Phone Support

I am now opening up, due to popular demand, the option to call me. I still encourage non pre-existing clients to email me at mark@markuhde.com for a free consultation on your needs. A basic phone consultation is $30, which you can pay by PayPal upon my satisfactory completion of your inquiry (if it goes over that I'll warn you in advance).

To call me please use the Google Voice call widget here, the call will connect automatically to me in the best available way wherever I am in the world at the time of your request:



To pay me by PayPal for a call that has been completed, or to pay me for any other services, or just to tip me for good advice, please visit PayPal:

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Phone Support $30.00 USD Tip $10.00 USD Hourly Rate $75.00 USD

Reviewing The BLU Deco Mini

Okay, so, your pre-teen kid just dropped and broke their phone and you run down to AT&T or T-Mobile to get them a new one. Suddenly, you find that because you're not upgrade eligible, a basic, cheap phone can easily cost well over $100. BLU to the rescue! What, you say you've never heard of BLU? Well, they're new in the phone game. And their products are junk. They're very similar to all the Chinese junk on eBay, except they're made in America and they're 100% legit. Many Chinese no-name phones have fake IMEI numbers (serial numbers) which can get you into trouble/your phone banned in countries like India, France, and Brazil that track IMEI numbers for police state purposes. The BLU phones have real IMEIs, and actual tech support (which I had to use). Anyways, I'm reviewing the BLU Deco Mini, a quad-band GSM texting feature phone. Here's the very small box you get:

And once you open the box, you'll find these treats inside waiting for you:

There's a phone, warranty information, a battery, a charger, a USB cable (it's NOT a detachable cable and a USB charger, but two seperate items, which is quite a departure from modern custom). Setup is simple, just pop in your SIM card and go. Being a quad-band GSM phone it will work on any GSM carrier (notably, that does NOT include AT&T and Sprint which use proprietary networks and only work with their own phones). It is worth noting that, at least in the United States, networks now have areas that are UMTS (3G) only. AT&T clearly notes those areas with blue lines on their voice map, and this phone will not work in those areas since it only supports GSM (2G). It is a dual-SIM phone, so you can actually be connected to two networks at once, great for travelers and anyone needing two phone lines for any reason. If you only use one line though, it will always have a confusing "Insert SIM" message on the screen - referring to the second radio.

The keyboard on this phone really feels great, it feels almost identical to the BlackBerry Curve, to be honest. Very few cheap phones have keyboards for texting that feel very good, but this one's great. Texting isn't threaded though. In fact, the software in general is terrible, as is the camera (hey, it's 1.3 megapixels - too bad megapixels mean absolutely nothing). The camera isn't that useful since I couldn't get MMS to work properly, even after setup help from BLU. It has some odd niceties for such a cheap phone, like Facebook Chat - though that means, obviously, subscribing to a data plan, which hardly seems worth it on such a device. As for voice, it's quiet - but livable on the highest volume. Anyways, here's a sample picture from the phone's camera.

My advice? Yes, it's a piece of junk. But that's oddly okay since it's a great basic texting phone for the kids. Pick one up on Amazon.com, combine it with a cheap texting line, or texting prepaid, or use it as a replacement phone that doesn't require a new contract - you could certainly do a lot worse for under $50, and there aren't many others at that price point.

Update on Mountain Lion iLife Problem

Guess what? The Apple rep was completely wrong on the problem being that the iLife Bundled Applications installer doesn't work on Mountain Lion. I restored back to Snow Leopard, clean Snow Leopard install from the stock DVD, and got nowhere. Same exact error message trying to reinstall iLife. Called AppleCare back, and it was hard and took her awhile to find a part number, but I should have a new bundled applications DVD coming in the mail next week. I do have to say, for all my ranting, Apple has excellent customer service.

Major Mountain Lion Problem

So, like any of the Apple faithful, when Mountain Lion was released today, I forked over my $20 bill for an upgrade. Except, my Mac OS install was already pretty darn messed up, so I did it as a clean install. This has never been an issue before, and I couldn't have imagined it would be impossible now.

Using the same method as with Lion, I was able to attain a clean Mountain Lion install. The problem is, I can't get the iLife apps back (iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, etc). The DVD included with the computer errors out and fails to install them, saying "The installer could not install the software because there was no software found to install." Seriously - are they joking?

Google revealed almost nothing yet, but oh well, never fear, AppleCare to the rescue, right? AppleCare has been fantastic on some issues for me before, so I called 1-800-MY-APPLE. The first lady hung up on me while having me repeat my serial number. I'm sure she noted it as "could not understand the customer" or some such thing. Or maybe the line really did just go dead, I could barely understand her to be fair. The second guy, who was much louder and clearer - and could also understand me, and was super friendly, was great. But the wrong guy. So he sent me to applications support, where I also got another friendly face.

This friendly face was all ready to send me a new iLife '11 DVD. No problem. The problem was, the computer wouldn't let him. So he bounced it up to his supervisor who informed me that this behavior is expected and that *clean installs will not work* - the bundled applications installer from Early 2011 MacBook Pros does not work on Mountain Lion, and clean installs are not supported, so there will be no iLife '11 DVD for me. Their official advice is to restore from the factory DVD set to 10.6, install iLife, then upgrade my way from there back to Mountain Lion a step at a time.

I'm not joking, this is Apple's actual, official, only proposed Mountain Lion upgrade path. Clean installs are absolutely not supported, and whether deliberately or accidentally they didn't say but they designed Mountain Lion in such a way that it doesn't work with iLife Install DVD's from Macs that are only a year old. This is nothing but plain and simple bad design. As for me, I'll be waiting a few days in hopes Apple decides to make an update to Mountain Lion available that allows it to work with the installers from Early 2011 MacBook Pros.

Sincerely,

Mark Uhde

An Open Letter

An Open Letter

Dear World,

We are at a time in history when school bullying has been called an epidemic. I was on the beginning of it. I was tormented, even beaten up, for supposedly being “gay” before I even truly understood what the word gay meant. This torment was based not on actual sexual orientation, or any other tangible reason, but upon my physically meeting certain stereotypes I did not yet even completely understand.

This type of bully, for many issues, is one of the most serious issues harming children, teenagers, and even adults today. Teenagers are committing suicide because of the bullying, and in many school districts if sexuality is even part of the equation teachers are not allowed to stop the bullying and reassure the bullied students without fear of losing their jobs. One of the most egregious examples of this was in Tennessee where the state legislature actually came close to passing a bill stating “no public elementary or middle school shall provide any instruction or material that discusses sexual orientation other than heterosexuality.”

This is very concerning, we have came so far on LGBT rights as a nation, but our kids deserve so much better. Some people would argue it’s not an issue in middle school, but it is. It’s an issue even in elementary school, for I was in elementary school the first time I was bullied for being gay - before I knew what it was. There are many young transgender, gay, and lesbian children - are they not to be defended from bullying? Potentially any support is providing “any instruction” - and would be cause to fire a teacher.

Ideally, this should be a non-controversial issue. But I’m afraid that the biggest controversy will actually, sadly, come from my Christian friends. I wouldn’t be at all shocked if I hear about writing this. In fact, I believe the only way this will not prove controversial is if it doesn’t get read at all. While I would rather not, if I must, I will cause controversy to stand my ground on this important issue. This is not about the Bible, and what it does or does not say (that’s it’s own argument), it’s not about any other religious text, it’s about freedom. Freedom to be who you wish, express yourself openly, and get an education in a free country without fear for your personal safety or emotional well-being.

Those opposed to gay rights, to anti-bullying education, to support from teachers, etc claim that it’s all part of a so-called “gay agenda.” I’ve never once seen the slightest hint that such an agenda actually exists. Beyond idiot politicians, I’ve never heard anyone trying to tell a kid they “should try” being LGBT. The furthest I’ve ever heard is encouraging kids who are questioning - and often very depressed - that it’s okay to be whoever they are and they don’t have to hide it in shame.

To those people: why are you straight? Where is the “straight agenda” that taught you to be straight? Who on earth could have convinced you to be gay or lesbian? Because I’m pretty darn sure if you’re straight there isn’t a person on earth who could have convinced you to “try” being lesbian or gay. It’s not who you are, it’s not wired in you.

Also, realize that being gay is only half the battle in these stories. Bullying is a huge issue, of which sexuality is only one small part. The worst I was ever beaten up in high school, it was by a guy who constantly called me gay and claimed I was hitting on him. He has a huge ego, because to be honest, he’s the kinda guy that even if I’d totally loved guys and wanted a boyfriend I wouldn’t have been interested in in a million years. Just as I didn’t ever try to “hit on” the girls who were total jerks, I’m positive gay me wouldn’t have tried to “hit on” guys who are total jerks.

What was done about that situation? Not much, I was hurt bad enough that the SRO (School Resource Officer) talked to be about pressing assault charges. Since I was too afraid he’d kill me if I did, I just ignored it and spent the rest of high school watching over my shoulder to make sure he was no where near me. Living every day in fear.

Is that how any kid should have to live? I could easily defend myself here with “I’m not gay” but that would be sending entirely the wrong message. I know of young kids who are. They deserve the same protection, and they are gay. No agenda turned them gay, and to the extent they are part of a community, it’s so they feel safe. I know one older teenager who is a lesbian with extremely anti-gay parents. She has few to no people supporting her. One school employee even took on her parents anti-gay stance by trying to keep her apart from her girlfriend! This was not a young child, this was an older high school girl of legal age to actually get married in this state (if she was straight...). That’s taking the “don’t say gay” concept way too far. This happened in a community where the conservative agenda is up in arms claiming the schools are promoting homosexuality!

And what about marriage? That girl dreams of getting married to the girl she loves, a dream she’ll have to leave Montana to attain. Who are we to deny her the freedom to marry any other consenting adult she wishes to marry? This isn’t some man-child-animal thing like a certain former presidential hopeful claimed. It’s another, consenting, adult human. Or are people no more capable of making their own choices than animals and young children in your mind? I thought conservatives were supposed to be opposed to the government imposing on citizen’s private rights? Oh, that’s right - that only applies when those citizens are the highly profitable owners of large companies who face risking losing their “right” to charge absurdly high amounts for health care in a de facto monopoly market. When those citizens are normal people, wanting normal rights to live, it’s totally okay for big government to micromanage their lives. Sorry, it’s hard to keep that one straight in my mind.

I hate when people say “for the sake of the children” - it’s a thought-terminating cliche used to pass terrible laws that would otherwise get nowhere; by bypassing normal debate processes. Since no one, especially no politician, wants to be seen as “against the children.” But if our opponents, the ones against children’s right to be safe and mentally healthy in schools, can use it, so can I. For the sake of the children, support LGBT-rights and anti-bullying! So they can get an education safely and comfortably today, to become productive members of society tomorrow free to live with and marry whoever they wish. Free to love, pursue happiness, and be free; in a free country.

Thank you for your time on this important issue.

Sincerely,

Mark Uhde