How to install Siri on your iPhone 4 and older iDevices

[DIY] Camera Stabilizer for DSLR

February 20, 2012 – 3:39 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, Lens, Lighting, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff, Video Recording
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So I’ve decided to make yet another DIY camera stabilizer. Today’s stabilizer consists of two L-brackets and a cheese plate. Although the flash brackets aren’t meant to be used this way, I have found that when attached to the cheese plate they actually make a really good stabilizer. Originally I wanted to attach the L-brackets to a straight flash bracket but unfortunately it wasn’t delivered in time for the making of the video, so I decided to use what I already had laying around.

If you’re interested in building your own stabilizer you can do so by purchasing the following:

2 L-Brackets- Link

Cheese Plate- Link

or you can use a Straight Bracket- Link

If you’re interested in the Custom Made 717 Quick release mounting base- Link

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[HOW TO] Fix Siri Proxy Error

February 16, 2012 – 1:09 pm
Posted in Apple Products, AppStore, DIY, iOS, iPhone 4, Jailbreaking, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff
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So the other day I tried using Siri on my iPhone 4 and I got an error. I tried it again and got the same error. I immediately pulled up google and searched for any known problems with siri on iDevices other than the iPhone 4S. It seemed like a lot of people were having the same issue but luckily for all of us, there’s a simple fix.

Until now you only needed a jailbroken iDevice, Spire installed, and a working SiriProxy (SiriZone in my case). But apparently Apple has added a new validation token (SetValidationToken) to the mix so if you’re running Siri on another device that isn’t a 4S then this creates a problem for you to connect to the proper servers.

There’s a real simple fix for this issue. You need to delete a file in your iDevices directory.

“/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/com.apple.assistant.plist”

Follow these instructions to Fix this known issue

Step 1: You can delete the necessary files directly from your iDevice using iFile- available in Cydia. Install iFile and close Cydia.

Step 2: You need to access the proper directory and delete the proper file. “/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/com.apple.assistant.plist”

Step 3: Once deleted, respring your iDevice and try running Siri again.

Congrats you should be able to successfully use Siri again.

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[UNBOXING] Flycam Nano DSLR & Arm Brace

February 13, 2012 – 1:34 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, Lens, Lighting, Modifications, Photography, Video Recording
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I have another unboxing! This time I’m unboxing the Flycam Nano DSLR and Arm Brace. The first time I saw one of these was on eBay from a seller in India but I was very hesitant in purchasing one since anything overseas takes FOREVER to ship. I was really attracted to this Flycam because of it’s price. I picked this one up from Amazon for $189 with overnight shipping- Amazon Prime Membership- If you don’t know what that is, you NEED to look into it. You can also pick one up from eBay for around the same price but it would take approximately a month before you actually receive it.

I won’t lie, balancing this stabilizer was a pain and I think I finally got it but I won’t be uploading any sample footage until I’m 100% sure that I have it balanced.

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[HOW TO] Install Spire/ Siri on your iDevice

February 9, 2012 – 9:43 am
Posted in Apple Products, AppStore, DIY, iOS, iPhone 4, Jailbreaking, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff
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So a couple of months ago I posted a video on my YouTube channel on how to install Siri on the iPhone 4 and all other iDevices. Unfortunately H1Siri stopped working soon after it’s release and that left a lot of people unhappy. I decided to redo this video/tutorial and this time use SPIRE to install Siri on my iPhone 4.

First thing’s first. You MUST be jailbroken, preferably on an untethered jailbreak. Click here to jailbreak your iDevice.

How to install Siri on your iPhone 4 and older iDevices

Step 1: Jailbreak your iDevice.

Step 2: After you’ve completed the jailbreak, open Cydia

Step 3: Search for Spire- Located in the BigBoss repo

Step 4: Install Spire (Be patient while Cydia installs 100mb worth of data. Connect to a WiFi network for faster download)

Step 5: Once installed, Cydia will ask you to reboot your iDevice.

Step 6: Visit SiriZone’s website and pay the $20/per year to get access to their servers. You’ll need your iDevices UDID in order to become registered.

Step 7: SiriZone will send you an email with instructions to install the proper certificates and instructions on how to set the Spire IP.

Step 8: Install all certificates for all servers available then open up settings and enable Siri.

Step 9: Copy the IP to one of the servers and paste it in the Spire settings. I recommend using the server closest to you.

Step 10: You have completed installing Spire and connecting to the proper proxy server. Now go ahead and enjoy Siri on your iDevice.

Please keep in mind that there is a way to get a proxy server for free but you would need to have access to an iPhone 4S. You can set up your own proxy server and use the authentication keys from your iPhone 4S. I don’t know how to set up a proxy server and I don’t own an iPhone 4S so this was my only option.

You might also find some public servers that people have set up but those servers are always down due to the massive traffic coming in and out of those servers.

BEWARE! There are a lot of scams out there claiming to give you access to their servers and then end up just taking your money.

I can personally vouch for SiriZone as I have taken the risk to pay the $20 and have successfully connected to the servers. You can do more research and find out that SiriZone is the real deal.

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[Custom Made] WF717 Fluid Head Quick Release Plate Mounting base

February 6, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, FCP 7.0, Lens, Lighting, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff, Photography, Video Recording
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So I use a Fancier 717 Fluid Head tripod and I’ve always really liked the size of the quick release plate. I always wanted to find a way to mount my camera to other rigs using the same plate but never found a compatible adapter to go with it, until now. A seller on eBay is making Custom base plates and selling them for a very reasonable price. You can buy a single base adapter for $25 or buy them in multiples for a discounted price. Please keep in mind that this does not come with a quick release plate, it is only the base adapter that is included.

Prior to purchasing this custom base adapter I was using a FotoPro QAL-600 for all my needs and it always annoyed me because unlike this new custom made adapter I could never use it without having to attach some sort of elevation to the bottom of it. Reason behind this is because the knob to tighten/loosen the plate is placed in a way where you can’t have it flush to whatever you’re mounting it to. I’ve compared the two in the attached video.

If you’re interested in purchasing this Custom built base plate then view these listings.

*These base adapters are not manufactuered by Fancier.

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[DIY] Spyder Trax Dolly and Tracks

February 2, 2012 – 12:00 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff, Video Recording
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About a year ago I made tracks for my DIY Spyder dolly but I never got the chance to make a DIY video for it so I decided to rebuild new tracks and make a video tutorial on the build. All the parts used to build the tracks were purchased at home depot and can be found at any local hardware store near you. You can probably build the entire thing for under $50 but that depends on how long you want the tracks to be. I decided to make a 7′ track so I had to purchase two Aluminum struts because they only come in measurements of 10′ but you can easily build a 5′ track and just purchase one strut.

To build the dolly you can buy a cheap skateboard or use the one that you have in your closet that’s been sitting there for years covered in dust. Take the wheels off of the skateboard and attach them to a cheese plate, or you can use wood if you don’t have a cheese plate. I would recommend attaching a tripod head to the dolly but you can mount your camera directly to the dolly if you’d like.

Watch the attached video for a more detailed tutorial.

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Subscribe to my YouTube channel

[UNBOXING] Opteka Vertical Grip for Canon 7D

January 30, 2012 – 4:43 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, Lens, Lighting, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff, Photography, Video Recording
Tagged canon eos, canon eos 7d, name brand products, unboxing, vertical grip
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I recently purchased a Canon EOS 7D and I wanted to put a vertical grip on the camera. Not too much because of the actual grip but more because of the larger battery capacity. The grip allows for two LP-E6 batteries which doubles your battery life. I also own the Canon T1i and I’ve had a vertical grip on that since I bought it. The T1i feels more comfortable with the grip on but the T1i is much smaller than the 7D. When I bought the grip for my T1i I thought it would be better to go with Canon’s own BG-E5 but this time around I decided to go with a third party company like Opteka. Their reputation as a company is pretty good so I didn’t think I was getting ripped off and even if I was I’d only be $25 down.

After the unboxing I was able to use the grip on my new 7D and I don’t have any complaints so far. At first I felt the grip to be a little wobbly when attached to the camera but after getting used to it, it seems fine. Also the two Maximal LP-36 batteries haven’t blown up yet and they’re still at full power so that must be a good sign.

If you’re on a budget like myself and are trying to save money on whatever you can then these accessories can save you money. If you have the money to buy all Canon brand items then go for it but do take into consideration that these products are just as good as the name brand products.

Just a little math:

Canon Grip $165+ Canon LP-E6 $60+ Canon LP-E6 $60+ Canon LPE6 Charger $55= $340.

Opteka Grip $25+ Maximal LP-E6 $15+ Maximal LP-E6 $15+ Opteka LP-E6 Charger $8= $52

That’s a $288 difference. You be the judge.

Opteka Vertical Battery grip for Canon EOS 7D- Click here
Maximal LP-E6 Rechargeable battery- Click here
Opteka Charger for LP-E6- Click here

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[UNBOXING] Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlite

January 26, 2012 – 12:25 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, Lens, Lighting, Other Tech Stuff, Photography
Tagged canon 580ex ii, wireless flash
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Today I have another unboxing- this time it’s the Yongnuo YN-560 Speedlite! Some might say that this flash is compared to the Canon 580EX II and although I believe the 580EX II out performs the YN-560 I still think it’s a great substitution. My first impression of the flash was that it wasn’t made out of flimsy material but instead built with heavy-duty thick plastic. You can pick one of these flashes up for Aprox. $65 on Amazon.com as opposed to paying $500 for a 580EX II.

I plan on making a review on this flash in a future post and plan on demonstrating how it works with my Yongnuo RF-603C Wireless Flash trigger. I posted a review for the RF-603C a few weeks, to view click here.

I’ve included a few specs for the YN-560:

Guide number:58 at ISO100, 105MM.
Super speed of charging recycle:It only takes 3 seconds in charging after full power output. Even without new batteries, you can get the super charging speed that it only needs 4-5 seconds, you can completely get rid of the nightmare of anxious waiting for charging,. In addition, you can use the external power pack to accelerate the charging speed once more.
Supporting high speed continuous shooting:Under the ouput level of 1/8 or below, YN-560 can support the 8FPS high speed continuous shooting.
The Improved power saving mode:In the power saving mode, the flash keep sidle for 3 minutes and then it will setp into the dormancy state in order to save power. and it will automatically shutdown aftger keeping idle for 15 minutes. If you disabled the power saving mode, the power saving indicator will be on, the flash won’t step into the dormancy state aftger being stopped. It will be automatically shut down after 30 minutes.
The more fine output control: The adjustment range of YN-560 output level is 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32, 1/64, 1/128, there are 8 levels of putput and each level has 8 ine tuning stalls.
The automatic setting saving:It can automatically save your current setting.
*Overheating protection
*Maually set the zooming position:The coverd focal length of the flash will switch in circel of 14 / 28 / 35 / 50 / 70 / 80 / 105mm by pressing the button.

Advanced Application:
1. Fine tuning the out put power
2. Multi-flash Lighting Application
3. Buttons are effective immediately
4. The use of external charging box
5. High-speed continuous shooting
6. Rear-curtain Sync
7. Reflection Flash
8. Using the built-in Bounce Card
9. Using the built-in Wide-angle Diffuse

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Visit Amazon.com if you’re interested in picking up your own Rokinon 14mm.

[UNBOXING] Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 Super Wide Lens

January 23, 2012 – 12:30 pm
Posted in Canon, DIY, Lens, Lighting, Modifications, Other Tech Stuff, Photography, Video Recording
Tagged angle fish, fish eye, manual focus, unboxing, youtube
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Yet another unboxing for you guys today! Today I bring you the Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 Super Wide Lens that I picked up at B&H Photo in NYC. If you haven’t noticed yet, I like to make video reviews and sometimes it gets really inconvenient to actually record because the collection of Lenses that I have aren’t wide angled! Currently I use the Opteka Wide Angle/ Fish Eye Adapter for my 18-55mm and it does the job but I needed something better.

I decided to go with the Rokinon 14mm over the Bower 14mm because it was cheaper. I did some research on both lenses and realized that they’re almost identical to each other so paying the extra money was pointless. The Rokinon 14mm is already a bit expensive with a $379 price tag.

This lens comes in a few different styles including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and a few more. Make sure you choose the correct style that fits your camera.

Also be aware that this lens is Manual Focus ONLY so if you’re looking for an AF lens unfortunately you’ll be disappointed.

Features:

Minimum focusing Distance of 10.8 inches
This is the new updated UMC version
14 Elements in 12 Groups
Aperture Range: F/2.8 – F/22
6 diaphragm Blades
Brand Name: Rokinon
Model: FE14M-C

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