Celebrity Deaths – October D.O.A.

It seems that celebrities weren’t the only things dying in October. We had celebrity marriages, a few T.V. shows, and apparently my new reality show. It wasn’t too well received yesterday. I had a whopping 4 views of my show. I know it wasn’t that good, it was actually pretty horrible, but I figured I had to give it a try. At least my reality T.V. career lasted longer than any of Lindsey Lohan’s sober stretches. Well, enough of all the boring deaths, lets get right to the news that will bring the number of views on my blog back up to pre-reality numbers shall we?

Don Lapre – 47 – Television pitchman – Oct. 2

Arthur C. Nielsen Jr. – 92 – The Nielsen ratings guy. – Oct. 3

Doris Black – 85 – Actress Law & Order, Tootsie – Oct. 4

Charles Napier – 75 – Actor The Blues Brothers – Oct. 5

Steve Jobs – 56 – I shouldn’t have to say – Oct. 5

Diane Cilento – 78 – Actress The Wicker Man – Oct. 6

Paul Kent – 80 – Actor  Star Trek II – Oct. 7

Mikey Welsh – 40 – Musician in Weezer – Oct. 8

David Hess – 75 – Actor Last House On The Left – Oct. 8

Ray Aranha – 72 – Actor  Dead Man Walking, Die Hard w/Vengeance – Oct. 9

Doctor X – 43 – Mexican wrestler – Oct. 11

George “Mojo” Buford – 81 – Blues harmonica player – Oct. 11

Dennis Ritchie – 70 – developer of “C” computer language – Oct. 12

Chuck Ruff – 60 – Drummer “Edgar Winter, Sammy Hagar” – Oct. 14

Edgar Villchur – 94 – Inventor of the acoustic suspension loudspeaker – Oct. 17

Hunter – 36 – Australian rapper – Oct. 20

Dennis Hall – 54 – Cinematographer Burn Notice – Oct. 20

Muammar Ga…Qu…Kaddafi – 69 – Dick-tater – Oct. 20

T. Max Graham – 70 – Actor Eraserhead – Oct. 27

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iPhone … Day 1

Actually, it is like day 1.5 but since we didn’t get the phones set up until last night, I count it as 1 day. So far, I am still trying to get used to it. I guess it is ok, but I can’t get the iCloud to work right and synch my address book on my computer to my iPhone. I had to do it with a cord hooked up to iTunes.

A few other things I am really going to have to get used to that the iPhone doesn’t have, that my Blackberry did. I can’t have separate email alerts for my separate email boxes. For that matter, I was able to give each person their own email alert if I wanted to. I don’t see that functionality on the iPhone. Just different ringtones for each person. Not the same. I like to know who I am getting an email or text from without looking so I know if I have to look at it right away. Actually, they might be there, I may just not have found them yet. If anyone knows, let me know.

I also don’t like that I don’t have a blinking red light telling me I have a message of some sort. If I am on silent, or if I walk away from my phone and come back, I like to know I missed something without having to pick it up.

I am sure there are a few other things that I will have to get used to but so far I am doing ok.

 

A Few Bits And Bites

I just didn’t want to copy the name of another blog. So, we have bits and bites from my brain.

Jackie is watching The Sing Off. Nick Lachey … is a douche, moron, idiot, jerk wad, dumb ass. His writers should be fired. If he is making up his own jokes, then he should be shot.

Hank Williams Jr. Ok, So you are allowed to think what you want and even say what you want. You shouldn’t say it on national television and then expect nothing to happen. Furthermore, don’t say that it was YOUR idea to pull your song, and then make a song criticizing the 2 networks because they fired you for exercising your free speech.  Oh yeah, and don’t do your interview drunk. Dumb Ass.

Cancelled TV Shows – Playboy Club, How to Be a Gentleman, Free Agents and the one show I might have gone on, H8R are all gone now. I never had a chance to comment on how bad any of these shows are were. Apparently, everyone else did. Now if we can just get some shows out of here that lower the collective I.Q. of the country then we would be better off. I recommend: Bad Girls Club, Gossip Girl, Nancy Grace and anything with Tyra Banks for starters.

Apple is coming out with a new OS so that they can know everything that you are downloading and saving. Let’s just hope that the “cloud” doesn’t start raining and giving out private information like Paris Hilton’s sidekick.

Speaking of Apple, I broke down and got an iPhone Friday. It turned out with upgrade bonuses and what not that 2 iPhones (one for me and one for Jackie) was cheaper than the one Droid Bionic that I wanted. Honestly though, I don’t think I would ever use half the features of the Bionic. Probably won’t use them on the iPhone either but … what the hell right?

Tori is now 1. She is too cute and already too smart. I am in big trouble. She is now mimicking just about everything. I have to start watching my road rage when she in in the car. She already is repeating me as seen in this video …

A Few More Things

As we head off into the long holiday weekend … hmmm, thought I would have a better follow up to that. Apparently the long weekend has nothing to do with anything that I am going to write about today. Basically, there have been a few things lately that have ground my gears, tweaked my melon, made me go “hmmm”, or otherwise made me scratch my head or wonder aloud.

First off, movies. I remember when Labor Day weekend used to have at least one good movie coming out. Now, we have things like Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star. I have made it clear in the past that any of these movies where people just act like idiots trying to be funny are not my shot of whiskey. What is worse in this one is that at the end of the commercials, they have some guy acting like he is mentally handicapped trying to say how funny it is. What is the point of this? Why do they think it is funnier if the people are mentally handicapped, developmentally challenged or whatever you want to call it. That is an insult and to me, offensive.

Second off, mortgage banks being sued. The government says they are going to sue a number of big banks over mortgage stuff. They say that when the gov bought mortgage securities, the taxpayers lost money. Now they are saying they are suing them to get the taxpayer money back. I got 900 billion dollars that says the taxpayers won’t see any of it.

Third off, Old Navy. They have the most annoying commercials and I wish they would stop using songs and changing them to use their stupid lyrics. They suck.

Fourth off, Dancing With The Stars. A) None of those people are ‘Stars’, B) Who cares?

Fifth off, I have gas. Just thought I would share.

Sixth off, I don’t care about what people took in college when they are complaining about not being able to leave work early when you haven’t done anything really to deserve it anyway.

Seventh off, Star Wars. It is coming out on Blu-Ray. You can’t fight it, Darth Vader will say “No” no matter how much you protest. Even with all the complaining and people bitching about it, George Lucas will still make another fortune because everyone complaining is still going to buy it.

Eighth off, pro athletes. (I am stealing this directly from a co-workers Facebook page) – “I’d like to honor Lance Briggs by demanding more money or a trade from my employer too. Oh wait, I’m part of the 98% of the population who works hard everyday not making the league minimum or deciding not to play out the rest of my signed contract. Hey Lance, you tool, enjoy your stay in Jacksonville or Kansas City or whatever hole your able to find.”

Ninth off, iPhone 5. An iPhone 5 got left in a bar … again? Please. Apple quit trying to fool us and just admit that this is the way you can get info out there without admitting you are getting info out there.

Tenth off, Tori. I worked from home yesterday with Tori at home due to ill day care. It was pretty brutal and not something I thin I want to make a habit of until she is MUCH older … like in school. Anyhoo, later last night we took a cute video of her. Her new thing is saying “HIIIIII” to everyone she meets. Even herself. So, for those of you that do not know me on Facebook. Here she is being all cute and stuff.

That is all for today. I want everyone to have a safe, relaxing and fun weekend, be sure to donate during the MDA marathon and until next time, remember … “In outer space it’s okay to wear white shoes after Labor Day.”

New iPhone 5 Rumors

Everyone wants to know what is in store for the next iPhone. Everyone is looking to rumor reports for the answers. Some of the rumors that have come out are actually from reputable sources. In my endless quest to gain national attention by being sued by a major corporation for saying something they don’t like, and after seconds of exhaustive research, pennies in bribes, a short nap and a few deep inhalations off a Magnum 44 marker, I have found a brand new list of rumored features for the next generation of iPhone. If the voices my sources are correct, then the next iPhone is going to outsell everything that has come before.

Latest rumored net gen iPhone features:

–       First off, the next gen iPhone will not be 4Gs or even iPhone 5. Apple will be going the same direction as their OS and giving it an actual name. For the iPhones, Apple did not go with big cat or even animal names, they decided to try to grab an even younger audience and go with a candy reference … “Giant Sucker”.

–       Will include Haptic Feedback. Audio sensors on the phone will be able to detect when a user is saying anything slightly negative about Apple. At this point a high voltage shock will be delivered through the metal case into the user.

–       The case of the iPhone is changing. After complaints of it being hard to hold, and the antennae gate scandal, they will be adding 150 small pin-like spikes on the pack of the phone. Not only will these aid in holding the phone if your hand is wet or dry, or if you hold it on your shoulder with your head tilted, but the spikes will pierce your skin, your body to aid the reception of the antennae. It is believed that with this new tech you will actually be able to get 23 bars of signal.

–        It will have a retractable dog leash

–       There will be a Swiss Army collection that features all the cutlery worthy of an Apple product.

–       Etched into the glass front will be an image of Steve Jobs.

–       It will have 2 cup holders.

–       If lost or stolen, you will be able to send a signal to your iPhone that will blow it up with the force of an M-80.

–       The display is being increased from Retina to Nervus Opticus.

–       New security feature will only unlock the phone after licking the screen.

If all the rumored features are true, then this will be one powerhouse of a phone. That’s all for today. I am off to find that marker again.

Until next time, remember … “Good artists copy, great artists steal.”

Apparently, I Don’t Own An iPhone

Apple has been telling me this for a while with their tv commercials. I know what my phone does not do. I know what my phone does do. I don’t really use apps. I don’t play games. I don’t need to surf the web and talk on the phone at the same time. I actually grew up without constant access to a phone or the web. I went to school all day and had to wait until I was at home to talk on the phone or watch TV. They didn’t even have the internet back then so I didn’t have to worry about that at all. i turned out ok.

I think that Apple must think that I am stupid. I know my phone isn’t an iPhone because it isn’t an iPhone. I don’t need to be told that if it doesn’t do certain things that I don’t have an iPhone. I need someone to tell me that if I am not a woman, then I am not a woman. I am going to boycott all advertising. Except of course any advertising that is for work … or ads for any of my favorite tv shows … or foods … or drinks … yeah … boycotting all advertising.

Got To Get You Into My Life … Or Do I?

Coming soon to Verizon

Welcome to a long overdue edition of Techtainment Tuesday. Let’s just address the elephant in the room right away shall we? The iPhone is on Verizon. I am not sure if I am going to go and get one. First, I don’t really use all the apps that it is mainly made for. I am pretty much a web, email and phone guy. Second, they haven’t said what the pricing is going to be yet. I may not use my money’s worth of unlimited data that I am paying for, but it is nice to know it is there so I don’t get $900 in extra charges if I forget to disconnect a streaming data source. Third, I can’t type on that screen. I need some sort of feedback so that my clumsy fingers know that I have typed something. I like my BlackBerry Storm for that reason. I also like the DROID X for the feedback, but again couldn’t justify paying for features I really don’t use.

There are reasons for me to get it though as well. First, at work, we are ALL about Apple and all of their products. Second, More and more we have clients that want iPhone apps and occasionally have the need to test said apps and what not. Third, everyone is doing it and do I really want to be left out of the loop?

I guess I have some time to think about it. I am not going to get the first ones that come out anyway, or stand in line for it. I am also thinking the next iPhone for Verizon, that will probably come relatively soon, would be for the new LTE network. I would hate to have an iPhone that wasn’t as good as it could be, and be stuck with it for 2 years just to be the first to have it.

In other technology news, IOSafe has created an almost indestructible hard drive. You  will need this if you want to drop your portable hard drive in diesel fuel, take it scuba diving or shoot it with a shotgun. It comes in Aluminum or Titanium. If you want Titanium, you can get a 512 GB solid state drive for the low low price of $3,499.99. Or, you could buy a bunch of flash drives and get 10 times more storage for about 1/100 of the price.

One last piece that sort of fits into tech and entertainment, I posted a video of Tori from last night and also put a BUNCH more pics up on Flickr. Click HERE to look at all the fun. She is so cute but then again I am biased.

That’s it for today. I really don’t have a quote and I am a little embarrassed by that so … until next time, see ya!

Techtainment Tuesday … A Follow Up

It was announced today, introducing the Apple iPad. A few different pricing options seem to make it an affordable item if you don’t want a lot of memory. Still, what will be the point if you don’t have a large amount of memory to store games, apps, etc. It comes with built in WiFi which is essential for such a device.

A nice added feature is optional 3G so that you can have “anywhere internet”. Unfortunately, this is also the sad part. Despite all the problems and complaints about AT&T with the iPhone, Apple has decided to stick with them for the 3G data packages for the iPad. Instead of looking to fix the problem, they just decided to add even more bandwidth suckage to the AT&T network. Good luck now iPhone users. That is about it as I just wanted to get this out there.

Perhaps I will post more next Tuesday once everyone is sick of hearing about it. Then again maybe I will be too sick hearing about it and I won’t.

One final parting thought. When I heard the name of the new product, I posted on Facebook “The iPad … the immature side of me wants to know if it will have wings.”

My friend Abby confirmed for me that yes indeed, the iPad has wings.

Techtainment Tuesday – A Test Drive

As I have been thinking of trying out some sort of “theme day” that I could write once a week, I thought I would try out a few things and see how they work. On this first try, I figured I would combine 2 things since I am not totally a tech geek (just a little bit), and I am not totally in tune with the entertainment scene. I figured this way, I might be able to find enough things to talk about with both for one day. We shall see how it works out.

For my inaugural tech segment, I would be totally remiss if I did not mention the big shindig that is happening in Cupertino tomorrow. For years I let these events go buy with only a cursory interest, mostly shaking my head at the hype surrounding them. Recently however, I joined the ranks of the Apple owners community with a laptop and iPod, so I take a little more interest in them. Whether or not Mr. Jobs (who is on the death watch list for 2010) brings out a tablet, iPhone 4.0 software, iPhone to Verizon or some other announcement, the pre-show hype is usually much bigger than what actually happens at the event IMHO. With all the leaks in the media and online about what is going to happen, the secrecy that Apple tried to maintain pre-event loses a certain amount of luster.

In the past few days, I have already read an overwhelming number of articles on what the problems with an Apple tablet would be. Most of them site the cost. This has always been a factor, for me anyway, in adopting Apple products as my own. When I can build a pretty darn good PC myself for about $500 – $600, why would I pay the money for the Mac equivalent? I did finally break down and buy a MacBook for a number of reasons, but is still hurt my conscience to pay that much. Despite the fact that the tablet will carry a hefty price tag, I am sure that a large number of people will buy the new device just because it is Apple. You have to give Steve Jobs his due, he is as good a promoter for Apple as Vince McMahon is for WWE. It is all about creating buzz and he gets more free advertising than just about anyone. How good would Apple sales be if the media all of a sudden just stopped talking about them?

Moving on to entertainment, other big news … the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. There were the days, long ago, that I used to go to a few concerts. Granted, it was so long ago that it was at Poplar Creek and I mostly sat on the lawn, but even then I remember having to pay the dreaded “convenience fee”. No one knew what this was for, and no one still can really pin down what it was needed for. I have been told “Because you used the convenience of ordering over the phone”. So, I went to one of the few outlets. “The fee is for using a live person at the outlet”. Later as technology progressed, “it is for ordering on-line”. Whatever. It still was something I did not want to pay.

Now with the merger, the DOJ says that ticket prices will lower because it will be cheaper for the company as they now are in charge of the talent, venue, merchandise, tickets, bathroom attendants, record company and bathroom attendants. I don’t see how one company owning everything will bring prices down. Granted, I don’t have an M.B.A. but if you are the only game in town, despite whatever regulations the DOJ has imposed, don’t you think you would get as much as people are willing to pay? And of course, that is the problem, people are willing to pay. Hopefully once I start getting into some different music tastes I can enjoy some of the music fests that are not run by huge corporations and that I don’t have to take out a second mortgage to go to.

On a lighter note … and speaking of WWE, sort of … Psych is back on tomorrow night!

I was psyched, (oh yeah, pun totally intended) to see James Roday and Dule Hill be guest hosts of RAW last night. Unfortunately, James had an appendectomy this past weekend and could not attend. I wish he could have been there as Dule was pretty much in his Gus character and so was James when John Cena called him in the hospital. Tomorrow night’s new episode has John Cena in it and it looks as if it will be amusing as always. For a wrestler, Cena isn’t THAT bad of an actor as long as he is in the roles that suit him. I still need to order my Psych phone cover since I found out they do make one for the BB Storm.

That wraps it up. Not sure what I accomplished but as always I had fun rambling on. So, is anyone looking forward to the tablet? Anyone excited about the merger?

Until next time remember … You cannot sit there in a dark car all alone. You’ll be picked up for mopery … With intent to creep. Trust me, you don’t want that. It’ll put a big hole in your future.