How to install Ice Cream Sandwich on the Nexus S

If like me you have a Nexus S phone on Android Gingerbread and are getting more and more impatient to when you will finally get the update notification from Google, some bad news first: Google halted the process in January as there were reports from users about battery life and few other minor issues. More than a month has gone by, and so far no updates...

Now the good news - I just installed the official ICS 4.0.3 on my Nexus S and it works and looks great! Like many of you I don't really like all this talk about rooting your phone, flashing it and other things - my fear of bricking my phone from making a mistake is just too big. However this method of installing ICS on the Nexus S could not be simpler and in 10 to 15 minutes you'll have your phone up and running! 

This was the method I followed from ZDNET (which you can see in full following this link):

1. Download the Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich update from this link.
2. Connect your Nexus S to your computer via USB and copy update.zip to the root of your SD card (Do not drop it into a folder or this won’t work!).
3. Power down your Nexus S and power it back on while holding down the volume up button.
4. Use the volume buttons to navigate to RECOVERY mode and press the power button.
5. When you see the exclamation mark on the screen, DON’T PANIC! Press the power button followed by volume up.
6. Select the option to Update from SD card select the update zip package you downloaded earlier and press the power button to confirm.
7. The update will now install automatically. When it’s down your Nexus S will boot up into  Android 4.0.3 … enjoy!!

If you are a bit more challenged in technical things and still are not sure about this, why not watch this video first?

Survivor: Valentine's edition

Friday the 13th... Nah, doesn't really bother me. Saturday the 14th of February - now that's scary! Basically another Valentine's being single. This year I decided to check if the infinite wisdom of the internet had some good advice for me for facing yet another V-day alone. It didn't. I even to went to Wikihow (very good site, lots of funny guides there - How to look busy at work or even How to hide an erection!), but all it had was the usual crap: Go to a spa, organise a party, imagine about your dream date... bla bla bla!

So, over the last couple of days I have been giving this some a lot of thought and here's my humble attempt on giving some tips to survive Valentine's day being single:

Money, money, money! Think of Valentine's as just another excuse for companies to attempt to get you to buy large quantities of overpriced, badly made and tacky goods (which are also usually pink and heart-shaped). Single people everywhere can console themselves by knowing that they are saving money, time and hassle when all around the world, people are struggling to get overpriced tacky gifts.

Shut Your Eyes Tight... ... And ignore the whole thing. Try not to expose yourself to something that will make those negative emotions surface - sappy movies, people out on dinner dates. You can't forget that the day happens, but you can remove yourself from situations that might make you feel bad. Maybe the best to succeed is to involve yourself so completely in something that has nothing to do with Valentine's that you don't have time to realise that it's Valentine's day until it's already over. Maybe your house could do with some vaccuming? Finally go through all the pointless funny e-mails you receive everyday but never really open? Maybe create a blog?! ;) Hours of fun!!

Celebrate Being Single Sometimes it seems that if we don't have an opportunity to sit opposite someone in a nice restaurant looking all giddy with love (or generally lust, and possibly nerves and wind) then we feel bad, like something's missing in life or in us. Some people spend all of our single life wishing to be in a couple, and then, ironically, when they do find someone, they start thinking how cool it would be to have some of their single life back - they do right?

Self-indulgence Nothing wrong with a little bit of self-indulgence. Buy something you normally wouldn't buy - maybe something you've been wishing for, something luxurious, something completely unnecessary and pointless that will somehow fill the void.

One last thing: Why should love only be celebrated between couples? In some countries Valentine cards and gifts are not only exchanged by couples, but also between close friends. So send a card or a nice message to a close (and preferebly also single) friend!

Hmm, I think all of the above makes a lot a sense, don't you? Unfortunately, like what I found on the internet, is also a load of crap.... Oh well I tried! Here's to Valentines 2010!

Note: If you just read that and you are in a happy relationship, sorry about that! Go out, do something special and enjoy being with your loved one :) Maybe next year I'll join the club. To all the happy couples, here's a little something from me: