misc newz and in4mationz

Verizon Wireless Service at The Land

2011-08-05T17:43:00.000-04:00

I finally decided I really needed to figure out why Verizon didn’t work at the land even though our phones would show signal. I think I figured it out.

Simple Explanation: There is Verizon signal, but it’s actually incredibly weak. With the house being positioned at the top of hill there are clear communication paths for radio frequencies (RF) so your phone gets the best possible signal. You can “hear” the signal but it’s not strong enough for communication.

More Complex Explanation: Again, the open air hill position is optimal for receiving RF signals (even though there might not be much to receive). The closest Verizon towers are 13 and 17 miles away, too far to work. Many cell towers operate a pilot channel that has more range than the other channels because it doesn’t carry traffic. It identifies you and assigns your traffic to one of the operating channels, much like a control channel. On one of the calls I attempted while I was there Verizon was able to look at the switch logs and see that my signal was -93dBM and my SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) was -19dB which is over 10 times an acceptable rate. So, there’s signal around but it’s not usable.

Furthermore, there is a US Cellular tower that is closer than Verizon that your phone could roam on. However, even though the US Cellular signal is stronger since there is still the presence of native Verizon service the PRL (Preferred Roaming (tower) List) will not switch down to the US Cellular network. This seems to explain the “random” inbound data occasionally received—there must have been times when my phone would cease to see the Verizon signal (possibly due to cell “breathing” or additional interference) and successfully roam onto the US Cellular service for a few moments or minutes. I think this also explains how Sprint service previously worked for me—it must have been roaming on US Cellular and was not set to prefer Verizon over another carrier.

There may be a chance that the Verizon signal can be amplified by using the booster Steve has there but the antenna needs to be pointed at one of the towers. Below is the tower information and GPS coordinates. I’ve also attached google earth .kmz files of these locations.

· 27078 Tabor Ridge Rd House: 39.731194, -81.336422

· Verizon Wireless “Warner” Cell Site #1152 13 miles SW 39.585008, -81.453342

· Verizon Wireless “Buffalo” Cell Site #1130 16.74 miles NW 39.854394, -81.546272

Conclusion: Use laser assistance to align the rooftop antenna towards one of the Verizon towers…or use AT&T or US Cellular.

Reddy Kilowatt

2011-08-05T17:39:00.000-04:00

Our intranet “Portal” has a weekly changing feature called “wild cuts” which is supposed to be cool pictures taken by employees relating to Duke Energy. I had never heard of this “Reddy Kilowatt” fellow…I imagine he’s kind of scary at night!

Wild Cuts: Reddy and Belews Creek

6/23/2011

Created in 1926, Reddy Kilowatt was a popular figure in the electric industry in the 1950s and 1960s -- as more than 300 utilities used the symbol in advertising and marketing.

It's lightly used now. But Reddy has had a prominent spot at Belews Creek Steam Station in North Carolina since plant construction started in the early 1970s. Reddy was originally high up -- a storage water tank behind the plant, similar to water tank structures you see in local towns and communities.

When scrubbers were added to the plant, Reddy and the water tank had to move. However, one question kept coming up in discussions with community groups about the scrubber project: "What's going to happen to Reddy?"

The decision was made to basically take Reddy's head (or the top of the tank) and relocate him to another part of the plant. Judging from the big smile, Reddy is pretty happy in his new spot.

Wild Cuts photographer Paul Phillips, a line tech in Rural Hall, N.C., took this shot of Reddy and Belews Creek. Phillips has worked at Duke Energy for 22 years.

If you have a Duke Energy-related photo that might look great on the Portal's rotating promo section, contact Randy Wheeless in Internal Communications.

The Dark Red Side

2011-06-02T11:35:00.000-04:00

As some of you may have heard, Tiffani and I bought a condo! And we also got a dog!? Its kept me insanely busy so I haven't even had time to tell you all about it.

The "house" is about a mile down the street from our apartments so it's still the same neighborhood and area which we really like. For reference and when you come to visit:

283 McDonald Ave

Charlotte, NC 28203

We're still working on it but i'll try to update with pictures later. Also near the end of a March a little stray dog was wandering around Tiffani's parking lot at work. Long story short the owner couldn't be found and we have a little mutt named Gabriel or Gabe for short. We actually think he might be a mix of chihuahua and miniature schnauzer--certainly terrier of some kind. He's pretty much a puppy, the vet thought he was about one year old. He's a baby and has the worst sad puppy eyes face--it'll melt your heart. here's some pictures

We both had iPhones from AT&T and weren't getting very good reception at the new place. So, my first thought was to get the femtocell they call the "AT&T 3G Microcell". It's essentially a personal/home cell tower that broadcasts cell signal and connects to the cell carrier network via ethernet to your home network. The signal was almost non-existent in the bedroom and stairwell. However, in the living room and kitchen there are some windows and it's higher up so decent signal was available--about 3 bars, -89dBm. Well, it created a problem because your phone is always looking for the best tower and strongest signal. You may actually switch back and forth between regular cell towers and never know it because it's seamless. The microcell is unable to seamlessly allow this switching repeatedly. So, in the living room it would go back and forth and eventually drop the call. I even tried moving the unit from downstairs to upstairs but it didn't help. What I learned was that these devices don't do very well for supplementing coverage. They have a very specific use and that's for a place with almost no signal so that there's never any question for your phone as to what tower it should connect to.

I really like AT&T, or at least want to like them. I don't really like Verizon. It's hard to put my finger on why exactly but they just seem so arrogant and pompous. they are the most expensive, offer the least features and value, and try to control everything you do. They're so protective of their precious network. Their pre-dominantly USA-only CDMA network that's slow and hasn't evolved and kept pace with the explosive growth and change in GSM. And, since Qualcomm is the only manufacturer for CDMA chips they took vzw to the bank for their phones. And they couldn't get the phones that everyone else in the world used. Heck, they used to cripple bluetooth and GPS on their phones so you couldn't transfer images or ringtones and had to buy their wallpapers/ringtones/VZNavigator. They were among the first to increase text msg charges to the unfathomable rate of 20 cents each on pay-per-use. They were also the first to introduce "unlimited" data that was actually limited to 5GB/month. because they thought you were too stupid to understand units of data or that you would ever use such an amount. It's no doubt they lost the iPhone to AT&T becuase they would not concede to Apple's requests--they were Verizon, they were the boss. you were lucky and fortunate to use their premier wireless service. Only devices pre-registered with them can be activated on their network. So no, you're absolutely not allowed to use a BlackBerry as just a phone and PDA without a data plan (something awesome to do on GSM if you don't want a data plan a BlackBerry is a fantastic feature phone). This is what led to their support of Android and their despiration move to pay stupid Geoge Lucas to use the word DROID. There is nothing about the history of Verizon and how they've acted in the past that would make me think they actually like a developing, emerging, and "open" OS like Android. You know they were drooling over Apple's solid, popular, and controllable iOS. here's another example of control: http://www.verizonwireless.com/vzwoptimization/. thanks for meddling with my content before delivering...

But I digress because Verizon uses some of the lowest cell frequencies so they reach further distances from the tower and work better in buildings--hence the long standing notion that they have the best coverage. Well, they have slightly better service at work for me, much better for Tiffani, and adequate coverage in all parts of the house for both of us. So, I guess that's that. Verizon doesn't work at Patrick's farm or Snowshoe but I guess I have to live with those two problems in exchange for solving my others. Because I did so much work trying to fix AT&T and make it work they were very nice and offered to waive both of our early termination fees. I polished up the phones and sold them on eBay to pay for the new phones and earned a little extra as well--to add to my future phone fund since there's probably no way i'm going to be able to wait 2 years to buy another subsidized phone. If you want to keep up with my all my numbers here they are:

(704) 31-EVANS (313-8267) - This is my Google voice number and rings/texts all of my phones. it's great except you can't send picture messages and it doesn't qualify for free mobile-to-mobile if we're on the same carrier.

(704) 620-2650 - This is my iPhone number on Verizon. You can use it for FaceTime or free Verizon calling but I have less of a chance to hear it ringing.

(513) 235-MARK (6275) - This is my BlackBerry on Cincinnati Bell Wireless used primarily for work (PIN 21B36979 if anyone still uses BBM...). It's connected to my inPulse smartwatch. This is very handy for reading texts and alerting me of incoming calls. This is part of why I love Google voice so much, I can get texts on my BlackBerry, watch, iPhone, and computer.

Yes I'm happy to use an iPhone instead of Android. Why? Because it's the best hardware right now. It's also rooted so it's much more powerful. The Thunderbolt and LTE is pretty awesome but it's kinda big. I'm not sure if I really like 4"+ phones to use everyday. It also destroys batteries and the battery door is one of the worst designs ever. That Nexus S with Google Wallet is pretty appealing though...

Ok, well that's my current phone status. Back to working on the house and getting ready for the wedding!

Nokia C7 as remote control for BMW car

2011-03-16T21:22:00.000-04:00

I read a book?

2011-03-14T21:56:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big reader so I was excited I read this entire book!

It Happened On The Way To War, A Marine's Path To Peace

This is a memoir written by Rye Barcott. I was recently given the opportunity to read a proof copy of the book before it was published. It's officially set to be released on March 29th, 2011. Rye works for Duke Energy and held his first "book tour discussion" with a small group of interested employees.

It Happened on the Way to War from Center for Global Initiatives on Vimeo.

Since I was given a copy before it was published it was a PDF. I didn't want to print it so I tried reading it on my iPhone and it wasn't too bad. I ended up reading most of it on my 3.5" screen which I enjoyed. It was great because I always had it with me and it was small and portable so I could sit or lay in whatever position was comfortable--which is always changing when I'm trying to read. Here's an idea of what it looked like:

At the event I was lucky and my name was drawn to receive a printed copy of the book which Rye signed afterwards. Hopefully I can convince Colbert on Twitter to have him as a guest. Or maybe he'll land a spot on Opera. I wish him the best, fantastic book. If you'd like to read it follow the links to amazon or maybe you can borrow mine.

The Art of FLIGHT - snowboarding film trailer w/Travis Rice

2011-02-18T19:55:00.000-05:00

Let's play Words With Friends, now on Android!

2011-02-16T19:34:00.000-05:00

Hey - Words With Friends is now available for Android and iOS. Let's play!

You can download it here: http://zyn.ga/3Aj

My user name: bobdobbins

It's really fun, pretty much the perfect mobile multi-player game because you play it when you have time so you're at your own pace. See you in the game!

The Horseshoe

2011-01-14T20:23:00.000-05:00

This is awesome!

website for details and more pictures: http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/245542

pretty cool website for us Lego nerds... :) Go Bucks!

I want the iPhone 4

2011-01-11T20:38:00.002-05:00

Can't pass up an opportunity to watch this again!

And now the iPhone is available on Verizon
Anyone surprised? It's been rumored and was pretty accurately predicted by the tech blogs. I was most excited about the hype and talk finally ending. jeesh, it was ridiculous. Sasha Segan from PC Mag wrote a funny/interesting/accurate article on the worship of Apple, the iPhone, and Verizon: The Verizon iPhone Isn't the Mobile Messiah

Also, it's interesting to note that no one has said anything about price, except device cost on contract, such as plan and feature costs. I feel like they could do anything they want when it comes to plan prices...like no family plan minute/feature sharing, no sms/mms combined plans, more expensive data plans, etc. Verizon is already the most expensive national carrier so it could easily be quite pricey. They'd expect people to pay pretty much anything because they think they have the best and most premier cellular network and a lot of people think that too. It's like they're swooping in to save everyone's terrible cell service and that service is priceless. I guessing you've probably already read about the phone and how it's the same/slightly different than the current att version from pretty much every news or media outlet ever.

The Wi-Fi hotspot feature on other phones right now is $20/month, not sure if it'll be the same for the iPhone. I wouldn't be surprised if AT&T added this functionality to compete, it's software based and i'm sure it currently been omitted as they've taken great steps to curb the data demand on their network--although they've been working to improve capacity as well. If you jailbreak/root the GSM iPhone there's an app called MyWi that enables Wi-Fi hotspot, USB, and bluetooth tethering--without having to pay a monthly fee. Having a Wi-Fi hotpot is a lot less desirable if you can't use the phone when its on and it disconnects when you get a phone call. The lack of simultaneous voice/data on Verizon's CDMA service is quite annoying these days, IMHO.

Some people criticize BGR for being too much of an Apple fan boy and reporting on their news more than others. I kind of agree but whatever, I read multiple blogs and tech sites anyways. And, this is all the more relevant since this is Apple news. I thought these were really good articles that match a lot of my thinking on this topic.

Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: The SIM card
Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: Need for speed
Why I'm switching to the Verizon iPhone: I need a phone
Here's where the Verizon iPhone falls short
Should I Buy a Verizon iPhone? (not BGR but good)

I'm actually very happy with my at&t service at the moment with where I live. If that significantly changes or an LTE iPhone comes along then that might be a different story. For now, let's just enjoy watching the mayhem.

House of Meat

2010-12-29T11:28:00.000-05:00

Titled "Slaughterhouse" it's about making a Christmas house, like a gingerbread house, out of meat. Hilarious music and narration, and it looks tasty...

ESPN OTL: Believeland

2010-12-03T22:15:00.000-05:00

Really good article, as OTL usually is.

ESPN Outside The Lines: "OTL: Believeland" at http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=101201/Cleveland

@Gizmodo, 11/20/10 11:34 PM

2010-12-02T19:20:00.000-05:00

Gizmodo
Watch the world's fastest roller coaster in action http://j.mp/9xS9xR 150mph, 0 to 62mph in 2 seconds. Christ.

This looks amazing. Wish I didn't have to go to the UAE to ride it... btw, Fernando Alonso loses his wallet at :33 lol.

The Jeopardy Question No One Could Answer

2010-10-20T20:15:00.000-04:00

My Dad forwarded this as an email to me and I thought it was really interesting.

On Jeopardy the other night, the final question was "How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the tomb of the Unknowns"---- All three missed it --

This is really an awesome sight to watch if you've never had the chance. Very fascinating.

Tomb of the Unknowns - interesting facts about the honor guard members

1. How many steps does the guard take during his walk across the Tomb of the Unknowns and why?

21 steps: It alludes to the twenty-one gun salute which is the highest honor given any military or foreign dignitary.

2. How long does he hesitate after his about face to begin his return walk and why?

21 seconds for the same reason as answer number 1

3. Why are his gloves wet?

His gloves are moistened to prevent his losing his grip on the rifle.

4. Does he carry his rifle on the same shoulder all the time and,if not, why not?

He carries the rifle on the shoulder away from the tomb. After his march across the path,he executes an about face and moves the rifle to the outside shoulder.

5. How often are the guards changed?

Guards are changed every thirty minutes, twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year.

6. What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be between 5' 10' and 6' 2' tall and his waist size cannot exceed 30.

They must commit 2 years of life to guard the tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform or the tomb in any way..

After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only
400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt.

There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform.. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror.

The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid
to rest in Arlington National Cemetery . A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are:

President Taft
Joe Lewis {the boxer}
Medal of Honor winner Audie L. Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII and of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

In 2003 as Hurricane Isabelle was approaching Washington, DC, the US Senate & House took 2 days off in anticipation of the storm.. On the ABC evening news, it was reported that because of the dangers from the hurricane, the military members assigned the duty of guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns were given permission to suspend the assignment. They respectfully declined the offer, "No way, Sir!" Soaked to the skin, marching in the pelting rain of a tropical storm, they said that guarding
the Tomb was not just an assignment, it was the highest honor that can be afforded to a service person. The tomb has been patrolled continuously, 24/7, since 1930.

Link to offical website:
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/tombofun.htm

Scranton

2010-10-16T22:41:00.000-04:00

FINALLY got this Friday!

Way too long of a story to explain fully (took me 10 minutes to tell Kyle when he asked why I was so excited). But, I'll just say it was a Christmas present from my sister and the sizes by brand "ALStyle Apparel & Activewear" run at least one size smaller than you're used to. I had to get it from her twice, return it twice for exchange, and spend a lot of time with emails and phone conversations with the NBC-Universal store support. In the end I have my shirt, it's super nice, and fits very well. Thanks again Amanda.

Gartner

2010-10-16T22:32:00.000-04:00

I know I post enough about mobile OS and the intense market but that's not my intention with this link: http://gizmodo.com/5664170/. What's cool is that it references a Gartner chart and press release, http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1434613

Gartner is the research vendor I work with daily in my current position in IT Strategy & Architecture. Most of their publications are very expensive pieces of intellectual property that are their business model. So this is a good example of something you might be able to understand and a good example of the type of service we leverage Gartner for. Still too nerdy? maybe... lol

Stone Total Tap Takeover Tour

2010-10-16T22:11:00.000-04:00

Stone Week!

Charlotte was lucky enough to be one of the seven cities selected as part of Stone Week, named "Stone Total Tap Takeover Tour Two Thousand Ten". Stone Brewing Company is a fantastic craft brewery and makes some of my favorite beer. Tiffani really enjoys good beer now so she was more than willing to go with me.

We had a great time. Greg Koch, the founder/owner of Stone, was the host. He's super friendly and seems to really enjoy meeting and talking with his fans. I met him once at an event with Adam in Louisville so when I saw him I said hi and he sat down with Tiffani and I and personally signed a DVD to us, awesome! We each got a commemorative shirt:

Overall, we had a really great time and I absolutely loved sharing it with my fiancee :)

This One Is On Us

2010-10-14T16:09:00.004-04:00

Realized this was saved as a draft since 1/5/10...oops

Another Version of the Truth: The Gift. Trent Reznor/NIN and his fans being awesome again. The main article is here: http://www.nin.com/?id=95355 and he tweeted about it today because now there are a decent amount of formats available and adequately hosted.

Perhaps more recent NIN/Reznor news is his work on "The Social Network" soundtrack/score.

You should definitely check it out: http://www.nullco.com/TSN/. there's a 5 track sampler and I the digital download was $3 on amazon when it released, $5 on that site or $8 for the physical CD. great music, great deal, great success :)

Verizon iPhone part 92

2010-10-14T15:58:00.000-04:00

Actually not really a rumor...but the rumors have been running rampant lately. This is a good article about the current state and differences of Verizon and AT&T's networks.

"Verizon iPhone: What you'll gain and what you'll give up http://bit.ly/d60NjW"

Yep, current Verizon/Sprint CDMA technology doesn't support simultaneous voice and data communication. I've been after them for the last couple years asking if/when it would happen. Their answer just seemed to be LTE. However, the CDMA standards organization ratified EV-DO Rev. B early last year which provides architecture for voice+data transmissions. Anytime I saw an LTE presentation by VZW I'd ask them if we could get an upgrade to Rev B while we waited for LTE to be built out across the nation. After all, the legacy CDMA network is HUGE and it would be awesome if it made it to Rev B so that the fall back technology would be adequate, obviously not as fast as LTE but greater functionality is more important than speed sometimes.

On the topic of speed… CDMA 3G is not the same as GSM/UMTS/HSPA 3G. EV-DO Rev A from Verizon is not as fast or capable the speed AT&T's 3G network is capable of. EVDO does have better building penetration and per tower propagation from Verizon because it's on a lower 800MHz block frequency. Also Verizon's network is already heavily loaded, they're the number 1 wireless carrier with 92 million subscribers. Current customers experience speeds about 1/4 of what they could be. I really think Verizon is just as susceptible to the data deluge that AT&T is/was hit by from the iPhone. Verizon hasn't really lost any ground in the subscriber base, they've kept customers happy with solid phone offerings including the quite successful DROID series. Oops, better add (TM) to that DROID… wtf George Lucas?

Anyways, long story short Verizon getting the iPhone may not be the holy grail of device+carrier that everyone is imagining. And that's not me hating or loving anyone, it's just the reality of current day wireless technology—all carriers have advantages and disadvantages. Ok, maybe I am hating on big red fanboys a little bit…

DEC Lights!

2010-10-14T13:15:00.000-04:00

In case you don't know I'm kind of obsessed with the new Duke Energy Center (DEC) and the LED lights it has covering the exterior. It looks really awesome, kind of like a lava lamp or something in the dark night sky. Anyways, I guess Monday or Tuesday was national coming out day so they lit up a rainbow of lights on the building. It was really impressive how clear and vibrant it looked. the colors didn't bleed together and look mashed or fuzzy, distinct and bright. Here's a story about it I posted to Facebook before: http://goqnotes.com/8788/

http://cltblog.com/11109

Simpsons + Banksy

2010-10-14T10:45:00.000-04:00

kind of weird but y'all probably know i'm a longtime Simpsons fan.

Kind of funny too. perhaps a bit awkward with the most recent Foxconn report but I think that was just a coincidence.

Jared Look | Cosplay?

2010-10-13T21:20:00.000-04:00

yeah, I've never heard of "Cosplay" either... but this is kind of cool/creepy (and has good music!). Tiffani sent me this article from Huffington Post:

"If you have just six minutes and 27 seconds to watch something style-related this Sunday, this video is for you. A girl totally transforms herself into Jared Leto using makeup techniques we learned in our tenth grade Drama 2 class, but never knew how to put to good use. Her end look is truly spot-on, but next time, we hope she goes for the blond fauxhawk."

Weird--yes. Impressive--to each his own I suppose. Music choice--excellent.

Largest Lego Ship

2010-10-13T21:14:00.000-04:00

Gizmodo (@Gizmodo)
10/11/10 8:23 AM
The largest Lego ship ever built is bigger than three queen-sized beds http://gizmo.do/d24Dug Truly giganormous

well this is awesome.

The Gizmodo story links to these other impressive lego ships as well:
http://gizmodo.com/279074/lego-aircraft-carrier-has-small-gravitational-pull

http://gizmodo.com/5214510/lego-battleship-yamato-is-biggest-lego-ship-ever

Apparently these giant ships keep getting bigger than the last so i'm sure before too long we'll see an even bigger one.

Babby Monkey

2010-10-08T17:35:00.000-04:00

These two videos are hilarious. I've been quoting or singing them for the last few weeks. enjoy.

Try and get that out of your head now, lol. right click and select watch on youtube if you want to see the comments or the sources for the videos. I can't really explain them anyways...

RIM Playbook

2010-10-08T13:47:00.000-04:00

I know I'm a little late with this one but I had some trouble getting the post to forward and save. An overview, partially from Gizmodo.

The BlackBerry PlayBook Tablet: 10 Things You Need to Know

The BlackBerry tablet is here, and it looks astoundingly nice. Nicer than anybody expected it to be. Here's what you need to know about the PlayBook, in 10 easy steps.

It's a 7-inch tablet with a 1024x600 screen that weighs 0.9 pounds

Meaning it's smaller and lighter than the iPad, with a more pixel-dense screen (i.e., text is gonna look cleaner and less pixel-y). It's a little bigger and heavier than the Samsung Galaxy Tab, on the other hand. (Then again, the Galaxy Tab looks more like a really big phone.)

It's running BlackBerry Tablet OS

As rumored, the BlackBerry PlayBook isn't running "BlackBerry 6," but the BlackBerry tablet OS, which is "powered by QNX technology." QNX is a software company RIM bought in April, whose software is used in products by Cisco and GE, among others. The OS is built on QNX's Neutrino microkernel.

It supports a whole bunch of standard platforms and technologies, like POSIX OS, SMP, Open GL, BlackBerry 6, WebKit, Java, Adobe Flash and AIR, along with RIM's new BlackBerry WebWorks platform. Apps written for WebWorks will run on BlackBerry 6 or the PlayBook, while Java makes it easier for developers to port Java-based BlackBerry 6 apps. Oh, and OpenGL means there's serious potential for graphically intense games.

It's got a tablet-optimized UI and multitasks out of the gate, unlike the iPad. And unlike Android, it has a nicer interface for navigating through applications, like a cross between webOS's cards and Apple's CoverFlow. It's got an onscreen keyboard for typing. The snippets of App World in the preview video look a lot like what you have on BlackBerry phones, a grid of tiles. The music player looks a bit like the iPod app on the iPad, but skinned in a slate color.

Dual-core 1GHz processor and 1GB RAM

That means it's got the horsepower to multitask, output 1080p video and run high-powered apps. The 1GB of RAM is particularly important for running applications in the background, and opening multiple tabs in the web browser, as iPad owners know from opening more than a few tabs in Safari and watching them get flushed as the iPad runs out of memory.

It's got "true" multitasking

By saying the PlayBook has "true" multitasking, RIM seems to be pointing at the fact that multitasking on the iPad is still limited in a lot of ways. Apps can't fully run in the background on the iPad like on a full computer, they can simply perform select actions, like playback audio or finish a download in a given amount of time. The implication is that the PlayBook will let things run willy nilly in the background, more like a standard BlackBerry phone.

"Flash-Loving," with Adobe Flash 10.1 and Adobe AIR built in

It runs Flash and AIR, which means Flash sites that don't work on the iPad will at least be viewable on the PlayBook. It'll be interesting to see how well Flash works on the PlayBook versus less powerful Android phones, where it can run into performance issues. AIR, on the other hand, opens the door for some app opportunities. Combined with the WebKit browser, it should be a pretty decent web experience.

Dual cameras with video conferencing and lots o' ports

This is swanky. The rear camera is a 5-megapixel shooter, while the front is three megapixels. From the back, it shoots video and from the front you can video chat.

It supports a handful of video formats—in 1080p—like h.264, WMV, DivX and MPEG, and it'll output video through a mini HDMI port. Also, it's got a standard micro USB port.

There's a Kindle App on the way

The PlayBook is more book-sized than the iPad, so fortunately a Kindle app for reading is already on the way, Amazon confirms. We're very excited about this.

Integrated with BlackBerry stuffs

It'll pair with a BlackBerry phone, so you can use the tablet to look at anything that's on the phone, like email, calendars or BBM without syncing the two. And it connects with BlackBerry Enterprise Server out of the box, along with all that entails.

It's coming out next year, but don't ask how much it costs

Specifically, RIM says it's coming out in the US in early 2011, with other places getting it sometime after March. There's gonna be 3G and 4G models in the future. RIM's not saying how much it's gonna cost yet, but since RIM loves the carriers, expect it to be offered through them for a discount. (In the preview video, it's mentioned that it works with existing BlackBerry smartphone data plans, so we'll see what that means.)

Overall, the PlayBook is a lot more exciting than anybody expected a BlackBerry tablet to be, especially given how thoroughly mediocre their last major product, the BlackBerry Torch, was. In fact, we're a little more amped about it than the Galaxy Tab. Now RIM's just got to carry through the ball forward.

Official Specifications

7” LCD, 1024 x 600, WSVGA, capacitive touch screen with full multi-touch and gesture support
BlackBerry Tablet OS, powered by QNX technology with support for symmetric multiprocessing
1 GHz dual-core processor (capable of symmetrical dual-core processing per the OS)
1 GB RAM
Dual HD cameras (3 MP front facing, 5 MP rear facing), supports 1080p HD video recording
Video playback: 1080p HD Video, H.264, MPEG, DivX, WMV
Audio playback: MP3, AAC, WMA
HDMI video output via standard Micro HDMI port and DLNA media streaming
Wi-Fi – 802.11 a/b/g/n
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR

Pair with a BlackBerry smartphone via secure Bluetooth connection for full access to:

Push technology systems/services
Email, Calendar, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), tasks, documents, more/etc.
BlackBerry security and data efficiency

Connectors: micro HDMI, micro USB, charging contacts
Open, flexible application platform with support for WebKit/HTML-5, Adobe Flash Player 10.1, Adobe Mobile AIR, Adobe Reader, POSIX OS, OpenGL, Java , SMP.
Ultra thin and portable:

Measures 5.1”x7.6”x0.4” (130mm x 193mm x 10mm)
Weighs less than a pound (approximately 0.9 lb or 400g)

Out-of-the-box compatibility with BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES)

Seamless pairing for a secure window into your BlackBerry smartphone
3G access via existing BlackBerry smartphone service plan.
Corporate data access
Secure and manageable.

Additional features and specifications of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be shared on or before the date this product is launched in retail outlets.
RIM intends to also offer 3G and 4G models in the future.

Looks pretty cool. I currently think the iPad looks useful and a lot of fun so I'm excited to see this as well. Regardless, I don't have the money for either so it'd be cool if I got one to use for work or something. I could legitimately use the iPad with all the PDF articles I read. If I had an iPad, I'd probably want to make it more excessive by getting the ColorWare "Grip".

Gizmodo's rant about it is kind of funny.

anyone else want a tablet, something in between your phone and computer?

Speedtest.net iPhone Result

2010-10-08T12:58:00.000-04:00

WOW. Ran this test while Tiffani and I were sitting outside at the Stone event on Wednesday.

-71dBM

Test Date: October 6, 2010 8:20 PM
Connection Type: Cellular
Server: Charlotte, NC
Download: 5307 kbps
Upload: 1237 kbps
Ping: 183 ms

External IP: 166.137.15.197
Internal IP: 10.54.202.217
Latitude: 35.1699
Longitude: -80.8502

A detailed image for this result can be found here:

http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/63980104.png

Ookla operates Speedtest.net using a massive global infrastructure to minimize the impact of Internet congestion and latency. With over a million tests performed every day across hundreds of servers, Speedtest.net is the ultimate resource for bandwidth testing and related information. Visit it on your computer today to find out why.

My signal is quite strong at -71 but wowzers are those results impressive! 1237kbps is about 1.21 Mbps which is what everyone talks about, "megabits" (not megabytes btw). Anyways, 1.21Mb upload is more than twice as fast as the RoadRunner TURBO that Kyle and I pay $70/mo for. The download speed is also quite impressive at over 5Mbps. The RoadRunner Turbo is twice as fast as that but still... must be that sweet HSPA AT&T has been rolling out. Also, just for reference, my ping at home was 33ms versus the 183ms on my phone. I think either the mobile speed is impressive or it's sad that its coming so close to the wired home connection, or both.

Antonov FAIL pt 2

2010-10-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

So the biggest plane in the world was back in Charlotte this week, the Antonov AN-225. It was here near the end of June to drop off some turbine equipment from Thailand to Siemens for repair. I'm guessing the repairs were completed and the plane was here again to pick them up.

Kyle and I tried going to see the plane take off when it left before but there ended up being some kind of delay or mechanical problem so we waited for about an hour and half before we gave up and came home. This time it was much less publicized and Flight Aware listed it as having filed a flight plan for 4:00pm departure 10/4/10. So I got to a good stopping point with work and headed over about 3:40--hoping to just get lucky; get there right in time to see it and then come back home. I did get to see it sitting on the tarmac on my way in which was cool, but I wanted to see it take off right in front of me! Of course it was delayed again. I waited about an hour and then decided I was going to come home, get a hair cut and go for a run. Stopped by the hair cut place--a new little place two blocks away--but they're only open Tuesday-Saturday. sigh, my run was alright though. I'll try getting a hair cut tomorrow or try and convince Tiffani to do it again :)

anyways, here's some pictures I got from my mentor at work--he's also enjoys planes.

phones are cameras or cameras are phones?

2010-10-04T19:04:00.000-04:00

Engadget Mobile (@engadgetmobile)
9/30/10 5:39 PM
Nokia N8 vs. iPhone 4: camera showdown http://bit.ly/bJXr4A

Really cool article and comparison! interested in thoughts and opinions of other people that know about photography--kind of goes over my head with some of the stuff they talk about. But, I can see the pics and do think that the iPhone 4 does look kind of fake sometimes--makes things prettier and better looking than they are. The N8 definitely looks different, I think its better, I think I'm noticing the extra MP count if that's what makes it look so detailed. But, maybe there's something to be said for making our memories look better than they actually are? lol, idk...

The N8 looks like a stunning piece of hardware, wish they'd open up to Android and make both Android and Symbian.

Interesting Chad Johnson Article

2010-10-02T16:53:00.000-04:00

@OGOchoCinco: A must read.... http://rock.gs/85fs great article and so true! Read it y'all!!

actually a good article and i agree with the writer about how he used to dislike Chad. I was the same way--thought he talked too much and should just play football instead of making news any other way he could. But, then because of how "real", normal, fun, and accessible Chad is I realized he really is a nice guy just trying to be different and have fun with the game and life. you might think he's annoying or don't care what he has to say which is cool, sometimes i do too... however, i really respect him for being original and so open to his fans since other celebrities aren't or they fake it when they do. i guess Rob Dyrdek is too, i like him as well.

Chad Ochocinco: Why the Cincinnati Bengals WR Is Ready To Become World-Famous

By Kevin Jones (Contributor) on October 1, 2010

Ninety percent of professional athletes loathe the limelight that their high-profile jobs thrust upon them.
They hate the cameras, they hate all the interviews, and they don’t understand why fans care so much about their day-to-day activities. These are the guys who consider sports to be a job; any extracurricular activities outside their respected playing fields are like chores to these guys.
About 99.9999 percent of professional athletes learn to accept and understand their role in the sport and entertainment society. They make the right public appearances, they stay after to sign the extra autographs, and they grasp the level of their superstardom among fans in their respective cities.
Then there’s this one guy.
He’s been on the cover of dozens of magazines.
He’s changed his last name à la a rock 'n' roll phenomenon.
He helped make Twitter.com mainstream in the sports world.
He’s starred on a reality show on VH1.
He’s launching his own cereal and video games.
He is recognized by just one name, similar to Tiger, Elvis, Madonna, and Prince.
Ochocinco.

Three years ago, I couldn’t stand Chad Johnson. He constantly bitched about the Cincinnati Bengals organization, and I thought he was overrated on the field.
His touchdown dances were hilarious, but I thought he was a glorified clown.
Two years ago, when he changed his name to "Ochocinco," I, along with millions of others, thought he was headed down the Ron Artest/Mike Tyson "la-la land" road. Football seemed to be the last thing on his mind. But Ochocinco knew exactly what he was doing; he was becoming a marketing machine.

The change of the last name spurred sales for his new jersey. He won over the majority of his nay-sayers in his 2009 Hard Knocks performance. HBO did an amazing job of catching the character of Ocho—his monstrous truck, his McDonald's addiction, and his famous phrases like “Child, please!” and “Kiss the baby.”
But what the cameras also caught was Ochocinco’s essence: connecting with all of his fans.

Practically every week, Ochocinco will Tweet out his location. It might be a movie theater, a shopping mall, or a restaurant. He will command on the first 80 people to show up where he is. There he will treat them to entertainment, buy beverages, and kick it with his extreme supporters. He literally has "followers" who will respond to him all around the United States.

He’s taken two fans out in Baltimore on $10,000 shopping sprees. He gives out his Xbox Live username on the Internet to play video games with his fans. He’s even put up his personal phone number to his 1.3 million Twitter followers. Who else on the planet Earth would do this? Chad Ochocinco willingly lets his adoring fans enter his life. He isn’t a partier. He isn’t a big intellect. In fact, every single time he talks, you think he’s pranking you. He may be a goofball, but Ochocinco is also a businessman. I’d argue he has strong enough support to become one of the most influential sports figures in America. Ochocinco is willing to let the world enter his life. This is something we need to take advantage of.

So if he follows these two steps below, I think Ochocinco could reach Oprah-esque fame among men in the United States.

1. Launch the OchoCinco News Network (OCNN)
Those who follow Ochocinco closely know that he’s a big proponent of "Ustream," a free live video stream available on the Internet—almost like a live YouTube. But this just isn’t enough of Chad. He needs a real camera crew on him majority of his days.
The OCNN started as an online stream this past Super Bowl with Chris Cooley, Ray Rice, and Ochocinco participating in media day, asking the players numerous hilarious questions.

An exclusively players-run network like this would introduce fans to a whole new side of the modern athlete. Think about every channel you watch. ESPN, ABC, FOX, etc. are all run by CEOs and executives. Obviously, the OCNN will bring in some television experts, but Ochocinco will have final say on all programming decisions.
This type of control from a non-media head could change the way we watch television.
The OCNN could start with a morning talk show hosted by Nabeel and I (think Mike and Mike or Dan Patrick), with regular appearances from Ochocinco himself. By bandwagon effect alone, several famous players will want to appear on the “Players Network,” which would be one potential slogan for the new channel.
Different NFL players or other influential athletes could partake in a roundtable discussion (think a dude’s version of The View) about the labor dispute, concussions, overrated and underrated athletes—anything!

All of Ochocinco’s games would be broadcast later with a camera on him at all times, even in the locker room. There could be a Twitter-based show where fans all across the world could steer the direction of the program. This type of access would mesmerize his absurd number of current fans and would bring in millions more. It almost would be like a real life version of Jim Carey’s The Truman Show. The best part about this network is that it would be 95 percent reality. There would be live mistakes and goof-ups, but that’s why we love Chad. He’s as real as us.

2. The OCNN Could Become a Legitimate Challenger to ESPN
ESPN forces certain views and opinions down the throats of its viewers. We all love ESPN, because we’re compelled to—we have no other options. There’s ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPNU. Let’s take an idea from the movie Dodgeball and literally create ESPN the Ocho. Today’s athletes all need to unite together, opposing the unfairness and scrutiny in which ESPN portrays certain competitors. If Ochocinco were able to bring Nabeel and I onto his staff, we could put together a compelling case on why the monopoly of ESPN has become more like TMZ. The OCNN will give the players' perspective, not the media's.
Ochocinco needs to bring together the NFL (just for starters) and tell players and agents to stop breaking news to ESPN. Imagine if Ray Lewis was retiring and he broke the news on OCNN. This would truly make Ocho’s network an excellent source for news. ESPN needs a competitor—they have not one character working for their network as charming, as entertaining, as controversial, or as real as Chad Ochocinco.
Once OCNN expanded, we could try and purchase rights to actual games, make a magazine, etc. ESPN paved the way for how to make a sports network, now Ochocinco needs to rally his army to challenge their authority. Ochocinco realizes the direction mass media is going. With the right staff of people in place, I think he could take over our little sports world.

Engadget Mobile Editorial: Firmware, forums, and desperation -- the dark side of Android hacking

2010-09-29T08:46:00.000-04:00

Interesting article. kind of makes me wish I had an Android phone to play with--an extra phone though, this doesn't sound like fun if it's your only/primary phone. i think that's why the writer actually enjoys it--cuz it is for fun if it's not your daily driver.

Engadget Mobile (@engadgetmobile)
9/23/10 3:58 PM
Editorial: Firmware, forums, and desperation -- the dark side of Android hacking http://bit.ly/9eTH1d

www.engadget.com/2010/09/23/editorial-the-dark-side-of-android-hacking/

That picture above is no joke -- that's where I ended up last night trying to revive my Droid X review unit. It was fun, in a hacky mad-scientist sort of way, but it's also really sad -- a testament to how Google approves Android device hacking with a wink and a nod, but doesn't provide any safety nets for its most passionate users.

Let's back up, though. How did I end up in such dire straits? It started when I had the nerve to update this Droid X to the leaked Android 2.2 build -- a simple process that involved installing the file on a microSD card and restarting. Unfortunately, since Motorola refuses to provide a sanctioned upgrade path from the leaked build to the official 2.2 build released earlier this week, I was forced to downgrade back to 2.1 to get back on track. Based on how easy the update was, this would be a piece of cake, right?

Well, no. The original 2.1 build for the Droid X isn't actually available from Google, Motorola, or Verizon, so I was stuck wiping my phone and reflashing it entirely to a leaked build of 2.1, this time with the confidence-inspiring name of the "the_gift.sbf." Where did it come from, and what does it actually contain? I still have no idea -- but lacking any officially-approved options, I held my breath and restarted the phone in bootloader mode to begin the flashing process. Things seemed to be humming along, until, of course, the phone decided it had a dead battery in the middle of the flash and died. Oops.

Yes, the two hours it took me to sort out the hacked flashing software had been too much for my poor Droid X's previously-full battery, and even though it was plugged in the whole time, it doesn't charge when it's in bootloader mode. I'd gone and bricked my phone. At this point there was nothing to do but take a picture and laugh -- things had gotten wildly out of hand.

That's when I hit upon another forum post describing a way to trick the phone into thinking the battery was charged by splicing the power leads from a USB cable to the power terminals. It was late, I'd been drinking, I had a wire stripper handy... you all know what happened. Miraculously, it worked -- I got the phone to re-flash and boot into 2.1, although the flashing utility insisted that it had ultimately failed. (The battery also reported being 75 percent full, so I have no idea what the actual problem was.) Next thing you know, I was pulling the official 2.2. OTA update down, and hey -- we're back in business.

Like I said at the top, I actually had fun doing all of this. It was interesting and nerdy, and, well, come on -- I totally got to hotwire a phone battery with a sliced-open USB cable while reflashing it with leaked firmware. High five. And a double high five for the Android community, which is about as enthusiastic and creative a group of people as I've ever encountered online. But hold up: I don't trust this phone at all anymore. I don't know anything about the system software I've installed or where it came from, and I have no idea what the leaked flashing utility actually did to it. I can't rely on a device that I don't trust. If this was my actual phone and not a review unit, I'd be completely screwed -- I need this thing to do my job.

Of course, hacking any device carries its risks, and I definitely knew them when I installed that leaked build of 2.2. But Google goes on and on about how Android is "open," and the amazing Android community is a proud credit to how tinker-friendly the platform is at its best -- there's a cooked ROM for everything. We wait with bated breath for every Android phone to be rooted and hacked, and every time we review an Android phone and deduct points for a lame manufacturer skin we're repeatedly told by Android fans that it doesn't matter because "real" power users will just hack their devices anyway. Google has to know that its most passionate users are hacking its OS to hell and back -- it's become the defining strength of the platform.

Google can't keep implicitly condoning Android hacking unless it requires manufacturers to provide restore tools for every device.

But hacking can definitely go too far, and Google doesn't provide any way for you to return to the original Android experience that shipped with your device -- you're at the mercy of the manufacturer and the carrier. Some manufacturers are better than others -- HTC provides updaters for many of its phones -- but some, like Motorola and Samsung, provide nothing at all. Once I left the reservation and installed that leaked 2.2 build, I was gone for good -- no official path back to the fold exists. That's not true on other platforms: if I was running a jailbroken iPhone, I'd just restore it with iTunes, and it would be factory-fresh with known software. That's simply not the case with Android, and it's a problem -- Google can't keep implicitly condoning Android hacking and trading on the enthusiasm of its community unless it requires manufacturers to provide restore tools for every device. Sometimes you just want to go home again.

In my ideal world, consumers would be able to download official stock Android builds for their devices directly from Google, but I'm not ignorant of the carrier- and manufacturer-driven reality we live in. For better or worse, Android's only "open" until the carriers get their hands on it. But Google should insist that every Android manufacturer and carrier release images of their customized firmware for every device as well as tools for easy restoration. It's the only fair way to treat the people who are hacking the platform and giving it the amazing momentum it has, and the only fair way to continue promoting the platform as "open" when in reality the carriers and manufacturers are doing everything they can to lock it down.

FW: @Gizmodo, 9/14/10 2:00 PM

2010-09-20T17:37:00.000-04:00

Wonderful article about GSM and CDMA from Gizmodo. http://gizmodo.com/5637136/. Educate yourself if you want to feel less overwhelmed by the carriers, plans, phones, etc.

Also, while I respect this article: http://www.tipb.com/2010/09/14/iphone-android-carriers-wrong-wrong-fight/ it's a bit too Apple/iPhone fanboyish for my tastes. It fails to recognize the power and influence of radio/chipset manufacturers as well as the carrier/customer equipment subsidy business model that has entrenched itself in the US/NA market. I still talk to people that balk at $100 or $200 for a phone, even a high-end HTC or iPhone—so don't completely blame Google in the Nexus One situation. To that point, just because they stopped the Nexus One before introducing a similar situation with another phone doesn't mean they won't but would I have I liked to have seen a longer effort, yeah sure.

Gizmodo (@Gizmodo)
9/14/10 2:00 PM
Giz Explains: What's the Difference between GSM and CDMA? http://gizmodo.com/5637136/

close your eyes and let go of the wheel

2010-08-25T22:56:00.000-04:00

y'all might have seen this already... pretty ridiculous--that it was perfectly caught by a police car's dash cam and that it was on Dayton's 675, which i'm familiar with as with many people I know.

I actually first saw it posted on Twitter--say what you will about Twitter but if you follow the right people it's useful, worthwhile, and can be the fastest way to find out about news, events, etc. I even won 2x tickets to a Kiss concert this weekend for following live nation NC, lol.

My Dad forwarded it to me as well; in an email that originated from his work peers (civil engineers) it was humorous that they were worried about the bridge pier and/or impressed by it's resilience. which honestly, is completely understandable--that's the stuff that challenges them. Sure they can make bridges withstand weather and normal wear and tear but it's these freak incidents that truly test their work. One of Cincinnati's bridges was hit by a truck/train a couple years ago, May 2008. (compliments of my Dad, thx)

anyways, Devour is pretty cool--somewhat affiliated with uncrate i guess. they had the firebird video as well, http://devour.com/video/insane-firebird-crash/

RIM

2010-08-19T18:31:00.002-04:00

RIM = Research In Motion = The company that makes BlackBerrys

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/06/30/what-happened-to-research-in-motion-and-where-are-they-going/

Oh, wow. Boy Genius tweeted this the other night amid some of his rants against the new BlackBerry 9800 Torch and how frustrating the operating system was. While I haven't personally had any experience with a Torch or BlackBerry OS6 which is on it, it's not hard to imagine. I actually remember reading this article last summer and there was a brief discussion about this on a CrackBerry podcast last year as well.

This write up really seems to have come to fruition too. RIM has hit a plateau and it's noticeable. Now the BlackBerry is still amazingly solid and really nothing wrong from most vantage points--it's more about the outlook of what's to come in the future. With the current state it's hard to see as much growth and development that has been and will continue with other platforms and other phones. It really lends to the fact that it was around this time last year that I started carrying two phones because my BlackBerry wasn't enough and I desired more mobile functionality--and I actually don't really have a wish for one phone right now.

Anyways, I just thought it was intriguing to read that BGR post a year later and think about it...to think that my BlackBerry hasn't really done anything new in the last year and probably won't do anything new in the next year, lol. Well, I did get the trackpad in the last year so I guess we can count that--though it's hardware and not software... when will I be so happy with a phone that I can colorware it again?

lol, and is this the latest news from RIM?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Thursday, August 19, 2010 9:37 AM
Author: Boy Genius
Subject: BlackBerry Bold R020 internal overview, replaces BlackBerry Bold 9700

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/08/19/blackberry-bold-r020-internal-overview-replaces-blackberry-bold-9700/

You’d think that RIM would be replacing highest-end product with a brand new device, right? Well, previous rumors suggested that the BlackBerry Bold 9700 would get nothing more than a simple refresh, and we’re able to confirm those rumors. We have a leaked internal document detailing all sorts of fun stuff. Market positioning, technical overviews, and a bunch more. The big picture view? The BlackBerry Bold R020 (9020? 9750 We’re just guessing) will be practically identical to the 9700 visually. Internal changes include a 5 megapixel camera sensor, and 512MB of RAM up from 256MB. It will also launch with BlackBerry 6 — obviously. We’d love to say there is more, but there isn’t, so check out the leaked document and let us know your thoughts, ok?

ICHCheezburger

2010-08-19T18:24:00.000-04:00

this is from a few weeks ago but I forgot to publish it from draft...

funny picture that looks like SQ :)

Fwd: How Mark proposed!

2010-08-15T23:16:00.000-04:00

Tiffani and I got engaged! So, the quick and easy way to tell the story is for me to just post a copy of the email she sent out to her family/friends.

be sure to check out the pictures here: Ring Photos

Thanks for helping with this post Tiffani! :)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tiffani Shoop tiffani.shoop@gmail.com
Date: Sun, Aug 15, 2010 at 10:59 PM
Subject: How Mark proposed!

Hello everyone! I'm so happy to tell you that Mark proposed to me last night! He proposed August 14th, 2010 and we first met on October 14th, 2009.

So Mark and I went shopping Saturday (the 14th) and when we got back we went to his place. While we were out he said he had a couple of surprises for me that may or may not involve Susie Q (that is my cat). So we got back and walk in his apartment and he has a table right by the door and there was a cash register sitting on the table! For some reason, I've always loved playing on cash registers and he always jokes that he's going to get me one so I can play with it. So I'm all excited that I got a cash register and I start playing with it hitting buttons, and then I hit the total button and the receipt pops up and I look at it, and on the top it says, Will you marry me? I was like WHAAAT?! Will you marry me?? Then he got down on one knee and pulled a box out from behind the cash register, opened it up, there was my beautiful ring and he asked me if I would marry him and then I said yes! I couldn't stop laughing I was so happy and excited. It was a great moment and so original on his part. I love him, I'm so excited to marry him, and I can't wait for you guys to meet him! Enjoy the pictures!

Click here to go to Mark's Photobucket and see all the pictures!
Ring Photos

Thanks! We love you all!

Also, please forward to anyone I forgot, I don't have everyone's email address (Uncle Greg).

xoxox,
Tiffani and Mark

--
Tiffani Shoop
tiffani.shoop@gmail.com

@cltblog, 8/12/10 11:15 PM

2010-08-15T23:11:00.000-04:00

CLT Blog (@cltblog)
8/12/10 11:15 PM
Video: Duke Energy Center goes blue for the Panthers http://cltblog.com/o7a

Sent from my mobile device

regular update

2010-08-11T21:55:00.000-04:00

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a good ‘ol regular update, and I always say it’s been too long or forever so I’ll just skip saying that…

In June I took a week of vacation to go home early before Patrick and Sharon’s wedding because Hanno was coming and I wanted to spend some time with him. That was a lot of fun however I didn’t feel well most of the time, not completely sick but not completely well either. Not sure what was wrong with me, perhaps my body was fighting off something more serious and it could have been much worse—so I’ll be thankful I was mostly ok. Tiffani was planning to work that week so I wondered if she could get a 1 way ticket to fly to Columbus or Dayton on Friday afternoon before the rehearsal/dinner and then drive back with me since I was planning to drive. Good deals were awaiting…it was about $120 for her to fly to Dayton from Charlotte connecting through Cleveland. Anyways, the wedding was wonderful and everything basically went perfect. It was pretty big too, Patrick and Sharon have lots of family and friends. There were some nice pictures too:

After the wedding there was no time to rest, Tiffani was moving the following weekend! However, we had been planning it for a while and I had been helping her pack, slowly but surely, for about a month prior. She has a lot of stuff and I like to be precise and organized so things went well. She was moving into the Millennium apartment complex, just finished in February/April of this year and across the street and rail tracks from my place. Not only was I excited to live closer to her, her old place was a good 15 miles and 25-35 minutes depending on traffic, but she would be closer to work—only about 5 minutes away, and living in the neat neighborhood of South End. Her new place is super nice and I love it. While it’s smaller, as a studio, it’s set up very well and the space is optimized super efficiently. To make up for the lack of space in the unit itself she got a storage unit in her building, one floor up and not too far away. Even with the storage unit she’s not paying more than her old place which was an important factor and wonderful that we could make that work. I really like having the storage unit—in part because I like to be a packrat and keep everything, like boxes…lol. She got her keys on Friday June 25^th and we moved a few things that night, the big move was planned for Saturday. Ended up getting the smaller U-Haul truck, 10 foot box, but not the van style though. Big thanks to Kyle for helping the entire day. We had to make two trips and Brandon and Emily joined to help for the second one. It was very tiring but overall very successful. I say I hate moving but am always happy about it when it’s over because I’m in a better place. I need to stop renting and buy a place so I can stay for longer…

The next week and weekend were unpacking and settling which went great. After that it was time for Tiffani to take a week long vacation with her family in Oak Island, NC on the beach, I was invited too! It was really nice, one of her Dad’s co-workers has a house about two blocks from the beach. I haven’t really been to the beach much in my life so I don’t get as excited as other people but it’s pretty cool. I hate the sand though. It gets everywhere and can be super hot in the sun. I couldn’t take too much time off work so I came back Monday evening. It was nice to spend time with her family too, I like them and we have fun. She has two younger brothers, Ricky and Calvin, and it was funny to see her as the big sister. It made me imagine that if I had a brother I would have been even more successful terrorizing my older sisters. We actually hope to go back to the house sometime in the next couple months just for fun with friends.

I know most of the stuff I post is tech related. I actually had a nice post about that iPhone/at&t article but lost it somehow. It said it saved the post but I think it reverted when I restored my browser session before I was able to publish it. Oh well, I wasn’t happy about it so I just didn’t re-write it. Anyways, I think I did post that I got an iPhone 4—after getting a 3GS, signing up for unlimited data, and then exchanging it for an i4. So, that was successful and I’m pretty happy with it. The jailbreak and unlock was finally released so that makes it a lot more fun. It’s really quite impressive that the “iPhone dev team” was able to find a vulnerability that could be exploited through the web browser—meaning the device can be rooted OTA, over the air. Previously they had very nice, easy to use programs where you would simply plug the phone in, and the program would just be a button “click to jailbreak” and I was always very impressed with that. I knew it would happen eventually and that I should just be patient and wait—which I was.

I finally got my first visitors besides my parents! Patrick and Sharon came the last weekend in July and it was really fun. It was great to see them and I enjoyed showing them around and just doing fun double date things with Tiffani and me. They flew in Friday afternoon and left Sunday evening. We went to Common Market, Nix Burgers, Dandelion Market, Dixies, rode the LYNX, Original Pancake House, Concord Mills, Dave & Busters, Penguin, played games, and went swimming in the pool. Needless to say it was busy with lots of delicious food. To that note I’ve been trying to run and work out in my apartment’s gym so I can do fun and unhealthy things without feeling to guilty, and it would be nice to be in better shape as well J

Well, I think I need to get working on setting up a Fantasy Football league. also, here's a cute picture of Susie Q in a basket.

FW: Bad Connection: Inside the iPhone Network Meltdown

2010-08-09T13:46:00.000-04:00

a very good article about the iPhone, att, apple, Steve Jobs, etc.

Feed: Wired Top Stories
Posted on: Monday, July 19, 2010 3:30 PM
Author: Fred Vogelstein
Subject: Bad Connection: Inside the iPhone Network Meltdown

ATT and the iPhone -- a pairing that truly was too good to be true. Here's how the partnership between ATT and Apple went so terribly wrong.

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FW: BMW supports iPod Out, fills your 2011 auto with 2001's finest user interface

2010-07-08T23:18:00.000-04:00

they better have a firmware update!!!!! the current integration is awful. i think it really needed this from the start to have a chance. no album art, no track number, no total time or time remaining, no adaptive scrolling... why is it so hard to control an iPod from your steering wheel?

Ford did a better job with SYNC, a Microsoft product. pwnd?

Feed: Engadget
Posted on: Thursday, July 08, 2010 4:38 PM
Author: Tim Stevens
Subject: BMW supports iPod Out, fills your 2011 auto with 2001's finest user interface

If you wish the iPod support in your BMW or Mini was a little less Munich and a little more Cupertino, this latest development from Bavaria will make you a happy little infotainment meister. BMW is announcing that its in-car iPod compatibility will be boosted to support iOS 4's iPod Out feature, which does not enhance your gadget's Ryan Seacrest impression but instead allows it to output its interface to another device. So, the in-car dash will replicate the simple iPod UI, which could be a good or a bad thing depending on whether you prefer Apple's design cues to BMW's. No word on exactly which vehicles will get this support, but this is referred to as part of a "new offer," so it certainly sounds like future autos only. C'mon guys, haven't you heard of a firmware update?

Gallery: BMW and Mini get iPod Out

Continue reading BMW supports iPod Out, fills your 2011 auto with 2001's finest user interface

BMW supports iPod Out, fills your 2011 auto with 2001's finest user interface originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iPhone 4 bars to signal strength mapped, antenna issue partially explained

2010-07-01T17:45:00.000-04:00

Perfect. This is exactly the information I wondered about. Because, in a sense bars mean nothing to me. They're a graphical representation of signal level and there's only five of them. The article is really fantastic, http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2, please, you have to read it.

Honestly, the writer reminds me of myself how I like to test phones repeatedly in multiple environments and average their performance--I imagine we'd be friends in real life lol. i like how he figured out how to get a numerical dBm reading since field test doesn't exist, Clever. I asked myself why I didn't think of that!

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 8:33 PM
Author: Kelly Hodgkins
Subject: iPhone 4 bars to signal strength mapped, antenna issue partially explained

The folks at AnandTech just published their review of the iPhone 4 and took a close look at the antenna issue that is plaguing the handset. In true geek style, they mapped the bar representation of the signal strength from -51dB (perfect signal strength) to -131dB (bare minimum to maintain a connection) and measured the iPhone 4 signal strength attenuation in terms of decibels. The result of the mapping show that over 40% of the signal strength range is represented by 5 bars which means your signal has to drop significantly (over 40dB) to go from 4 to 5 bars and only 10db to go from 4 bars to 3. Pretty big difference. They also found that the iPhone 4 on average loses 24.6dB when tightly held in your hand and 19.8 when held naturally due to the positioning of the antenna and the fact that it lacks insulative coating. These two above factors combined explain why those in strong coverage areas do not see any perceptible drop in bars while those in marginal areas do. If you are sitting pretty at -60dB you can easily absorb a 24dB loss to -84dB and not see any change in bars. But if you are at -91dB and lose 25dB, you will drop from four bars to almost none in a heartbeat. Interestingly enough, they find that the iPhone 4 antenna is significantly improved over the 3GS but is hampered by Apple's choice not to shield the now famous metal band.

Be sure to read the full article here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2
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iPad gets MiFi’ed

2010-07-01T15:35:00.000-04:00

awesome. sounds like a good way to get what you want, and definitely a more versatile iPad since it can get internet access itself as well as act as a router for other Wi-Fi devices.

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 8:20 PM
Author: Andrew Munchbach
Subject: iPad gets MiFi'ed

Do you possess soldering skills and nerves of steel? Do you not care about potentially ruining hundreds of dollars in electronics in the name of science? Boy do we have the tutorial for you. Someone over at dishtvhdstore.com (of all places) has frankensteined a Verizon Wireless MiFi into their Apple iPad, resulting in a EV-DO iPad hotspot sans GPS. Now, under no circumstances are we recommending you try this, but if you are curious hit the read link…there is a step-by-step guide.

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BMW ConnectedDrive integration for BlackBerry available in vehicles later this year

2010-07-01T15:33:00.000-04:00

wonder if this gets around all the laws against using your phone while driving... probably means i need a new BMW lol

Feed: CrackBerry.com blogs
Posted on: Friday, June 25, 2010 9:11 AM
Author: Adam Zeis
Subject: BMW ConnectedDrive integration for BlackBerry available in vehicles later this year

BMW has announced that they will be making their ConnectedDrive with BlackBerry integration available starting this fall. The service from BMW is the first of its kind and will allow users to receive email messages in vehicles via Bluetooth from their BlackBerry with the Pearl 3G will be the first supported device. The emails can be displayed on the iDrive control panel and even read aloud through the vehicles speakers. Users can also transfer tasks, calendar entries, text messages and more from the device for display on the control panel in the vehicle. As if that weren't enough, you will also be able to control the media player on your device via the iDrive system. This will be available to all BMW's fitted with a navigation system and will be offered in Europe and North America. Full press release after the break. Thanks to Eric for sending this in.

More information on ConnectedDrive >>

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Google Voice now available without an invite

2010-06-23T10:06:00.000-04:00

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Tuesday, June 22, 2010 1:35 PM
Author: Michael Bettiol
Subject: Google Voice now available without an invite

Wave wasn't the only Google service to be opened up to the public this week, as Google has now lifted its invite only restriction on its popular Google Voice service. It's still only available to residents of the United States, but now the only thing standing between you and: free calls, free SMS messages (to anywhere in the U.S. and Canada), voice mail transcripts, and having one number for all of your phones is logging into voice.google.com with your Google account and picking out a number.Read

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FW: Dear AT&T, your new data plans suck.

2010-06-17T21:05:00.000-04:00

good breakdown by BGR. forgot to approve this post fwd earlier...oops.

as many of you may have known I have been carrying two devices for some time now, iPhone 3G and my BlackBerry Bold 9700. However, the iPhone didn't have a SIM card in it so it was essentially an iPod Touch. since i was highly demanding of them I decided I would probably be interested in purchasing service for the iPhone, but figured mine as well wait and see if the next generation iPhone was released in June as it was highly speculated. however, what i didn't predict was the announcement of these tiered data plans and that they'd go into effect before the new iPhone was released.

since i wasn't at all interested in having an iPhone with a limited data plan i went forward with purchasing a 3GS before June 7th. part of the fine print is that if you're an existing customer with an unlimited data plan you can move forward with that plan being grandfathered even if you upgrade your phone. i.e. 3GS to i4. when the 3GS was announced and released last year apple/att offered an upgrade from the 3G to type-s to anyone that had purchased it within 45 days (or a discounted price if you preferred). predicting this would happen again--in similar fashion, i proceeded in order to secure a plan with unlimited data. i'm not a huge fan of being an immediate adopter of any iPhone because i'll have wait for a jailbreak to be figured out and for all those applications to be updated and/or compatibility verified. i guess it'll happen eventually. for now, who knows how soon i'll even be able to exchange for the i4 with the ridiculous amount of pre-orders that have taken place.

Feed: Boy Genius Report

AT&T's new data plans certainly have gotten their fair share of press over the last couple days. There are two articles in particular that got us thinking, and we would like to throw our two cents into the ring. So here are our thoughts: AT&T, your improved data plans suck. Hit the jump for the rest of our rant.
It's not because there is a lower data cap on the new plans… we can get our heads around that. We don't like it, but we understand it — unfortunately, it is the way things are moving. However, the way in which AT&T is going to charge smartphone users for the data they use is just dismal. The fact that using 2 GB of data while signed up for the 200 MB Data Plus plan will result in a bill of $150, while using 2 GB with the Data Pro plan will only total $25 is infuriating…and a mathematical/accounting anomaly. Reuters reporter, Felix Salmon, asked AT&T's executive director of media relations, Mark Siegel:
F.S.: "Is there any point at which AT&T will help a brother out and automatically switch a heavy data user from Data Plus to Data Pro."
M.S.: "No."
So lets review the math…

Siegel went onto say, "One of the things we found is that people don't want one plan. They don't want one size that fits all." Which we totally agree with, but when your options are 200 MB (for people who have a smartphone but probably shouldn't) and 2 GB (which will work for most, but certainly not high end users streaming video and/or tethering), you're being disingenuous. How about these for options: 200 MB for $15/month (for most BlackBerry users and people who have a smartphone and don't know what to do with it), $20/month for 1 GB/month (good for most), and $30 for 5/GB (for the high end data hog). There. That wasn't so hard, was it? Also… as Gizmodo pointed out, if you are going to nickle and dime us on data charges (and text messages, don't think we forgot about that), how about some roll over megabytes? So AT&T, we bid you good luck putting a positive PR spin on this one, because to be perfectly honest, there isn't one.
Read [Reuters] Read [Gizmodo]

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FW: Caffeine: Google’s new search index

2010-06-17T20:00:00.000-04:00

impressive, mind boggling if you try to think about it...

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 10:11 AM
Author: Andrew Munchbach
Subject: Caffeine: Google's new search index

Today, Google announced the completion of its new web indexing system title Caffeine. Google boasts that Caffeine, "provides 50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it's the largest collection of web content we've offered." Google goes onto explain just how their old index and Caffeine differ:

Our old index had several layers, some of which were refreshed at a faster rate than others; the main layer would update every couple of weeks. To refresh a layer of the old index, we would analyze the entire web, which meant there was a significant delay between when we found a page and made it available to you.
With Caffeine, we analyze the web in small portions and update our search index on a continuous basis, globally. As we find new pages, or new information on existing pages, we can add these straight to the index. That means you can find fresher information than ever before—no matter when or where it was published.

It all sounds good to us, after all…we like to keep it fresh from time to time. Google also indulges us with some fairly mind-numbing statistics about just how fast Caffeine actually crawls the web:

Caffeine lets us index web pages on an enormous scale. In fact, every second Caffeine processes hundreds of thousands of pages in parallel. If this were a pile of paper it would grow three miles taller every second. Caffeine takes up nearly 100 million gigabytes of storage in one database and adds new information at a rate of hundreds of thousands of gigabytes per day. You would need 625,000 of the largest iPods to store that much information; if these were stacked end-to-end they would go for more than 40 miles.

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RE: iPad Article

2010-06-17T19:58:00.000-04:00

This is part of an email response to my team at work--after we were talking about the iPad in the workplace during our weekly call.

"Good article, I read a lot about the iPad after it was announced and many points similar or in addition to the 10 referenced in that article were cited as weaknesses. However, I then realized that the iPad really shouldn’t be compared to netbooks because it is so far from those capabilities. I decided that it’s an additional companion electronic device that’s being offered to society. It can’t take the place of your computer or phone, though it could make a good compliment in-between the two. To that note, the new iPhone announced is essentially an iPad mini.

The closest thing to an iPad is the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, which was designed specifically for reading with an e-ink screen to reduce eye strain if you were going to sit down with a 500 page novel. While a much more sophisticated device I personally think it’s probably most useful for reading or web browsing/viewing and obviously entertainment like movies and tv shows. Alternatively, in a custom application or installation I could see them being an amazing point of sale or electronic clipboard type device.

So, long story short, as much as apple wants you to think you can do everything (and maybe more) that you could do on a computer it’s so far from that it’s hardly worth comparing. Unless it can fill a niche need I think the most practical use would be on the coffee table or kitchen counter—similar to the place where you used to put the newspaper. Since this kind of feels like a blog or forum post I’ll add IMHO (in my humble opinion)."

Subject: iPad Article Relevant to the Discussion Today

Funny that they don’t point out that you can’t print from the iPad

http://www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Spotlight/10-Reasons-Why-A-Netbook-Is-A-Better-Choice-Than-An-iPad-396227/?kc=EWWHNEMNL06082010STR1

so, that's why it's here :)

AT&T kills off unlimited smartphone data, announces cheaper rates?

2010-06-02T20:30:00.000-04:00

FML. I really hope the other carriers don't follow suite, even though history says otherwise... c'mon public, everyone cry and make them reverse!

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 5:58 AM
Author: Michael Bettiol
Subject: AT&T kills off unlimited smartphone data, announces cheaper rates

Ladies and Gentleman, unlimited smartphone data from AT&T is a thing of the past. Or at least it will be as of June 7th. Starting that day, AT&T will introduce two new data plans to replace its current $30 unlimited smartphone plan. Without a bunch of preamble and crying over the changes, here's the skinny on the plans that AT&T says will make it possible for "more affordable for more people to enjoy the benefits of the mobile Internet."
DataPlus

200MB of data for $15 per month. AT&T says this will be enough data to meet the needs of 65% of its smartphone users. If you go over the 200MB cap, AT&T will charge you $15 per 200MB of overages.

DataPro

2GB of data for $25 per month. According to AT&T, only 2% of its smartphone customers manage to blow through more than 2GB of data per month. Go over the limit and you'll be charged $10 per GB.

Tethering

Smartphone users that want tethering and have a DataPro plan can add the feature for $20 per month. This means you'll be sharing 2GB between your phone and your laptop for $45 per month. Not great at all, but remember this: A 5GB data card plan costs $60 per month. This means — with overages — you'll be able to have 5GB of smartphone and tethering data for $75 and not have to worry about two contracts. Oh, and "Tethering for iPhones will be available when Apple releases iPhone OS 4 this summer." About bloody time.

iPad

The $29.99 unlimited data plan for the iPad has not escaped the chop. Starting June 7th, new iPad customers will have two options: $15 for 250MB and $25 for 2GB of data. Any iPad customers who wish to stick to the $30 unlimited plan are free to do so, but AT&T is hoping most people will opt to save $5 and change plans.

As much as it hurts to see unlimited plans die off (and don't pretend we didn't know it was coming), the new rates will make data more accessible to those who don't have a lot of coins in their coffer. And again, to be perfectly clear, you are welcome to stay on the current $30 unlimited smartphone data plan, but if you think you can squeak by on the new plans and save $5 to $15, AT&T will move you over to the DataPlus or DataPro plan without renewing your data commitment. Awww, so sweet.
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How To Destroy Angels?

2010-05-28T21:12:00.000-04:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Destroy_Angels_(band)

interesting new band that includes trent reznor (NIN) and his wife mariqueen maandig. i'm guessing that since trent is (?) done with nine inch nails he's pursuing something for fun with the woman that he loves, and possibly a dream that she had as well.

mine as well check out the free pre-order and release

FW: Google lets the world enjoy FroYo

2010-05-26T18:22:00.000-04:00

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Thursday, May 20, 2010 12:21 PM
Author: Michael Bettiol
Subject: Google lets the world enjoy FroYo

Here's the deal. We weren't able to make it out to California to catch Google I/O 2010, but just because we're not there in person doesn't mean we can't cover it. We know you're dying to see what was announced today, so hit up the jump to drink it all in!
Before we get into the specifics of the big announcement, we thought it'd be a good idea to relay a few interesting stats.
In the 18 months since Android's first debut, there are now over 60 Android devices. 21 OEMs, 48 countries, and 59 carriers have helped make Android what it is today. Google announced in February that it was activating 60,000 units. Today, Google is activating 100,000 Android devices. Google is now second only to RIM in U.S. smartphone sales. In terms of total web and app usage, Android is now first. Google was hoping to have 500 million miles navigated with turn-by-turn by the end of the year. Today they're well over 1 billion. People love applications, and to help serve their needs there are now over 50,000 applications and 180,000 developers helping to keep Android front and center in the smartphone world. And now to the big news… Android 2.2 aka FroYo! Here's what it's all about.

Google has done a lot of work. FroYo's Dalvik virtual machine has a JIT compiler that's good for a speedup anywhere from 2x to 5x.
For corporate users, there are a bunch of new Exchange policies. You know, good stuff like auto-discovewrt, security policies, global address books, remote wipe, etc.
Elsewhere, there's a cloud-to-device messaging API. Developers can send messages to Google's servers and it will send an Android intent to the device. For example, if you're looking to get to a nice Italian bakery, you can hit up Google maps on your desktop and send the directions to your Android smartphone. It won't send some crummy text message or email, though. Oh, no. It will open up Google Maps Navigation and send you on your merry way.
Tethering and Hotspots The rumors were indeed true. Android will let you enable tethering at the platform level. Just open up the Wi-Fi settings, create a hotspot and you're good to go.
Browser FroYo brings major enhancements to the browsers. Javascript performs 2x to 3x faster. Google is working closely with standards bodies to make more capable and versatile browsers. Soon (and not necessarily in FroYo), you'll be able to do things like use the camera, manometer and accelerometer from within the browser thanks to some clever APIs.
Google has upped its game with voice recognitions. In the future, again, not with FroYo, voice recognition will be able to better understand human intention. So if you tell it to look up a picture, it will do that in browser. But if you tell it to call your favorite restaurant, it will do that, too. You'll also be able to use voice commands with the Google Translate website. Just say whatever it is you want translated and Google will
Google wants the most comprehensive mobile browser. "It turns out on the internet… people use Flash!" We saw a quick little demo of Flash running on Nickelodeon's site, and truthfully, it looked to run fairly smoothly.
The Quick Search box will allow you to easily search for applications. Developers can also tap into this. Say you bought something and plugged it into the Mint app. You can search for that particular transaction with the Quick Search bar.
You'll be free to shove games and apps to the microSD card and use them as if they were loaded on the devices on-board memory.
There will be an update all button for apps in the Android Market. If that's too much hassle, you can select any number of your apps to auto update. Very nice! Report feedback If an app crashes, you can send feedback directly to the developer and let them know what happened. Developers can view the entire stack trace and isolate the problem and fix it.
You'll be able to take advantage of a little known as the "internet" and have it push the app directly to your phone. The same can be done for music and videos. *drool* Streaming Music Thanks to Google's acquisition of Simplify Media, you can now stream your non-DRM music collection from your computer straight to your Android smartphone.

Developing…

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FW: Android 2.2 Froyo: everything you ever wanted to know

2010-05-26T18:21:00.000-04:00

Feed: Engadget
Posted on: Friday, May 21, 2010 2:25 PM
Author: Ross Miller
Subject: Android 2.2 Froyo: everything you ever wanted to know

Since its initial launch on the T-Mobile G1 in October of 2008, Google's Android operating system has evolved rapidly -- perhaps more rapidly than any other operating system in recent memory -- to become one of the most important and prolific smartphone platforms in the market today. Its latest incarnation, announced at Google's I/O conference in San Francisco this week, began life as codename "Froyo" (continuing its tradition of naming new versions as desserts in alphabetical order, starting with Cupcake) to officially become Android 2.2. Don't be fooled by the mere 0.1 boost in the version number over 2.1 Eclair, though -- this is a huge upgrade that represents the most user-friendly, compelling, and feature-complete version of the little green guy to date. Read on for our full look!

Gallery: Android 2.1 Eclair vs. 2.2 Froyo... food fight!

Gallery: Android 2.2 Froyo (unabridged)

Continue reading Android 2.2 Froyo: everything you ever wanted to know

Android 2.2 Froyo: everything you ever wanted to know originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 21 May 2010 14:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FW: Report: 10 million CDMA iPhones on order

2010-05-14T07:55:00.000-04:00

Oh boy…

I really didn't think we'd ever see a Qualcomm chip in an iPhone. Maybe they realized they should go for one last hurrah? Guess we'll see.

Honestly, if Verizon could just get EV-DO Rev B and something like an iPhone I think they would make all of their consumers happy and we'd be fine waiting a few more years for LTE… since I'm sure most people don't even know or care about LTE since it's a non-existent market but everyone cares about the iPhone and most, simultaneous voice and data.

Feed: Boy Genius Report
Posted on: Thursday, May 13, 2010 11:16 AM
Author: Michael Bettiol
Subject: Report: 10 million CDMA iPhones on order

DigiTimes has released a pretty interesting report this morning, one that would have us believe that Apple has just placed an order for a whole whack of CDMA iPhones. The CDMA iPhone is to be built by Pegatron — a subsidiary of ASUStek — and the company is expected to deliver up to 10 million devices per year. Naturally, both Pegatron and Apple have declined to comment, but it's pretty interesting that this rumor closely mirrors what the WSJ recently reported. Factor in that just two days ago we discovered that Verizon is working on an iPhone advertising blitz targeted for the end of summer and we'd say these CDMA iPhone rumors are getting really, really hard to ignore.
Read

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New Duke Energy Center

2010-05-09T14:04:00.000-04:00

The new Duke Energy Center building in Charlotte has some pretty sweet lights (LED?) incorporated into the exterior of the building. Tiffani and I were out driving the other week at night and saw them being tested, I guess cycling through all the colors patterns. Not really sure what was going on but it looked really neat, so cool to see a giant building be lit up with style and new technology. I really like multicolor lights...lol. If it turns out to be as cool as it could be I was to get an apt/condo/house/etc with a view of it so I can just watch it every night. Brandon has a pretty good view from his apartment, in the fall he said he saw the sides all lit up--i'm guessing it was something like this:

however, after seeing it lit up sometime in the fall while it was still under construction we didn't see any of the lights on the sides until a couple weeks ago. Brandon heard they had problems with the original installation and were either working to fix it or replace it--not sure what happened. A couple months ago Tiffani met the contractor that was working on it and confirmed that light installation did encounter a lot of problems, being complicated and very new technology they were essentially doing things for the first time. Anyways, here's a video that someone captured while the lights were on, in person I didn't think it looked as fast as it does in the video but whatever, probably just part of testing.

I got the video from CLT Blog, here's their site if you want to check it out: http://cltblog.com/
Also, here's a new diner they moved to Charlotte last week, it's only about two blocks away from me. should be pretty sweet, I'm excited.

Since it is May 8th, Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and sister!

trying out fwd rss feeds to blog...

2010-05-03T17:44:00.000-04:00

Steve Woznaik co-founder of Apple Computer with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne also known for his passion for practical jokes and jokes of all kinds. His latest prank is dedicated to Gray Powell who lost iPhone prototype in a brewery in California. The co-founder of Apple has turned the photos you see in the opening in his personal mailing list devoted to jokes and pranks, through which shares some of his contacts with funny pictures and other "pranks".
Step, a work of art, Woz drinking a beer and watch your iPhone sideways wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "I went drinking with Gray Powell and all I got was a lousy iPhone prototype."
[VIA CNET]

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Playoffs

2010-04-21T21:43:00.000-04:00

While the NBA can be boring during regular season the playoffs are definitely exciting. And, I dare say that I've changed my opinion of the former statement about the regular season being completely boring. Though I was young when I lived in Phoenix I do remember the Suns and they were quite exciting, I particularly liked the gorilla mascot. I'm somewhat of a natural Cleveland Cavaliers fan growing up in OH with family from Cleveland. But, it's not the same when you're outside the city. It's been pretty cool living in Charlotte with the Bobcats being right uptown. While I didn't make it to a game this year I've enjoyed the atmosphere. I definitely like watching games on TV but this is frequently unavailable until the playoffs. With that, the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Charlotte Bobcats are in the playoffs. So I've got lots of games to watch!

As if I needed more TV to watch... I've been staying up-to-date with The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Breaking Bad has been amazing and Deadliest Catch started last week. The Office, Parks & Rec, and 30 Rock have started to slack off and The Simpsons, Family Guy, and The Cleveland Show are becoming manageable. Air Crash Scene Investigation has also started a new season which is pretty good. My friend Brandon is also equally interested in aviation so I've started to get him hooked on the show. His apartment faces towards the airport and he likes listening to ATC and watching the planes come and go--kind of jealous sometimes.

On another note, I've volunteered to participate in a bowling fundraiser for Charlotte big brother big sister via the IT Associate program at work. It's May 8th and my goal is to raise $125. If you'd like more information and want to donate:

Can you think of a better investment than the future of kids right in your community? Neither can I. And that’s why I’m asking you to help me support Big Brothers Big Sisters. Click below to find out how.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support Big Brothers Big Sisters - Greater Charlotte

yay mollie

2010-04-12T22:21:00.000-04:00

Dad sent an email to the vet as a follow up from her visit last week:

"Mollie (min. Schnauzer) has been on the liquid pain med and the antibiotic for mouth bacteria for a week now. We have noticed her breath is improved and she is a little more active now, but still favors her left hind leg. With weather improving, she does seem to want to go outside more often and wander around our backyard, especially if she hears the neighbor dogs."

Here's a picture of her sleeping peacefully at Easter in her little bed.

And, here's a picture of Evan and Laura--trying to pose for a nice picture. this was one of seven my Dad sent me lol.

awesome music video

2010-04-06T09:33:00.000-04:00

Kyle showed me this video and it's hilarious, the song is kind of catchy too. Hot Chip's first CD was alright so I'll have to check out their new CD that this is the single from. This is their official music video too btw...

Flyover!

2010-04-01T19:37:00.001-04:00

This is a pretty ridiculous fighter jet flyover from the Georgia Tech vs Wake Forrest football game on November 07, 2009.

Fortunately or Unfortunately, depending on your opinion, the pilots were permanently grounded by the Navy. I didn't know the "Navy Times" existed but I Topeka'd the incident and you can read the full story here: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/03/navy_pilots_punished_031910w/

Family Visit

2010-04-01T19:34:00.000-04:00

Mom, Dad, and Evan came last Saturday to visit me for the first time since I moved to Charlotte. We ate Mac's BBQ, Phat Burrito, went to Discovery Place Children's Museum, NASCAR Speedpark at Concord Mills, the Energy Explorium at McGuire Nuclear Station, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it--Evan is definitely tiring though. Here's some pictures:

Tiffani's Mom flew in Tuesday night and is staying at her place for the week since she's on spring break. Of course we had to go to phat burrito so we did that last night for dinner and it was amazing--probably the biggest portion I've ever gotten too. It was a beautiful evening and we had a really nice time.

familia et al

2010-03-23T17:28:00.001-04:00

Things have been good in Charlotte, March gets a lot warmer here than in Cincinnati/Columbus. Nothing explicitly exciting or of note but there's been lots of miscellaneous stuff.

My ski/snowboard trip was great! I went to snowshoe with Patrick 3/12 - 3/14 and we had a blast. they had record snowfall this year so there was plenty of base. the weather wasn't perfect--a bit wet but we did kind of procrastinate and put things off... it was still great though, all their runs were open including the big western territory which features their two longest runs, 1.5 miles or so--needless to say they were amazing. did make me tired though...lol

Next, my desktop computer has been acting up. I've kind of gotten overwhelmed trying to keep up and maintain my desktop, home theater pc, BlackBerry, iPhone, work laptop, work netbook, etc... not to mention I've got about 5 TB worth of HDD space and stuff to manage. I think XP started to become corrupt over time which consequently made my backup image corrupt--at least for the operating system, no data was actually lost. just the time and frustration with trying to restore all my programs, itunes, firefox, movies db, etc. do i want a new computer? maybe. i just want to simply and quickly be able to do all the things i used to be able to do...

Last weekend was great, went to the Charlotte Checkers game on Friday and then went to Strike City to watch the Buckeye's game with the Charlotte Buckeyes. good work OSU, bummer Cincinnati lost last night to Dayton in the NIT though.

Tonight is the CYP (charlotte young professionals) quarterly event where the guest speaker is the city mayor, Anthony Foxx. Tiffani, Kyle, Brandon, and I are planning on going. Unfortunately I haven't been feeling well and think I need to go to the doctor, but I still want to go...in part because I already paid $10 for it! Q4 last year I registered because Tiffani did but then she got sick and couldn't go and I was more interested in seeing her than whatever the event was so then I didn't go, $15 wasted on that one so not this one too!

This weekend is exciting, my parents are coming to visit! I thought Barbi and the kids might come too but I guess she's not up for traveling being pregnant? Evan may still come if he wants to, my Mom said she'd ask him. lol.

New video from The Lonely Island on youtube, Boombox.

Bugatti keeps pushing ridiculous to another level:

Breaking Bad Season 3 started, haven't watched it yet but am excited--was trying to get others here into it.

That's all I can think of for now

update fail

2010-03-03T17:20:00.000-05:00

ahhh, I hate that I haven't posted in so long I can't decide what to post and keep procrastinating. I actually tried posting from igoogle last week but it failed, :(. it was a simple post, to get me back in the game...saw this sweet Audi RS5 on uncrate.

http://www.uncrate.com/men/cars/coupes/audi-rs5/

I think it looks sweet and have been jealous of Hanno's A5 he got in '08 when I got my 128. The S5 alone is a beast pushing 330+hp, awd. the "racing"? s5 is even more ridiculous... also, here's Hanno's car... i hate (love) him...

also, apparently that's his driveway? beautiful! Hanno, do you ever get to drive or are you always have your license taken away for speeding? lol, j/k!

onto more news! i decided to switch back to Cincinnati Bell Wireless (CBW) after my latest stint on ATT. over the last few years cbw has significantly aligned with t-mobile--previously being with Cingular but that relationship seemed to start eroding after the ATT/Cingular merger which created the nations largest wireless carrier -- AT&T (Mobility), surpassing Verizon until Verizon purchased alltel to again leapfrog at&t...i think that's where we are today ;) further sidetrack...the FCC long ago messed up our wireless frequency spectrum allocation in regards to cellular availability--specifically when it comes to 3G space. it's pretty much also the reason that cdma carriers exist but that's another story... T-Mobile decided to wait for the advanced wireless spectrum (AWS) that was finally cleared to begin deployment of 3G service in the USA, this would be in the 1700 & 2100 MHz ranges. whereas att and canadian gsm utilized 800-850 and 1900. a decent article about this parity was written by boy genius report (BGR) last month. anyways...cbw roams on both at&t and t-mo but 3G is available on t-mo, cbw has been "soft" launching 3G service in Cincinnati for the past year or so. when i was downtown at the DE office my speed test rang in over 4000 Kbits/s down and 300+ up. however, it wasn't even available at my parents house in Monroe so they're obviously still adding base stations. as for the t-mobile service in Charlotte, well it was good enough for me to switch. actually, i pretty much receive superior coverage anywhere i've been. I'm a member of root mobile's beta (http://www.rootwireless.com) so it was cool to be able to see my service plotted on maps, t-mo vs att. the only thing att was better at was peak speeds with equal (strong) signal. att seems to be 300 or so kbit/s faster. i think att has rolled out HSPA whereas t-mo is hoping to do that this year, so we'll see. i haven't really noticed the slight difference. the fact that i can hold calls solidly from my desk at work and maintain calls in elevators at my apt and work has made me happier.

Other cellular/cbw news is that when i was in town i saw that CBW was advertising/promoting the google nexus one. you can't buy it from them, you still have to buy it from google unlocked for $530, but, they will let you sign a two year data plan for $15 off each month, just for getting the GN1 --which i think is an awesome deal cuz that adds up to $360, trying to make that $530 not so bad.

Still waiting for Will to get my Slingbox up and running...

Oomph! has a new CD/compilation where they re-recorded 16 of their songs in english. cool/weird since i'm used to it being in German and kind of sing along in german, lol.

Planning a ski/snowboard trip with Patrick to snowshoe 3/12-3/14, anyone else interested?

if you run your own mail server, check out blackberry server express. how about a video!?

I also enjoyed this article by popular mechanics, The World's 18 Strangest Airports. which, is just part of their "strange" series. http://www.popularmechanics.com/strangearchitecture/. strange isn't the best word, imho, i'd go with interesting/cool :)

Happy Birthday @ Howl at the Moon

2010-02-13T20:20:00.000-05:00

Howl at the Moon is a cool piano bar in uptown Charlotte at the Epicentre. 2/12/84 is Kyle's birthday so we got a big group of people together and had a really great night.

(btw, Kyle is holding a "Bald Guyz" head wipes wrapper,our friend/co-worker Carl Baker Jr uses them)
Tiffani and I also had a very nice picture:

She's beautiful and I love her :) Fancy dinner tomorrow at Morton's for Valentine's Day!

Charlotte Buckeyes!

2010-02-13T19:53:00.000-05:00

Keezy (Kyle) decided to go to Strike City to tonight at the Epicentre. I wanted to get some more information on it so I went to their website and on the sports/events tab they had a banner touting that they were the official home of the "Charlotte Buckeyes". intrigued, i clicked!

and there it was: http://www.charlottebuckeyes.com

kind of feels like my lucky day for OH stuff in Charlotte. earlier in the day we went and checked out the new millenium apt building across the street and the leasing agent was from Cincinnati. he told us that Fox & Hound downtown is a solid Bengal's bar on gameday Sundays--they have a projector and get a separate space in the downstairs area. great finds!

FlightAware + FedEx + Panda?

2010-02-08T08:51:00.002-05:00

Cool picture!

Photo Courtesy of FlightAware.com

Jeopardy FAIL

2010-02-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

LOL, CrackBerry had this on their website... while it is WRONG I realize the intent and it's just phrased wrong. The category was "non-edible fruits" so they were obviously going for a question with BlackBerry as the answer.

The question should have just read "The Bold 9000 is among this series of smartphones." Referring to the company that makes the series makes the answer RIM, Research In Motion--which is not a "non-edible fruit".

Gear Ring

2010-02-02T18:05:00.000-05:00

saw this on uncrate, it's an ADD ~~child's~~ man's dream!

http://www.kinektdesign.com/products.php

Colts Audibles

2010-01-29T11:55:00.000-05:00

an email from Dustin, thanks! :)

"This is just a quick glimpse into why I love football (particularly the Colts offense) and have a respect for how complicated the play-calling is...

This is why it pisses me off when i hear some bimbo saying that the football is just "big guys running into each other.""

ITA Video from Duke Energy

2010-01-28T13:02:00.001-05:00

from uncrate

2010-01-27T13:12:00.001-05:00

http://www.uncrate.com/men/cars/sports-cars/porsche-911-gt3-r/

"Thinking of starting your own racing team? The Porsche 911 GT3 R (€279,000; roughly $390,000) is a good start. Designed and built by the Porsche Motorsport Department at the company's Weissach Development Centre, this 911 race car is powered by a 4.0-litre six-cylinder 'boxer' engine delivering 480 hp, and features an ultra-lightweight chassis and body for a total weight of just over 2,600 lbs., height-adjustable MacPherson struts in the front and a height-adjustable multi-arm axle in the rear, LED rear light clusters, an anti-lock braking system, traction control, and an electronic throttle, all of which combine to make the GT3 R easier to handle and drive than past 911 racing models."

ihackintosh & Redsn0w

2010-01-27T12:00:00.000-05:00

they keep making it easier: http://www.ihackintosh.com/2010/01/guide-to-jailbreak-iphone-2g-3g-3gs-os-3-1-2-with-redsn0w-0-9/

and it's available for pc and mac, yay.

OiNK

2010-01-19T17:13:00.000-05:00

http://www.oink.me.uk

car videos

2010-01-18T17:55:00.001-05:00

Hanno recommended this video to me and it's amazing so I thought I'd share. It's about 10 minutes but worth it.

And of course, this is another amazing video of the Bugatti Veyron going 253mph...

Circle Apartment Advertising

2010-01-14T15:33:00.000-05:00

LOL. This is why local news is usually useless...

But, also why the advertisement already worked since it got so much attention. I think ladies only dancing is a bit trashy, how about gender neutral and just people dancing at a party?

Bobcat Tuesdays

2010-01-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

Bobcat Tuesdays - TWC Arena @ 7:00PM

$10 tickets, $3 beers, $2 hotdogs

12/15/09 - New York Knicks
12/22/09 - Detroit Pistons
1/5/10 - Chicago Bulls

1/12/10 - Houston Rockets
2/9/10 - Washington Wizards
2/16/10 - New Jersey Nets
3/9/10 - Miami Heat
4/6/10 - Atlanta Hawks

http://www.ticketmaster.com/promo/wzeykq/?dma_id=245

Nexus One & Uncrate

2010-01-12T09:03:00.000-05:00

uncrate.com is usually pretty quick to mention awesome electronics, including cellphones. I can't really remember them doing a hands on youtube video though. cool.

On that note, though a few weeks old (I don't know why I didn't post this when I first saw it...) the Nokia N900 is even cooler...

I know it's almost 20 minutes but at least watch the first three to see how the box opens :)

OSU Calendar

2010-01-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

Mom gave me this OSU calendar for Christmas. I thought today's trivia was interesting.

NEXUS

2010-01-05T22:45:00.000-05:00

well...not exactly. The google phone named Nexus One launched today at 1:00pm EST. I somewhat followed the liveblog from gizmodo but I was mostly just interested in an overview. And a good one it is...http://www.google.com/phone/static/en_US-nexusone_tech_specs.html

I love it because its pushing the market and will take us to the next level of mobile "telephony". If you didn't click on the link above for the specs here it is again, amazing.
1 GHz mobile processor, 3.7" 480x800 pixel AMOLED display, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi round out the most impressive features to me. The 5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash is great and should be viewed as an industry standard or minimum--the aged Sony Ericsson C905 little slider phone has 8.1MP with xenon flash...

Also, this should definitely make waves since they explicitly said Verizon was on board for a Spring time release and it will sport CDMA radios, AKA it'll use the same technology that big red has already blanketed their service territory with. While I was slightly surprised I'm hoping this is good, EV-DO needs Rev. B before it's defunct, aka simultaneous voice and data, aka 3G service IMHO...

The collusion of Qualcomm continues though as I don't think there is ANY way their stupid processor would be in the phone if Verizon didn't want a version of the phone for them. sigh. anyways, how about the T-Mo/AWS love on the 3G bands? not that AT&T could handle any more 3G smart/super phones LOL.

This probably gives Cincinnati tri-state area folks another reason to realize Cincinnati Bell Wireless is an amazing deal and will support 3G service for the Nexus. And, on that note, CBW is also slated to get the wonderful BlackBerry 9700 in the T-Mobile flavor next week as well. :)

somewhat easy E-ZPass...

2009-12-30T11:07:00.001-05:00

I was entertained after my recent interest in an "E-ZPass" vehicle transponder to pay the tolls on the West Virginia turnpike that I travel on I-77 when going to/from Charlotte and Columbus. I've seen E-ZPass for many toll roads in various states so I assumed it was a pretty sophisticated system. Then I read this on their website under E-Z Pass FAQ. First of all, the name "E-ZPass" is their own registered trademark yet the web page misspells it by putting a space between Z and P.

Q. Can I sign up for West Virginia E-ZPass® on the West Virginia Turnpike website?

A. Unfortunately, we do not yet have this capability. However, an upgrade to our Toll Collection System is due to be complete in 2010 and at that time, customers will be able to sign up for West Virginia E-ZPass® online and have the ability to check their accounts and receive statements online.

Wow...they hope to have online capabilities sometime in 2010. Exciting. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I actually got my package in the mail and the following directions were enclosed:

Look at the car illustration! instead of finding a new picture or editing it there is a hand drawn arrow and text explaining why the picture is irrelevant.

I Am T-Pain? lolz video

2009-12-30T11:02:00.000-05:00

Here's some funny video's I wanted to make sure everyone knew about.

The iPhone application "I Am T-Pain" hosted a contest for a video that showcases the app and encouraged leveraging the popularity of I'm On A Boat. It's actually a really creative and funny, I like it except for it hating on BlackBerrys...

I'm On A Phone

As a nod to I'm On A Boat, this doesn't seem to get old...

The three guys: Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, and Jorma Taccone make up the band/comedy group called The Lonely Island. Their CD "Incredibad" came out earlier this year and is amazing. Another video that is recent: "Like A Boss"

And of course, the SNL favorite "Jizz In My Pants"

BlackBerry App Sale

2009-12-26T15:44:00.000-05:00

Hey y'all! (as said like Bruce/Tobi from Family Guy)

CrackBerry's software store (mobihand) is having a 50% off sale on their top 10 applications through January 1, 2010.

The absolute best program that is certainly worth $2.49 is QuickLaunch. Another program that is probably worth $3 is BerryBuzz. Check them out: "New BlackBerry for Christmas? Save 50% on Top Ten BlackBerry Apps With Out End of Year Sale!"

Video demo of QuickLaunch

Holiday Travels

2009-12-24T22:07:00.001-05:00

I had a small adventure traveling from Charlotte to Columbus for Christmas this year... Tiffani and I have decided to be more serious about our relationship and are dating and officially boyfriend/girlfriend...clearly demonstrated by our Facebook status:

lol, nice job variable object coding facebook. Tiffani and I went to a couple Christmas parties and looked fabulous:

anyways, Tiffani had bought a plane ticket to come home for Christmas a few months ago before we really knew each other. I planned to drive becuase it was cheaper so she looked into canceling her flight, she was able to get an account credit that can be used anytime within 12 months from the purchase date--so we were having our second Charlotte/Columbus road trip, yay!

seriously, we were actually excited. We really enjoyed the trip at Thanksgiving and looked forward to spending time with each other and then seeing our families. We got on the road around 12:45pm on Friday, 12/18/09. The weather forecast did call for winter weather but not until later that evening in VA/WV. As we started driving North on I-77 flurries started and traffic began to move a little slower.

We stopped to get gas and food in Virginia where I-81 and I-77 run together for about eight miles. After we got back on the freeway things started to go even slower and we had just gotten back on I-77 exclusively when we came to a crawl. five minutes later we came to a stop, just past the on-ramp from exit 41, Pepper's Ferry Road in Wytheville, VA--that is where we sat from around 4:00pm until 10:30pm. at that time we knew we weren't making it home that night and had been checking nearby hotels for availability--all were booked. Turned around and drove on the shoulder and successfully got to the on ramp and drove up it to get on I-77 South. our plan was just to try and get back to Charlotte and attempt our journey sometime on Saturday or Sunday. we slowly drove about 20 miles South and ran into another traffic jam. This time we didn't want to sit and wait on the freeway so we turned around and drove to an exit we had just passed. we luckily made it up a hill and into a "lovely" gas station -- a Citgo Kangaroo Express.

This is where we spent the night and stayed until Saturday morning, 12/19/09. Around 7:30am the freeway looked like it was moving southbound. Once we got moving it was slow, around 45 mph. we eventually got home around 10:30am -- about 22 hours after we left. I suppose we learned a lesson about attempting travel during an incoming winter storm but you just never know. We were just glad to be safe throughout the whole expedition. We safely made the trip on Sunday 12/20/09 in about eight hours.

Chris Henry

2009-12-17T10:52:00.000-05:00

Bengals' Henry suffers 'life-threatening injuries'

"CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chris Henry is "battling for his life" after falling out of the back of a pickup truck Wednesday during what police described as a domestic dispute with his fiancée.

Sources told ESPN on Thursday that Henry is on life support. The 26-year-old Henry was found in the road about eight miles north of downtown Charlotte "apparently suffering life-threatening injuries," according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg police. Police spokesman Robert Fey said officers were stationed near Henry's hospital room. He had no information on Henry's condition, but said Henry was alive."

Henry

My original intent was to post that article with the title "Please pray for Chris Henry" even though he's had his laundry list of off-the-field problems his health should deserve our condolences.

However, soon after I read the morning article about him he could no longer fight his injuries.

Bengals' Henry dies at 26

Rest In Peace.

Funny Christmas Decoration

2009-12-11T19:05:00.000-05:00

one of those email forwards... thanks Fletus.

“Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after two days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost crashed when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn’t realize that it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of the many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.”

Christmastime

2009-12-09T18:46:00.001-05:00

Props to Patrick for showing me the Charlie Brown "Lonely Tree" Christmas Tree last year. I really liked it and was lucky enough to find it on sale after Christmas. So, this is my first year to enjoy the little guy:

30 Seconds to Mudvayne

2009-12-09T17:46:00.001-05:00

A couple new compact discs that i've been enjoying are "This Is War" by 30 Seconds To Mars and "Mudvayne" (self-titled?) by Mudvayne.

This is War Album Cover:

Jared Leto is the lead singer and his brother Shannon Leto is the drummer. I think Jared is definitely one of the best people to successfully pull off being a famous actor and rock star. This came out on 12/8/09.

Mudvayne Album Cover:

Not really sure why this album is self titled since it's their fifth release but A7X just did this so maybe it's the cool new thing to do? regardless, I know most of y'all don't like metal or stuff this heavy but I wanted to mention it because the artwork and physical presentation of the album. The album is completely white unless exposed under a black-light. I know it's not the first time for something like this to be marketed but it's cool and I like it! Way to be original and position yourself to sell a physical product in an era of digital music :). It's not officially released but those who pre-ordered the album got a digital download link for the album on 12/7/09.

Rap Chop!?

2009-12-09T17:40:00.000-05:00

Shoopy saw this on TV and thought there was something wrong with her cable or TV, I would have thought the same thing...

"Rap Chop" featuring DJ Steve Porter mixing Vince Offer's infomercial for slap chop.

I liked it so much I downloaded the mp3...lol

Tactical Nuclear Penguin

2009-11-27T13:55:00.001-05:00

Adam sent me this article about a new Brewdog beer that's pretty insane.

The BrewDog team have pulled off our most audacious and ambitious project to date, and smashed a world record in the process. We have today, Thursday 26 November 2009, set a new world record after creating the strongest beer in the world. Weighing in at an ABV of 32%, BrewDog’s ‘Tactical Nuclear Penguin’ beats the previous record of 31% held by German beer brand Schorschbraer.

http://www.brewdog.com/blog-article.php?id=214

Rubik's TouchCube

2009-11-27T13:48:00.000-05:00

So I thought this was awesome...

The Rubik’s TouchCube seamlessly blends cutting edge technology with the world’s #1 puzzle to create the first completely electronic, solvable Rubik’s Cube. Featuring touch sensor technology on all 6 sides and lights in every square, slide the lights with a simple swipe of your finger to mimic the moves of the original Cube. To eliminate false inputs or moves, the TouchCube uses a motion-detecting accelerometer to determine which side is facing up and active. The Rubik’s TouchCube also includes a built-in solver, so now anyone can easily get a hint or learn how to solve the Cube step by step.

It can be found on Amazon here: http://amzn.com/B002BH3N0O

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T16:05:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and relaxing weekend. I took Wednesday off work and drove up to Monroe where my family was meeting at my parents alternate residence.

A good friend I met at a CYP event, Tiffani Shoop, is also from Ohio (Centerburg) so she rode with me and we met her Dad in Jeffersonville. It was great to have company for the long ride so I enjoyed that and she was happy to see her family for the weekend. Here's Tiffani and I at trivia a while ago.

Jack Threads

2009-11-18T09:34:00.000-05:00

Jack Threads is a clothing site with a similar strategy to the woot sites, one sale a day, etc. They mostly have men's shirts, jeans, shoes, jackets, accessories, hats, and whatnot. anyways, it's supposed to invite only-- here's a referral link from me: http://www.jackthreads.com/invite/bobdobbins

NBA Book

2009-11-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

Mike sent me this article about refs in the NBA, The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read.

That article is followed up with: Excerpts from The Book the NBA Doesn't Want You to Read. It's interesting, a former ref talking about how he and other refs from the NBA would "fix" or alter a game's outcome from the calls they would make.

Contest?!

2009-11-10T23:58:00.000-05:00

I 'won' a bluetooth headset (moto-H780) at a recent Sprint/Nextel seminar.

It was mostly a Nextel plug and they wanted to see who could find out where 5 people were at that very moment--calling, text, or Nextel push-to-talk walkie talkie. I just used google latitude (thanks glatitude friends that actually use it!) and pwned the presenter, who thought he would impress us by 'chirping' a talk group with a location request.

If you use google latitude and i'm on your friends list just leave a comment and you're eligible to win (or add me...). I'll just have Kyle roll a dice or pick numbers out of a hat. I can give it to the winner next time i see them or ship it less S/H. ($5-$10?). entry ends in a week.

more info about the Motorola H780 Bluetooth Headset
Quick Start Guide

Root Suit RIOT!

2009-11-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

Hope to see some of these in the stands at future Bearcats and Buckeyes games! Well, any team and their respective colors but I just wanted to make some examples. This is the same person/group/company? that offers the amazing greenman suit that I wore the past two Halloweens.

awesome. more info here: http://rootsuit.com/

These actually have a tendency to get shown on TV when they pan the crowd and show fans cheering--the cameraman and comentators liked it when they saw greenman at a philadelphia Eagles game. UC hosts West Virginia next Friday night on ESPN 2...Rallycats needs to know about this and contact them for a group discount.

Guest Suite!

2009-11-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

The guest suite at my apartment complex is now open!

So, if you want to come visit but don't want to sleep on the couch or air mattress you can stay in the guest unit--the same model as mine. one of my first posts shows my floor plan but here it is again:

Mini-Schnauzer!

2009-10-31T21:40:00.000-04:00

Our apartment newsletter has recently been featuring a resident's pet each month. For November it was a miniature schnauzer! I haven't met the dog or the owner but I hope to soon. His name is Dexter and they posted a few pictures:

economic status

2009-10-25T01:34:00.004-04:00

The Daily Show :)

The Recession and the rap industry

Slim Thug - Like a Boss music video

NASCAR Banking 500

2009-10-23T15:30:00.000-04:00

Kyle and I attended the NASCAR Banking 500 race at the Lowe's Motor Speedway last Saturday, 10/17/2009. It was actually pretty awesome! I'm not really a big fan of NASCAR becuase it seems kind of boring--everyone has basically the same car and they drive around an oval 500 times...

As a main sponsor Sprint has a big luxury suite at the racetrack and since I just moved to Charlotte Sprint invited myself and a guest! From a work standpoint being in Charlotte has been great, I've gotten to meet all the people that I've been working with for the last couple years. Since I'm local now they can invite me to neat events like this!

We got there early, around 3:00pm, and were able to take a tour of the pit/garage/staging area. This was pretty interesting and we got to see the cars up close and take some pictures. The race lasted from about 7:30pm - 11:30pm. It was actually kind of "boring" or uneventful for NASCAR standards--there were no major wrecks, just about a dozen caution periods because of drivers spinning out or losing a piece of their car, etc. There were some lead changes and "points of excitement" but I'm not a very good judge of that...Jimmie Johnson ended up winning by a lot and nobody wanted him to win becuase he wins all the time? whatever...

Hanno got me interested in F1 racing and said that hopefully there will be a USA race next season!

BlackBerry Bold 9700

2009-10-21T14:33:00.000-04:00

The new flagship BlackBerry was recently made official by RIM.

Pretty excited for it...looks to have the keyboard of the 9630 Tour, optical trackpad of the 8520 Curve, size of the 8900 Curve, weight is in between the 8900 and 9630, processor of the Bold 9000, and two version of 3G/UMTS support (AT&T & T-Mobile/CBW). win!

Colorware

2009-10-21T00:03:00.000-04:00

If you didn't know I'm kind of a big fan of COLORWARE. mostly because it's completely excessive, unnecessary, and unbelievably awesome. and, it's somewhat ridiculous price point leaves it out of reach to common sense. none-the-less, it's freakin' sweet! if you've got some time to kill check out their gallery of corporate branding: http://www.colorwarepc.com/imagegalleries.aspx?galFilter=5

Here's a few examples:

Simpsons Xbox 360:

Caterpillar iPod Classic:

Misc Custom iPods:

Custom thinkpad laptop:

I could go all day... my "blaze" 8900 is the best BB I've ever had. I think the 9700 is going to be my next "daily driver" and that "Zest" color looks pretty tempting...

news stories

2009-10-15T23:22:00.009-04:00

These are hilarious story segments from the daily show and the colbert report.

iFeud

Eating the Distance, the Brad Sciullo Story. Part 1

Eating the Distance, the Brad Sciullo Story. Part 2

google is fun

2009-10-15T19:00:00.000-04:00

Google frequently entertains me with their products and logos; their android operating system is no different with the little icon robot guy.

Here's the logo:

So, then they put a giant fancy foam statue on the lawn of their office--awesome.

You might be familiar with Google's confectionary codenames for its Google Android OS: version 1.5 (Cupcake), 1.6 (Donut), 2.0 (Eclair) and version x.x (Flan). What you probably didn't know is that Google honors each release by dropping a steaming hot foam facsimile onto its front lawn. Historically, the arrival of the giant Donut at the GooglePlex was followed by the 1.6 developer release of Android just a few days later. Don't get too excited though, last we heard Eclair wouldn't arrive until Q2 of 2010 for consumers.

and here are the subsequent additions they've done to keep him up to date:

BBM 5.0

2009-10-12T21:46:00.003-04:00

So I'm pretty excited about the mass release of BlackBerry messenger 5.0! I really enjoy BBM with people I know who have a BlackBerry. One of the cool new things is that each person has a barcode that can be scanned to add each other as contacts.

Here is my barcode:

Here's the user manual from RIM: BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 User Guide

So, I've been upgrading other people's devices and messaging people instructions. The easiest way to install it is through BlackBerry Appworld. If you have appworld you may need to update it to the most recent version. If you don't have it then go to www.blackberry.com/appworld on your handheld and you can download it. once you have the most recent version of appworld BBM will be the 1st or 2nd top free download.

This, along with the new Rammstein CD is my excitement as of late.

Liebe ist für alle da (love is for everyone)

Official release: 10/20/2009. get excited.

misc newz and in4mationz

Verizon Wireless Service at The Land

Reddy Kilowatt

The Dark Red Side

Nokia C7 as remote control for BMW car

I read a book?

The Art of FLIGHT - snowboarding film trailer w/Travis Rice

Let's play Words With Friends, now on Android!

The Horseshoe

I want the iPhone 4

Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: The SIM cardWhy I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: Need for speedWhy I'm switching to the Verizon iPhone: I need a phoneHere's where the Verizon iPhone falls shortShould I Buy a Verizon iPhone? (not BGR but good)

House of Meat

ESPN OTL: Believeland

@Gizmodo, 11/20/10 11:34 PM

The Jeopardy Question No One Could Answer

Scranton

Gartner

Stone Total Tap Takeover Tour

This One Is On Us

Verizon iPhone part 92

DEC Lights!

Simpsons + Banksy

Jared Look | Cosplay?

Largest Lego Ship

Babby Monkey

RIM Playbook

Speedtest.net iPhone Result

Antonov FAIL pt 2

phones are cameras or cameras are phones?

Interesting Chad Johnson Article

Chad Ochocinco: Why the Cincinnati Bengals WR Is Ready To Become World-Famous

Engadget Mobile Editorial: Firmware, forums, and desperation -- the dark side of Android hacking

Google can't keep implicitly condoning Android hacking unless it requires manufacturers to provide restore tools for every device.

FW: @Gizmodo, 9/14/10 2:00 PM

close your eyes and let go of the wheel

RIM

ICHCheezburger

Fwd: How Mark proposed!

@cltblog, 8/12/10 11:15 PM

regular update

FW: Bad Connection: Inside the iPhone Network Meltdown

FW: BMW supports iPod Out, fills your 2011 auto with 2001's finest user interface

iPhone 4 bars to signal strength mapped, antenna issue partially explained

iPad gets MiFi’ed

BMW ConnectedDrive integration for BlackBerry available in vehicles later this year

Google Voice now available without an invite

FW: Dear AT&T, your new data plans suck.

FW: Caffeine: Google’s new search index

RE: iPad Article

AT&T kills off unlimited smartphone data, announces cheaper rates?

How To Destroy Angels?

FW: Google lets the world enjoy FroYo

FW: Android 2.2 Froyo: everything you ever wanted to know

FW: Report: 10 million CDMA iPhones on order

New Duke Energy Center

trying out fwd rss feeds to blog...

Playoffs

yay mollie

awesome music video

Flyover!

Family Visit

familia et al

update fail

Happy Birthday @ Howl at the Moon

Charlotte Buckeyes!

FlightAware + FedEx + Panda?

Jeopardy FAIL

Gear Ring

Colts Audibles

ITA Video from Duke Energy

from uncrate

ihackintosh & Redsn0w

OiNK

car videos

Circle Apartment Advertising

Bobcat Tuesdays

Nexus One & Uncrate

OSU Calendar

NEXUS

somewhat easy E-ZPass...

Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: The SIM card
Why I’m not switching to the Verizon iPhone: Need for speed
Why I'm switching to the Verizon iPhone: I need a phone
Here's where the Verizon iPhone falls short
Should I Buy a Verizon iPhone? (not BGR but good)