LG Dare

November 10th, 2008

So, my contract with T-Mobile just ended, and I switched over to Verizon.

Blackberry’s are a bit spendier on every other carrier, so I decided I wasn’t going to get one this time. I am testing The BlackBerry Theory ("once you go BlackBerry, you never go back"). I gotta say… I miss it already. But, that’s not what this entry is about.

I got an LG Dare, and so far, I have to say… I am not at all impressed. Maybe it’s just that I’ve been spoiled. But the point is.... I’m not impressed.

Section One: The Touch Screen
I’ve been spoiled by competent touch screen technology. The boyfriend has an iPhone that I play with from time to time, and I’ve got an iPod touch that I regularly access the internet and type on. I barely have to touch it to get it to register my keys. On the Dare… not so much. It’s slowed down my typing speed considerably to have to go back and hitting keys that it didn’t register that I hit.

Dragging leaves a bit to be desired as well. More often than not, the phone things I selected some option that is on the screen while I am trying to drag, instead of dragging. It’s a little counterproductive one may say.

Section Two: The Other Features
The “full feature” browser is a sad excuse for an HTML browser. I think I would have preferred a normal mobile browser, as navigating and using this one is a pain in the neck. Bah.

Uhm. So, I know there were other things I didn’t like about it but since I took the phone back a couple days ago, I’ve already forgotten about it. I started writing this on Friday and took the Dare back on Saturday.

I traded it in for a Voyager, and oddly enough, the Voyager (which has a full QWERTY keyboard on the inside) has a more responsive touch screen. The browser still sucks, but I like this phone a lot better.

Though, I just saw that RIM put out a touchscreen BlackBerry, and omg, I want it.

  Opinionated  Technology   permalink   2 comments   11:26 AM

It’s Almost Halloween!

October 22nd, 2008

We’re coming to the end of October, and that means Halloween is coming up! I gotta say though, I’m less enthusiastic about it now that I live in a place that gets cold.

Friday night, I might maybe go to a haunted house type thing, unless Pod comes up with some sort of better idea. Saturday, we are going to go to the pumpkin patch so I can make a jack-o-lantern. We had the funniest conversation about it.

me: I want to go to a pumpkin patch! And make a jack-o-lantern!
him: You would wantonly slaughter an innocent pumpkin all so you can light it’s head up?
me: You should be happy I’d rather stick a knife in a pumpkin than in you. In fact, you should probably encourage this behavior *nod*
him: Pumpkin patch it is!

We’re also going to go to the corn maze, if it doesn’t rain between now and then. I made the mistake of going through the corn maze the day after it rained last year and almost lost a shoe in the mud. I did wind up having to replace them. They’re still on the doorstep of my old apartment, where I took them off because Tom wouldn’t let me into the house with them on.

We’re going to a costume party on Halloween.. I haven’t decided yet what I want to dress up as. It’s too cold to be anything that I would probably usually have been for Halloween down in LA. Last year I dressed up as Little Miss Muffet and my butt threatened to fall off from the cold. Speaking of, I still have that costume, and Megan still has my shoes. We’re really bad at this “remembering to take the other person’s stuff back” thing.

What are you guys all up to for Halloween? Oh, and what was your favorite costume ever?

(My favorite was the time I was like, 5 and dressed up as a bag of jelly beans. It was awesome. My mom still owes me my picture of that.)

  Everyday Life   permalink   0 comments   03:04 PM

Another Weapon in my Arsenal

October 17th, 2008

I just finished Premiere training yesterday! Included in my Premiere training was Premiere Pro CS3 and CS4 (Mac and Windows), Premiere Elements 4 and 7 (Windows only), OnLocation CS3 (Windows) and CS4 (Mac and Windows), and Encore CS3 and CS4 (Mac/Windows).

So currently, I’ve gotten full on training in all of those, as well as Photoshop CS2, CS3, and CS4 (both platforms), Lightroom 1 and 2 (also both platforms), Photoshop Elements 4 (Windows/Mac), 5 (Windows), 6 (both) and 7 (windows), and installation of all products (CS2, CS3, CS4, both platforms).

How has my head not exploded? I don’t know. Hehe I don’t have to support allllll of those though.

But anyway I am now pretty well versed in the ways of video editing, capturing video, and DVD authoring. It’s pretty fun.

I don’t know how soon I’ll be getting my ACE’s for these products though. I’m not feeling nearly as cocky or even confidant in these programs as I did straight out of training for the other ones.

  Everyday Life   permalink   2 comments   11:22 AM

Oh Hai.

October 6th, 2008

Yes yes, I’ve been MIA for a little while. *shrug* Real life and all.

So… update. Hmmmmmmmmm. Well.. I was in LA for a few days for a family emergency, my car broke down on the way back and cost $1000 to fix, the Xoie is being a booger face but I love her anyway, I’ve been playing lots of Rock Band and some D&D, I found myself a cute boy who, thus far, has proven himself to be a genuinely nice guy, I got an iPod touch that is currently glued to my hands, and… you know, stuff.

I refuse to apoligze for not blogging more often, and I never understood people who made posts about thinking about closing their blogs. In case anybody hasn’t noticed… if I don’t feel like blogging, I just don’t blog. But, I am still alive. Just in case anybody was wondering.

Oh yeah, and today, one of my pictures made it into Explore on Flickr. This is only my 3rd one to ever be in there. Behold!

I Think We Killed Her - (aka I Think I Might Be A Cylon, aka 073)

  Everyday Life  Photos   permalink   3 comments   09:59 PM

Google Chrome

September 2nd, 2008

So, I downloaded the Google Chrome browser today.. I’ve only had a limited amount of time to play with it, but so far, I’d just like to say, wow. This thing is BLAZING fast. *love*

It’s a very simple, minimal looking browser. It’s kind of boring but in a good way I think.

The install was quick and painless, though I don’t recall it giving an option of choosing where to install.. the import features worked well and it grabbed all my stuff from Firefox, though it was kind of annoying that it made me close Firefox to do so.

The blank page shows a list of most visted sites, which is handy. Also, I like how the domain is black, and the rest of the URL is a lighter grey… minimize the spoof!

All in all, there are some features that I’d like to see added, but it’s a pretty solid beta, and I rather enjoy it.

  Opinionated  Technology   permalink   7 comments   03:24 PM

Year 23 Project

August 27th, 2008

Soooo some of you may remember my failed attempt at a 365 days project some time last year.. well, I’m trying again
There’s a missing week.. it’s a sore subject, don’t ask! Srsly.
But anyway I’m doing it again and you should go see it

Year 23

In other news I am now a certified expert in Photoshop CS3, and I do email support at work, and oh, my hair is green.

  Everyday Life  Site Development   permalink   2 comments   07:22 AM

Bluetooth Headset Thoughts

August 18th, 2008

So, there’s a lot of states that are passing laws requiring hands-free devices while driving. I figure Oregon will pass one in the near future. Also, I want to be one of the cool kids Actually, I’m just too lazy to hold my phone to my ear, and I really missed having a Bluetooth headset (I used to have a Jabra BT125 and was pretty fond of it, up until I dropped it in a puddle and it stopped working). So over the weekend I went and picked up a new one.

I was hanging out at Best Buy and picked up the Jabra BT8040 since I had liked my original Jabra headset… that didn’t work out so well for me. I plugged it in, let it charge for a bit, went to use it… the connection was extremely flaky. When it was connected, it was really static-y and dropped out ever few seconds, then would completely disconnect. No good. Also, pressing the button was not bringing up my voice dialing (srsly? Voice dialing is pretty key to the whole “hands free” thing). So I went to get the firmware update for the headset and started to install it… and it crashed. Fantastic! Do you know what happens when a firmware update fails on a headset? There’s a good chance that it will leave the headset nonfunctional. Which… it did. So there I am with a bricked headset. *sigh*

So the next day I went back to Best Buy and returned the defunct Jabra and got my money back. I had been talking to my friend Shawn and he was telling me about the new Jawbone.. his exact words about it were “Seriously, the Jawbone is one of those techs that is so advanced, it’s close to being magical.” I’ve got to say I’m pretty inclined to agree. The noise cancellation on it is amazing!

Now, in the Jabra’s defense, I did wind up having to update the firmware on my BlackBerry to get the Voice Dialing to work properly, even with the Jawbone… but man, the Jawbone totally put all other headsets I’ve ever seen to shame. I am so pleased! Best.splurge.ever.

  Everyday Life  Opinionated   permalink   1 comments   07:57 AM