[How to] Block unwanted callers in Samsung Galaxy S4

Apple released iOS7 last week, and one of the new features added is the ability to block unwanted callers. Is there any way to do the same with Samsung's flagship Android phone? As it turns out, this feature was available long before it was introduced in the iPhone. If you did not know this feature existed, and would like to make use of it in your Galaxy S4, just follow the instructions below.

   Go to Call logs and long press the number you want to block. A popup menu will appear with multiple options. Choose 'Add to reject list'

Alternatively, you can also block a person in your contact list. Open the contact list, and long press the contact you want to block, and select 'Add to reject list'

 That's it! You can add any number/contact up to a total of 100 numbers to the reject list this way.  

   You can also add/modify/delete the rejected numbers through the Call Rejection settings. To go to the Call Rejection Settings, press the menu key in the phone dialer screen, and select 'Call Settings'.

In the Call Rejection settings, choose Auto Reject List, and you can see a list of all numbers you have blocked. You can add, modify or edit any of the blocked numbers from this screen.

Instead of blocking a single number, you can also block a bunch of similar numbers by specifying the match criteria like 'Starts with', 'Ends with', and 'Includes'.

Once you save the changes, you will not receive any calls from these numbers until you remove them from the reject list.

That's it! You can now block callers the same way, or even better than, the iOS 7 users can! 

Enjoy your Android!

[How to] Enable One-Handed Floating Keyboard for Swiping in Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Android Tablet

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Coming from a Note 2, this tablet is an absolute pleasure to use. However, I had grown rather fond of the swipe feature available in the Note 2 keyboard. By default, the swipe feature is disabled in Note 8, and is replaced by cursor mode. Check here to enable swipe mode instead of the cursor mode. However, after enabling the Swipe mode, I found it a bit too difficult to swipe in the big Note 8.0 keyboard. Gladly, I found this neat little feature Samsung has provided to make one handed swiping extremely easy. Just follow the below steps to get the one handed floating keyboard on your Note 8.0

1.  Long press the second button from left in the bottom row of the Samsung keyboard (Note: This button might look different from the screenshot below. It shows the most recent option selected. Don't get confused).

2. A popup menu appears with multiple options

3. Look for a keyboard icon with a resize icon overlaid on it, and select this button

4. The keyboard immediately shrinks to about the size of a Note 2 keyboard. 

5. Hold the dotted grid in the top middle of the keyboard, and move it to the right hand bottom corner of the screen.

That's it! Enjoy your favorite one handed swiping feature on your Note 8.0! To get back the original big keyboard, just follow the same procedure, and select the normal keyboard button from the popup menu instead of the floating keyboard button. Enjoy!

How to Network unlock AT&T GoPhone Samsung A157

I recently came to USA and had brought two Indian phones with me, but could not get any reception here in US for Airtel. I had heard that Airtel had ties with TMobile in US and that I was supposed to get network here. So, I dug around and found that the network was in a different band and could not be joined by both my Nokia and Samsung c3303.

Luckily, I had an AT&T goPhone lying around after I bought Samsung Galaxy S3, but it was locked to AT&T alone. I tried to insert my airtel sim, but it asked for Network lock pin.

After searching for a solution for a long time, I finally found the solution from here.

SGH-A157 Network unlock procedure:

==============================

Step 1: Remove sim card from phone and turn the phone on.

Step 2: Dial *2767*3855# This will  initiate a Full reset for Samsung A157

(Note: According to one of the commenters below (Captain Greybeard), skipping this Step 2 will retain your IMEI number, and prevent the IMEI from becoming all Zeros. SO, DON'T DO THIS STEP. Only if Step 3 does not work, try Step2 and Step 3 together)

Step 3: Once the phone restarts, dial #*7337# This will remove sim lock and freeze

Step 4: Now insert Airtel Sim card. and restart the phone. You will get TMobile signal and will start receiving messages.

Update:
The above procedure would make the imei number all 0s in the phone. May be because of this, I was not able to use this phone in India with the same airtel sim card.
However, my AT&T sim card works fine in the US, and I have even called customer care to associate this phone to my sim card permanently. One thing to note is that AT&T will not accept 0000 as imei number. So, I provided the IMEI number printed below the battery in the back of the phone, and everything works fine now.

That's it! Enjoy!

How to Increase broadband internet speed in Ubuntu 12.04

Bought a new HP dv6 I7 laptop from OfficeMax recently. It is a flashy laptop, with fingerprint reader, beats audio, and all. Having been a linux addict, I had vowed not to start installing linux straight away, but Microsoft didn't let me be. Within a week of regular windows updates, the headphone jack suddenly stopped working after a regular update.

While I was busy getting annoyed and researching about the solutions, the Linux devil inside me was dancing and doing back flips. Within a few hours, I was frantically writing the Ubuntu iso to a flash drive, and 20 minutes later, was logging in to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu was a treat to the eyes and looked gorgeous in the dv6. It was all that they said in the various Ubuntu reviews all over the internet. However, it was not without its share of problems.

@ beats audio could not be enabled, although the default audio was good enough. (Adding model=ref in alsa conf made it worse, so had t revert back.)

@ fingerprint reader was not recognized, not even by fprint.

@ internet was dead slow; I was getting 3MBPS in a 20MBPS line. This was a deal breaker.

Although I could do nothing about the first two issues, I searched around to improve the internet speed, and came across this wonderful post.

http://www.hitxp.com/articles/software/ubuntu-fix-slow-wireless-internet-connection-speed-upgrading-11-04-natty-narwhal/

It said that the problem was that Ubuntu was managing power to the wireless interface. The reduction in speed was because of the low power supply to the adapter.

I followed the instructions and turned off power management in iwconfig, and voila! The speed was suddenly up from a weak 3 MBPS to a vicious 19MBPS!!

The world became a wonderful place again. Peace.

  

Things to do to feel better

1. Smile (how long?)
2. Share your feelings with a friend or family member (Are you sure....)
3. Tell a joke (No.... People will laugh at me)
4. Go to the movies (Are you kiddin??)
5. Plant a flower (Is a cauliflower O.K?)
6. Take a warm bath or shower (Hei! Its not my B'day yet)
7. Eat one of your favorite meals (Now this is more like it!!)
8. Have some chocolate (Why only some?)
9. Get a facial (To make others feel better?!)
10. Exercise (I cant here you... See you later...)