Category Archives: Technology

Best way to link social media?

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Using my various social media accounts, I’m struggling to figure out how to best link each of them together. Should I post to the blog, then have the blog update Twitter and Facebook? Or should I post to Twitter, then have Twitter update Facebook and the blog? Until recently (about an hour ago) I used Twitter to update both Facebook and the blog. I like this option, but have found a couple of limitations that bug me. First, as much as I like Twitter, I don’t like being limited to 140 characters. And second, when posting a picture to Twitter, the blog update only includes a link to the Twitter update/picture. The blog post doesn’t include the picture, which I would like it to do. Sometimes I even go back to include the picture in a blog post, as I did earlier today with my picture of the Jets cup. On the other side, I used to go in the opposite direction, but found I didn’t like the automated options, which limited the tweet to just the subject line. In the end I want the blog to be the primary location for all my information. I figure the blog is the one account that will last beyond Facebook and Twitter. So I’m going to go back to having the blog update Twitter, while also removing the Facebook update (I’m tired of Facebook). Anyway, I was wondering if the blogosphere has an opinion on the subject. Have at it!

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update #4

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This will be the final update on the iPhone 4S order as AT&T finally delivered on the order placed over 3 weeks ago. To make sure everyone understands my frustration with this whole process, I want to make a few things clear. I wasn’t frustrated at the simple fact that I was going to have to wait a long time to receive the phone. If I was told the wait would be 21-28 days from the order date, I probably wouldn’t have placed the order. But I did place the order because I was told it would take approximately 7 days. It wasn’t until after accepting the terms and conditions of the order that the delivery date was extended to 21-28 days. Then AT&T refused to let me cancel the order, which was somewhat of a slap in the face. Was I being unreasonably?

On Sunday night, shortly after posting the third status update, I submitted a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is the second time I used the BBB due to what I felt was improper business practice. To my surprise Tuesday turned into a big day. Tuesday morning the AT&T website noted the order was fulfilled and the phones were being delivered the next day… from Texas of all places. This got me wondering as all previous Apple product orders started in China. Later Tuesday morning I received an email forwarded from my brother. It was an email from the AT&T Office of the President. He apologized for the inconvenience and noted the phones were being delivered. He also left us a voice-mail on the home phone.

At first I was wondering if this was just a coincidence, but then I remembered there’s no such thing as coincidences. Well, at least that’s what Gibbs has taught me on NCIS. :-) My brother and I went back and forth on whether to push things a little bit with AT&T. Specifically because it shouldn’t take a complaint with the BBB to have a company acknowledge a problem in their treatment of a customer, but we decided to just let this one go for now.

So my new iPhone is now patiently waiting for me at home. In the immortal words of Bart Scott… Can’t Wait!

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update #3

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It’s been over 3 weeks since my brother and I ordered 2 iPhones 4S’ from AT&T. About 10 days later I posted a quick status update, which was followed by another update a day later. There is good news, AT&T now shows the status of my order online. For some reason it shows an order date of October 13th, which is 6 days after our actual order date. It has shown as backordered since last weekend. Obviously, we’ve passed the date we were originally confirmed to receive the phone. Now we’re in the middle of the 21-28 days noted during a subsequent phone call with AT&T. To make matters worse, a friend had his new iPhone 4S (White / 16 GB) at the Halloween party last night. He ordered the phone from AT&T a full week after my brother and I ordered our phones. I haven’t submitted a complaint to the BBB as of yet. Actually, we haven’t even contacted AT&T again. Either way, this ordeal with AT&T has been a huge disappointment.

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update #2

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Ladies and Gentleman – I’m going to tell you a little story about how my brother and I are getting screwed by AT&T. Here’s a play by play account of how we are now being told the iPhone will be delivered between 21 to 28 days from the day the order was placed, a full 2-3 weeks after the date originally noted by AT&T.

October 7 @ 12:01 AM – My brother goes online in an attempt to order 2 iPhone 4S’, one for each of us. After 1.5 hours of not being able to get through to the AT&T system, he finally decides to go to bed.

October 7 @ 9:30 AM – An order is placed online with AT&T for 2 iPhone 4S’. A confirmation email is received noting a delivery date of approximately October 14.

October 8 @ 7:55 AM – We receive an email from AT&T noting our order was cancelled. AT&T is unable to determine why the order was cancelled. We’re told the delivery date will continue to be October 14. so we place a new order.

October @ 10 AM - My brother calls AT&T as he has not yet received the Terms and Conditions email. At this point he is told that the email will not be sent until 24-48 business hours. My brother asks how is the phone going to arrive on Friday if that is the case. He is told it will not be delivered on Friday, but early next week sometime.

October 11 (Morning) – We receive an email to accept the Terms and Conditions of the order and it is signed right away.

October 12 – I receive a voice-mail from the AT&T Fraud Department requesting to verify a new phone was ordered to replace my current phone. I called on October 13 only to be told I can’t verify the order due to not being the account holder. I ask why they called me instead of the account holder. Turns out my brother called on October 12 to clear things up and is told that the phone will still be received 7-14 days from order date. My brother is not happy and voices his displeasure, but would rather not wait in line at a local Apple or AT&T store.

October 17 – After not hearing anything for a few days and having trouble verifying the order online (even with an order number, a shipping number and confirmation email) my brother calls AT&T to get an update, at which point he’s notified delivery will be between 21 to 28 days from the order date. AT&T has no record of the original order noting delivery around October 14. Offers to send them the email we received are rebuked. Specifically, they say it doesn’t matter now. Like hell it doesn’t! An attempt to cancel our order is also rebuked due to having already accepting the Terms and Conditions. Somehow AT&T is allowed to change the terms of the order, but we can’t. Seems a little one sided to me. I’m sure if we asked them to review the recorded phone conversations we would also be rebuked. Either that or they’ll say the recordings were cancelled, uh, I mean lost.

So, I think AT&T is pretty much telling us to go screw ourselves. What kind of crap customer service is this?!?! I haven’t read anything online about this happening to anyone else, but would welcome getting some feedback from customers that are getting the same runaround. Customers shouldn’t be treated this way. I think this has another Better Business Bureau (BBB) complaint written all over it. It seemed to help the last time I submitted a complaint.

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Status Update

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It’s been a little over a week now since the iPhone went on sale for pre-orders. This past Friday the iPhone was official made available to all those brave souls willing to wait no line at an Apple Store or other retail store lucky enough to be able to sell the iPhone 4S. Following the pre-order of the iPhone 4S on October 7 I wrote about the potential for it to be delivered on October 14th, as noted in the confirmation email my brother received. From what I understand, there are people out there playing with their new iPhone 4S’. I’m not one of them.

On Saturday, the day after the pre-order was confirmed, my brother received an email notification that our order through AT&T had been cancelled… for no apparent reason! A phone call to AT&T later we were able to re-pre-order (pretty sure that’s not a real word) the iPhone 4S. The AT&T representative noted we would still receive the iPhone as scheduled. Yeah, right! I remember thinking I’ll believe it when I see it, especially reading online how the wait went from receipt on October 14 to delivery in 1-2 weeks.

On Thursday, one day before the original delivery date, I received a voice mail from AT&T Fraud Department noting an order had been placed to replace my phone. My current phone was right next to me when I received the voice-mail, so I’m under the impression they never actually called, but left a voice-mail. This reeked at the time of a tool to extend the delivery date by AT&T, but have no proof other than the fact that I have yet to receive the phone. When I finally got a hold of AT&T on Friday they wouldn’t let me verify the order as I’m on a family plan and am not the account holder. My question is, why did they call me and not the account holder?!?! My brother made the phone call to ensure everything was straightened out, but not before I got pretty peeved at AT&T at their actions through this whole process. It’s now Sunday and we have yet to receive notice that the phone is being delivered. When I go online to check the status of the order the AT&T system doesn’t even recognize the order number. Instead I get this message:

OS001: We apologize for the inconvenience. We cannot complete your request at this time. Please wait at least 24 hrs from placing your order, before checking the status of your order online. If the problem persists, please call us at 1-888-333-6651 for further assistance. NOTE: An email may have been sent to your email address on file. Please check your email which may have additional information about your order.

This whole process is a joke and, as a result, so is AT&T. But that’s nothing unusual, they have the same hiccups (to say the least) every time the iPhone goes on sale. If I get back to California on Friday, October 22 and the phone has not yet been delivered my service will be changed to Verizon or Sprint. I’ll accept a limited data plan over the unlimited plan if I have to. To say the least, my brother, who is waiting (im)patiently for the phone to arrive, is even more aggravated at this process than I am. Even if it arrived already, I still wouldn’t be able to use it until I return to California.

iPhone 4S Pre-Order Confirmed

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It’s been over 3 years since I bought the iPhone 3G, which I’m still begrudgingly using today. For a gadget junky like me the current iPhone has outlived it’s usefulness. So there was no doubt I’d try to get my pre-order in as early as possible. My brother, who is in the same boat with his iPhone 3G, and being a night owl, attempted to get the order in just after midnight when the phone was made available. After an hour and a half of not being able to get through to the AT&T service, he decided to call it a day. Not knowing the outcome when I woke up at 5:30, I was left waiting until he woke up to find out. It wasn’t until 9:30 this morning that I finally got an email with the confirmation, which noted a delivery date of October 14th, with an * next to it. I’m thinking it will be another week or two after before I get the phone delivered.

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I decided to go with the 64 GB option for multiple reasons. First, the phone takes HD video, which will take a lot of space on the phone between syncs with my computer. And second, I’m hoping the 64 GB will not sell out as easily due to the price, which might result in an earlier than expected delivery.

One side note to add, it seems I’ll be able to keep the unlimited data plan, which is a nice bonus even though I don’t usually hit the 2 GB limit on the current available plan, but an extra $5 is worth it in the event I want to listen to Pandora for an extended period of time. Can’t wait!

Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC) – 5 Years Later

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It amazes me to think it’s been almost 5 years since I wrote a 3 part series of Apples (Mac) vs. Oranges (PC). It was in July 2006 that I finally ended the debate and bought my current Macbook Pro with a 15″ screen.

Well, it pains me to say towards the end of March I started having trouble with the computer. That’s probably an understatement, it just didn’t work. It all started with an innocent iTunes update and resulted in a trip to the Genius Bar at the local Santa Monica Apple Store. That’s where I was told the hard drive had broken down and it needed to be replaced. At that point I had a few options:

  1. Replace the hard drive at the Apple Store for approximately $150, which would have increases the hard drive to 150 GB.
  2. Replace the hard drive at MacMall for approximately $240, which would have increases the hard drive to 500 GB.
  3. Buy a new MacBook Pro!

You can probably imagine I preferred the third option, but at over $2,000, I couldn’t yet rationalize a new computer. So instead, I chose option #4, replace the hard drive myself at a cost of approximately $120, increasing the size of the hard drive to 500 GB.

This turned out to be easier than I would have expected. I bought a Seagate Momentus 500 GB 7200 RPM hard drive at Best Buy. Then, I bought a mini tool set at Radio Shack. And, with a little help from ifixit.com – a great source for step-by-step technology repair manuals – I was able to install the new hard drive. A fresh install of Mac OS/X Snow Leopard, a Time Machine restore, and things were good to go. There were a few hiccups along the way when restoring from backup, but overall they were minor.  And now my Macbook Pro is running like new. Who would have thought I would not only own a computer for 5 years without replacing it, but not even need to as it’s running as smooth as can be. Something I can’t say for previous Windows based computers I’ve owned. And with the iPad acting as a great secondary computer, I wonder how long it will be before I decide to actually buy a new computer.

Review: Apple iPad

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There are always reviews online after a new product comes out, but rarely do I read reviews from people that have used a product for a long time, to the point it makes its way into their daily life. That’s where this review comes in. It’s been about 9 months since I bought the Apple iPad, figured it might be time to write a quick review on what I think of the gadget. To start, I bought the 32 GB iPad with WiFi and 3G.

The primary reason for buying the iPad, outside of my love of gadgets, was to bring it with me when traveling. I spent a good amount time during the the past couple of years traveling for business, with a bulk of the travel coming during the spring. On top of that, my business travel tends to be for 2 weeks at a time. During previous business travels I would bring my personal computer with me, an Apple MacBook Pro (15″). This allowed me to take care of personal tasks on the MacBook after work and during the weekends, while leaving the work computer as strictly that, a work computer. However, this got to be heavy, literally. Having to carry 2 computers with me at all times isn’t fun when walking around the airport.

This takes me to my first comment regarding the iPad. Whether your going to the couch, office, local coffee shot, or another city, it travels light and easy. It doesn’t take up too much space in a computer bag and doesn’t add too much weight. Most of the time they don’t even ask you to take it out of your carry-on when going through security. The one location I wouldn’t recommend bringing it to is the beach or pool… or anywhere the sun is shining. First, the screen is practically unviewable if you’re wearing sunglasses. And if you’re not wearing sunglasses, the sun will cause a glare on the screen making it unviewable. Google has made this one of their primary marketing tools for the Kindle in attacking the Apple iPad. This doesn’t seem to make sense since the Kindle is sort of a one trick pony and, well, the iPad isn’t. But hey, if it works for Google, I can’t blame them. They’re not lying in the ad whatsoever.

Hand in hand with the iPad being a good travel companion is the great battery life. When traveling, most computers don’t come with the kind of battery life to last from the time you leave the house to when you arrive at your next destination. Even worse, sometime I would use the iPhone to listen to music, read the news at the airport, and play games on the plane only to realize the battery was done by the time I arrived. If I was meeting someone at the airport I was gong to be in a bind. Bringing an iPad when traveling gets rid of all those worries. Even better, it’s easier to read the news (or a book) than the iPhone, plays the same music that I have on the iPhone, allows me to play games on the plane, and I can watch movies on it. On top of all that, even on the longest of travel days, the battery hasn’t come close to running out.

On the downside, if you’re buying the iPad expecting it to act as your primary computer, you’ll be greatly disappointed. I see it as a great compliment to a primary computer. Just like the iPhone, the iPad works in conjunction with iTunes to sync music, movies, apps, contact lists, calendars, etc. Although I haven’t tried, I’m sure you can make use of the iPad without syncing with a primary computer, but that just doesn’t seem to make sense for many reasons I don’t think it’s worth getting into. Outside of that, it does just about everything you want from a second computer. There are apps for just about everything you would want to do, whether it’s playing games or taking care of business. The one app I wish existed for the iPad is similar to one I wish existed (at least better) for the Mac OS, and that’s Quicken. I know, Quicken has an application for Mac, but it’s not up to par with what I need… and that’s a review for another day.

One of the many complaints people had a long time ago when the first iPhone went on sale and then when the iPad went on sale, is typing on a screen. It seems most people have gotten over this complaint. Actually, I recently got a Blackberry for work and found the keyboard to be annoying. I still type faster on the iPhone than I do on the Blackberry. However, I still prefer the full keyboard of a computer. I’d put typing on the iPad somewhere between that of the iPhone and a computer. I’m still not comfortable writing longer emails or blog posts on the iPad. Actually, I’m writing this review on my computer, not the iPad. This might have something to do with patience or wasted time. If I can write this review in an hour on a computer, it would probably take twice that on an iPad. I don’t want to even think about how long it would take on an iPhone. I mean, this post is coming up on 900 words right now, that’s a lot to ask for on a smaller keyboard.

So is the iPad for everyone? Probably not. Am I glad I bought it? Yes! For reasons noted above, instead of having a hot computer on my lap when surfing on the coach, I have the iPad. I travel with it pretty much everywhere except the bar. Writing mid-size emails and blog posts is relatively easy. And the battery life is great. So there you have it. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments or ask me questions that I may not have brought up in the review. Enjoy!

5 Years of Poulios.com

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It was 5 years ago today that poulios.com went live.  Blog stats were installed on the blog in December, 2007.  Here are some stats for your reading pleasure:

  • I’ve posted 306 blog posts since November 2, 2005, some of them long, some of them short, most of the irrelevant variety.
  • There were 397 comments posted to the blog since November 2, 2005.
  • There were 7,829 page views by people other than myself.
  • There were 90 page views on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, the businest day for the blog. This was in large part due to a new way of posting photo galleries on the blog, which counts each photo click as a single page view… the way it should be. The previous way of posting photo galleries only counted the first time the Photos page was clicked. Prior to October 26, there were 76 page views on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, which is now the 2nd busiest day for the blog.
  • There were 370 page views during February, 2009, the busiest month for the blog.
  • There were 2,831 page views during 2008, the busiest year for the blog.
  • With 50 page views, Chase Bank and Unemployment is the most viewed post. This does not include the generic pages of Home, About Me, Photos, NY Sports (news links), and Contact.

And I still have no idea what I’m doing!

The plan is to start making some changes to the blog during the next few months. I’m going to change all the photo galleries to use the new format, which happens to be the built-in WordPress functionality implemented with the latest version of WordPress. I’m going to make some changes to the page links at the top to show “Quick Hits” (Twitter) and “Checkin’ in” (FourSquare). And maybe I’ll even implement a new theme to the blog, we’ll see. Any ideas to improve the blog are welcome. The only thing a can’t promise are more blog posts, not unless you want to pay me to do this for a living. :-)

Back online with Directv!

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After almost 7 weeks of not having DirecTV we’re back online, which was just in time for the Jets to take on and beat the rival Patriots.  The last 7 weeks went surprisingly quick and I didn’t miss having DirecTV too much, especially with the Netflix subscription and ability to connect my computer to the TV to watch shows via Hulu.   We had originally pushed back the restart date to November, but knew all along we would probably start back up when CBS season premiers started, which is scheduled for tomorrow.   Some of my favorite shows are on CBS, including NCIS, Two and a Half Men, and Criminal Minds.  Paying for them on iTunes just didn’t seem to make much sense @ $.99 per episode.  Too bad CBS doesn’t allow their shows to be viewed on Hulu, or their own website, which is disappointing.  Otherwise, we probably would have stayed the course.