Jun 20, 2009 11:30 AMA week with Android and the G1

So, just to bring you up to speed - Harper (and Google) hooked me up with a developer version of the "Google Phone" or G1. As a developer phone it's sort of "unlocked" or rooted and comes with a fancy case. In short, it's awesome - but definitely, definitely a geek phone. I imagine the actual unrooted version you get from t-mobile is a bit easier to work with, but I still think it's more of a geek phone than a mainstream device like the iPhone. However, I can totally see this OS growing - especially with some better hardware in the future.

Here are my thoughts on the device after a week of use.

Android - the Google OS

I am really, really digging the OS, its openness, and its tie to all of my Google account data, but it still feels a bit beta. I also feel like maybe too much stuff is going on in the background; it can run a bit slow at times (but that may be mostly my fault, ha).

I love the connectivity and constant updates from Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader and various email accounts. I love the realtime data.

The browser absolutely rules. Being able to have multiple windows/tabs is awesome.

I don't use my cell phone for actual phone calls often, but I feel like making a phone call on Android is too hard. It takes at least 2 more steps than any other phone I've used. I mean, it's a phone; it's supposed to make calls. That should be the simplest feature.

HTC - the hardware

I think the G1 is clunky and cheap looking. The giant base is hard to type around, but I'm getting used to it. I do love having the option to type with either an onscreen keyboard or the physical keyboard... but I'm really looking forward to using this OS on a better handset.

The camera is also kinda wack. I wish it had a flash.

The Battery

WTF! Do I honestly have to charge my phone both at night and while at work? I mean it's not really a hassle to have my phone plugged in during those times - but it's definitely not normal. There are all sorts of blogs and articles about "how to improve your g1 battery life" - and what is their advice? Turn everything off. Yep - to make the G1 last all day, you need to turn off half of the cool features you bought the phone for. Turn off 3G, wifi, GPS, bluetooth, autosyncing, and while you're at it make your screen really dim - then your phone will last all day without a problem! wtf, bummerville? And I also have to keep a knife around just to get the freakin USB door open... but that's not that big of a deal I guess - I've already started working on my coke nail for when I need to whip that thing open and charge my phone in a bind. ;)

The battery power, or lack thereof, is really my biggest beef with this phone.

Apps

I love all the apps that can completely tie into the OS and its data. Apps can override the default SMS app, use GPS, use the browser, add data to the address book, toggle phone settings, etc. The openness rules so much.

Here are some of my favorite apps.

• Google Maps (with Latitude) is pretty solid, but I wish latitude used the GPS to update my location a bit better. or i wish there were options to have it only use GPS and maybe be able to set an update interval. I could go on and on about this because I'm a mapping and location freak. Basically latitude is so close to satisfying what I want... but not quite there. And why did Latitude work better on my Blackberry than it does on my Google device? haha.
• BrightKite - it's still in beta, slow, and has crashed on me a couple times... but this is definitely filling my Latitude void and becoming the way I track my daily travels. It's also mostly how I am now setting my status for twitter, facebook, and everything else. I'm already playing with the API - it's awesome.
• Connectbot - a really nice SSH client
• Greed - an awesome RSS reader that ties into your Google Reader account.
• Shazam - a crazy app that listens to nearby songs and tells you what they are.
• Tunes Remote - a super flaky iTunes remote, but when it works - it's awesome.
• Twidroid - amazing twitter client. I'm finally back to semi-realtime updates from my friends.

And here are some nice utility apps, I've been using.

• Facebook Sync - updates your contact photos with their profile pics from facebook.
• SMS Popup - you know how the iphone pops up incoming texts in a little window? This does that.
• Rings Extended - lets you select any audio you want for a ringtone.
• Toggle Settings - nice quick way to turn on/off battery saving features. Sort of a must-have on this phone.

Other apps that look awesome that I haven't really used.
Last.fm, Shop Savvy, Oregon trail, Fbook, Sky Map, Open Home, and Bettercut

So yeah. Overall I'm really happy with the device. I'm excited to see Android progress and crawl into some better shells. Thanks a ton to my buddy Harper and a couple of the Google Open Source guys - Daniel Bentley and Chris DiBona for hooking me up.

Now, I just need to think of an app to write for it... Perhaps something with mapping or the GPS? ;)

Tags: tech 4 comments

May 19, 2009 9:49 PMWelp, She Got Away Again

It started a year and a half ago, when Kari and I began casually looking at foreclosed homes. We wanted something to fix up for ourselves that was in the city of Des Moines, brick, full of character, and easily customizable. ...We basically wanted to build a new home inside of an old home.

So my realtor took me to a home in the Des Moines village of Beaverdale. An enormous brick home on an acre of land, secluded by woods, a stream in the front yard, and only a few miles from downtown. It was a real shithole, haha. No really, a real shithole. When my realtor took me to check it out for the first time, she slammed the door open and yelled, "POLICE" - just to try to scare off any weirdos that may be inside. Then, half of the rooms we went in, she'd say, "oh I hope there aren't any critters in here." It was absolutely disgusting inside.

I had really mixed feelings at first. There were so many amazing features in that house. Aside from the things I already mentioned, there was a 350-400 sqft master bedroom, amazing porches, an amazing atmosphere, etc, etc. I had a million ideas on how awesome it could be.

The problem was the cleanup, time, and money. Everything needed ripped to the studs. It would have consumed all of my time, and all of our money. So we let it get away. Someone got it for $107,000.

A couple months ago, Kari got the bright idea to drive by it and see what the person who bought it had done with the place. So we drove up - for sale. Someone had flipped it. We immediately got excited, made some calls, figured out that we could afford it with a lowball offer and moved forward. Our house was on the market within a week.

Our house was for sale with a "right to home of choice" contingency. This basically means that as soon as we accepted an offer on our house, we could make an offer on the other house. If he didn't accept, the whole deal would go sour. It protected us from getting screwed into 2 house payments, but it also made getting the other house quite a gamble.

Long story short - the house we wanted sold before ours did. It was a rollercoaster of a ride. We'd had 23 groups through our home - but none of them were the right ones.

I'm a bit sad we didn't get the house we wanted, but it still needed a lot of money and work.

I dunno. Quite a bummer, but also a huge weight off my shoulders. Living here for a while longer will allow us to pay off more debt, save more cash, and be able to be a bit more flexible the next time we try to sell.

Plus, now I don't have to give up my sweetass office - the loft that 23 potential buyers hated. Suckers.

Tags: none 0 comments

May 11, 2009 11:25 PMSeven Things (a bit late)

About 4 years ago I met Harper's friend, Jon Ruth. Then, about 4 months ago, Jon tagged me in a "7 things" blog. See, there was this thing going around where you write 7 interesting things about yourself, tag 7 other bloggers - then they have to do the same. I kept meaning to fulfill my duty to write my "7 things" blog, but I just kept forgetting and putting it off. So hopefully everyone's forgotten about this trend and I can bring it back to life, haha.

I was pretty surprised to be tagged by Jon. Even though Jon has never really told me a story, Harper has told me lots of Jon's stories. He's a pretty amazing dude - with some pretty amazing stories. So it was cool that he tagged me.

That said, here it goes...

1. I do everything fast. Seriously, everything. I eat, drink, drive, walk, and slam Mountain Dewskis like there is no tomorrow. I think it's awesome; it drives my wife crazy. I'm pretty sure I get this from my dad, who probably got it from my grandma, haha.

2. I listen to the Insane Clown Posse and other horrorcore rap music. Hate it if you want, but I probably also listen to all the music you do. Horror music is a great outlet for me; it's obscene, offensive, and overall an excellent break from normality - just like a typical horror flick. Combined with the humor that ICP throws into the mix, it's audio therapy for me.

3. I try not to ever sign credit card receipts correctly. Usually I just write words within the context of the event - tacos, fooooood, balls and weiners, bleepbleepblopblohp, etc. Sometimes I also just draw pretty pictures - like a penis. I find it hilarious, and hope that someone else along the way gets a laugh out of my receipt.

4. I once held 5 jobs at the same time. I stayed on campus one summer during college and really had nothing better to do - so I just worked a lot. I was the Cornell College Web Team manager, Subway sandwich artist, Pizza Palace delivery boy, Web Developer for Market Street Technologies, and captain of the Soap Shoes team. Add in freelance work for Broox Productions and I guess you could say that I had 6 concurrent jobs. It was awesome. I now have 1 job.

5. I recently won my first grammy. It's a long story. Basically, I took a photo that wound up being a major part of Metallica's latest CD cover art. A couple months later, that same booklet won a grammy for Best Recording Package. The best part is - I got nothing out of the deal. No money, no goods, and even worse, my buddy Harper got the credit for my photo, haha.

6. I can't really drive a manual transmission car. It's pretty embarrassing, I know - but I've never really had a good opportunity to learn. I can literally count the times I've driven a stick-shift car on 1 hand. The first time was with an old gf's parents' Mustang. And yeah, my gf could drive a stick better than I could... The second time was as a sober driver for Josh, Jeff, and Tom. Josh called me from downtown Mt Vernon needing a ride, so I walked to the bar and attempted to drive home with all 3 yelling at me. Josh was in the front seat telling me the correct things to do, Tom was telling me everything wrong to do, and Jeff was, of course, just screaming. I'm pretty sure one of those drunk fools could've driven better than I did.

7. I didn't start drinking until a couple months before my 21st birthday. It seems pretty unheard of, but it's true. I went my entire high school career and nearly 2 years of college without ever having a drink. Then, my lame-o H.S. girlfriend and I broke up and I basically cut loose. I then spent the next year or so with Josh, Jeff, and Tom walking home from the bar.

So there it is - 7 (hopefully) interesting things about me.
And now these fellow bloggers have to do the same.

1. Nick - cause you last blogged one year ago - and I know you've got some gold.
2. Bre'anna - cause you're my sister and will probably have some awesome things to say.
3. Kevi - because I love you so much I hate you.
4. Nehru - cause you last blogged in 2007. wtf.
5. Tara - because I've heard some amazing things during all those nights you've been our hotel roommate.
6. Ricky - I'm sure you've got some good stuff to share.
7. Chris - cause you're awesome, and I still don't know you as well as I probably should, haha.

Tags: none 1 comment

Apr 27, 2009 11:04 PMJoyce Turns 60 in Chicago

So Kari's aunt Joyce is a traveling nurse. As such, she gets her choice of where (and when) to work in various cities around the country - 6 weeks here, 6 weeks there, 12 weeks at home, etc, etc. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous; I'm incredibly jealous.

Anyway, lately Joyce has been in Chicago to be near Kari's cousins; helping Stephanie with the baby, ya know. And Kari just happened to be flying back (through Chicago) from math camp on Joyce's birthday. So, we all decided to celebrate!

Friday afternoon, Kari's parents and I braved the longest drive to Chicago ever. I don't mean long as in "road trip with the in-laws" long, cause my in-laws are awesome. I mean long as in, "htf did it take 10 hours to drive 5 hours away" long.

So right when we got into town, we swooped up Kari from her late flight and barely made our (already pushed back) dinner reservations. Dinner was at Itto Sushi with Harper, Hiromi, Dylan, Sarah, and Tag. Itto sorta looks like it's in an old Hardees or Burger King or something... but it's real, good, authentic, sushi. I gotta say that I think Miyabi 9 and Waterfront are just as good, so next time I hope we hit up Wabi again for some crazy rolls, ha.

After dinner we went back to actually say hi to family and crashed pretty hard. It was a long day for everyone.

Saturday, we woke up and split - girls went shopping, guys went drinking. Jeff, Jon, and I met Henson for lunch, who I hadn't seen in a while... then we basically spent the rest of the afternoon blaring Pink Floyd and drinking beer - while James watched, confused.

Once the girls returned with their bounty, we headed out for a fancy dinner to celebrate Joyce's birthday. It was my first time at the Chicago Firehouse; they served up a damn good steak.

After dinner, we smoked cigars and drank whiskey while talking about cars, drugs, and money (because we're gangster). Then, after everyone else passed out, a few of us went out to party, slept a few hours, had breakfast, then drove back to gay Iowa.

I mean gay as in we're one of the first states to support gay marriage.
But I also mean gay as in happy.
But mostly I mean gay as in - the border between Iowa and Illinois is not straight.

Aaaand I just ruined my blog. so uh... Pics of the weekend!

Tags: chicago, joyce lisonbee, travel 4 comments

Mar 18, 2009 12:27 PMArizona Friends and Family

Wow, that was quite a vacation. Completely packed, totally fun, and also completely draining, ha.

So, if you didn't know, Kari and I visited Arizona for 9 days. The first 5 days were spent with my grandparents and the last 4 were spent with friends. I'm gonna try to summarize my trip as best as possible - otherwise this blog could be incredibly long... and I've already uploaded too many photos... so, here we go!

Sunday the 8th. Grandma and Grandpa picked us up in Phoenix and drove us up to Cameron where we had american indian food and shared a hotel room.

Monday, we visited the Grand Canyon then drove down to my grandparents' house in Green Valley. It was Kari's first time seeing the grand canyon and my second. That thing is still stupid-big. Photos do not do it any justice - however, that didn't stop me from taking a billion. You should go see it someday.

Tuesday, we woke up and went to the Desert Museum - with a pit stop at Tiny's Saloon. The Desert Museum is a nice place - made up of desert trails with animals and various plants along the way. Afterwards, we visited the San Xavier mission, then stopped by my great uncle Cliff's place for snacks. It was a really nice day.

Wednesday, grandma and grandpa took us to Kartchner Caverns, which is a live cave and quite amazing. And to keep it alive, we had to go through 2 sealed rooms and get misted while entering the caves. I only wish they would've let me bring my camera in; sad. After touring the caves we relaxed on grandma's back porch, then went to a neighborhood social and played a card game, which I can never remember how to play.

Thursday, we hiked, golfed, took grandma and grandpa to PF Chang's, and saw a show at the Gaslight Theater. Everything was nice. Grandma and grandpa had never been to a PF Chang's - I'm sure they'll be back soon. The show at the Gaslight Theater was also a good time - typical play with some great improv and good jokes.

Friday was our last day with grandma and grandpa. They took us to the lapidary where grandpa makes jewelry then we headed up to Phoenix - shopping and eating along the way. Once in phoenix, we of course were crazy excited to see our friends - so we started partying immediately. Then later, we met a bunch of Iowa friends and Mike Loy at Dirty Pretty. It was a great night.

Saturday, we went to a spring training game, got some Sushi, and then hung out at Allie and Shannon's for the night. None of us were really feeling it that night, so we stayed in.

Sunday, swimming at the Clarendon Hotel, then bellinis at Oregano's. The Clarendon was an amazing (and apparently gay) hotel with a public pool and rooftop bar. We had a great time spending the day there.

Monday, our last full day in Arizona we met friends for lunch, went shopping, then had a couple drinks and some food at Lost Leaf and Fate. My hometown friend Matt Hughes also stopped out for a drink. It was a good, chill night.

Finally, on Tuesday we woke up at 4:45am and started our journey home.

It was a great, great trip. We literally traveled the state - from the northwest corner to the southeast. Thanks a ton to our friends and family that took care of us. Amazing hosts. We had a blast.

And here's a couple hundred photos to prove it.

Tags: arizona, travel 2 comments