oneof.us

So recently the interwebs told me that AT&T will be releasing a tethering plan for the iPhone, and it will cost an additional $30/month to do so, and it will have a 5GB/month bandwidth cap.  Really? Is that really necessary?  Currently, my monthly bill is about $175 for two lines with unlimited data, and unlimited text. Just those two services combined is an additional $45/month.  Now, if I want to tether my iPhone to my laptop, I have to pay $30 more?  Why am I paying for unlimited data if I can’t get unlimited data all the time?

This reminds me of a breakdown I saw a while back between text message costs vs data transfer costs.   Most phone companies charge $0.15 per text message (if you’re not on a text message plan).  A typical text message may be up to 1KB in size, so, it’s about $0.15/KB. Alright, now for data plans. Most data plans charge $0.002/KB on capped plans (read unlimited data plans).  My question is, why on earth are text messages worth more than regular data, such as email, or web pages?  Answer: Probably greed.  Which leads me to believe that this tethering fiasco is just another grab for money on AT&T’s part.  I’m already paying for unlimited email and web browsing on my phone, plus additional cashola to get unlimited text messages. Now they expect me to pay $30 for a tethering plan, and cap it at 5GB/month?  How about this: I jailbrake my phone, install a free tethering app, and pay you nothing more. Sound good? Great! Done!

So I’ve been getting some inquiries lately as to what I *do* all day long, because to most people, it looks like I just sit at my computer with two windows open; email and Facebook.

Now, while this is *partly* true (I do sit at a computer all day, it’s my job), I *don’t* just sit there to reply to emails or post on Facebook. Surprise!

"But, how do you reply to messages so fast?" You might say to yourself, just after you say something like "Carl, you’re so awesome, and it’s quantifiable through many fields of science and mathematics."  Well, first off, thanks for the compliment, I appreciate it ;), and secondly

(continue reading…)

If you want the user to only select one option, use a radio button, not checkboxes… Oi! So, of course, I checked all the boxes at once, just to see what would happen… And it basically checks-off the top-most selection for you when you submit the form… I guess I can cut this web designer some slack, because it’s not like radio buttons have been around since the HTML 2.0 standard circa 1995 (yes, I had to look it up, big deal, wanna fight about it?)… Oh wait, they have been! So why are you using checkboxes?!

vs

/nerd_rant_quit

So it’s after 3am, and the urge to post to my blog was palatable. In fact, it kind of tasted like chicken, as a lot of my urges tend to.  Alright, now that I’m here, and already rambling, what do I write about? How about a mish-mash of random thoughts? "Sure, I’d love to read about random crap that doesn’t pertain to me" is what you’re supposed to say right about…. now!

(continue reading…)

(I know, this is a few days old, wanna fight about it?)

So, the word of the year, according to Merriam Webster, is "w00t"???  Really? Now I’m a frequent user of the word "w00t", although I rarely spell it with zeros, and I’m a daily visitor to the site, http://woot.com, but, the word doesn’t seem to have a whole lot of academic legitimacy, but I suppose that is probably not the criteria for a word to be inducted as the "word of the year".

I read somewhere that "woot" actually is the shortened version of "Wow, loot!" It is/was a frequently uttered phrase for pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons aficionados.  I, on the other hand, use it for more of an understood, lame replacement for another, lame exclamation, "yippee!"  I typically use it in a very monotone voice to enhance the sarcasm behind uttering such a ridiculous phrase.

Over the past few years, online terms/phrases have become the word of the year, "blog" and "podcast" come to mind, and somehow, I see those two as being much more useful and legitimate. They describe meaningful terms that will be used often and by a majority of the populous that use the interwebs. But "w00t", as an interjection, seems like it will remain within the nerd society (to which I’m a card-carrying member).

If MW declared "w00t" as the word of the year, strictly to gain more buzz, well, they’ve succeeded, because not only am I writing about it, but it seems like every other site I’ve read in the past few days has had something to say about it… So, way to go MW, "w00t!"

Aw, I hope they are together until their games be over…

[via digg]

Twenty-four tunes for
Two-hundred twenty G’s; ouch
RIAA wins

[via gizmodo]

What can I say about the RIAA that hasn’t already been said?
They’re rude, they’re crude, with a mean attitude, and their appetite cannot be fed.
The latest round of courtroom battles has only just begun.
They make blanket statements, with false accusations–a typical administration.
Suing a mother of two, for downloading tunes and charging her a mint is a crime.
$17,000 per song, each a few minutes long–I’m glad that bedfellow is not mine.

Microsoft is embedding itself in future Ford vehicles and calling this tech, "Sync". What Sync does is enable drivers to integrate their bluetooth phone, and media players (iPods, Zunes, etc) with their car through standard interface.

The interesting thing that Autoblog points out, is that there is no Microsoft branding on any of the menus or screens–a change of pace from typical Microsoft products. Not that it’s a huge deal, it’s just different, and I suppose worth noting.

Also, the system allows for speech recognition. As the video below demonstrates, you can tell Sync the artist, song, album, or playlist to play, and it will jump right to it.  No need to fumble through other menus, or look down at your mp3 player, etc… Nice!

Anyway, check out the rest of the article here, and take a gander at the video below.  I’d hope that this tech would be incorporated into other vehicles/manufacturers, but you can almost be sure that if it becomes popular, it will be come exclusive to Ford–’cause they need the financial bump right about now.