Nokia is so five minutes ago

So, I recently switched to Cingular. And in the process I got a new phone. Previously, I had always opted for the free phone. Through discounts and mail-in rebates, I never wanted to pay for a phone, and therefore got a no-frills phone that was outdated before I even took it out of the box. This time, I wanted a toy. I wanted to take pictures, send my wife little videos, sync to my Powerbook, download games and ringtones. My first choice was the Nokia 6230.

I picked it up about a month ago, and I was having fun. It was incredibly easy to get started and I loved it. But strangely, it started rebooting ... a lot. Like every time I took it out of my pocket. Sometimes I would grab it and it would be off, though I hadn't turned it off. So, I decided this was not fun enough to be my toy. So I did what the American Dream allows me, I returned it.

Now I'm sporting the Motorola V551.

This one actually links up to my Powerbook better, through iSync. Using bluetooth, it automatically grabbed all of my contacts, my calendar. Even the pictures look better. And the exchange at the Cingular store across the street from my office was so simple. I know you might be thinking, "Why not go for the Razr?" Well, feature for feature, I haven't found something the Razr can do that my V551 can't. The Razr is just more sleek. Oh, and it's $100 more.

Don't tell the MPAA, but...

... I am making my own DVDs! It all started when I wanted to test the DVD-R burner on my computer. It seemed silly to use this DVD-R as a larger capacity CD-R. I wanted to do something I could only do with the 4.7 gig capacity disc. My office mate said this: "Hey, check out DVD Shrink."



Of course, I wanted to just make a copy of my Ocean's Eleven DVD, just to see if I could do it. But most prerecorded DVDs have two layers of data. So they have something like a 9.4 gig capacity. So to get the movie to fit onto a 4.7 gig DVD-R, you have to trim all of the extra stuff away and just make a copy of the movie. That's what DVD Shrink does.

So I put the Ocean's Eleven disc in my computer. DVD Shrink scanned the disc and showed me all of the files. I deselected all of the extra stuff I didn't need on the copy (you know, the French and Spanish subtitles, the extra scenes, the coming attractions, pretty much everything but the movie itself). That almost got it down to the size I needed. Then DVD Shrink reduced the file size just enough to fit on my disc. Awesome.

Then I heard about DVD Covers. It is this huge archive DVD Cover art. So, I can print cover art for the DVDs I am copying, er... making back ups.

All bow to Netflix

Seriously. Wal-Mart has. Wal-Mart.com is ending its online service for renting DVDs. If Wal-Mart has given in to Netflix, shouldn't we all?

There's kind of a "10 Percent" rule when it comes to Wal-Mart. When they enter a market they end up with about 10 percent market share and they cause the overall price in the category to drop 10 percent. Well, the price drop happened, but Wal-Mart appears to have given up on trying to get 10 percent market share. They are actually going to recommend Netflix to browsers at Wal-Mart.com. Of course, they'll make sure to remind people that you can buy DVDs at Wal-Mart, but when it comes to renting, Netflix rocks.

Sometime in 1999 I found Netflix. I was there for the padded shipping envelope debacle. Anyway, I used it for a couple of years, but I started getting some damaged discs. The first time I got a disc that was literally broken in half, I dropped the service. Then three months ago, I signed up again and am in heaven. They added distribution centers, went back to the original paper envelope and I couldn't be happier. They've got it down. So much so, that even Wal-Mart doesn't care to complete.

I guess my only question for Netflix is: do you have a plan for a Post-DVD-download-movies-over-the-Internet world?

NOTE: And it just keeps coming. As reported in Yahoo! today, Blockbuster is hiking its prices! You might remember that a few months ago, when Blockbuster started hitting the online rental market pretty hard, it priced its service at $14.99 to undercut Netflix's $17.99. Well, now Blockbuster is matching Netflix's price. Blockbuster is saying the "promotional offer" is over. But maybe Netflix just does it better.

The Problem with DVDs

I've had it with DVD cases. I'm talking about the ones movies come packaged in when I buy them at Best Buy or Wal-Mart. They are so much bigger than they need to be. And I don't want to make space around my TV for all of those cases. I've had it. They're gone. I've thrown them away.

I just took out the DVDs, and the DVD covers and put them in a DVD Album. I used a leather one from Allsop.

I put all of my movies into two of these albums and stashed them on a bookshelf next to the mantle. I got rid of the clunky TV stand and cleaned up my living room. The only movie clutter left are the Netflix envelopes from renting DVDs. But Allsop had a solution for that. I put one of their DVD Storage boxes on the shelf right next to the DVD Albums.

It's a leather box that even matches the albums. The wife is happy.

Oh, iPod. Will you not live forever?

So, according to the New York Times, the iPod's days are numbered. (As the iPod Stays Hot, It Risks Losing Its Cool)

One of the tell tale signs, as Ken Belson writes, is that President Bush is has been publicized as having an iPod. But does anyone seriously think he walked into Best Buy and put down his Visa? And certainly, W is not sitting down at his PC loading songs (downloaded legally, of course) onto this cool bit of technology. The fact that the White House press office is talking about this at all is just an example of marketing in politics. The man who sits on the throne of the establishment is not going to tarnish the image of the product that is geared to the non-establishment uber-cool. His people are just trying to get their boss to appeal to that young voters demographic.

Everything will pass in due time. Sure, somewhere in a New Jersey garage, there's a 17-year-old kid creating the thing that will kick the iPod's ass. It's all cyclical, and one day my current 3G iPod will be sold on eBay or buried in a shoebox somewhere. Just like my Cassette Tape Sony Walkman.

But here's what Apple has done with the iPod giving it a good chance to stick around:

• Adding features and versions before people know they want them - iPod Mini, iPod Photo...


• Updating the software on iPods (eg. making it do new and exciting things) is incredibly easy . Just plug it in to your computer as if you're charging it.


• Encouraging tons and tons of accessories. (Belkin, Monster...) Other companies are banking on its success.


• The deal with HP.


• And finally: Making it seem techie, while keeping it simple

And even if the iPod doesn't live forever, I am really digging mine right now.

My Elf is Skipping!

So, I got Elf last week. It came from Netflix, of which I am a HUGE fan. But right at the part where Buddy (Will Ferrell) is in the Doctor's Office with James Caan and Jon Favreau, and he's eating the cotton balls, the movie started skipping. Then it actually jumped back to the part where he gets hit by the taxi. How frickin' irritating.



Fortunately, I found this site and found what to do. Allsop has a bunch of products to help with problems from renting DVDs. I used a little DVD scratch repair solution and the movie played through great.

And for a quick review, even though I'm not a huge Will Ferrell fan, this movie had a few laugh out loud moments. It was a good time.

I Need My Space

The area on my desk is quickly dissappearing. Partially because it has become the dumping ground for mail, magazines, catalogs, random photos, receipts, coupons, rebate forms, books and clipped comic strips. But also because I got a new printer.

Costco, baby. An HP 4215 Printer, Scanner, Copier, Fax, Toaster...



Great printer, but it took up more space on my desk. So I added this.

It's a monitor stand from Allsop. It's called the Metal Art Jr. and works great for my printer. It's just a little bit wider than the printer and the exact same depth. And with the space underneath the stand, it actually gives me a great place to stack/hide magazines, mail, catalogs and receipts!

Hey, Verizon... Can you hear me now? No? Good.

After too many Verizon years, I've moved on. Though I'm sure I'm fooling myself in thinking that Cingular is going to treat me any better, I am feeling a sense of freedom being out of the Verizon Shadow.

But, my cell service provider move was not only based on my feelings of neglect and humiliation at the hands of Verizon. Cingular just had way cooler phones for things I wanted to do. I went with the Nokia 6230.



A half hour into it, I have taken photos, sent Multimedia messages to my Mom and hooked up to my Powerbook via Bluetooth. I'm feeling pretty good about everything. I'm having a little trouble finding how to change my ring tone, but that's because I haven't even opened the manual yet!

iTunes is awesome, but...

So, I was doing a back up of my hard drive and I thought of something. I usually only back up my digital photos and documents and stuff (fits on to one DVD-R). But I don't back up my music. Partially because I have almost 12 gigs of it. But mainly because I figured most of the music on my computer is from physical CDs I still own. But what about the music I bought and downloaded from the Apple Music Store? It turns out if I should lose the music I got from Apple, or buy.com, or wherever, I can't redownload it unless I pay for it again (they're pretty strict, actually). So if my computer crashes, I'm jacked.

Here's my solution. It's going to take a little time, but I'm going to burn actual physical CD-Rs of my Apple Music Store purchased music. I'm even going to find the CD covers to print and put with the CD-R. For physical CD storage, I use a CD Album from Allsop, so making these back ups is not going to take up any more space on my bookshelf. I might need to run over to Circuit City to buy another album, but protecting my music is worth it.

Anyway, my music's important to me. I feel better now.