When I got my last cell phone, I wanted to walk into the place and own the salesman. I wanted to make sure he realized I was no fool, that I had done my homework and that I was not to be taken advantage in an effort to get him a bigger commission check at the end of the pay period. I failed on every account, and since then have been searching online daily to get caught up on the new phone lingo, the specs, what definitions of things like "4G" really mean.
People, let me first just say that cell phone companies are about as close to lawyers and insurance salesman as they come. They're corrupt, they take what they can and give nothing back. At least, nothing they don't have to. And with terms like 4G and LTE, they don't have to give much.
The first thing that sold me on my current phone (HTC Inspire 4G) was the 4G part. I had heard of 2G, experienced 3G, and now that 4G was out, it only seemed logical to make it part of my next phone. The second part of my phone that seemed to scream "latest and greatest" was the company AT&T toted 4G coverage in my area, meaning I didn't have to be in SLC, Portland, Seattle, or Las Vegas to get my 4G speeds. And the last thing was the screen size. 4.3 inch screen just made all other phones look a bit redundant.
It was only after I walked out of the store, new phone and service in hand, that I realized a couple mistakes I made assuming that I was truly getting the latest and greatest. First thing I wish I would have known is: the term 4G is simply marketing vapor. There is no clear or specific ruling for what 4G (or 3G or 2G for that matter) actually are supposed to give you as the customer. They may say that 4G is 10x as fast as 3G, but when 3G didn't mean squat to begin with, you really aren't going to be that much better off with 4G. With that being said, the next thing I should have known is the fact that my phone's 4G capability was inhibited by AT&T before I even bought it. Did you catch that? Even if 4G actually meant anything, my phone, though capable, was crippled by AT&T to ensure my phone couldn't reach designed data speed. Why? Simple: They don't have to. Why give me, the customer, what I paid for when it doesn't mean anything anyway and could potentially slow down their servers?
So why did they do it? Well, I think its a bit just natural progression mixed with a domino effect. Naturally any new tweaks they do to 3G can then be manipulated and they can call it 4G, and once one company gets 4G on their phone labels, all must follow suit. You wouldn't walk into AT&T and buy a 3G phone when Sprint is waving a banner around saying they have 4G. Then again, I would hope you wouldn't buy 4G from Sprint at all. They are audacious enough to charge an extra $10 on top of your data per month just for the 4G. Sound fair? Extra $10 for nothing?
As for LTE networks, I imagine as time goes on the guidelines will have to be more clear as to what these terms LTE, and 4G really mean. This article I linked below seems to imply things will be headed that way. But even if they suddenly come out with concrete speeds your phone must be able to maintain to be considered 4G, don't expect that to fix everything. Make sure you ask if your phone is not only capable, but also not handicapped in an effort to keep you from 'bogging down' the servers. They owe it to you. If they say they're 4G, and your phone is a 4G phone, I would like to think they should be giving you full capability, after they decide what the heck it means.
The article put out today by Phonescoop is great, the headline alone cracks me up. I imagine someone coming across it and saying to themselves, "Wait, so 4G never meant anything?" Exactly. Congrats T-mobile for supposedly being the nations largest 'nothing' network.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
car speakers
In high school I dropped hundreds of dollars on some sound system boosts for my car. My car, however, is a '99 Mazda Protege and now that I look it at it I find myself asking, "What made you think this car deserved such an upgrade?" I did get a sweet sticker out of the deal, one that makes my car easy to pick out in an assembly line of like models.
A few months ago, the back speakers went out, and so now only the front ones work. The boom in the back is still bumpin, but I feel sorry for the people who sit in my back seat. They hear "boom..boom boom" while us in the front get more of the whole picture. Yesterday, however, the front speakers went out. So now all anyone hears is "boom...boom boom". Life sucks.
It's quite commical actually to turn the volume up and just drive around with nothing but subs booming and try to guess the song. It's next to impossible, but occassionally I actually get one.
The scary part about it is when I drive over pot-holes or railroad tracks. The sudden jolt of the car sometimes must put a wire back in place because suddenly I hear music, loud music. Imagine driving down the street with subs audible. No other sound, however, makes its ways into your ear canal. Then, suddenly, Chiddy Bang is yelling in your ear that he 'once was a kid' and that he once had a dream. Meanwhile, I'm looking around like crazy trying to locate my phone that I was unaware could play a ringtone so loud...after my initial semi-scream of startledness. Then of course I calm down and thank God for the speaker fix. Only to find that the next pot-hole tweaks the speakers again, and I'm left without music until some abnormality in the road decides to scare me.
The car is old, 170k miles on the bad boy, should I drop money to fix the speakers, or just let it go?
A few months ago, the back speakers went out, and so now only the front ones work. The boom in the back is still bumpin, but I feel sorry for the people who sit in my back seat. They hear "boom..boom boom" while us in the front get more of the whole picture. Yesterday, however, the front speakers went out. So now all anyone hears is "boom...boom boom". Life sucks.
It's quite commical actually to turn the volume up and just drive around with nothing but subs booming and try to guess the song. It's next to impossible, but occassionally I actually get one.
The scary part about it is when I drive over pot-holes or railroad tracks. The sudden jolt of the car sometimes must put a wire back in place because suddenly I hear music, loud music. Imagine driving down the street with subs audible. No other sound, however, makes its ways into your ear canal. Then, suddenly, Chiddy Bang is yelling in your ear that he 'once was a kid' and that he once had a dream. Meanwhile, I'm looking around like crazy trying to locate my phone that I was unaware could play a ringtone so loud...after my initial semi-scream of startledness. Then of course I calm down and thank God for the speaker fix. Only to find that the next pot-hole tweaks the speakers again, and I'm left without music until some abnormality in the road decides to scare me.
The car is old, 170k miles on the bad boy, should I drop money to fix the speakers, or just let it go?
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
calorie thoughts
Calories. You've heard all about them, yet like gravity, you have no idea what the heck it/they really are, or even how they really work. Without going into the scientific definition, the facts are: the more of them you take in through your diet (diet:the word I use to refer to your eating habits) the more likely you are to end up with some round, flabby 'pudges' here and there. No one really wants this, but too few really understand the simplicity of how calories and the body work. In general:
Most 'diets' in societies terms are geared toward getting people to count calories, or count fat, carbs, sugars, which I think is OK, but not very fun and, to be honest, a little disheartening. After all, it's great to be aware of what you're eating. But do you know what it means if you're intake of carbs is 300 per day? You probably only know two things: what the diet says is the 'OK' range, and what is above that. The truth is, in my opinion, its simpler than this, and counting can be frustrating and make you feel limited in food choices.
Being healthy does mean some limits on certain foods, no doubt about it. But did any of you catch the CNN.com story on the "twinkie diet?" The facts are in people. The choices in selection of your food, in essence, is not as important to your goal of weight loss as the amount of calories your portion sizes and food gives you.
I'm not advocating Twinkies, Kit Kat bars, Reese's, or Swedish Fish, but the study proved one thing: calories trump where they come from any day of the week. Regardless if your calories are coming from fats, proteins, or alcohol (yes, alcohol has calories...lots), cutting back on portion sizes is a huge help to weight loss. Challenge #1: Don't have seconds. Just don't. Allow yourself one plate, one bowl, one serving, and call it good.
I suppose within the next few days I'll add another post on activity levels. For now, try eating less per meal, and 500 calories is 500 calories no matter where it came from. In closing, don't feel bad counting calories one day to see where, on average, you sit calorie wise, this is good information, but don't get caught up counting every day, every item, every bite. Who likes doing that? It's like guilt in a spoon.
Most 'diets' in societies terms are geared toward getting people to count calories, or count fat, carbs, sugars, which I think is OK, but not very fun and, to be honest, a little disheartening. After all, it's great to be aware of what you're eating. But do you know what it means if you're intake of carbs is 300 per day? You probably only know two things: what the diet says is the 'OK' range, and what is above that. The truth is, in my opinion, its simpler than this, and counting can be frustrating and make you feel limited in food choices.
Being healthy does mean some limits on certain foods, no doubt about it. But did any of you catch the CNN.com story on the "twinkie diet?" The facts are in people. The choices in selection of your food, in essence, is not as important to your goal of weight loss as the amount of calories your portion sizes and food gives you.
I'm not advocating Twinkies, Kit Kat bars, Reese's, or Swedish Fish, but the study proved one thing: calories trump where they come from any day of the week. Regardless if your calories are coming from fats, proteins, or alcohol (yes, alcohol has calories...lots), cutting back on portion sizes is a huge help to weight loss. Challenge #1: Don't have seconds. Just don't. Allow yourself one plate, one bowl, one serving, and call it good.
I suppose within the next few days I'll add another post on activity levels. For now, try eating less per meal, and 500 calories is 500 calories no matter where it came from. In closing, don't feel bad counting calories one day to see where, on average, you sit calorie wise, this is good information, but don't get caught up counting every day, every item, every bite. Who likes doing that? It's like guilt in a spoon.
summer depression
The longest day of the year today, June 21. It's the best day of the year, but the fact that every day from now until sometime in the middle of the frozen, icy, windy month of December is shortening is just depressing. I enjoy when it's almost 9:45pm and you're still driving around with the windows down and the sun still in view, even if half of it is hidden behind the super flat horizon of Idaho. Waking up with the sun shining through the blinds is pure bliss. It makes you feel like there is something worth getting up for instead of college courses that make you want to pull your hair out... your nose hair, one by one.
It's also depressing to read about the potential NBA lockout. I don't fully understand what both sides are trying to do, and what someone getting paid 90 million a year couldn't do with 10 million a year. Even 10 million, in my opinion, is about 10 million too much, after all, you're playing with an inflatable ball, and every time you NBA players open your mouth I'm wondering why we even strive to teach children English at all. Don't need no grammar, know what I'm sayin'? To bring home no bacon, ya feel me?
You know what else has me thinking about the color blue? It's June, and this is the first week we have 6 consecutive days with no rain in the forecast. I'm OK with rain, honest, but when it's guaranteed to be icy, 6ft snow, and -20 degrees for vast majority of the year I think we deserve at least June, July, August and September to be at least sunny.
But there's a lot to be proud of and happy about. I've got myself up to the big 13 on Twitter, which has become a nice place for me to rant, and drop my little bombs of nutrition wisdom. Also, did I mention that this year: LA got swept, Lebron lost in the finals, Dirk Nowitzki has a ring, Canada lost to Boston in the Stanley Cup finals, and I found Umpqua ice cream 20 minutes from my house? Not that I'll ever eat it, but Oregon south county represent!!
You know what else has me thinking about the color blue? It's June, and this is the first week we have 6 consecutive days with no rain in the forecast. I'm OK with rain, honest, but when it's guaranteed to be icy, 6ft snow, and -20 degrees for vast majority of the year I think we deserve at least June, July, August and September to be at least sunny.
But there's a lot to be proud of and happy about. I've got myself up to the big 13 on Twitter, which has become a nice place for me to rant, and drop my little bombs of nutrition wisdom. Also, did I mention that this year: LA got swept, Lebron lost in the finals, Dirk Nowitzki has a ring, Canada lost to Boston in the Stanley Cup finals, and I found Umpqua ice cream 20 minutes from my house? Not that I'll ever eat it, but Oregon south county represent!!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Delaware?
I can admit without the least bit feeling of bashfulness that I haven't really visited that many places on this seemingly suspended sphere of rocks and highly concentrated salt water. I had little control over this as a child, my father wasn't in the Navy, Marines, Air Force, or Army. I suppose I could have saved you reading a few too many words by simply saying my father was no military man. My family never moved. Well, we did move, when I was 2 years old so I was pretty much in charge of piling up and labeling boxes during the whole ordeal.
I recently took a trip to the Cayman Islands, and the voluminous ship known as the Carnival Inspiration also took port in Cozumel, Mexico. It seemed natural to walk off the ship in a new place that I had never seen, never even been within 2000 miles of before that moment. I never lost any sleep thinking that these places hadn't existed years before simply because I had never been there. To put it a little simpler, I've never been to China, but I believe it exists, its there, across the Pacific. Where else could our toys come from? Where would we get lead painted fire engines, for ages 3+?
I had heard of friends of family who had gone to Cozumel themselves in years past, celebrating anniversaries, summer vacation, and all sorts of other cruise-worthy celebrations. I suppose now, looking back and pondering on the amazing faith my young mind had in the existence of a place I had never seen, that this assurance from others who had been there helped my faith increase.
Now I come to a troubling matter, one that has puzzled me since about Sophomore year in high school. Keep in mind my geographical location is west coast USA. Anything further east than Utah is considered 'east coast' and I...well, my people don't go there.
Has anyone ever been to Delaware? Any of you seen a Delaware license plate on a Geo Metro? Remember when Deleware.... ...Ratified the Constitution, first? ... yeah, me neither.
I've heard all about Delaware since 1st grade, heck, am I not correct by saying its known as being the first state to ratify the constitution and therefore becoming the 'first state' of this increasingly chaotic nation? (I hope it is, because that was bubble 'A' on a multiple choice test in high school, and I marked it with a certain confidence). I've never seen any proof of its existence, nor heard from any trusted source of its reality other than a rather suspicious looking Wikipedia page. Sports teams from Delaware? Nope. Aforementioned license plates? Never graced me with their presence. I'm tempted to believe its a hoax. For what, however, I'm still unsure.
I recently took a trip to the Cayman Islands, and the voluminous ship known as the Carnival Inspiration also took port in Cozumel, Mexico. It seemed natural to walk off the ship in a new place that I had never seen, never even been within 2000 miles of before that moment. I never lost any sleep thinking that these places hadn't existed years before simply because I had never been there. To put it a little simpler, I've never been to China, but I believe it exists, its there, across the Pacific. Where else could our toys come from? Where would we get lead painted fire engines, for ages 3+?
I had heard of friends of family who had gone to Cozumel themselves in years past, celebrating anniversaries, summer vacation, and all sorts of other cruise-worthy celebrations. I suppose now, looking back and pondering on the amazing faith my young mind had in the existence of a place I had never seen, that this assurance from others who had been there helped my faith increase.
Now I come to a troubling matter, one that has puzzled me since about Sophomore year in high school. Keep in mind my geographical location is west coast USA. Anything further east than Utah is considered 'east coast' and I...well, my people don't go there.
Has anyone ever been to Delaware? Any of you seen a Delaware license plate on a Geo Metro? Remember when Deleware.... ...Ratified the Constitution, first? ... yeah, me neither.
I've heard all about Delaware since 1st grade, heck, am I not correct by saying its known as being the first state to ratify the constitution and therefore becoming the 'first state' of this increasingly chaotic nation? (I hope it is, because that was bubble 'A' on a multiple choice test in high school, and I marked it with a certain confidence). I've never seen any proof of its existence, nor heard from any trusted source of its reality other than a rather suspicious looking Wikipedia page. Sports teams from Delaware? Nope. Aforementioned license plates? Never graced me with their presence. I'm tempted to believe its a hoax. For what, however, I'm still unsure.
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Boot Epidemic
I'm a little concerned right now, about the fashion of the world. I understand that different settings justify different fashions to a certain extent, and that, for the most part, we all want to look our best at any given time. But there comes a time when I have to call this out: what's with the boots, ladies?
Growing up, I watched several western movies, and you better believe that the clinking of spurs, the heel-like sound of cowboy boots on hardwood saloon floors raised my heart-rate every time. The difference here between cowboy boots and spurs and today's seemingly 'boots for all occasions and weather' is that cowboy boots - at least in the old days - served a purpose.
I've never ridden a horse (Ok, once when I was about 5 I was on a horse, but if I counted that then I can also say my first kiss was when I was 2 hours old) but I do believe that spurs are there in an effort to control the speed of the horse. You want to go faster, or begin moving at all, dig in with them spurs (or shoot your gun). And the boot itself, do I even need to justify for the cowboys why they needed leather high top boots? They're effing cowboys.
Nowadays I'm a little baffled by the styles of boots making there way into the closets of naive girls everywhere. What's with the pirate boots? The cowboy boots with no spurs, a mini skirt, and obviously no purpose? Are those boots, that also have a stiletto heel that TSA would not allow you to take on a plane, comfortable to walk in? No, I didn't think so. I could tell from your half steps you take that make you look like Godzilla with...well, boots.
What's even worse is that no one is forcing this on anyone. It's not like you live in the wild west, with dust, bugs, snakes, or horse stirrups. Instead, you live in the world of flip flops, Toms, Nike, Adidas, Vans, Reebok, Etnies, Emerica, DC, and you still manage to believe that fur, platform/pump boots to be the shoe of choice in this 80 degree weather? At some point you have to realize that this habit will interfere with your tan line...
Growing up, I watched several western movies, and you better believe that the clinking of spurs, the heel-like sound of cowboy boots on hardwood saloon floors raised my heart-rate every time. The difference here between cowboy boots and spurs and today's seemingly 'boots for all occasions and weather' is that cowboy boots - at least in the old days - served a purpose.
I've never ridden a horse (Ok, once when I was about 5 I was on a horse, but if I counted that then I can also say my first kiss was when I was 2 hours old) but I do believe that spurs are there in an effort to control the speed of the horse. You want to go faster, or begin moving at all, dig in with them spurs (or shoot your gun). And the boot itself, do I even need to justify for the cowboys why they needed leather high top boots? They're effing cowboys.
Nowadays I'm a little baffled by the styles of boots making there way into the closets of naive girls everywhere. What's with the pirate boots? The cowboy boots with no spurs, a mini skirt, and obviously no purpose? Are those boots, that also have a stiletto heel that TSA would not allow you to take on a plane, comfortable to walk in? No, I didn't think so. I could tell from your half steps you take that make you look like Godzilla with...well, boots.
What's even worse is that no one is forcing this on anyone. It's not like you live in the wild west, with dust, bugs, snakes, or horse stirrups. Instead, you live in the world of flip flops, Toms, Nike, Adidas, Vans, Reebok, Etnies, Emerica, DC, and you still manage to believe that fur, platform/pump boots to be the shoe of choice in this 80 degree weather? At some point you have to realize that this habit will interfere with your tan line...
Twitter Thoughts
I've heard of twitter. I remember when people talked about it as if it was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I didn't understand it then, and it doesn't look any more understandable now. I created a Twitter account back in 2010, October of 2010 to be exact. It took about 15 seconds for me to think it a waste of time, it didn't make any sense, and who can stand only speaking in 140 characters or less?
It's been several months and about 3 weeks ago I logged back in. I logged back in after hearing repeatedly on ESPN and SportsCenter type shows about athletes who 'tweeted this' or 'tweeted earlier about so and so' and thought to myself, "What? Athletes find a use for this? I couldn't make heads or tails out of it." It doesn't help that now I have a phone smarter than me, a phone with twitter capabilities beyond my dreams.
Now I find myself addicted. Addicted to what I'm not sure. Maybe its the fact that I can have countless articles to read on things that I'm actually interested in by going to one place instead of searching, or maybe its because I have a few friends on Twitter that I actually know from real life. Remember real life? It could also be that now I don't have to go to CNN.com to get facts, I just have to look at the Twitter trends... right? I mean, c'mon, Twitter gets the word out fast. Rumors everywhere rejoice at this relatively new technology. Why, just the other week, while the NBA finals were on, word got out that supposedly Rashard Lewis was using some his own talents in South Beach on Lebron's girlfriend. Within 30 minutes the whole Twitter nation was eating it up. CNN had nothing on this story.
So, I suppose I'm hooked now, never to go back to the way things were. But its not all my fault that I look at Twitter followers as level ups in those old school video games, is it? I got me 9 followers...level 9.
It's been several months and about 3 weeks ago I logged back in. I logged back in after hearing repeatedly on ESPN and SportsCenter type shows about athletes who 'tweeted this' or 'tweeted earlier about so and so' and thought to myself, "What? Athletes find a use for this? I couldn't make heads or tails out of it." It doesn't help that now I have a phone smarter than me, a phone with twitter capabilities beyond my dreams.
Now I find myself addicted. Addicted to what I'm not sure. Maybe its the fact that I can have countless articles to read on things that I'm actually interested in by going to one place instead of searching, or maybe its because I have a few friends on Twitter that I actually know from real life. Remember real life? It could also be that now I don't have to go to CNN.com to get facts, I just have to look at the Twitter trends... right? I mean, c'mon, Twitter gets the word out fast. Rumors everywhere rejoice at this relatively new technology. Why, just the other week, while the NBA finals were on, word got out that supposedly Rashard Lewis was using some his own talents in South Beach on Lebron's girlfriend. Within 30 minutes the whole Twitter nation was eating it up. CNN had nothing on this story.
So, I suppose I'm hooked now, never to go back to the way things were. But its not all my fault that I look at Twitter followers as level ups in those old school video games, is it? I got me 9 followers...level 9.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)