What to do if your boss doesn't pay your tax and National Insurance.

If you are working for somebody and you aren't getting paid 'on the books' or getting paid 'under the table' as they say in the US, chances are you're either A) getting paid less than the minimum wage, or B) getting paid without your boss paying your taxes and National Insurance contributions. If either of these apply you're not alone, despite the massive lack of advice available to you, there are things you can do to help yourself.
The first and most obvious option is to leave your job, and don't worry if you feel some kind of loyalty to your employer because they ARE screwing you over, if they 'can't afford to pay it' or some other lame excuse in my opinion they should never have started in business in the first place. Maybe business is slower than they anticipated or things don't seem as rosy as your employer promised, this is not your fault, nor is it your problem.
The second option is more complicated, and may still involve leaving your job (when your employer gets sent to prison for fraud) gather whatever evidence you can about your predicament and contact your local Citizens Advice office, you will need evidence of this because if it gets as far as your employer finding themselves in court with a fraud charge against them, they will be looking after number 1 plain and simple, they won't care about you as they see themselves as having much more to lose than you do.
Good luck, and remember, you are not alone and carrying on in your situation will definitely have a devastating effect on your life sooner or later.

The new role of this blog...

It's been a while...

This blog will now serve as an information page containing useful tips, guides, loopholes in daily life and other interesting stuff I have encountered either in day-to-day life, or encountered via the internet. The previous 'T-Mobile G1' page has become obsolete, because the G1, as you may or may not have noticed, has become obsolete also.
With many incarnations of Android OS handsets around, new Windows phones, new generations of Apple's finest creation, the iPhone, and even app-enabled Nokia handsets using 'Ovi Store', it seems like a giant task to post about every OS without sounding biased or unfair, so I won't try to fool anybody into thinking I'm the king of all mobile phone exploits and loopholes, I'll just take a step back and let others through (for now).

True Tethering App. Now Available For G1, No Need To Root!!

June Fabrics have recently released a long awaited beta-build of their PdaNet software for the T-Mobile G1. This app. does not use Wifi as many of us (including myself) may have expected, nor is it available in the Android App Market, however, it makes tethering a simple and easy three step process, just follow the link below to download, open the program (with your phone connected via USB) which will install the app both to your G1 and your PC, turn on the app on your handset, then cick 'connect' on the little PdaNet icon on your start bar. Simple! No proxy required and you don't need to change any of your browser settings.

Not only that, this app. completely eliminates the need to 'root' your G1 (a sometimes risky and drawn-out process that instantly renders any warranty on your handset void).

This software will be tested and a full review posted shortly, including expected connection/download speeds and what this program can and can't do.

Click here to download PdaNet for android beta 1.12 FREE from your PC browser.

Free Wifi Tethering Apps Now Available In Android Market - For Rooted Handsets Only

A couple of new (and, more importantly, free) apps have become available through the Android Market to enable Wifi tethering for handsets that are Root enabled. Root enabling is explained in detail here. The first app is simply named 'Wifi Tether for Root Users' by harry_m, version 0.9.3. if you need more info the developer has given a web page to visit.

The second is named 'aNetShare' by Sam Lu, version 2.00, this developer also has a web page to visit for more info. Both of these apps will require Root/Superuser access to get them to work, the latter seems a better option at this point as it auto-installs the latest version of the software as it becomes available.

A few other tethering apps are available from the Android Market, although you will have to buy these, they range from $1.99 to $8.99 including a bluetooth tethering app priced at $6.99 for those of you that are worried about the security of an ad-hoc connection.

Needless to say, those of us who do not want to Root their G1 are still waiting on the beta build of June Fabrics' PDANet software.

True Wifi Tethering App. Available For G1 Soon?

There has been speculation for quite some time now about the release of a true Wifi tethering application for the T-Mobile G1 to link it to your PC/laptop for web browsing, on such forums as Brighthand, AndroidCommunity and TMONews. Much (if not all) of these rumours mention a company called June Fabrics PDA Technology Inc.

June Fabrics are a first-tier partner of Palm Inc. and have a strong reputation for the quality, service and technical support provided to their customers. The company already has a range of true tethering apps available for most PalmOS handhelds, Windows Mobile based Smartphones and even one for the Apple iPhone.

I contacted the company with regards to the rumours and received a reply on 4th March stating they WILL release a beta build of the application around early April. This app. should be much better than manual tethering via USB, and will not require nearly as much effort to install, just download and install the program from the App. Market -- simple as that. A full and detailed review of this app. will be posted as soon as it’s available.

For those of you who can’t wait to use the web from a tethered G1, you can follow my guide to USB tethering in an earlier post, or there’s a method to linking your G1 Ad-Hoc detailed on AndroidActivity.com.

T-Mobile already enforce a 1GB soft cap on their ‘unlimited’ internet service in the UK and when you reach this limit your access will be ‘throttled’ down to about the same speed as a 56k modem. You will then receive a phone call from T-Mobile suggesting that you upgrade your tariff as you are conflicting their Fair Use Policy.

Guide To Tethering T-Mobile G1

First of all hello and welcome to my version of the guide to tethering the HTC Dream/T-Mobile G1.

About me: My name is Bruce Williams, I'm from Sheffield, UK and I'm a 21-year-old mechanic.

I say 'my version' because I have simply adapted two guides I found, one is
Graham Stewart's guide
and the other is
Kevin and Amanda's guide

This step-by-step guide will cover all the bases to getting you online by plugging your G1 into your PC/laptop via USB, it is written in layman's terms so anybody can have a go at it.

DISCLAIMER:
Before I start, I accept NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER for any damage this process may do to your computer or phone as this in not a 'true' tethering app., you are following this guide, downloading & installing any associated content and using this tethering method ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK!
As far as I know the ADB utility you will download via this guide cannot be removed from you computer, if in any doubt at all DO NOT INSTALL.

With that out of the way, let's begin.

1. Using your G1, choose MENU>Settings>Applications and tick the 'Unknown Sources' box.
2. Still using your phone, navigate to this page and click here to download the Tetherbot app.
   
3. Next, using your PC browser, download the ZIP file containing the drivers for your G1 by clicking here.
4. Extract the ZIP file to your desktop, you should now have a folder named 'android_usb_windows' on your desktop. You can now delete the original ZIP file if you like.
5. Download the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) utility by clicking here, and extract in the same way to your desktop, then delete the original ZIP file.
   
6. Using your G1, choose MENU>Settings>Applicaions>Development, tick the 'USB debugging' box and the 'Stay awake' box.
7. Plug your G1 into your computer via USB cable, and when the phone asks if you want to mount the device, click 'don't mount'.
8. When the New found hardware wizard starts, click 'No, not this time' then click 'Next'. Now select 'Install from a list or specific location' and click 'Next'. Now select 'Search for best driver in these locations', browse to, and select, your 'android_usb_windows' folder and click 'Next'
9. You should now get a message telling you your 'HTC Dream Composite ADB Interface' is now installed and ready to use, click 'Finish'.
10. Using Firefox (if you don't have Firefox get it by clicking here) type in the search bar: about:config
11. You will now see a message saying 'here be dragons' etc. etc. Click 'I'll promise to be careful' and proceed.
12. In the filter type network.proxy.socks_remote_dns the value will be 'false', double-click it to change it to 'true', now navigate back to your homepage.
13. Still in Firefox, choose: Tools>Options, click the 'Advanced' tab, then the 'Network' tab, then choose 'Settings'.
14. Click 'Manual proxy configuration', then in the 'SOCKS Host' bar type: localhost and set the Port to 1080, make sure the 'Socks V.5' button underneath is clicked, then click 'Ok'.
15. Plug your G1 into your computer, open the Tetherbot app and click 'Start Socks', you should get a little message saying the Socks service has started.
16. Using your PC, open Command Prompt, either click 'Run' in start menu, type cmd and press enter, or in Vista it'll be in All Programs>Accessories.
17. Type cd desktop and press enter, then type cd adbwin and press enter, then type adb forward tcp:1080 tcp:1080 It should now say *Daemon not running, starting it now* then *Daemon started successfully*
18. Refresh your homepage, then surf all you like!

P.S. A few things you need to remember:

• Make sure you stop Tetherbot BEFORE you disconnect your phone.
• The part you did in Command Prompt will have to be done EVERY TIME you reconnect your phone/ restart computer.
• And remember to do things in this order: 1. Plug G1 into PC. 2. Start Socks in Tetherbot. 3. Do what needs to be done in Command Prompt.

This guide is for XP & Vista ONLY, I haven't tested it on my Mac yet, but when I do, you'll be the first to know.

P.P.S. I checked on Speedtest.net and got 604kbps download and 140kbps upload with the tethered G1 at my nearest exchange (Maidenhead, UK), and this guide was written using the tethered connection, just thought you might like to know.


All credit to Graham Stewart from Boulder,CO for writing the Tetherbot app. and creating this entire method, also to Kevin and Amanda's site for giving me the idea to write this guide, as it was a combination of both guides that got me online in the end.

Happy Tethering!!