Mmm fondue treats

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Pj says hi

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Panera Day from Hell

Apparently Panera has the tendency to ruin days, weeks, even lives! I’m sitting in a booth enjoying some free wifi but moments ago I was waiting in line to order my UPick2… Sierra Turkey and New England Clam Chowder, yummy.

Anyhow, someone next to me ordered two drinks, both specialty coffees, and two soups with baguettes. Apparently they’ve never been to panera before as they were shocked when they had to take out a second mortgage for their lunch. Panera has good food, and the soups are decent, the free wifi is definitely win, but you’re going to pay an arm and a leg. Even their UPick2 special is $6.19 in Central PA, and that’s before you tack on a delicious Iced Tea for over $1.50. You’re paying $8.14 after tax for lunch, that’s just how it is; and I’ve accepted that.

Apparently, this couple hadn’t, as the female complained, “That much for two soups and drinks, you’ve got to be kidding me.” I kinda starred, like uhm what did you think. She continued to claim, “This is ridiculous, I’m not paying this.” Well she did pay this, and her poor husband, he was so red. So I picked up my food, immediately after them and had the pleasure of sitting at a table next to them.

The woman sits down and goes to take a bite out of her french baguette, she slams it on the table and goes, “What the fuck??!?!?! It’s fucking cold.” I don’t know how many of you have had the baguettes at Panera, but they are always cold, wtf did she expect. She proceeds to yell, “God dammit, this fucking day just keeps getting worse and worse, why the fuck can’t I get good food.” Her husband offers to take it back, she tells him no. “I just want to go, I don’t want to be here, I am in a bad mood, I just want to go. This week is shit, this is the icing on the cake, my life is ruined” She picks up her baguette again and slams it down on her plate, it hits her soup and it splashes onto her blouse. She lets out the loudest most ear piercing scream I’ve ever heard. Then this gets up, yells; “Fuck this place!” and bolts out the door.

Her husband is sitting there, he turns around to see where his wife is going, then he looks at his soup, back at the door and back at the soup, he then looks at me, shrugs his shoulders and proceeds to take a bite out of his baguette.

His wife went out and is sitting in the car now as I write this, it’s kinda funny. I want to see if she stabs him when he returns to the car. haha

Sunning

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iPhone 3G update and work around…

Since I posted my blog about getting my 3g, I’ve had a few questions and concerns about what I had to do to get my iPhone… The answer is very different depending on where you go… So let me try to answer these questions and offer some advice.

If you buy your phone at AT&T, well there in lies the problem. AT&T stores sold out fast, some stores didn’t receive phones, the ones that did seem to have gotten less than 100 phones, including the one I was at on Friday which confirmed they only received 30 phones. The line was over 75 people long, and according to the AT&T manager people waiting in line to direct fullfill their iPhone dreams waited until 3pm…. wow. But if you were lucky enough to get a phone at AT&T it didn’t matter what kind of account you had, you were able to get it working. If you were on a family plan? No biggie as long as you were authorized. If you had a discount? They would get rid of it for you or still activate your phone on the account. If you weren’t eligible for an upgrade, they would sell it to you but not for the discounted price, the only problem with AT&T was, they didn’t have phones, and if you ran into problems with your phone, they couldn’t fix it… I was in fact showing features to the AT&T reps after I got my phone at apple.

Apple on the other hand had phones out the wazzu. But, you had to be a specific type of customer in order to get the phone. You needed your own Credit Card, a photo ID, your phone number, social security number and you couldn’t have any special types of features on your accounts. We were even told that if you weren’t the primary on the account, then you couldn’t do the phone at apple, you’d have to go to AT&T. Doesn’t matter if you are authorized. Now of course if you are buying a phone for a child, or if you have the primary with you, then you are good to go. PLUS, Apple would let you get a new account. So you see there is a work around. AT&T seemed to be feeding this information to Apple, not allowing Apple’s systems to interface with AT&T’s authorization process if they didn’t meet a type of customer. Could this be AT&T’s revenge on the consumer for unlocking iPhones? Who knows, but Apple blamed AT&T and AT&T blamed apple, not a match made in heaven apparently.

People complain that you are locked into AT&T for 2 years, this is true however… We were able to create a new account at apple, then we were able to call AT&T cancel the newly created account AND join the brand new iPhone to an AT&T account that was a family plan which we were not the primary on AND had a discount. All we had to do was buy a new SIM from AT&T and port our number to that SIM. Took my gf about 30 minutes to do despite being disconnected on my blackberry at least twice… AT&T fewer dropped calls…hmmm

So you see, it isn’t as hard as it seems. Ideally, you should have the first iPhone, not have it paid for by work and no discounts, and all that… Then it takes 5 minutes if you have all your info and SSN… However… there are other ways.

What if you have verizon or sprint or another company with 3G networks? Can you go to apple, Create an account, get a brand new number. Then quick call AT&T within 30 days cancel the account without paying the $175 dollar fee and throw a verizon sim in your phone? As long as you have a data plan with 3G and tons of internet access why not? Or what if you call after the 30 days and pay the $175 fee and just switch the sim? What stops you from doing that? You still get an iPhone, granted you pay a $175 fee…

I only have AT&T and my black berry is a work phone so I kinda don’t want to mess with the SIM cards, but I’m sure it will work. I could probably take a sim from a pre-iphone cell and put it in my old iPhone and it will probably work right? Who knows probably as long as I have the correct data and 3G access.

So even if Apple or AT&T tells you you can’t get an iPhone, I’m betting you can. If you buy the iPhone at Apple and get a new line, just run to AT&T and tell them that Apple sold you the phone, told you to go to them to swap with a new sim and get it on your account… Shouldn’t be a problem… Right?

BTW, the 3G is worth it, it’s blazing fast, the GPS works great when you are out on the road, but won’t work in buildings or between big buildings in the City. My favorite App is twitterific. I like remote but I don’t use it that often, it’s not like I have my PC inside and I’m out by the pool controlling iTunes for outside speakers, that’d be sweet… Still love the PhoneSaber too… loopt sounds neat, but as told by @ijustine, it will text all your contacts and tell them about it… not cool since it doesn’t verify. Plus I like anything with facebook and the WeatherBug app is better than the regular Weather Icon in the iPhone…

So far so good.. Exchange push is going to change the business smart phone playing field. Plenty of businesses moved to the iPhone with the IMAP ability, but now with Exchange Push, and the calendar and contacts sync, wow… Plus, the security on the phone is above what I expected.

If you are worried about your contacts getting over written let me tell you what I did… with my old iPhone, I updated my iTunes, and I got the v2 update on it. I then sync’d my contacts to outlook on my work laptop. After I did that I connected to my Work VPN, and opened up outlook again, all my phone contacts were now saved in Exchange. After this I set up push with Exchange on my phone and sync’d all my contacts… They all are now on my phone, pretty neat…

How do you like it so far?

AT&T and Apple iPhone 3G snafu.

On Friday morning I said, “I have an iPhone Boner.” I was so excited to get my new phone, I even got up way early. Well it was way early for me.

We arrived at the AT&T Store before 7am, they opened at 8. I had to work, so did my GF so we didn’t want to be long. The line wasn’t too long, we were 41 and 42 in the line, I counted. The AT&T people were gracious enough to give us water and show us the phone, it was sweet.

AT&T would tell us everything about the service, what we needed to do, what info we needed to have they even answered all of our questions regarding scenarios of how to upgrade. Seemed we were good. I had a lone v2 iphone, my plan my name, my gf had an iPhone on a family plan that she was authorized to make changes on.

Then iBricks hit, iTunes was locking up. We stood in line for 3 and a half hours until the lady from AT&T said, “no iPhone for you.” We were right next to the door, they had sold out.

It was too late to drive to the apple store in King Of Prussia, and we were getting reports of at least 150 people in line, thanks @callaflower.

We got up just as early on Saturday, drove the 40 minutes to KOP lined up in front of the apple store. We were 25th in line. About 8:15 apple reps came out and started giving post-its to eligible persons, but it seemed as if only 1/2 the people in line could get a phone… They were telling us the following:

No discounts anywhere on your plan, must have your OWN credit card, must be the primary on your account, didn’t matter if you were authorized or not, no business accounts.

We were getting conflicting reports. It seemed if you wanted to buy a phone, go to Apple, but if you wanted it to work on your account without having to bend it over and take it, you had to go to AT&T.

Why so many different stories? Why couldn’t AT&T get it straight with Apple. And the worst part was, Apple didn’t have a resolution, AT&T had a way to get the phone on your right account once you had the phone, but Apple didn’t have a way for you to get the phone without starting a new account.

What should have been done was this. Apple reps at the AT&T stores and AT&T reps at the apple stores. Allow the transaction to go smoothly and both work together. It’s bad enough we are tied to this network that might not possibly work for everyone, but now we have to jump through hoops and answer 3 questions from a troll before we can get the damn phone. You couldn’t buy it as a gift for anyone.

Apple freely admits that AT&T got screwed with the first version as people took the phones to other networks, and maybe that’s just wireless company’s faults for making it so hard to get out of a contract. I can’t remember a single cell phone I kept for more than a year. Even my previous iPhone which was the best phone I ever had up until today, I only had that for 7.5 months.

The iPhone is going to have it’s fans, and it’s going to sell millions and make AT&T and APPLE some money. But really, does anyone want to be held hostage for 24 months?

Apple and AT&T probably won’t work together too much on this release, If you want to get an iPhone. Go to Apple, buy the iPhone and create a new account. Take your phone to AT&T and move it to your new account, get your number on it and get a new SIM. You can cancel any AT&T account within 30 days for no charge, and Apple will gladly take the phone back if it doesn’t work.

The iPhone 3g is easily the best phone I’ve ever had, the apps are amazing, 3G is blazing fast, the GPS has it’s bugs but if you are in 3G area, it looks like it knows where you are going to go instead of just where you are. Twitterific is awesome, though right now it won’t open so I have to figure out wtfis wrong with that. I also like JOT and I can’t wait to try Shzzam or whatever it’s called. Plus light sabers are awesome.

All in all I have a new 3G iPhone albeit a day later. My gf also has hers and it’s on her family plan so she can save some money as well. But really, AT&T and APPLE need to get their act together and need to work together more, one hand can’t not talk to the other and expect this partnership to just work, that’s not going to keep customers happy.

When asked the biggest problem with the iPhone, people say AT&T first. But really, Apple can’t just play dumb here either.

Possible new puppy?

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Tailgating shadows

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Pool

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3g iphone price cut a mistake

Part of the charm of the original iPhone was it’s price. Only people who had money, or where were really into technology and would get the most out of the iPhone actually bought it. Even after the original had the price cut, it was still a special thing, only certain people were crazy or dedicated enough to spend $400+ on a cell phone.

I can remember being out with some friends after I bought my iPhone, I hadn’t put it down in the 48 hours since I bought it. Across the way, I spotted a girl with an iPhone, soon she spotted me, and we had a conversation about how awesome it was.

Our friends stood there, amazed or appalled that we were talking about this contraption. Happy with their Razr phones, they gawked at us. But Amanda and I were chatting for at least 45 minutes on this device, it was like a special club. That’s when I realized that the iPhone was a special thing.

I remember standing in line for lunch in the city, I made the mistake of going to lunch at noon when the lines are longest. Luckily, I had my headphones and my iphone. I popped on an episode of GeekBrief and watched it in line. Someone noticed me, and tapped me on the shoulder. “Is that, that iPhoner thing?” “Yes” I replied. “I never understood how you could spend $400 on a phone.” he says. I said to him, “Do you have a cell phone?” “Yes” He says. I ask, “Do you have an MP3 player?” “Sure” he says. Finally I ask, “Do you have a device that you can hold in your hand and check your emails, box scores, text, get directions, watch video and Google?” “No” he replies. I say, “How much do you think a device that was a cell phone an mp3 player, a video player, an internet device, as well as email and text?” He looks at my for about 5 seconds and says, “Oh it was ONLY $400″

People who don’t get why we would spend $400 for this thing, don’t understand what you can do on it. When I can check my work email, my personal email and all of my client email accounts from one device, it’s a time saver.

I must also mention I have a black berry for work, I simply listen for it to go off, then I check my email on my iPhone.

The last story I’ll tell recently happened. A friend of mine bought an iPhone, she didn’t get one before because she didn’t want to pay the price. But through months of badgering, and telling her what she was missing, finally she caved. She got it, she loves it, she doesn’t quite understand it… And the first thing she asks me is, “When is the next meeting?” The lure of the iPhone was its gadgets, the caveat was if you didn’t use them was it really worth it? So many people didn’t buy it because they didn’t know if it was worth it. But as soon as you drank the iPhone koolaid, you were hooked. You wanted to come to the meetings and become a nerd.

With iPhone becoming the price of a blackberry so many people are going to opt to buy them. The club will become overcrowded, the meetings will be full and standing room only and the coffee won’t last. No longer will I walk around the mall with my iPhone in hand and get stopped and admired for it. I’ll miss that, maybe I’m a little vain(ok more than a little) but half the damn draw on the original iPhone was that it was so damned expensive you had to make a nice chunk of coin to have one… From the original purchase to all the months of service, my iPhone will have cost me $1600 this year.

I like having the money I have, and I like flaunting it. That’s why I only buy designer clothes, it’s why my car cost me $25K and I got the special rims and all the bells and whistles, I bought the exact car I always wanted, and I was only 24 when I got it. It’s why my TV is high def and I have all the damned cable channels, it’s why I opt for fillet Mignon instead of rump roast and it’s why I purchased the iPhone instead of another fucking razor or black berry.

But now everyone will have one, and the club won’t be as special. It’s no longer a status symbol. Call me shallow who cares. Guess I have to get a diamond encrusted case so I’m special again. And to all those who can now justify spending $200 on a phone and $105 on a cell phone plan, welcome to the club, take a number we are standing room only and at capacity.