monday haiku

iphone 4 works great
cures cancer and will also
bring world peace through me

leaked new iphone ad

that's what she said iphone application

so, last night a friend i was hanging out with kept throwing out the "that's what she said," line over and over. anyway, someone near us overheard and interrupted. it seems that he and a few other friends are developing an application for the iphone that'll deliver the line on request. i think they had four different versions of it you could choose from.

i talked to him abou thow it may be a little impractical to have to whip it out (that's what she said) and select the application and then push the button. he realized this, but said it could still be a cool little thing to goof with, like most of the iphone apps are.

so, be on the look out. it's coming to your iphone from fresno.

that's what she said.

3rd party iphone apps

so, with the release of the latest version of the iphone they also brought out the application store and the idea that you could put whatever you want onto your phone. i didn't get a new phone, and we'll see if i eventually upgrade. however, i have been checking out some of the apps. i haven't decided to pay for any of them, but i did get several of the free ones. what did i get?
-yelp - nice. i love to yelp, and this application figures out where you are and then allows you to read reviews of stuff near you. unfortunately, it doesn't let you review in the app, or i haven't figured that out yet, but i can still do that through the mobile internet.
-remote - this app works with your itunes or appletv. so, yes, i can sit three feet away from my laptop with itunes open and use my phone as a remote control.
-jott - this is a cool little service where you can record a voice note and it transcribes it for you
-imaze- roll a ball around a maze my changing the angle on the phone
-shazam - want to know what that song is? well, hum it, play it, whatever and shazam figures it out.
-tap tap - this is basically guitar hero. i downloaded the app to check it out, but since i'm not a huge guitar hero fan, i'll probably end up dumping it
-bible - nice, searchable bible. many different versions (translations) and it even has 3 spanish options.

new iphone software & macworld news

so, macworld started today, and steve jobs announced a super thin new powerbook. looks pretty.

also, they announced a new iphone software update. this excites me because: now i can send a text to multiple people. i used to always do this with my old phone, and was frustrated that i had to type out the same message over and over and over as i sent it out to our crew. now, one time.

i-screwed

no, my computer's not messing up again. i just thought it was catchy, and it's from this parody of the one of the newer ipod commercials from mad tv.



who even knew mad tv was still around? i sure didn't.

here's a one from jason sedulkis of snl, that's a bit funnier for the iphone.



pig punch videos, meth high.

nice.

third party aps for iphone!

alrighty then. apple has announced (or bowed to pressure, look at it however you want) and will soon be allowing 3rd party software to be installed on the iphone. sweet. i can't wait until someone creates minesweeper or solitaire. shoot, forget that, i can watch movies on this thing. someone figure out how to get halo on it.

honestly, this can be a very good thing. and, it shows that apple hasn't suffered a complete disconnect with all of the forward thinking innovators that have helped support apple all along. let's hope that people make good programs. and that i can get firefox and ditch stupid safari.

now, if they just open it up to other networks. i imagine that'll come in 2 years when the first round of contracts expire.

more apples to eat

i knew it would happen. i just didn't figure it would happen quite so fast.

the iphone price is dropping. the 8 gig i have will soon cost $200 less than i paid. i had considered waiting until the 2nd or 3rd run of the phone to wait for all the kinks to be ironed out and any possible price drops. but, i wanted the phone then. i don't feel bad about the extra expense.

apple also unveiled a new ipod, call the ipod touch. same touch screen tech as the phone. also, has a wireless internet connection! wow. maybe this will convert you anti-apple cultists (jay, i'm looking squarely at you). and, maybe those who are thinking of dropping of the bandwagon won't (adam). they're also putting out a new nano that plays video. sheesh. the prices on these two new ipod versions are decent.

welcome back

my iphone is ifixed and back in my ihands.

iphone - the saga continues

so, as i mentioned the other day, my iphone went on the fritz. part of the touch screen stopped working. this was a manageable problem while i was out of town, but it wasn't one that i was going to live with much longer. i had tried the simple solutions at home, such as doing a reboot, and even went as far as reinstalling all the software and firmware through the itunes. no luck.

so, this morning i went down to our local applestore. within 45 minutes, i was walking out of the store with a new phone. sort of. i chatted with their "genius squad" or whatever they call them (really, it's genius something. that's a bit cheeky). anyhow, they checked it out, hooked it up, and verified that yes, it was broken. so, they have to send it off for repairs. that will take 3-4 days.

here is where i had wondered about what would happen when people would have to be without their phone while it was being fixed. they give you a replacement phone. well, they actually rent you a replacement for $30 while your phone gets fixed. that's pretty cool. even cooler, the guy that was helping me waved the fee entirely. so, my phone is getting fixed for free, and i have a phone to use in the meantime for free. that's pretty good service in my eyes. or is that in my i's?

btw, i skimmed my applecare agreement and it does talk about them either fixing using new & refurb parts or completely replacing the defective device. but, it doesn't say exactly what will cause which. i'm sure they do this to cover themselves rather than openly say what will cause a replacement versus a fix.

how do you like them apples?

uh oh

looks like i may have drank too much kool aid. iphone will be taking it's first visit to the apple store for some service. some of the touch screen isn't responding to touch. that's no good. we'll see how well apple care treats me.

a metaphor on life, a thought on el olio wolof

i was playing a dvd in one of my classes. we're talking about narrative, and telling their story, as well as seeing the relation to the stories around them. anyway, i'm using the movie the joy luck club, recommended by my wife (i also like using it because amy tan has fresno connections and i like showing the students that they aren't limited in any way by being here). in fact, i'd never actually watched the whole movie before i showed it a few terms ago. anyway, back to this story. we were watching the movie in class, and the dvd kept skipping. this was really frustrating, and it seemed that each time the class was back into the story, it would skip a little or pause. a few times i took the disc out and tried to wipe off any smudges or dirt. and even when it didn't seem like there were any more smudges, it still was skipping. so, i started thinking, maybe it's the player and not the disc. when i went home, i tried it out, and it played perfectly, all the way through.

this made me think about life, and the difficulties that we face. sometimes, nothing feels right. sometimes it seems like everything we do, all the attempts to right our lives, to fix things, just don't help. is it possible to live in the wrong "player"? this one we're in is misreading us for some reason, thinks that it should jump here when we say, 'no, it's fine, keep playing.'

now, i'm not saying this about my own life. honestly, i'm pretty sure i'm where i should be, where i want to be. but i was just thinking that maybe there are people out there that have just been stuck in the wrong set up. what do you think? it's not a super profound thought, just something bouncing around in my head.

can i make a similar metaphor about the jack on my headphones? i have some really nice headphones that i received as a gift (birthday or Xmas, i forget). and i love them. but, they don't fit in the deep well of the iphone. so, i've had to use the iphone earbuds that constantly fall out of my ear. the other ones worked great on the ipod but not on the iphone. but a remedy exists, a friend of mine who has these same earphones, and iphone, told me about modifying the input on the earphones. you just have to shave the housing on the cord a little. he had already done it on his, or maybe he had done it on a part used to connect to the car stereo.

finally, i went to the post art hop show @ tokyo garden. i was a little tired, and actually left just before rademacher came on. maybe it was the heat that sapped my energy. or maybe it was that rademacher never seems to be coming on before 1, who knows. don't mistake that for criticism. i love rademacher, and have enjoyed seeing them so frequently. when they make it big, i'll treasure the memories of seeing them in a packed, sweaty tokyo garden. but anyway, i did see el olio wolof. these guys are magnificent. i've seen them now probably five or six times and each time i am more impressed with the quality of their music, their showmanship and energy, just everything. last night they had the crowd in their hands in such an amazing way. people moving, singing along, dancing, just beautiful. when i saw them here i compared them to a pentecostal tim burton carnival, and i think it still works (if you click on that link, you can actually see some low quality videos i did of them). i easily dropped the $5 for their tour demo. it's got some of the songs from their upcoming cd, and some others. it's not quite the same as actually seeing them, but it's good, and it will hold me over each time i need a fix of el olio, until i see them live again. wow, that sounds obsessive. anyway, i can't wait until both rademacher and el olio wolof get their full length albums out. i know that they've both been on the verge of releasing them, so i hope it's soon.

oooh, one last thing. i sold another painting yesterday. one wednesday, when we were doing our set up for our art hop show, a lady came through the door wanting to leave a note for the artist that had shown last month. she wanted to pick up one of the paintings as a gift. i then identified myself as that artist. we planned a time that we could meet on thursday (i didn't have the painting there). so, yesterday, the deal was done. goodbye, asparagus.

getting my iphone

so, as i mentioned on friday, i was going to try and get an iphone. i went over to the nearest at&t store @ 5, knowing the doors would open @ 6. i figured that this store near me would be the least crowded, and was right. a few people behind me had been at other stores and said that there were many more people, even up to 100 @ the apple store. me, i showed up an hour before open, and was about 30th in line. my friend mark showed up at about 5:15 or 5:30 and was about 6 people behind me. i would guess that there were 45 people in our line by 6.

a few minutes before 6, one of the workers came out, and announced that they would be letting small groups in to help the process along. they let the first group in at 6, about fifteen people, and it seemed like it would fly right along. but, nope. i'm still not sure why it took this first group so long to get it done, especially since all the set up & activation would take place @ home via the internet. i finally was in the door @ 6:45. by 7, i had my 8gig iphone and was out the door. simple.

along with the unexplained wait of the early people going in the door, the biggest frustration that i had with the process was that no one had an accurate idea of how many phones there actually were. i haven't read much news lately, and none of what little news i have read has said how many phones were out there. so, we're in line just guessing if were getting a phone. i figured that since the at&t stores were letting you buy one, and the apple stores would let you buy two, that each location had to have at least fifty. that was just my guess, and so as the 30th person in line i felt alright. when i went inside and was being assisted, i even asked the lady working with me if she knew how many they had. she didn't know, and said that the people in the back would just hand out the particular model requested, and that they were just going to tell them when they were getting low on supply. it seems to me that i would have been a little more helpful if they had told people how many phones would be available so you know if you're wasting your time or not. but, even if they ran out of phones, i would have just placed an order, and been on the priority delivery list.

as i said, i had my phone by 7. i wasn't going to be able to set up my phone right away because i was going to the fuego game at 7:30. btw, the game was a huge disappointment. not only did we lose to the last place team on terrible goals (good job keep!) but this loss eliminated the team from playoff contention. awesome. after the game, we went out for a bit. so, i didn't start setting up my phone until like 1 in the morning. the set up process all went really smoothly. basically, the longest part of the process was just waiting as all the music was loaded onto the phone.

so, here it is, my iphone getting set up.

will i or won't i

get an iphone today? we'll see. in a convergence of good things (heather got a small pay increase, and it was recently our anniversary) the plan is to get one of these beautiful little gadgets. so, i've been anticipating the release as well as following the details. in talking to people @ at&t and reading what's available on the 'net, i think i've got a reasonable understanding of what to expect.

when i was at the store asking questions, the person helping me asked, "are you going to camp out?"
"uh, what?"
"camp out?"
"no."

as i watched the mid-day news, it made me reflect on the strangeness that our culture has for somethings, especially these over-hyped electronic devices. xbox 360, playstation 3, and now the iphone. the wii wasn't released with such fanfare, but you're hard pressed to find one in a store now.

so, my current plan is something like this: at&t stores will close @ 4:30 to prepare and re-open @ 6. i'm thinking i will go to the nearest one about 5. i will stand in line. if i don't get a phone, okay. my current one still works. i can place an order and wait. heck, i've known about the phone for quite some time and have waited this long. shoot, i may not even go until 6.

an interesting note, apple is giving away free ones to their full time u.s. employees, and to half-timers that have been with the company over a year. so, heather's brother and sister-in-law will be both getting 8gig versions. her sister-in-law got pretty lucky on this, because she just recently was hired by apple. and, if i understand correctly, she's actually working customer service in the iphone division.

in other news, i'm trying to get some free tickets to tonight's fuego game from my work. we'll see. i'd like to go, but hoping we can get in for free. also, really good hip hop artist and nice guy ibid will be performing tonight @ veni vidi vicci's after 9:30, so i may stop in there.

apple o' my eye

ah, thursday. i bought one of these today.





i had a wireless router before, but it screwed up @ some point. and, the conversations i had with a very nice lady @ some outsourced location helped but couldn't fix the problem. so, i figured i would go w/the matching apple one. so i can now walk wirelessly around the apartment connected to the internet.

also did a little memory upgrade. did a partial one when i bought my lapper, but finished the job today.

still not sure about getting one of these yet:

when does it come out?

my heart is filled with lust.



hot stuff.