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.

Al Gore Sex Abuse Investigation -- It's On Again

Al Gore Sex Abuse Investigation -- It's On Again

Stop Spending!

Just got my iPhone 4 - first impressions

I just got my iPhone 4, along with two "bumper" cases. They're not really cases, but that was all that was available...

First impressions:

• The speakerphone is MUCH louder (and therefore better)
• The screen ("retina display") is absolutely phenomenal, but... it looks funny through my polarized Ray-Ban sunglasses. This WILL grind on me, and unfortunately I'll probably end up buying some new sunglasses.
• It's MUCH faster to do everything.
• The camera is quite improved, although I think the digital "zoom" is worthless.
• FaceTime is great.  I only know one person who has an iPhone 4, so the value of this feature is minimal for now.
• It feels solid, but so did prior generations.

Downers:

• No rugged cases are available yet, and the nearby Apple and AT&T stores are sold out of most iPhone cases in general.  I've been using an Otterbox Defender case, which has a holster clip.  Until they (or another company) come out with something, I'm stuck with the bumper, and then putting it in a generic (sideways) holster pouch.
• Internet Tethering will require that I give up my "unlimited" data plan...  I'm not going to do it yet, since I haven't had much use for that anyway.

Another know-nothing complaining about AZ law

Small Victory in the Fight Against Global Cybercrime

Small Victory in the Fight Against Global Cybercrime

Senators propose granting president emergency Internet power

Really? Is giving Obama (or any one person) a "kill switch" for the internet a good idea?

Senators propose granting president emergency Internet power | Politics and Law - CNET News

AT&T borked the iPhone 4 pre-orders

As you may be aware, AT&T's servers were not ready for the massive demand for the iPhone 4.

Like a good fanboy, I was all ready to pre-order an iPhone 4 on the morning of June 15th.  I started on Apple's Online Store, and noticed that it kept hanging when it would try to verify my eligibility for the upgrade.  So after about 50 attempts (and re-entering my info that many times), I figured it was worth trying to do it on AT&T's site.  After about 20 attempts, it appeared to go through.  Or so I thought.

Because I was doing so much at once, right after the order went through, my browser crashed.  This prevented me from printing the order confirmation.  So I had no order number, no confirmation of any kind.  I only remembered seeing "Thank you for your order."

Because I didn't trust the way it happened, I decided to try the Apple Online Store again.  After about 4 attempts, that worked as well.  Unfortunately, by that point it was saying that pre-orders would be delivered by July 2 as opposed to June 24. :(  Of course, if both orders go through, that means I'll have spent around $700 after taxes as opposed to $350. :(

I got an email confirmation from Apple almost immediately, but nothing from AT&T.  I therefore resigned myself to having to wait another 2 weeks.  I also assumed that the AT&T order just didn't go through.  Later in the day I got an email from AT&T saying there was a problem with the credit card, and that the order would be canceled if they didn't get new/correct credit card info.  I called the number in the email and waited 35 minutes on hold before the system told me basically "sorry, we're too busy, call back later".  I tried several times after that, for a grand total of about an hour-and-a-half on hold.  This morning I actually got through - to a human being!

There's nothing wrong with the card - it's a debit card and the balance is more than sufficient for this purchase.  However, for some reason their system kept rejecting it.  So I gave the rep my business debit card, which worked.  She told me that from what she could see on the system, it looked like my order would in fact arrive on June 24.  I thanked her and hung up.

So now I just wait and see.  Will I receive an iPhone 4 from AT&T on June 24?  Will Apple send me one on July 2?  Will I end up with two?  Time will tell.

I got cut off at the drive-thru...

...by these little bastards:




-- Post From My iPhone

Gary Coleman

Like Michael Jackson, this guy was exploited by everyone around him from an early age. Even in his 40's, he was surrounded by people who didn't really give a damn.  Even after his death, the jackals continue to feed - his ex-wife sold this picture of Gary on his deathbed to the Globe "Magazine":

Picture source: http://www.globemagazine.com/story/511

Logs Show Coast Guard Saw Threat Early - NYTimes.com

Logs Show Coast Guard Saw Threat Early - NYTimes.com

Pelosi gets heckled!