Somebody needs to practice
Feb 4th
When you’re a kid, it’s all about drawing between the lines. When you’re a grownup, it’s all about parking between the lines.
Some grownups must need to go back to school.
The iPad…
Feb 3rd
There’s been a lot of opinions out there recently about the newly announced Apple iPad.
One recent post I saw summed up my thoughts exactly.
The iPad was created for the cool kids. It was created for the mother living next door. It was created for the student going to college. It was designed for the people in the world who couldn’t give a shit if they can program the next great million dollar app or not. It was created to give people a way to be entertained without having to book a chiropractor appointment from having to lug their laptop around on their travels.
It other words it was designed for real people living real lives.
Whoops.
Feb 3rd
So I ran into some issues updating the ol’ blog and MySQL installation… Looks like some files got corrupted and not all of my posts are showing… I’m going to work to fix this but at a later time. Until then, enjoy the old stuff and some new stuff is on the way.
My week with Sirius' iPhone app
Jun 22nd
I recently wrote that an iPhone app either provided by Sirius (iTunes Store) or from NiceMac would be one of the few things that could get me back to Sirius since my subscription expired.
After a few days with Sirius’ 7-day trial since the release of their iPhone app, the experience on it has been great for the most part.
Let’s review my previous use of Sirius (before my subscription expired).
While in the car, mostly music and sometimes talk. When it was on a talk station, it was primarily Derek & Romaine. When it was on music stations, it was either on Hits 1, The Pulse or BPM (I still like to refer to it as The Beat).
I had two radios: 1 in the car that wasn’t plug-n-play and one that was in a plug-n-play boom box that I hooked into my home stereo. I also used the Internet streaming pretty heavily at work and while in my home office.
And how has my 7-day trial stacked up?
I can’t use it in the car. I have been using it on the iPhone in my JBL On Stage Micro while getting ready in the morning and have also used it at work rather than streaming from the desktop. The one thing that I’m still wanting is a Sirius supported desktop app. I have yet to try the new app from NiceMac but plan on using that tomorrow at work. I really don’t like having to use a web client for a variety of reasons at work, but mainly, if I have no other browser windows open, when I click the icon in the dock, I want a new window, it bugs me that I have to open a new window since one is already open with the streaming.
Is it enough for me to start my subscription back up with Sirius? Not so far. Does driving with terrestrial radio suck again? Yes. Am I willing to burn CDs to not have to listen to commercials? Yes. We’ll see how it goes.
Thanks for rubbing it in Apple!
Jun 17th
Apple has sent me a reminder that the iPhone 3G S is coming!
There’s info out there that depending on when you’re eligible based on your plan and when you purchased. Well, at the local AT&T Store where I live, I was #8 or 9 in line… I don’t have much need for a ton of minutes, so I have the 450 minute plan and 1500 text messages. I do, however, receive a plan discount because of where I work… so we’ll see if I’ll be able to upgrade once AT&T’s systems update.
I’m not planning on getting the iPhone 3G S anyways simply because I got the first iPhone the launch weekend, the iPhone 3G morning of the launch (and slept outside the night before). With the limited benefits I would receive from the 3G S, it’s really not worth the extra money and having to sign a new 2-year contract. Who knows, I might be able to go to another carrier when the next iPhone comes out, get more and pay less.
Update: I was given an iPhone 3GS for my birthday by one of my best friends. It was really surprising, but I still have been enjoying the new features. The speed difference really is noticeable when using apps including launching the camera. So while I didn’t necessarily purchase the 3GS, I still ended up with on
Why I'd Subscribe to Sirius Again
Jun 17th
Well, there’s some info out there that Sirius XM will be releasing an iPhone app this week so we’ll see what happens with that.
While I had been looking forward to an iPhone app that was coming out from the NiceMac team, the app was bounced by Apple. I still stuck around for a while as a subscriber. There had been some other changes and in general dissatisfaction on my end and ended up not renewing.
I was starting to think about renewing with the updated efforts over at NiceMac and the StarPlayr project. With their work and the iPhone app news, I was minutes away from clicking the submit button on my order when I saw a news item in my RSS feed about yet another rate hike from Sirius XM.
I’m stuck in a holding pattern with you Sirius… I’m glad I haven’t received any more calls begging me to come back (and they stopped after requesting to be placed on the do not call list only once… not many places honor that as quickly!) but you’re making it so hard for me to come back. I do have to say though, that if it wasn’t for StarPlayr, I probably wouldn’t even be thinking about it.
Twitter Updates for 2009-06-01
Jun 1st
- Greg + Night before 1st Preview Session = Where’s the Advil PM? #
- Toss… turn… #
- Home at last! Where’s my rum?? #
- I think that’s hail. What a storm! #
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Allstate's Average Savings vs. Geico
Jun 1st
If you haven’t seen an Allstate ad on tv then I’d be surprised.
I even received a direct mail piece inviting to me visit the website or call in for a no-obligation quote.
It even lists an average savings comparison and lists Geico, my current auto insurance as being able to save more than $473 for 7 out of 10 customers. Problem with that is $473 is higher than my current premium. Allstate, with my current coverage amounts, was well over $100 higher… guess I’m one of the 3 of 10 that Allstate just can’t save for.