Directions for a Hard Reset on a Sprint HTC Touch Pro:

1. Turn the device off (Some directions indicate leaving the device on, for Sprint this is not true)
2. Hold the volume down and enter key (enter key is center of the d-pad)
3. Press and hold the Power On key while still holding the volume down and enter key.
4. Within a few seconds there will be a prompt, confirming the complete deletion of all data.  Release the volume down, enter and power keys.  At this prompt, press the volume up key and all data will be deleted.
5. Hard Reset has now been completed.  The phone will restart, prompt for screen alignment, provide a tutorial, HTC and Sprint will install their extra software, phone will restart and everything should be good to go!

Any questions, Sprint Technical support should be able to assist 1-888-211-4727.

PPCGeeks Thread – http://joeyconway.com/brke4e

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Fiscal Year 2008 Deficit – $450 billion

Don’t blame Bush (Republican) or Obama (Democrat) for the large government budget deficit of 2009.  Rather, blame them both.  Bush was in office when the 2009 fiscal year was planned and for the first four months of the 2009 fiscal year.  Obama followed through with the planned budget adding his own spending bills and stimulus in the remaining eight months of the 2009 fiscal year.

The problem is government spending more money than they collect resulting in a budget deficit. There are two ways to immediately solve a deficit, spending restraint and/or higher taxes. Two other ways for government to resolve a deficit, which harm everybody in the long run, are to issue more debt or print more money.

The best approach to solving the deficit would be to eliminate the budget deficit in the first place.  Government spending must be reined in and political role models of this mentality are unfortunately difficult to currently find.

Don’t blame Obama for Bush’s 2009 Deficit – http://joeyconway.com/4gbh9m

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http://joeyconway.com/e9mwty

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• War – Iraq
• War – Afghanistan
• Foreign Policy – Iran
• Foreign Policy – General Guidelines
• Health Care – Costs
• Corporatism – General Concept
• Health Care – Current Insurance System

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If each car was roughly worth $3,000 with 700,000 vehicles totals $2.1 billion in wealth was destroyed. It is as if a hurricane came through and completely destroyed 700,000 vehicles.

This limits the supply of used cars available on the market, forcing up existing used car prices. It also limits the supply of parts available on the market, forcing up existing part prices. This mostly affects lower-income drivers will now have to pay more for purchasing a used vehicle and maintaining their used vehicles.

It took roughly 1,100 more federal bureaucrats to manage and execute this program, which means 1,100 fewer workers in the private sector.

All this effort to destroy used cars was paid for by $3 billion authorized through Congress using taxpayer money. This was an indirect transfer of wealth from the average middle class taxpaying citizen to the more affluent, able to afford a new car during a recession, citizens. This program financially punishes the middle class taxpayer who paid for this program through their taxes and will have to pay more to purchase a used car and maintain a used car.

Roughly $2.1 billion in wealth was destroyed while another $3 billion of wealth was redistributed from the middle class to the more affluent.

Cato.org – Cash for Clunkers: Dumbest Program Ever? – http://joeyconway.com/cqnhea

Cato.org – There’s No End to Replacing Clunkers – http://joeyconway.com/2q6yv5

Washington Times – Obama’s protectionist policies hurting low-income Americans – http://joeyconway.com/zmtet2

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Due to the Federal Reserve and other government policies, inflation soared both before and during World War II (WWII). As a remedy to soaring prices resulting from the Fed’s created inflation, the government passed the 1942 Stabilization Act, limiting wage (salary) increases firms could offer, but not limiting the type of employee health insurance plans they could offer.  Congress capped wages, a socialist measure, preventing firms from competing for employees through wages. Firms want the best labor (employees) and without being able to offer competitive wages, they were forced to compete through offering better health insurance plans. Congress through wage control, a socialist device, forced employers to compete by offering better health insurance to their workers by banning competitive wages.

Further, in 1943 and in 1954, the government gave preferential tax treatment for companies contributing to employee health insurance plans, providing financial encouragement and a tax advantage based form of compensation.

The health insurance market has been manipulated by government since its inception. During WWII, our government’s socialist measures of wage control and the ensuing preferential tax treatment have fostered a government involvement in the health insurance market.  The health insurance market has not been and is not a free market.  It will not be free until government strictly limits its interference.

Mises.org – The Health-Insurance Market Is Not Free – http://joeyconway.com/q7kx9w

Economic History Services – Health Insurance in the United States – http://joeyconway.com/mqyaf5

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After logging into the http://www.vipergps.com web site to access the Viper GPS system, I wanted to see how much purchasing more credits would cost. The link advised me the service is no longer supported and all customers who want to keep their access are being moved over to MobileIQ.

After calling MobileIQ at 1-866-402-4748 and asking for more information on the transition I received the email below.  To summarize the email below, all services will continue, except the remote start and the door lock/alarm arm feature.  Those are the two features I would use the most often.  MobileIQ told me, if the manual request to transition over to their service was not made, the product could lose service. MobileIQ told me, they have no knowledge when VIPER will discontinue service and if it was not transitioned to MobileIQ the product would be left without service.

The authorization to transition service over to MobileIQ can be made by emailing MobileIQ, MobileIQC@airiq.com .
To be thorough, I called DEI Viper Tech Support at 1-800-876-0800 and inquired about the transition. They had no information on when the ViperGPS site will be shut down and said they were instructed to refer all customers to AirIQ at 1-877-847-3750 . Turns the phone number Viper gave me for AirIQ is the Viper GPS number with the same representative I reached dialing MobileIQ earlier.

MobileIQ sent a follow up email I’ve put below stating the DEI platform, vipergps.com will stay in service for another 6 months, roughly ending around April 2010, as they are just now going through Phase 1 of the transition from DEI to AirIQ.

Email received on Sept 30th from Patty Clews PClews@airiq.com -

Good morning Mr. Doe,

You can remain under the DEI application until your Service Term Expires.  When we have a confirmed date from Directed regarding the shut down of the entire application we will let you know.  We are still in Phase 1 which is to focus on moving any willing customer’s over to the MobileIQ application.

This Phase will continue for another 6 months at least and then a decision will be made regarding the date of shut down.

I hope you find this information useful.

Thank you,

Patty

Email received on Sept 29^th 2009 from From: MobileIQ Customer Care CA <MobileIQC@airiq.com>

GENERAL TRANSITION INFORMATION

MobileIQTM

Intelligent Vehicle Protection

Hello John Doe,

We have been advised by D.E.I that they no longer wish to support the vehicle tracking device application that is installed in your vehicle therefore customers are unavailable to purchase service plan activations, renewals or connections.

How does this affect you?

Our MobileIQ® application offers substantially similar features and service plans and you may renew your GPS vehicle tracking service with MobileIQ® without having to remove or replace your onboard vehicle device.

The Action features for MobileIQ® are: Locate, Door Unlock, Disable, Enable and Tracking

The Alert features for MobileIQ® are: Security Alarm, Unauthorized Movement, Vehicle Battery Disconnect, Excessive Speed, Low Battery, Heartbeat and Border Crossing

There are two Action features that were available to you on the D.E.I. application that are NOT available to you on the MobileIQ® application.

The Unavailable Action features are Remote Start and Arm/Lock.

You will be able to perform these features using your key fob if available.

Device history will not be transferred to the MobileIQ® application therefore you should save any history reports prior to the application transfer.

MobileIQ® Service Term costs are as follows:

$99.00 One Year Subscription with MobileIQ® which includes 100 Connections.

We will also transfer any existing connections and term you had remaining in your D.E.I. account.

Please reply to clientcare@airiq.com and let us know if you would like your device transferred to the MobileIQ® application, understanding that some features are not available and this process can take up to 3 business days to complete.

Customer Name :  John Doe
Brand  : Viper
Serial Number xxxxxxxxxxx
Connections x
Service Term Renewal Date x/x/xxxx

Sincerely,

Patty Clews
AirIQ Manager
www.airiq.com
1-866-402-4748

Update – March 25th 2010:

Sent another email to MobileIQC@airiq.com requesting an update on the transition process from DEI to MobileIQ.  The full text is below.

To summarize, the price and features listed have changed.  MobileIQ will still not support the remote start or door lock/arm action features, but they do support some additional alert features, 1 Mile Boundary Geofence and 20 Mile Boundary Geofence.  The price is now $49.99 for 1 year and 50 connections when it used to be $99.99 for 1 year and 100 connections.  If the expire on the contract with DEI expires and then the transition request to MobileIQ is made, there is an additional $50 re-activation fee.

Full text of the emailed reply from March 25th 2010:

Intelligent Vehicle Protection

As you may know, Directed Electronics (DEI) has decided to terminate its vehicle tracking solutions hosted under the brand names Viper, Clifford, Python and Automate.  As a result, DEI customers are no longer able to purchase service term plans, renew existing plans or purchase connections on the DEI websites.

Fortunately for you, AirIQ has agreed to offer an alternate solution so that you may continue to access your in-vehicle GPS device.

AirIQ is the manufacturer of the device installed in your vehicle and AirIQ has its own branded application MobileIQ® which offers substantially similar features and service plans as that offered by DEI.

You may renew your GPS vehicle tracking service with MobileIQ without having to remove or replace our onboard vehicle device.

Once you switch to MobileIQ, there are two “Action” features that may have been available to you on the DEI web and phone interface application that are NOT available to you on MobileIQ.  These features are “Remote Start” and “Arm/Lock”.

The Action features available on MobileIQ® are:

Locate, Door Unlock, Disable, Enable and Tracking

The Alert features available on MobileIQ® are:

Security Alarm, Unauthorized Movement, Vehicle Battery Disconnect, Excessive Speed, Low Battery, Heartbeat, Border Crossing, 1 Mile Boundary Geofence and 20 Mile Boundary Geofence.

In addition, you should also note Device History will not be transferred from your DEI application to MobileIQ and therefore you should save any history reports prior to transfer.

MobileIQ’s Service Term costs are $49.99 for a One Year Subscription with MobileIQ which includes 50 Connections.

We will also transfer any existing connections and term you had remaining in your DEI account to your MobileIQ account.

Please contact AirIQ’s Client Care at clientcare@airiq.com <mailto:clientcare@airiq.com>  and let us know if you would like your device transferred to the MobileIQ application.  Please note that the transfer process may take up to 3 business days to process and again we remind you that MobileIQ does not have all the features that were offered by DEI.

According to our records, your Service Term with DEI will expire on January  1, 2011.  If you account lapses beyond this date, there will be a charge of $50.00 to re-activate your device under MobileIQ which is in addition to your yearly Service Term Package purchase so don’t delay, email us at clientcare@airiq.com <mailto:clientcare@airiq.com>  today!

Customer Name :  John Doe
Brand:  Viper
Serial Number:  XXXXXXX
Connections: 333

Sincerely,
Patty Clews
AirIQ® Manager
www.airiq.com <http://www.airiq.com/>
1-866-402-4748

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The U.S., as of Sept 2009, has sold $1.517 trillion in debt this year compared with $585 over the same period last year. Barclays forecasts the government will sell $2.1 trillion in debt for 2009 and $2.5 trillion for 2010 compared with $892 billion for 2008.

Congress determines the limit to the amount of debt the Department of Treasury can issue.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 signed into law on Feb 17 2009 set the limit to $12.104 trillion.  The Treasury currently forecasts it will hit this limit by Nov 2009 and started asking Congress to increase the limit again in Aug 2009, only 7 months after it was increased.

It is obvious the national debt is setting record highs.  This national debt is a promise of repayment to the holders and is backed by the government, which represents the taxpayers.  It is an ever increasing burden for all taxpayers.

US Treasury Debt History – http://joeyconway.com/brq96x

Bloomberg – Negative Bond Returns Converge With Mortgage Miracle - http://joeyconway.com/c85t3z

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The Federal Reserve sharing a $5.8 trillion portion as of September 25th 2009. The following table provides details on the announced limit of the capital committed by the Federal Reserve and the current amount used.

All data provided by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg – Fed’s Strategy Reduces U.S. Bailout Pledges to $11.6 Trillion – http://joeyconway.com/rpyqmf

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Overall Functions of the Federal Reserve:
Monetary Policy
            Goals and Guides
            Implementation
Foreign Currency Operations
Supervision, Regulation and Consumer Protection
U.S. Government Payments

FRB – The Federal Reserve System Purposes and Functions – http://joeyconway.com/mddn2k

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Google Blog – http://joeyconway.com/tb57dr

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These are the three unalienable rights which this country and its government have been founded and built upon.  An individual should be guaranteed the freedom to act however they choose as long as it does not infringe on another’s freedom. This is the fundamental concept of rights.

At the heart of the Healthcare issue appears to be confusion around the rights of individuals and the extend of government protection regarding these rights.

Health care is a service provided by doctors, nurses, etc. to any individual for a price.

On the most fundamental level, guaranteeing any individual a right to receive a service infringes on the right of another person who provides the service.

Declaring every individual has a right to access and receive health care, universal coverage, also declares every individual in the healthcare industry, doctors, nurses, etc are required and forced to provide their service.  To assert health care rights for the individual seeking the service, asserts individuals providing the health care service have no rights. Another approach is to subjugate individual rights, doctors, nurses, etc., for the “greater good” of society.  For idea, the “greater good” of society, leads down the road to communism where the individual exists for the sole purpose of the community.

In all cases, claiming the right to receive healthcare service violates the right of the healthcare service provider. To take away the rights of health care providers, doctors, nurses, etc. enslaves them to the party removing their rights, in this case, the government.

To access and receive health care is not a right, but a desire, want, need or demand.  It is a form of enslavement to remove the rights of a group of people.  A right to health care is not just or morally right and is inconsistent with the principles this country was founded upon.

Quotes:

In the House of Representatives on Sept 23rd 2009, Ron Paul states, “1.)  No one has a right to medical care.  If one assumes such a right, it endorses the notion that some individuals have a right to someone else’s life and property.  This totally contradicts the principles of liberty.”

Ron Paul states in an NPR interview, “I do not believe peoples’ needs or desires or wants or demands are rights. ”

Source Links:

Declaration of Independence – http://joeyconway.com/f9xdw4

 Mises – Involuntary Medical Servitude – http://joeyconway.com/63hqxd 

NPR – Ron Paul: Leave Government Out of Insurnace Plan – http://joeyconway.com/r37f5a

House.gov – Ron Paul – More Government Won’t Help – http://joeyconway.com/e53542

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Keynesian economic policy is to replace the lack of private sector demand during a recession with government “public” sector demand.  The underlying assumption is the original private sector demand was correct.

The response of providing tax credit to home buyers seems to make sense on the surface as it provides them assistance and encourages more people to purchase homes.  On further analysis, the tax credit really only helps the seller by allowing them to charge that much more for the price of the home.  This keeps housing prices from falling further and reaching their true market equilibrium price.

The original private sector demand in the housing market was incorrect and fueled by a artificial bubble.  The market will force a correction.  We can either allow the correction to quickly occur and move on, or we can prolong it with the risk of making it worse through intervention and market manipulation.

Cato – Republicans Just as Guilty of Flawed Keynesian Thinking – http://joeyconway.com/c76kav 

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Near the top of the index.php file, before the line of code,  which will look similar to:

<?php if (have_posts()) : while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

 insert the following line:

<?php if (is_front_page()) { query_posts(”cat=3″); } ?>

The number 3 will need to be changed to the categories ID. This can be found under the admin->posts->categories page. Hover the cursor over the category link and in the status bar it will display cat_ID=x. X will be the category ID to substitute into the line of code above.

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I wasn’t able to find a setting, but I was able to find some code, link to original code below, to insert into the index.php and single.php files for the theme.  I put the code after the content is displayed. The code shows a small dynamic line at the end of each post with the original posting date and then the last updated date if is greater than 24 hours from the original posting date. 

It displays as follows:  This entry was posted on August 13th, 2009 at 4:23 pm and last updated on August 18th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

The code which needs to be added to the relative files, index.php and single.php for the theme I’m using, is as follows:

<p><small>
This entry was posted on <?php the_time(’F jS, Y’) ?> at <?php the_time() ?>      
<?php $u_time = get_the_time(’U');
$u_modified_time = get_the_modified_time(’U');
if ($u_modified_time >= $u_time + 86400) {
echo “and last updated on “;
the_modified_time(’F jS, Y’);
echo ” at “;
the_modified_time(); } ?>
</small></p>

Showing a Wordpress post’s ‘last modified’ date – http://joeyconway.com/tet7kd

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North America’s biggest gold conference, Denver Gold Forum, is being held from September 13-16 in Denver Colorado.

In the keynote speech at the conference, Jeffrey Christian, managing director of CPM group says central banks are expected to buy 6 to 10 million ounces of gold annually due to currency uncertainties.  He goes on to say this project is extremely conservative.  According to a metals consultancy, GFMS, central banks are set to become net buyers of gold this year.  Net official sales are forecast to drop to less than 20 tones, the lowest level since 1988. 

Emerging countries which have been building up foreign reserves in currencies are now diversifying into gold due to volatility in the dollar and other major currencies.  China has signaled growing interest in gold and other commodity based assets rather than stockpiling their currency reserves in more US dollars and dollar-denominated assets.

Reuters – Central banks seen becoming net gold buyers – http://joeyconway.com/nwtqqx

FT – Central banks set to be net gold buyers – http://joeyconway.com/ryv9re

Denver Gold Group 2009 Forum – http://joeyconway.com/sw94kb

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Scientists and researches have been divided on how much radiation the body can tolerate being emitted from a cell phone.

The FCC limits Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) measured in watts per kilogram (W/kg) for partial-body exposure including the head to 1.6 W/kg. Generally the lower the SAR the lower the health risk posed by the cell phone.

Check out your phone on Environmental Working Group’s database

Wired – Study Reveals How Much Cellphone Radiation You’re Getting

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There are a few strict limits imposed on BofA when using this loan facility: executive compensation must be submitted and approved by the government, dividends on common shares cannot exceed $.01 per share per quarter for three years without government approval, $4 billion of preferred stock with an 8% dividend rate along with other fees are to be paid to the government, and any material disposal of the risky assets in the pool by BofA has to be approved by the government². 

As of July 2009, the overall confidence of the economy has picked up and BofA has never used the funding provided by the government loan backstop. Both sides, the government and BofA, agree the accord was never signed, but the government wants BofA to pay fees in the range of $2-4 billion for having the implicit government guarantee and potential access to the loan facility³.

1. Bloomberg – Bank of America Posts Quarterly Loss After Bailout

2. Treasury – Summary of Terms

3. Bloomberg – Bank of America Said to Balk at Paying Backstop Fee

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Around $14.7 billion in eligible asset-backed securities were sold by American Express, Bank of America, General Electric, Nissan, Ford, and GMAC Inc.’s Ally Bank this round.

In August, $6.9 billion was borrowed and $5.4 billion was borrowed in July by Investors through the TALF program.

The TALF program essential subsidizes investor’s purchases of these assets through artificially low interest rates and non-resource structure, Fed takes bulk of the loss if loan goes bad.

CNNMoney.com – Investors Apply for $6.5 Billion in Loans – http://joeyconway.com/xn5sf9

Reuters – Investors Requested $6.4 bln under Fed – http://joeyconway.com/yaxvzs

Financial Times – Fed lends $6.5bn for securities buys – http://joeyconway.com/tmyrvr

AP – Banks borrow more from emergency Fed loan program – http://joeyconway.com/9qqeh5

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 The Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge ruled against the central bank saying the central bank “improperly withheld agency records” by “conducting an inadequate search” after Bloomberg News reporters filed a request under the information act.  The Judge gave the Fed 5 days to locate the documents and turn them over.

All the Federal Reserve’s actions have been taken, in their opinion, in the public’s interest.  If the Fed’s actions are the public’s interest and the public’s money is being used, the public is entitled to know.  Perhaps, if the Fed had known last year, using the public’s money in the public’s “best interest” would compromise their secracy, they might have been more stingent with their lending standards or more transparent about their process.

Bloomberg Article: http://joeyconway.com/3t9zev

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