I assume a post like the one you’re about to read has been written before, but I just wanted to document my experience with using an Australian iPhone in the USA.

The Quick and Dirty Answer

Call your Australian carrier and get them to unlock your Australian iPhone from its network. You’ll then be able to use it on any GSM network in the world. This is NOT a hack/jailbreak/unlocking tip. This is legit unlocking.

The Long and Clean Answer

When I traveled to the USA in 2008 I got a first-generation iPhone from a friend and put it on a plan with AT&T. This was not a contract, but a month-to-month plan that worked exactly the same as a regular AT&T iPhone contract plan, but didn’t have the early termination fee. This means I could cancel at any time. Why no contract? Because I had my own phone/hardware. (Note: I did have to pay a deposit because I had no credit score in America, but we’ll get to that in a moment.)

In 2009, Apple released the iPhone 3GS in Australia on the 26th of June. I went to the midnight launch an the Optus Store in Sydney’s CBD. It was a fun event, and I probably only waited in line for about 6 hours. It was a fun time in the dead of winter.

I went on the $79 Cap which included the following:

• iPhone 3GS (32GB / white)
• 1-year contract.
• AUD$500 worth of calls.
• Unlimited SMS and MMS. (A first for any mobile phone plan in Australia; previously we only had the option to pay for each text at between $0.05-$0.25 depending on the carrier. We don’t pay to receive text messages (like USA carriers do it) though.)
• 700MB of mobile data
• And whatever fancy Optus things it came with, like ‘Yes Time’ etc.

On top of the $80 I had to pay around AUD$48/month just for the phone itself. I did not pay any upfront costs for the iPhone.

That’s about half the cost (~AUD$1100) to buy that phone outright at the time. Going on a 1-year contract is definitely one of the cheapest ways to obtain an unlocked iPhone. “Unlocked?!”, you squeal? Yes, as soon as you make the first month’s payment you can call Optus (and I assume there’s similar options at other Australian carriers) and ask for the phone to be unlocked from Optus’ network.

When I moved to the USA in February, 2010, I made sure my phone was unlocked and everything was dandy. I didn’t sign up with AT&T until about a month after I got there. I was using my iPhone on Wi-Fi in a lot of places… and I don’t get out much.

I called AT&T and got them to send me a SIM to put in my iPhone. At this point I didn’t tell them I had an iPhone because I figured I could just use the cheaper smartphone data plan and save a bunch of money.

When I received the SIM it didn’t seem to work. After a bunch of calls to AT&T and Apple’s technical department we couldn’t figure out the issue. I even went into an AT&T store to see if they could figure out anything. At that point I had to show them I had an iPhone and they noticed I didn’t have the iPhone data plan. Boo; now I have to pay extra money. That still didn’t fix the issue though.

I ended up calling Optus to see if there was some issue with the unlocking. It turned out that they never unlocked it like I requested. Not to worry though; they unlocked it then and there.

I called back AT&T and everything worked like a charm.

Remember what I said about a deposit? Well, if you don’t have enough of a credit score/rating/whatever (I didn’t the first time because I was traveling and I didn’t the second time (with the iPhone 3GS) because I only just moved to the USA), then you have to pay a deposit of US$500 to AT&T (I assume most companies do this. It seems AT&T might be the only one that does this: Read here.).

Don’t worry, it’s completely refundable after 1 year. I can vouch for AT&T on that because they returned the $500 — which I ended up giving back to them when I moved to the USA; haha.

I would like to note that both Optus and AT&T are great companies. Optus beats AT&T for sure, but they both have great customer service (phone/store), great reception (in the areas I frequent; I don’t live in SF or NYC), and have redeemed themselves numerous times when overcharging me then returning the money when I yell at them.

That’s it! Enjoy your unlocked iPhone goodness.

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1268

What are all these links for? Find out here.

Top 10 Ways Your Brain Is Sabotaging You (and How to Beat It) by Lifehacker
This is a great overall post for anybody. It takes many aspects of daily human (middle class) life and explains how our brain is attempting to sabotage potential good decisions. Most of the brief ten steps contain links which explain the step in more detail. If you ever wanted to take more control of your actions, then this is a good place to start thinking about it.

The video below is in step 4 of the above link, but I figure I can tempt you to go to that link by letting you watch it here:

Products and People Over Process and Dogma by Photofocus
If you’re an experienced photographer, then you know photography isn’t about what camera/lens you have or whether or not you edit your photographs — it’s about you (the photographer). This post will be helpful for photographers to ‘get over themselves’ — or, rather, their equipment. Scott Bourne explains why the end product — the photograph — is all most people care about. Even if you’re not a photographer you might enjoy the humbleness of this post.

British Man Walks Entire Amazon River In 2 Years by NPR
The title of this post is very self-explanatory. A British man and his friend left on a quest to walk the entire Amazon River over two-and-a-half years ago. Along the way they experienced all kinds of interesting people and hardships. I think this story is interesting because it inspires me to go on a similar adventure (and get away from computers). Similar stories of people climbing Mount Everest also inspire me.

‘Human-Electric’ Hybrid Car Goes 30 MPH Uphill by Discovery News
When we think of alternative forms of energy we generally think of solar, wind, and hydro. There’s one we forget about: Human power. Sure, the whole reason cars and other technologies are invented are to make a human’s life easier and more efficient.

We all need to exercise regularly to stay healthy. We usually do so by riding a bike, running around the block, or using the Stair Master at the local gym. Personally, I think gyms are a huge waste of money considering you can do 80% of the same exercise in your own home or neighbourhood.

A human-powered car would be more efficient than anything we’ve seen before because we exercise our muscles to use it and it will still be able to do many of the functions of a regular car sans drifting.
Moreover, don’t laugh when you read this article. It could be more realistic of an idea than you think!

6 Steps to Organizing Your Digital Photos by The Nest
This could fit into the uncluttering section of my first link in this post. While digital clutter isn’t as visible as physical (real life) clutter it can still have the same stressful and overwhelming effects as the latter. Photos (and videos) are usually ranked number one or two in the most important things people own in their home (the things you grab if there’s a fire or a flood).

Now that the majority of our photos are on our computers it is important that we store and label them logically so we can find them in a hurry. Once that is done you need to backup, backup, backup. This article will share six easy (if you stick to them) ways to keep your photos organised.

Location-based check-in data on its way to becoming a commodity by Pelago
It’s no secret that we’re just starting to see the potential of location-based applications in our everyday lives. First, they were just a bit of fun, but now apps like Whrrl and Foursquare can recommend ideas to us when we arrive at a particular place. This is only the beginning!

Jeff Holden, cofounder and CEO of Pelago (creator of Whrrl), gives his insights into the future of geolocation as a commodity — not just fun.

Were you utterly enthralled by this list of links I curated? Well, then I’m sure you’d enjoy subscribing (in your chosen feed reader) to my List of Links category on this blog.

Or, perhaps, this wasn’t enough and you’d like to know everything I read. Well, never fear, my Delicious bookmarks will assist you with that.

Broken link? If you ever read one of my List of Links posts and a link doesn’t work, then I’d really appreciate it if you e-mail me and tell me which link in which post (put ‘Broken link in LoL [###]’ in the Subject).

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1229

Giddy Blog (the name of this blog — it only took me a single second to think up that name) is my personal log of events and thoughts in my life that I like to share with the world.

Over the past year or so it has mostly featured posts with advice from personal experiences. If I’m not out in the world learning more about this wonderful place, then I’m gaining knowledge from the plethora of informative articles on the Internet.

The latter I like to share with my friends and/or family via instant message or e-mail. It’s great that those handful of people see the same things that I feel are important, but I reckon much more of the world could make use of said articles.

Hence, I have decided to share articles I’ve read recently on this blog. I won’t guarantee that the list of links will occur regularly, but once a week or a couple times a month should be attainable — considering I read a lot (I never thought I’d say that).

What to expect

• I’ve recently seen Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Marquardt doing similar ‘link posts’ on their blogs and e-mail newsletters. I’ll follow along the lines of Chris’ style by adding a personal description to each link.
• I watch a lot of radical videos (you know, because I work for Viddler), so I assume there will be a video embedded in every post (and a link to the video).
• 99.9999% of the articles and news I read are from the people I follow on Twitter. In other words, Flipboard looks like a bloody awesome app, but I don’t have an iPad.
• The majority of the links will be clean (free of rude language, graphic violence, pornography, etc.). Those types of adult themes aren’t necessarily bad; I just don’t come across articles and videos like that very much. However, if I feel it’s important to share a link that contains adult themes, then I will clearly state it in the description — probably highlighted in fancy red or something.

What not to expect

• I don’t watch or read the (mainstream) news. If I do happen to come across some mainstream news (like on CNN.com, SMH.com.au, etc), then (as above) it will probably be something I found on Twitter (usually from Alyssa Milano — heh).
• I don’t care for politics, racism, sexism, or bigoted religious information; that just doesn’t interest me.

This is not some ploy to get a good SEO ranking or whatever. I don’t care if one person or a gazillion people read these posts; I’m just sharing them to spread my knowledge with those that care.

I look forward to sharing links with you! For now, you can see everything I read (and websites I’m interested in) on del.icio.us: delicious.com/djsteen

See my first List of Links post / See all my List of Links posts

Reading tip: If you find text on websites a little small for reading or too cluttered with advertisements, then I recommend you use Safari 5 or Readability to customise your reading experience.

Safari 5 introduced a feature called Reader. If you’re reading an article/post online (just like this one) and you click the Reader button in the address bar (or press Shift-Command-R), then a clutter-free lightbox will appear and you’ll be able to read in peace. (If you’re using a Mac you already have Safari. If not, then you can download it for Windows here.)

Readability (recommended) actually inspired Safari’s Reader. Hence, it does the same thing, but you can use it in any browser. Just go to Readability’s home page, set up the way you want it to look, and drag the bookmarket to your bookmarks bar.

Broken link? If you ever read one of my List of Links posts and a link doesn’t work, then I’d really appreciate it if you e-mail me and tell me which link in which post (put ‘Broken link in LoL [###]’ in the Subject).

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1222

This afternoon I went to see “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” with Rachel and her parents.

These days I rarely have the desire to go see a movie at the cinema. Over the past year or more I haven’t been in a position where I have personally coordinated a visit to the cinema. Sure, movies look great on the “big screen”, but they also look good in the iMac in our living room; I’m just as involved in the movie.

Prior to seeing Scott Pilgrim I don’t think I saw the trailer more than once — if at all. However, one night about a month ago, Rachel was watching behind the scenes videos from the set of Scott Pilgrim. (Watch them here on Vimeo.) They were entertaining, fun, and the director — Edgar Wright — is a genuine fellow.

Rachel and I were at the mall nomming on some yummy Potbelly (a story for another day) and we got a call from Rachel’s Mom requesting that we see a movie. Rachel suggested “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” and that was that.

The Movie

We entered the cinema the moment the movie started. The opening credits was seizure-inducing, pretty, and had a good beat to get me excited about the movie. I was excited and pumped! The colours in the opening credits had me reminiscing about the closing credits of “Yes Man”.

Without giving too much away, I’ll tell you that the editing in this movie is fantastic No, it isn’t just cuts and cool text inserts; it’s a visual comic. (NO! Not “Sin City”.) If digital content could be living, then this film is alive.

As I’ve said many times, 3D is a fad that will only live in IMAX films (that are originally recorded in 3D). Movies like Scott Pilgrim prove you don’t need some 3D-gimmick to WOW people with on-screen action.

Just wow!

I know that doesn’t tell you zip about the movie, but if you wanted to the general plot, then you wouldn’t be reading this; you’d be watching the trailer or reading the appropriate Wikipedia article.

Actually, I suppose the film is completely based around love. Unlike every song in the world being about love, I don’t mind movies that incorporate love into the plot. It’s a part of event the most unconventional lifestyles. In fact, I had quite an attraction towards the character Ramona Flowers (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) while watching the film; she’s weird, sexy, and doesn’t care too much what people think of her.

“Inception” was is a great film, however so is “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”. If you only have the will or budget to see two movies at the cinema this year, then I would recommend those two.

Don’t just take my word for it though. Sign in to fflick with your Twitter credentials (don’t worry, it’s safe) and see what your circle of friends think on the Scott Pilgrim fflick page.

If you were looking for the trailer, then here’s one version:

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1218

It’s common knowledge that people are watching much more video content (and, of course, text and audio) online these days. Traditional television content is available for viewing online (via Hulu, iTunes, and respective TV station websites, etc.) and many web shows (such as Wine Library TV and Diggnation) are viewable on televisions via TiVo, Roku, etc.

Television stations like G4 are bringing the best content from the web and shoving it on TV. If you’re mature enough to remember TechTV (featuring shows like The Screensavers, The Lab with Leo, and so on), then you’re not new to web-style technology shows being on television — albeit cable TV.

I appreciate the effort taken in putting all this great online content on to the large televisions sitting in our living room. However, if you ever watched The Lab with Leo, and also subscribed to any shows on the TWiT Network, then you’ll know that The Lab with Leo always felt restricted by time and therefore some segments didn’t go into enough detail.

Recently, my friend Justine was on a show called Cambio Connect. (I had never heard of this show or even the network it was on until Justine retweeted about it. It’s part of the AOL Teen Network, so maybe that’s why I don’t know it.) I’m not even sure what this show is about (perhaps it’s just a teen lifestyle show), but this particular episode focused on Glee. Well, kinda.

They said the show featured a behind the scenes of Glee (a show I like, but recent episodes are seeming more fake) with Matthew Morrison (star of Glee). The host, Quddus, said these exact words “… we’re going to hang out with Matthew Morrison …”. Justine and Quddus were nowhere near Matthew nor did they talk directly to him. In fact, during the 6-minute episode Matthew said about five words and Justine said about ten. I felt like my time was completely wasted.

Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate short-form content that gets to the point, but this was just confusing. Maybe I’m just “old” and don’t understand the teenagers of today. (That actually scares me. A lot.)

Again, I don’t know much about Cambio Connect, but it felt like something that had the restrictions of television. If it is an online show, then I reckon they’re doing it wrong. Though, after reading the comments on the video it appears they’re going after a YouTube audience (superficial young teenagers).

OMG!!! I love iJustine and matthew Morrison, iJ really does need a reality show, lol. Again, love you!!! — TWILIGHTGAL3000

Here’s the episode that Justine was in if anyone is curious:

I certainly hope that when the Internet is fully integrated into televisions that content like Cambio Connect has either changed or fallen by the wayside. I just can’t see the value in it.

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1215

I’ve been pondering this thought for a long time, but the iPhone 4 announcement finally confirmed it for me:

The only reason you wouldn’t record video in HD 720p from 2011 onwards is if you’re doing it for artistic purposes.

The iPhone 4 is the first iPhone to record HD video. It’s definitely NOT the first mobile phone to record HD video, but it is most likely one of the best (size of the lens, backside illumination sensor). By now all point-and-shoot cameras and DSLRs manufactured in 2010 record at least HD 720p (if not, 1080p) video. Now that phones live up to similar standards there’s no excuse to not record in 720p; yes, yes, you may use 4:3 SD video for services like Skype and FaceTime… for now.

We all shudder when we see an old home video recorded in SD (4:3) on a tape. Sure, that was fine to put online a few years ago, but now many (if not all) video hosting websites accept HD quality video to be uploaded. Therefore, there’s no excuse.

As I said, it’s not wrong to record video using a SD (standard definition) camera, but I will only accept that if you’re doing that for an arty movie or some effect like that. Good examples of this can be seen on hitRECord.

I completely understand that this is a first-world topic and there are far more fundamental things in life than what format of video you record in.

A very good example of someone that’s switched to HD 720p home videos is my friend Clintus. He’s a father of two lovely kids and has been vlogging for many years. He began using a camcorder, then Flip video cameras, point-and-shoot cameras, and (up until recently) his Samsung HD point-and shoot camera and sometimes his iPhone 3GS. Now, he’s pretty solidly sticking with his iPhone 4 for any/all videos he records.

Check out one of his recent videos below:

If you’d like a suggestion for a good HD 720 video camera, then ask me in the comments below. My short answer is: If you can afford the monthly bill for an iPhone 4, then that would be the simplest and most convenient HD video camera on the market.

So, which HD video camera do you use?

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1180

While cleaning out my ginormous pile of tabs in Firefox today I stumbled on this Gizmodo article about the new Leica V-LUX 20. It has a GPS chip inside and geotags where photos are taken.

My dream!

I’ve been manually geotagging my photos on Flickr for quite a long time. (Not to mention titling, describing, and tagging my local images; it’s quite a process.) It’s something that the iPhone does to photos taken (if you have the setting turned on). Many other phone cameras and DSLR cameras also geotag photos and video.

Unless you’ve been living in a bunker (I.e., with no GPS signal), you’ll know that geolocation services have exploded over the past couple of years. Kaboom!

Services like Gowalla, Whrrl, and Foursquare have made it easier to connect with friends in real life. Or, ahem, stalk them. And all of the aforementioned services have partnerships with various businesses (such as Ben & Jerry’s, NJ Nets, and Murphy USA) to offer discounts/coupons on products to entice people to “check-in” to their business.

Back to cameras.

I bought my Panasonic Lumix TZ5 in September 2008. It’s a very good point-and-shoot camera. The wide-angle 10x zoom lens covers so much range that I don’t need any other camera. It is a bit on the bulky side, but that’s the price I pay for performance. Oh, and it records HD 720p video — which is very important to me.

The Leica V-LUX 20 is almost physically identical to my Panasonic camera, but it packs a higher zoom range, GPS, and hasn’t fallen into the trend of encoding the video in AVCHD; win!

Sony has had GPS in their flagship point-and-shoot cameras and camcorders for a while now. They have similar specs to the Leica and it’s hard to choose between these two brands as they both make very sharp glass.

When these cameras are used with applications like iPhoto (geotagged photos are automatically placed on a map) and Flickr, then combined with services like Gowalla and Whrrl, well, you’ll have a truly streamlined REAL life.

Oh, and the fact that the iPhone 4 geotags videos is huge. I guarantee your mind is going to be blown up (Exploded. Everywhere.) when you see the integration of video into real life locations. You’ll probably want to keep an eye on sites like Viddler.

Footnote: Stalking is bad. Don’t do it. So is lying. I guarantee it’s going to be near impossible to lie (about anything) in a few years due to technologies like GPS. You better get your honesty cap on!

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1172

This is not a step-by-step guide on how to unclutter your life. These are just my experiences and thoughts about peoples’ stuff/possessions. Helpful resources will be listed at the bottom.

Over the past eight months I have truly realised how much stuff people hoard. I moved to America in February and in order to do that I cleaned out my bedroom in Australia. I have lived at home with my immediate family until this big change.

My Mom — whom is super-awesome — told me that I would have a much clearer head (and a fresh start) if I just clean and organise everything in my bedroom. That way (when I return for visits) I won’t return to a cluttered room.

While cleaning out my room I discovered how much pointless stuff I was storing in my cupboards. Point-less. Many of the things I hadn’t touched in almost ten years. I won’t bore you with some of the things I found.

I will say that I had been keeping “fancy” plastic bags. You know, like the soft-feeling ones you get from an expensive retailer — not just regular shopping bags. I knew this, but I never had the will to use any of them because I guess I wanted to have them available for “special gifts”. Who on Earth would want to receive a non-Sony product in a Sony plastic bag? Yeah, I was loopy!

Several of the plastic bags literally disintegrated in my hands because they were made from environmentally-friendly corn starch. Yes, they really are biodegradable! Hah!

Ever since I gave away and sold many of my possessions I realised how little we actually need in life. As the great George Carlin said in his “Stuff” routine, “Your house is just a place for your stuff. If you didn’t have so much goddamn stuff you wouldn’t need a house … That’s all your house is; it’s a pile of stuff with a cover on it.”.

Now I pay much more attention to the things I and others around me buy or keep. Do you really need another candle holder? Another $20 t-shirt? Another fast food receipt on the pile of receipts that won’t get you any more money on your tax return. (Yes, I have actually been to a taxation accountant and she told me that food and grocery receipts won’t gain you any money on your tax return unless you took a client out to lunch and can consider it a business expense.)

What kind of legacy do I want to leave after I die?

I’ve had some family pass away in the past several years and having to figure out what to do with the stuff they left behind is a nightmare. (Seriously, I have more dreams than nightmares and I remember very few of either, but if there were such thing as a real-life nightmare, then I think sorting through a deceased’s stuff would have to be considered one.)

Granted, the majority of elderly people who have died up until now probably haven’t had computers. Therefore, they own many more analog properties like paper documents and developed photographs.

Computers aren’t reducing the amount of stuff we own. It’s just digitising it. This frees up physical space in the world; a definite win!

When does the passing of stuff from generation to generation end?

Sure, it’s fine to pass along my great great great great grandmother’s wedding ring (a tiny item) to my wife, but the collection of dolls (all 300 of them) would be better suited in a museum or shrine. I certainly don’t want to be passing my dusty 20-year-old mattress, toy car collection, and Tazos along to my kids when I die. No way hozay!

So what should you do if you don’t want to burden others with your stuff? Clean up!

Perhaps you don’t know where to start. Well, a good rule of thumb is if you haven’t touched or worn something in two years, then chances are you probably never will.

When I moved to America I took about one-third of my clothing with me. I wear about half of the clothing I brought with me. Sure, I’m not fashionable, but I also don’t need a new outfit for every single day of the year.

Oh, and scoring a great deal on organisational shelves doesn’t help because that will just provide a place for your stuff to sit and never be touched.

I recently discovered I have the audiobook of “It’s All Too Much” by Peter Walsh (Buy on Amazon | Audible) on my iPhone, so I started listening to it. Interestingly, Peter is Australian. More importantly, his book really hones in on everything I’ve mentioned above and more. He guides you through how to clean up all your stuff and stop from buying more stuff.

This is really something more serious than it sounds and doesn’t really get looked at until you’re completely overwhelmed with stuff. I’ve been seriously considering becoming  an organisational expert (perhaps to make some candy money) like Peter because I’m absolutely flabbergasted at some of the stuff I see in peoples’ homes — even mine!

Stuff word count: 18 (including the one on this line)

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1170

Last night (1st August, 2010) I had a dream about tiny spiders that looked dead, but unraveled when I got close to them.

One, larger spider (like the black one in “Salt“) was also present, but I seemed to be focused on all the smaller spiders.

Most of the small spiders were pastel yellow, but there were also a few orange ones. I think there were some other colours of spider, but I don’t recall exactly what colours.

It was a short-lived dream. At least, that’s all I remember.

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1168

When Lisa Bettany started tweeting (and blogging) about an iPhone camera application she had created I had very little interest.

I have several paid and free camera applications on my iPhone, but the app I use most (at this point in time) for taking photos is — funnily enough — Gowalla.

(Side note: If you want to add a photo to a location on Gowalla, then you must use Gowalla to take the image (you can’t choose a previously taken image from the iPhones ‘Camera Roll’). I like this feature because it means you HAVE to be at the location; no faking.

Other than that I use the default iPhone camera app.

As I saw reviews and videos of Camera+ in the wild I began to notice it’s potential and value. Plus, I discovered that the company tap tap tap actually created the app; they’ve made some great apps.

I decided to by the app at its “Introductory Price” of US$2.99, and test it out. In the App Store the description said “BUY NOW BEFORE THE PRICE INCREASE”. (That may not be word-for-word, but you get the idea.)

A week later it was available for US$0.99. I was infuriated. I was lied to. All of my peers — many of which also bought the app — were just as ticked off!

In a time when transparency equates to trust I just don’t understand why they would have blatantly lied to make more money. I care less about the extra money I paid than I do being lied too. Rah!

Back to the app.

When I first downloaded it I used it once, then never again. It just didn’t fit into my workflow.

There was an update or two since its launch, but the extra filters and support for iOS4 didn’t really matter to me.

That is, until the latest update (version 1.2) when they added the double touch feature (tap tap tap refers to it as ‘Touch Exposure’). Watch this video to see how amazing this feature is:

Should you buy this app? Only if you regularly use your iPhone as a camera — rather than a point-and-shoot or SLR.

If you do decide to purchase it, then you may want to wait until Thanksgiving/Black Friday or Christmas; when many apps go on sale. It currently sells for US$1.99 (AUD$2.49) on the App Store — this is apparently “60% OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME”.

Short URL: http://djsteen.com/wp/p/1166