It all began with getting an unlocked iPhone 3G in January of 2009 and the progression began. I just loved how easy it was to use the phone compared to the last 7 years of TMobile Sidekicks and Smartphones. Although I always felt having a keyboard was desirable over a touch screen, the ease of use was too important and finding that syncing with a PC wasn’t as nice as syncing with a Mac. Finally after acquiring a Flip Ultra HD and a Canon HFS-10, I made the jump after reading that AVCHD was more easily edited on the Mac and the built-in iMovie could so it all! Now that it’s been a few months on the MBP, I still love it and wonder why I didn’t switch so much earlier?
Nov
07
For the past several months, I have been dealing with something that I hope NOBODY will ever have to deal with. It involves ICANN, GoDaddy, Registerfly and a cybersquatter in India who although didn’t commit a crime, profits by other peoples mistakes.
I own about 30 domain names. They used to all be at Registerfly.com until they started having so many legal problems and word was that they were going out of business and taking all their domains with them. So I transferred all my domains to GoDaddy. About 90% of them transferred without problems, a few of them kept getting denied despite having followed all the steps to unlock them. Of those domains, only one of them mattered to me, and the rest could expire.
Eventually that one did transfer over properly and worked fine for a year until a customer told me that the site was down. So I checked it and found out the domain had expired.
When a domain expires, it goes into a “redemption period” where you can try to get the domain back by paying $100 or so to renew it. I just happened to call on that last day. So they told me I could try back ordering it, but there were no guarantees if someone else already back ordered it. Huh? Someone can backorder my domain? A registered trademark?
First mistake: Although it’s important to document support requests, don’t use the online support forms because it takes too long for them to respond. I told them that I was unable to renew it. They asked me for the last 4 numbers of the credit card on file. I told them in a reply email, they replied it was wrong. I go into the account specifically make sure the number is right and tell them so. They reply it’s still wrong. 6 hours had already passed since initial contact. Then I find out that they are looking at the wrong account–I have two accounts with them. Finally they get the number right, but say it’s too late. The domain was expired.
So the back order fails and I’m out $20 because they don’t refund that amount nor allow you to apply it to any other domain product.
Enter the Cybersquatters. These are people who make a living by registering expired domains and then selling them back to the owners for profit. This cybersquatter works out of his apartment in India and claims to sell thousands of domains a year. He was surprised that I contacted him on the day of the transfer but he couldn’t yet tell me how much the domain was worth. He told me to wait 4 days.
In the end he wanted $200 to release it back to me. I told him I woud give him $100 now and $100 after the domain was released but he insisted on using an escrow service. After much research, and mistrusting all escrow services, II figured that Sedo.com would be trustworthy. It took about a week for my payment to be cleared by SEDO and then it took another week for them to send me an email saying I could transfer the domain anytime I wanted to. So I go to GoDaddy and pay for a domain transfer of 9 years, the longest I could buy. The transfer is denied. Why? ICANN rules state that I have to wait 60 days before a transfer can occur. GoDaddy says they can do nothing because that’s the rules. They say that maybe I can dispute the rules.
So I call ICANN, which the local office happens to be where I live. The young girl on the phone tells me the same BS. It’s ICANN policy. So I ask, what is the purpose the 60 day wait? She says to clear all the parties involved like right now.
So I reply that I’ve got documentation stating that the owner is ready to transfer it back to me. That seeems pretty clear that everything is resolved. She says, I can’t do anything, it’s ICANN policy. Everybody has to wait. I’m thinking WTF? My domain expires and I’m not contacted—yet I own 30 other domains and my registrar can’t contact me?? Then I get extorted to get back my domain. And GoDaddy is citing their policies for why they can’t apply the money I paid for the domain backorder to renewal of a domain and I have to deal with 5 different support people who can only cut and paste documents for replies instead of replying to my actual problem.
Finally I start cursing at them to see if they will actually read it and they threaten me to close the case if I’m not nicer to them claiming it’s a “professional forum”, and then I meet a wonderful rep named Erica who actually reads my problem and offers an agreeable resolution. And as a result I buy a 9 year domain renewal, which unfortunately gets denied and then I get introduced to the bureaucracy of ICANN….bottom line is…don’t let your domain expire. The BS that the system puts the rightful owner through is just incredible and frustrating. You will be reminded every time that everything that took place was legal and it was your fault. Yay, the victim is continually victimized by the system. Don’t you love the internet? Maybe I’ll protest and not go on the internet for the 60 days! Uhm yeah right.
Oct
16
So I finally got ahold of the new Acer netbook Aspire One in Sapphire Blue. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this for the past month from Amazon as my main laptop has been going down hill–the integrated WiFi stopped working, the touch pad randomly clicks and drags items, etc..
The Netbook is an interesting computing device. From a CPU standpoint, it’s a backwards move from my current laptop despite it being over 2 years old, usually when I buy a new computer, I can rest assured that regardless of what speed I choose to fit my budget, it’s going to be plenty fast compared to what I bought years ago!
However, the Netbook sets a new standard for portable computing at under $400. Back in early 2000, I bought a Sony Vaio that was about the same size as the Acer. Well maybe it was slightly larger, but it was tiny for it’s time, and the cost was close to $2000 as I recall. It utilized an external CD ROM as well for installing apps.
So fastforward nearly a decade later, and now a computer of that size has a battery life of 5 to 6 hours, costs 1/4 of the price, and has plenty of speed and power to run XP home and just about any business/home app you want–short of video/RAM intensive games.
Although I use my laptop for all kinds of things, from designing products in 3D, to designing logos and flyers in Illustrator, to retouching photos, to basic HTML stuff and internet browsing—the majority of time I’m using the net and associated web apps.
Here are some pix comparing the Aspire One to my aging Toshiba Satellite Core 2 Duo system. The Aspire One’s screen is noticeably brighter! Battery life is longer, and it’s about 1/3rd the weight!
This model has a 160GB HD, 1GB RAM, Wireless N WiFi and potential 3G upgrade, Intel Atom processor, and 6 cell battery, 8.9″ LCD, and weighs about 2 pounds.
Toshiba Laptop Compared to Acer Aspire One Netbook
Aug
24
Although I’ve been using Photoshop forever and rely on it for my work, sometimes a simple free image editor is all you need especially when you want to suggest others to do things like crop, resize, or rotate their images before posting them.
After seeing several potential free image editors and skipping those that required you to provide an email address to receive spam, and skipping the limited time trial versions, I decided to try Lightbox Free Image Editor and was favorably impressed.
I can open RAW files including my Nikon NEF files, and made adjustments using sliders. It works fast and produces very high quality results. The simple picture framing tool is superb!
Aug
20
I spend a lot of time in my MINI and the nature of my business has me talking on the phone a lot. I don’t like to skip calls as that could risk losing a sale or angering a customer. So I need a solution that I can safely answer the phone in my car, even if it just means telling them I will call them back when I arrive at my destination.
I’ve tried the “best” bluetooth ear pieces and found that none of them provided enough noise canceling to quiet my noisy MINI, or they fit poorly in my ear causing discomfort. I really didn’t want to rely on an earpiece, so I set out to find an in car solution.
I’ve got a Garmin Nuvi 360–actually I upgraded my 350 to the 360 for the Bluetooth functionality but found that while I could hear callers, they couldn’t hear me…something about my voice sounded artificial and echoing. So that wasn’t a proper solution.
A good friend and customer of mine suggested the Parrot Evolution which can be controlled by the MFSW controls of my MINI, plus she said you could adjust the volume very loud and had really good noise canceling functionality. At $350 imported–it was costly but worth a shot.
http://www.newministuff.com/new/shop.php?action=products&cat=10
The install was fairly easy, but the results were less than pleasing. I found that I could hear callers and they could hear me, as long as I wasn’t moving. As soon as I was above 5mph, I couldn’t hear them anymore. I found out that the Parrot has it’s own internal amplifier and bypasses the headunit, so if I wasn’t happy with the volume the Parrot put out, there was no way of making it louder through the headunit amp.
After much research and frustration on the forums, and with Parrot Tech Support in the UK and USA, it came down to me having to find my own solution. I felt this had the potential to be great, but lacked power. So after a number of tests, I decided to add a dedicated amp and speaker, and make it stealth. Incoming calls would still mute the headunit, but I wouldn’t have to rely on the Parrot for amplification, and I could theoretically make it as loud as my speaker could handle.
So here are the pix.
So how does it work? Well, I ran into a problem with mounting my amp, so I don’t know yet–but in the next week or so I will let you know!
Aug
18
I was just playing around with the idea if I bought a Clubman today, what would I get and this is what I came up with.
My 2009 MINI Cooper S Clubman
Base MSRP* $23,700
Destination & Handling $650
PAINT IT
Silver Rear C-Pillar Trim $0
Astro Black Body Color $500
Body Color Roof/Mirrors $0
PACKAGES
Convenience Package $1,750
Comfort Access System
Universal Garage Door Opener
Auto Dimming Rear View Mirror
Rain Sensor and Auto Headlamps
Comfort Bluetooth with USB/iPod Adapt.
Premium Package $1,250
Automatic AC
Dual Pane Panoramic Sunroof
Leather Sport Wheel w/Multifunction
Cold Weather Package $500
Heated Powerfold Mirrors & Washer Jets
Heated Front Seats
PERFORMANCE
Sport Suspension $500
Dynamic Stability Control STD
Limited Slip Differential $500
Rear Spoiler $250
Aero Kit (Factory Installed) $1,250
6-Speed Getrag Manual STD
16″ S-Winders (Perf. Run Flats) STD
Front Fog Lamps STD
Xenon Headlamps w/Power Wash $500
COCKPIT
Sport Seats STD
Leather/Cloth: Black /Rooster Red $1,000
Anthracite Headliner $250
Rooster Red Color Line INC
Interior Surface Piano Black INC
On-Board Computer STD
10-Speaker. Hi-Fi Sound System $500
TOTAL MSRP AS CONFIGURED* $33,100
JOHN COOPER WORKS ACCESSORIES**
JCW 18″ R105 Wheels, black (installation not incl.) $2,775
GENUINE MOTORING ACCESSORIES**
Driving lamps (installation not incl.) $510
TOTAL ACCESSORIES ** $3,285
TOTAL MSRP AS CONFIGURED* $33,100
TOTAL COMBINED $36,38
Aug
18
MINI Takes the States took place on Aug 1-3 and MINIs In The Mountains went from Aug 5-12.
- Hot Girls and Hot Drinks with OctaneGuy
MITM and Red Bull Girls
Lots of MINIs
Jun
24
Edgeracing had a sale on their Enkei’s. Also running Cross Coilovers and slammed it!
Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R
See more HERE
May
18
As a fairly new AT&T Tilt user, I found an excellent set of tips on optimizing the phone.
http://www.pocketables.net/2008/01/10-tips-on-fixi.html
While all of the advice has been invaluable to ensuring my happiness with this phone, one of the most incredible finds was WMWiFiRouter which is a piece of software that runs on my Tilt and turns it into a wireless access point. That means, that I can SIMPLY connect my laptop to my phone wirelessly and use the 3G network or whatever wireless network I’m on at the moment. While I haven’t tried it yet, I would assume that my phone could act as a wireless access point to several laptops all within range.
I’m travelling at the moment, and having this capability has been invaluable. Although many hotels/motels offer WiFi access, most require you to pay a fee to utilize it. Right now, I’m making this post on my laptop and using the 3G network on my Tilt. This is great! I don’t have to bother with the complexities of Bluetooth pairing on my laptop and Tilt, nor do I have to remember to pack my mini USB cable. My Tilt is sitting on top of the TV plugged into the wall about 20 feet away and the signal is very strong. The software cost approximately $22 on special introductory pricing–normally about $29. The software comes from the UK, so your price depends on the current exchange rate.
