iPhone Review

I just got the new iPhone 3G from work. I never had a "smart" phone before, so I wont do much comparison with other smart/pda phones such as the treo or blackberry as I have no experience with them whatsoever.

Pros

• Email/MS Exchange
  I can check all of my email (work and personal) anytime, anywhere. Love the integration/sync of MS Exchange. All of my work contacts and calendar appointments are only a tap away.
  
  
• Touch Screen
  Apple did an excellent job of matching what feels natural to us with its gestures ie. swiping left to right as if Im turning a page of a book or zooming in or enlarging.
  
  
• Browser
  Viewing the Internet on a phone using a "real" browser is great. I dont like phones that use some custom internet viewer and web pages that are slimmed down to support them. I want to view web pages exactly as they are as if I was using my computer.
  
  
• Apps
  I like the wide variety of useful apps that I can download directly to my iPhone ie. Weather, Notes, To do lists, Tip Calculator, Games, etc.
  
  
• Voicemail
  Listening to voicemail with 1 click. No more will I have to dial my own phone number, press #, type in my password, and press 1 to listen to my messages.
  
  
• Camera
  When taking a photo, the entire screen is used making it very easy. I can also turn the iPhone sideways for wider coverage.
  
  
• Graphics
  2 words...Eye Candy. The graphics look so crisp and clear especially on a black background. I just want to eat those little application "pills".
  
  
• Earphone Headset
  Not only can you listen to your music, but you can also answer phone calls with it. The earphones have a small microphone on the wire. Dual purpose. I like it.
  

Cons

• 3G
  What 3G? I dont see it. Where is it? They should rename the phone to 3E (E stands for the slow Edge network) because I never get 3G. I cant even get it in San Francisco of all places. Not sure on where to put the blame, but there are only 2 choices - Apple or AT&T.
  
  
• Battery life
  Your lucky if it lasts a full day without charging. In otherwords, you will need to carry around a charging cable where ever you go. Here are some battery saving tips from Apple.
  
  
• No filesystem
  Cant store any files on an iPhone except for music (mp3s) of course. Yes, that means I cant store any word, excel, or pdf files. I can only view them when they are attachments in my email. I wanted to store a Caltrain pdf schedule on my iPhone, but cant even do that. Yes, I can go directly to Caltrain's website every single time to open the pdf, but then that would take too long especially when I dont get 3G.
  
  
• Keyboard
  Typing on the iPhone takes some getting use to, since the keyboard is on the screen itself. So you definitely wont type as fast as the Blackberry or Treo, but then again, the iPhone looks better. The on screen keyboard does get larger when you turn the iphone sideways, but it doesnt work for emailing or texting. Eh? What's up with that? Also, the iPhone has an auto complete feature where it tries to complete the word that you are typing. It does not work well and is sometimes really annoying. There are times where I want to misspell a word or use an acronym on purpose, but it will obtrusively auto complete it for me no matter what I do.
  
  
• Crashes
  Sometimes, when you are displaying a web page or using an application, the iPhone can all of a sudden crash. Usually, the browser or application just quits. But in some cases, you have to restart the iPhone itself.
  
  
• Pricey Accessories
  For example, the USB charging cable costs $19 and the outlet power adapter which is sold separately costs $29. So that means if I wanted an extra charger, I will have to fork over an extra $48 just to charge my iPhone over a plug outlet? Ridiculous. Talk about Monopoly.
  
  
• No Picture Messages
  You can send text messages, but you cant send picture messages. Weak. Instead, you can only send pictures as email attachments.
  
  
• No Software
  Does not come with or work well with any software except for iTunes. I wish you could use Outlook or something to be able to sync contacts or notes or something. I only use iTunes to sync music or to update the firmware. But I guess that's what MobileMe (paid subscription) is for syncing with the "cloud" vs. a local desktop.
  
  
• No Copy and Paste
  

Conclusion
The iPhone is only halfway there.

All About HD

I just got a killer deal on a new 50" plasma HDTV. Its all set up now and just wanted to share some things I learned about HD.

1. 720p vs. 1080p
   I am sick and tired of people complaining about 720p HDTV's as opposed to 1080p. Every time there is a good deal on a 720p HDTV, the great debate over the 2 resolutions starts, but never ends. Well, the plasma I got is 720p and I have no regrets. Take that haters! First of all, the 1080p's are almost double the cost of 720p's. Secondly, you wont notice a difference unless you are closer 7 ft. away from the TV. Thirdly, the only way to get your picture in 1080p is by using a Blu-ray player (or PS3 which has a built-in Blu-ray player). Lastly, Im not going to convert my entire DVD collection into a Blu-ray collection. So for me, 1080p is totally not worth it. But for those of you who want to shell out twice as much $$$ and will sit closer than 7ft away from the TV and owns a Blu-ray player and has a Blu-ray collection and can tell the difference in quality...good luck to you. Just leave the 720p owners alone.



2. Break in
   Did you know that you should break in your HDTV? Yeah, I didnt know that either until recently. Here's the scoop. The HDTV's by default have their color, contrast, and other settings set really high. That's because when stores display the TV's, consumers are attracted to the brighter and more colorful ones even though that is totally the wrong things to look at when buying an HDTV (more on that later). In any case, those extreme settings are too high especially during the first 100 hours of the TV. Its like when you buy a new car, dealers will often say not to drive the car too rough for the first 1000 miles. This is all to help prevent "burn-in" on your TV. Burn-in occurs most often by having static images on the screen for long periods of time. For example, when you watch TV, you will notice that most stations have their logo on the bottom right corner. Well, if that image stays their for a really long time it can leave an imprint. Or if you play video games, there can be many static images that dont move. So to break in your HDTV, people suggest lowering the settings and playing a special DVD (or SVCD) for at least the first 100 hours. I've been doing this for my TV and even though I dont know if its really helping, it doesnt do any harm. Im sure if people are posting specific TV settings and if someone went through all the trouble of creating a break in DVD, there has to be some truth in it.
   
   
3. HD Quality
   "Wow". I say that everytime Im viewing HD. Once you see and taste HD, there is no going back. Food never looked so delicious on the HD Food channel. Tivo Series 3 does an excellent job recording HD shows. It is so amazing clear that I cant believe it is a recording.



4. Cable Cards
   Because Im using my Tivo Series 3, in order for me to get HD, Im using 2 cable cards that I picked up from Comcast. It was fairly easy to set up myself, but I wasnt getting all the channels that I was supposed to, so a Comcast technician had to come by my house. Turns out it was just some wrong data set up on their end. So what is this cable card and what does it do? The cable card takes the place of a Digital or HD receiver because it does all of the unscrambling of the channels. So instead of getting a clunky HD or Digital receiver from comcast, you can just get a cable card and stick it directly into your HDTV. But not all HDTV's have cable card slots, so you will have to check. Its a lot cleaner this way because you dont have to plug the receiver and you dont have to use their ugly remote. But keep in mind that my set up is different because Im using Tivo. But can you imagine if my Tivo did not have cable card slots? Then I would have Tivo talk to the clunky receiver which then talks to my HDTV. Anyways, cable cards are a good thing. I would do anything to avoid those clunky comcast receivers and their nasty remote control.
   
   
5. HD Channels (Comcast)
   Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I have Comcast cable (non digital) in the SF Bay Area, so Ill be writing about my experience under those conditions. If you have Comcast and use a receiver that they gave you, then this wont apply to you.
   
   
   If you recently bought an HDTV, most likely it will have QAM tuner and ATSC tuner. An ATSC tuner, will allow you to get "over the air" (OTA) local HD channels (ie. 2, 5, 7) . Although, I couldnt get any channels whatsoever in my area. A QAM tuner will also allow you to get local HD channels, but by using the coaxial cable. Now I thought that to get local HD channels, I would not only need an HDTV to view it, but I figured I would also have to pay extra for it. But currently, Im not. As long as you have a QAM tuner, you should be able to pick up local HD channels merely by sticking the coxial cable directly into your HDTV. But recently, the local HD channels on only one of my HDTV's have been disappearing. In otherwords, I cant view them anymore. The weird thing is that my other HDTV still gets it. But I heard that its because Comcast is gradually taking away those local HD channels. I guess you arent really suppose to get local HD channels for free so Comcast is trying to filter those out and make you pay for it. The Comcast cable packages are confusing, but I believe I have the Standard Cable package. It includes local channels plus the other popular channels like MTV. So with the addition of my cable cards in my Tivo, Im now getting all the channels that I use to get with the addition of non-local HD channels (ie. Discovery, TNT, etc). Comcast only charges me an extra $2 per month. Now to get the non-local HD channels on my other HDTV's, I would have to get a Comcast HD receiver and pay an extra $8 per month for each one. Am I confusing you yet?
   
   
6. Upscaling DVD Player
   If you plan to watch DVDs on your HDTV, do not hook up your old DVD player to it. You can, but it wont look that good. You need to get what's called an "upscaling" DVD player. These players will upscale the DVD video to fit and conform nicely to your HDTV. I think if you use a regular DVD player, you will get the black bars on the side. Costing around $50, these players arent that expensive. Or you can altogether skip that and get a Blu-ray player. But those are very expensive, not to mention the cost of Blu-ray discs.
   

Free Google Phone Number

A while back I posted the ability to create disposable phone numbers in order to protect the privacy of your existing phone number. I found a similar service with many features by GrandCentral which was recently aquired by Google. There are many cool features, but I will touch upon a few.

1. Permanent Local Phone Number - There is a subtle but important difference between the Numbr and GrandCentral phone number. For the Numbr phone number, you have to dial an extension which does require a little more work for the user. Not only that, I think that users might be a little weary of dialing a phone number with an extension. Users are more used to dialing extensions when calling companies. So its a bit weird to call a craigslist person with an extension in my opinion.



2. Ring Multiple Phones - So you can add multiple phones to your one GrandCentral phone number. For example, when someone calls your GrandCentral number, your cell phone AND home phone can ring. Therefore, you can answer the call by either phone.



3. Listen to Voicemails Online - This is probably my most favorite feature. Voicemails are recorded and can be played online in your GrandCentral account. I wish Verizon Wireless had this feature. I would love to listen to my voicemails online instead of always having to dial and punch in my password. Not to mention wasting valuable peak time minutes just for listening to my voicemails. This can also help you to screen your calls. Sometimes, you just want people to leave you a voicemail especially from uknown callers. Recently, I just used my GrandCentral number to sell something on craiglist. Usually, in terms of fairness, its first come first serve. But I found it to be more beneficial for me to sell it to one person over another. For example, I sold my desk on craiglist today. I wanted to sell it to someone who had a truck or van because I didnt want to disemble the desk. If I answered my first phone call, then I would be obliged to sell it to that person. But I intentionally did not answer calls from my GrandCentral number and just let my voicemail inbox fill up. Then I just chose the person who had a van and "sounded" the most reliable.
   

Feel free to leave me a voicemail by clicking on the button below.

4/2/08 Update: Someone just told me that they could not immediately sign up for the service since they are in private beta. Looks like you can just "reserve" a number (whatever that means). I wouldnt be surprised if they ran out of local phone numbers to give out. It also says on the site that a current user would be able to invite others, but I dont see that option in my account. They might have temporarily removed that as well.

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card

I've told you before that I love anything wireless that makes life easier right? Well, here's a cool new product that will blow your mind. Okay, it might not blow your mind, but its still cool. I dont know why I never thought of it :) Currently, you download your pictures from your digital camera using a USB cable. Its not too hard, but does take time especially if you take a lot of pics. Anyways, if your digital camera uses an SD card, you're in luck. With the Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card, you can wirelessly transfer your pics to your computer. Of course you will need to have an existing wireless home network. But who doesnt? :) One thing that I try to do is use my wireless network for everything. Right now, I have my Tivo, Wii, and laptop connected. And later on Ill add on more wireless enabled electronics. Centralizing all of your wireless products to your computer home network makes things much easier. Not only can you control things via your computer, but it can also enable these products to be online which is really powerful. Whoa, how I digress. Anyways, back to the Eye-Fi. So from reading the reviews, it looks like it automatically syncs when the card is in range of your home network. Cool! In otherwords, you can transfer your pictures without even thinking about it. All you have to do is turn on your digital camera and be in range of your router. GENIUS!

More Info

Why Sony Sucks

That's it. I've had it with Sony. My handycam camcorder that I've had just over a year broke this week. The LCD screen wont turn on. The reviews were great when the camcorder came out, but a year and a half later people submitted bad reviews because the LCD would stop functioning after a year and a half. Out of the 13 reviews on this site, HALF of them mentioned the same exact problem I had. And guess how long the Sony warranty is? Yes...1 year. So now Im yet again stuck with a Sony camcorder that doesnt work and would cost $200 to fix. Oh, did I mention this is my second Sony camcorder? My first one broke too. I cant transfer any video from it to your computer. I bought lots of Sony stuff because of my Sony credit card. That's where they got me. I was addicted to racking up all those Sony points by purchasing with my Sony Card.

After buying and redeeming my Sony points for Sony products I learned a couple of things about Sony.

1. Quality stinks - How many of you have Sony products that broke or dont perform well? On the outside Sony products look really cool and sleek. But its very cheap on the inside.
   
   
2. Proprietary - Sony loves to have their own proprietary interfaces and equipment. They have the Sony memory stick which only their camcorders, cameras, and TVs use. They have an iLink cable, which is suppose to be just a firewire cable. They have Blueray discs that they are trying to promote. It's always Sony, Sony, Sony. But they do this on purpose, so that it forces you to buy more Sony products.
   
   
3. Sexy - I have to give it up to Sony, their products are sexy. They probably spend 90% on looks and marketing while the rest of the 10% goes into the actual product.



4. Screens - I decided that Im on a Sony boycott. I will never buy any Sony product again...unless it's an LCD TV :) Why the exception? The one thing that Sony has always done well is making TV's. Their laptop, computer, and LCD TV screens are the clearest, sharpest, and best in the market.
   

My final word of advice. Dont buy Sony unless you are buying a LCD TV, but be ready to shell out twice as much $$$.

Have you had a bad Sony experience? Feel free to comment (vent) on your experience.

Amazon Unbox on Tivo

Amazon Unbox is a cool and easy way to download movies directly to your Tivo. You must have a Tivo connected to your home network. If your Tivo is only connected using a phone line then this wont work. You need it connected to your home network, so that it can download the movie from the internet.

A couple of months ago, when Amazon launched this service for Tivo, they offered a free $15 credit which I took full advantage of. All I had to do was to register my Tivo with Amazon and I was all set. 5-10 minutes after you purchase a movie rental, I would see a blue light on my Tivo signifying that it was downloading

Pros:

• Flexible - You can either go online to rent or use your Tivo to rent. You can also keep your movie on your Tivo for 30 days after you rent it just as long as you dont start playing it. If you start playing the movie, it will automatically expire in 24 hours.
• Easy - You dont need to stick a dvd into your dvd player. You just play the movie straight from your Now Playing list in Tivo. I feel right at home using my Tivo to watch movies.
• Instant - No need to wait a couple of days for my DVD rental to arrive in the mail. I can watch a movie I rented on the same day.
• Video Quality - Video quality is really good. I cant tell the difference between the unbox video vs. a DVD.
• Specials - Sometimes they'll have rentals for only 99 cents. I've rented 3 movies already and still have $9 left out of my $15 credit.

Cons:

• Download - The download takes a couple of hours. So I would recommend either downloading the night before or in the morning. You cannot play the movie until the entire movie has downloaded.
• No Surround Sound - Though sound quality is still good.
• Selection - The selection is not that great. I found myself clicking "next" many times to find something to rent. They dont have too many new releases.
• New Releases - Newly released movies will have a rental price of $14.99 instead of the regular $3.99

Overall, I'm really impressed with the service. Both Amazon and Tivo did a great job integrating their services as well as keeping inline with making the rental process smooth and easy as both companies are known for. I think $3.99 per rental is a little too steep for me so Im not sure if I will continue to rent after my $15 credit is used up. If they lower their prices to $2.99, I'd probably use it once in a while. If they lower it to $1.99, I'd probably use it all the time without a doubt.

Dell XPS m1210 and m1330

Remember my rule about new every two rule? Well my laptop was due. So I just got my new Dell XPS m1210 12.1 inch laptop *drool*. Its the laptop I've always coveted. XPS is the high end line of Dell desktops/ laptops and are hardly ever discounted or go on sale. Well...at least until Dell introduced and started selling its replacement - 13 inch Dell XPS m1330.


The decision for me was easy for me. I wanted a small 12 inch laptop that wont cost me an arm and a leg. There are only 2 Dell laptops that offer the 12 inch size - Inspiron 700m (which I have now)/710m and XPS m1210. The only thing about these small Dell laptops is that the batteries always stick out. Therefore, its not as clean as it could be. I dont like my fat battery protruding out on my small 12 inch laptop. Those batteries are so fat, that some of the Dell latitudes have the battery in front of the laptop, using it almost like a palm rest. UGLY. Maybe lightweight, thin, powerful laptop batteries dont exist, but I dont see the small Sony's laptops having that same problem. So Dell, let me give you some advice...start making your laptops more sexier by hiding the battery. Its that simple.


Speaking of sexy. Here is the new 13 inch Dell XPS m1330. No! No! Too sexy....! For a closer look check out the cnet video review.


One of the cool features of this laptop is the slot loading drive. I think its the first of its kind. Slot loading is the mechanism you see when you load a cd in your car. For really thin and lightweight (less than 3lbs) laptops, usually the laptop does not include a cd/dvd drive because it would add extra thickness and weight. But this slot loading cd/dvd drive solves that problem. Sick!

iPhone - Hands on

I finally got the chance to get my hands on an iPhone. No I didnt buy it. I just went to an Apple store in the morning when it wasnt too crowded. They had like 10 on display. So is it worthy of all the hype?

YES! I played around with it for like 10 minutes and was drooling all over it. The screen is so sexy and delicious. Its definitely pleasing to the eye. The interface is responsive as I flipped through photos by swiping my finger across the screen. The onscreen keyboard is good and corrects your mistakes easily. Surfing the internet was cool because its not some scaled down phone browser version. Instead, its the real deal as if you were surfing on a laptop or desktop. You just need to zoom into the sections that you are interested in. Listening to music on it just like an iPod showing album art is oh so nice. The iPhone is what I expected and much more.

Paying $500-$600 for it, including a monthly fee of $60, and switching over to ATT from Verizon would be quite a jump for me. But my LG Chocolate phone stinks and my dial button is starting to break. *grin*

Online BackUp - Carbonite

I finally decided on online backup as a method of backing up my computer data. I never thought I would pay a subscription fee for any internet service, but it is well worth it. I was pretty good about backing up my data on hard drives and DVDs, but as gigabytes of Caden's photos started to accumulate, I started to worry. A while back, a bunch of Caden's photos were on my compact flash card and somehow the card got corrupted. We were so sad because those pictures meant a lot to us and there was no way to get it back. We would do (or pay) anything, just to get those pictures back. Luckily, it seems that memory flash cards crash frequently and there was software out on the internet that tries to rescue those files. It took many hours, but I was able to restore 99% of the photos :)

So I thought about all the ways to backup my data since they are more precious to me than anything.

1. External Hard Drive - Very fast and convenient. But what happens if my internal drive gets larger than my external drive? Then I would have to keep buying larger and larger external drives. Also, what would happen if I connect my USB external drive to back up my internal drive and something happens? Like a power outage or whatever. It could damage BOTH my external and internal drive in which my data would be lost on both drives. What if there was a fire?

2. DVD - Inexpensive. But a lot of my data is growing larger than the 4GB capacity. Therefore, I have to span my backup across several DVDs. And what happens if I change a file on my computer after I already backed it up on DVD? I would have to do burn another back up. You have to be diligent when it comes to backing up your data on DVD. You have to know what you have or have not backed up and you have to back up often. Also, I heard that DVD media just like CDs dont last forever. I just cant imagine that after my PC crashes, I would go into my binder full of DVDs and find out that they all arent readable. All that work for nothing. Again, what if there was a fire?

3. Online Back Up (Carbonite) - Let me just list some of the PROS that I experienced thus far with this service:

• Unlimited Storage: Go ahead and store you're terabytes of data. All other online backups have a limit.
  
• Set it and forget it: You dont have to manage it at all. It will automatically backup whatever you specify. It will do it in the background and will NOT slow down your internet connection. Its smart enough to detect that if you are using the Internet, it wont do any backup transfers.
  
• Inexpensive: The price is just right. $5 per month. Its actually cheaper than $5 in their 1 or 2 year subscription. So instead of buying that external hard drive or all your DVD media or paying someone to retrieve data on your crashed hard drive, use the saved money on the monthly fee.
  
• Restore deleted files: Ever delete a file and then empty the recycle bin and then wish you could take that back?
  
• Restore files easy: When you install the software, it will add a Carbonite drive in your my computer, just like your C: drive and your dvd/cd drives. Just double click it and you'll be able to navigate through your already backed up files. Then just right click the file or folder you want restored and select "restore". That's it. Just wait and presto, the file is back on your computer in it original location.
  
• Fire proof: So let's say that you have a fire and your computer is burnt to a crisp. No problem. When you get your new computer, just install the software and download all the files that were on your burnt computer.

Now you might ask, what can go wrong? Okay let me tell you how you can lose all your data even with Carbonite. All of the following need to occur at the same.

1. Your hard drive crashes
2. Carbonite's server hard drives crashes.
3. Carbonite's backup data center crashes.

If only 1 of the above occurs, you still have your data right?
If your hard drive crashes, your data is still safe with Carbonite.
If Carbonite crashes, well duh, you still have your data on your computer.

I just signed up for a 2 year term. I highly recommend them.
For more info, click here to go to their website.

Haha, as I was finishing up writing this post, I blew a fuse at my house and my computer shut off instantly. Luckily, my computer survived. Phew.

Apple iPhone - First Impressions

Today, Apple announced their new iPhone. To be honest, I didnt care much about it. That was until I actually saw pictures and features of the iPhone. This might be the phone that I've been waiting for. An all-in-one phone. A phone that can browse the internet, take pictures, listen to music, and that can also be your PDA. Yes, there are already phones that are capable of this (ie. Palm Treo, Motorola Q, BlackBerry, etc). But they seem to make things more complicated. Or sometimes, some features work well while others do not. The iPhone supposedly solves all that as I will discuss its features below.

Features

• Screen - The screen makes up most of the phone, since the keyboard is also on the screen. The other PDA phones are usually half screen, half keyboard which results in a small screen and a small keyboard. Also, you can tilt the iPhone to either vertical or horizontal and whatever is on the screen will conform to the portrait or landscape view. This is really good for displaying video or browsing the web.



• Keyboard - The keyboard is on the screen instead of physically on the phone. That's a good thing. But the question is, how well does it work with your fingers since it doesnt use a stylus. Oh yeah, no stylus, thats another good thing. Supposedly, its an "intelligent" keyboard and that it will know which letter you want to press without accidently pressing another letter. Hard to tell by looking at only screenshots, but my guess is that as you hover over a letter, the letter will pop out larger in size. If thats the case, then that's cool.



• Music - Plays music like an iPod. Nuff said.



• Video - Plays video like a PSP. Nice!



• Sensors - When you put the iPhone to your ear, the screen automatically turns off to prevent inadvertent touches. Now this is exactly what was need on my LG chocolate phone. Everytime, I would answer a call, the buttons on the front panel would be active, so when I put the phone to my ear, I would inadvertently press lots of different menu options and such. This is totally annoying. But I wonder how the sensor knows that Im putting it to my ear?



• OS X - Not Windows Mobile, Not Palm, Not blackberry, but OSX?! Wow, first time a phone PDA actually uses a real OS, instead of some modified and customized version of an OS. Does this mean it can run OS X applications too? Powerful!



• Phone - Oh yeah, its a phone too. Phone looks really easy to use. Especially with large and simple icons and using your fingers to dial.


• Wifi - connect to your wifi router for internet.



• Bluetooth - connect to computer or other cool bluetooth stuff.



• Multi touch - Okay so this is something really cool and exciting. Its all about the natural way we would interact with a touch panel display. This involves how the iPhone reacts to your finger movements. For example, how would you normally browse photos? The old way would be to use your stylus and click on the "next" button. But on the iPhone, you would just put your finger on the picture and swipe it to the left or right and you will see the next photo scrolling sideways accordingly. Hard to explain. But check out this video at a TED conference to find out more about this interaction.

Final thoughts

Im actually really impressed with what Apple has done with the iPhone. They really solved a lot of key issues when it came to the cell phone PDA market. Im also surprised and wonder how they kept it secret for 30 months without any leaks.

Now the question is, will I buy it? I dont think so, but we'll see. I would have to change my wireless provider from Verizon to Cingular (Verizon is the best!) I would also have to pay a lot more monthly for the internet plan. Do I really need to surf the internet when Im not at a computer? Very cool, but not a necessity. But then again, i dont have to use it for internet.

I think these are going to sell like hotcakes. Way to go Apple.

Town Hall

Stacie took me to a restaurant called Town Hall. I must say that Boulevards is my favorite fancy restaurant, but if I ate at Town Hall one more time, I'd probably choose Town Hall as my new favorite. It wouldnt be fair to judge Town Hall as my favorite based on one sitting. The atmosphere is much more casual than Boulevards, but Im basing everything on the food quality. It was soooo good. I ordered the Beef Short Ribs and the meat just melted in my mouth. Stacie ordered the Ribeye steak. For appetizer we ordered stuffed calamari with sausage. And for dessert, we had the huckleberry and apple crumb cake with vanilla ice cream. Yum. Now Im motivated to create my favorite sf bay area restaurants on my site. Stay tuned.

Online Blockbuster Stinks!

I recently subscribed to online blockbuster dvd rentals and I must say that their service stinks.
Reason #1 - Bad Service. Within a time period of a week, I received a broken dvd, an incorrect dvd, and an unplayable dvd. Also, for some reason they are only shipping me 2 dvds when they are suppose to ship 3 dvds at a time.
Reason #2 - Bad Customer Service. They only compensated me a measly 1 free ecoupon for all my troubles. And 2 weeks later, I still have yet to receive it.
Reason #3 - Bad Site. Everytime I choose a different movie category it displays the SAME movies. Its slow and I always have to keep logging in. Their site is down right now as I write this.
Reason #4 - Small Inventory. I have about 50 dvds in my queue, and only 2 of them are available now.

My Advice: Pay the extra $3 a month and choose Netflix.

Ong-Bak!!!!!!!!

I just watched a sneak preview of "Ong-Bak" by Tony Jaa. The movie was AWESOME! This guy does some CRAZY stuff. At the end of the movie, HE WAS ACTUALLY THERE! He performed some stunts and martial arts for all of us on stage. And then he signed autographs. I gotta watch this movie again.