Randomn3ss » Cell Phones

Five Random First World Problems

Mike Panic — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 23:41:46 +0000

Everyone has their own specialized list of things that just get on their nerves. In many places on Earth, it’s things like “will someone steal my food?” or “will someone kidnap my wife and daughter?” But those lucky enough to find themselves living in the first world don’t have real annoyances like these. We just sort of find things to complain about no matter how well our lives are relative to the rest of the world. It doesn’t have to be a splinter to really get under your skin, or a bullet for that matter; not getting what you wanted at Starbucks is enough to ruin your day here. Being a privileged human is tedious sometimes and life can turn into a gauntlet of irksome odds and ends. Here are a few on my list:

Incomprehensible cell phones

It can take me years to learn how to use a new cell phone. It doesn’t matter if it’s a smartphone, a prepaid phone, or a GPS enabled phone, these tiny computers baffle me! They are the remote controls of the 2010′s. That said, without them I would probably get lost walking my dog. I can’t quit you, technology!

Movie trailers ruining movies

There’s really no need to even watch movies anymore. All you need to do is sit back and watch the trailer and you can pretty much figure out every single twist in the plot. What happened to teaser ads? What happened to previewing the content of the movie and not summarizing every scene in the plot? It’s gotten to the point that if there’s a movie I’m planning to see I have to close my eyes and plug my ears when the trailer comes on. They’re too long, they spoil surprises, they ruin lines, they misrepresent tone and focus, and, worst of all, they incite amateur comedians to shout out obnoxious one-liners.

Slow walkers always walk in the middle

There should a scientific study conducted in order to answer the question of why the slowest people on the sidewalk find a way to block all the other walkers. It’s okay if you’re slow, no one’s going to knock you down and yell at you. Just have the courtesy to move to one side or the other. There’s no need make everyone else late for their meetings because you’re imitating turtles today.

Tip cups at hardware stores

Look, I’m all for good service, but that’s part of your job description. Unless you’re a waiter, in which your income is based primarily on tips, you shouldn’t expect monetary hand-outs from customers. Everyone from cashiers to hardware store clerks are expecting tips now. Maybe I should start asking for blogging tips, no pun intended.

The coffee cup is half full and half empty

Just because I want room for cream doesn’t mean I’m content with a thimble-sized amount of coffee. Who uses that much cream in their coffee, that they would require so much empty room at the top of the cup? I came for coffee, sir, and by God you’re going to pour me a whole cup!

There are a million things that annoy me, but if I told you all of them then I would probably be annoying you (if you live a privileged life like me). That’s what I’ve got to be careful, otherwise I’m no better than the guy walking in slow-motion in the middle of the sidewalk. Oh, the first world! So many problems, and so much free time to sit and think about them!Similar articles that might also interest you:

iMessage Forces Hands

Mike Panic — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 20:54:44 +0000

I’ve been a happy iPhone user since picking mine up on launch day last summer for the iPhone4. With the announcement of the much anticipated and then slightly disappointing 4s I’ve chosen to not upgrade, there’s not enough bang for the buck and I’m still tied to my current contract for another 8ish months. What I did do was upgrade to iOS5 though, curious to get some of the new features and functions; one of which is iMessage.

Even though reports on Twitter and Facebook the night of the iOS update launched were filled with horror stories of users losing all their contacts, paid apps and causing hours of pain, I did the update. After one last Sync with iTunes (which needed to be updated to 10.5) I ran the iOS update and felt no pain, no problems and no loss of data. After playing with a few of the features I went to bed as it was late and didn’t think much of it.

That following Friday the 4s was released and a friend picked one up and started to txt me. I noticed the colors looked a little different but didn’t think much of it. Then I saw the … bubble indicating he was sending me a txt and realized we were using iMessage, it’s turned on by default. Cool I guess?

iMessage is kind of creepy in that it knows when two users are both running iOS5, as my iPhone friends updated their phones and bought the new 4s I started to see more and more of them switch to iMessage. Curious how it worked, I did a quick Google search. It’s straightforward, a proprietary messaging system that utilizes your existing number or email address when both users are running iOS5; unlike Blackberry’s BBM service which requires a separate number, or those who are old enough to remember using Nextel’s two-way walkie talkie function. It runs over Wi-Fi or 3g when not available and is only supposed to use a minute amount of data when not on Wi-Fi.

Up until yesterday I had no real issues, that I knew about with it. The concept is cool, except that I’m sure Apple somewhere along the lines now is seeing our information since it must be going through their servers, right? A txt conversation with a friend resulted in me seeing something really weird, and I asked what in the world they were talking about, took a screen shot of the conversation and sent it to them, all via iMessage. Turns out I didn’t understand what was going on in the conversation because the message my friend sent never got to me! That’s a problem. Who do I complain to about that? When it was a straight up txt I could complain to AT&T, but not now.

Many are praising Apple for developing this technology, it can / will force the hand of service providers AT&T, Verizon and Sprint to rethink their current text message plans since users can now circumvent them. I remember reading somewhere that the cost of a service provider to allow a user to send 20 txt messages a month and 2,000 is no different, they just charge us more because they can. I’d love nothing more than to save a few bucks on what I already consider to be a bill that’s too high by reducing my unlimited txt plan to the next step down, for me that’s 200 from AT&T. I can’t do it though.

At best 40% of my friends use iPhones, of those less than 10% have upgraded their OS yet or have the new iPhone. Since there is no way to control or restrict the amount of incoming messages, I know with my current usage (usually between 4,500 and 8,000 txt messages a month) 200 would never cut it. Even if I could, I’d be worried of hitting the 2GB data limit in my plan, I wasn’t grandfathered into unlimited. Again, I send and receive a ton of photos each month, 5mp camera in my iPhone and 8mp in the new 4s, all as 3g over iMessage woud add up. Apple has now forced my hand to decide.

With a failed iMessage already I have mixed feelings about leaving the service turned on and I don’t want to turn on delivery confirmation to get those notices too. There’s also no solid information, that I can find, about whose servers these iMessages are being sent through.

I praise Apple for making a service that has great intentions and I hope it really makes the service providers look at the fees they charge their customers because this could be a game changer. While I’m willing to chalk up this one experience as a it’s new and maybe the system is overloaded or not all the bugs are worked out, my questions may never get answers which will more than likely result in turning the service off.

Please share your experiences, positive or negative with iMessage.Similar articles that might also interest you:

UmbrellaToday.com Still Leaves You Wet

Mike Panic — Wed, 05 May 2010 19:38:32 +0000

In November 2008 I was stoked to find a cool website that would tell me if I needed an umbrella today via text message. After a week the success rate of messages was 50%. The week following that I pretty much gave up on relying on the service to send me a text message, or have it be anywhere near the time I specified, the service was broken.

Shortly after that the updates stopped coming all together and I didn’t think twice about it. Chalked it up to another Internet start-up with good intentions that failed miserably. Last week out of the blue I got a text message from the site telling me I should take my umbrella to work. Seriously? Over a year later, not a single message, then you send one? What gives.

Since that message I’ve received two more, even though it’s been raining on and off. The site has zero advertising and costs nothing to use. It’s clearly a case of getting what you pay for. The text message did prompt me to visit the website and actually unsubscribe, a rather painless process. I did chuckle at the confirmation code they gave me to confirm my choice to unsubscribe though: overrate.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Next Song, Please: My Fave iPhone App

Mike Panic — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:01:29 +0000

This is a guest post by Jana K. Hoffman, the editorial assistant at Lehigh Valley Style and freelance fashion writer. You can also read her stuff on BettyLife.

When it comes to iPhone 3G Apps, you can never quite have enough, right? Although I beg to differ, as I decided to join the masses, one thing I told myself after I purchased my iPhone was that I certainly would not download useless Apps that contained no apparent reason or use for it.

Well, I openly admit I haven’t quite adhered to Rule No. 1 of Jana’s iPhone Don’ts–I’d say Fluid and Heat Pad are rather unnecessary. However, out of the thousands of pointless Apps that only have some form of reasonable functionality or entertainment like while riding a bus or flying, you’ll clearly come across many that are actually useful, helpful and handy when you need something in a pinch.

Out of the 20 Apps (yes, I counted) that I’ve downloaded–mostly for free–can I just say that Remote ranks up at the top as one of my most favorites? Closely behind, The Weather Channel sits right up there beside it since the default Weather App just wasn’t meeting my forecasting expectations.

Why, out of every App that I could possibly ever imagine having, is Remote my favorite? Normally I set my iTunes to shuffle just about any time I’m listening to music. Perhaps this is the laziness in me, but if someone else is using my MacBook while I’m in the same room (and this happens more often than I’d like it), I can instantly change songs without having to reach over or walk to my computer.

This works in between rooms, too. One morning as I was getting ready for work, my Mac was sitting on the dining room table as I stood in the bathroom. I didn’t like the song, and with the light tap of a finger I chose a more preferable tune. So easy!

I’m not the gaming-kind-of-gal so, honestly, those Apps just aren’t the slightest bit appealing. I did, however, purchase–at the sale price of $1.99–Wolfenstein Classic 3D because growing up I would watch my dad play it on our MS-DOS system. I took a liking to it then tried my luck and beat the game. I haven’t yet mastered the iPhone version. In fact, I’ve only played it once and that lasted a mere 10 minutes before I became frustrated. I just don’t have the time and patience to learn!

While I know preferences and tastes differ, I would recommend Remote to any iPhone and iTunes user. The convenience factor alone makes it pretty awesome. I should mention, though, that Remote connects to your iTunes through a wireless signal, so this minor (and I use that term lightly) detail is pretty pertinent to its functioning.Similar articles that might also interest you:

iPhone App Review: hExistentialism

Sofia Sabotage — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:34:29 +0000

There’s thousands of applications for iPhones that for the most part I think are useless and a waste of time. With the exception of me checking my Facebook and Myspace, of course.

However, I did discover a great puzzle game, hExistentalism, for the price of $2.99. It’s certainly more complex than Bejeweled or Mahjong. In fact, it’s quite addicting. I’m a huge fan of logic and this is perfect. Although the graphic may not be up to Halo 3 standards it doesn’t take away from the game itself.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Help Fight Cancer and Win a Griffin Elan Form Graphite iPhone Case

Mike Panic — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:35:07 +0000

It’s been a long time since we’ve run a contest here at Randomn3ss, this one not only has a unique prize for all you iPhone owners out there, the cause and benefit is far greater. This contest will also be run in a slightly different fashion, hopefully easier to enter for everyone.

The prize is a Griffin Elan Form Graphite iPhone 3G Case, possibly one of the nicest, most modern cases I’ve seen for the iPhone with a similar to carbon fiber look on the back.

Not only is the Elan Form one of the most attractive cases, it’s one of the most functional. Griffin, a company that constantly puts out products that impress, included the EasyDock function into the case. The lower 1/3rd of the case slides off allowing you to properly dock your 3G iPhone into nearly any device without an adapter. A shatter-proof polycarbonate inner shell protects your beloved iPhone while a static peel screen guards the touch-screen. They even include a cleaning cloth! At $35 retail, this is worth every cent to protect the spendy investment of an iPhone.

The Contest

Starting right now, the contest is open to anyone in the USA (sorry everyone else, shipping / customs becomes a pain) and will run through midnight EST on May 31st, 2009. To enter the contest, make a donation on my behalf to the Livestrong Challenge I’m riding my bike in this August, read why I’m doing it and click the link to donate here. You will receive one entry into the contest for every $5 you donate, no limit. For example, if you donate $25 you will receive five entries. On June 1st I will tally up all the entries and draw one at random, please make sure you use a valid email when you donate, as that is how I will contact you. All donations go directly to the Livestrong Foundation, no money will go to me and all donations are tax deductible.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Broken umbrella

Mike Panic — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:08:38 +0000

More than two weeks ago I was really excited about a new site I found called Will you need an umbrella today? It’s a service that sends you a text message to tell you if you should take an umbrella with you. Simple setup, clean design, I wanted to love this. Four days after signing up I had a 50% delivery rate of the text messages and both were hours late. Not much has changed since I signed up for the service.

Photo by: Tyler J. Clemens VIII

Delivery is spotty at best and I’ve yet to receive one message on time, the closest was 6 minutes past the delivery time I chose and that was the exception, most that were delivered showed up hours later. While the service costs nothing, seems to have no business model for turning a profit off the site and is a one-trick poney, I still think it has a purpose. I won’t be unsubscribing just yet, rather do a follow up sometime after the new year to see if any improvements happen.Similar articles that might also interest you:

50% Chance I’ll need an umbrella today

Mike Panic — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:34:39 +0000

Friday afternoon I was pretty stoked on a new service that sends a text message to your phone at a time you specify and simply lets you know if you will need an umbrella today. I confirmed my cell phone number and delivery time, but since there is no account (which I’m a fan of) there is no way to change confirmation times without un-subsribing and then resubscribing, no biggie. Another concern was the lack of time zones listed, since I selected 8am, did that mean 8am local time to my phone, EST for me, or 8am local time to wherever in cyber space the server that powers this service lives. Four days after subscribing, here are my results.

Saturday, no text message. FAIL

Sunday,

57 minutes late. FAIL

Monday, 3 hours 14 minutes late. FAIL

Tuesday, no text message. FAIL

50% delivery success rate, the two messages that actually did get through to me were late, so overall, this service, to me, is a total failure. I haven’t un-subscribed yet, I’ll give it another week or three and follow up just to see if things get better or worse. For now, stick to getting your weather info from the internet, TV or radio though.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Will you need an umbrella today?

Mike Panic — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:04:47 +0000

Earlier this morning I was going through my RSS feeds on iGoogle and saw a headline on Mashable, 5 Incredibly Simple, Yet Useful Websites. Always down to see a few websites that are must see and will change my life – insert sarcasm – I clicked. First on the list, and the only one I find usable out of the 5 is UmbrellaToday.com.

The site does one thing and one thing only, tells you if you’ll need an umbrella if you go outside that day. Intrigued, I looked around the very sparse website and found that all you do is enter your cell phone number, zip code and time you want to receive a text message and the site sends you one every day. Sign-up takes about 30 seconds, they don’t even ask for an email address, when you are done, they send you a text message with a random word in it that you then must enter into the site to confirm your cell number and you’re done. I’m signed up and selected the text message be sent to me at 8.00am every day.

Photo by: Shahram Sharif

Not two minutes after signing up, it dawned on me that I could just look outside to see if I need an umbrella, but then again, what if they aren’t calling for rain until later that day? Clearly they must be pulling the data from some source, somewhere, right? My other concern is that it didn’t ask for a time-zone, so I’m hoping it’s not a PST default, thus giving my text messages at 11am, when I’m already up and out of the house for several hours because that wouldn’t be useful.

Who is UmbrellaToday.com for? Well, anyone who doesn’t want to turn on their computer or TV first thing in the morning and hates broadcast radio as much as I do, but needs weather information prior to leaving the house. Since I commute to work via bicycle when it’s warm out, I always watch the weather at night (online or TV) but almost never check in the morning prior to leaving. You’ll also need to have a text message plan on your cell phone that can deal with the up to 31 texts per month. I’ll follow up in a few weeks to see how accurate it is, when the text messages are actually delivered and if there any days when they don’t come through.Similar articles that might also interest you:

Best text message evar

Mike Panic — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:24:29 +0000

So a few months ago a girl friend (not girlfriend) of mine sent me this text message, to date I think it’s one of the best I’ve ever received.

Last night was total insanity – recovering and recuperating now. All my coworkers and friends came out to a corner bar, ate burgers, bought me shots, headed to another bar – more shots – 3 people threw up, fight, dancing, girls kissing, vagina touching, motor boat, public make out, boobies, boys, tequila, vodka, VIP bottles, bartender love, carried over the shoulder. I’m in pain. I did wake up in someone else’s bed, alone, fully clothed

That’s a pretty decent night by anyone’s standards!Similar articles that might also interest you: