I donated something to to Value Village (Canada) and they gave me a coupon. I had to input my purchase date and time, then do an online survey for a small discount. Unfortunately the online experience was flawed at best.
There are many different types of people that shop at Value Village, many of them over the age of 50. These people often do not carry nor rely on their smartphone for their existence. In other words, they are normal.
The Motorola Droid Razr XT912 seems like a nice enough smartphone. Small, slim, with a carbon fiber back. Friend David bought it from, I think Canada Computers, refurbed. After using it for a while the battery life was reduced, then he used it as an MP3 player. In the end I received it and used it as a desk clock. Finally, it would no longer reboot, seemingly in a boot loop.
Replacement 3.5mm 4 connector headphone jack, varnish, shrink wrap, new jack completed, Photo 05 by Don Tai.
After many years of careful use, the headset that came with a long gone Blackberry smartphone lost sound in the right ear. If I wiggled it “just so” the sound would reappear, but with any further movement the sound would again be gone. It was clear that the wire would need to be cut back and the 3.5mm phone plug would need to be replaced. Because I do like the feel and the quality of the headset and mic, this was worthwhile to repair.
Little Weed had a problem with his Google Pixel and Freedom Mobile. While he could call people he could not text, and received an error message “Can’t send message with freedom, error 8”.
We went to the Wind store and this is what the guy did. It did take a couple of seconds to kick in:
settings > network and internet > mobile network -> advanced > access point names > … (top right corner) > reset to default
Sim card was fine. I’m glad the guy knew his stuff.
This is an LG G3 smartphone with the back and bezel removed. The LG D-852 has some differences. Note the brown flexible flat cable at the top (yellow arrow). The LG D-852 has a rectangular and square one. Remove and reinstall both.
My LG D-852 suddenly developed screen problems, which included fading to black from the edges, then black horizontal lines, and finally just all black. It seemed odd that only today this would happen.
I found this post and decided to investigate. I took the phone apart, unplugged and reinstalled two connectors, which fixed the screen problems. It took 3 minutes, a very small screwdriver, and no additional cost.
Problem: China and Russia are eavesdropping on Trumps’s private calls. China specifically wants to know who influences Trumps so they can influence the influencers. This is standard practice for many countries and not just China.
LG p500h Optimus One smartphone, circa 2010, unlocked from Koodo for use on the Bell network, Canada.
Somehow I have an LG p500h smartphone, which was locked to Koodo. As Canadian law has changed, forcing mobile service providers to unlock phones free of charge, I went on Koodo’s Facebook page and requested an unlock code. They gave it to me and I was able to unlock the phone. I put my Bell sim card in and it worked! Yay, I have a 2011 phone, but it works!
Every tool used by humans can be used for good or evil. It is up to the individual to determine its use. Smartphones are some of the newer tools for modern living. Their longer-term implications for everyday use are as yet unknown. While we in the West, where I see this in Canada, take steps to preserve privacy, this is untrue in China. The Chinese government has turned the benign too of the smartphone into a personal tracking device for its own political purposes.
Computer and Smartphone Security in Repressive Countries | 电脑和手机安全手册在压迫国家
Links and copies are AGAIN online. I’ll post when I receive an update. Vietnamese has been added 现在可以下载。要是文章要改变，我有最新版的时一会给你下载。 Updated 2018 June 17
These security documents for computers and smartphones are useful if: 这个关于电脑和手机安全手册是好用的要是：
your country can confiscate, investigate and interrogate your devices at will。
你国家可以随意没收，调查和询问您的电脑和手机
your country can force or coerce you to give up your passwords
你的国家可以强制或胁迫你放弃你的密码
These documents are not mine but belong to practicaldigitalprotection.com, a project of Safeguard Defeners. I am only safeguarding and promoting the documents for those who need them. Having read these documents I believe they are important enough to the world to keep a safe copy. I do not know the names of the owners of these documents, nor do I want to know, for their and my safety. If and when these documents are changed, I will replace them with their updated versions.
Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML, camera circuit board, black body of the round selfie camera connector is cracked. This is unrepairable. Photo 8 by Don Tai
Our Asus Zenfone 2 Z00ADA ZE551ML smartphone has a broken camera. The selfie camera simply does not initialize in the camera app, which says it is not there. We wondered why. There are a lot of complaints about this broken camera, so the problem seems common. We decided to take the phone apart, to take a look and ensure that all the electrical connections were tight. What we found was that the electrical socket that connects to the selfie camera was very cracked. The socket is so small as to be irreparable. This socket could not have been damaged by wear and tear, as all the other components around the selfie camera, including the forward facing camera, are in pristine condition.
