How to log out of Facebook chat?

Open Facebook client and Select Chat.
Menu and Select Go Offline.

Enjoy!

How to block text messages (Sprint)

Send a text message to short code 9999 that contains a command to block, allow, or list sender addresses. The application will send a confirmation SMS message back to the user.

Example: To block short code 12345, text "block 12345" to 9999. The Response Text from 9999 will be SprintFreeMsg: Text messages from "12345" are now blocked.

For a full list of commands, text "help" to 9999.


The following commands are available:

Text the Following Command to 9999	Resulting Action	Response Text Sent Back to the Customer
help	Provides help message about how to use 9999 short code	SprintFreeMsg: Text these commands to 9999 to manage SMS blocking: block, list, spam, help. Text "help <command>" to learn about each command.
help block	Provides help message about how to use block command	SprintFreeMsg: block <sender>: Blocks all texts from and to the sender. Example: block 55555555. Text help sender for more sender formats.
help allow	Provides help message about how to use allow command	SprintFreeMsg: allow <sender>: Allows all texts from (and to) the sender. Example: "allow 5555555555". Text "help sender" for more sender formats.
help all	Provides help message about the definition of a sender	SprintFreeMsg: Sender is a 10 digit number | shortcode | email address | email domain. "email is a special sender used to block or allow all email.
help sender	Provides help message about the definition of a sender	SprintFreeMsg: Sender is a 10 digit number | shortcode | email address | email domain. "email is a special sender used to block or allow all email.
help <anything else>	Provides help message about 9999 commands	SprintFreeMsg: Text command (block | list | spam | help) to 9999 to manage blocking.. Text "help <command>" or "help all" to get help messages.
block	Responds with an error message	SprintFreeMsg: The sender you tried to block, "" must be at least 4 characters long. Please try again.
block <less than four chars>	Responds with an error message	SprintFreeMsg: The sender you tried to block, "XXX" must be at least 4 characters long. Please try again.
block <shortcode>	Blocks messages to and from the specified shortcode and removes it from the allow list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXX" are now blocked.
block <mdn>	Blocks messages to and from the specified MDN and removes it from the allow list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages from and to "XXXXX" are now blocked.
block <user@domain>	Blocks messages to and from the specified email address and removes it from the allow list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages from and to "XXXXX" are now blocked.
block <@domain>	Blocks messages to and from the specified domain and removes it from the allow list.	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXX" are now blocked.
block email	Blocks message to and from email.	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from all email addresses are now blocked.
blocklist (block list has entries in list)	Makes the block list the active list and issues the list command	SprintFreeMsg: n blocked sender/receivers: "XXXXX" "YYYYY" "ZZZZ" …
blocklist (block list has no entries in list)	Makes the block list the active list and issues the list command	SprintFreeMsg: You have no blocked senders/receivers. All text messages will be allowed.
blist (block list has entries in list)	Makes the block list the active list and issues the list command	SprintFreeMsg: n blocked sender/receivers: "XXXXX" "YYYYY" "ZZZZ" …
blist (block list has no entries in list)	Makes the block list the active list and issues the list command	SprintFreeMsg: You have no blocked senders/receivers. All text messages will be allowed.
allow	Responds with an error message.	SprintFreeMsg: The sender you tried to allow, "" must be at least 4 characters long. Please try again.
allow <less than five chars>	Responds with an error message	SprintFreeMsg: The sender you tried to allow, "XXXXX" must be at least 4 characters long. Please try again.
allow <shortcode>	Adds shortcode to the allow list and removes it from the block list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXX" are now allowed.
allow <mdn>	Adds MDN to the allow list and removes it from the block list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXX" are now allowed.
allow <user@domain>	Adds email address to the allow list and removes it from the block list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXX" are now allowed.
allow <@domain>	Adds domain to the allow list and removes it from the block list	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXX" are now allowed.
allow email	Removes block on email	SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from all email addresses are now allowed.
allow all	Removes all items from the block list	SprintFreeMsg: All text messages are now allowed.
allowlist (allow list has entries in list)	Makes the allow list the active list and issues the list command	SprintFreeMsg: n allowed sender/receivers: "XXXXX" "YYYYY" "ZZZZ" …
allowlist (allow list has no entries in list)	Makes the allow list the active list and issues the list command	SprintFreeMsg: You have no allowed senders/receivers. All text messages will be blocked.
list (block list has entries)	Lists all block list entries. Note: List only provides the entries to the block list regardless of which list is active	SprintFreeMsg: There are "n" senders on your block list. All these senders will be blocked: "XXXXXXX" "YYYYYYY" "ZZZZZZZ"…
list (block list is empty)	Sends message stating block list is empty	SprintFreeMsg: You have no blocked senders/receivers. All text messages will be allowed.
spam <shortcode>	Provides shortcode to be investigated for spam and blocks shortcode	SprintFreeMsg: Thanks for reporting spam sent by "XXXXXX." SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXXX" are now blocked.
spam <mdn>	Provides MDN to be investigated for spam and blocks MDN	SprintFreeMsg: Thanks for reporting spam sent by "XXXXXX." SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXXX" are now blocked.
spam <user@domain>	Provides email address to be investigated for spam and blocks email address	SprintFreeMsg: Thanks for reporting spam sent by "XXXXXX." SprintFreeMsg: Text messages to and from "XXXXXX" are now blocked.

Handy access codes for Sprint HTC Evo

Reverse Logistics Support: Go to phone dialer and enter ##786# for the following information: (added 2/1/11)
MSID
ESN
MEID
Life number of calls
Life timer
Life data received
Life data transmitted
Reconditioned status and date
Software versions
Hardware version
Activation date

Master Subsidy Lock (MSL) Code: (added 2/1/11)
Root your EVO with unrevoked or other methods
Download MSL Reader from the Market
Done


This post will be updated as new codes are added.

How free is the 30 day Sprint Free Guarantee program?

On December 27, my wife went to the local Sprint store to try out an HTC Evo on a new account.  The phone worked relatively well and proved that Sprint's network is available in our house (which isn't the case on my existing Sprint Samsung Moment).

When the HTC Evo Shift was announced, she exchanged the Evo.  The Evo was a bit big, but the Shift proved to not be better than the Evo.  Main reasons were that it was very heavy (for the size), small screen, and keyboard was very hard to operate.

In mid-January, the bill arrived from Sprint with a due date of January 20.  Not quite sure how Sprint can get away with saying the program let's you try Sprint for 30 days free -- seems my wife can only try it free for 23 days.  Didn't matter much anyway, so she returned the phone on January 17 or so.

The return at the store was very easy.  They refunded the full amount of the phone and the activation fee; she was told that she would need to call into customer service to receive a refund for the service/usage fees.  When she called Sprint they said said that the service/usage fees on the account would be refunded at the end of the month, after the January 20 due date.  As of today, January 23, the account shows as past due and Sprint has yet to refund the service/usage fees.

I'll post an update when Sprint makes their next move....

Final update (2/1/11):  As of today, the account shows a $0 balance.  Sprint credited all the service/usage fees on the account, even the $7 or so for the insurance plan!  With a little bit of work and worry, seems like this program is a thumbs up for testing out Sprint!

EVO 4G Shift (Sprint): Initial Review

First, I need to take a step back from my first impressions of this phone from looking at the dummy unit at RadioShack. This phone is definitely in the running as one of the best phones available in a slider design today.

I picked up an EVO 4G Shift from Sprint on release day (1/9/11). This phone is similar to the many other slider phones from Sprint (Epic 4G, Samsung Intercept, Samsung Transform, Samsung Moment-discontinued).

In comparing the EVO Shift to my current Samsung Moment, there are some notable improvements: 1) it works, 2) much more stylish, 3) HTC Sense interface & Android 2.2, 4) it isn't Samsung. Overall the EVO Shift is a good phone, but I am unsure if it is good enough for me to upgrade off my Samsung Moment now or to wait for a little while for the EVO II (or whatever comes out this summer) or to just get an EVO (poor battery and jumpy HD recording IMO).

Pros:
Fast 800 GHz 45nm processor

Quadrant rating of 1498 (overall better than EVO on 2.2)
Good battery life

Good external speaker quality
Very good 720p video recording
Good 3.6" 259 ppi screen (better than 217 ppi on EVO)
Stylish, sturdy design

Cons:
Keyboard is difficult to slide out, especially with the available Sprint 2-piece case installed

Easy to accidentally adjust ringer volume when trying to slide out keyboard

Heavy, 5.9 oz (EVO is only .1 oz heavier)

No front-facing camera

3.6" screen is border-line small

In summary, this phone is has its pros and cons, but is probably the best slider phone option available from Sprint today (as I do not trust Samsung's quality).

Email app settings for Yahoo email over WiFi

If you don't like how the full Yahoo Mail application works and/or you prefer to use the default email application, give these settings a try. They work over the cellular network (tested on Sprint) and over WiFi using the IMAP protocol:



Incoming settings:
IMAP server: android.imap.mail.yahoo.com
Port: 143 (993 optional)
Security Type: None (ssl optional)

Outgoing settings:
SMTP server: android.smtp.mail.yahoo.com
Port: 587 (465 optional)
Security type: None (ssl optional)
Require sign-in/login [Checked]

myTouch 4G (T-Mobile): Spectacular phone, sub-par network?

During the months of December and January, I did the 14 day trial (with my wife) with T-Mobile on with the new myTouch 4G. I had such hopes of leaving my troubles with the Samsung Moment (& Sprint's lack of support for this "phone") behind...

The MT4G is all that I want in a phone right now, but we had major issues in our area with voice calls (either dropping constantly or not being able to hear each other). The voice call issues were T-mo to T-mo, T-mo to AT&T, and T-mo to landline.

As for the phone, it rocks! One issue that is either with the phone, or possibly with the network, is that when going from "4G" service to Edge service the data connection locks up. (Sadly reminds me of how my Samsung Moment functions to some extent.) For the most part, this issue only occurred at my house when going from 4G to Edge, which happened a lot in my sunken family room. I reported this issue to HTC and T-mobile, neither had a solution: HTC offered to swap out the phones and T-mobile said they would check their network. This issue was also reported on T-Mobile's forums by other users.

Outside of the issue above, here is my impression of this phone:

Pros:

• Fast 1 GHz 45nm processor


• Very good battery life


• Very good 720p video recording


• Excellent 3.8" 247 ppi screen


• Very good amount of RAM/ROM and SD space


• Excellent overall size and weight

Cons:

• Possible data lockup issue going from 4G to Edge service


• External speaker has horrible quality


• Usefulness of video chat is questionable (at least over 4G/Edge)

I sure did love this phone and I was sad we had to return them when our 14 days was up. There was just no way to justify the issues we were having with voice calls -- at least 50% of our voice calls had connectivity/no audio issues.