Since the original post on how to use Gizmo5 for free calls with Google Voice, many things have changed so I figured that guide could use a bit of an update. When the integration of Google Voice and Gizmo first came about, Google Voice was still in beta and invite only, you could openly register for a Gizmo5 account, and you were able to combine the two to have free unlimited incoming and outgoing calls.  Now, however, Google Voice is open to everyone (in the US), Google acquired Gizmo5 and closed new registrations, and while their combination still allows free unlimited incoming calls, it now has a 3 minute limit for free outgoing calls.

note: outgoing calls here means calls made directly from Gizmo5, or any SIP or ATA device using Gizmo5 servers, when integrated with Google Voice.  You can still, and have always been able to, make free unlimited “outgoing” calls using Google Voice when you start the call from Google Voice’s (or Gmail’s) web interface and have it call a phone of your choice to connect the call (which is the normal way to use Google Voice for outgoing calls)

So what?

You can also configure a softphone to work with it as well, or have your GV calls forwarded to Skype or a different SIP (like Gizmo5) provider. 

So how do I actually get Google Voice to work with Gizmo5?

Just to warn you now, it sometimes can be a bit temperamental to get the initial setup working (during the GV phone verification stage, but I will explain shortly) – that being said, here’s how you do it:

• What you need before you begin: 

  – You must already have a Gizmo5 account.  As mentioned earlier, new registrations are closed (though, there appear to be a few Gizmo5 accounts on eBay – however, proceed at your own risk with those). 

  – If you don’t already have a Google (Voice) account, get one. 

  – If you want to use a landline phone, you will need an ATA device.  Some popular ones are the Linksys PAP2, PAP2-NA, SPA1001 (most of which you can find on Amazon or eBay).  If you want to use your iPhone, I highly recommend Softphone by Acrobits (yes, it’s $8, but totally worth it) or you could also try Fring or Siphon if you are jailbroken.  Then there’s Sipdroid for Android phones.  And if you want to use a softphone on your computer, X-Lite is always a good choice.

• Login to your Gizmo5 account to figure out what your Sip Number is.  As soon as you login, you can find your Sip Number near the top of the page under “Account Overview”:
  
• Head over to Google Voice (and login) and click Settings near the top right and select “Voice settings”.  You should then be brought to the “Phones” settings tab:
  
• From here, click on Add another phone at the bottom:
  
• Enter a Name you want to call it, your 10-digit Sip number from earlier, select “Gizmo” as the phone type, and then click Save.
  
  Once you click save, a “Verify your Phone” window will pop up.  What this will do when you click Connect (don’t click it yet) is call your Gizmo5 number and you will need to enter the code shown to you in the box.  Google Voice needs to make sure that you actually have access to this forwarding number (so, for example, you don’t have calls start forwarding randomly to someone else’s number).  Again, don’t click connect quite yet…
• What we need to do now is setup a phone in order to answer the GV verification call and enter in the 2 digit code.  To do this, the easiest way will probably be to go Gizmo5’s web based phone at http://www.gizmocall.com and login using your Gizmo5 credentials. 
  

  (Once you login, you may get an Adobe message asking you to to enable hardware acceleration, go ahead and check the box and click close). At this point, it may be easier to click the “Open in separate window” link so you can have the phone window within view when you click the “Connect” button on the “Verify your Phone” window from earlier (you’ll have to log back into GizmoCall and the adobe message may pop up again):
  

• Warning – this next part is where it can be a bit temperamental.  As others have experienced (including my self once or twice), you may need to try to connect a few times before the GizmoPhone actually gets the call, and sometimes entering in the verification code doesn’t work.  All I can say is that if this happens to you, keep trying… (though, the last few times I’ve done this over the past couple weeks, I haven’t had any issues)

  You are now ready to click the connect button.  Once you click connect, it will show a message about verifying your phone,
   
  and you should receive the call on your GizmoCall phone.  When you click Accept, you may get Flash prompt asking to grant microphone and camera access to the GizmoPhone.  You’ll want to click allow and this will likely cause the call to disconnect before you have a chance to enter in the code:
  
  Don’t worry, simply go back to Google Voice and click on the “verify” link next to your Gizmo5 phone entry:
   

• You will be back at the “Verify your Phone” window with the “Connect” button.  Click connect again, answer the call on your GizmoCall phone, and click on the 2 digits.   You should hear the Google Voice lady say your phone was verified, and shortly the Verify your Phone window should disappear and your Gizmo5 number should be verified:
   
• Done!  Google Voice will now be able to use your Gizmo5 account as one of the numbers to forward incoming calls to.   At this point, you can now either use the Gizmo5 desktop app or the GizmoCall web app you used earlier to receive unlimited incoming calls or directly place up to 3 free minutes of out going calls.

How do I setup my phone/device to use the GV & G5 combo?

Now with the two happily married, the key to getting any ATA device, softphone, or Sip phone to work is by knowing the Gizmo5 SIP/server settings which are:

• SIP Proxy (or “server” or “proxy”):  proxy01.sipphone.com:5060
• STUN server:  stun01.sipphone.com:3478
• Username (or “Auth ID” or “User ID”):  your 11 digit Gizmo5 Sip Number
• Password:  your Gizmo5 password used when logging in

Here are a few device specific setup guides:

• Linksys/Sipura SPA1001, PAP2, PAP2t-NA, PAP2-NA (they’re all basically the same): Log into it by typing in the IP address in your browser (if you don’t know it, you can plug in a landline phone, dial **** and then 110# and the IP address will be spoken to you).

  Click on Admin on the top right, and then click the Line 1 tab.  From here, edit the following settings:
  *  Proxy:  proxy01.sipphone.com
  *  Display name, User ID, and Auth ID:  your 11 digit Gizmo5 Sip number
  *  Password:  your Gizmo5 password
  *  Use Auth ID and Register:  yes
  

• Softphone (by Acrobits) iPhone App:  I’ve got to hand it to Acrobits for making it so easy to use with many VoIP/SIP providers.  With the app running, tap Settings –> Sip Accounts –> the + on the top right –> choose Gizmo5:
  *  Username:  your 11 digit Sip Number
  *  Password:  your Gizmo5 password
   
• X-Lite:  one of the better, free desktop (windows/mac) softphones available.   Open up X-lite, right click on the “display” and select “SIP Account Settings…” and then Add.  From here, enter in the Gizmo5 settings mentioned earlier and pictured below:
  

And that’s it — you now have a working Google Voice and Gizmo5 solution!   Remember, you can receive unlimited incoming minutes but are limited to 3 minutes of calling when you make calls from one of these devices connected with Gizmo5.  However, if you start the call from Gmail/Google Voice and select your Gizmo5 number (and answer your connected device when it rings), it will be an unlimited call just as if you had it ring your cell phone, or other phone. 

What is it and how does it work?

What this device essentially allows you to do is have outgoing calls that start with either 00 (international), 1, or just 0 be automatically dialed through a calling card or VoIP access number instead of direct.   This paper thin device actually fits between your SIM card and your phone in order to “capture” what you are dialing, then dials the access number first when necessary:

Usually, when dialing internationally direct from your mobile phone, you will be charged fairly high rates per minute from your carrier such as £1.45/min calling from Tesco UK to US or $1.49/min calling from AT&T US to UK.  Then, of course, you have local calls which will either be part your monthly minute plan or generally a much cheaper per minute rate.    

With international calls, you can traditionally get around these higher rates by using a calling card with a local access number that you can call as a "local number" from your cell phone (UK landline numbers if you live in the UK or any US number if you live in the US).  Then, dial the international number through your calling card and get charged "local minute rates" from your cell carrier plus whatever international rates you get from your calling card.  

For example, say I wanted to call home to the states from my mobile phone in the UK.  Normally I would dial 001 999 999 9999, with the "00" meaning international, "1" meaning the states, followed by the number.  With my particular cell carrier (Tesco), this would cost me £1.45 per minute, but with my calling card, it would cost me £0.01 per minute – quite a big difference! Using the Rebel Sim Call through SIM, it will see that the number starts with 00 and it will instead dial the access number for my calling card when I press send to dial that international number.  Once the phone has dialed my card’s access number, it is then able to automatically send the digits (via DTMF*) of the number I actually dialed thus completing the international call via my calling card as opposed to directly from my mobile carrier.  My call will now cost £0.01 per minute plus minutes from my monthly minute plan as opposed to £1.45p per minute. 

(* less technical explanation:  Think about how you normally use a calling card. You call the calling card number, it prompts you for the number you want to call, and then it connects the call.  The RebelSim Call through SIM automates this process by “seeing” that you dialed 00, then dialing the calling card number, pauses, and then dials the original out going number)

How to setup:

• First off, this won’t work if you are using a micro SIM – sorry iPhone 4 users – because the RebelSim is of “normal” SIM size, but it will work for any phone that uses a normal size SIM.  Also, the latest (v2) firmware also does not support entering an ID or pin number, so you’ll need a provider that works by caller ID (you call the access number, and it recognizes your caller ID for authentication for your account); that being said, v2.1 will be released soon which will allow the use of an ID/pin, as well as additional configuration options than the ones discussed later on below.
• What you have to do first is punch a “hole puncher” size hole in the top plastic part of your SIM card. This is for the chip on the Rebel Sim Call through SIM to fit in between your phone and your normal SIM (you can either buy a RebelSim cutter, or use your own hole puncher).  Don’t worry, it’s just plastic on the top of your SIM card – it won’t damage anything and you can still use it even if you are not using the RebelSim.

• Then, of course, you need to put them in your phone.  The manual suggests putting the Rebel SIM in first, then sliding your normal SIM in on top of it – I’ve found it easier at times to just put them in together at the same time, but I suppose it’s just a matter of how easy/hard it is to access your SIM slot
  
• Next, you’ll need to have a calling card or VoIP service that has an access number.  Any calling card has an access number, as that’s how they’re setup to work, but not all VoIP providers have one.  Personally, I use a VoIP provider as they usually don’t charge connection fees, their rates are easy to understand, and they can be used with a SIP/Soft phone as well.   I personally use VoipFone (rates and access numbers) as they allow pin-less usage but there are plenty of others such as Call Centric (rates and access numbers) if you are in the States and  VoipTalk (rates and access numbers) in the UK (once v2.1 comes out for the RebelSim Callthrough).

  Note:  which ever calling card or VoIP provider you use must have an access number that doesn’t require you to use a pin since the current firmware of Call Through only supports dialing the access number. 

• And last, you need to add the access number and configure the options on the Rebel Sim.  When you turn on your phone with the RebelSim, you should see a new menu option.  On my Pirelli DP-L10 wifi phone, you can see this on the main menu, with other phones it will probably show up in different locations but either way a new option will appear somewhere and will have the same configuration options/steps:
   

  Select the new RebelSim option and you will be brought to the configuration page with the following options:
    – Disable (don’t use the RebelSim)
    – *Enable (use the RebelSim)
    – Editing Number (edit the access number)
    – Dialing Rules (4 options on when to use the RebelSim: when there is a 00, 1, or 0 in the beginning of the dialed call, or use it always)
    – Dialing Speed (this is basically how fast the number is dialed once the access number is called – I haven’t had an issue using it on “Fast”)
    – Dialing Mode (two options, don’t really know what it means, but ICC2 is said to be needed for the iPhone, and ICC1 works on my Pirelli phone)

  All you should have to mess with here is the Editing Number and Dialing Rules.  Select Editing Number to change the access number and Dialing Rules to determine when the RebelSim should be used.  For my particular usage, I use Dialing Rule “00” to use for international calls and Editing Number “02070990707” as the access number for VoipFone.co.uk.

  Then, dial out!  In the picture below, you can see that I dialed a random international US number (001 770 123 4567), and when I pressed send, you can see that the phone automatically called the access number instead (02070990707):
  Once the call is connected, you hear a dial tone from the speaker (which is VoipFone saying it’s ready for a number to connect to).  After a couple of seconds, the dial tone goes away which is when the RebelSim dials the number I actually entered (you don’t actually hear anything until you hear ringing which means the number you dialed is ringing) – and that’s it, you just made a cheaper international call from your mobile phone.

Final thoughts:

Using the Rebel Sim Callthrough SIM is a great way to make dialing international numbers from your cell phone cheap and easy.  Could you simply remember to dial the access number and skip the use and purchase of the RebelSim?  Yep!  Could you opt to just use a smartphone app to use a data connection and use Voip?  Yep!  That being said, I like the idea of this “working in the background” because I could then give it to a friend, family member, etc and not have to explain to them how to make international calls or have to worry about someone, or myself, accidentally making an expensive £1.45/min call.  

Another useful aspect about this particular Rebel Sim (“Rebel Sim II”) is that you can load 3 different types of firmware on it (providing you have one of their programmers):  the Call Through (v2), Call Back (v3), or their HTC unlocking firmware (v1).  Plus for £7 + shipping (worldwide), it’s not too bad of a deal!

Pros:

• Set it up and forget it approach for cheap international calls from mobile phones
• Cheap
• Will work with any phone that uses regular size SIM cards (the phone can be locked or unlocked, from anywhere in the world, on any carrier, etc)
• Can be repurposed with 3 different firmwares ( one for call through, one for unlocking HTC phones, and the other a different approach for cheap mobile calls)
• Simple to configure

Cons:

• Latest firmware does not allow to use access numbers that require you to enter a PIN or ID number to use (though it can with firmware v2.1, which is to be released soon)
• Can be a bit tricky to sandwich it with your existing SIM card and push into the SIM slot on some phones
• Doesn’t work with micro SIM cards (won’t work with iPhone 4)

Have a locked iPhone but don’t have a SIM card that is associated with the carrier it is locked to to activate?  Using a RebelSimCard iPhone Activation SIM, you can use it to simply bypass the activation screen and in turn be able to access the phone’s features and potentially move on to perform a Spirit jailbreak (though, only on the 3GS and older with 3.1.2 or older at the time of this posting).

Video review:

Written review:

All you need to do is take your non-activated iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS, or 4 and leave it unplugged from iTunes

Then, take the activation SIM and place it in the phone (if working with an iPhone 4, you will need to cut it down to a micro-sim if you did not specify RebelSimCard to send you one pre-cut):

Finally, plug the iPhone into iTunes (your computer) and the activation screen will then be bypassed, thus giving you access to the phone:

NOTE:  this does NOT actually active the iPhone, nor does it unlock it.  It only bypasses the activation screen to allow you to use it at least as an iPod Touch (until an unlock is available for iPhone 4 / iOS4 if you are in that situation).   To show this, once I put an O2 sim card in my iPhone 4 (which is locked to O2), I then get an “iPhone is activated” message:

Coupon!

Have you decided to go ahead and buy an iPhone activation SIM from RebelSimCard?  Be sure to use coupon code “jrin” for 10% off your entire order!

Update — 1 July 2010: after a few days using this, and from other people’s reports, it looks like there are issues with the RebelSim II being able to receive/make calls while connected to 3G/HSDPA (as well as connecting to the network in general). However, tt appears to work alright if you keep the phone in 2G (GSM only) mode (see comments below). I will report back when/if any updates occur!

So you just bought a new Dell Streak but you want to use it with a network other than O2 either because you are in the US, UK, or elsewhere, or simply don’t like the O2 network. Unfortunately, there currently is not a software unlock solution available (once one is, I’ll update this post!).  However, you can still use it on other carriers by either A) use the GiffGaff (UK) network or B) use a RebelSim to “bypass” the simlock:

How-To Video:

Either watch the HD below video, or continue on with the written guide afterwards:

Use the GiffGaff network

If you are using, or thinking of using, GiffGaff as a carrier, they are actually powered by the O2 network, so using a GiffGaff SIM will work out of the box (it’s what I am currently using on my Streak).  A quick plug about GiffGaff:

They actually use the O2 network but are a pre-paid network offering “Goody Bag” packages such as £10 for 100min, £15 for 300min, or £35 for Unlimited minutes – and best of all, all three packages come with unlimited data and texts – and since it’s pre-paid, there are NO contracts!   (This of course assumes you like O2’s coverage and data speeds – where I am located, they’re great).

Use a RebelSim

For everyone else (outside the UK, or those not wanting to use O2 or GiffGaff), you can pop over to http://rebelsimcard.com and purchase a HTC Rebel sim II (v1.1) card (currently £9.99/$14.96, plus shipping), combined with whatever sim card you use, to bypass the sim lock on your phone!

Basically, the RebelSimCard is a paper thin PCB with a small chip that is the thickness of a SIM card that acts as a middle man between your phone and the your SIM card (yes, it really is that thin!)

It effectively bypasses the carrier lock on your phone, making your phone “think” the SIM card you are using is for the network that the phone is locked to.  There is only one “physical” modification you have to do and that is to punch a hole in the plastic part of your existing SIM card – meaning – no damage or “tech” modifications are done to your SIM card, only the plastic part which isn’t used by any phone is messed with a bit. 

How do you get the RebelSim to work with the Dell Streak?  First thing is that you have to buy the “HTC” RebelSim as it is the version that will allow the simlock to be bypassed on the Streak.  

You can order it with or without with the “SIM Cutter” tool that RebelSim offers, but it’s not absolutely necessary.  The tool comes with an insert that will guide you to punch the hole in the exact spot for the tiny chip on the RebelSim to fit into

(imagine if I flipped the SIM card on top of the RebelSim in the picture below; the black chip would fit inside the punched hole in the SIM card)

However, this SIM Cutter is basically just a hole puncher (with the ability to put a “SIM card guide plate” into it).  If you happen to have a single hole puncher already, you should be able to just punch a hole in the top-middle of your SIM card yourself and be fine

Now, with your SIM card having a hole punched in it, you want to start by placing the RebelSim on the bottom of it, like so:

Now, carefully slide it into the SIM slot on your Dell Streak.  This can be a bit tricky and frustrating, so take your time and don’t push the SIM card + RebelSim combo in the slot if at any time they come apart or are not flush with each other (you may risk damaging the delicate RebelSim). 

I have found the easiest way for me to do it is to start pushing the bottom-left corner into the SIM slot first – first starting on one of the phone’s SIM contacts and slightly pushing it into the corner, then by pushing (rotating) in the other corner until they are both going in together.  (In the picture below, that corner is probably pushed in a bit too much to actually be able to rotate the other corner in…but just keep trying until it works :)  — it’s hard to explain, so if you are not following, watch the video above)

If you start to push the SIM card in and the RebelSim is not flush with the SIM card, pull it out and try again:

Once you have them going into the SIM slot straight and together, I find it easiest to use another SIM card (or something similarly flat and sturdy) to push them in together at the same time:

Once you’ve got them both all the way in, and the RebelSim isn’t sticking out at all (if it is, remove both and try again!), like so…

…boot up the phone and enjoy your Dell Streak on a non-O2 carrier!

Do you know of a better way to use the Streak on different carrier?  Have you seen a way to sim-unlock the phone?  Let us know in the comments!

Just purchase a Dell Mini 1012 with the new Atom N450 chip? Want to upgrade the memory, hard drive, or pci-e cards but realized that Dell did not provide a service manual to assist in dismantling it (like they have for most other computers they sell)?  Luckily, it’s as simple as removing 4 screws and the keyboard to replace the memory, and then 5 additional screws and prying off the palm rest bracket to get to the pci-e slots! 

(note — should you decide to follow this guide, do so at your own risk – I take no responsibility for anything you may damage in the process :))

HD Video Guide:

Don’t want to watch the video guide?  Continue on with the step by step picture guide below!
 

Remove the keyboard

The first step is to remove the keyboard.  It is held in by (3) screws on the underside of the laptop, as well as it’s data cable.  Start out by flipping over the netbook and removing the battery by pressing the clips left and right [blue] to unlock it (then, remove it).  Next, remove the (3) keyboard screws [red] – the one in the middle may not easily come out, but you need not worry about it as it will fall out once you actually remove the keyboard. 

– while you’re at it, go ahead and remove the (4) bottom screws as well (green) – these hold on the palm rest and you’ll need to take them out eventually anyway —

With the screws removed, flip it back over and open the screen to like a 90 degree angle and rest the laptop on it’s side.  Take a small screw driver (or anything similar) and stick it through one of the left or right (depending what side the laptop is resting on) screw holes.  This will push the keyboard out a bit so you can grab a hold of it on the other side in order to pull it out.  Don’t pull the keyboard too far away because it is connected to the motherboard by a cable.

With the keyboard a bit loose, make sure it is free from the two clips on the left and right (red circles), and then flip it back over onto the palm rest (so the keyboard keys are resting on the palm rest / touch pad), again, remember that it is still attached to the motherboard via the data cable. 

Now, we’ll remove the data cable – just simply push these two tabs out a bit (1mm or so?) to release the data cable and remove the keyboard entirely.

Remove touchpad and power button cable

Simply pull out the power button cable from the motherboard (just pull up on the cable) – it is a little snug, so it will take a little bit of force,

Then, pull/push up the latch holding down the touch pad data cable, and then pull it out:

Remove the memory, hard drive, and remaining palm rest/bezel screws

Remove the (1) screw holding in the hard drive [red] and slide the drive to the left and pull it straight up and out as well as the (1) screw holding on the memory access door [green]:

Remove the memory (and later replace this 1GB stick with a 2GB stick!) by pushing the (2) clips away from the stick (and the stick should then pop up).

Remove the palm rest bracket/bezel

You will probably hear a lot of snapping and cracking during this process, but it will be okay!  Start out by getting a credit card, lift up on the middle left part of the bezel (from the “inside”) and stick the credit card in the left side:

Continue to slide the card all around the palm rest with just the tip of the edge/corner of the card – this is when you’ll probably hear some snaps, crackles, and pops.  It’s just the palm rest being released from the clips.

At this point, the palm rest should be fairly loose and you should be able to lift it up (from the front) only about an inch or so, as it is still attached near the screen:

Now, all you need to do is simply raise it up a bit more until you near it snap/crack, which should just be it being release from the clips at the screen, and then pull it free:

Congratulations, you now have access to the motherboard where you can replace/remove the mini pci-e cards / etc!  To put it back together, basically do everything in the reverse order. 

Unfortunately, I did not order mine with Bluetooth, TV tuner, hd decoder, etc so I am unable to show you what those look like – but as you can see, there are locations on the mother board for those headers (keep in mind, it appears that if you don’t order the netbook with bluetooth or the mini pci-e cards, the headers will NOT come on the motherboard, meaning, you cannot easily upgrade in the future):

for those of you looking for cheap 2gb memory sticks, all of the below options will work:

Sounds off in the comments about how dismantling and upgrading goes for you or if there are obstacles not mentioned here due to other pci-e cards being present — Good luck!

In an effort to go completely paperless, I was presented with the problem of needing to sign a document (pdf) that was emailed to me and then needing to send it back.  Without having to print out the form to sign it nor needing access to a scanner or fax machine to send it back, you can simply take a picture of your signature, and then using free tools you can “import” it “into” the PDF and email it right back! 

This may seem long and complicated at first, but once you read through it and do it once, it should be fast and easy a second time – And granted, there may be slightly easier ways to do this with paid tools, but this guide is for using freely available tools which you also may have one or two already installed!:

1. Download and install the tools

Here is what you need to download:

• Adobe Reader 9 which you probably already have.  We will use this to view the original PDF and take a single screenshot to import into the image editing software (don’t worry, it will look good!),
• Paint.net (or really, any drawing program that can do layers and make transparent images) which we’ll use to overlay your signature on the PDF screenshot, and then also to re-print to a new PDF,
• CutePDF (or any other free PDF Printer), which as opposed to printing to a printer, will allow you to “print to” (create) a PDF, and
• A way to get a copy of your signature on your computer.  I used my iPhone to take a picture of my signature, though, you can use what ever camera phone, real digital camera, etc that you have.

2. Convert your PDF to a screenshot (an image)

Open your PDF in Adobe Reader 9 and zoom all the way out so you can see the entire page (even if it looks small and you can no longer read anything):

Next, select the SnapShot tool (“Tools” –> “Select & Zoom” –> “Snapshot Tool”) and starting at one corner, click-and-drag to the opposite diagonal corner to highlight the entire page.  Once you do that, you should receive a dialog box saying that the selected area has been copied to the clipboard:

However, if you proceed in using what is currently copied, it will be exactly the same size as you are currently looking at it; meaning, it will be really small and will end up very pixilated when you “blow it up” to normal paper size when you re-print it as a PDF, such as the image below (click to enlarge to full size):

So, in order to fix this, make sure the page is still highlighted (transparent blue) and then zoom in quite a bit (“View” –> “Zoom” –> “Zoom To…”).  You don’t need to zoom to 5000%, but 200-300% should be enough.  While making sure it is still highlighted, right click anywhere it is blue-ish, and click “copy selected graphic”.  You now have a much larger screenshot of the PDF in your clipboard. 

Proceed by opening Paint.net and pasting into a new image (Edit –> Paste) and feel free to save this as a PNG file if you want (I’ll refer to this image as “pdf screenshot”).  Either way, to make things easier, go ahead and keep Paint.net open while we move forward.  You now have a large, high quality screenshot (image) of your PDF which is ready to have your signature placed on top of!

3. Get your signature onto your computer

Okay, so now you need to get your signature on the computer.  Chances are you have a decent enough camera phone (and a way to get those pictures onto your computer) that you can use to take a picture of your signature , such as the iPhone – or – you can of course use a scanner, a real digital camera, or however else you can come up with a way to do it.  With my iPhone, I just took a picture of the signature in a decently lit room and then emailed my self the picture:

(and no, this is not my real signature, ha)

4. Prep your signature for overlaying on the PDF screenshot

We will now make the image black and white, enhance it (using brightness and contrast), and then make everything that is not the signature (the paper) to be transparent.  Open your signature in Paint.net (or whatever image software you are using) and 1) convert the image to black and white, and then 2) adjust the brightness and contrast so that it really is only black-and-white. 

To do this, start out by opening the signature image in Paint.net (“File –> “Open” –> find your image).  If you already have your pdf screenshot open, you should now be in a new Paint.net window:

First, we’ll go ahead and resize the signature just incase it is huge by going to “Image” –> “Resize”.  Make sure “Maintain aspect ratio” is checked and change the width to 1000 pixels (leave whatever number appears in the Height section as-is. It will probably not be the same as mine).  Click ok. (resizing now will help prevent issues when pasting it over the pdf screenshot later)

Now, 1) go to the “Adjustments” menu bar, then click “Black and White”, and then 2) go back to “Adjustments” and then “Brightness / Contrast” — for my particular image, I had to set brightness at 52 and contrast at 79 for it to look like the following (your settings will vary) – the goal here is to have the background as white as possible while having the signature stand out and be clear:

Now we need to make all the “white” become transparent so we can overlay it on top of the pdf screenshot.  

First, select the Magic Wand tool and start with a tolerance level of 50%:

Then, hold the CTRL key while you start clicking on the white areas of the image.  Keep clicking the white areas (while still holding CTRL) until they have all been selected so you get something that looks like this (zoom in if you need to in order to get enclosed small areas such as the white space in letters like P, B, O, etc):

At this point, you can then press the delete key, and everything that is highlighted (all the white) will be removed and will be replaced with transparency (white and grey checkered boxes):

There, now your signature is ready to be placed on the pdf screenshot!

5. Paste the signature onto the pdf screenshot

Start out by copying your entire signature by going to “Edit” –> “Select all” and then copy it (edit->copy).  Then, move on over to your pdf screenshot (just click on it’s thumbnail in the top-right corner if you still have it open, or if not, open it! [with Paint.net] ).

From here, create a new layer on top of your pdf screenshot by going to “Layers” –> “Add new layer”:  (this will allow you to place the signature “on top” of the pdf screenshot without covering anything up)

Next, paste the signature into this new layer (“Edit” –> “Paste).  Chances are, your signature will be a big large, but either way you will need to resize it to the size your actual signature would be and move it down to the signature line:

With the signature still selected (dotted lines still surrounding it), hold the SHIFT key on the keyboard while you click and drag one of the corners of the signature selection  (when you move the mouse cursor to one of the corners, the cursor should change from a solid black arrow to a white hand, thus signifying you can resize).  Hold the SHIFT key while you resize it so it will keep the same aspect ratio.   Continue to resize it until it is about the right size that you signature would be.  Once you are happy with the size, let go of the SHIFT key and release the mouse button – now, move the cursor to the middle of the signature so you now have a black arrow cursor – this will now allow you to move the signature down to the signature line:

Now, click and drag the signature to the signature line and release the mouse button.  With the signature where you want it on the pdf screenshot, proceed to “flatten” the image (combine the “signature layer” with the “pdf screenshot” layer) by going to “Image” –> “Flatten”.   Congratulations, your PDF screenshot is now signed and ready to be re-saved (“printed”) as a pdf!

6.  Print to PDF

Now, go to “File” –> “Print”, and select your PDF printer (in my case, “CutePDF  Writer”).  Be sure that you select Full Page Photo and don’t choose the option for cropping if you see it (I am using Windows 7, but if you were using XP you may see the option for full page photo cropped) and continue to print.

Your PDF printer software will now most likely have some sort of dialog box asking you what to name, and where to save, your new pdf – go ahead with that, and then enjoy your signed pdf!

So there you have it, you were able to bypass having to print it and scan it in (or fax it)!  Have a simpler (free) way to add a signature to a PDF?  Did I miss a step you can’t seem to get passed?  Let me know in the comments!  (caveat emptor, this guide is in no way meant to act as a way to forge, or otherwise impersonate, someone’s signature!)

Update 9 Sept 2010: This post has since become outdated! Please check out the updated post about using Gizmo5 and Google Voice for free calls

With Google Voice (what is Google Voice?) fulfilling more and more invitations, some more great news has recently been discovered (thanks cnr1109):  you can now setup Gizmo (a VOIP application very similar to Skype) to make free incoming and outgoing calls using your Google Voice account – no longer do you have to “start” the call from the google.com/voice webpage (or similar).   Not only this, but if you get a SIP/ATA device (devices used for Vonage/SunRocket/etc), you can plug it into your existing home phone line and have free calls from home without having to use your computer!  And what else?  it’s easy to setup:

1. Add your Google Voice number to your Gizmo5 account

Login to your gizmo5.com account and enter in your google voice account information (if you are weary about giving them your gmail account information, which you shouldn’t be – but if you are, you can request your google voice account be associated with a different gmail address)  Google Voice number:

update 7/27/09 7:30pm est:  There is now a notice on the page that this is an experimental service and calls will be limited to 20 minutes.  They also provided a link to more information at www.gizmovoice.com:

update 7/30/09:  Now it is limited to 3 minutes of outgoing calls, unlimited incoming, and more – find out full details over at http://www.gizmovoice.com/ or http://gizmocall.com/:

 

update 8/8/09:  (how many more changes will there be!?)  Now you no longer have to enter in your Google account credentials:

2.  Add your Gizmo5 number to your Google Voice account (and verify it)

Login to Google Voice (http://www.google.com/voice) and add your Gizmo5 number (if you haven’t already):

Once you click save, you’ll see a window pop up with a verification code.  Make sure you have Gizmo installed and running on your computer, and then click ‘connect’ (tip:  if having problems getting Gizmo5 to work in Windows 7, install AND run it [once installed] in Windows XP Compatibility mode):

 
Answer the call within Gizmo (you do NOT need to be paying for Gizmo incoming call feature for this call), and then enter in the 2 digit code:

Now, at this point, you can now make free outgoing, and receive free incoming, calls from the Gizmo application (using your Google Voice number)!

3.  Setup an ATA device for free calls using a land line phone

To be able to make/receive these free calls from an actual land line phone (using the “normal” phone lines in your house/etc), you will have to obtain a ATA \ PAP2 \ VOIP device.  This is basically a box that you plug in to your router/modem and then you can plugin a normal phone line into this device.  You then configure the device to work with your Gizmo account, plugin a land line phone (or, plug it into your home’s phone jack in the wall, and then any phone plugged into a different phone jack will work) and viola!  Free incoming/outgoing calls using your land line phones. 

Where can you find such a device?  These are the devices that were/are used for such services like Vonage, the now defunct SunRocket, and the like.  Here are a few examples of ATA devices (get already unlocked ones and save your self hassle):

• Linksys Sipura SPA-2100 (or basically any unlocked sipura model numbers) – ebay
• Linksys PAP2 – ebay
• InnoMedia MTA6328-2Re – ebay (not sure how to unlock these)
• Happen to already have an old SunRocket device (most likely InnoMedia)?  Follow these instructions (thanks WorpX) to unlock & use with Gizmo5

Once you have a ATA device, here is the information you want to use to set it up to use your Gizmo account (how to access the admin panel of your device depends on the device):

• Username:  your ten digit Gizmo number and country code [1 ### ### ####] with no spaces  (you can find your gizmo number by logging into your http://www.gizmo5.com account, and it will be listed there as your “SIP Number”)

  

• Password:  your Gizmo password
• Server:  proxy01.sipphone.com (or, if you are having problems with hearing audio when receiving calls, try stun01.sipphone.com:3478 – thanks ccengineer)

update 7/30:  As mentioned earlier in step 2, Gizmo has now limited (free) outgoing calls to 3 minutes but still allowing unlimited incoming minutes.  Here is the email I received this evening about it:

Gizmo Voice Moves from Experimental to Beta

---

Thanks for trying our experimental Gizmo Voice service. The viral spread of this service surprised us and we’ve received valuable feedback from many users on their experience of linking their Google Voice number to a Gizmo5 account so they can make and receive calls from wifi phones, ATAs, PC software and even a browser window using GizmoCall.com. Many of you have told us about the wide range of SIP devices you can now use to connect to Google Voice and we’re keeping a list of user suggestions of compatible wifi phones and software you might want to try out.
We’re now moving the service from Experimental to Beta and there are some important facts you should know:

• Gizmo Voice will remain a free service for Google Voice users to link their telephone number to a SIP account via Gizmo5.
• Unlimited incoming calls will be permitted to any SIP software or hardware.
• Free 3 minute calls to US numbers.
• All outbound calls will display your Google Voice CallerID.
• Longer calls will require a purchase of Gizmo5′s Call-Out which offers low per minute fees to all destinations.
• Unanswered inbound calls will use Google’s voicemail with unlimited online storage and free voicemail transcripts.

We hope you are enjoying the high quality VOIP service Gizmo5 has to offer, which includes unlimited calls to 800 numbers, other SIP networks, GoogleTalk users and even the ability to call a Skype user from any SIP device. (To test the SIP to Skype gateway call Try dialing 1-333-666-1111 which is the Skype echo line.) Gizmo5 is committed to user empowerment that comes from the use of open standards and interconnected services.

Any questions!?  Have better ATA devices to use? Feel free to ask in the comments!

As opposed to simply providing a removable door (like they did for the mini-card) to upgrade the memory, Dell decided to make it difficult by requiring you to dismantle the entire laptop… (but what do I know, maybe it would affect structural integrity or something to add a door?).

So, in light of this fact, here is a step-by-step how-to video (and pictures) on how to upgrade the memory!  All you will need is time, a set of mini screw drivers, and patience!

While following this video, I would highly recommend having the Dell created service manual to follow along in case anything shown here is unclear/etc:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins10v/en/sm/memory.htm#wp1180987

Since YouTube caps videos at 10 minutes, I broke it up into:

Taking it apart and adding the memory:

and then another putting it all back together:

Or, or those who prefer a guide using pictures as opposed to video:

1.  Start out by removing the battery by sliding out the battery lock clips, and then pull the battery straight out.  Then remove the (3) screws holding in the battery and the (1) screw securing the mini-card door, and remove the door.

2.  Remove the mini card.  Gently pry off the two antenna cables by, for example, placing a small screw driver underneath the cables where the gold metal and cable meet – then softly prying it up.  Then, remove the single screw holding the mini card down, then pull out the card.

3.  Remove the keyboard and it’s ribbon cable, as well as the ribbon cable for the touchpad.  You’ll need to basically use a very thin flat head screwdriver, credit card, etc in order to ‘pry up’ the keyboard from the center near the screen.  Once you are able to get your fingers underneath it, just pull up on the right and left sides until the laptop is free:

(there are small clips holding the eayboard in on the right and left, just pry the keyboard up as if there is a hinge at the palm rest and it’ll come loose).  Don’t pull the keyboard too far from the chassis as it’s still connected via it’s ribbon cable:

With the keyboard free, remove the ribbon cable(s) by sliding out the left and right grey “clips” holding the ribbon cable(s) in. (they will “slide out” about 2mm or so) 

4.  Remove the palm rest.  This can be a bit frustrating, but basically you want to use your thumbnail / thin creditcard to start prying from the left and right edges, where it meets the bracket:

5.  Prep for palm rest bracket removal.   First, go ahead and remove the 1 screw holding in the hard drive, and slide it out (blue).  Then, unplug the 3, or 4 if you have bluetooth, cables (green).  Finally, unscrew the 4 screws securing the palm rest bracket from the top (red).

Turn the netbook over and remove the 5 remaining screws securing the palm rest from the bottom:

6.  Actually remove the palm rest bracket.  Dell suggests starting from the hinges and working down, but I was unable to undo the clips here to start.  So instead, I started at the speakers (which are already loose), and started prying off the bracket from here.  Basically, just start pulling the entire bracket up, working your way from the palm rest area up towards the hinges, until it is removed.  (that being said, once I started getting the bracket unclipped half way to the hinges, I was able to pry off the hinge-area):

7.  Prep system board (motherboard) removal.  Almost there!  Now you need to unplug the 3 remaining cables (green) and 2 screws (red).  It may not matter, but when removing the display cable (top right), pull from the middle of the cable, as that’s where all the wires are bunched:
 

8.  Remove the motherboard.  The board is now completely loose from the chassis and can be removed!  Be careful not to nick it on anything while pulling it off, but it’s relatively easy not to.  Flip over the board, release the memory and pop in your 2GB stick:
  

9.  Put everything back together.  Basically, just follow all theses steps in reverse, power on the system, and enjoy your 2GB Dell Mini 10v!

Have any questions or run into problems?  Find an easier way to pry apart the palm rest bracket or etc?  Let everyone know in the comments!

For those of you who haven’t bought a 2gb stick yet, there are plenty on amazon that would work fine (too bad prices for ddr2 memory aren’t as cheap as they used to be) – I will keep this list updated with the cheapest amazon memory prices as I see them:

And for those interested in the products I used to help create this post:

Of the four different apartments I’ve lived in, every one of them has had off white walls.  A while back, I was able to get in on what now seems to be a “semi-annual” ShopOnkyo.com refurb home theater deal (like the HT-SR600S for $99), and after mounting the speakers on the wall, I was quite disappointed at what I saw:

If I had a house, I would take the time (and money for proper tools) to route the wires through the wall or behind crown molding.  However, I’m in an apartment and I’m not about to do such work in a place I won’t stay in for a while, not to mention I’d probably loose my deposit!

Here’s where good old masking take steps in.  It just so happens that your average roll of masking tape is probably close to the same color as your apartment walls:

What you want to do first is wrap up the beginning part of the speaker wire coming from the speaker (you’d probably want to do more layers than I did):

Then, for the first layer of tape, tear off about a foot at a time and try to tape down the speaker wire as straight and vertical as you can while trying to keep the wire flat or from twisting – otherwise it will look a bit wavy like this:

(one thing you can do to try to minimize the waviness is to hang the speaker wire from a door frame using a tack/nail/etc and then put weight attached to the other end over night )

Once you have the first layer down, feel free to do another similar layer of tape on top of it – since the tape is a bit transparent, if you have dark colored speaker wire, it’ll still show through.   Once it’s almost “whited out”, proceed to cover it with one more layer of one long piece of tape.  This will help hide any of the ripped, jagged edges of the 1-foot pieces of tape. 

When all is said and done, this is what a roll of $3 masking tape can do to make your apartment home theater setup look a little bit better – does it look great? No.  Does it look better than just having the wire loom down and only cost around $3? You be the judge!

(oh, and I say this is a guide for an apartment, as opposed to a house/etc, only cause I would rather at least use flat speaker wire and paint it if it was a place I was actually putting money into.  This is just a cheap, easy, and fast way to make your “apartment style” life a little better looking, ha)

Just like the keyboard bulge on the Dell XPS M1330, I recently bought a (refurbished) Dell Studio 15 to find that it suffers from the same bulge/flex issue.  Just like the M1330, it has to do with the WiFi cable not sitting in it’s ‘designated groove’ in the chassis.  What you need to do to fix it is just simply push the cables back into the ‘grooved’ chassis, and that should fix most of your bulging/flexing issues! 

To do this, you can either follow the Dell Service manual of removing the keyboard and then putting the cable where it needs to go, or follow along below:

First, you’ll need to flip over the laptop, remove the battery, and remove the Center Control Cover by first removing these two screws:

Then, flip it back over and open the screen as far back as it will go.  Starting from the back of the laptop (closest to the screen), carefully pry up the center control panel (imagine the dotted red line is a hinge) while being aware there is a small cable attached to it, so once it’s loose, so don’t go pulling the panel too far away from the laptop!

Once the control panel is loose, you can just ‘fold it back’ and lay it flat on the keyboard (the next picture shows that I mean by ‘laying it flat’).  The Dell manual says to disconnect the cable attached to it, but I was afraid of damaging the connector, so I never did that (there’s enough slack to do what needs to be done for this task). 

Now, you’ll want to remove the 2 screws holding the keyboard down:

And then pry away the black plastic trim around the keyboard (it should be relatively easy to take off – no screws, just pull it off, starting at one corner and work your way around).   Then, just simply pull the keyboard off (you may need to slide it towards the screen a centimeter or two, and it may feel like it’s stuck – that’s just because there’s sticky pads underneath the keyboard):

Now if your Studio 15 was like mine, you can instantly see at least one (major) cause for the bulge – the thick (and taped) wifi cable is not sitting in it’s groove (which is shown by the dotted line):

If you have the masking tape on yours, remove it, and then guide the cable into it’s groove.  I went ahead and took the eraser side of a pencil and used that to press further down the metal tabs (marked by the red arrows below):

Finally, put everything back on in reverse order, and you should now have a less bulging keyboard on your Dell Studio 15!