Top Startup » Help Me!

ib0rk3d: Clever ways to replace a broken unlocked iPhone?

Colin — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:00:37 +0000

I declared gallantly that I had unlocked my iPhone. It was great while it lasted. Then the phone stopped working. I guess am left with an Apple i or an iPod touch. As a natural born tinkerer, I decided to revirginize and reflash the phone to 1.1.1 and unlock again (aside: Ben suggested that it would be great if you could revirginize people too). My first revirginizing effort was not a success. The software crashed while revirginizing. I tried a few different things. Eventually I was able to revirginize the phone. I got 1.1.1 back on there, unlocked again and voila! It worked…. for a few hours.

Now it gives me the wonderful message:

Repair Needed. iPhone cannot make or receive calls. www.apple.com/support

I found an apple support article. Long story short… it’s a hardware issue. Well on an unlocked phone, Im pretty sure I read that apple wont do jack.

So, I have a few options:

Buy a brand new iPhone and unlock it
Buy a brand new iPhone and sign up with AT&T
Try to get Apple to replace my iPhone with a t-mobile sim card in it
Revirginize and activate on AT&T, then try to exchange with Apple like I was on AT&T the whole time. Cancel AT&T or t-mobile after

Any suggestions?

How much whitespace should a resume have?

Colin — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 00:27:35 +0000

This is the question I have after seeing the new resume templates in Pages ‘08. I have to update my resume, so I was thinking about snazzing it up. Im really not sure about these resume templates. They all look great, but isn’t a resume primarily about a font large enough to read, and getting your message across?

Should I cut out content from my current resume to fit in this format?
Or should I use my current format and say “Forget you apple”?

Here’s my current format:

Property in Boston – a bad investment?

Colin — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 14:16:31 +0000

I’ve spent several months researching and looking at properties in Boston. I can’t find a single property in the Back Bay, Beacon Hill or South End where the rental income covers the costs. Im looking at multiple unit buildings (4 – 6 units) with a cap at around $2 million.

Im assuming:

20% down
30 yr mortgage
6.0% interest
tax at 2.69%
insurance at 0.6%
repairs at 0.5%
vacancy at 8.33%

In my analysis, many properties’ income covers around 50 – 70%. The best I have seen covers 92% (603 Mass Ave). The building requires serious repairs and is in a sketchy area.

137 Charles Street
List Price: 2,150,000
Units: 4 (1 of which commercial)
Known income: $7,500
Monthly Cost: $15,032
Coverage: 50%

603 Mass Ave
List Price: 1,650,000
Units: 5 (1 of which commercial)
Known income: $8700
Monthly Cost: $9,444
Coverage: 92%

What am I missing here? Does the Boston property market suck? Does someone give you $20,000 a year just for being a property owner that Im not aware of?

I get schooled by an expert in site design

Colin — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:18:47 +0000

Vishen at mindvalleylabs gave me some fantastic tips on how to get you, the reader to stay on my blog a little longer and come back for more! The advice is great. Look for some modifications to my site design in the next couple weeks. Check out the video!

Wanted: Roommate(s) in Boston, Sept 1

Colin — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 12:53:01 +0000

Ben and I are looking for a roommate or two for Sept 1, 2007 in the Boston area. Check out our Craigslist ad. Are you interested?

Money again!

Colin — Mon, 14 May 2007 02:57:12 +0000

Money is the root of all my stresses

Because of my lack of money, I can’t justify getting in a long term lease which means I have to endure the stress of moving around a lot. (I’m trying to get that fixed by September 1st.)
Because of my lack of money, Im screwed if something in my house in Houston breaks, and I need to find new tenants!
Because of my lack of money, Im constantly having to figure out how to move around funds to make sure my bills get paid
Because of my lack of money, I have to spend time doing less convenient things to avoid spending more.
Because of my lack of money, Im distracted from doing what I really need to be doing.

I can’t stress to everyone out there enough, that if you decide to bootstrap, pay off everything first… and I mean everything. What you have to realize is that once you leave your job, your cash-flow shrinks to a crawl. When I was working, I was buying things for the company, going on business lunches. My income was somewhere around $4000 a month, but my revolving balance on my credit card was more like $5000 a month on average… I always had a lot of cash coming in and going out which meant that when I had a bill to pay, I more than likely would have that cash. Now, I’ve got 0 (or close to that) coming in every month, so if I get an unexpected bill (like an old $300 dentist bill from 2006 that my insurance didnt pay), it means I have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to move money around to pay it.

You’ll always have old dentist bills and the like creep up on you. I really can’t stress it enough: Don’t try to be clever and move debt to zero percent (for one full year) credit cards like I did, just pay the stuff off before you leave your job. Bootstrap first, then quit.

Lesson learned.

What side job should an entrepreneur have?

Colin — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 03:42:06 +0000

I’ve got a small problem. Lack of funds. Right now, my benefactor is giving me enough money to get by, but I am still eating into my savings. So, I probably should get some kind of additional income. What I do know is that it won’t be from this blog, or any other internet games I can do on the side.

I could get a job at a coffeeshop for a few hours a day – some good mindless work
I could try and start doing IT consulting. I have the expertise
I could try getting a job delivering mail (or something else mundane) at a financial services company – could be a good networking opportunity.

Really though, I am stumped for what is the best use of my time. Can anyone suggest anything?