I actually should have seen this one coming a mile away, but eh, perhaps the anticipation of a new OS got to me.
I woke up earlier than normal to install the 2.0 software on my first gen iPhone. It took a few clicks of the “check for updates” button, but soon I was off to the races, happily downloading the 200+ MB 2.0 firmware update. Things were going as planned until the update finished and I needed to log into iTunes to activate the phone.
Epic fail on Apple’s part for not beefing up their activation servers in anticipation for such high traffic. They already knew that a ton of people would be activating their new 3G iPhones, and that even more people would be upgrading to the 2.0 firmware on their first gen phones and activating as well.
“Apple has confirmed to us that activation is down, and that customers are being asked to take the phone home and activate via iTunes later. We’re not sure what good that’ll do, since the servers are down no matter where you are, but Apple says it’s “working on a solution.” In the meantime, it looks like the new SIM works in first-gen units, so at least upgraders aren’t totally phone-deprived. Oh, and remember that updating a first-gen iPhone to 2.0 requires hitting the server as well, so if you haven’t taken the plunge we’d say hold off until this all gets sorted.“
Just imagine how ticked some people must be, after having waited in line this morning for a new 3G iPhone, only to leave the store with a non-working phone!
The long awaited iPhone App Store is now LIVE on iTunes! While you can’t install any of the applications until tomorrow (OS 2.0 required), you can still check out the 500+ applications available (many are free) and download them. Tomorrow looks to be a fun day for current iPhone owners as well as those purchasing iPhone 3G.
Speaking of, I originally planned to get the 3G phone but have since decided to hold off. After seeing the limited 3G coverage (none in my current town), I see no major reason to purchase it. I might reconsider once I move closer to Memphis at the end of the month. By that time, there should be plenty of reviews out on the 3G version. But for now, I am just excited about all these new apps and OS 2.0 coming tomorrow. I have already downloaded several free apps (AIM, eBay, MySpace, Facebook, WeatherBug, iTunes Remote, The New York Times, AOL Radio, umm)…
I ended up staying with Adam and Kiwi while they were house sitting this weekend and as luck would have it, the place we were at had a nice pool and hot tub. Kiwi had to work both days so it was just Adam and I. The hot tub had a built-in CD player, so we got some music going and hung out poolside.
I love hot tubs, but I think I took it a bit overboard. It was already 90+ F outside, so it probably wasn’t too smart to stay in there most of the time, but that is exactly what I did on Saturday. By Sunday, I already had a decent sunburn on my shoulders but got right back in the hot tub. After a while, I switched to the pool and lounged in one of those floaty chair things. It was nice to just chill, but that resulted in even worse sunburns on my shoulders and now my chest. Two days later, my shoulders are still hurting but everything else is fine.
I thought it would be pretty cool to try out some cool dunk pics so that is what we did. I had an idea of what I wanted the end result to be, and it came out pretty much exactly as I envisioned.
I set the camera up on a tripod, set it for multiple shot mode, then held down the shutter button as Adam ran, jumped and dunked. The camera snapped pics the entire time. Afterwards, I one of the pics in Photoshop, then brought in another photo on top of it and “erased” his body into the original image. Repeat this process until you have every body shot in place and merge it all together. I could have done a better and more careful job with the eraser, but the errors aren’t too noticeable.
Overall we had a lot of fun. It was really fun to just relax for a change and not do much of anything productive… although I could have done without the killer sunburns on my shoulders!
I have been looking forward to UFC 86: Jackson vs. Griffin for a few months, and that time finally arrived Saturday night. Instead of paying $40.00 for the event on Pay-Per-View, I decided it would be cheaper and more fun to watch it for free at Buffalo Wild Wings.
It wouldn’t be much fun to go with just a few friends, so I invited a bunch of friends - we ended up with nine people showing up, not bad! It took a bit to get our seats, but once Tiffany arrived, she got everything taken care of with the quickness! Way to take charge and get what you want!
The night was going well and I had accurately predicted the winner of every fight up to the main event, which is what everyone was there to see. I had my money on Rampage by KO early on, but that wasn’t to be. The fight actually went the full five rounds and went to the judge’s scorecards for a decision. Both Josh and I had the fight scored 3 rounds to 2 for Rampage, but apparently the judges saw it differently. They scored a unanimous decision for Forrest Griffin! What?!
I recorded the fight on my camcorder and ended up watching it again later that night. The fight was actually closer than I originally thought, but I still think they got the decision wrong. The only thing Griffin had going for him was the fact that he was pressing the action and he had some nice leg kicks in the earlier round that clearly injured Rampage. Had he stayed with those kicks, I have little doubt he would have taken the leg out completely.
On the other hand, Rampage was clearly the more powerful fighter and got the better of the exchanges. He rocked Griffin twice, nearly power slammed him to break out of a triangle choke (the only reason it wasn’t really a slam is because Griffin let go of the choke just before he got slammed) and left him with some nice cuts and bruising all over his face. Rampage didn’t have a scratch on him.
Anyway, below are the results from the TV card, as well as some random photos of everyone.
Sarah and THE WORLD FAMOUS.
Kiwi and Adam.
Astrid and I.
Tiffany and Sarah
Airica and Keith - yeah, I kinda caught him off guard hah.
Adam, Kiwi, Sarah, Astrid and I decided to check out the fireworks display once again in Memphis. We got there about an hour or so early and decided to try a different location to view the fireworks. Last year, we sat right on the banks of the river and had a great view but it seemed like we were almost “too close”. This year, we tried our luck on top of the bluff across from Riverside Dr.
While there was more scenery to photograph while waiting for the show to begin, I don’t really think this was the best location for actual firework photos.
I was able to get some decent shots, but not really as good as last year’s efforts. Oh well, we still had fun and I even had Astrid film the fireworks. I’ll upload a clip once I go through the rest of the weekend pics.
I had originally planned to start my 4th of July weekend on Friday, but Keith suggested I head up Thursday instead, so hey, why not?
We got back to town around 3:30 p.m. and met up with my friend Stephanie for lunch at Steak and Shake. It had been a while since I last hung out with her, so we ended up staying and chatting for probably 1 1/2 hrs after we finished eating. I was hoping to invite her out Saturday night but her and her hubby will be heading to Arkansas for the weekend.
After lunch, we came back to Keith’s place and checked out his new HDTV (aka played some games). That was the plan for the rest of the evening, but Josh gave me a ring and wanted to go see a movie, Wanted. Adam called around the same time so I invited him and Kiwi to tag along.
As for the movie, it was pretty decent. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just give it a score of 8 out of 10 and say it’s probably worth checking out if you like a decent action flick… and Angelina Jolie.
Afterwards, we were all pretty hungry so our next stop was iHop. Always delicious, yet not really nutritious… oh well.
Josh had recently picked up Wii Fit for the Nintendo Wii, so he invited us over to check it out. I hadn’t laughed that hard in a while - good stuff! But I can see where the game would actually be fun and help you get into better shape.
I didn’t bring my camera bag with me to Josh’s, or else I would have had some pics and incredibly funny videos to post. Expect plenty pics on my next update… granted the fireworks don’t get rained out tonight.
Well it seems the gas prices post from yesterday sure fired up a bunch of you all, which I fully expected. As much fun as it is to discuss “red hot” topics, based on the comments received, it seems most people completely missed my point.
Most everyone who replied flipped out about how they HAVE to have gas to get to work, see the family, etc. These people totally missed the point of my post. Basically, be thankful that you are in good health and can get around on your own, when you want to. Want something to complain about? How about you go a week without driving your car, then get back to me. Gas isn’t vital to sustain life. Food, water, shelter, clothing - those are NECESSARY items. People who don’t drive, for whatever reason, already know that.
How To Save a Bit of Fuel
For those that can’t seem to pocket the extra price of gas, I would suggest a few things to help ease the pain. See if you can pick up some extra hours or overtime at work to help offset the costs. Also, remember that almost everyone has some degree of waste in their budget (do you have a budget?). Cutting back on some other less important expenditures can help when it comes time to pay at the pump.
Try to drive as little as possible. Group errands together and accomplish as many as you can in one outing. Going back and forth from town to home will burn up a lot more fuel.
When you are driving, remember to be easy on the gas pedal. It’s not a race from stoplight to stoplight. People burn up a lot more gas than is necessary simply because they have a lead foot. Just chill and take it easy… you’ll catch that other guy stopped at the next light anyway!
Why drive everywhere by yourself? Car pooling to work or school is a great way to save on gas prices, especially if you have to drive a long distance. You may not like the idea of riding with other people, but your wallet will thank you.
Sell some extra junk on eBay, Craigslist or have a yard sale. Take those funds that you made and put them in a separate account specifically for fuel.
These are just a few ideas that should get your head above water if you really feel you are sinking.
I was over at How I Save Money earlier and ran across this post where LuLuGal is giving away a free gas card in exchange for writing a blog post of your own about how high gas prices have affected you. I figured this would be fun to write about, since my stance on gas prices are totally different than most.
First off, as you may or may not know, I am not able to drive. Does that mean my opinion here doesn’t matter? Quite the opposite really, as I feel my opinion matters even more due to this fact. Hear me out.
Yes, gas prices are at a record high level, that is not breaking news. $4.00+ a gallon does seem like a lot of money compared to what most Americans are used to paying. But really, think about it. Think about what you get for your $4.00… the ability to drive 20 miles or more without effort (pressing the gas pedal isn’t considered effort in my book) in the comforts of your air conditioned / heated vehicle. You don’t have to walk like many people in the world who are less fortunate than most Americans. You simply hop in your car and off you go.
You have the ability to quickly and efficiently get to and from anywhere you want to go, which is essentially unlimited freedom. Imagine being stuck at home day in and day out - the only transportation you have is what is within “walking” distance or when friends visit and offer to take you places. Imagine not being able to get a job because you have no transportation, or not being able to get to the grocery store because again, you have no way to get there. Think of it as being on house arrest without the legality of it.
Suddenly, $4.00 doesn’t seem like that bad of a price to pay for freedom. Welcome to my world, where I would gladly pay $4.00 or more for the opportunity to do any of the above listed things.
Now consider the fact that gas prices are what, $1.50 at most more than they were a few years ago. Does an increase of $1.50 really wreck your budget?! On average, gas is 5.1% of your budget and gas only went up 1% since last year, which averages out to about $40.00 more per month. $40.00 more a month and people are flipping out… yeah, that makes a lot of sense. If you think gas is expensive, check out these other price-per-gallon liquids:
A gallon of Starbucks coffee - $53.00
A gallon of bottled water - $16.00
A gallon of Tabasco sauce - $95.00
A gallon of printer ink - $7,500 - $8,000!
When is the last time you heard someone complain about Starbucks? Most Americans can’t drink that liquid gold fast enough!
The last point I want to talk about is all these silly free or discounted gas promotions. I saw on the news just a few minutes ago that some gas station offered $.99 gas for the day, and before the store even opened, the line was miles long and people were waiting for hours on end. Are you serious? How about, instead of sitting in your car wasting precious time, you go to work and earn some money. Then you can afford gas at any price! Geez…
You can’t turn on the TV these days without being flooded with car commercials offering free or discounted gas if you buy a new vehicle. Things like this drive me absolutely mad! First, you don’t get free unlimited gas for a year or whatever. You receive a gas card with restrictions, based on how many miles the average person drives at a set rate. Usually this is something like 12,000 miles a year. Most people I know drive a lot more than that, so while you will save some money, you won’t get free gas. Also… if you are really hurting for gas THAT bad, why on earth are you buying a brand new vehicle in the first place? That’s just pure stupidity.
The next time you complain about gas prices, I encourage you to give it some thought and think about some of the things discussed here today. And before you say it, yes I do pay money for gas. I am more than willing to give my friends gas money when they help me out around town, etc. because A) I do appreciate their help and B) I appreciate the modern automobile and the luxuries and conveniences that come with its operating costs.
It’s been quite a while since I last bought something for my digital camera (or any new toys for that matter). With Independence Day just around the corner, I wanted to make sure I have the best setup possible for photographing fireworks.
Last year, we arrived in downtown Memphis just moments before the fireworks show started and I had to borrow a tripod from a friend. This year, I have my own tripod, a Quantaray QSX-DigiPro 8500 that I purchased last year. With the tripod, there is really only one other accessory that I wanted to have to use this year, a wireless shutter release remote.
I had thought about buying this Nikon ML-L3 remote before but never really looked into it. I must say, I was pretty surprised to see it only cost $13.20, so I had little apprehension about “pulling the trigger” and making the purchase.
Not only will the remote shutter release eliminate blurry pics from my finger pressing the shutter, it is also necessary if you want to use the BULB setting (keeping the shutter open as long as you want) on your DSLR. This is great for doing star trail photos, which is certainly something I want to experiment with.
Are any of you photo buffs? What sort of equipment do you use and what are some of your favorite types of photography?
