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Aug7th2008

My new drug - The iPhone

Published
by
geoff
3 months, 2 weeks ago
in Technology
. 0 Comments

I have officially become an Apple junkie.  My friends will tell you otherwise, that this addiction was evident long before this day arrived.  From my first Apple IIe with the green type to my current MacBook Pro, its been an easy computer life (except when my parents got a Commodore 64 and some really crappy games).  And now I introduce the latest member of the family, my 16G iPhone.

The hype behind this thing was CRAZY!  I just don’t get waiting in line for hours for a device (addiction defense exhibit A).  Seriously though, people were waking up and waiting in line at 4 AM the morning of the launch - Cry for help?  I think so.  Funny enough, fears were realized by most of my mac-head friends and Apple was selling out of certain models.  That started the late rush to the stores and managed to keep the lines similar to that of an amusement park.

Just like any other toy, unwrap, unbox, skip the directions and go straight to touching.  Challenge #1 - update contacts.  Slightly pissed that I can’t port from my current mobile to this wonder gadget, but now I can manage everything from my computer - contacts and calendars.  Update in one place and its copied in the other (iPhone or computer).  As I am writing this, I’m realizing that I now have less excuses for forgetting certain important dates.  Challenge #2 - find a case that is “me”.  I’d put this think in a altimeter controlled case that senses atmospheric disturbances if they made it because nothing says HOLY SHIT like dropping a $500 piece of equipment (yes, its true, I had to pay full price).  Some of these cases look very chunky and business professional.  Ummm…  that’s not me.  I went with the Griffen Wave Case, but got the black top and the “smoke” bottom.  Oh, I also tossed one of those Anit-Glare scratch proof sheets on the screen.  Highly recommended.  Challenge #3 - music.  I unfortunately have much more tunage than this little devil will allow.  16 gigs is plenty for portability (remember bringing tapes or CDs for the journey) but some of these guys will not make the cut.  And now that I have my music with me at all times, the iTunes addiction is creeping back in to my life (rehab helped but not cured).  Challenge #4 - applications.  Some of these are just plain cool and and some are sort of useless but entertaining.  I’m already fully hooked on Urban Spoon (smooth NYC restaurant finder), Shazaam (music ID) and Maps (pick up some Chinese on the way home?).

Anyway, this thing rocks.  Only wish it had a little better battery life, but out side of that, i’m supremely geeked out about it.  Comes in handy for the most random stupid stuff (as most phones do today), but mines COOLER!

Aug1st2008

Pardon my slight hiatus

Published
by
geoff
3 months, 3 weeks ago
in Randomness
. 0 Comments

Summer hybernation.  Will that work?

Yeah.  I’m guilty.  Took a little time off.  Not purposely, but just became a little crazed and just couldn’t find the time to knock it out.  Sad excuse, I know.

Anyway, since I probably alientated my 6 readers, most of whom were located in non-english speaking countries, I’m probably just yelling into an empty well.

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back sometime soon.

Apr1st2008

Riding my boomerang

Published
by
geoff
7 months, 3 weeks ago
in Atlanta and NYC
. 0 Comments

HAHA! April Fools!  Well, not really.

So long hot-lanta. It was a fun and eventful 3-year stint in the capital of the south. I’m in the boomerang express back to NYC. Its not that I didn’t like the ATL, its just that I love NYC. So between the job offers and the tornado doing a number on my possessions, the time was now. I’ll just have to get back to riding the subway, being tempted with MILLIONS of restaurants and bars, and fall back into the realization that my living space will cut in half and probably cost twice as much. The price you pay, right?

So, I bring up an interesting idea - is what I am doing called “relocation” or is it “delocation”. I am returning, or more commonly known as boomeranging. From a high level, it looks like I just “stopped off” in A-town. A small tour, right Skipper??  What are the things that matter most?  What drives someone away or lures them back?  In some cases, those can be the same thing.  There wasn’t one thing that I can even really put my finger on that is the #1 reason.

Anyway, so long to the great friends I’ve made over the last 3 years.  Its been fun.  I’ll miss the good times, from the hockey games and outdoor happy hours to the impromtu backyard cookouts and college football blowouts. I WILL NOT miss spending my free time in traffic, waiting 30 minutes for a cab to show up, and dealing with people who still believe the “war” is not over.  Good with the bad, right?

So, here we go.  Back in the human grinder known at NYC and home of a proper pizza slice and bagel.  Hope to see you all soon.  Now all I have to do is sell my stupid car.

Mar25th2008

March Insaneness

Published
by
geoff
8 months ago
in Infinite Wisdom and Sports
. 0 Comments

How much do you love this time of year? Everyone gets into it. Even the people who try to be over-cool and act like they don’t care. We just passed the two most un-productive days in the working calendar - and I’m including the day before Xmas and any Friday before a long weekend. I think the number this year is $1.7B. Who’s job is it to figure out that number? Seriously? Lets just accept it and move on. Forget “justifying it”.

Yes, I am talking about the first Thursday and Friday of the NCAA tourney. Everyone is glued to their computer screen and has an internet window with ESPN or CBS open, maybe watching on Joost, constantly checking on scores. Long lunches with a “few beers” or a strategically scheduled off-site with some of your team members. Then when you have an upset brewing, whispers creep through the office and the “resident bracketologist” start their Nostradamus-like gloating - “I had that one”. Yuh-huh. You had the foresight to choose Sienna over Vandy (the same Vandy that beat Tennessee), San Diego over UConn or even Davidson defeating Georgetown. Excuse me, what do I bill my time too?

The pool I’m in has about 300 entries. Yes, odds of winning are tougher, but the payout is better. You need to balance it out with a small pool, 10-20 people, so you at least feel like you have a chance. Anyway, I went with a new selection strategy this year and submitted 3 brackets to the big one. Some people do the mascot, some are homers, and other pick with their hearts. Now, this pool has a couple twists (including bonus pts for upsets). Bracket 1 is the dream bracket. UNC & Pitt playing in the final. Duke losing in the first round. That one is not doing so well. #295 of 319. Ouch. Bracket 2 is strictly by the book. Seeds win. No upsets. Kind of boring, but you could call it the “control group” in my March Madness experiment. #156 of 319. Good news is with all but 2 of the #1’s & #2’s alive, I still have plenty of points available. We’ll see. Bracket 3 is the “thinking man’s” bracket. I didn’t go too crazy with the upsets, but also didn’t believe that teams like Drake and Gonzaga were worth their seeds. I managed to get a couple upsets, but getting hammered in later rounds with UConn & Georgetown getting shown the door. Thanks Big East. Currently #25 of 319. I think at this moment my “entry fee” can now be classified as a donation. Next year, I might break out the D&D 16-sided dice and roll for each game. And you will never get back the 1 minute of your life it took to read this. Sorry.

Not totally off topic, but my big question to the NC-2-A, I’m confused by this years geographical regions. You call a portion of the bracket “East”, yet games are played in Denver? Or how about the “West” bracket, and the first two rounds are played in Tampa and DC. Did Magellan put together the regions? Or maybe it was Miss Teen South Carolina, Caitlin Upton. I know geography isn’t really a college course anymore, but come on. How hard is it to put Denver in the West bracket and DC in the East? I think it would have been great for her to blame the brackets.

The Madness continues.

Mar22nd2008

Comcast… comcast… YOU SUCK!

Published
by
geoff
8 months ago
in Infinite Wisdom and punks
. 0 Comments

comcastisthedevil.gifYou have to “sing” that headline. Commmm-cast…Commmm-cast…

Honestly, I’m not really surprised. Its all about making money, right? Forget corporate responsibility or community awareness. That would be too much to ask. So, as you may know, my girlfriend and I were evacuated out of our loft in Cabbagetown because of the lovely tornado that swept through. I was over at our place on monday, checking out the aftermath. FEMA is there. Construction crews. Massive cleanup is going on. We have to sign in/sign out just to get into my building, and what do we see - Comcast vans. Good thing, it reminds me I have bills that aren’t going to stop. My bill through comcast is about $170/month for all the bells, whistles, phone, internet, HD, DVR, etc… Not to mention I had to sign over my first born and agree to call he/she Comcast. Anyway, as you can imagine, chunking out that kind of change for something you can’t use is a swift kick in the pills.

So, on Tuesday, I called Comcast to see what my options were. The call starts off on a cheery note - “Thank you for calling comcast, I’m having a wonderful day. I hope you are too.” Gee, thanks ******. Call me skeptical, but I’m this call is not going to go the way I hope. Lucky me. Yeah, I live in that building that got humped by the tornado the other night. I’m slightly displaced (staying at my girlfriend’s brother’s place in Candler Park) and not sure when I’m getting back in. At this point, I’m anticipating at least another couple weeks (the place above mine had its roof ripped off). After explaining that yes, my loft complex was the one on CNN, he finally starts to get the gist that I’m not trying to finagle Comcast out their hard earned money. Option 1 - disconnect and when I move back in and pay the reconnection fee. Really? So I just got evacuated, and then I’ll have to pay you to come back in. And I have to drop off the “equipment” or schedule a pickup. That’s convenient. I’m sure it will be one of those “between 12 and 6″ appointments. Option 2 - don’t disconnect but downgrade my service to the basic package and then “upgrade” when I’m back in. Geee, thanks. Excuse me while I knock out a cartwheel. That’s still going to cost me $110/month. I’m still paying for something I’m not ABLE to use due to an OFFICIAL EVACUATION! Option 3 - A weeks credit and do nothing. This is about as close as we got to anything of value, but it still means they are charging me.

At the end of the day, what does it really cost Comcast. We’ve got 100 or so units that are currently uninhabitable. Not to mention a building across the parking lot that is in ruins. What’s important here… couple bucks or maybe making stressful times for a handful of people a shade easier? Think how much good PR you (comcast) could get out of this - probably worth more in free press and customer loyalty than what you would make during these couple weeks of hardship. But I guess you have stock holders and bonuses tied to financial goals. But I guess you missed the newscast about the tornado.

Thanks. You just tipped the scale in DirectTV’s favor. Sayonara Comcast..

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