Here’s how to get Fring to work with SkypeOut: prepend the call number a + followed by the country code of the recipient of the call. For example, when calling a phone in the U.S. add +1; (800) 867-5309 then becomes +18008675309. To get the +, I simply press and hold the 0 key on the dial pad in Fring.

I’m not sure that this was always required, as I could have sworn that Fring used to ‘just work’ most of the time, but maybe I’m mistaken. Either way, I’m glad to have it working again!

Now with the 3G iPhone, I cannot travel my morning/evening commute route without dropping my calls, sometimes more than once during the 15 minute commute. Checking the ATT coverage map shows that the location that I drop my calls is an area that has no 3G coverage, which is surrounded by an area of full 3G coverage. In other words, I drop calls when I travel from a 3G coverage area into an area of no 3G coverage. The problem is that the iPhone refuses to hand off the call from 3G to GSM. When the phone does switch to GSM the signal is very good, but the call has already been dropped.

This is one of the issues that I’m having, certainly, amongst others. Many have suggested that the solution is to simply turn off 3G, to which the general response — was annoyance. Though this solution does indeed work, it’s definitely not one I’m terribly thrilled about. One aggravated customer responds:

So we’re paying an extra $15 a month extra compared to the older plan and can barely use it without glitches… and you recommend shutting of 3G to make calls?

I can’t agree more, having ‘upgraded’ from a fairly well-functioning first-generation iPhone to this. Some people reported that they were able to alleviate the issues by simply restarting the phone but unfortunately this had no effect for me. It appears, however, that there’s light at the end of the tunnel! The original poster eventually took his phone back to Apple store and was given a replacement.

On my way home I decided to test the new phone, so I started a phone call while in 3G service and then drove home via the same route that I normally commute (which previously had always included 2-3 dropped calls during the 15 min commute). I was shocked that I did not drop the call the entire way home! Since then I have traveled the same route several times while on calls and still have not dropped a call. I have even watched my phone switch over to GSM while on a call!

That definitely sounds promising, so I’ll have to give it a shot. I’ll be going to the Apple store later tonight, and will post back here in a few days with the results.

Last weekend Tracey, Lina and I went to see Secondhand Serenade live at The Webster Underground and had a blast. Though I was sick and probably shouldn’t have gone in the first place, there was no way I’d miss that show for the world. Tracey and Lina also really enjoyed the show and hope that we can have a repeat experience whenever Secondhand Serenade next goes on tour.

Who’s Secondhand Serenade?

I’ve been listening to Secondhand Serenade for about a year now – since about the release of their debut album, Awake. Having completely fallen in love with them listening to samples online, Lina went about buying their album for me. What I didn’t know at the time was that Secondhand Serenade wasn’t really a full band at all, rather only a one-man-show. John Vesely apparently rented out a studio one day, sick of waiting for a label to pick him up, and cut his own album, layering himself over himself as many times as necessary to complete his songs as he saw fit. Even the album artwork was his; the concept that the entire artistic creation is his and his alone is definitely something I can get behind. Lina had to buy the album online personally from him via his MySpace page. It worked something like this: she sends him the cash via PayPal along with an address, and he ships it out. Now that’s underground.

Since Tracey listens to my music a lot when we both happen to be online and listening to music at the same time, she was introduced to Secondhand Serenade pretty early on as well, and took to it almost as quickly as I did. The fact that John Vesely has a voice to die for certainly piqued Lina’s interest, and when I heard that he had been signed and would be in the area on tour, I almost immediately booked tickets for the three of us.

The Venue

When I found out that Secondhand Serenade would be playing at The Webster Underground, I was pretty stoked. I’d heard great things about the venue, and I have no problem saying that it lived up to my expectations and then some. A cozy little establishment in less than the nicest part of Hartford, The Webster Underground probably couldn’t fit more than two hundred even if packed to the brim and out the door. They have a bar area separate from the stage with a single pool table and only a few bar stools. I definitely loved the minimal-security open-air atmosphere that the whole place had about it. The show was only in medium attendance that night, with maybe a hundred people in the room at best. Including staff and band members.

Probably the coolest part about the venue was the complete lack of security between the audience and the stage; performers entered and exited from the front of the stage, and one of the performers even crowd-surfed during his own performance – definitely something I hadn’t seen before. The second coolest part? The picture at left – that’s us with John Vesely hanging out before the show. That’s right, we got to meet the performers. Just like that.

The Show

Opening for Secondhand Serenade (neglecting a mediocre-at-best local band) we had wonderful performances by Automatic Loveletter, The White Tie Affair, and Making April. I was particularly shocked with how spot-on the vocals of The White Tie Affair were, totally having expected a good sound engineer rather than natural vocal talent when I heard their demos online. I’m definitely looking forward to their upcoming album release.

By the time Secondhand Serenade came on, I really got the feel that these four bands had formed a cohesive unit over the duration of their tour together. At a couple of points through the show, lead singer from one band stepped right on stage while another band was performing and finished the song with them. I thought it was pretty cool to see that much comfort between bands, as I know that often bands go on tour together and develop rivalries.

Needless to say, Tracey, Lina and I were all impressed with John Vesely’s Performance. There’s no doubt that he has natural talent, and he definitely shows it live.

The Apartment

The apartment in Boston affords us over 700 square feet of floor space (that’s over 65 square meters for you metric types), which gives us more than enough space for our minimal amount of furniture and belongings. What may be a bit lacking is closet space; we’ll have to see how that goes.

Come On Down!

What this means for everyone else, though, is that I’m finally in a position to accommodate visitors, for short or long term basis. Even now, Lina has had up to five people stay overnight in her living room; there’s simply enough space, for once. It’s really quite a change from the college dorm-room or studio apartment setup. So please, if you’re in the area, definitely give us a call!

Server Implications

One other thing that this impacts is the location of Charlie’s Server. I’ll most likely be subscribing to Verizon DSL (unfortunately, FiOS isn’t available in my area, yet), which means that there will be a speed decrease. Sorry people, it’s not my fault.

I recently acquired a lease on an apartment in what is inarguably Norwalk’s most lively area, Washington Street. I picked up the keys on Saturday morning and, with the help of Lina and her parents, I was able to transport all of my things to my new residence by Saturday afternoon. Now Monday, I’ve unpacked everything that needs to be unpacked and most everything has been put in its newly respective place.

The place itself, as shown bare above, is a cozy studio atop a trendy restaurant district in Norwalk. Sure, there’s lots of noise in the area, but I can certainly live with that (borrowing Lina’s speaker system was a great idea). One of the Haviland Arms apartment units, this newly renovated studio is set in a complex first built in 1922, central to Norwalk’s historic district.

Within walking distance is a beach, river, aquarium, plenty of parking, tons of restaurants and cafés, an arts theatre and a movie theatre. Needless to say, there’s a load of things to do in the area. I hope to make the best of it over the coming months.

A special thanks to Alexandra Christofor of Christofor Realty, who was incredibly helpful in finding me the perfect place; the moment I saw it I knew it would be perfect. Thanks Alexandra for everything you’ve done.

In order to make my new apartment habitable, I bought a Klik-Klak Sofa Sleeper. In English, I bought an ultra-modern futon. My only other articles of furniture currently consist of a desk and coffee table erected using my home-depot bought designer stainless steel shelving from my freshman year at college. I managed to build two usable pieces of furniture out of the single four-shelf kit. Hooray for engineering degrees!

Things are finally falling into place for me in my new post-college life. I spent the summer preparing for these coming weeks, when I start my new work life and begin my independence. Full speed ahead!

Since Lina and I are seniors this year, we figured that we should go out with a bang and bring along two close friends for a cruise around the Caribbean. We took Royal Caribbean cruise lines to visit Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas, departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Needless to say, we had a blast!

I’m slowly making headway on it all, and should be caught up after next weekend. Needless to say, I have something to do besides falling asleep in my less intense classes.

To those who are expecting replies from me but have not yet gotten them: I will get around to you, I assure you.

At any rate, I was able to understand and write a concise proof for it, and have moved on to part two (of two) of the homework, which I have declared as completely impossible. Half credit never sounded better.

Aside from the fact that it’s a graduate-level course for which I do not have the number theory prerequisites, I again find myself in way over my head.

Getting help didn’t seem to help much with the second part of the homework — that is, proving one definition of the Carmichael function to be equivalent to another. The number theory expert here told me that “the Carmichael function is stupid.” Lately, I tend to agree. Needless to say, he didn’t provide much assistance in that area.

The aforementioned number theory expert, Keith Conrad, was immensely helpful in providing the background material for cryptography class that I did not previously have. Lina and I happened to run into him in an elevator, and he so graciously offered assistance during his office hours, despite the fact that we are not his students (nor will will ever be, assuming we are successful in avoiding any further math-centric endeavors).

It so happens that my professor in linear algebra is also a number theorist. Lina and I had an appointment with him scheduled for today, but unfortunately he had to cancel this morning.

Said cryptography assignment is due tomorrow during cryptography class at 15:30, including the generous extension given by the professor as requested. I’ll try to drop by the professor’s office tomorrow at some point before his class, but I don’t expect much out of it.

Wish me luck.

I got two prescriptions from the dentist along with my post-operation instructions: amoxicillin (to prevent infection) and corcet (to kill the pain, should I need it). I’m not too worried about the pain (yet), since the nurse said that I might even be fine with just acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Heck, I might not even fill the prescription.

Now the road to [dental] recovery. My jaw bone needs to heal over, and my gums need to cover the exposed area. Should take at least a few days, if not a few weeks, says the nurse. God-willing, I should be back to 100% well in time for the move back to Connecticut.