It took a few hours to research and get a custom ROM installed (SmoothROM v5.1), so I was dismayed to see that it lacked 3G support. Oops. So I started over again using Nexus Root Toolkit and pushed the latest cyanogenmod nightly for Tilapia (Nexus 7 3g) and gapps via my laptop. Success!
cyanogenmod is kind of boring because it’s so stable – and that’s a good thing.
Regarding the title above,
grouper = Nexus 7 wifi
tilapia = Nexus 7 3g
In Jelly Bean 4.2 and higher, if there is no “Developer Options” shown in the “Settings” menu, go to Settings –> About Tablet –> Build Number and tap on it 7 times to unlock/unhide it.
So basically create a new APN with the following settings:
Name: TRUE-H INTERNET
APN: internet
User name: true
PAssword: true
MMC: 520
MNC: 00
APN type: internet
Personally, I think anyone using MMS in this day and age should just give up and go back to using a typewriter, so I won’t cover that.
You can find device-specific info on the True page from which I borrowed the above graphic: http://www.truemove-h.com/helpsupport_apnsettings.aspx
I have started down a new path on the way to tech happiness by (almost) throwing away my smartphone and replacing it with dedicated tools: a dumb phone, a tablet computer, and a camera (when I need one). I am tired of carrying around a device that is a compromise in every area it was designed to cover – a smartphone is the Swiss Army knife of handheld devices, and while it can be used for many things, it does none of them as well as tools designed for those jobs. A smartphone, in general:
For these reasons, I have decided to go back to carrying more devices, perhaps until smartphones can be had with better features at a reasonable cost. This is an experiment.
I have cameras, so that is covered.
I went to buy a dumb phone, but the coclor I wanted (a small black Samsung flip phone) was out of stock at Tesco, where it was on sale. They had one in Ruby Red with sequins, but I’m not ready for that quite yet.
As for a tablet, I got a great deal on a Google (ASUS) Nexus 7 3G 32Gb at the Tesco Lotus five minutes from my house. This model can use wifi and a 3G sim card, so I signed up for an unlimited True H promotional deal for 499 baht/month (discounted iSmart 699 plan). I don’t plan on using the sim that often at home or work, but it will prove useful when my wife and I go on trips. The 400 voice minuted bundled with the plan will go to waste, since the tablet does not have phone functionality. Oh, well.
My next few posts will be dedicated to the rooting, modding, and set up for the Nexus 7.
Salmon-flavored Lays Potato Chips
I somehow imagine this flavor would have come out in Japan rather than Thailand, either way, it wasn’t as bad as the salmon cream pizza I had in Tenri in the late 90′s.
In the parking lot of Sermthai Complex, Maha Sarakham
In Thai they are called san phra phum. Never seen one on top of a house before.
Taken down the street from Max & Mina’s great grandmother’s house in Sankha, Surin Province, Thailand.
This monkey liked yardlong beans more than bananas.
@Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Chonburi, Thailand
We rockin rock glasses, foo!
We leverage Agoda points gained by using our account for official trips, and can stay at all but the most expensive hotels in Thailand for very reasonable amounts.
Some good, some not so good.
The first two seem to have been walls for a building some time in the recent past, but now just serve to host art and demarcate the boundary of this lot.
I don’t know the name of the town because I couldn’t be bothered to look at my phone’s location. However, it’s only fair to note that this is the first fueling station I’ve ever seen to have two 7-11s – one for the petrol station and another, newer one for the LPG filling station; they were about 120 meters apart across the huge parking lot.
A fortuitous sign right at the start of our journey…
I don’t know why she likes five stars and six stars so much; it must be a phase… She will undoubtedly mature to a stage where she realizes that ten or twelve spokes are where it’s at, I’m sure.
We are taking a trip for a few days. Will update from the road.
Went to a new Japanese restaurant opening today with Tong. It wasn’t crowded at all, and my first impression was bad because it reeked of fresh paint inside.
I don’t want to go into much detail, because we only had a few dishes, but what we did have was enough to lure me back again to try some other things.
The interior is neatly if unimaginatively decorated,and the coolers work well.
“Little Ramen” – actually kinda full-sized and with decent broth and good toppings, but the noodles were way overcooked. 5/10.
Katsu and Omurice – Bleh katsu and not really omurice, but tasty and filling for 49 baht. 7/10.
Tom Yam Gyoza – the best dish we had by far. 8/10.
Front view of the restaurant; fucking awesome reflection.
Overall, I give this place a 6/10 (so far) – worth going to check out. The food had problems, but hopefully they will be ironed out soon.
Strengths: Reasonably priced (much cheaper than Japanese restaurants in Sermthai Complex). Has at least a couple strong dishes; soup gyoza is pretty good (tried two dishes with it).
Weaknesses: Smells of paint. Bad noodles (unforgivable for Japanese ramen). Bad sushi (not pictured above). Not much parking. Iced green tea is tooth-dissolvingly sweet. Hot tea is cheap and flavorless.
The place is located next to the copy shop on the corner of Highway 208 and Nakorn Sawan Soi 18 (the street that goes down to N&N 2 and Med Side) next to the copy shop.
http://goo.gl/maps/4E53T
Max and Mina’s Great Grandmother celebrated her 90th birthday in Surin yesterday, and we attended. It was hot, hot, hot. But everybody had a good time catching up with distant relatives and whatnot, and our family’s road trips are always epic.
