Time Taken

My last post to this blog was in 2011.  That's a long time.  I needed some time.  Time to find what I wanted to blog about because it gets very stressful trying to decide what to write about if you don't have a reoccurring theme.  So here it is, the Reboot.

I have grown in many ways since 2011.  I'm happily married, proud father of 2 healthy little boys, and have changed jobs just to name a few.   But more importantly for this blog, I have come to understand where I stand in the world of  technology, products, online security, and evolving social trends.  And that is how I plan to spend most of my time here.

I hope you enjoy this new journey because I am very excited about what the future holds for this page.

Thanks for reading.

I have been thinking lately that I want to get into the app review game. As you know, I plan on buying an iPad 2 in the coming months and am obviously going to load it up with cool apps. I want to review those apps, on a website that people actually look at. I have no clue if anyone looks at this because I never look at the break down they give me. It's too sad.

Companies will most likely give me their app to review if I have a good following. So I guess that is what I am going to need. A flock.

Lately I have been searching for a decent blog. Not just a tech blog, but a blog that will fulfill all of my wants and needs of the internet. And I quickly came to a decision. It was almost instantaneous. There are no good blogs that are going to offer me (or anyone else for that matter) all the news they want. This is problem for me because I hate having to visit 4 sites just to see half an hour worth of content.

This is what I am getting to. We need a web app. Or some kind of a web service that will do this for me, for us. Something that actually works. Summify and other services work well, but they still do not cut it. And RSS feeds suck all together. I want something intuitive. Something where I can change setting on the fly. Where I can just click the site and BAM! All the articles I would be interested in would be there.

I have been putting a lot of thought into apps and services lately and would like to get something like this off the ground. Impossible for me to do, obviously. I'm just a critic. But I would like something like that. I would actually pay for it; if it was good enough.

Haven't had much to say in while, hints the no posts in a couple of weeks. Truth is, working a 40+ hour a week job working on Hp laptops really doesn't want to make me want to come home and do anything on a computer. That's why I need an iPad 2.

Not much more than that. More will come when things settle down a little.

My first week at Geek Squad City was awesome. That place is just amazing. The stuff we are able to get done is just mind blowing. Geek Squad City should not be confused with what most people think of when you think of the "Geek Squad". Most people think of the guys that work in Best Buy stores and take your computers in. That is not us. We are the people who work at the service center that fix all the stuff the guys in the store can't figure out, or just don't have the means to fix.

I will be working on the Asus line, which is awesome. Good solid computers, easy to fix for the most part. They make some HUGE PC's but, the bigger sometimes the easier. Their netbooks are pretty simply to deal with as well.

Monday is my second day with the Asus team. We will see how it goes. I am having a blast so far though. I actually look forward to work now.

So I have been doing my research on the wages of Staples managers and will be throwing that, with some other numbers and opinions, into the next blog post about Staples garbage.

Besides that, nothing else is really going on around here. Training at Geek Squad City is going awesome so far. Learned a little bit about Unions today. Right now we are just going through the technical stuff about the company and what not. Next week I will be hitting the line and hopefully making my quota or at least PC's a day.

I don't know if it is just my sleep pattern, or sympathy pain for the wife, but I cannot sleep to save my life. It is awful, especially with having to wake up at 5AM.

It's all good though. Extremely pleased with this new job.

Staples (Part 1)

So I always told myself, 'when I leave Staples, everyone needs to know all the dirt on the shitty, low down stuff that goes on there'. But truly, to be honest, nothing really THAT gross happens in the day to day. Crappy customers are expected, that is just something you have to deal with in retail. But there are a few things that sucked about Staples and looking back, would make me very wary of working there for an extended period of time.

For Example:
The promotion system is totally flawed. And this is not because they don't know it is flawed. It's just because they are crooked. When you go in to get a job at Staples, they will promise you the world. "Oh yeah, I started where you are and now I am GM of the store or assistant manager of the store." Lies. At Staples, you put in your time, thats how you move up. Doesn't matter how good you are, you put in your time. And I am not talking about a year or so. Yeah, you may get the occasional 5-8 cent raise, but we are talking 4 years before anything significant. I had worked there for 4 years and was no where close to becoming a manager or even an assistant manager, OR even the lead of a department. They had a huge change in policy where basically, your job is on the line if you do not preform to Staples new standards. 8 peoples jobs are on the line right now for a 15 CENT raise. I don't think I need to go into any detail about how fucked up that is.

Anyway, When I get more motivation to finish this I will. Probably make it a series type of thing. This time I just sat down and went at it so I didn't really have a plan. Back with more though soon.

First post from mobile blogger through SMS.

So the iPad being virtually out of stock everywhere has actually helped me in making my decision about which iPad to actually go with. The iPad 2 is the one, for sure, but there are what, like eight versions of it? Maybe more with Verizon thrown in the mix.

The 16gb wifi+3G iPad 2 is the way for me. This is why.

I learned a very interesting fact today. There is no service agreement with AT&T for having a 3G iPad that will operate on their network. (Not going with Verizon because CDMA is so over the hill it's not ever funny to talk about.) So here is what I figure. I will have the 3G capability whenever I need it. Say my family is going on a trip in June, I can go to an AT&T store, activate a months worth a 3G for the trip, and be set. That is a great ability to have that a lot of people do no think about. For me, that is worth the extra $130. Easily.

Now if they would just get back in stock so I can get one and get that huge buyers remorse over with...

I love the new layout that Blogger is getting ready to switch to. I think, personally, that the move to make all of the posts enhanced for mobile phones is also really cool. Some cool new features are coming and anyone who uses Blogger should be excited about them.

Still getting the iPad 2.

So here is the scoop. I am going to buy the new iPad 2. I am not sure what I have said about it in the past posts, but none of those matter. I am taking the plunge into the tablet market.

I have recently got myself over to the nearest Apple store to check one of these bad boys out. I got enough evaluation time alone with one to be able to make my decision. I am, though, going to give some reasons to this decision mostly because it will make me feel better, and because my testing did no go without seeing any flaws. I did put all bias aside for this.

So I want to start with the negatives for the iPad 2. I do agree on how they decided to make it very, very thin, but I do no like how they took some of the width off of the bezel (area around the screen). My main beef with the first iPad was that there was not enough space for you to hold the thing on the side of it without touching the screen OR working out the first two knuckles on your hands. Minor issue. Another thing right off the bat were the cameras. This isn't a huge deal for me because at no time will I most likely EVER use the rear facing camera. With this in mind, I wish Apple would have put all the effort they put into the back camera, into the front facing camera. Made it better instead of putting two crappy ones in there. Fair enough. For the cons, thats about it. Like I said, I passed on the first device so I don't have anything else to compare it too.

The Pro's are basically what you saw in the Apple Key Note. Bangin' processor, really slim (but still sturdy), added memory for better Safari experience, and iOS 4.3 takes the cake in the OS department.

For me, this is the way to go. I could invest in the first iPad for $100 off, but I am looking for this to replace my laptop; which is will successfully do. I only use this laptop to surf the web, check Email, Facebook, Twitter. I have a desktop to do all my serious computing on, and if worst comes to worst, I have an Apple bluetooth keyboard that can be attached to the iPad 2 for lengthy typing purposes if it ever comes to that point.

iPad 2 is a great device. If I was a owner of the first one, no, I would not upgrade. But this seems like a good time to jump into the tablet market. I don't think that Apple made a good move making it this thin though. To make the iPad 3 be another huge step, they are going to have to do some serious innovating to get everything to still stay in that small of a package and weigh the same or less.

Woo!

Short one tonight. Facebook messages is awesome. It is a extremely useful tool for Facebook and could seriously be a threat to personal E-Mail. Now business email? Probably not.

Great tool. Embrace it.

Really, Really, Super, HUGE day today. I put in my two weeks at Staples. It might now sound like a huge deal, but after working somewhere for 3, almost 4 years, it can be really hard to break away. It is almost like after that long you are a part of the store itself. That's kind of sad, but still, it's the truth.

I will be officially starting my new occupation (hate the work job) at Geek Squad City on the 21st; which I am very excited about. Finally no more having to deal with the constant whine of customers not being able to find the right size rubber band or the people who come in and ask tech questions knowing you don't know, just to school you on the facts.

Staples has been an amazing experience. I mean, I met my wife there. I could not be more thankful for the 4 years I spent there and would do it again in a heartbeat. But times change, and more money is needed (Bnjmn Alxndr Clrk) and I needed to get a honest to goodness 45 hour a week job. Just how the world spins.

Also in some recent awesomeness, I found out I could change my Facebook.com URL from the one I had originally picked! I am now the proud owner of www.facebook.com/alxclrk. That, my friends, is so cool.

All things are so good. Couldn't ask for better luck.

I have really come to a realization about cellular devices and the companies that make them. It's kind of a long winded rant, but I will keep it as short as possible.

Android is going to start facing some huge problems in the very near future. And this isn't just because the iPhone is a much superior product, but more because of quality control. Google now has no control over their own OS. A phone manufacture and build any piece of shit phone they want, modify Android OS to their liking, and stick it onto the phone. And they do this whether it sucks or not. For instance, look at Samsungs Touch Wiz UI. It has taken the OS down to a crawl when Android is a very light and fast operating system. In short what I am trying to say is that the only reason we are paying 200 and 300 dollars for android phones that have dual core processors is due to the fact that the manufactures mess with the OS so much that it is unable to run on the specs it was built for. The Samsung Nexus S is a super fast phone, but that is mostly because Samsung didn't have the choice to add in their bloatware.

The other issue they are going to have is tablets. I don't own a tablet yet because the iPad 2 doesn't come out until Friday, but I can easily for see some issues with Android tablets. They are all made by phone manufacturer. The same people that are putting out crappy cell phones, are going to be putting out crappy tablets. Secondly, they are are ALL basically true phone manufactures. So anything you buy Android is, yep, going to be on a contract. And if you don't want it on a contract it is going to cost you 8 or $900. For what? A piece of shit android tablet that is modified from the original Google dream? I can pass on that.

I love the idea of Android, but I know with iOS and the iPad, if there is an issue or there is a critical update in software, I am going to get it at the same time as everyone else. Instead of maybe not even getting it at all.

 

This is the desktop I put together over the last week or so. The box for it was not as good of an idea as I had originally thought, but it will do for now. Most likely I will end up putting it in some other kind of box that the power supply can also fit in as well, and that also has the proper cooling areas.

The iPad 2 looks to be an incredible piece of technology. Either it is, or Steve Jobs just did an amazing job of pitching it. But really, when I sit down and think about it, I could really use something that is bigger than my iPhone 4, but more convenient than my laptop. And that is where the iPad comes into play.

It's fast, number one. One of the reasons I have been such a anti-tablet guy for the last year is the simple fact that every tablet on the market, excluding the original iPad, is crap. They all run Android OS to begin with, which relies too heavily on the specifications of the device. Even though the new iPad 2 has a dual core processor, I would still be buying one if it didn't. Thats the whole point to tech, I really don't give a damn what it is made of, as long as it is efficient and does what I want it to do. And too many times, you get something that seems like it is going to work out, but in the end doesn't.

I just want the thing to work, and with the iPad I know it will.

And lastly, price. Seriously, Samsung, HP, and Motorola; what the fuck. There is no way in HELL I am paying you 700 bucks for a half way decent tablet that runs smartphone software that doesn't function half of the time. That is ridiculous. The iPad is reasonably prices at 500 dollars, and seriously, the other devices that are out right now couldn't even stand up to the iPad. So why would I pay more?

Apple has never done me dirty in the past. The MacBook I own is pushing 5 years old and is running better than a 3 month old Windows 7 machine I bought. Even if the iPad was priced like the other tablets out right now, I wouldn't think twice about which one to buy.

iPad 2. All the way.

a lot of things happening. Nothing much to say though. Catch up with yallz soon.

Not a whole lot happening right now. I have my meeting with the Geek Squad City district manager on Wednesday. I am really looking forward to that because I have the job in the F'n bag. Looked at some really nice apartments today around where I live now.

It seems that every time I need a flash drive or just a HDD that works, there is never one to be found. Awful I know. On top of that shit, all the drives I currently have available are not working. Not counting ones that are installed on a machine.

I was able to get a pretty awesome free ware called MiniTool that will let you fix any drive as long as it is not physically broken. Good stuff, I recommend downloading it due to the fact that everyone is going to have an issue with a hard drive eventually.

That's all for now, I'm going to try out this new style OS called Jolicloud and give a little review of it on here. Nothing extensive, but it looks like a good Chrome OS alternative.

Peace and Love

Another great day in NCAA basketball, the CATS lose their latest road game.

I wasn't always such a huge anit-UK advocate, but with fans like they have, I just can not contain myself.

Ignorant.

Today is an amazing day. I got a new job. And not just another stupid retail job like Staples. A freaking exciting job. I now work at "The Geek Squad City," which is a larger branch of the Geek Squad that handles what I'm guessing are warranty issues that are not handled in the store. I make good money there too which is also nice.

I will be working on 8 computers a day, which will easily take all of my time. I have the opportunity to work up to 60 hours a week.

I don't have to deal with customers and shitty people. Just the computer and me. It seemed like from the interview that I would be working largely on HP machines, laptops to be more specific.

First thing I'm saving for...2nd Gen Macbook Air. Hells yeah!