My new Treo 700P arrived yesterday (a day earlier than expected!). MAN this thing is SWEEEET! I’m really amazed at the high speed internet via Sprint. I can sign up and get Satellite Radio Stations on the phone as well as TV(not that I’ll be doing that). Mainly…the nice thing is not having to wait for web pages to download….even better is being able to download an MP3 with blazing speed.

There’s still a ton of things I’ve yet to discover on this phone. A few nice features I’ve noticed so far are:

1. If someone calls you and you’re on the other line (or you don’t want to answer), you can reply with an auto-text message.
2. The camera and video cam takes MUCH better shots with a higher resolution.
3. Some new little programs I’ve yet to mess with…mostly pTunes and Sprint TV.
4. The keys seem a little bigger and the phone seems a little smaller and not as heavy….and a few extra buttons.
5. The photo album has an easier organizer.
6. More built in Memory.

There’s more things on it I need to mess with but the biggest sell to me is the high speed.

The new phone is a little pricey but I just placed an ad to sell for old Treo 650 P for $260.00 online and 5 minutes after posting I had a call and I’m meeting a gal at 2pm to sell it. Maybe I didn’t ask enough?

MY AD

I’m asking $260.00 or best offer.
[For More Info on the Treo 650P check out palm.com]

The device is about a year old and I’ve kept in in a protected case the entire time as well a screen protector over the front. I’ll also throw in an Expansion Card that has Scrabble, Monopoly, Battleship and Yahtzee on it along with a Cradle

Still have original box and booklet and CD software.

I’m only selling this because I just picked up the 700P.

Never had any troubles with this device and I’d be LOST without one of these.

Bob
310-XXX-XXXX [call before 11pm]

Selling the old one doesn’t make the cost of the new phone as bad, but with all the things these Treo’s do, it’s well worth the cost to me

477 Spams eaten and counting…

…so says the Spam Karma 2 Plug-In at the botton of my journal. THANK GOD for this little plug-in. Before I was deleting them as they were coming in… and now? AUTO-POOF!

The War Against Spam is one I think I’m winning now. With my new server, my mail client has this thing called a "Spam Trap Box". I have it turned on and now I get NO SPAM AT ALL in email as well as my blog. What happens is…when you send me an email, it sends and auto-reply saying something like "You must reply to this message with the subject intact to prove that you are a real live human being and not some sort of Spam Robot". By doing this…it adds your email to a "whitelist" and future emails all go through. So far it’s been working like a charm.

The only fallback is…I have to keep checking the trap box to make sure some things do go through [like my bank statements, or if I order something online and they need to send confirmation]. This is not a problem though…I just glance at it once a day.

So now, when the auto-emails that usually scam grandmothers out of their life savings from those Princes of Nigeria needing help getting their millions of dollars try to auto-email me, they get spammed right back (those fuckers).

"Nigeria has developed Weapons of Spam Destruction and we need to act!"

So with Memorial Day Weekend passing us by, we should also remember the soldiers lost in the Spam Wars as well as the real life ones

I’m going to see X-Men 3 today! I’m excited! I’ll probably catch the 1pm showing…I wonder if they’ll be tons of people and long lines. I’m thinking it won’t be so bad if I go in the day while people are at work. Wait..what am I talking about? No one works here in Hollywood.

Ah well…It’s playing every half hour at the theater so I guess it shouldn’t be too bad. X-3 and Superman Returns are really the only movies I’m looking forward to seeing this Summer. The rest? DVD.

Will be sure to give my thoughts on it after but I won’t give anything away to those who haven’t seen it (for those even interested).

Last night I watched the season opening of "So You Think You Can Dance: Season 2"  …I enjoyed last season of it but so far this season looks pretty god-awful. Let’s hope the show gets better.

There’s a bunch of new TV shows coming out based on the American Idol format. I know NBC has one coming out that’s looking for bands. I looked at that online and the requirements are that it must be 3 or more…I have 3 personalities but I don’t think that counts. There’s also the "America’s Got Talent" show but that one seems more like Letterman’s "Stupid Human Tricks"…I’ll still check it out though

As for "Rockstar: Season Two"…I’m told that they already picked the folks who are going to be on the show and since my phone never rang, I guess it’s safe to say that I won’t be on it Perhaps I’ll try again next season. I’m not too bummed out considering the group is Tommy Lee and Band. It seems pretty obvious that I don’t really fit into that equation. I’m not sure I’d be happy with singing "Home Sweet Home" and a bunch of Guns and Roses tunes (not that I don’t like those). I’ll still be watching the show though and be real curious as to who they did pick. I think they called me up before they knew it was going to be Tommy Lee and Company…just a guess.

This whole reality TV thing has really gotten out of hand but I’m guilty of watching the shows and even enjoying them. For the longest time, I fought off watching American Idol thinking that it was basically like "Star Search" but I got sucked into it last season because I had met one of the guys on the show and was curious to see how he would do. Since then, I’ve been hooked.

Anyway…back to X-3! In about 2 hours, I’ll either be standing in line waiting for it to start or eating my $300.00 bag of popcorn.  

Yesterday I ordered the new Treo 700P and now everyday feels like the Night Before Christmas waiting for it to arrive at my door

I’ve been waiting for the 700P to come out every since they released the Windows based 700W about 6 months ago. I went to the Sprint store to look at the 700W and the resolution didn’t seem as good as the 650P (that I have now) so I decided to wait. I’m glad I did… NOW…it’s available! 

Here’s a little Flash Tour of the Treo 700P

I’m just stoked about being able to have a palm high speed internet version on my cell phone. I know… I’m geeky. But anyone out there who has a Treo knows that once you get one of these things you wonder how you ever lived without it. Sort of like a microwave.  

I know the 700P is a little costly, but I know I’ll be able to sell my 650 for about $300 so that should help  

I’m anxious!

Ok…so last night American Idol was a fun one. That Clay Aiken’s prank was PRICELESS. Seeing the look on that fan’s face was one of the funniest things I’ve viewed on TV in quite a while. I’m glad Taylor won. I thought the show was entertaining but JESUS…Meatloaf could hardly hit a note and a few of the other folks seemed to struggle as well.

X-3 comes out this weekend…must see that!

On with life… 

So tonight’s the final American Idol night. Everyone seems to think Taylor will win. I think Taylor SHOULD win but I have a funny feeling that Katherine will take the prize… I guess we’ll see tonight. If Katherine wins…I won’t be shocked but I do think based on the whole season that Taylor should be crowned king. Those original songs were "groaners" (especially the "It’s My Destiny" song, or whatever it’s called). I didn’t mind Taylor’s "make you proud" song as much but it had some moments of CHEESE as well. Can’t really blame the contestants for those songs

I have a hockey game tonight so I won’t get to watch the show live…I’ll have to catch the Tivo/DVR playback. I just hope the DVR doesn’t mess up. 

One final thought about this season…i think this season will produced more people who’ll get recording deals. I’m willing to bet that Kellie, Ace, Chris, Kat, Elliot and Taylor will all get some sort of record contract and will do pretty okay….but time will tell.

It seems like it’s going to be a nice sunny day here in Hollywood. Maybe I’ll even go outside today? Naw

So Friday night I watched the Top 20 of America’s Funniest Home Videos of All Time with Val(you know, the guy who posts on here sometimes with the evil sense of humor). Val had sent in a clip with a friend about 10 years ago and they contacted him saying that they were going to show his clip again and to make sure they had permission to air it…etc. So as we were watching the show as it was airing some of their best clips throughout the years since the show has been on …and we just thought his clip would be slipped in there…like in-between the Top 20 Countdown or something.

As the 2 hour show was going on and it was nearing the end of the show, I started to think they were pulling his leg because it was getting down to the end and they still didn’t show the video. So as it would turn out…his video aired at Number Four of all time! [Numbers 3 and 2 each got 10 grand and Number 1 got $250,000]. So he missed the 10 Grand by 1 placement! 

Here’s the Clip [Val’s on the left pulling the the shock joke]

[sorry if this embarrasses you Val, but it’s cool and funny] 

Pretty sweet that they ranked you #4 of all time…too bad you didn’t get bumped up 1..that 10 Grand would have been nice eh?

I was going to blog about this yesterday but I got sidetracked with that lousy Da Vinci Code movie  

Speaking of Friends, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUFUS!

Last night I ate at this Chinese Food place and I walked away feeling sort of like a cheap ass. See, I happen to really love Chinese food but I’m a little picky with my food. I HATE Onions and do not like them anywhere near my food… and so anytime I order anywhere I usually ask if there’s onions on the food and if so can I order it WITHOUT them. This usually causes placed to ADD EXTRA ONIONS…go figure.

In the past, I’ve eaten at this same place with the exact same waiter and ordered the same dish each time.

"One order of Sweet and Sour Chicken, but NO ONIONS please" 

And so, the food comes and as you would guess, there’s onions all over it. I point it out to the waiter saying "Look, I can’t eat this…I can’t eat onions" …he says he’s sorry and takes the plate of food back to the kitchen and less than 30 seconds later he brings the food back. So basically, they just picked out the onions [something I could have done myself only better].

The plate comes back but it STILL has onions in it [they missed some]. I picked the rest out and tried to enjoy the meal but onions have a way of when they touch food that you can still taste them. It’s like sticking your hand in hot tar…it’s really hard to get off.

So when he brings the check (which was only $12.13) I let him know that the food STILL had onions on it. He said he was sorry but it didn’t sound very convincing. And so, for the 1st time in my life… I DID NOT tip. I left $12.25 on the table and walked away.

I felt a little weird after …but this was not the 1st time it’s happened with the same waiter and restaurant. The times in the past, I just thought "well, maybe he told the cook and the cook messed it up". Regardless, I’m tired of paying for bad service.

I won’t be returning to this place again and it’s a shame because (when they get the order right) the food is usually really great. 

Hell, most of the time I usually over-tip at most places because I know these people really only make their living off the tips and not the hourly wage. Perhaps if the guy would have not charged me for a messed up order, I would have still paid the full amount and given him a 100% tip. I don’t know if it’s the waiter’s fault for not making sure the cook knew…or the cook’s fault but I really don’t care at this point. Mainly, this was the 1st time I’ve eaten somewhere and didn’t tip. Hell, even with lousy service I usually give something at most places.

I guess I’ll have to find a new Chinese Food place to eat in the future. 

I’ve been getting SO much Spam lately on my journal. Of course, I block it before it actually gets to be viewed by others but I must say…I’ve had my fill of "Replica-Watches", "Casino-games" and "Hoodia"(whatever that is). I use a plug-in called Gatekeeper which asks you a question before the comment goes to moderation but it looks like these spammers have found their way around it :-\

If anyone knows of a good Spam Stopper Plug-In for Word Press, please let me know. 

I bruised my rib the other night playing hockey and I’m still in a little pain. I broke it once before and was hurting for about 2 months. NOT fun…but hey, it’s hockey and all part of the game I reckon. I would have much rather preferred to have the other guy’s rib hurting though

I’ve been writing new material and enjoying it…I messed around with something yesterday and listened to it again today with fresh ears and I can’t decide if it’s super silly or pretty good …for now I’ll lean on "pretty good" It’s so hard to judge your own stuff.

Speaking of Music… I just got an email from my CD distribution company[CDBABY] telling me that my CD is now available at over 2400 Retail Stores Worldwide. COOL! I’m not really sure how the program works just yet but for any indie bands wanting to know more about getting their stuff out there, here’s the link with more details. 

Does anyone still buy actual CD’s anymore? I seem to be doing pretty well selling things on places like iTunes and I usually buy music I like via download companies… but I really don’t remember the last time I purchased an actual CD. Weird. I miss LPs…not because of the sound but because with LP’s I feel like when you buy it, you have something IN HAND. Thinking back, there were some pretty cool LPs out there. I even like the smell of them. Hard to explain. Do they even sell Record Players anymore?

So I got caught up on American Idol … Elliot left us so I wonder if Elliot Voters will hop over to Taylor’s camp now. Katherine’s voice seems pretty shrieky these last few weeks but Taylor’s starting to wear on me too with that "soul patrol" stuff. The obvious winner seems like it would be Taylor now but I guess by being in the top two makes you a winner regardless.  I have a feeling when Chris puts out an album it’ll out-sell both of those guys though. Him getting the boot was probably good thing for him. Drama never hurts unless of course you’re Michael Jackson

I need some Drama.  

Well after dealing with server issues from my old hosting company I decided to do the old switch-a-roo to a new company called bluehost.com.

So far, I’m REAL happy with the new server but there still some things I need to get fixed on the journal. [I’m really clueless when dealing with SQL and WordPress stuff]. I know the mailing list plug-in is still not working but I’ll get that running in the next few days…I’m not sure if a mailer is going to go out letting people know that there’s a new entry or not. I guess we shall see

Anyway… the tech guy last night at the new company was so helpful … and so I sent an email to the owner of the company today:

"Hi Matt,

I was told that you are the owner of BlueHost.com and I wanted to send a good word out.

Yesterday, after getting fed up with my old server [from being down CONSTANTLY], I decided to look for new places.

And so I signed up for the 2 year package with your company and started switching my site over from the old server.

Moving the site was no trouble except for my not understanding SQL and being totally clueless on WordPress issues.

So I called the tech support there and just wanted to sing the praises of a fellow named Ritchie who helped me out for well over an hour with my troubles. The guy went way above and beyond what I would expect from any company’s customer service or tech support …and so I wanted to send my thanks and gratitude.

I’ll not ramble on too much… but I’ll end by saying …you have a fantastic employee there and I’ll be sure to pass the word about your company to as many people as I can. Meanwhile, be sure to give the guy a pat on the back if you can. So far, I’m extremely happy and impressed with BlueHost!

Thanks Much!"

I’m always amazed when I find a good customer service person..these people are a RARE find…especially one in Tech Support. Most of the time the Tech-Guys at some other places almost seem to talk down to you. Maybe that’s just my imagination but I certainly didn’t get that feeling here.

As for my old server? Well these people basically called me a LIAR …nice way to do business huh?

Every time the site goes down or there’s some sort of trouble…I open up a "support ticket"[since you can never get them on the phone]. Since being with them, I’ve opened at least 4 tickets saying that the site was down…or I’ve gone online to text-type with a tech guy. So all in all…the site’s been down about 10 times since I’d been with that company. I’d also received emails saying that the site is slow from others…etc..[you get the idea].

Alrighty…so I email the old server saying that the site’s been down and all that usual complaint type stuff. I’m nice about it though. I just let them know that my site’s been down WAY TOO much.

The guy’s 1st reply was something like "we are not aware of this issue"…my response was "I’ve been opening support tickets and letting you know each time the time is down…if you didn’t know…you are NOW AWARE of this"

Then… I get this email form them:

Hello,

Well there are 1300 active customers on server2.WE_SUCK_ASSplex.com,  and we have not received reports matching yours from other users, which is why I suggested it was an isolated issue to your account and you which needed to be investigated.  But without further information there is not a lot to look for,   when there is a server issue we are aware of it, we monitor the server every 60 seconds and all the collected data is stored.

So basically, the guy said I’m hallucinating? Somehow it’s my fault? I basically told him he was full of it. Val[who comments on here sometimes] had his site hosted with this same company and each time my email or site was down…so was his.

Anyway…I just get irked by people in denial …and even worse, it was like being accused of making it up. Why would i make up "hey, my email and site is down" PLEASE.

Ooops…i guess this is a pretty crazy Mother’s Day Post huh?

Let me get my mind off that rant and just end by saying Happy Mother’s Day Mom –Love Ya!