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October 29, 2006
Time for Reform
So... I spent roughly $500 solely on Starbucks, Eating Out, and iTunes just last month. It is clear that I have a problem LOL. So, next month, my goal is to DVR everything I want to see, and not go into iTunes AT ALL. Eat out just once a month, and bring my coffee maker to work so the urge to go to Starbucks dissapears. I can't believe I wasted so much money.
What brought on this review of my financial activity? Well... I'm broke until next week when I get paid, and I knew there was no damn reason I should be broke. Granted I do have bills. I have credit card bills, cell phone bill, and rent to pay, but I could cover all of that with less than half of what I make in a month. Now I know that I also went on a quest to eliminate wires in my house, which I accepted would be spendy, but the amazing part about that is, with all the wireless keyboards, mice, headsets, so on... I bought, it all came out being less than my iTunes tab for the month.
Well.. maybe I'll still go to Starbucks on Fridays. I am a bit of an addict, going cold turkey might kill me.
Posted by Decemberice at 08:20 AM | Comments (1)
October 24, 2006
Sony: As the Legend Falls, Part I (UPDATED)
Sony has become quite the prominent resident in the news these days. Unfortunately that is the result of pissing people off moreso than any other reason. After putting people's lives in danger, causing property damage, and instigating the largest recall in consumer electronics history with their faulty batteries... all Sony has to say is "Sorry for the inconvenience."
Furthermore, they've taken greater strides at pissing the gaming community off today by having the most popular video game importer on the web shut down. Lik-Sang today announced that they had to shut down due to lawsuits from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and it's parent Sony Computer Entertainment. Granted they were selling consoles designed for the asian market to Europe, which, though not illegal when they were doing so, was later deemed unlawful by a judge in London.
Sony, of course, combats this by saying "European customer's don't mind waiting for Sony products." What the hell does that mean? Does it mean that they enjoy watching every other market recieve their consoles and games before them?
Of course this is hot on the tail of the statement that Sony wants you to work overtime to be able to afford the PS3. Can somebody do me a favor and just shut each and every member of Sony's executive team up? They say the most insane things then wonder why the Sony brand is unable to compete with the likes of Apple. At least when Steven jobs is saying crazy shit, it's somewhat true!
So I have decided to dedicate this as the first blog to document the fall of Sony as a desirable brand name in the consumer electronics business. Their cell phones cease to amaze or sell, their console is being delayed from here till infinity, not to mention it's inhibitively priced for most youngsters. Their PSP is barely holding it's own against the less powerful and less graphically advanced DS. Their portable audio players are pretty much reknowned as years behind, they have no true competitor to the iPod, and their music download service continues to dwindle in patronage by the hour. Their once thriving digital camera business is being leapfrogged by Nikon and Canon.
They do have a few strong points left. They still make the world's best hi-def TVs. Unfortunately Samsung is right on their tail and underselling them. They make some of the most desireable laptops in the Windows-based PC market. Their PS2 continues to hold it's own against the Xbox and Xbox 360. Then they have their camcorders. That's about as good as it gets. I'm sure that their battery business is pretty much shot, or should I say it blew up in their face.
UPDATE:
So it comes out that Sony is now accusing Lik-Sang of blasting them on false grounds. Apparently Lik-Sang could not have incurred legal fees due to the fact that they did not contest the multiple lawsuits from Sony. However, Sony unintentionally unveils that several European execs purchased PSPs from Lik-Sang before they were available in Europe, which is the very sort of option that Lik-Sang opened up for early adopters in Europe, and was getting legally roasted by Sony for. Indeed, the plot thickens, how are you going to tell the masses not to do it, when your execs are busy doing it? Of course, Sony claims that this was "investigatory" not because the execs were impatient. Because, as we all know Eurpoeans don't mind that they are last on Sony's list. They'll gladly wait. Sony, you just keep digging yourself deeper. You need to get your head on straight and get rid of your new Prez.
Posted by Decemberice at 07:58 PM | Comments (5)
What Sony must do to get back on track
Now, I'm not exactly an expert in this field, then again Sony doesn't appear to be either. Here's my take on the situation: Sony has grown too big for it's britches and it's come up against the consumer electronics manufacturing equivelant to writer's block.
Nevertheless, they aren't without hope. Here's what I feel Sony should be focussing on:
1. Let people watch/listen to their own damn content! It must be difficult for Sony's consumer electronics heads to agree with the movie studios and record labels they run in a way that can actually sell content. The unfortuante truth Sony faces; however, is despite Blu-Ray or HDDVD taking off, it's digital downloads that will leapfrog both of those formats for everything but storage. So, unless Sony wants to be stuck with a multi-million dollar investment into a floopy disk replacement, they should start working on integrating video downloads into Connect. Or, if they are tired of beating a dead horse with the connect music store, they should partner with a more successful download service and start promoting Quit focussing so much on DRM and DRM driven formats that you lose sight of the fact that people have a right to enjoy the media they purchase.
2. Make it all work together! Can somebody explain to me why Sony Ericsson Walkman phones are not being leveraged to advertise the Connect music store? Furthermore, why is Sony developing Location Free TV technology for Windows Mobile phones before it offers it on it's own Sony Ericsson smart phones? Then of course there is the mystery of why they are marketing a new device, the Mylo to do things that they could easily integrate into the PSP to drive it's sells. Oh yeah, then there is their Digital Living System which is a computer designed to take residence in your entertainment center instead of on your desk and does it get the Blu-Ray disc player? No, the awkward looking desktop does. It's like Sony is a huge family whose members aren't aware of what the others are doing. Here's an idea, when you come up with a new technology, make sure that you enable all your devices to utilize it then leverage the marketing synergy! Apple has a mastery of this. Every product they create in someway revolves around iLife, and iLife and .Mac interact with one another.
3. Get the creative juices flowing! Hey, those wizkids who design your PSP and your laptops... they should also design your Blu-Ray disc player! That thing looks like a cross between a brick and a VCR from the early 90's. Then there are the MP3 players which honestly would have been great designwise in 2002, but everybody expects a color screen these days, not a monochrome reflection screen.
4. Do something with Connect or ditch it! If you are going to integrate PSP functionality into it, then by all means do, but don't make a seperate Connect store front for it! You don't see Apple creating a separate iTunes interface for the iPod! Plus, the content you have available for download on the PSP Connect storefront... nobody wants it! At the very least, put a few more trailers up there.
5. Quit favoring Japan with the exclusive PS2 and PSP colors and marketing. You have a larger audience in the US. Play both fields.
6. Control your execs. Enough with the crazy statements.
7. If you are going to compete with Apple, don't just create a competitor, create the superior device, and give consumers a reason to choose it instead. My recommendations, take your PSP line, add a new model that can make and recieve calls on the Cingular network, plus a 2 mp camera and all the features it currently has. Give it a 10 gb harddrive, and Skye capability, offer WMA and WMV plays for sure compatability, and you are set. Give it the ability to view MS Office documents and sync with Outlook or Gmail and you have a device that will overthrow the iPod. Especially if you offer a port to hook up interchangable harddrives which you can manufacture as an accessory for extra profit. Oh yeah, and a touch of bluetooth 2.0 so you can listen to music/movies/games on your PSP without wires. Wires are uncool these days.
8. Networked stereos are an excellent concept, give them more compatibility, give them the ability to sync with the PSP through wi-Fi and bluetooth and you have yet another accessory leveraged with some clever marketing you could really start expanding on your core market.
9. Embrace homebrew on the PSP, just don't support it, just as apple allows you to Windows in a partition but doesn't support it.
10. Use your artists! You have a bevy of rock stars from Aerosmith to Tori Amos, you'd think you could use a few to advertise like you used to!
11. Adopt Windows Mobile for your cell phone platform. Face it, Symbian is not competing, opt for the prominent technology and adapt it, like palm. Sony's strength is in engineering devices, People would flip over the w600i and the 950i if they ran Win Mobile.
Those are just a few suggestions. Not that Sony will listen, but hey!
Posted by Decemberice at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
Music Recommendations
Absolutely in love with Casey Stratton this afternoon. So, you should check out two of his songs. "For Reasons Unexplained" and "Blood." Once you get a bit bored with those two, check out "Dead Sea." There's a really cool set of mixes out on "Blood" by Junior Vasquez. Check 'em out. It's all available on iTunes, Urge, Connect, and I'm sure it's out to boot as well. You can also catch a clip or two of him on You Tube. I found him about 2 years ago after he was recommended to me by Pandora.
Posted by Decemberice at 04:37 PM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2006
Just like me
So, as you are all aware, I have a cousin who's a lot like me in several ways. It makes me so sad to see him going through life putting up with the same crap I had to put up with. He's to that age now where the fact that he's gay matters and, of course, everything he does is wrong. He's a little flamboyant but nobody in our family really cares to understand what that means. They all keep asking him if he's got a girlfriend and he corrects them and says "you mean do I have a boyfriend?" and they all just tell him that he'll grow out of it someday.
So I had to lay the smack down, and now there are lots of hurt feelings. We all went out to lunch, two aunts, my mom and I. Sure enough, one of my aunts asked him if he had a girlfriend yet. Being 13 will earn you the question by default. Of course he went on to correct her and his mom slapped his wrist, like how dare he mention the fact that he's gay in public.
I went off the deep end.
I told her that it's technically child abuse, and above that it's brainwashing to try and slap him and create a negative association with him being honest about who he is. So... I slapped her wrist and said "That's for being ugly, since we don't give a damn about anybody else's feeling I suppose it's fair not to hold back on you."
So of course she stormed off, and everybody stared at me and I just stared right back, so then my mom got all uppity, then my aunt refused to eat with us and left, and it was just me and my cousin. We hi-fived. Sometimes I gotta put my bitch face on to get the point across. I hate when people fuck with my little cousin about being gay. You can screw with me all you want, but don't mess with the queerlet or you'll get strong-armed. He should have the right to be himself, even if it is some sort of phase, he should have the right to decide for himself, not be slapped for being what he is, and not allowing people to tell him otherwise.
Moral of the story: Don't mess with my queer protege LOL.
BTW: All ended well as his mom apologized to him but refuses to apologize for me. That's OK, I don't need anybody's apology to exist.
Posted by Decemberice at 10:09 PM | Comments (4)
October 21, 2006
Movin' On Up... Again!
I'm excited to announce to all of you avid readers that I have been promoted to a new position with my company.Yet again! Either I'm doing something right, or none of the departments want me LOL.
It comes with a very gradual, but welcomed, pay raise which puts me in the ballpark of incomes which are usually reserved for people with bachelors degrees. I'm very appreciative that I've been given this opportunity based on aptitude moreso than education, but I'm definitely more motivated than ever to go out and get a degree.
I suspect I'll finally be in a Monday- Friday shift again. I had one for a brief period of time, then gave it up to somebody who had a wife and kids because I didn't think it was right that I was holding onto it just as a status symbol when they needed it to spend time with their family. At first I was OK with the concept, but then I thought about what if it were people I knew and thought to myself how I would feel if some jerk was making it so Zoso couldn't spend time with her son... Then I started to feel guilty, and I hate feeling guilty. Take note Wal-Mart!
Besides, I actually prefer the 4 day work week and having 3 days off. It makes it so much easier to recoup. But some positions, like the one I'm taking, are worth only having two days off.
I have also gained somewhat of a technophile image at work. I replaced my Palm PDA with my iPod since it essentially does everything I did with my Palm anyway, so I get these strange looks when I bring my iPod to Site Administration meetings, then these looks of awe as I hook it up to the projector and run power point presentations off of it. LOL Then comes the drooling and people asking me where I got my iPod and how much it costs. I love that thing, it does everything under the sun, but I seriously wish there was a better battery option out there for it.
So, I'm excited, and hopefully I'll do really well in the position. I will certainly give it my all.
Posted by Decemberice at 11:23 AM | Comments (1)
Unwired Update
Remember one of my previous entries where I claimed I was trying to free myself of wired computer components because I tripped over the cord to my headphones and took nearly every wired device with them because it had all become a tangled mess?
Well, to update you all, because I'm sure you are all on the edge of your seat over it... I have reduced the wires at our computer desk sucessfully by 4! You would not believe how just 4 fewer wires can clear things up and add space.
I opted for Apple stuff because I'm a fanboy like that, so I have the new bluetooth mighty mouse for both my mother's mac, and mine. I have, for both computers, the Apple Pro Wireless keyboard (which is ultra quiet by the way). That allowed me to axe 2 wires. Then I opted for Logitech wireless headset and promptly returned it because, though the Mac's bluetooth adapter could see it, it couldn't stream audio to it for some reason, and the PC Laptop I have didn't even see the headset. So, I replaced it with a bluetooth headset from motorola for cell phones and it is doing just fine. That scored me one more wire down, which allowed me to get rid of my usb hub which resulted in yet another wire down.
Next, I plan on getting rid of the printer cable by purchasing an Airport Express station, which will let me sit the printer elsewhere and print without a wire connecting the printer and the mac. Then, I'll move on to getting a new speaker setup for the mac to hook up to the airport express station which will also let me put the speakers somewhere else in the house without a wire.
That'll down 2 more cables and the only thing I will need a cable for, is to hook the monitor to the PC. Now how pimp is that?! An entire computer setup, with one wire and 2 power cords. If I weren't such a boyscout I could even hook the power cords directly into the wall instead of into my UPS battery backup device.
At any rate, I thought I would bring you this important update to inspire those of you who may not have made the jump to a world without wires yet. It's very fun not having to trip over the bazillions of wires you can easily accumulate through a modern computer setup.
Below you can see some of the items I'm using on Amazon:
The Airport Express Adapter with Airtunes
Bluetooth Adapter for my G3 iBook without Bluetooth built-in
The mouse and keyboard aren't compatible with PC, but everything else should work on both platforms. Here's a pretty pimp alternative for you PC folks out there for the mouse and keyboard
Posted by Decemberice at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2006
Walmart is "inhuman"
What happens if you employer suddenly tells you that they are cutting full-time employees back from 40 hours a week to 32 hours a week, while also telling employees that their schedules will now be generated by a computer and they are expected to be available to work 24/7. Including of course the possibility that they could very well work 9-5 one week, 3-2 the next, and 5-1 the following? Well that's how Wal-Mart decided to cut costs in Florida. That is until two of it's department managers stage a protest. Can you honestly blame them? The employees dubbed these new policies "inhuman." I'd have to agree.
Posted by Decemberice at 07:12 PM | Comments (2)
October 12, 2006
Going Wireless
So I tripped over a cord two days ago, and have, since, spent every moment I had to myself shopping online to replace every wired product I own with a wireless one. So far, I've replaced my mouse, my keyboard, and my headphones. Since all of our computers have built-in wi-fi, I haven't needed to do that, but I have purchased an airport express adapter, which makes my printer and my computer's speakers wireless. All this pro-active wirelessness has also allowed me to get rid of my USB hub,
Actually, the only thing I will need connected to my computer once all this crap arrives, is my scanner... until I spring for the all-in-one printer next month.
Now all I need is a way to wi-fi my home theater set up. I wish there was a way to get rid of power cords too.
Posted by Decemberice at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)
October 10, 2006
In pain? Maybe it's your antidepressant.
So I was reading up on a drug that was prescribed to me today, Tylenol 3, which has codeine in it. I'm used to codeine as I'm actually trying to step down from Hydrocodone because A) it's wasn't effective for me, and B) It's potentially addictive as it is a combination of 2 derivitives of opium.
When I was trying to get the details on my Tylenol 3, I came across this funny little statement saying that prozac and similar drugs would essentially negate the pain-relief benefits of codeine, while still allowing for the negative effects. Hmm... so maybe it wasn't that the hydrocodone was ineffective, but instead that my Zoloft (which is also an SSRI form of anti-depressant) was preventing it from functioning properly. Furthermore, I had to switch to codeine in the first place because I was prescribed Tramadol which had absolutely no effect on me, but in combination with the anti-depressant I was using could cause seizures. Another catch I made that my Dr. didn't seem to know.
It's a scary world out there people. I would highly recommend not touching a thing your doctor prescribes to you until you've researched it. Had I not wanted to know what it was exactly that Tramadol does... I could have had a seizure, because my Dr. didn't do his homework. In addition, I've been taking and paying the excessive price for Hydrocodone for almost a year now when it couldn't have possible worked because of the combination of drugs my doctor had me on.
Needless to say I'm going to seek a new Dr. Nevertheless, even if you trust your Dr. fullheartedly, I Still recommend you second guess everything he/she says and find out for yourself. You've got to look out for yourself, just because they are professionals doesn't mean they are perfect, or 100% effective at all times. That's a more significant statement when they are playing with your life.
As an aside, wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com) is a great resource for researching prescription drugs, as is webmd.com.
Did you know that proper eating habits, diet, and exercise is proven to show more effective results at resolving depression than SSRIs like Zoloft or Prozac? Hmm... funny, nobody told me that when they prescribed it, maybe I would have tried it first.
Posted by Decemberice at 04:30 PM | Comments (2)
October 09, 2006
Sin Single Update
So, the Sin Single lineup has been chosen. I have the Sin Single (Demo) CD available for those interested. It's not the finished product, but it's definitely sets the tone for what the single, and my first... kinda first album will be like.
Five songs (possibly 6) were chosen for the single: "Sin" of course made the cut, but so did the acoustic version "Sin (Acoustic)", as well as "Uninspired", "Warm", and "Drowning." The Demo album features a slightly different mix: "Sin (Acoustic Demo)", "Uninspired (Acoustic Demo)", "Warm (Acoustic Demo)", "Drowning (Ice Mixhouse Version)", and an acoustic cover of "California Dreamin'" by the Mama's and the Papa's.
There may be a 6th song on the single if I get my act together and finally callaborate with my friend to do the Duet for "Sin" which will cleverly go by the title "Sin (Duet Version)". If I can get the Sin duet demoed in the next week it'll make the demo single as well. If not, I'll just hold off for the Sin Single.
I'm very excited to finally have the songs picked and, as soon as the final versions of each are recorded, to be able to offer my first single! Woohoo! My single will go for sale on my site using the Amazon Honor system as soon as it's finished. Following that The album launch is still slated for December 29th.
Please remember that I have no record deal, so it's all very homebrew at the moment and the demo version is just a burnt CD lol. I'm having a custom painting made for the Sin Single and the album which is yet to be named.
So for those who were interested in the final cut of the single, if you want a copy of the demo single, send me your address to my primary email and I'll get it out in the next few days!
Posted by Decemberice at 08:32 AM | Comments (1)
What A Night
So, I fell asleep after a long day without my happy pills. It's totally my fault because I forgot to refill the subscription. I had no idea that missing a day of anti-depressants could unravel the very fiber of a person's existence. That shit should be in bold letters on the front of the bottle. "Once you are hooked, Don't miss a day!"
I had the most ginormous heachache I've ever had in my life, and I had an unending craving for ice cream and red meat. It was insane, not to mention completely terrifying. Luckily I slept most of the day.
I'll bet you're wishing you could turn back
but this is all you are now
not even as much as a grain of sand.
It was like I wanted to curl up and die once I didn't have those little pills to tell my brain that the world was a happy smiley place.
Sadly, it was also more apparent than ever that the pills cause me to lose focus. I could finally finish sentences and thoughts like I haven't been able to in a long long time. I wrote music that didn't suck again. It was a bit of an eye opener.
heat-seeking bomb in my hand
bring me my asylum band
you put the knife to my thoat
now it's your turn to float
So then I have to ask myself, is being me more important that being depressed and lonely all the time? Does it mean more to be yourself in the face of all that means than it does to get yourself help and move on?
One thing is for sure. I'm far more creative when I'm unhappy. I redesigned my website to be more seasonal.
At any rate. Today should be a bit better. I'm going to have sushi tonight with one of my bosses and a co-worker. I've found a new love for sushi... though I'm not so sure how much like real sushi it can honestly be in a non-coastal city. I have simply decided that means I have to stay away from the Sushi's that have the raw fish across the top and I should be good.
Well, and then there's the fact that pharmacies are actually open today so I can go pick up my happy pills again. I swear it better take this headache away or I'm going to slip out of my sanity! Me and burrito will go for a ride again LOL.
You remind me of my sanity doctor teleport me out of your design
this is fear
welcome to my little flood
and now give me a little of your blood
At any rate, what the hell's happening out there! It's winter! When did that happen? I love winter. It makes me a little happy despite everything above. Soon it will snow and be all dark and dreary. I'm such a rainy day sort of person. Call me crazy, but I just don't like the feeling of the sunny burning at my flesh and making me flake away. It's just not my idea of a fun time. I've decided I don't really want to drive in the winter though. I think I'm just going to get an apartment across the street from work for the winter. You are probably laughing but I am 100% serious. Either that, or I'll rent a room at the Hilton down the street from work for the 4 days a week I need to be at work.
I can remember the pain
my river of red that would eventually stain me
now it's your turn to swim
open your latitude line and let me in
I have a Dr.'s appointment today to learn more about my crazy tumor/cist thing that nobody seems to have seen before. I'm demanding my doctor send me to (and this is going to sound so cliche) a big city where they have possibly seen this before. As a recap, I have what appears to be a tumor on my esophegus, that just happens to be moving in the general direction of my heart. If you are thinking to yourself tumor's aren't supposed to move, just grow... yeah, that's the part they've never seen before. Leave it to me to baffle the medical community with yet another aspect of myself. Seriously!
Indeed, 10.
- The lyrics from this entry are from the Casey Stratton song "Blood" off of his Standing at the Edge album which totally rocks, as do the remixes of Blood by Junior Vasquez.
Posted by Decemberice at 06:59 AM | Comments (1)
October 04, 2006
Continued in Code
So slick you can't crack it if you brought your strong arm.
I told burrito that his name was Aaron, and a plain is a plane when it takes to the sky, but he's all hot no matter how cool he is. Strapped in, burrito was a captive audience. There was no escape, but I don't think he had plans for the night, such is the life when you are cheesy.
But there was the left I'd looked for all my life or all night, either way, same left. Burrito found it hard to understand. I'm like a drop of rain in a clear sky. Nobody knows why, it's just me to be the enemy. I'd cry, but it's a curse I've begun to like.
The lights turned way down low. Time to creep. Burrito was zip lipped as we found the meaning of life through his window. Leaves crackle crackle on the snappy, zippy, gnome ridden plain or plane. However it goes, it goes all the same. It owns you if you take too many of the red pills before breakfast.
You can't stomp because then you loose the element. Or the suprise dies. It's all the same.
Burrito carresses the dead as they pass. It's another one of his skills. He hates it when I sing songs, he just want's to sing along. Still the same man no matter how wicked I become, it's all in my head most days of the week, but I rest on Sunday.
There's no Jesus of burritos so he pulls 7 day weeks.
Posted by Decemberice at 08:37 PM | Comments (1)
Thought I Couldn't
Or maybe I thought I didn't. I don't really remember anymore. All I know is that it was me and the burrito and we were lost downtown. I consulted it, but it was of the variety with onion, so it couldn't really respond. If it did, it would have had bad breath anyhow.
So it was just me and the burrito lost downtown with a lot of time and a destination we'd given up on sometime after the pintos and cheese went cold. So we carried on. We were determined not to let a sever lack of direction and directive for that matter ruin our night. For it was I and my burrito was my co-pilot. It's likely that the burrito was Mexican, but you never really know these days.
I told the burrito about him with his blue eyes and a smile sweeter than ice cream. Not just ice cream, but a really good cookies and cream type that makes you wake up in the middle of the night longing it. And he's a blond. Even through onions and hot sauce the burrito could see that I was a sucker for a blonde with spikey hair.
It wasn't definite but he looked like he could be well endowed. A burrito can sense these things. Amongst it's many abilities. It can also throw a sick wrap that shames E-40 on his shiniest day. A real street thug the burrito.
Tonight I longed for stories of his youth though. How does someone so hot get raised from seed to adonis? How does the boy become the beautiful man. Is it really true that inner beauty breeds outter beauty. Is that what burrito and I were missing?
We had to consult Daliliah, what else can you really do at that point.
That's when it was clear that I had lost my mind, but why do anything half-assed. If you are on a roll it may as well be jelly-filled. With burrito riding shotgun through the streets of downtown with a pretty, pretty, boy on my mind and absolutely nothing else. It wears on you though. Being crazy is hard work. Having no regard is a tough time. It may not look it, but then again, not much in this world looks it's part. Does a plain really look like it could propel itself into the skies?
Burrito makes an excellent point when you get past the halotosis. It's all good. Suddenly I realized that it was to be continued...
Posted by Decemberice at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
October 01, 2006
My iPod
I finally bought an iPod. A lot of people I talk to at work just assumed I had one already when I brought up the fact that I bought a new one. I guess they think of me as some ubber apple enthusiast. I am to an extent, but I always had a hard time justifying an iPod. There are so many other options that are just plain less expensive and restrictive. Previously I bought a Creative Zen Vision M. The only problem was that it was too massive and showed every little nick and ding. Plus it didn't play with iTunes so I had to use the new laptop to port everything over. 30gb filled up on it rather quickly. I suppose what finally sold me though was when we bought my mom an iPod Shuffle for Christmas last year. My mom is the most difficult person in the world to shop for, and when my siblings approached me with the idea of chipping in to get her one, I thought they had lost their minds. My mom isn't exactly a technophile. Yet, she loves it. Takes it on trips everywhere with her, and she's even been learning how to use iTunes to load songs and so forth onto it. For Christmas this year, I'm thinking about upgrading her to a Nano so that she can carry her photos around with her.
So, I bought the 80gb white iPod (gen 5.5 as they refer to it online). The thing is diabolically massive. After loading all of my music onto it, I had used less then a tenth of the available space. I guess I didn't realize that it synced calander appointments and contacts and so on. It's pretty cool. I like it.
I especially like that it allows me to back-up my computer. That's because my iBook doesn't have a DVD burner, so I spend all day backing it up to almost 20 cds. Let me tell you, that is not fun.
I also bought a few of the accessories for it. I got a radio tuner so that I could listen to Bob and Tom in the mornings, and tune in the TVs at the gym (that's a hopeful statement since I don't currently attend the gym.) I also got a case for it that I had to promptly return because the salesman told me that the 30 and 80gb models were the same size so it would fit. This, of course, isn't true. It's partially my fault because I knew it wasn't true, but I still bought it thinking they couldn't be that different in size. Apparently it is possible.
I was looking for the A/V kit for it, but couldn't find it. I'll have to but it off the net. I'll wait on that though.
I also need to get a new stereo that has an iPod compatible receiver for my car. My car's tape deck doesn't work anymore which totally sucks because I can't just get one of those cheap tape adapter kits now.
I think my favorite part about this new iPod is it's compatibility within Tiger. It just plays well with my parents... or I guess my mom's Mac Mini.
I also upgraded to a DS Lite. I'm very much in love with the revisions they made to the DS with the Lite. There are a lot of things I found myself thinking would be nice when I was using the old model, that they directly implemented into this version.
Well... that's about it for now!
Later!
Posted by Decemberice at 08:23 PM | Comments (2)