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Were you born an ass?

2 days ago on Jolla prices first Sailfish OS smartphone at €399 for a 2013 launch

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…annnd, we’re back to why U.S. carriers suck. They have way too much influence on market competition.

3 days ago on Jolla prices first Sailfish OS smartphone at €399 for a 2013 launch 2 replies

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I really wanted the N9 when it was released but then Nokia decided not to bring it to the USA. Next best thing, perhaps?

3 days ago on Jolla prices first Sailfish OS smartphone at €399 for a 2013 launch 2 replies

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Nifty. Now that shows me it isn’t an iPhone or an Android or a Blackberry. Some of us are not afraid of color.

10 days ago on Lumia 928: first impressions of Verizon's Nokia flagship (hands-on)

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Seems they could have used the same 920 design in a smaller package.

10 days ago on Lumia 928: first impressions of Verizon's Nokia flagship (hands-on)

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I credit Nokia with showing some interest in phone design beyond plain black slabs. For that reason I like the design of the 920 better. Too bad Verizon made the 928 look boring. Maybe I will take some interest when they give it some color.

10 days ago on Lumia 928: first impressions of Verizon's Nokia flagship (hands-on) 2 replies

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My other half does that and I have to stop and remind them that I am still talking. I may be trying to make a point or get clarification on something they have said. I can see that part of it is just their family dynamic. When the mother- “in-law” visits you can barely get a word in when she is talking. She doesn’t stop to take a breath and sometimes I do have to be rude and interrupt just to say something.

11 days ago on Love the Vergecast guys, but please...

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My other half does that and I have to stop and remind them that I am still talking. I may be trying to make a point or get clarification on something they have said. I can see that part of it is just their family dynamic. When the mother- “in-law” visits you can barely get a word in when she is talking. She doesn’t stop to take a breath and sometimes I do have to be rude and interrupt just to say something.

11 days ago on Love the Vergecast guys, but please...

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The mobile guys are definitely much better about allowing each other to complete a sentence. Maybe it’s simply because they are doing the broadcast by remote. When you get several people around a table there might be the natural inclination to interject something into the conversation as among friends. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work so well with the Vergecast. It is NOT the same thing as a conversation. It is one thing to be sitting in person at the table and understand what is being said by several people. It is a completely different experience trying to follow the conversation through headphones or speakers when people are talking at the same time. It’s jibberish.

The mobile show is also less of a yuckfest. They aren’t constantly trying to crack jokes and interrupt the flow of the show.

12 days ago on Love the Vergecast guys, but please... 1 recommend

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I fully expect my Blackberry (when I get the Q10) will last me a week. I don’t want to be charging a phone every day or every other day even if I haven’t used it.

12 days ago on Smartphones: the best battery life

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“And it raises the question of whether developers are shying away from a platform that is still struggling to catch on in North America.”

I hope some of them migrate to Blackberry 10. I am not an app person but Blackberry could sure use the boost. Maybe it’s the dark horse between them and Microsoft.

I really had been considering a new Nokia phone. I was anxious to have them back in the U.S. market but then they partnered with Microsoft and went exclusive to ATT. While waiting for a Nokia device (920 style) to get to Verizon I kept track of Windows Phone. I get the impression that support for older phone models is lacking, almost similar to the Android system. The OS updates are not backward compatible or offered by the carrier so you’re stuck with an orphaned phone. I understand there are limitations because of required tech specs but I am not one to be buying a new phone every two years. MS has already gone through 7, 7.5, 7.8 and 8.0 in just the last couple of years. Some phones were quickly outmoded.

Now that Verizon is finally getting a premium Nokia device, I not sure that I am still interested now.

12 days ago on Windows Phone hits 145,000 apps, but progress slows 1 recommend

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My reading comprehension must be off today because I didn’t read anything in the article that affiliated Familysearch with the LDS. It read to me as a separate competing online genealogy service to the LDS’s Ancestry.com that does charge a fee.

15 days ago on Who am I? Data and DNA answer one of life’s big questions 1 reply

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Same here. I may be curious about my heritage but not enough to promote LDS. A friend who has a membership was recently visiting and she took a couple of hours to look back into my family name. I only wanted to see when the family name came to the U.S. We got back to the Revolutionary War period and left it at that. I was surprised that my surname has long roots in the U.S.A.

15 days ago on Who am I? Data and DNA answer one of life’s big questions

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You have to be one of several minority groups to understand.

15 days ago on Who am I? Data and DNA answer one of life’s big questions

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“Today, an all-access membership to the service costs $359 a year — around $30 a month — for its over 2 million paying subscribers.”

That doesn’t sound free of charge. What am I missing here?

15 days ago on Who am I? Data and DNA answer one of life’s big questions 2 replies

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“Won’t my daily hand gestures skew the steps?”

I was also wondering about that. How does it detects steps as opposed to just moving your arm at your desk?

17 days ago on Fitbit Flex review

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Once was enough just to satisfy a curiosity maybe over a year ago. I was hungry. There was a Taco Bell. Haven’t been back since. We have really great Mexican restaurants where I live.

20 days ago on How the Doritos Loco Taco became the fast-food sensation of the decade

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never mind. all paul.

21 days ago on The Vergecast 076 - April 30th, 2013: the return of Paul Miller

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No topic list?

21 days ago on The Vergecast 076 - April 30th, 2013: the return of Paul Miller 1 reply

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If you are not into apps, not tied into an ecosystem or don’t use your phone for media consumption, then no. Just like me. I have been reviewing all the choices among smartphones for the last year and I likely won’t use 90% of their features. One brand will work for me just as well as any other but I have narrowed down the choices simply by what my carrier is limited to and there are some phones I definitely don’t want.

21 days ago on What am I missing by owning a Blackberry?

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From what I have read the Q10 does offer three word suggestions on the screen. You just tap the word you want to place in the sentence. It is possible that none of the three choices will be the word you want. The more you type the more it learns what common words you use.

23 days ago on BlackBerry Q10 review: revenge of the keyboard 2 replies

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My understanding of this device is that you don’t even need to pull the battery if your phone is dying. You just plug this in to keep the phone going without interrupting whatever it is you are doing.

24 days ago on BlackBerry Q10 review: revenge of the keyboard 1 reply 2 recommends

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“Here’s the thing . . . I’ll be willing to bet that a lot of people who buy this to “get things done” are going to end up carrying a second phone with a real screen.”

Not. Entertaining myself with a larger screen is not “getting things done”, it’s killing time. If I need a bigger screen I have a tablet. A second phone with a 4 inch screen? Psshaww!

24 days ago on BlackBerry Q10 review: revenge of the keyboard 1 reply 2 recommends

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Forgot. HUZZAH to your comment.

24 days ago on BlackBerry Q10 review: revenge of the keyboard 1 recommend

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Strange formatting of my bulleted items. Don’t have a clue how I got a strikethrough on the first word.

24 days ago on BlackBerry Q10 review: revenge of the keyboard 2 recommends

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Well, that’s three new words I have learned today.
- ineluctable
- syllogism
— chucklefuck (not in Merriam Webster’s but context in the sentence easily defined it for me)

In the year 2013 I am finally making the transition to a “smart” phone. I have no allegiance to any manufacturer or operating system. I have read heaps of reviews and Sean Valsean’s comment in on the mark with what I have been encountering. Reviewers consistently fail to remove their bias in telling me what phone I don’t want. The power of marketing further tells consumers what they DO want when in reality they really have no clue.

Apple tells me I want to entertain myself with my phone. Android tells me I want to be able to customize it to the n-th degree. Windows tells me to stay connected with social media.

I don’t give a rat’s ass about ANY of that. I just want my phone to be a phone. I want it to be of quality so that it won’t be failing or falling to pieces before my contract expires. Why then, you might ask, am I investing in a “smart” phone? The reality is that I am begrudgingly being pushed in that direction by the carriers. There are fewer and fewer options for plain “dumb” phones and they just appear to be the cheapest crap the carrier can spit out.

There is the rare occasion that I need to access the internet when I am away from my home computer but I have not been able to justify the added cost of data. It has worked well having my other half, who does have a “smart” phone, to find the information I need. Even they are being pressed to give up their grandfathered unlimited plan so we will be going to a shared plan.

I will be considering the Blackberry pending reviews of battery life from actual users of the Q10. I currently only have to charge my “dumb” phone every two weeks. It will be quite the change having to charge my phone more frequently than that. As infrequently as I use my phone I am hoping that the new Blackberries will get me close to a week. I have an old BB Tour that would last four days without use.

Only I know what my needs are in a phone and opinions to say otherwise are reliably overbearing and off-putting.

24 days ago on BlackBerry Q10 review: revenge of the keyboard 2 replies 3 recommends