Musings

How many people in Nigeria buy legal music from foreign artists? Most of us just pick up the bootlegs from the street. How much do they cost now, 300 naira? Anyway, if there’s a foreign artist you want to support and he’s under EMI, you can buy his songs on Amazon’s MP3 store. They say that it’s only for U.S. customers but I’ve found that even if you’re using a Nigerian credit card, and you enter any old U.S. address when asked to enter your billing address for the Amazon MP3 store, it’ll work just fine.

… or you can just use Limewire or Bittorrent.

[Update]: Just downloaded Keyshia Cole’s Let It Go (Don’t ask. It was the first track that caugt my eye. I was just testing.) The sound quality was fantastic, encoded at 256kbps. However, there were skips all over the song. Total shit. It’s almost unlistenable. I mean, Amazon, I love you, but this is S-H-I-T. And I can’t find a link where I can redownload songs I’ve bought. And while I’m still mad, where the hell’s the Linux client?

So, in summary, like I said before, just use Bittorrent.

Was worried I wouldn’t be able to use my Starcomms LG LSP-3510 phone with my wife’s Apple MacBook. Apparently, it CAN work despite what the Starcomms support staff says. So… here’s the walkthrough.
1. Plug the cable into your Macbook’s USB port. When you open Network in System Preferences, you should see a message saying Qualcomms CDMA Technologies MSM has been found.
2. On your MAC hard drive, go to the /Library/Modem Scripts folder. Create a new file (you can call it LG Phone or LSP-3510 or StarcommsServciceSucks or whatever you want). Edit that file in your Text Editor and paste the following in:

! ———————————————————————-
!
! Modem Script for au CDMA 1x WIN W01K by Kyocera
!
! 1/30/2004
!
! Copyright 2004 Apple Computer, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
!
! ———————————————————————-

@ORIGINATE
@ANSWER

!
! Initial setup
!

serreset 230400, 0, 8, 1
hsreset 0 0 0 0 0 0
settries 0

!
! Get the modem’s attention
!

matchclr
matchstr 1 3 “OK\13\10″
write “AT\13″
matchread 30
jump 101

!
! Setup the modem for the following:
! Reset to factory defaults (&F)
! Echo off (E0)
! Return result codes (Q0)
! Verbose responses (V1)
!

@LABEL 3
matchclr
matchstr 1 13 “OK\13\10″
matchstr 2 101 “ERROR\13\10″
write “at+crm=1;$lgpkt=3\13″
matchread 50
inctries
iftries 3 101

!
! Reset the Modem on setup failure
!

DTRClear
pause 5
DTRSet
flush
jump 3

!
! Originating a call.
!

@LABEL 13
ifANSWER 32

!
! Dial
!

@LABEL 19
! Display the full dialstring contained in Varstring 1
note “Dialing ^1″ 3
!
! Varstrings 7, 8 and 9, contain dialstring fragments
! Long phone numbers may need to be split into smaller groups
! for the modem to use
!
! Varstring 8 == blank (dialstring in varstring 7)

! Varstring 9 == blank (dialstring in varstrings 7 &
! Otherwise (dialstring in varstrings 7, 8 & 9)

ifstr 8 21 ” ”
ifstr 9 20 ” “

!
! Write dialstring in varstrings 7, 8 & 9
!

write “ATD^7^8^9\13″
jump 32

!
! Write dialstring in varstrings 7 & 8
!

@LABEL 20
write “ATD^7^8\13″
jump 32

!
!
! Write dialstring in varstring 7
!

@LABEL 21
write “ATD^7\13″

!
! Parse the modem’s response.
!

@LABEL 32
matchclr
matchstr 1 70 “CONNECT\13\10″
matchstr 2 81 “RING\13\10″
matchstr 3 105 “NO CARRIER”
matchstr 4 105 “ERROR\13\10″
matchstr 5 107 “DELAYED\13\10″
matchread 700
ifANSWER 32
jump 101

! — Normal exit after “CONNECT” –
!
! This modem has been setup to do CTS handshaking,
! and we assume that a CTS handshaking cable is being used.

@LABEL 70
! Turn on CTS handshaking.
HSReset 0 1 0 0 0 0

ifANSWER 71
pause 30
@LABEL 71
exit 0

! ———————————————————————-
!
! Answer calls
!
! A RING result from the modem when in ANSWER mode claims the
! serial port and answers the phone
!

@LABEL 81
ifORIGINATE 32
userhook 1
note “Answering phone…” 2
write “ATA\13″
jump 32

! ———————————————————————-
!
! Hang up and reset modem
!

@HANGUP
@LABEL 90
settries 0
HSReset 0 0 0 0 0 0

!
! Escape from data to command mode

!

@LABEL 92
flush
pause 1
write “+++”
pause 1

matchclr
matchstr 1 96 “OK\13\10″
matchread 30

!
! Force a hangup
!

@LABEL 94

matchclr
matchstr 1 98 “NO CARRIER\13\10″
matchstr 2 98 “OK\13\10″
matchstr 3 98 “ERROR\13\10″
matchstr 4 98 “0\13\10″
write “ATH\13″
matchread 150

!
! Try to get control of the modem by toggling DTR

!

DTRClear
pause 5
DTRSet
flush

!
! Try the hangup sequence three times otherwise declare and error

!

inctries
iftries 3 101
jump 92

!
! Pause between data and command mode
!

@LABEL 96
pause 50
jump 94

!
! Recall the factory settings
!

@LABEL 98
pause 15
matchclr
matchstr 1 99 “OK\13\10″
write “AT&F\13″
matchread 30
jump 101

@LABEL 99
exit 0

! ———————————————————————-
!
! Error messages
!

!
! Modem Not Responding
!

@LABEL 101
write “AT&F\13″
pause 10
exit -6019

!
! No Carrier or Error
!

@LABEL 105
matchstr 1 106 “OK\13\10″
write “AT&F\13″
matchread 30
@LABEL 106
exit -6021

!
! Delayed
!

@LABEL 107
matchstr 1 108 “OK\13\10″
write “AT&F\13″
matchread 30
@LABEL 108
exit -6022

3. Configure the Qualcomms connection in Network in System Preferences and select the Modem script you just created in the Modem tab. Put your details in as well, your username, password and the number, typically #777. Dial away, sweet success!

Of course if you just install Windows using BootCamp you can use the drivers they give you at their helpdesk but, this is cooler. And sexier. I love OS X.

Wow! There are some good writers out there. I don’t mean the likes of Stephen King or Rohinton Mistry. I’m talking about Nigerians; not people for whom for whom writing is a profession but “normal” everyday folk like me, except of course that they are nothing like me. When I blog it’s like I grab a gun, close my eyes, shoot like crazy and hope for the best. This girl (woman?) is nothing like me. She’s good.

— This post’s been a draft for more than a year. I don’t even remember what post it was I was talking about. —

Everchange tagged me! Feels good to know someone’s out there listening! I’ve been pretty busy with exams and assignments, hence the silence. Will probably be back in a couple of weeks or so.
Here’s my A-Z.
Accent - Hmm… I talk, think, and dream with a Nigerian accent.
Booze - Not till very recently, and only moderately.
Chore I hate - Nothing really.
Dogs/Cats - definitely a dog person
Essential Electronics - laptop, Zen Vision:M, phone?
Favourite Perfume - Men wear perfume? Just kidding. Davidoff’s Cool Water right now.
Gold/Silver - Definitely Gold (my gf’s name)
Hometown - where the heart (Gold) is? I’ll say Port Harcourt.
Insomnia - Never.
Job Title - IT Engineer?
Kids - How many I want? How many I have? Like/Dislike? What’s this supposed to mean? 3. 0. Love. I dunno.
Living arrangements - Shared rented house. It’s OK.
Most admired trait - ???
Number of sexual partners - I hear men usually exaggerate the number of sexual partners they’ve had. Do they multiply by a factor, or just add a number. Let’s just say I’d rather add than multiply. Do the math.
Overnight hospital stays - There’s just one in my distant memory. I must have been what, 4? I ate an egg the next morning.
Phobia - I don’t think I’m afraid of anything. *flexes muscle*
Quote - I dunno. All the ones I really like would make me sound pretentiously intellectual, childish, or totally crazy.
Religion - I’m not sure anymore
Siblings - I’m the oldest. Then my sister and three brothers.
Time I usually wake - Depends. No day job at the moment so…
Unusual talent - Hee hee
Vegetable I refuse to eat - I listen to my mom!!
Worst habit - Procrastination?
X-rays - I think the last one I took was when I was getting in to Uni. I’ve never broken a bone.
Yummy foods I make - My fried rice is BAD, thanks to my sis.
Zodiac sign - Capricorn

I tag Mfoniso, Ile (get a blog, man!), and Azuka.

I’m sure everyone’s heard of the “cabbie driver” interviewed by accident by BBC News 24. It turns out he’s actually an Economics and Business Studies graduate called Guy Goma. The expression on his face when he discovers there’s been a mistake is incredible! Download the video here.
The actual editor that was supposed to be interviewed, Guy Kewney, had some not-so-kind words to say about the whole situation on his blog. Personally, I think the whole thing’s hilarious.