I reset the phone, I re-synced my primary google account (google apps), added my gmail google account, updated Profile, updated PRA, cleared the Market cache, turned the phone off and took out the battery for a few minutes, and still continued to have the problem. I called tech support and went through to 3rd tier pretty quickly only to have the guy suggest a reset to factory. I said I hoped that Google had more answers than Sprint and hung up.

Sure enough on Google this morning I found this page. Just so you don’t have to go read it all, what worked for me is below:

Applications–>Settings–>Applications–>Manage applications
Menu–>Filter: All
Download Manager–>Clear data

And what do you know…I get my ability to download back without doing a factory reset.

*WARNING**Go to the top right of your screen, click Account & then click Edit Friends. Go to the left side of your screen and click Phonebook. Everyone’s phone # is being published. Please repost (sic) to let your friends know of this change in security, so that they can remove their phone numbers or change their privacy settings…

I went and checked out my Phonebook and noticed that all the phone numbers in there were from Facebook friends that had them listed in their profiles. I think it’s not so bad for Facebook to organize the information that people have made available to me already. Apparently this is a pretty old feature I had just never seen. False alarm. Nothing to see here.

Then I saw this message at the top of the screen.

To learn more about Phonebook or to delete any contacts imported from your phone, click here.

From my phone?!? Click…

Facebook Phonebook displays contacts you have imported from your phone, as well as your Facebook friends. If you would like to remove your mobile contacts from Facebook, you need to disable the feature on your mobile phone and visit this page.

Remove Imported Contacts

When you import contacts into Facebook from your email, mobile, or instant messaging service, we may use this information to create friend suggestions for you and your friends. We also display these contacts in your Facebook Phonebook.

If you choose to remove your imported contacts, they will no longer appear in your Phonebook and friend suggestions may be less relevant to you and your friends.

To remove all imported contacts, please make sure to disable the Facebook synchronization feature on your phone first, if you have ever enabled it. Then, click the ‘Remove’ button below.

It turns out that Facebook is uploading contact information from your phone and storing the phone numbers. I can’t find any official information about this beyond what I posted above. Within Phonebook though, it looks to me as if imported numbers have a phone icon, while profile numbers list MOBILE or HOME, etc.

This information is not being formally added to profiles, but it is obviously associated with accounts. Why is this upsetting? Because Facebook has my phone number, you know that one I intentionally left off Facebook. I see no options to view or remove this information. I can’t even see what they have on me. It wouldn’t surprise me if Facebook is collecting other contact data from phones, such as email address, physical address, birthday, messenger screennames, and other contact information that most phones store.

I checked a friend’s Phonebook and Blackberry®, and several phone numbers had been imported. In the Blackberry® Facebook app there is a setting under Options to disable the syncing of Contacts. I do not know if it is enabled by default.

After some more searching it looks like not all phones with a Facebook app are syncing this information. I have an HTC Hero with an Android Facebook App and a HTC Facebook App and I have Sync Contacts checked, however none of the phone numbers in my Phonebook came from my phone. They are all listed on profiles. I’m sure eventually Facebook will upgrade their android app to sync as well.

If anyone has any information about other phones, or better Facebook apps that can enable a one way only sync, please post in the comments.

First let me explain what I expect to occur and why. Predatory lending, naivety and irresponsibility on the part of the home buyer have led us to our current situation. Many people who should not have received mortgages did. Being already squeezed by their mortgage, rising oil and food prices left no way to make ends meet. In combination, a bubble on housing prices burst, leaving many actual responsible homeowners upside-down in debt, with seemingly no hope to recover.

The current result is an overreaction in the other direction. Lenders have all but stopped giving out mortgages. While requirements and qualifications will eventually become reasonable again, it will take time for an average American to be able to get a mortgage. Most importantly, no one will ever give out another sub-prime mortgage. This will reduce demand on housing drastically. With reduced demand comes reduced value. With an estimated 50-65% reduced housing demand I expect to see a 20-40% overall reduced home value. This is on top of any bubble burst experience some have already had.

At the same time there will be an inverse increased demand for rental property. Currently rent prices are just below mortgages, but that relationship will reverse. I expect to see rent prices stabilize around 150% of a standard mortgage payment.

These increased rental revenues will prop up home values, and perhaps even return them to their original position. Investors will pick up massive amounts of real estate for the sole purpose of collecting rent. I expect to see large firms build entire neighborhoods with the intention of renting out 95% of the property.

We will see a massive reduction in the percentage of home owners in the United States. Instead of paying a mortgage and trying to make ends meet while building equity, we will instead see people simply unable to afford rent. This forms a cycle of debt, leaving no way to work up the 20-40% cash soon required to put down on a house. Anyone who doesn’t already have a mortgage is in for a world of hurt.

Somebody wins here, and it can be you. Be ready to buy property when the price drops. Do your best to become a landlord. The more private landlords out there the smaller the impact will be.

After 7 calls and 2.5 hours on hold with Sprint I have finally done it.
It was really not that difficult, I just needed the special number to dial (#777) to make it happen.
For the rest of you here is a step by step guide.

1. Turn bluetooth on for the PC and the phone (Menu, Settings, Bluetooth, On)
2. Add the computer as a trusted device on the phone (Shouldn’t be necessary but it seems to not work without this configured first)
1. On the phone visit Menu, Settings, Bluetooth, Trusted Devices, Add New
2. Choose search. Select your PC name from the list and choose “Add to Trusted”
3. Enter a NUMERIC pin on the phone. Press Done
4. The System Tray on the PC will pop up with a pair request. Click on it and enter the code you just entered on the phone. Press OK.
5. Name the device on the phone (or leave it the same) and press OK
3. Make the phone visible (Menu, Settings, Bluetooth, Visibility, Visible for 3 min.)
4. Open My Bluetooth Places on the PC (Right click on Bluetooth System Tray Icon)
5. Choose Bluetooth Setup Wizard link on the left of My Bluetooth Places.
6. Choose “I know the service I want to use and I want to find a Bluetooth device that provides that service” and press Next.
7. Choose “Dial Up Networking” and press next.
8. Choose the icon representing your phone and press next.
9. Press “Configure”
10. Press “Configure” again
11. Put in the phone number #777 and press Ok twice. Press Finish
12. Bubble will appear from System Tray asking about pairing. Click on it.
13. Enter an security code using NUMBERS and press Ok
14. Phone will alert you of an attempted pairing. Choose Yes, enter the security code you just made up and then choose ok.
15. Connection will succeed and Dial Up Networking dialog will appear on the computer.
16. Username and password should be empty and phone number should be #777. Press Dial
17. It should connect. Your phone will ask you if you want to accept the connection. Say yes
18. The phone screen will change to read Data Connection.
19. Your computer is online!

Other things you can do to improve your experience…

• Turn on auto-accept on the phone for the trusted device
• Stop the PC from asking you the username, password and phone number by…
  1. Right click on the phone in the My Bluetooth Places screen and choose properties
  2. Choose Configure, then the options tab
  3. Uncheck prompt for name and password and prompt for phone number
  4. Choose OK and then OK again

Looking back throughout history most people are aware that we used to have sound money. No one seems to know what that means though, and mentioning the gold standard results in virtually no intelligent conversation. Technically our country was never on the gold standard, but was on the silver standard. Here is an excerpt from the Coinage Act of 1792.

SEC. 9.
…
Dollars or Units—each to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar as the same is now current, and to contain three hundred and seventy-one grains and four sixteenths parts of a grain of pure, or four hundred and sixteen grains of standard silver.
…
Cents—each to be of the value of one hundredth part of a dollar, and to contain eleven penny-weights of copper.

What did the currency look like after the Coinage Act of 1792? It was pretty simple actually. The requirements for currency were set forth in that act and included a standard amount of copper, silver or gold to be in each coin, certain markings on the coins, and that it had to be coined in a United States Mint. You could bring your copper (for half cents and cents), silver (for half dismes, dismes, quarter dollars, half dollars and dollars) and gold (quarter eagles, half eagles and eagles) to a United States Mint and have it coined for you. This made precious metals very easy to use in trade, because every coin had a guaranteed standard value.

At this time the value of the currency was contained within the currency itself. Yes, the value of metals fluctuate on the market, but so does everything else. It just depends on what you view as your base. It’s hard to adjust your thinking because the dollar has become so ingrained in our lives, but try making a transition to look at gold (or worth) as the base and the dollar as fluctuating.

The truth is the dollar has had 7.5% devaluing from Jan 1st, 2008 through June 30th, 2008. Thinking of the dollar as the base means that’s your default holding. Your salary, bank account, and retirement fund just took a 7.5% loss! If you were paid in oil futures instead of dollars you’re salary would have doubled over that same period of time.

The removal of a commodity backing from our currency made the currency itself an independently tradeable item on the market. No longer was it tied to the supply and demand of gold or silver or copper, but only to the demand of itself. Given that paper has little to no intrinsic worth, that’s a pretty dangerous position to hold. If the IRS stopped accepting Federal Reserve Notes then they would become worthless overnight.

The four steps of currency in our country:
1) Currency is made (literally) of our wealth
2) Currency is a note exchangeable for wealth (but easier to carry with you)
3) Currency is a note exchangeable for wealth only if you are a foreign country
4) Currency is no longer a note and not directly exchangeable for wealth

The problem with our current position, (4), is that the Fed prints money, not wealth. They bail out Bear Sterns, Fannie and Freddy by printing money. There is now more supply and therefore less demand.

Imagine yourself in a simpler time. You have a bunch of gold. Would you rather hang on to the gold or trade it for a note? Many would put it in a bank vault and take a note in return (remember the note is for your original gold, not for dollars). A note is easier to store, easier to trade, etc. Maybe the bank comes out with a currency, and instead of giving you a note for your original gold, they will buy your gold from you in exchange for some of this currency. The problem is they control the currency, and have ability to flood the market at any time. All of a sudden your gold could cost twice as much to get back. Sound like a deal?

Macroevolution and microevolution are very different beasts. The development of the eye would be macroevolution, while the loss of the eye sight would be microevolution.

A salamander is in a cave in the dark and it’s eyes are completely useless. It’s very possible that random chance would allow a deformed blind salamander to be the producer of the population, and all would be blind henceforth. The same probabilities do not exist for the evolution of the eye.

The very notion that the eye could evolve is absolutely ridiculous. The eye is made of up many different parts, all working in harmony to produce sight. By and large, if any one of these intricate parts were missing or damaged or even slightly altered then the eye would be completely non-functional. The very notion that the eye evolved at once is so statistically improbable that to consider it as inevitable is just naive. In an alternative theory, which is more probable but still naive, the author quotes that the development of the eye started with some light sensitive cells. They just happened to be equally spaced and positioned on the creature, and these light sensitive cells just happened to be connected to the brain in a way that the light sensitivity could be registered, and that creature happened to be the one who lived and fathered all other creatures, and those children creatures happened to somehow gain eyesight out of light sensitive cells?

I call bull. Any idiot can make an argument based on infinity. Here’s one for you. Given as space is infinite and at least one habitable planet exists, it is assured that there is another habitable planet out there. As it is assured that there is at least one other habitable planet and space is infinite, then it is assured there are actually an infinite number of habitable planets. Given that there are an infinite number of habitable planets, then it is assured that there is at least one habitable planet very close to the earth in terms of atmosphere, temperature, etc. It follows that there are an infinite number of planets very close to the earth, an infinite number of planets exactly like the earth, an infinite number of those planets supporting life, and infinite number of those life forms exactly like us, an infinite number of those life forms that have followed the same evolutionary paths, made the same decisions, and as such are exact replicas of us today. In other words, using the infinite argument suggests that there are an infinite number of earth “clones” floating around in space. This does not even address the earths that are more advanced or less advanced than us by a few billion years, nor the other species that are slightly or vastly different than us. It’s kind of amazing we’ve never met any of them.

The probabilities against this sort of thing are so vast that only an argument of infinity can satisfy them. I guess the question is whether you believe space is infinite. If you do then get excited, because an infinite number of you “clones” are reading this same article and thinking this same thought right now!

If you found this interesting, or you are curious about the probabilities, you should go read The Mathematics of Monkeys and Shakespeare.

“When the Government Fears the People, There is Liberty; When the People Fear the Government, There is Tyranny”
– Thomas Jefferson

“Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Since September 11th, 2001, we have attempted to purchase safety with more liberty than ever before. Our freedom is spent but the seeming threat has only grown.

“If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
– James Madison

People, it’s already happening. Iraq, Iran, and the lineup will continue as long as any of our rights persist.

“The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.”
– James Madison

Still think torture in Guantanamo Bay is ok? It’s only a matter of time before it’s showing here too.

“Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of the people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any band of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States.”
– Noah Webster

“But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
– John Adams

Do you actually think they will stop the illegal wiretaps when the war ends? Think again.

“We should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.”
– John Adams

“It is a common observation here that our cause is the cause of all mankind, and that we are fighting for their liberty in defending our own.”
– Benjamin Franklin

“And it proves, in the last place, that liberty can have nothing to fear from the judiciary alone, but would have everything to fear from its union with either of the other departments.”
– Alexander Hamilton

I am equally afraid of the Executive branch having the other’s beneath it’s thumb.

“The great leading objects of the federal government, in which revenue is concerned, are to maintain domestic peace, and provide for the common defense. In these are comprehended the regulation of commerce that is, the whole system of foreign intercourse; the support of armies and navies, and of the civil administration.”
– Alexander Hamilton

So the federal government isn’t supposed to run my life?

You can simply append some sql to the end of your ordering field expression and it will take care of it for you.

For example, if you are ordering by the name then this would put the nulls last (default):

This code could be ammended into the following to put nulls first:

It’s that easy.