How to save people's KakaoTalk profile photos

To save friends' KakaoTalk profile pictures, you don't have to rely on taking screen-shots. There are actually several apps that can save the photo files to your phone's storage, and they all work basically the same way.

What's the best app for this?

 

My vote goes to ProfileAlbum.

Yes, I blurred out my friends' beautiful faces

There are several apps that do this, but my favourite is "ProfileAlbum" because it is super simple, very minimal, and works with a variety of messenger apps:

• KakaoTalk, 
• KakaoStory, (and, theoretically though I've never tried them)  
• TicToc,  
• myPeople (how much longer will this remain a separate service?), and  
• Naver Line

How It Works

When you view your friends' profile photos, the file gets saved in Kakao's cache folder. You could, in theory, go snooping through these folders with a File Explorer, but it would be annoying because they are stored in weird folder hierarchies with weird file names. ProfileAlbum consolidates them in a clean list, and let's you check-box the ones you want to save to a folder that your Gallery app can see.

So here is the key thing to note: YOU MUST VIEW THE PHOTO AS BIG AS YOU CAN FIRST. The apps don't "download" anything; they just grab what is in your cache already. Thus, you should be sure to view the person's full-size photo FIRST, THEN run the app to save it. Got it? So you can't use it to snoop on people you blocked (unless you unblock them real quick, view their profile photo fully, then block them again before they notice Bob's your uncle)

Note that for best results in KakaoStory, don't just view the picture in its "story"-- click it to get it individual and full-screen, so that the version with the largest possible resolution will be downloaded to your cache.

Usefulness 

I find this a great way to set Android Contact photos that are then utilized across all my Google-sync services. Note that there are apps that will better automate this process, but I feel uneasy giving apps access to my Contacts.

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Rooting your Android phone in Korea with Tegrak Kernel

PROBLEM:
You bought an awesome Samsung phone in Korea, and want to root it. But because it's the "Korean" version and not a US or International version, it's a pain in the butt. Custom ROMs like CyanogenMod don't seem to work. Fret not: here's the easiest way to do it.

SOLUTION:
In two words: Tegrak Kernel.

Disclaimer: Everything here is my personal opinion. I'm neither an Android developer nor paid endorser. I am just a guy who spent a hellofalotof time trying to figure this out. There could be an easier way out there. For me, this worked, and I hope it might work for you.

I'm not going to lie to you-- there is a huge variety of custom ROMs out there for Korean-model phones. The Korean developer community is, unsurprisingly, extremely prolific. But if you're like me, you don't really care about all variety of custom builds and wacky configurations and bleeding-edge features. Also, you don't read Korean. You just want your phone rooted so you can get rid of the bloatware and make it as speedy as possible.

Why choose Tegrak?

It works on almost all Samsung smartphones, from the humble Galaxy S1 to the Note and S4. I also like Tegrak because it's relatively low-risk: it is NOT a custom ROM per se. It's only a kernel, so you are still keeping whatever stock ROM your phone came with. In addition to giving you root, it has Overclock features and a Lagfix, though in my experience the lagfix is less noticeable on newer models.

How do I install it?

Basically the whole process boils down to this:

1. Download the files for your phone from the internet.
2. Install them via Odin (see below).
3. Install the Tegrek app from the Google Play Store.

That's it.

Tell me more, tell me more

What? You don't know what I'm talking about? Alright, I'll give you a bit more.

Step 1: Though there are many mirrors, hosts, fileshare lockers where you can find the files from a Google search, skip that crap and go to the source. Find your phone's model ("SHW-M110S" for example), and click through to that page. Scroll down.

See what he did here? There are multiple version of the Tegrak Kernel files, for each phone model and even for each Android version for each phone model. Therefore it's important that you PAY ATTENTION here. Don't go downloading any old "Tegrak Kernel Build" files. You need the ones for YOUR phone and YOUR Android stock software. So double-check that you're downloading the right files.

Scroll down to where the files are available for download (near the bottom of the page, just above the comments section. You'll see the little zip-file icons). Again, find the files for YOUR PHONE MODEL. Only the latest verisions will be displayed, so you might need to click the blue bar reading 이전 버전 다운로드 접기 to expand the list to see all the offerings. Check the end of the filename before downloading to make sure that it matches the software version displayed in your phone's "About Phone" (or similar) settings. You might not need (or even be able to use) the "latest build" but whatever.

Download the files. Note that some are in 2~3 pieces, so you might need to combine the files with 7zip after downloading.

Step 2: Shit just got real. Time to flash. You are going to need a copy of the Windows program Odin, which Tegrak conveniently makes available here:
http://pspmaster.tistory.com/attachment/cfile26.uf@250F504551E3A519103474.zip
This will allow you to flash the kernel files to your phone. THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO DO THIS, AND ALSO THIS COULD BRICK YOUR PHONE but it always works for me so please do not complain if it does something wacky. If you are seriously in trouble, there is a lot of useful information at the XDA forums. Search there for your model number.

Turn off your phone and put it into recovery mode (I feel lazy, so Google it yourself to see how to do this; on mine it was holding down the Home button and Power button simultaneously).

Oh, by the way: You're going to need to Samsung USB drivers for your phone and you need to ensure that KIES is not running. How?

1. Install KIES. Somewhere there is a menu option for installing USB drivers. Do it.
2. Uninstall KIES. Done.

IT IS TIME. You might want to follow along visually by looking at the screenshots he provides.
Load the Tegrak Kernel files in the "PDA" option of Odin. Connect the phone (which is in recovery mode). The yellow light in Odin should show up. "Start" the process. Let it do it's magic for several minutes. When it's all done, the phone should reboot. Let it do it's thing. Don't get antsy. Hopefully, you're done.

Step 3 should be obvious. Note that there is a free version and a "donation" version. Both are identical except for ads in the app itself, which you will only likely use once. This guy has done an amazing job, so once the process is done (and you've used the free version to set it all up), please consider replacing the app with the Donation version (like I did). It's a couple bucks to bring new life to your phone (I used my prior phone, Galaxy S1, for over 3 years thanks to the speed boost from Tegrak).

Open the app, enable rooting, and feel the rush of power surge to your brain. Enable lagfix and enjoy a speedy phone. Enable overclock and burn a hole in your pants don't bother.

Final thoughts

Again I am NOT an Android developer. I'm just sharing what worked for me. Please do not ask me how to fix X, Y, or Z because I, like you, am just a normal guy who scoured the internet looking for information. XDA Forums have it. I hope this little guide was helpful.

Major props to Tegrak for making this possible. Donate to him, minions!

P.S. If, like me, you did all this and discovered that your Galaxy S1 now had very little space for installing apps (an unfortunate side-effect of the lagfix process), I recommend Matpclub Hackpunch. It plays nice with Tegrak and gave me a much larger install space.

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Android Gmail count out of sync with Desktop Gmail

PROBLEM:
Gmail on your Android phone shows there are 5 unread messages in your inbox:

Inbox (5)

But looking at the message list, no matter how many times you refresh, you still only see 1 or 0 unread messages. Meanwhile, messages you deleted from Android Gmail may show up again as unread on desktop email. This is not a big deal, but annoying.

SOLUTION:
So simple, I felt dumb for not thinking of it sooner.

1. Disable the sync feature of the phone (Settings -> Accounts and sync)
2. Go to where you can "Manage" the Gmail app (for me, it's Settings -> Applications -> Manage applications) *NOT* the settings inside the Gmail app
3. Press the "Clear Data" button.
4. Re-enable sync.
5. Done.

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Top 5 Annoying Tech Issues in Korea

Because all of these REALLY annoy me, and small explanations for those who may not be aware, I present the Top 5 Annoying Tech Issues in Korea:

1. Active X in all its glorious forms.
   As SSL security methods are not used here, all online transactions must be handled through individual site plug-ins. Meaning once you proceed to check-out, you have to install 400 damn stupid little plug-ins, then repeat your order all over again. Grr. Until recently, this required the use of Windows and Internet Explorer, but nowadays plug-in frames are available for Mac, and Chrome/FF on Windows, but suck it Linux users. If only we'd voted for this guy.
2. Flash.
   The most important and necessary Korean websites that foreigners would find useful, aside from lacking English information, contain nearly all their Korean text in images or Flash animations/menus. Thus, one cannot simply pass the page through an online translator. Perhaps this made sense 15 years ago when browser text encodings were screwy, but there's really no excuse today. Apparently they haven't heard of Unicode/UTF.
3. No Right-click.
   Most Korean portal-hosted sites, particularly blogs and cafes, employ bizarre Javascripts that prevent or severely limit your ability to right-click on their sites. There are browser extensions to counteract this, but it is an unnecessarily annoying practice at the least. It reminds me of pens that are tied to the desk at the bank, except if there were infinite pens, all tied there. 
4. Android Market restrictions.
   I don't know about iPhone, but Korea places several restrictions on what can be accessed in the Market. Until recently, all Games were banned under the guise of being "unrated." Yet today, features of Google Maps such as Latitude, Check-ins (oddly still available in the G+ app), and Location History are blocked, citing "Privacy Concerns." The same applies to the Android app version of Google Earth. Other Google products (Music, Voice, etc) have at least semi-legitimate reason to be unavailable.
5. Porn Warn.
   Nearly all porn is blocked at the IP level, so changing your DNS is not enough. A VPN or proxy is required. As if Koreans weren't tech-savvy enough to figure this out. 

What do all of these have in common?
They are all meant to annoy you, while offering either no, or highly arguable, benefit.

End rant.

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Jailbreak iOS 4.2.1 on MC series iPod Touch (bought in Korea)

If, like me, you have an old iPod lying around and want to make use of it, read on:

I bought an iPod Touch (2G) (Model #MC086KH/A) in Korea a few years ago. After finally getting an Android phone, I didn't have much use for it anymore, and I nearly forgot about it in my desk. I recently rediscovered it, to find that it can only be updated to iOS 4.2.1. At less than iOS 4.3, there aren't many decent apps that can be used with it.

There is a custom firmware called whited00r, but it only works with the MB-series models of the 2G iPod Touch.
At least wanting to jailbreak it, I discovered that most modern jailbreak methods no longer support the older iOS versions. However, I had success using this method on Lifehacker.

So now, through a combination of Veency (on the iPod) and Android VNC Viewer on the android phone, I have the iPod permanently attached to a set of speakers above my refrigerator, and can control it from anywhere in the house (including MP3 playback and, most commonly, streaming radio). There's an excellent and simple tutorial for accomplishing this here.

Nice way to bring an old piece of tech back to life. Hope this helps others as well!

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Enable "Google Latitude" in Korea

UPDATE 2013-06-22: The same features of Google Latitude are now available in the Google+ App, under the "Locations" sidebar. You'll need to enable location sharing to a specific Google+ circle, and your former Latitude friends will have to enable their location sharing to you, but it works much the same. 

UPDATE  2013-02-23: A nice replacement app for Latitude is Backitude, which gives greater control over location updates. This app will only report your location. For your own Location History, you'll need to install a modded version of the latest Maps version with "World Navigation" active. 

UPDATE  2013-02-19: Apparently as of Maps 6.14.2, Latitude is now removed even from the English interface. Buzz among Korean bloggers indicates that, at the moment, the method below must be done while assigned a US-based IP address (i.e. use a proxy or VPN).

===============

Problem:
You want to use Google Latitude to obsessively stalk your Korean boyfriend keep up with your friends, but the version of the Google Maps app (Android)  in Korea doesn't have the Latitude feature.

Solution:
It actually does, but it's disabled in the Korean settings. Here is how to make it work:

1. Switch the phone's overall system language from Korean to English.
2. "Settings" -> "Applications" -> "Manage applications" -> Maps
3. Hit the "Clear data" button
4. Hit "Uninstall" (if it says it will revert to the factory version, that's fine)
5. Go to Android Market aka Google Play Store. Reinstall Google Maps.
6. DO NOT ALLOW IT TO AUTOMATICALLY UPDATE, or you'll have to do this all over again every single time. I suggest changing Play Store's preferences to forbid any/all apps from auto-updating.
7. Open Maps, Launch Latitude, change settings to enable "Location Reporting" and to allow friends (you) to view that Location Data. "Location History" is unnecessary.
8. TURN OFF THE PHONE. TURN ON THE PHONE AGAIN, WHILE STILL IN ENGLISH. If you do not do this, Maps will revert to non-Latitude status when you change the language back to Korean.
9. Now launch Maps again. Verify Latitude is still working.
10. Change phone's language back to Korean. Done.

Note that although Latitude will not appear in Maps anymore (because it's set back to Korean), the location will still be reporting and be visible to your Latitude friends or your Latitude dashboard. This can be verified by checking the phone's "Running Services."
Note also that this will only succeed in reporting the phone's location. It will not, so long as it is set to Korean, allow you to view your friends' locations.

Now when your boyfriend calls you at 3am, slurredly says he doesn't know where he is, then passes out drunk, you can go fetch him easily. Just be aware that Latitude updates rather infrequently, so the room-salon his location is reporting may only be where he was an hour ago. Thus, you are advised to check the local gutters in a half-mile radius, lest he end up on this site.

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Use Naver Maps offline on your iPod Touch / etc.

Problem:
You don't want to be lost around Seoul, or anywhere in Korea for that matter, but you don't have a smartphone. You do have an iPod Touch (or iPhone) or other wifi-only device, but what if no wifi signal is available?

Solution:
Use the offline cache feature of Naver Maps. Here's how:

Download the Naver Maps app at the Apple App Store or Android Market
(this tutorial uses the Android version)

1. Press the Menu button
2. Select the 저장 ("Storage") button on the bottom-left
3. A pop-up menu appears, with two options: 지도 저장 (Save Map Info) and 저장 목록보기 (View Stored Map)
4. Choose 지도 저장
5. The map appears with a centered circle. That circle will be the downloaded map area. Choose the size of the area you want saved (250m, 500m, 750m, 1km, or 3km)
6. Click 완료 (Done).
7. Wait as the app downloads the map data
8. A confirmation will pop-up when complete. Choose 듣기 (Done)

To view your cached map data offline, repeat steps 1-3, but choose 저장 목록보기 to view a list of your saved maps. Note that you can save multiple map areas (I like to keep offline map areas of my local area as well as of Itaewon / Hongdae / central Seoul, just in case...)

You can use GPS or wifi-location-matching to find your current location on your downloaded map. You can zoom in/out as usual. Note, however, that you will be unable to search or get transit directions.

EDIT 2012-06:

The interface is slightly different now. New instructions are:

1. Press the Menu button
2. Select the 다운로드 ("Download") button on the bottom-center
3. A pop-up menu appears, with two options: 내 기기에 지도 다운로드하기 (Download Map to my Device) and 다운로드한 지도 목록보기  (View Downloaded Map List)
4. Choose 내 기기에 지도 다운로드하기
5. The map appears with a centered circle. That circle will be the downloaded map area. Choose the size of the area you want saved (250m, 500m, 750m, 1km, or 3km)
6. Click the download icon (arrow pointing downward).
7. Wait as the app downloads the map data
8. When 100% is reached, Choose 완료 (OK)

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