Some of you know I've been having troubles with my iPhone 3G. The phone was a gift, used, and has never been stellar or shiny or anything but it was much better than the old phone, and therefore I loved it. Still do. Except...
It has always been kinda flaky. Crashes, freezes, that sort of thing. Not super often, but more than I found tolerable. But I learned to adapt.

More recently, a new problem found its way into the mix: the built-in GPS location services, which let you do fun stuff like figure out where you are on a map and so forth -- very handy on vacations, let me tell you! -- stopped working consistently. Normally, iPhones figure out your location (when you allow it) by combining GPS signals and cell tower locations. They can even do this indoors, though not as well. But my phone decided that indoors was out. And then outdoors was unreliable too. If I found a clear view to the south, then it was fine. Later, it had to be a much more clear southern view, so the spots in my daily life that qualified dwindled. Finally, it got to the point where I needed to face south at the lake, or above Riverdale Park, or my phone "Could Not Determine Your Location".
Last month as
1_2_ready_go and I traveled the world, I had my phone in airplane mode pretty much exclusively. This saves on me accidentally answering a phone call and being charged eight zillion dollars of course, plus it extends battery life (which ain't so pretty in an old smartphone). But once in a while I'd switch the phone to regular mode so it could pick up a signal, and I'd try to see if it could figure out where it was. Ideally with wifi connected, so it could also load maps and show me, rather than just thinking about it. This worked in Australia, but without a data plan you end up in silly situations like what's shown at right.
But as long as I had wifi connected, no worries. As our trip continued, I tried connecting in Seoul, South Korea. The connection was fine, and the phone figured out where I was no problem. I left wifi disconnected again, so while I couldn't use it for anything the phone at least had a new set of coordinates to believe in.
Anyway, here's the problem: now I'm home, and NONE of my locations for getting the phone to learn its location are working. So the phone, while able to load maps, can't determine my location no matter where I go or what I try. This means that apps that require location services to work, don't. Some apps are OK with this sort of situation though: they simply use the last stored location and chug merrily along.
So the upshot of all this is that when I load Grindr, everybody's Korean. So it's time for a new phone. :-)