Ballistic HC Case for iPhone 4 - Review

Just hot the Ballistic HC Case for the iPhone 4. The case is okay, but the rubber outer layer already broke:




-- Post From My iPhone

UPDATE: I sent the company an email, and apparently they're sending me a free replacement. Cool!

Sen. John Kerry skips town on sails tax

Sen. John Kerry skips town on sails tax

Couldn't have said it better myself...

And yes, that is bird poop all over it...


-- Post From My iPhone

iPhone 4 "Bumper" case refunds

Apple recently announced that since the iPhone 4's antenna design appears to be the cause of signal loss, they're refunding money to anyone who purchased a "bumper" case.

I just got the following, twice, since I bought two:


Dear Apple Customer,

Apple recently announced that iPhone 4 customers who purchased an iPhone 4 Bumper are eligible for a full refund.

As of today, we have automatically processed your refund.

Thank you for choosing Apple.

Sincerely,
Apple Online Store Support

Samsung Omnia II "Review"

A client of mine just got the Samsung Omnia II. It's clearly being marketed as an "iPhone competitor.". In reality It's not at all competitive. The touchscreen appeared to be resistive, which means you have to physically push down on it. It had a sort of "skinned interface", but underneath it runs Windows Mobile, which was a decent competitor to the old Palm OS on PDAs several years ago, but it doesn't hold up very well today. Bottom line, it's a very dumb "smartphone".

Something I noticed while waiting at the Apple Store

I arrived at the apple store at approximately 8pm.  (Dropped the phone at 7:20 or so.)

I was standing at the Genius Bar from 8:05 until 8:40 or so.

During that time, at least TEN iPads were sold.  Hmm...

Dead iPhone 4.

I dropped my iPhone 4 from a height of less than 1 meter onto a "soft" linoleum floor.  It (the phone) was wearing a bumper case.  When I picked it up, it was OFF.  And it stayed off.  There was zero visible damage of any kind.  It just refused to light up.  I know the battery was well over 50%, so that wasn't it.  Could it really be that a short drop like that killed my iPhone 4?  Apparently so.

Needless to say, I was upset.  I went to the nearest Apple Store (Pasadena) and got on the "standby" list at the Genius Bar.  After about 40 minutes, someone called my name.  About 10 minutes after that, I had a new iPhone 4 at no cost to me.  I last synchronized this morning and am in the process of restoring from that backup as I type.  Of course, I'll still lose any pictures/videos I made since this morning, and have to re-enter a bunch of stuff on the phone (at least 30 usernames & passwords, several wireless keys, merchant id's, etc.)

While Apple's support and service is world-class, I'm beginning to worry that the iPhone 4 is not.  Is it wrong to expect a phone to survive a drop of less than 1 meter?

Would you like some HOT AIR?

Health Insurance requirement: "Not a Tax"?

Remember when Obamacare passed, and they (mostly dems) said that although the law required you to have insurance, and although you'd be penalized monetarily for not having it - it was not a tax.  Over and over, the penalty was defended as a anything other than a tax.

Well, now they're finally starting to own up to the truth:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/health/policy/18health.html?_r=1&ref=politics

Who owns america's debt?

Click the image below to see in full size:

"Water free" urinals suck

This is why "water free" urinals suck:


-- Post From My iPhone

I've gone over to the dark side... ;)

Since I'm working on actually doing some additional marketing, I'm looking at a number of options. Someone suggested using Facebook as another method of marketing. 

At first, I scoffed at the suggestion. I had a personal account on Facebook before, but found it annoying. That being said, she made a compelling argument, and I had no idea that I could create a "corporate presence" there.

I took the advice and setup a company page, but maintaining it requires that you also have a personal account as well.  Facebook generates a ton of emails - someone took a trip, posted pictures, and got 35 comments - you'll get at least 35 emails detailing the blow-by-blow for each. So I setup a rule on my Outlook to automatically move Facebook emails to a folder called "Facebook". 

It's only been a week or so, but we'll see how it goes.  Click the Facebook link on the right and be sure to click "Like" once you're on the "Geek to The Rescue - Burbank, CA" page.

Tell me again why the charges were dropped?

This POS was protected by the current administration.  Why?

Human rights activist tries to stop death by stoning for Iranian woman - CNN.com

Human rights activist tries to stop death by stoning for Iranian woman - CNN.com

Nite-Ize cases

I needed a case to hold my iPhone 4 when working. Since OtterBox still doesn't have anything, I originally bought a handful of generic "sideways" holster pouches from a few mall kiosks. Some worked okay, but none of them felt quite right.

I've been using the Clip Pock-Its XL for a while now, and it works well. The clip is designed to stay on your belt no matter what. I figured I'd look and see if they made something that would work for the iPhone 4. I'm glad I did.

I picked up the Nite Ize Universal Clip Case Sideways Medium and it's working pretty well so far. I'm still awaiting an Otterbox case, but until that time, this is a worthy substitute.