Upgrade to ICS on your Hipstreet Vektor

Get ICS and Google Play on your HipStreet Vektor (or Nova 2, or LY-F1 - whatever you want to call it)


We saw a Groupon for an Android tablet, and pounced as it was only £100 (about $159).  I waited with baited breath (some might say halitosis) for 5 weeks until it FINALLY got here!! - then disappointment.  The screen was … OK, performance was acceptable, but I found, much to my chagrin, that it was running Gingerbread with NO upgrade path from the vendor (support told me I could upgrade it, but that would "void the warranty" - I told t hem I'd rather have a fully functional device than a warranty, but now I believed it was at least possible).  Added bonus: this particular device ISN'T COMPATIBLE WITH GOOGLE PLAY, a double whammy which kind of pissed me off…


So - the adventure began.  After spending some time digging around Google and the XDA Developer website, and trying to figure out just EXACTLY what the hell this thing is, I discovered two useful bits of information:
1. The Hipstreet Vektor appears to be identical to their Nova 2 that they sold in Canada (which is a clear "name FAIL" for Spanish-speaking countries, hence I suspect the need for a name change for Europe).
2. It is just an OEM re-brand of the LY-F1 Chinese Tablet from PandaWill (http://www.pandawill.com/lyf1-lite-tablet-pc-7-inch-android-23-new-12ghz-cpu-4gb-2160p-hdmi-black-p54046.html )


The process:
**Standard disclaimer - I have no relationship to/with HipStreet, and I am not offering official support.  You do this at your own risk, so don't whine to me if it doesn’t work, or you brick your tablet.  I merely wanted to share a process that worked for me, and made my crappy tired tablet of disappointment [apparently] fully useable.**


Warning: most of the places you go to get the software for this process seem a little shady (download mirrors, pop-ups, etc.).  I would recommend using a throw-away Windows machine (or your buddy's computer) for this process versus using your primary workstation if you can.


1. Get "LiveSuit"
• This wasn't too hard to find, and there are a lot of links out there. 1.09 was current when I was working on this.
• Not an intuitive application, and most of the English is a little awkward - It didn’t have a "setup.exe", so I clicked on "LiveSuit.exe", and got an error about drivers not installing/installed; when I launched "LiveSuitPack_version_1.09_20111101.exe", it installed them, then the LiveSuit executable worked fine.  Who knows how pwned I am now… 

2. Get a ROM Image. I used the June 26 release at this URL (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1572425 )
• I went to the mirrorcreator link, and then tried different mirror links until I finally found a site that allowed me to just download the file instead of installing some BS downloader - (FileFlyer - was at the bottom of the page, and eventually just gave me a link to a 7z file which worked perfectly)
• Expect tons of popups; if you can do this in a disposable VM, you are probably better off…
3. Backup any data you might want to keep
4. *Make sure LiveSuit is running*
5. Shut down the tablet
6. Hold down the volume rocker button on the "-" side (left side if holding the tablet)
7. Connect the USB cable
8. Tap the power button
• I read "10 or 15 times", but I'm not sure what the magic number is; you will hear Windows recognize your device with a "bah-dink?"
• And then LiveSuit will pop up a dialogue box (video example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2QAyVX1CQw )
9. Select "Yes" twice
10. Double fist pump - enjoy a fully functional tablet running ICS 4.0.3


About 5 minutes later, LiveSuit said "successful upgrade", and the table rebooted.  It sat for a LONG time at this screen with a shimmering android robot, and I worried that it had failed, but eventually, it came up all the way, and so far - everything is working perfectly (including Google Play - YAY! We win!!).

Testosterone

Food and Testosterone

To boost your testosterone levels, your first step is to consume an adequate number of calories. Following a low-calorie diet can result in less GnRH being released from the brain, as well as decreased activity of testosterone-catalyzing enzymes in the testes, and the consequence of both incidents is decreased testosterone production. The catch is that you also don't want to overeat and gain bodyfat, which contains more of the enzyme that converts testosterone into estrogens. The Testosterone Diet gives you enough calories to support muscle growth and testosterone levels without adding bodyfat. Our sample diet uses a 180-pound bodybuilder; to figure out your own calorie needs, multiply your bodyweight by 18-20 calories. For example, a 180-pounder will need to ingest about 3,250-3,600 calories per day. For the 200-pounder, it jumps up to 3,600-4,000 calories.

 
 

The next step is to consume adequate carbohydrates. Shoot for at least 2 grams per pound of bodyweight per day, keeping your carbs-to-protein ratio at 2:1--research shows that this is ideal for elevating T levels. And although we'd rarely tell you to choose more refined carbs (except around workout time), we suggest you do so here because higher-fiber diets tend to lower testosterone. Don't gorge on Twinkies, of course, but you can choose white rice over brown and cream of wheat over oatmeal, because the former have lower fiber content. Of course, you still need some fiber for health reasons, so we've included whole-wheat bread, fruits and vegetables in the nutrition plan.

Priority No. 3 is protein. Surprised it's not No. 1? While we constantly preach the importance of eating protein--and make no mistake, it's vital in The Testosterone Diet--what's even more crucial is getting just enough of it and not too much. That's because research shows that consuming more protein than carbs may lower testosterone levels. So you'll want to get in your bodybuilding standard of 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight per day--no more, no less. Also, make sure most of your protein comes from animal sources; vegetarian diets are associated with lower testosterone levels in males.

 
 

The last, but certainly not the least, macronutrient to be concerned about is fat. You'll want to get about 30% of your total calories from fat, but don't overload on polyunsaturated fats like those found in salmon, other fatty fish and vegetable oils. Instead, concentrate on choosing monounsaturated fats found in nuts, olives, olive oil and avocados, and saturated fats from red meat and egg yolks. Unorthodox as this advice may be, research suggests that polyunsaturated fats lower testosterone levels, while monounsaturated and even saturated fats raise T levels.

 
 

Pasted from <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0801/is_7_67/ai_n16598134/>

 
 

Training Tips

Bodyweight assistance work
This is another thing I've done quite a bit of. I always start my workouts with a big exercise (squat, clean, deadlift, press, bench) and very often follow it up with simple bodyweight exercises such as dips, chins/pull-ups, pushups, glute-ham raises, back raises, various ab exercises, and one leg squatting.

This allows me to get some extra work in but not load my spine or my body too much. So if you're feeling excessively sore or your joints are hurting, this might be a good option.

Pasted from <http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_633#blood-chalk-vol-6>

I have no problem with someone saying that they only want to get bigger. That's fine. The mistake is doing what competitive bodybuilders do before a show to get bigger, rather than what these guys did for years and years to get to the size that they are. Big movements, big weights, low reps.

Pasted from <http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_626#sucker-punch-dan-john>

The How To 
The problem with the lat pull-down is that you have to concentrate very hard to get the lat to work from the start.To do it, set up on the lat pull-down with a third of the weight you normally use. (If you're a 170-pound puller, you should start with roughly 60 pounds.) Grab the bar and let yourself dead hang while seated. Focus on squeezing your upper lat (it's in the armpit when your arms are overhead) before you do anything else.

Once you've squeezed the upper lat, pull your shoulders all the way down (without bending your elbow) and begin to pull the bar down using your lats. Go slow and do it smoothly. Make sure your forearm angle stays in line with the cable as the bar passes your chin, and pull the bar down to your collarbone.
The first few sets will be the worst, but by the fifth or sixth set you should really start to feel yourself pulling through the lat. I like doing eight reps since it's enough to get several cracks at the motion, but not so much that you're fatigued before you get to the next set.

A Few Specific Tips
• Be sure to use a weight light enough that your lat can work, but heavy enough that you feelit working. If you use a weight that's too light, your body will have a very hard time recruiting more muscle mass than it needs. If you go too heavy, you'll just engage all the wrong muscles.
• Remember that when your arms are overhead the upper lat will be in your armpit. (The lat basically wraps around to the front side of the body.) You want to focus on pulling from your armpit at the beginning of the movement to activate the upper lats.

Pasted from <http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article_issue/issue_626#pull-up-strength> 


Strength Training
More and more it's becoming clear that strength training is good for a lot of things: bone density, practical application, insulin sensitivity, ego. It's also apparent that you don't have to do 37 different exercises per body part. Most of the available info stresses intensity, form, and simplicity usually with rep ranges in the 3 - 5 range (for basic strength).  Many argue you can get stronger doing sets of 20 as well, but you have to factor in experience, tolerance, age, nutrition, etc. to define an effective program (one size does not fit all).  

If basic  lifts like squat and deadlift are not a fundamental part of your workout program where you want to build size and strength, you have lost the plot.

Should I Buy Multiple XBox 360's?

I am too busy (pronounced "lazy") to blog very often, but I think my latest electronics adventure warrants a few comments that might benefit someone else.

I had been considering purchasing another XBox360 so the kids could play games upstairs when Michelle and I might like to watch something on the TV. So, I found a great deal on an XBox360 Elite at Costco in Reading (£159) and grabbed it. There was mention of Sky integration on the box (the biggest UK satellite service provider), and I thought to myself "Self, this is AWESOME!! When I get tired of iCarley and Drake and Josh ("Drank" and Josh as my son calls them), I can send the kids upstairs to watch their kruff elsewhere!! So, things I learned:

First, I already owned a US XBox360 with which I had been using my US XBox Live! account (which resulted in a rather frustrating level of restriction to content - you pretty much can't access any music videos, movies, tv shows, etc. from the UK. You can see previews with the Zune stuff, but when you try to purchase any of that sort of content, you get the digital face-palm : DISAPPOINTING).

I purchased a UK XBox360 Elite

So, I fire up the new UK XBox, and go to login to my XBox Live! account. "Your profile is activated on another XBox. Would you like to recover your gamer tag?". SWEET! So I just recover my tag and off I GO!! I recovered the tag, and low and behold - it was the EXACT SAME OPTIONS AS I HAD ON MY US XBOX. =/ Hmmm....

I went to the Sky site, and there were banners for "SKY ON YOUR XBOX360!" all over... I wondered if I needed to download something... No. Why was everything on my brand new XBox exactly the same?? I decided to try and create a UK XBox Live! profile. Guess what... once I logged in, it needed to update itself, and after a reboot, I had the Sky player, and the UK options!!

Lesson 1: The XBox360 itself appears to be identical regardless of where you buy it. The content and options are tied to both your Live ID, and your location (in terms of what you can access). Also, I connected my US power supply to my UK XBox360, and my UK Power to my US XBox360 (after checking the input/output on the bricks) - identical output. This was to reduce the amount of crap I needed to plug in upstairs.

Lesson 2: When I went back upstairs to login to my US XBox, guess what: had to recover my profile. =( You can only have your profile on ONE XBox at a time unless you use the little memory packs that you can plug into the controllers. DISAPPOINTING!! With 3 kids, I'm supposed to keep up with where the little memory thing is at any given moment?? Not likely...

My proposal to the XBox360 guys:
Tie the XBoxes to an ID. So, I go to the XBox site, and register the XBox to my ID (or via the XBox itself: "Did you just buy this XBox?") instead of the other way around like it is now. This still allows for people to take their profile on a memory stick, and there could be a "guest or owner option" for recovering the gamer tag on another XBox ("Do you own this XBox, or are you a guest?").

This would allow someone with 2+ XBoxes to just login to any of them, and get all their stuff! The current model is annoying.

I guess that means I wouldn't need to create additional XBox Live Gold accounts (REQUIRED TO ACCESS THE SKY PLAYER - I was SOOO not happy when I found this out - DISAPPOINTING!!), so MS would be "cheated" out of that revenue, but I would be FAR LESS pissed off if it just worked like a rational human being might expect (i.e. transparent access regardless of which XBox I'm on - it's ON the Internet - why the hell can't I just download it anywhere??) My gamer tag is associated with credentials already, but for more security: XBox Live RSA token like WoW??. Caveat: One more thing to lose...

This way, I could even go into work, and put my profile on the rec room XBox360, and take my achievements and profile with me!! And remotely pull my profile off a guest XBox if I want through the XBox Live website.

=======================================
XBoxes Associated with this ID:
Owner:
Dooley Home XBox360 [remove]
Dooley Kids XBox360 [remove]

Guest:
Work Rec Room XBox360 [remove]
...
========================================

Now, my stuff is accessible, and I can play either in the living room, OR upstairs without having to recover my damned profile!! (Does that make sense to anyone??).

Redmond and Reading

<== Redmond Town Center

So, I said I would be going to Redmond, and it was great! It was about 62° F all week, and only rained a little. The people I met were very friendly, and I had a good time. Everyone made me feel very welcome.

New Friends ==>

I made several new friends while I was there (some of the pictures didn't turn out so well - I am still learning how to use this new camera). I look forward to working with them!

After a week there, I was then scheduled to go to Microsoft UK for my orientation (or NEO as its called internally). This was very informative, and I have to say, Microsoft has the most amazingly comprehensive orientation and career planning systems I have ever seen (or even heard of).


<== Thames Valley Park

I am actually still in Reading right now, and it's delightful. I am very much looking forward to my move, which I think we are planning for July now. It's funny; I was running around with my hosting manager on Monday, and in the hall, lo and behold, who do I see? A GOON!! He graciously invited me to his pad where I enjoyed dinner with YET another Goon and his family! They were incredibly gracious, and I appreciated the hospitality.

Goons are everywhere ==>

Soon I'll be heading back to the states for the final push to move the fam to Reading. I am more pumped than ever!!

Vista and Bluetooth Headsets

I had trouble getting my Motoroloa H375 working with my IBM Lenovo X61 Tablet (which has a dual core 64 bit Centrino Pro CPU and I have Vista Enterprise 64bit installed). I did a lot of research, and saw a lot of work-arounds, and here is what worked for me:

The problem: I could pair my laptop with my bluetooth headset, but Vista would demand drivers for the H375 on each reboot. The headset did not show up as an available audio device, and was categorically pissing me off.

1. I downloaded the Lenovo System Update utility which updated my Bluetooth drivers for the integrated BT in the Lenovo ("ThinkPad Bluetooth with Enhanced Data Rate")

2. I then Googled "widcomm vista 6" per Dave's suggestion on this page (bluetooth 2.0 + vista x32)

3. I extracted the driver archive and went into the "Win64" directory and ran "Inst.exe"

4. I was then notified that new drivers had been installed, which included a stereo audio gateway, and a hands-free profile

5. I was also prompted by Skype that two Bluetooth services were trying to use it, and I had to permit this in the events in the main Skype interface (Just click on each link you see at the top, and select the "Permit" checkbox)

6. At first I was getting no love, but I picked up the headset, and pressed the "Talk" button, and I got a System Tray notification that a BlueTooth device was trying to pair with my laptop, and I was prompted for the code. I put in "0000", and my H375 was available in my Skype profile to be used as Speakers and Mic. A quick test call was 100% successful!!

7. I also noticed there were a LOT more tabs in the Bluetooth profile tool (Audio, Dial-up, PIM Interfaces, & Share)

(*Note: don't forget to check "Control Skype(TM) calls using a hands-free device" option in the Audio tab - this was selected by default for me, but I had seen this caution in another FAQ somewhere.)

No go forth and play WoW and chat without disturbing the people in the hotel room next door (despite the fact they kept you up all night the night before with their bafoonery).

Off to Redmond

So, my official start date with Microsoft is tomorrow. I am really looking forward to this change, and we are excited about moving to the UK. I am flying to Seattle tonight to meet some of the team. A new adventure has begun...