Christmas List 2009 Part 2 – Realistic Gifts November 29, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Music, Personally John, Television, iPhone, technology.Tags: Apple, Blu Ray, Christmas, iPhone, iTunes, Lady Gaga, lists, Nintendo Wii
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Here is a list of things that I am a little more optimistic about receiving on Christmas morning. I’m not a materialistic person, there are just some things I would love to have.
iTunes Gift Card – $25
This is probably the most useful thing anyone could ever get me because I spend the most money on iTunes music, and iPhone apps. This is one thing that would absolutely, 100% go to use!
Lady Gaga Tickets – $59-$400
If you’ve taken a glimpse of my website in the last 6 months, it should be pretty clear that I have a new fascination, obsession, and muse. Her name is Stefani Germanotta and she’s a free bitch. Gaga is playing Radio City Music Hall in NYC on MY BIRTHDAY (January 24). I honestly can’t think of a better birthday situation. Gaga + NYC + My best friends + Radio City Music Hall + my birthday = perfect birthday soup. I woke up to make sure I could get tickets to the show and they sold out (as well as her 3 other dates in NYC) in less than a minute. I was very upset, but I am willing to drop a small fortune to be able to say I saw Gaga’s Monster Ball tour at Radio City Music Hall on my birthday. I’m hoping to get tickets for January 23rd so that I can see her, go have fun on that Saturday night, and then drive back home on Sunday, which is actually my birthday. My friend Danny who has a birthday on January 29th is going to go with me, so feel free to make his birthday amazing as well.
Nintendo Wii - $199
My roommate has a Nintendo Wii, and when I saw that Super Mario Bros. Wii came out, I actually bought the game just so I could play it on his Wii. Since this won’t make any sense once I move out, I am hoping that I get one this year. I hinted around to my Dad that I wanted one, but not sure if he figured it out. This is the Nintendo Wii’s second appearance on my Christmas list.
Parking Tickets – ~$80
In my opinion, one of the greates gifts you can give someone is freedom of stress. My life is ruined day in and day out by Morgantown parking tickets. What better way to pull an Oprah, than by paying off my parking tickets! I think I’ve got somewhere around $80 worth now.
Blu Ray Player – ~$130
Though Blu Ray will be extinct in a few years, in my and others’ opinions, I realized I am starting to get back in to movies again. I’m not sure why, but it’s exciting to have another thing to collect and be excited about. After watching a few movies in Blu Ray, I’ve realized that there is no other option for me. Blu-Ray players are very cheap this holiday season, so I am hoping I’ll be opening one on Christmas morning.
Replaced iPhone Screen – $200
I have dropped the couple of iPhones that I have owned in my lifetime HUNDREDS of times. The one time it falls gently to the ground it somehow manages to crack the screen, as you can see above. Luckily, the phone and all of its functions still work. I have AppleCare protection for it, but of course the plan covers everything EXCEPT cracked screens and water damage. What other damage can you have, really? Regardless of if I have AppleCare or not, the fee to replace the screen is $200, which is actually much cheaper than buying a brand new phone anyway.
These are some items that would be great to open on Christmas morning. However, I am a firm believer that it is the thought that counts. I love personalized anything. If you drew a pretty picture on a napkin one day at a late night diner, wrapped it up, and gave it to me, I promise I would cherish it forever. I love my friends and I love when my friends give me their works of art, or letters, or just general love.
Happy Holidays everyone!
App Talk – Balloons November 11, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, iPhone.Tags: App store, Apple, apps, Balloons, iPhone, Shiny Development, TUAW
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Recently the people over at TUAW.com did a review on a new iPhone app called Balloons! It seemed really cool and so I wanted to try it out and write a little review on my site.
Balloons!, made by Shiny Development, is a really cool app that integrates a variety of the iPhones APIs and capabilities. In Balloons, a user can capture an image and/or write a message, attach it to a virtual balloon, and send it off in to cyberspace for other Balloon users to catch. Once you catch a balloon, you can add your own personal statement and/or photo, and send it off once again. The app uses your iPhones location to pin point exactly where you are and attaches the info to the tag.
You can also track the balloons that you have sent out. In this setting you can see not only what other people have attached, but how long the balloon as been circulating throughout cyberspace.
Overall, I really like this app. I find myself wondering if anyone has caught my balloons, and what they have said. I think it could even be considered a unique way of blogging. You’re writing, capturing images, and posting it to a server. I would definitely recommend buying it.
Check out the official video demonstration here:
Balloons! is $2.99, which might be a little steep considering it doesn’t do anything amazing, but for less than a price of a Starbucks latte, it’s well worth the entertainment you’ll get out of it.
With 100,000 apps in the app store, this new app is a refreshing and interesting new way to have fun on your iPhone.
App: Balloons!
Released: November 4, 2009
Stars: 7.5/10
Cost: $2.99
Click here to download Balloons!
AT&T Announces MMS Launch September 25 September 3, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, iPhone, technology.Tags: Apple, AT&T, FAIL, iPhone
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Continuing with its forgotten promises and horrible customer satisfaction, AT&T announced that MMS messaging would launch to users of iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS starting on September 25.
So when they say late summer, they mean really late…as in the beginning of Autumn.
Count down the days!!
My July Mood July 31, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, Moods, Movies/Film, Music, Personally John, Television, Travel, iPhone, technology.Tags: Beyonce, Chester French, Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter, Ingrid Michaelson, iPhone, Kathy Griffin My Life on the D-List, Mariah Carey, New York City, Order of the Phoenix, Passion Pit, Whitney Houston
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I gave up on Moods for a while because I wasn’t interesting enough, to be quite frank. I wasn’t filling them with interesting, worth-while information that I thought anyone would care about. However, after looking back at previous Moods from last year, there are already things I would have forgotten if I didn’t write about them — yet another reason for you to start a blog!
So I’m bringing Moods back starting with July!
Movies: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince! I wrote a review of the movie, and my overall thoughts, but have kept it as a draft. I might publish it later, but overall I couldn’t write everything I wanted to in a short enough blog that anyone would find interesting. In short: amazing movie, but sad about some of the important scenes from the book that were left out.
DVD: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix! – I watched the ending of this movie about 10 times before I went to see Half-Blood Prince. It’s the only DVD I have even had time to think about this month.
Music: Music is now changing to Top 5 Songs of the month due to the fact that I can never just pick one song or artist to represent an entire month. I was originally going to report my Top 5 songs according to my Last.fm, but now that I drive to and from work, I don’t scrobble all of my music. I’ve added a 6th song, which is the one that probably could have been No.5, but didn’t make the cut this month (See below).
Top 5 Songs of July:
1. Whitney Houston – “I Look To You”
2. Ingrid Michaelson – “Maybe”
3. Mariah Carey – “Obsessed”
4. Passion Pit – “Little Secrets”
5. Chester French – “She Loves Everybody”
6. Beyonce – “Halo”
TV Shows: Just recently bought a season pass for Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, because it was only $15 on iTunes! Wowsers!
Game: I wish I had more time to play games, but probably my Wild Wild West pinball game on the iPhone. A lot of fun!
Book/Magazine: Is it bad that I am an English major and don’t read as much as I would like. This section of my blog is going to be the sole purpose in my reading a lot more. No books or magazines in July. (I work too much!)
Purchase: I’ve made a lot of awesome purchases lately. Most importantly: my iPhone 3Gs! So much faster, and the video quality is so much better than I expected. Last month I bought Sirius radio which has been amazing. Also, spent $2 on a laser pointer that has been a source of amusement and laughter for my family because Mick, our dog, just chases it around until he can’t stand up on his own 2 legs anymore.
Travel: Since I spent 5 days in New York City last month, and I work full time, I didn’t travel that much this month. I went to Brittney’s in Altoona 2 weekends ago, and that was about it. It was a lot of fun, but I expect a return to New York City in August when the U.S. Open starts!
iPhone Augmented Reality Coming in 3.1 Update – Blows My Mind! July 25, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Television, Travel, iPhone, technology.Tags: 3.0 software, 3.1, Apple, augmented, iPhone, reality, technology
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I am speechless about this augmented reality app that is going to be released when 3.1 comes out. Check it out for yourself below.
How amazing!?
5 iPhone OS 3.0 Glitches That Make My Life Miserable July 22, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, Personally John, Travel, iPhone, technology.Tags: 3G, App store, Apple, AT&T, EDGE, iPhone, misery, New York City, Paramore
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Do you own an iPhone and updated to 3.0 only to find that your iPhone is suddenly nothing more than an extremely expensive iPod touch? Cool me too!
I have been holding off on posting about the hate, hoping that Apple would have released at least a minor upgrade to their OMG SO AMAZING 3.0 software. However that hasn’t been the case thus far, and there are a lot of angry, confused, iPhone users with their geeky pants straps in a bundle out there.
I own a 16GB iPhone 3G (until tonight when I pick up my 3Gs). After updating to 3.0 when it was released not so long ago, I was so excited about the new features, and the new breath of life that had been uploaded to my favorite little device. Sadly, that was all shot to hell after a few weeks of usage, when I realized how much more annoyed I was with the phone overall compared to before the 3.0 update. Here are some highlights lowlights about how iPhone 3.0 is making my life miserable:
- Horrible Battery Life – I’ve asked around with other iPhone users, and it seems that the horrible battery life as a result of the upgrade is only hitting iPhone 3G users (not necessarily being on 3G, as I am only on EDGE). I’ve talked to a couple original iPhone (2G) users and they have said the update actually improved their battery life. To put it in perspective, I charge my phone all night, take it off the dock at 7a.m., barely use it (due to horrible reception in my office building), and it is usually down to 20% remaining by 4p.m. when I am leaving. I can’t rely on my iPhone to last a normal work day with next to no usage? Fail. Major fail, actually.
- More Dropped Calls – I have noticed that I am constantly calling people back. More bars in more places, AT&T? Really? Living in the mountains, I don’t expect perfect service, and actually know not to call people in certain areas while I’m driving because I know I am going to hit a dead spot, and the call will be dropped. However, there have been many times that I am in a wide open space and my call will disappear. Adding to the frustration, the phone will then show “Searching…” for a network for up to 5 minutes! So that conversation I was just on has to be picked back up, remembered, and started over again…5-10 minutes later.
- Silenced Outgoing Calls – This is something that just started happening to me within the last couple of days, but has plagued a few other iPhone users I know. There have been several occasions where I go to make a call, and can hear the person on the other end but he or she can not hear me. This is so frustrating, probably more so for the person on the other end. However, after talking with other users it seems to be an outgoing-call-issue only. This might be the most frustrating problem with 3.0 because it defeats the purpose of owning a phone. If you’re having this problem, reset the device a few times and it should work.
- Visual Non-Existent Voicemail – There have been plenty of times over the last few weeks that someone has called, left a voicemail, and I had no idea until almost 6 hours later when my phone suddenly decided to alert me. This was really bad when I first updated, but has only been in moderation now. Either way, a missed voicemail is a missed voicemail.
- Glitches on EDGE vs. 3G – After talking to other iPhone users and experiencing this myself, I have noticed that the 3.0 software doesn’t seem to have any issues when I am in 3G service. I live in Cumberland, Maryland but commute to Morgantown, West Virginia every day for work this summer, both of which only offer EDGE. However, when traveling to New York City this summer, and to Altoona, Pennsylvania last weekend, I have noticed that the phone is a lot more responsive and I have never had a dropped call. Is it a 3.0 software glitch or an AT&T network glitch? Either way FIX IT! Also, if AT&T could go ahead and get some 3G service in Cumberland or Morgantown, I would really appreciate it since I am forced to pay more money for 3G service and cannot use it.
Though the list goes on and on (no MMS, no tethering), the important thing to remember is that all of these things can be cleaned up by a simple software update. However, that is also what makes it so frustrating. When 2.0 came out, iPhone users faced the same issues, but Apple had a software update ready in what seemed like a day. Where is 3.1? I guess we’ll just have to get used to this iPod touch with occasional cell service until the upgrade comes out.
*Note: I was going to post a series of screen shots from when my iPhone went “Searching…” for the network in the middle of a call for up to 10 minutes, but as I sit here with 4 bars of service, it won’t send the e-mail with 3 pictures in it.
Apple Netbook Coming in October For $800? July 14, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, Movies/Film, iPhone, technology.Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPhone Max, MacBook, MacBook Mini, netbook, rumors, technology
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A lot of gadget and technology updates to talk about today.
Though rumors of an Apple netbook have been running rampid for about 2 years now, it seems that some validity has come to light regarding the possibility of a release. According to a couple Chinese manufacturers that work closely with Apple on the iPhone, there has been a call-to-order for netbook parts and assembly – all of which are pointing towards an October 2009 release of a netbook. What makes it interesting is that there are apparently orders for 9.2″ touch screens! Is this a MacBook Mini or an iPhone Max?
To further this claim today, there are a lot of sites (Engadget, Macrumors) reporting that credible sources are putting the price range at $800, claiming that Apple will be avoiding the low-end consumer products that would put them in the same market as Acer and Asus.
Personally, I think this formula will work well if it comes to fruition. Apple doesn’t make cheaply made products. They pride themselves in design and usability, and creating a crappy computer for the sake of competing against an already full market doesn’t make sense. Further, putting a netbook at around $800 seems fair to me. I would pay $800 to have a fully functional touchscreen tablet with all the same features as my MacBook Pro, but with more versatility. $800 seems not too much, but not too little. Not too much in that it’s an affordable price for someone in the market for a computer, and not too little for those Apple elitists who actually don’t mind paying a couple hundred extra dollars to have the Apple logo, and bragging rights. Would you buy it?
*Picture above is a predicted mock-up of what the Apple netbook may look like.
Britney’s Official “Radar” Video Surfaces July 1, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Music, Television, iPhone, technology.Tags: Apple, Blackout, Britney Spears, Circus, iPhone, Outrageous, Radar, Toxic, video, Womanizer
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It’s probably a matter of time before this video gets taken off of YouTube, so enjoy it while you can.
And by enjoy it I mean try to get through the whole thing without feeling befuddled or saying “What the hell is going on.”
Wimbledon iPhone App June 25, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, Movies/Film, Sports, Television, Travel, iPhone, technology, tennis.Tags: app, Apple, iPhone, iPod, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Wimbledon
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If you’re like me and can’t go 5 minutes without checking Wimbledon scores this time of year, then you’re in luck!
The All England Lawn and Tennis Club has released an iPhone app with all kinds of Wimbledon goodies in it!
Besides updating scores every 30 seconds, the app also offers Wimbledon-related news stories, the schedule and order-of-play, a view of the draw for all events, and even video highlights.
The best part is that it’s free! Check out the Wimbledon app here if you’re following the Championships this fortnight.
iDisk App On the Way June 9, 2009
Posted by johnthrasher in App Talk, Geek Talk, iPhone, technology.Tags: Apple, Internet Explorer, iPhone, iPhone 3.0, MobileMe
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Fun fact about yesterday’s WWDC that seemed to slip through the cracks. If you’re a MobileMe user, Apple will be releasing an iDisk app alongside iPhone OS 3.0 that will allow you to upload and download anything that is synced with it.
I have MobileMe and used it a lot when I first got it, but find myself not really bothering with it anymore. I use my e-mail address with it a lot, but as for uploading content and using it for what it’s worth, I definitely don’t.
I use a PC at work, and can’t even access my information because I have to use Internet Explorer. Why?
Anyway, there are some apps out there that already work with iDisk, but as Engadget points out, it’s nice to have a little first party support with something that is subscription based like this.
