Get Over It!

I completely understand that my parents, the generation below them, and even some of my generation, are intimidated by computers and modern technology, but I have one thing to say to all of you, GET OVER IT!!!!  I truly understand how these things can be intimidating, really, I do, but when they can help you out and make your life easier and make you more money, USE THEM!!!!  Stop being so scared!  Who cares if people think you’re ‘dumb’ because you ask them how to copy and paste?  I can’t imagine life without it!  I’m not saying use it to ‘be cool.’ Use it because it will make your life easier!!

I can go on forever about this topic, and maybe I will, but at another time.  Right now I just had to let out some steam.

The G912 is in the building….

After waiting several weeks for its arrival, my Gigabyte 912M finally arrived today.  The G912 is in the building!!!  I’m kind of a newbie to world of UMPC’s, but once I uncovered them, it was like a little boy realizing that girls aren’t gross.  I thought about them, I read about them, I played with…let’s not go there.

I jumped from a newbie to novice in no time, and before I knew it, I was holding my Sony VGN UX180P.  The Sony has been nothing but a delight but I knew that the G912 would take it to the next level, and it did.

The size, touchscreen, performance and sleekness of this beauty is nothing but….I feel pretty, oh so pretty!  What a piece of machinery!!  Granted I’ve only had it for less than 24 hours, my only issue with it, and just about every other UMPC, is that Apple has yet to come out with one, thus leaving me stuck with the OS I’ve learned to hate, Windows.  It is running XP, the lesser of the evils, but I can only dream of a day when I open up my UMPC and it’s a bird, it’s a plane, no, it’s OS X…….(sorry about the ‘flash in your face’ pictures..enjoy..)

Too much flash but you shouldn

It’s been a while

It’s been a while since my last post, but I’m ok with that.  I struggled with it for a while, putting unnecessary pressure on myself, even thought about starting a new blog, but no thanks!  I’ll stick around here for a while.

When I started this blog, I was reading article after article on how to be a ’successful blogger.’  Write at least two posts a day, concentrate on a specific niche, etc.  Those are all great tips, but I’ve realized that my definition of success is a bit different than the one being described.

My success comes from being happy.  There’s nothing really to elaborate on.  When I’m smiling, feeling good, growing, evolving, learning, creating, manifesting, and doing what I want to do, that’s when I’ve become successful.  So am I successful?  Yes, but I want more!  I’ve evolved to new levels of consciousness and well being, yet I still want more.  The realization that I’ll never stop growing, learning, and expanding has finally sunk in.  I used to be in a rush to finish everything, whether it was a small project at work, or life in general.  I wasn’t going to be happy until my entire life was in place – financial, emotionial, spiritual, relational and physical.  All of a sudden, WOW!  It hit me like a brick wall!

One of the most important things that I’ve learned is that what works for me, might not work for you.  We are all the same, yet all different.  I’ve been listening and reading, self growth books/cd’s for years, but with limited results.  The authors of these books/cd’s/mp3’s, couldn’t have been more on point.  I can’t say enough about Dr. Wayne Dyer, Jerry and Esther Hicks and Louis Hay.  Their knowledge and positivity has always helped me when I was in a dark place, and I recommend them all, but the one that hit me was James Arthur Ray.

I’m not here to preach, and I don’t get any commission from any of his sales, but I am saying loud and clear, check him out.  I had tickets to one of his events at the beginning of the year, but I passed up on the opportunity, as I obviously wasn’t ready.  I even watched his movie and fell asleep!  Again, I wasn’t ready.  When I was ready, he rocked my world!  He has taken all of the information that I’ve been taking in for the past couple of years, including the now famous, The Secret, and taken it all a step further.  He explains how the Law of Attraction and all of the other Laws of the Universe can be applied to your everyday life.

I guess what hit me the most was his scientific explanation of energy, and all of these laws.  I needed to hear and see, why the law of attraction works.   Let me tell you, I get it!  I did just say that I’m not here to preach, so I won’t.

I’m glad to be back.   I’m glad to be here.  I’m glad to be constantly creating, manifesting and evolving.  I’m glad you took the time to read this.  Thank you.

Always Love.

‘Too Cool’ for the iPhone 3G

When the iPhone first came out,  I was a hater.  Why?  Probably because I didn’t have the money to get one.  As soon as the phone hit my hand, I was in love.  I eventually manifested one and became an iPhone addict, AND I HAVE NO SHAME IN SAYING SO!!!  I don’t ‘hate’ on other phones either, I just love my iPhone.

With the release of the new iPhone 3G on Friday, those same people who couldn’t wait to get their hands on the first one, all of a sudden seem a bit ‘too cool’ for the new one.  Now that the price has been lowered, more people can have one, and the ‘coolness war’ begins!

I just quit Facebook because I felt like I was back in high school and the oh so fun popularity contests that came with it.  Actually, someone told me that you can’t ‘quit’ Facebook because they keep your profile posted.  I refuse to go back and check, but if it is still there, Facebook……(fill in the blank).

BACK TO THE iPhone and the new ‘coolness war’….I passed by an AT&T store on my way home from work yesterday, and I asked if they had any left.  “Are you serious son?  ‘Dem tings wuz gone like 7 hours ago.”  All of a sudden, you became ‘da bomb’ if you worked at AT&T!  You’re not cool if you have an iPhone 3G, if you know someone that has one, used your friends the first day it came out, jailbroke or unlocked your original one, and you’re not cool if you don’t have one either!  The ‘coolness war’ has got to come to an end!

Things have gotten out of control.  Everyone needs to chill out.  Technology is moving faster than time itself, so the new, new iPhone will be here before you sync your 3G!  Double thumbs up to Apple and AT&T for being prepared yesterday.  What the …..??  You’re smart enough to send phones on 3 different days, keep them locked down so nothing leaked before 8AM Friday morning, but when they hit the public, disaster!  Ok, ok, back on track….3G iPhone owners enjoy, ‘old skool’ iPhone owners enjoy, Blackberry owners enjoy, everybody enjoy!  I’m not here trying to save the world, or create world peace, I’m just saying chill out, enjoy, and ALWAYS LOVE…..and if you think you’re ‘too cool’ for this article, or the iPhone 3G, think again, cause your not…….no, for real, I’m serious, you’re not, you’re just not.

Foam Soap

I understand that people will always prejudge you based on your looks. Prejudice is a very serious subject, and on that note, way too serious for today’s post.  My experience with prejudice usually comes from my tattoos.  My arms are visibly covered, along with a small piece on my hand and my neck.  Most of the time people assume that I’m a tough guy of some sort, which couldn’t be further from the truth, but it adds to the fun of this story.

When FedEx delivered my package at work today, curiosity kicked in and naturally, everybody wanted to know what was inside.  When I pulled out 6 different bottles of foam soap from Bath & Body Works, it’s safe to say that it wasn’t exactly what people expected.  There were smiles all around, and a couple of good laughs echoing from my excitement over foam soap!

Short and sweet, these soaps are unbelievable.  The foam, the scent, WOW!  I’m single, which means that I don’t get the beautiful scent of a woman around my apartment, in my car, on my clothes…you get the point.  Instead, I have Cherry Blossom, Sparkling Peach, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Pink Grapefruit, Warm Vanilla Sugar and Black Rasberry Vanilla anti-bacterial foaming soaps to fill the void.  Far from a woman, but it’ll do the trick for now!

(My bad on the pic, taken from my iPhone)

Am I a….computer geek?

I remember when being called a ‘computer geek’ was an insult.  ‘The Revenge of the Nerds’ is the first thing that comes to mind, but hey, that was a long time ago.  As like everything else in life, things change, but how much?  What’s the first image that comes to your mind when someone mentions the IT guy in your office?  The bottom line is this, I WISH I was a computer geek!

IT jobs are not only at an all time high (no, I’m not going to back that up with any statistics), plus, those jobs pay good money!  Too bad I don’t know SQL, PHP, JAVA, C++, or any of the other languages and programs that fill up the computer universe.  I can learn them, but that doesn’t seem to tickle me silly, if you know what I mean.  (to be fair, I haven’t given any of them a fair shot)

I find myself in between the average computer user and the ‘computer geek.’  To my parents, who completely lost out on the internet, and everything that it has to offer ( a subject that I will definitely being addressing at a later date).  They can send emails, and do a little bit of browsing, but that’s it.  (I spent 30-45 minutes teaching my father to copy and paste!)  On the other side of the spectrum are programmers, database developers, network administrators, and every other job title that I don’t fit under.

I’m very computer savvy.  I LOVE ’surfing’ the net and finding new ‘beta’ apps.  By the way, can I still say ’surfing or has that changed to ‘browsing?’  (rhetorical question)  Yes, the word ‘beta’ gets me excited!  I love technology and everything that comes along with it.  I think it’s such a shame that this unbelievable resource, the internet, isn’t being utilized enough!  You can get the answer to anything in .022 seconds in a Google search, anything!!!  Not to mention the best part about it, it’s free!!  No, a computer and internet connection are not, but when was the last time you paid for anything Google related?  A multi billion dollar company that doesn’t charge for 90% of their services!  You can setup an office (Google Documents), create a website (Google Sites), upload photos (Picasa), write a blog (Blogger, or WordPress of course)….you get the point.

Does this excitement and knowledge make me a ‘computer geek’ as I’ve been called?  I hope so!

My Facebook Career is Over

The time has come.  I can lie and say it’s been emotional, and that I’m going to miss it, but it hasn’t, and I won’t.  I started to use Facebook when a friend of mine told me that it was going to be the next ‘big thing.’  He was right.  The Facebook Revolution has taken over, and believe it or not, Ive heard rumors floating around that it has jumped the shark!  Either way, I will no longer be effected, as I have officially hung up my skates.  I am walking into the sunset with no regrets, well, maybe I hung on for a bit too long, way too long.

From my first experience with Facebook, I knew it wasn’t for me.  I had grown accustomed to MySpace, but it was time for a change, so I figured Facebook was the answer.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I never was comfortable with Facebook, but I figured it would just take time.  Wrong again, it never happened.  Facebook turned into a social nightmare.  Granted this is coming from someone who wrote about feeling alone during a social network revolution, but hear me out.

John Smith has requested to be friends with you.  Wow, John Smith!  I haven’t seen him since high school!  Oh man, that’s been like 15 years ago!  I wonder what he’s been doing, wait a second, do I care what he’s doing?  C’mon, grow up, this isn’t high school.  People have changed.  It’s not the popularity contest that it used to be, wait a second, it is!

99% of the people that I have becomes ‘friends’ with, have not said a word after we have become ‘friends.’  I don’t understand this.  Somebody please help me out!!! (I’m being rhetorical, no need for real answers.)  So I got a request from a kid that I went to college with, blah, blah, blah.  I become ‘friends’ with him, go to see what he looks like, and there’s a picture of his kid!!  Be proud all you want, but at least be in the picture with your kid, not as if that doesn’t erk me too!  A day later, I get a request from his wife, yes, her picture was their kid too.  Wait, here’s something new, someones wedding picture, how sweet?  Who cares!  Show it to people who care, but obviously there weren’t enough people who did, so now you have to share it with people who don’t care!  Here’s an idea, get help!!!  Get into therapy today!!!!  Enough of the high school popularity contest, ENOUGH, ENOUGH, ENOUGH!!!

It is truly a shame.  Facebook, and any other social network, can be a wonderful opportunity and platform to use.  Unfortunately in my case, it ended up being nothing more than high school revisited, and I liked high school!  Well, ok, it was just alright.  Regardless, it’s time to move on people, and that includes myself.

Are you sure you want to deactivate your account?  Yes, I am.

Another random cool App

I find it impossible to keep up with all of the new applications I find, none the less, the applications that are made to organize all of those applications.  I use Evernote, Google Notebook, and Dropbox, to name a few.  They’re all awesome, yet while I was writing this, I came across another one, Clipmarks! (my emphasis with the exclamation mark)  My information is never in one central location, which of course is one of the main objectives of these applications, but I still use them all and will use any other one that comes my way.

I’ve decided that I’m not going to get into the details of all of these apps/plug-ins/extensions/whatever you want to call them, as there are a million blogs and sites that already do that for you.  Yet after saying that, I’ll explain a little about the new app I found today, Cooliris Previews.

Cooliris Previews makes browsing, which used to be called surfing (just threw that in for my own humor), the web a lot easier.  It gives you a preview of any link before clicking on it and going off into a lost world on the internet, which I call ‘information overload,’ and will discuss at another time.  It takes these previews, yes, plural, previews, and keeps them on the side, so you can continue to check out what you originally started to, and doing so in a neat, organized and accessible manner.  I just found it, so I haven’t used it extensively enough to give it a ‘thumbs up,’ or four stars, but I can say it looks pretty cool.  If it works as good as its ’sister’ application, Piclens, it’s going to be top notch.

Alone during a social network revolution

Social networking has never been as rampant as it is today.  Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, FriendFeed, Youtube, Flickr, Digg, del.icio.us, Stumbleupon, Ponce, WordPress, Blogger, are just to name a few.  The list is endless, which is why there are sites like FriendFeed, a social network that combines your social networks.  And to take it a step further, there’s Flock, ‘The Social Networking Browser.’

Social networking has taken over society.  Scratch that, social networking is society.  If you’re not part of any of these networks, you’re in the minority, and odds are that you will be soon.  Social networking has gone above and beyond all expectations, soaring to higher levels everyday.  Visa, yes, the credit card company, has just signed a deal to advertise on Facebook, yes, the social network that was started for students at Harvard, then Ivy league schools, then Universities, then high schools, then the world!  Articles are being written on how Facebook, which is worth over a billion dollars, will influence the Presidential election.  Need I say more?

I’ve really gotten off track, but this movement, revolution, what ever you choose to call it, is absolutely fascinating to say the least.  What interests me even more, is the title of this blog.  During these times in which everybody is networking and connecting with each other, posting, blogging and ‘Twiting’ about what they are doing every second of the day, from the moment they wake up until the time they go to bed, how is it that I can feel so alone?

I’ve tried most of them, and obviously still do, as I’m writing this blog, yet I still haven’t come up with anything concrete.  I connect with high school and college friends just about everyday, but that’s not saying too much.  I get a friend request, confirm the request, and that’s it.  Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather not connect with most of my ‘friends’ that have found me on Facebook, but I’d like to develop true friendships/relationships with people that I can connect with, and to be fair, I haven’t been extremely active in finding and developing these relationships I envision.

I’m not writing this with any intentions of knocking social networking.  If anything, I’d like to tip my cap to all of the networks I’ve mentioned, and the ones I left out.  They have provided us with a platform, an opportunity and a resource that we never imagined we would have.  I’m not angry about this, nor jealous of people who have thousands of ‘friends.’  I’m not reaching for help, or looking for sympathy.  I’m just thinking out loud, and wondering how I can feel so alone, during a social network revolution.

Always Love

Sneakerholic

I have a serious sneaker addiction.  Right now, I have 10 pairs and I’m always looking for more.  I only wear Puma’s and Adidas, but I’m about to give Nike another shot.  When I was a kid, I always had problems with my Nikes.  I wore them anyway, blisters and all, but know, comfort is King, style is Queen.

My addiction, like all others, can get out of control.  I subscribe to a couple of sneaker RSS feeds, but I make sure not to look at them, because I know it’s just going to lead to trouble, which is why I’m writing this.  I opened up an email with a fresh pair of Adidas, which lead me to see what other colors they had, and who else had them, and how cheap I can get them, and…..here they are…..

Much love to all the sites that help feed my addiction – Karmaloop, SneakerFreaker, NikeSB.org, and KicksOnFire, and believe it or not, HSN.com, where I found them.  Yup, I said it, HSN.com