Two:Thirty AM

So you may have noticed some little ads that have popped up on this page as well as HEARTaMINI.com. I have had an AdSense account for years but never used it, mostly because up until recently my webpages were static. Now that I am writing more content and the pages are cycling through content more regularly, I thought I would give them a try and see how they work. My goal was to make them useful and not too intrusive to the end user. I think that has been accomplished with these small ads. I know a lot of people don’t like ads, but these content related ads actually aren’t that bad. I clicked through a few before I decided to push them live, and there are actually some good links. Feel free to drop me a line with feedback on the ads.

After watching this movie, I really think there are two ways to review the Movie.

1. From the point of view of someone who has watched or did watch the original TV show.
2. From the point of view of someone who has no idea what the plot or premise of the movie is and going in blind.

I used to watch the TV show, so the majority of my review will pertain to POV #1.

To be completely honest I started to not like this movie when I first started watching it because I found myself comparing every little detail to the TV show. This is not the way to go about watching this movie. I don’t know why I did, it of course is not going to be exactly the same, it’s an adaptation. Anyway, once I got past that, I really started enjoying it. They did a pretty good job of keeping with the story line of the TV show, and showing how Agent 86 came to be. They also put a lot of stuff from the TV show that I think people who watched the show appreciated, like Agent 13, fang, and at one point had a large collection of original props from the TV show on display in the lobby of the building that housed Control. All in all, a good watch. :)

I will say though, I hope Hollywood lets it end there. I would really hate for them to do what they ALWAYS do, and try to milk every last penny out of a name, ruining the name. So listen to me Hollywood when I say do screw this up like you always do. I know you won’t listen because you have no idea what the people want, you just know that you will take every single penny you can get your filthy hands on no matter how TERRIBLE the movies are you produce.

Rating:

If you don’t have Sirius Satellite Radio you can probably stop reading right about…..now. Sirius has an online portion of their service where you can listen to all the stations streamed over the internet. I actually find this service to be more useful than the radio itself, but thats a whole other deal. Anyway, being able to listen online is great, but doing it through the web browser is kind of a pain and not always the best experience. What would be nice, is a standalone desktop application. Well if you are on Mac, your solution has arrived, StarPlayr2. There are a couple of options for OS X, but this one I find to be the best.

Some of the key features.

- Full channel listing
- Bypasses the stupid captcha Sirius uses (so good!)
- Pulls album art from amazon
- Shows artist and song info
- 20 presets locations with easy access
- Ability to record to MP3
- Channel and Volume controls

This app is the perfect solution if you are looking to listen to Sirius Online.

Version reviewed: 2.0.18.3s
Cost: $free!
Link to Developer Site: http://vm.nicemac.com/

We are getting very close to the 30 day countdown to MINI Takes The States 2008 – LA! Words cannot describe the excitement that is brewing around here! Some of the planning is done, but there is still a lot to plan. Driving route, number of cars, pit stops, etc. We will get that all worked out. I plan on documenting MTTS all the way through. Twitter, Blog, SmugMug, and hopefully live streaming from Qik. It stands to be the most MINI fun you will have all year, so make sure you don’t miss it! More to come!

So my iPhone (version 1) has been hacked for a while now running firmware version 1.1.4, and now of course the new iPhone is coming out July 11. The question is, do I get it? Well the simple answer is… OF COURSE!! I will most definitely be buying the new iPhone 3G. Most likely I will get the White 16GB version. I don’t need a lot of space for music, but I want to make sure I have PLENTY of room for applications. I will be standing in line with the rest of the fanboys on the launch date, much like I did for the release of the first iPhone.

Once I have the new iPhone, what will I do with my old one?? This is a question that is probably being asked of just about everyone with a current generation iPhone. Do you sell it? Most likely no, because of the drastic price drop on the new 3G phone, it makes the current generation phone, almost worthless (especially since its used). The second option is to give it to a friend or family member, but what’s the point if the new one is so cheap, they can just get the newer cooler version. So there you have it, you are stuck with a $400 (or $600 if you bought early like me) phone that you have no use for.

Well after pondering this issue, I think I am going to just keep mine, for several reasons.
- Use as an iPod Touch. (most likely won’t do this, but it’s an option)
- Use to test new apps before screwing up my 3G phone.
- Use as a backup in case (god forbid) something happens to my 3G.
- Use for playing games, so that I don’t kill my 3G battery.
- Somehow incorporate it into a super cool robot!

* I will miss the insane amount of customization options you have with a hacked Gen 1 iPhone. This will be resolved with 3rd party apps, and if not that, then hacked 2.0 firmware. Just a mater of time.

Screenshot from my current Gen. 1 iPhone

Today on Daily Dragnet

The Big Press

The Big Press

The need for internet on the go.

Since city-wide WiFi seems to piss off the state gov’s and we will never get it, what options are there? Well you pretty much are left with getting raped by your cell phone carrier for a 3G data card for your laptop. I have AT&T so I started with the Sierra Wireless 875U card which was HSDPA, and then the day after I got it, they came out with the 881U which is HSUPA. I now have the 881U, because it has better throughput. I got the USB one so I could use it with any of my laptops. Aside from the outrageous price AT&T charges for data, the device is really handy. As long as you are in range of 3G, if you are not, I wouldn’t waste your time, unless you like dial up type speeds. Oh one other issue I have with it is, since I mainly use it on my MacBook so it blocks both USB ports. This can be resolved with a USB extension cable, but that’s kind of a pain. To make up for that though, the card does fit into the USB port on my MacBook Air!

881U Throughput
Average Download speed of 600 kbps – 1.4 Mbps on BroadbandConnect
Average Upload speed of 500 – 800 Kbps on BroadbandConnect Network

Today on Daily Dragnet

The Big Smart Guy

The Big Smart Guy

Complete crap.