Installing Jelly Bean ROM to Galaxy Tab 10.1

Samsung is taking its time in making ICS available for Galaxy Tab 10.1. Since JellyBean has come out since June 2012, it will probably taking another year to get a JellyBean update from Samsung. Looking in the internet, there are JB (JellyBean) custom ROMs available for the Tab. Since running Honeycomb is really aggravating, lagging, and quite a pain - I decided to take the plunge, root, and install custom ROM. Another option is to just get a Nexus 7 device - which will cost $200 more than installing custom ROM.

So in this post, I will describe the step by step process in installing JB ROM into my Tab (from stock Honeycomb). Please note that there are risks involved when one is doing this - that one may "brick" the device, or the installation may fail and require further troubleshooting etc. So do it on your own risk - no guarantees from me. My experience was that the installation was smooth and without any glitch whatsoever. Please do not skip any steps - also make sure your battery is full or almost full. Part of the steps is wiping the data. So if you do not want to lose any data, make sure you back it up first. 

1. ROOT (if yours is already rooted, you can skip this step)
Follow the steps from xda-developers here for rooting your device. The link above even has a video step-by-step guide.

2. OPTIONAL
At this point, I purchased ROM Manager App from the Google Play and update Clockwork Recovery to the latest version. 

3. INSTALL JB

1. Download 2 sets of files from xda-developers, look for the section like the image on the right:
1. The custom ROM (select the one that applies to you)
2. Google Apps
2. Copy the JB package (both the ROM and the Google Apps zip files) to your tablet’s internal Tab memory
3. Turn off Tab.
4. Go to ClockworkMod Recovery by turn on the Tab while holding the Volume Up button. 
5. When the screen turns on, release the Power button but hold the Volume Up button until a menu shows up on the screen. 
6. Press Volume Down to select the recovery mode icon and then, press the Volume Up button to enter recovery.
7. Create a backup of your current ROM. Select "backup and restore". Select "backup" again. This will initiate the backup process. Once it's done, select "go back" to go back to main menu.
8. Select "wipe data/factory reset" (and confirm)
9. Select "wipe cache partition" (and confirm)
10. Select "advanced" -- "wipe dalvik cache" (and confirm)
11. Select "mounts and storage" -- "format / system" (and confirm). Once done, go back to main menu
12. Select "install zip from sd card" -- "choose zip from sd card" and select the JB zip file and then confirm selection. The ROM installation will start. 
13. Select "install zip from sd card" -- "choose zip from sd card" and select the Google Apps zip file and then confirm selection. The Apps installation will start
14. Once done, select "go back" to the main menu and then select "reboot system now". DONE!

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Browsing securely using an SSH tunnel

Browsing on an internet cafe or a open/free wireless hot spot is scary sometimes. Some places are secured enough (like airport), but some are pretty questionable. You're not sure who owns the router, whether they put security on it, packet tracer, or a phising software etc ... Some times you also want to avoid the proxy that tracks your cookie, traffic, website blocker, etc etc. Regardless of the reasons, you may want to be able to browse securely - and a way to do it is by tunneling it via SSH.

So how does this work? Basically you want to setup an SSH server and redirect all of your browser traffic via this SSH server using an SSH client on your computer (instead of directly via http into the internet). This SSH tunnel is secured, so no one can peek into your traffic, unlike the regular http traffic. So here is how I did mine using Bitvise WinSSHD & Tunnelier. You can download both (free) from Bitvise website.

Installing WinSSHD (the SSH server)

1. You will need a computer that is always on or with wake-up on LAN enabled. I use my media center machine for this. 
2. Download WinSSHD (from here) and install it. Just follow the default instruction on the screen and you should be ok. If you are not an administrator on your machine then you will need to install this as an administrator. There is a more detailed User's Guide by Bitvise here.

Configuring WinSSHD

1. Once installed, the WinSSHD control panel should open with the "Easy WinSSHD Settings" window open.
2. Under "Server Settings", you can customize the listening ports etc if you want - or just leave then with the default settings and click "Next" and go to "Windows Account".
3. Under "Windows Account", you can allow or disallow Windows Account to login/connect to your SSH server. The default setting is to allow. I disallow this for security reason and created a locked down virtual users instead. You can read more about virtual vs Windows account here.
4. Under "Virtual Users", you can add virtual users. Click "Add" and assign account name and customize the permissions for that user, then click "OK". Once the user shows up in the list, select the user row, and click the pencil icon under "Virtual account password" column and the click the "Manage" button, then set the password for that user.
5. Once the "Easy WinSSHD Settings" window is gone, now you are looking at the WinSSHD control panel.
6. Now click "Edit advanced settings" and go to "Windows Firewall" area. Make sure that both drop downs are set to "Open ports to any computer" - so you can connect from outside your network/internet. You can read about opening up WinSSHD to the internet here.
7. Make sure the service is running. If not, start it. There should be a link in the control panel to start or stop the WinSSHD service.

Installing & Configuring Tunnelier

1. Download Tunnerlier (from here) and install it. Just follow the default instruction on the screen and you should be ok. If you are not an administrator on your machine then you will need to install this as an administrator. There is a more detailed User's Guide by Bitvise here.
2. Once installed, try connecting to your WinSSHD from within your network by entering the IP/host name, port, username, and password in the login area of Tunnelier and click "Login".
3. You should see the status of connection and data transmission in the right text area.
4. Now once it is setup within the network, before you can try it from the outside of your network, you will need to configure port forwarding in your router.

Configuring Router Port Forwarding

1. A router usually has a port-forwarding tool built-in. I am not sure how each router does their setting specifically, but usually there are several simple steps to register the port-forwarding. Go to portforward.com/ for the specific instructions on how to do it for your router.
2. Make sure your box that runs the SSH server is running on a static IP address within the local network. You can do this via the router's DHCP or using the TCP/IP setting in your computer.

Registering (dynamic) DNS Name

1. If you are running your SSH server from home, most likely you have a dynamic IP address. So, what you want to do here is register a dynamic DNS name, so that when your IP change, it is be also updated and tied to your DNS name dynamically. In the end, all you need to remember is your DNS name. The way this works is that dynamic DNS registration company has a small software in your box that will send an updated IP address to your dynamic DNS registry so it continuously updating your DNS name registration with your current IP address.
2. There are a lot of dynamic DNS provider out there in the internet - make your own pick here. I use No-IP. Usually you just need to register/create an account on their site, pick your DNS name and download the updater client software and install it on your box and you are set!

Trying It From Outside Your Network

1. To do this obviously you will need to be connecting to the internet from outside your LAN
2. Open up Tunnelier
3. Instead of entering the internal IP address, enter the dynamic DNS name you have registered and leave everything else the same and then click "Login"
4. If the port-forwarding and Windows Firewall and the account settings are set up correctly, you should be connected to your SSH server.

Setting Up Your Web Browser & Tunnelier for Secure Browsing

1. Open up Tunnelier and go to "Services" tab. Make sure "SOCKS/HTTP Proxy Forwarding" is enabled. Put "127.0.0.1" for "Listen Interface", pick an unused port number (like 8081) enter it in "Listen Port" field, leave the "Server Bind Interface" to be all zeros. Basically, follow these settings in Tunnelier.
2. Now in your browser, follow these settings: Firefox, Internet Explorer
3. Now you are set!

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Cheap Mini Photo Portable Studio

I had several hours of free time during the Christmas holiday and I grabbed my camera and experimented on how to make a small item shot that looks decent, with a small/no budget. This exercise is pretty useful in real life if you are someone who put a lot of stuff on Ebay or online listing (ie. craigslist, etc).

The goal is to be portable, cheap, and quick - but also produces nicely lit object. I want a fairly soft light to create a nice even light. So, I am thinking either bounced light or diffused light. I went with diffused light, since it is easier to control the power that way.

So here are items that I used, which most if not all you can find in your house or buy cheaply:

• Parchment paper or wax paper. This is for the diffuser.
• Open cardboard box for creating a boxed controlled environment, cut out to attach the parchment paper (see setup shot for an example).
• A black or dark surface. Or glass/reflective surface will also work.
• A piece of blank white paper/carton to be a reflector.

I happen to have a black dining table that is a fairly smooth surface - so I used that as my surface. I put my box above the object, with another cut-out hole on the top of the box to let the light go through.

I setup my flash about 2-3 ft above the box facing down into the box. Attach the parchment paper on the cut-out hole to diffuse the light. Place the paper reflector inside the box on the other side of where the flash is.

Setup up the max sync speed on your camera and adjust your aperture to get a complete darkness exposure - this is for making sure that your only source light is your flash, not the dining room lamp, the sun, etc etc. Now turn on your flash and adjust the power of your flash to get a good exposure. Tweak the distance between your flash and the box as necessary, or add another layer of parchment paper if needed.

Here is my setup shot:

Learn How To Light via Strobist
Overpowering The Ambient

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