Why I !♥ AT&T, and by extension Apple…
By keeper | August 23, 2008
My Glofiish (yes, that’s the correct spelling that ETen choose to call their new phones) X500 went into retirement early and I had to get my hands on a new phone pronto. As iPhone is all the rage these days, I naturally drove down to my local Apple store, thinking I could get my hands on a the 3G. Though I am aware of its many deficiencies, such as the contractually crippled GPS, capped 3G connection speed, deliberately castrated bluetooth, and poor battery life, I was still hopeful. Until I was told by the coolest geeky-looking apple guy that I am ineligible for the subsidized iphone for $199, since I am already a AT&T customer, which I already expect. But what really sets me off is that even if I spend $325 more for the unsubsidized iphone, which I was fully prepared to pay for, that the phone will still be locked to the AT&T network.
AT&T Sucks
So why the fuck should AT&T have any say over a piece of technology which I purchased and own fully? It is the same perverse indistrual logic which tries to tied the operating system (Windows) with PCs. The goal is to hope that customers will be blindsighted by the glorious iPhone and dumb enough not to consider the total cost of ownership, which forces customer loyalty, and pedding up the bottomline and long-term financial guidance. Good for the company, and bad for everyone else.
People would argue that they are getting the wonderful tech toy that has “twice the speed at half the price”, and locking phone is a industrial norm. Looking at most of Europe and Asia, where customers fully own their phone and are capable of switch their carriers without the intimidation of contracts, cancellation fees, and cost of purchasing new equipment, our cellphone system sucks. The only way for phone makers to distribute their product is through phone companies, which decouples the competitive attention with the need of the consumer. It is such perverse system which stop technology advancement, and kept the real price of owning a cellphone surprisingly high in this country.
Therefore my main beef is with AT&T, but also shame on Apple, since they wasted their unique position of having a product that basically markets itself.
Rock on, the iPhone dev team!!!
Update: PwnageTool 2.0.3 Released!
Topics: General Rant, Technology | No Comments »
Eyeing Nikon Coolpix S60
By keeper | August 14, 2008
Canon SD750
Don’t get me wrong, I love my Canon SD750. It’s all I could ask for in a camera. Slim, compact, elegant, user friendly, and most of all, takes great pictures. In fact, all the photos you seem on the site so far are taken by my 2nd SD750, first of which I lost during a trip to SF.
Still, I keep my eyes open on the latest DC offerings, for 3 wish-list features. I call them wish-list features because while the technology is available in digital SLRs, it is a stretch to wish for them to be found on an ultra-compact point-n-shoot.
- Image Stabilization (IS): Well, this one isn’t really an wish-list item. Most decent DC these days come with it. I only realized that my trusty SD750 doesn’t have this feature after reading an article about another camera. “Hey, where is the selection to turn IS on/off in the menu?”
- Manual Focus: When you are taking those macro shoots or artistic portrait shoots, you would wish you ultra-compact can focus manually like the big boys. Sure, with enough patience and luck, you will eventually get a picture that look half decent, but there is no substitute for the real thing.
- More Zoom: This one is pretty much self explanatory. Most point-n-shoot maxed out at 3x, due to the compact design. Ultra-zooms on the other handis too big to haul around without interfering quality of travelling.
Nikon Coolpix S60
Few days ago I spotted the announcement on Nikon Coolpix S65, and thought to myself this might just be my next camera. I won’t bore you with the specs, but this particular feature grabbed my attention:
3.5″ touchscreen LCD display with 230,000 pixels
When it comes to LCD, size does matter. Touchscreen, even better. But what I really like is the New Touch Autofocus and Auto Exposure feature, which claims to:
lets you touch the subject on the 3.5” screen that you want to focus on and the camera automatically sets the focus, exposure and tracks the subject ensuring sharp focus and optimal exposure.
This would be a wonderful feature , if implemented correctly, to allow user friendly manual focus in a ultra-compact body. Since the product is not on the market yet and there is no review, holding my breath on this one.
Of course, there are other wonderful feature such as 5x zoom, Optical image stabilization, ISO 3200, and Smile Shutter and Blink Warning, but they are just icing on the cake. Oh, did I mention it comes in 6 chic-sounding colors?
Topics: Photography, Technology | No Comments »
What we eat…
By keeper | August 13, 2008
It was one of those rare days that the company cafeteria actually served up some decent food. I lunched on a tasty serving of prosciutto wrapped in Chilean sea bass, with hearty side of tomato, eggplant, and asparagus. Surely, some of you may congratulate me in eating a healthy and balanced meal while other accused me from consuming an endangered spicy or support petro-chemical based farming. But what really filled my mind was the amazement of how all these different animal and plant spices had came together from different corner of the world to be eaten by me, the Ultimate Omnivore.
It would only be respectful to such savoring meal to learn about where each of the ingredients come from. And of course, chewing it over slowly and enjoy.
Topics: Food | No Comments »
Long Island Wine Trail
By keeper | June 22, 2008
The wineries of Long Island are scatter across the north fork and south fork at the eastern end of the island. We choose the Harbor Inn at the lovely town of Greenport as the base of operation.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Topics: Photography, Travel | No Comments »
Belmar Seafood Festival
By keeper | May 25, 2008
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Topics: Food, Photography | No Comments »
BBG - Sakura Matsuri
By keeper | May 3, 2008
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Topics: Photography, Travel | No Comments »