DavidGervino.com

Blackberry Comparisons: Bold, Curve & Javelin

Blackberry Storm

This is certainly not the first phone to disappoint me (See previous post regareding the iPhone), and it probably won't be the last.  Nevertheless, I am sad to say that I will not be getting the Blackberry Storm.  

I spent a considerable amount of time at the Verizon Store trying out the new phone and I just wasn't impressed.  The browser and pretty much everything on the phone ran much slower than on my  Blackberry Pearl.  I'm sure there will eventually be a software upgrade that will iron that out, but that wasn't the only thing I didn't like.

I type fairly fast.  The phone could not keep up with me.  This wasn't a software issue -- it was a mechanical issue.  The screen pushes in each time you type a letter. I found this to slow me down a lot beacuse I had to pause and wait for the screen everytime I typed a letter.  The pause was only a fraction of a second but it was definitely slowing me down.  So alas, I am stuck with my Pearl and I will wait to see if Verizon gets the Blackberry Bold or Blackberry Javelin

Nothing says "upscale hotel" like bullet proof glass surrounding the front desk....

 

The first review on the travel website said something to the effect of "Don't let the fresh coat of paint on the outside fool you...." I guess that should have been a clue. Then I arrived and saw that that there was a thick pane of bulletproof glass separating the small lobby area from the front desk.  Another clue.  I asked the front desk clerk whether or not my room would have an iron and ironing board in it.  He told me that it didn't but that I could check them out from him and carry it to my room -- which I could only get to by walking outside and walking around to the back of the building, in the 30 degree weather.   It kind of reminded me of when I first moved to Chicago and didn't have a car.  I went to Kmart and purchased a full-size ironing board and then I got to take it back home with me on the bus, in the middle of rush hour.... I've been in Philadelphia for less than 24 hours and I've already had all this excitement.  I can't wait to see how the rest of the trip goes....

Slydial

Slydial is a pretty cool thing.  It is a free service that enables you to leave a voicemail message on somebody's cell phone, without their phone ever ringing.  Here are a few instances in which you may want to take advantage of a service like this (As taken from the slydial.com website):

Appease your family
Your Aunt June sent you a sweater for your birthday. You need to call her to thank her but you don't want to listen to her go on and on about her recent hip replacement. Instead just leave her an appreciative voicemail that she can share with her bridge club.

Buy yourself some time
You go to a week long convention for work in Las Vegas and blow $5,000 the first night at the roulette table. You need to call your wife and tell her why she should hold off on making the monthly mortgage payment. Her voicemail will be much more understanding than she will.

Give your fingers a break
You need to get some pertinent, detailed information to someone quickly but you don't have time for the idle chit chat that would certainly follow if you called them. Typing it all out in a text message would just be agony! Instead just leave a quick voicemail and your fingers will thank you.

Maximize your time
You are working on a dozen different projects and have as many calls to return. Instead of being stuck on the phone with just one, leave each a voicemail with an update and you may just have enough time to enjoy Happy Hour.

Blackberry Storm

The Blackberry Storm is now on display in Verizon stores and it will be available for sale this Friday, November 21st! I'm excited to finally be able to get a phone that has the cool look of the iPhone, coupled with the functionality of a Blackberry.  I'll be sure to post a review next week, after I've had time to thoroughly test it out.

EMS Video

Thrice - Artist In The Ambulance

My recent experience with the TSA at Fort Walton Beach Airport reminded me of this SNL video:

SNL TSA

I spent the night with an iPhone

 
Let's take a look at some of the most overrated inventions of our time:

1. The Spork, along with its closely related cousin, the SpoonStraw.
2. Pretty much anything you find at The Sharper Image and/or Sky Mall Magazine.
3. The Apple iPhone 3G.

Don't let the shiny glass screen and chrome trim fool you.  Much like lipstick on a pig, the outward appearance may be pretty, but it is only masking an otherwise useless device.  Here is what I did not like about the iPhone 3G:

Separate mailboxes.  Unlike the Blackberry which allows me to have one inbox for all my mail and SMS text messages, the iPhone forces you to use separate mailboxes for each email address.

Push email.  The iPhone will only check for new Gmail messages every 15 minutes.  I receive Gmail messages instantly on my Blackberry device.

Instant messaging.  You can access Google Talk on the iPhone but only via the browser and if you aren't looking at the browser, you won't see that someone is sending you a message.  AOL has developed an AIM application for instant messaging but it doesn't alert you when you get a message, either.

Apple states that their phone is "ready for business." It's not.  Despite hours and hours in the Apple store and talking to tech support at AT&T and Apple, we were never able to get the phone to sync with my Microsoft Exchange Server.

The network.  No one can compete with Verizon's network.

I must admit that the browser and attachment viewing capabilities of the iPhone are superior to those of the Blackberry.  I hope that will change when RIM launches the Blackberry Thunder, the new touch-screen Blackberry that is coming to Verizon in a few months.  And the iPhone is good at other things, too:  it's good at pretty much everything that I don't need a phone to do. 

I should also mention that I had no problem using the touch-screen keyboard.  I had thought that I would not like the keyboard but it turned out to be fine.  Nevertheless, I wound up porting my phone number  back to Verizon after just a few days and I have gone back to using my Blackberry Pearl.  I look forward to switching to either the Blackberry Bold or Blackberry Thunder when they come to Verizon's network later this year.

I love this video

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Tech Review: Slingbox

 
After several months of deliberation, I finally purchased a Slingbox.  This device enables me to watch and control my Comcast HD DVR from any computer with an Internet connection.  So whether I want to watch live TV, remotely program my DVR to record something or watch something that I've recorded on my DVR at home, the Slingbox can make it happen.

There are several things I love about this device:

1. The initial set-up was surprisingly simple.
2. The Slingplayer software is very user-friendly.  I was able to choose the exact remote I have for my DVR and the software displays an image of the remote, enabling me to interact with it.
3. The video quality is very good, especially considering that I'm often using a cellular card and the speeds are not always too fast.  I'm in Florida right now and I'm viewing good quality video on my laptop.
4. The Slingbox enables me to see local news and coverage even when I'm away from home.

I'll post more regarding this device once I've had more time to use it.  For now though, I'm extremely pleased with my Slingbox Solo.

Poor Customer Service at Sears

So I went to Sears the other day.  I had ordered a battery for my Honda CBR.  An entire month had passed and the battery still hadn't arrived.  I had called the store several times and I was always told that the battery was going to arrive "very soon." After waiting 31 days I decided it was time to get my money back.  I went to the store and showed the clerk my paperwork, which showed that I had paid a 100% deposit (Almost $200) in cash.  I was told that I would have to pay a "re-stocking fee" in order to have my money refunded.  Restocking fee!? Were they serious??? How can I be charged a re-stocking fee for something that was never stocked in the first place!?

I politely explained how I had paid them a cash deposit based on the fact that they told me the battery would arrive within 5 days.  After waiting 6 times longer than their original promise date, I didn't think it was unreasonable to request a refund.  And in Chicago, it's always so cold that you only get about 3 months of good riding weather each year anyway.  I had spent 1/3 of this time waiting for my battery.  The store manager wound up being called and he told me that he didn't think there was any way to override the system and refund my deposit without withholding this ominous "restocking fee." Who was this guy kidding? Did he really expect me to believe that he is responsible for over a million dollars in inventory but he is not empowered to make a $20 decision? After much arguing, he finally gave in and gave me a full refund.  He acted as though he was doing me a favor by "bending the rules" this time. 

Driving the Fire SUV

Blackberry Links

I took a few minutes to compile a list of the pages that I frequently access on my Blackberry.  Click here to view the list.

GoogleTalk

I just found out that if you go to www.blackberry.com/googletalk from your Blackberry, you can download Google Talk.  Google Talk is a nice gadget because you can run it from just about any computer, inside the browser, without having to download and install a separate program.  Additionally, Google Talk allows you to communicate with AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) people, as well as people with Google accounts.

I also just learned that Google Talk can be added to the iGoogle page, which is what I use for my homepage.  Previously, I had to keep a separate Gmail window open in order to stay logged in.

Dick's Sporting Goods

So I went to Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday with a friend of mine who was in search of a new duffel bag.  The people there are so incredibly helpful.  One of their employees spent a significant amount of time with us, going over the various bags they have, which ones he particularly liked, which ones are small enough use as carry-on luggage, etc.

I LOVE good customer service.  I told the guy that I'm going to go and get in shape now, just so that I have a reason to give them additional business....

To everything there is a season....

.... And the season of dealing with Nextel technical support issues is over!

I finally ditched my Nextel Blackberry and got the Blackberry Pearl (Pictured on left) from Verizon.  I've used several different Blackberries with my Nextel account but I kept having problems when it came to sending & receiving email, as well as calls dropping.  It would be frustrating to send an email, see a "check-mark," as if the email had gone through, and then have my phone beep the next day, showing me a "red 'X'" to let me know that the message, in fact, hadn't gone through....

As is typical of me when I get some new gadget, I stayed up all night and fumbled around with the different options and settings on the new phone.  Thus far, it seems to be a great phone.  I'm surprised to see that the battery-life seems to be fairly good, especially considering the bright back-lit display. 

Additionally, I've been thrilled by Verizon's customer service.  The guy at the store, as well as the lady I spoke to at their tech support desk were both extremely helpful and knowledgeable.  I hate when I call a place for tech support and find that I seem to know more about their product than they do.  It would be nice if their tech support were open 24-hours, as I'm a night-owl and generally like to call into help-lines when things are slow, and they don't have a lot of calls holding.  Actually though, I got through relatively fast when I called Verizon during the day.

paperLESS

I've been keeping it a secret.  I didn't want to tell everyone before I was sure I could succeed at this.....  I am proud to say that I have been paperLESS for the past 90 days!

If you've been reading my blog for very long, or if you know me personally, you know that about twice a year I go through a phase where I decide to put my Franklin Planner on the shelf, in an attempt to go paperless.  The phase generally doesn't last more than a week.  Until now.

I was having lunch with a friend of mine in the middle of last year and he went on and on about the perils of paper-based planning.  He told me how I could lose my planner and all the notes and info I had written inside it would be compromised.  I scoffed at him and said, "I've been carrying a planner since 1994 and I have NEVER misplaced it." Well, wouldn't you know it, I wound up forgetting my planner and leaving it in the restaurant that very day.  How ironic....  You can imagine how embarrassed I was to tell my friend, "Umm...Can you please stop the car? I left my planner at the restaurant...."

Freaked out by the "Miss Cleo-like" accuracy of my friend's wise counsel, I decided that I would try, yet again, to go paperless. 

He actually taught me a pretty cool system.  I don't think he has patented it, so I'll share it with you.  Basically, he carries a reporter's notebook with him, because it is impossible to go 100% paperless (Hence the term "PaperLESS," as opposed to "PaperNONE").  The notebook is awesome because it is the perfect size to fit in the map compartment in your car door, the back pocket of jeans and/or dress pants, as well as a perfect fit when you hold it with one hand and write with the other. 

He'll take notes throughout the day at meetings and such, and then transcribe the notes into Outlook later on.  Then the page gets torn out of the notebook and shredded.  Outlook is synched with the Blackberry, and both are password-protected AND encrypted.  So even if the reporter's notebook gets lost, the only info compromised is 1 day's worth of notes, as opposed to the 3 months+ that I was carrying around in my planner.  What's even cooler, since the notes have been synched with the Blackberry, all the text now becomes search-able, which is way better than dealing with reference binders and paper indexes in a paper-based planning system.

Voice to text transcription

I was checking out one of my favorite websites, BlackberryForums.com, when I stumbled upon a product called SimulScribe.  Basically, it is a service that transcribes your voice-mails into text.  You can then have the text sent to you via email and/or an SMS message. 

This is great because here's something I run into all the time:  I'm in a 2-hour meeting and someone is calling me on my cell phone -- maybe I recognize the number of the caller and maybe I don't.  The caller leaves a voice-mail message and I'm left to ponder whether or not the message is important enough for me to politely excuse myself from the meeting so that I can listen to the message.  With SimulScribe, I have the voice-mail message transcribed and sent to my pager, so I can glance at my pager real quick, read the message, and then decide whether or not the call needs to be returned right away.  Moreover, SimulScribe utilizes caller ID and sends the phone number of the caller to my pager, so I can reply via an SMS message if the caller is calling me from his or her cell phone.  Another cool thing is that I can also have the transcribed message sent to my Gmail address, so that I have a search-able, archive-able "hard-copy" of every voice-mail I receive. 

SimulScribe also makes it possible for you to integrate all your voicemails into one mailbox.  So rather than having to check your office voice-mail, your home voice-mail and your work voice-mail, you just have one mailbox to deal with. 

To quote some other random blogger that I read earlier today, "Quite frankly, apart from EFAX, I have not found a more useful and intuitive tool than SimulScribe to help me manage my day-to-day [communication needs].”

My new coat

I went to Dick's Sporting Goods last night and got a winter jacket made by The North Face.  I love it! At this point, I don't care if Columbia loses my jacket and never sends it back (See previous post regarding my Columbia jacket).  This coat feels "lighter" than my Columbia coat but it seems to keep me just as warm.  And, in true Dick's Sporting Goods fashion, they provided me with great customer service.  They even dug through their stockroom to find an empty box so that I could ship my Columbia coat back to the warranty people at Columbia Sportswear.

New Amateur Radio

I first got my amateur radio license back when I was in high school.  I had always wanted to have a mobile radio installed in my car but for whatever reason, I never got it done.  Until last week.

At the suggestion of a friend who knows way more about this stuff than I do, I wound up going with the Yaesu FT-8800.  I like that it is able to monitor just about every frequency, including the 800Mhz band.  I also like that it has dual-receive, and I'm able to monitor 2 VHF, 2 UHF or one VHF and one UHF frequency, at the same time.  Its like having two radios in one.  So far, I'm very happy with the radio's performance.  The external speaker produces clear, loud audio.  This radio has a lot of features that I'll probably never use but the dual-receive feature is not available on the lower-end model that they make, which is why I went with this one.

New Coat

I went to zip my coat up earlier today and the zipper broke.  I've had the coat for over 6 years and I don't have the receipt, so I wouldn't expect to be able to get it repaired by the manufacturer for free.  Nevertheless, I called Columbia Sportswear to see what they had to say.  To my surprise, a human answered the phone in less than 2 minutes.  The gentleman said that regardless of the age of the coat and the fact that I don't have a receipt, it would be their pleasure to repair or replace the jacket.  I was thrilled!

The downside is that it may take up to 4 weeks before my coat is returned.  So that gives me an excuse to go out and buy another winter coat, so that I can keep warm while I wait for my Columbia coat to be sent back to me.  I'm leaning toward a coat from The North Face.  I have one of their backpacks and I've been impressed with the quality and functionality of it's design.

2007: The year of discontinued products

All in all, 2007 was a great year.  That being said, I kept finding that my favorite products were being discontinued.  Let's take a look:

Ragu Rich & Meaty Sauce was the best.  You know how a lot of people buy bottled spaghetti sauce and then they add ground beef to it? You didn't have to add beef to this sauce, as it already had plenty.  I wrote a letter to Ragu and told them how their sauce had motivated me to start making spaghetti again and how sad I was to see them discontinue this line.  Their reply basically explained that they had priced themselves out of the market because in order to make a profit on this sauce, which cost more to make than most of the competitor's sauces, they would have to charge significantly higher prices than their competitors.  I, for one, would have been willing to pay a premium for this sauce but I guess most people don't feel that way....

Hall's had these awesome cough drops that had this gooey cough-syrup center.  It was kind of like Freshen' up gum, from back in the day.  So you got the benefit of a cough drop & cough syrup, all in a small, easy-to-carry- package! Apparently these cough drops are no longer being made.

I am resisting the temptation to go down to the corner store and purchase both of the above items.  They carry stuff on their shelves that has been discontinued years ago.  But the potential health risks of using stuff that is way past it's shelf-life outweighs the benefits....

The Best Christmas Gift Ever

I received a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker for Christmas from my friend, Phyllis.  It is awesome!!!!!! It is amazingly easy to use and it makes great tea.  I promised her that I would not divulge her secret iced tea recipe but let me just say that it involves putting a certain amount of sugar in the filter basket, along with the teabags.  I would've never thought of doing that.  The hot water runs over the sugar, causing it to dissolve and then flow into the pitcher.  It works out great 'cause you don't have to mess with measuring and stirring the sugar in after the tea is made.