Sunday, February 27, 2011

How many uses are there for an iPhone?

Bet no one ever thought of this.

My luck being what it is, I'll never have the chance to catch something as cool as what this guy recorded:

Thursday, February 24, 2011

So much for the interlude

Last week we had temps in the 60's.

Earlier this week we had temps in the 50's.

Snow had all melted, no need to worry about ice while one is driving.

That all changed today. Since it's still February here in Kansas I knew the springy temps wouldn't last forever but today Mother Nature decided to hit us with both low temps and plenty of snow.

How much snow? Well, when I took little Geoana to school this morning it was sleeting just a tiny bit, no accumulation.

Lunch hour, about four to five inches. None of us brought our snow boots either. I arrived home with wet socks and professional shoes that weren't made for deep snow.

When it was all said and done I measured eight inches in the front yard.

Oh well. Temps are supposed to be in the 60's next week. Here comes March!

Pictures? Why not?





Yes, I snapped them with the iPhone.

Speaking of iPhone, got a call from Geomom last night. She decided to head over to her local Verizon retailer and take a look at the iPhone. But before doing so she wanted to ask me about mine. In her words: "I decided it was time to get into the 21st century."

Glad to have you here, Mom.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Technology Assist

iPhone is fully active, porting the number was complete sometime this morning.

Now on to creating custom ringtones. It's not hard to do in iTunes, provided you're familiar with Finder and know where your music files reside.

I don't have a lot of phone numbers in my contacts. Only two, actually. Geogal's cell and the home phone number.

I already knew I wanted to import "Theme From 'The Monkees'" and use a 30 second clip for Geogal's ringtone. But for the house number the decision was a bit more difficult. So many really good songs in iTunes. Which one to use to identify home sweet home?

Pondering this question while doing the dishes tonight, the Nano in the living room speaker unit gave me the answer. I had it on shuffle, and after several songs it went to Steely Dan's "Home At Last."

Perfect!

Now the lyrics of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen will alert me to an incoming call from the domicile:

"Well the danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last"

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Incommunicado

My latest toy (i.e. an iPhone 4) arrived yesterday. Setup is (mostly) done. It works fine but I'm still waiting for the porting process to be complete. I elected to keep my same cell phone number and Verizon is just waiting for my previous carrier to give the "OK."

I can use all of the non-phone functions. Actually right now the only things I can't do with it are receive an incoming call or text.

And a couple of days ago our land line phone resumed its weird habit of not allowing us to call out, although incoming calls still go through. (Geogal finally had enough and ordered a new phone/answering machine combo via Amazon.)

At least these telephonic idiosyncrasies still allow for full communication with the outside world. Not only that, we still have Geogal's cell (and my old cell phone) for full phone privileges.

I'm glad my ancestors can't see this. They only had to endure drought, famine, poverty, continual wars, high infant mortality, and live by the sweat of their brow.

Me? I'm having phone issues.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Taking The Plunge

For those of you wondering (all zero of you!), yes I ordered my Verizon iPhone last night.

Decided to go with the 32 gig model, figured it's worth the extra hundred bucks.

I figure to get it early the week of February 20 (these things don't even ship until Feb. 18). Then I'll enter the brave new world of apps and mobile web. Bet you anything after I've had that gadget a few months I will wonder how I ever got along without it.

For those of you who don't know me, I enjoy my desktop and laptop Macs and I use a laptop PC every day at work. I've got a good iTunes library going and use not one, but two, iPod Nanos. (A first generation and a fifth.) Yet despite my affection for things digital I don't own an iPhone (yet) or an iPad. I figure if I traveled greatly for my work I would probably have both but my needs are met with what I have currently.

So why the iPhone?

First, my current cell phone battery is already showing signs of slowdown. Second, I've found myself sometimes desiring a phone that has just a few more features (such as a music player, still and video camera, and the ability to go online and do more than just pull my e-mail. The iPhone fits all of these needs and a whole lot more.

Plus I already fulfilled the two-year contract for my current cell phone, so I won't lose anything in the transition. So why not? What is there to lose?

Nothing. And there's a whole lot to gain.

I did buy the data plan for my new 'phone. Geogal and I will enjoy being able to get online even if there is no available wi-fi. We won't be going back to the days of pulling into a hotel's parking lot to glom onto their free wi-fi (we actually did this once, in the Kansas City area).

And besides, it really won't set me back much. I pulled out a Macworld magazine from September 2007, with the cover story titled "Hello, iPhone." Back in those olden days $499 would get you a 4 gig model, with 8 gigs costing $599.

Shoot, I feel like I'm getting a deal!

Monday, February 07, 2011

Post-football thoughts

Yes, I watched (most of) the Big Game.

Rooted for the Packers, just don't like the Steelers much. Gotta like Aaron Rodgers, class act all the way (at least for now). In total juxtaposition to Roethlisberger.....

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Wittiest comment of the night came from Geogal, immediately following the Eminem ad for Lipton Brisk:

"That ought to get a 15-yard penalty for bad commercial."

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My favorite ad (at least from the ones I saw)? Believe it or not, one of the spots from the Obama Auto Company:

Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Add this to the list of things I never thought I would say

Checked the late afternoon weather stats while at work.

"Hey, things are warming up! The wind chill factor is now 16 below."

(At the beginning of the workday it was 33 below.)