desktop GPUs.

Exciting New Features:

• Enables NVIDIA SLI technology on SLI-certified Intel X58-based motherboards with the following GPUs: GeForce GTX 280, GeForce GTX 260, GeForce 9800 GX2, GeForce 9800 GTX+, and GeForce 9800 GTX. Learn more here.
• Enables NVIDIA SLI Multi-monitor support, giving you the ability to use two monitors with your GeForce graphics cards in SLI mode. Now you can easily switch between multi-monitor desktop mode and full screen 3D gaming mode. Learn more here.
• Enables NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on a dedicated GeForce graphics card. Use one card for graphics and dedicate a different card for PhysX processing for game-changing physical effects. Learn more here. (Note: GPU PhysX is supported on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory. This driver package automatically installs PhysX System Software version 8.10.13).

Blazing Fast Performance:

• Boosts performance in numerous 3D applications. The following are some examples of improvements measured with Release 180 WHQL drivers vs. Release 178 WHQL drivers (results will vary depending on your GPU, system configuration, and game settings):
  • Up to 10% performance increase in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
  • Up to 13% performance increase in Assassin’s Creed
  • Up to 13% performance increase in BioShock
  • Up to 15% performance increase in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
  • Up to 10% performance increase in Crysis Warhead
  • Up to 25% performance increase in Devil May Cry 4
  • Up to 38% performance increase in Far Cry 2
  • Up to 18% performance increase in Race Driver: GRID
  • Up to 80% performance increase in Lost Planet: Colonies
  • Up to 18% performance increase in World of Conflict

And More:

• Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way and Quad SLI technology.
• Supports CUDA.
• Supports Folding@home distributing computing application. Download the high performance client for NVIDIA GPUs here and join the NVIDIA team: #131015.
• Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
• Includes numerous 3D application compatibility fixes. Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.

I decided to perform some further investigating. What I found: NVIDIA currently has drivers in beta that support multiple displays when is SLI is enabled. Hurray! I now have a dual display configuration once again. I can live with 2 displays, but 3 displays are REALLY nice. The second display gives me a place to throw things which I like to keep an eye on. Applications such as the Trillian Astra chat client, the Windows Vista sidebar, and twhirl all find a home on the second display.

Edit: Here is a great article regarding the new 180.xx beta drivers from NVIDIA over at PC Perspective.