Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label europe. Show all posts

Monday, July 23, 2012

How to listen to Pandora radio from anywhere outside the US.

I used to listen a lot to Pandora radio when I was in the US and I really enjoyed it, so obviously that I wanted it back home. But unfortunately, Pandora is available only in the US, because of the licensing problems which streaming in other countries could create. So, basically, if you are not in America, you can't listen to Pandora radio. But this is the official version...

There is a VPN service called Hotspot Shield which creates something like a tunnel between your computer and a gateway provided by Hotspot Shield (that's some sort of the definition of the VPN), which exists exactly in the US. The idea is that through this VPN, you should get a much safer browsing experience, because everything you do on the internet is sent, securely through that tunnel, in the US, so there is impossible for one to attack you and to try to track your data or something like that. For me it is not clear how the data is handled when it exits in the US, so I wouldn't trust Hotspot Shield when I buy something on the internet for example, but this remains at your own judgement.

By using Hotspot Shield, you should be able to access Pandora from wherever you are. I've been using it not very often for the last 1,5 years, but it always did its job.

Of course that using this also has some disadvantages, and they are mainly related to slow internet speeds (because everything has to go to the US and back) and sometimes slow DNS response. However, it is definitely worth being used for the possibility it introduces to all the internet customers, no matter where they are.

Note: I am not responsible for everything that happens to you by using this service. You use it on your own responsibility.

You can go on their website to learn more or try the product: http://www.hotspotshield.com/.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Send free SMS messages all over the world with e-FreeSMS.com (July 2012).

I've just discovered e-FreeSMS.com, a website which allows you to send free SMS messages to whoever you want, regardless your position or the position of the person you want to text (with two servers to choose from). It's a simple website, of course with lots of ads (it's a free service after all), but the idea is that I've tested it and it works very good, got the messages within 5 seconds (Vodafone Romania).

The website says that you can also make free calls directly from it, but from what I understood, they are available only if calling the US or Canada, regardless your position. More than this, it also allows you to watch local television channels from your own country, but you must have luck to get it working, so it's not really reliable for this (most televisions are streaming on the internet directly from their websites, which are better streams than the ones provided by this website).

e-FreeSMS.com is working properly at the time of posting this article (the end of July 2012). Give it a try, maybe you'll like it.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

XXLF1 radio for Galaxy Nexus, OK to install (works good).

Yesterday I installed the latest radio available for my GSM Galaxy Nexus, version XXLF1. It works without any problems, didn't occur any signal drops or anything like that. The WiFi signal seems to be the same, while the GSM signal is significantly improved (HSDPA). It's difficult to notice any battery change, but it seem to be slightly improved (30% at the end of the day).

Please note the the beginning "XX" means that this is a radio only for the European networks, so don't try to install it if you live somewhere outside the Europe. It works very good in Romania, didn't have any issues after installing (Vodafone). Tested on Jelly Bean.

Download from XDA: link (flashable zip, flash in CWM recovery). If the link becomes broken, please report in a comment and I will change it.