Protective Cases For Phones, Laptops, etc.

I just has lunch with of my friends and one of our discussions was in regards to how scratched up his iPhone was and how both my gf’s iPhone (my 1st gen) and mine is in prestine condition.

I partly blame this on the Apple corporation. When you purchase an iPod, iPhone or even a laptop from them, they often ask if you would like to buy a case to protect your new toy. What they fail to tell the consumers is that they need to remove the case every few days or at least once a week to clean out the dirt, dust, lent, etc. Why? You ask? Because most, if not all cases are not a 100% dust proof, grime gets in through the edges and the button cut outs and often remain between your nice expensive toys and the case. Since the, lets say iPhone is not 100% fitted into the case (by 100% I mean a perfect fit where the phone does not have any “micro” movements) the Phone will rub against the little particles and the so called protective case. Over time this will create tiny scuffs on you phone!

My friend has had his phone for about a year now and it looks like crap. He has NEVER cleaned it out!

So my word of advise. Check the stuff that’s stuck inside your case and clean it out often!

Sorry for any typos. Typed this out on my iPhone.

I’m a Microsoft/PC Commercials Are Starting To Piss Me Off

They are kinda stealing the Mac’s “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” commercials. They are stupid….why? They have little children doing stupid shit on their PCs. I as a consumer am not going to buy a computer because a little kid was able to make a slideshow or print a panoramic picture of her room.

What made me blog this was the following commercial…a girl is looking for a sub $1000 17″ notebook. In the end she got an HP for $699.99+tax, roughly $750. I do have to agree with people that Apple products are on the pricier side. But they are well built machines that can last a long time and still be very dependable. Personally I have never had much trouble with my Windows machines, not even my Vista (but then again its 64-bit). All I’m saying is that you can give a mac to your grandmother out of the box and she can’t destroy it (not talking about physically). Here’s an article discussing the video and guess what? He’s siding with me, even as a PC user.

Anyway I digress, here’s the video…She’s just poor, if she had the money and had ever used a mac in her life, she’d be all over the 17″ Mac Pro….I miss my old 17″ Powerbook G4

Wikipedians are Nazis

I remember the days when anyone could put up a Wikipedia page and no one would regulated it for days. In the recent weeks I’ve been fighting these so called “Wikipedians” or as we like to call them Wikipedia Nazis on keeping a page from deletion. These eff-tards have nothing better to do then to delete pages or flag pages for deletion.

I listen to a daily audio podcast from CNET (owned by CBS) called “The 404” which is a word play on the 404 error message. The 30+ minute show does not only cover technology news, but also popular culture and various subjects in recent news and event. In my life of being at the office for 10-12 hours with retarded old people who knows next to nothing about the tech world, I have no one to discuss my passions with. If I were to have smarter friends and family, the three hosts of this show (Justin, Wilson & Jeff ) would be it. I could actually have a decent conversation with them and not want to slap them….my girlfriend actually asked “what’s that?” when I said something about Linux…it was a sad day. I’m the tech guy for most of the people I’m surrounded by. I can’t even ask someone to pick up a HDD for me because they have no idea what it looks like.

Anyway, what’s with the “Wikipedians”? Why do they keep wanting to delete The 404’s Wiki page? I’ve seen some of their comments, they say The 404 is not notable, or that they have no independent and reliable sources to back them up. I’m sorry, but if you think CNET is not reliable or notable, you obviously have no right patrolling a page regarding tech.

Wikipedians should just be like a librarian. Sit down, tell people to behave and point them to books. A librarian has no right teaching physics, they can tell you where the physics books are and let you discover it on your own. But no more!

Here’s a copy of The 404 Wikipedia page…it may not be up for long as long as these people troll Wikipedia:

The 404

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 404

Hosting	CNET
Updates	Daily M-F
Debut	January 1, 2008
Genre	Technology, News
Website	http://the404.cnet.com

The 404 is a daily audio podcast dedicated to news both in and outside of the tech community^[1]. Originally known as The Dudecast^[2], The 404 is hosted by Jeff Bakalar, Wilson Tang, and Justin Yu. It is produced by CNET and has aired daily since January 2008. Randall Bennett co-hosted the first one hundred episodes of the show ^[3] before his departure from CNET in 2008.^[4]

The 404 places an emphasis on listener interaction. Most episodes include user-generated content in the form of email and voicemail. A live video stream is also available which features a chat room where listeners can interact with the hosts during the recording. They are encouraged to submit new topics for discussion or comment about previous topics.

Contents [hide] 1 Format 2 Hosts 3 Inside Jokes and Common Reference 4 Analog Pants 5 Notable Guests 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Format

The 404 records live Monday through Friday around 11:00am Eastern Time. Episodes are posted in the 404’s blog a few hours after the live broadcast. Before and after the official recording, The 404 streams a live video feed which is available online. Viewers are able to provide input during the preparation in the pre-show and give feedback during the post-show. However due to scheduling conflicts the length of the live pre/post show has been shortened as of February 6, 2009.

Hosts

Wilson Tang hails from Tennessee and is an associate producer for CNETtv. He’s a part-time artist and filmmaker and has written and directed several films.

Jeff Bakalar is a gaming editor for CNET Reviews. After spending a few years in the world of film production, he has settled down and currently lives in New Jersey. He’s an avid writer and gamer.

Justin Yu is the assistant editor of home and hardware for CNET. He officially joined The 404 podcast as of episode 101^[5]. He covers the reviews of printers and other peripherals for CNET. He is originally from Orange County, California.

Inside Jokes and Common Reference

The hosts of The 404, after hundreds of episodes, have accumulated their share of inside jokes. Here are just a few and a bit of “well known facts” for any new listener who just feels lost.

• Saskatoon – A real Canadian city [1] which happens to have a unusually large number of 404 listeners and at which Justin Yu constantly jokes about stating it to be in Middle Earth and to be home to [unicorns] and other fictional characters.

Analog Pants

The hosts of The 404 currently have a mini-series going titled “Analog Pants” (a pun of the common term digital shorts)

• Episode 1: Rick Roll by the Red Balls [2]

Notable Guests

The 404 has been frequented by guests in a variety of fields. Most are technology pundits but other notable guests have included professional snowboarder Shaun White and Clayton Morris of Fox & Friends.

Other guests:

• Alison Rosen
• Ari Rabban of Phone.com ^[6]
• Brian Brushwood, magician and podcaster
• Brian Tong
• Caroline McCarthy
• Dan Ackerman
• Danny Keith of Skateboards.com ^[7]
• Eric Litman
• Jason Howell
• Jonathan Coulton, singer-songwriter^[8]
• Julia Allison, journalist and blogger
• Libe Goad of AOL’s GameDaily
• Martin Sargent^[9]
• Molly Wood, CNET executive editor
• Natali Del Conte, host of Loaded and Buzz Out Loud
• Paul Ramsay, noted hypnotist
• Richard Blakeley of Gawker Media
• Sarah Lacy
• Rana Sobhany of Medialets
• Samuel Vera, founder of Crazee Comics ^{[10] [11]}
• Stone Newman ^[12]
• Tom Merritt, host of Buzz Out Loud
• Veronica Belmont of Tekzilla and Qore

See also

• Buzz Out Loud
• CBS Interactive
• CNET

References

1. ^ http://the404.cnet.com
2. ^ http://www.cnet.com/8301-13952_1-9883281-81.html
3. ^ http://www.randallcbennett.com/2007/12/14/the-404-show-please-send-some-support
4. ^ http://www.cnet.com/8301-13952_1-9946009-81.html
5. ^ http://www.cnet.com/8301-13952_1-9946009-81.html
6. ^ http://www.phone.com/blog/2008/03/17/cnet-reviews-the-404-podcast/
7. ^ http://www.dannykeith.com/2008/04/08/sportsboards-online-and-cnet-the-404-podcast/
8. ^ http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2008/01/30/the-404/]
9. ^ http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?p=335118&highlight=Martin+Sargent
10. ^ http://www.comicbookconventions.com/forum/index.php?topic=6993.0
11. ^ http://catchdacraze.com/blog/?p=234
12. ^ http://blog.goanimate.com/2008/08/goanimate-on-cnet-404-podcast.html

External links

• CNET Podcast Central
• 404 Show Page
• A Review of The 404

UPDATE

The 404 Wikipedia has just been deleted AGAIN (about 6 hours after this blog post).  I guess until they become more mainstream they will remain a mystery to the public.

What is surprising is that this is the Wikipedian (Juliancolton) that had the final say…does his user page really justify the control he has been granted? Here it is:

User:Juliancolton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

See also: User:Juliancolton/About me and User:Juliancolton/Userboxes

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Juliancolton“

Category: Wikipedia administrators

HERE’S THE DEBATE THAT WAS ON WIKIPEDIA

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The 404

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

< Wikipedia:Articles for deletion

Jump to: navigation, search

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article’s talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. –Juliancolton ^{Tropical Cyclone} 00:25, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

[edit] The 404

The 404 (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) (delete) – (View log)

The references for this article are all either form cnet or the participants (i.e. not independent) with one exception, a forum post. It’s just a random podcast of no objectively provable significance. The bar to publishing a podcast is essentially zero, so we would need robust independent sourcing to establish notability just as we do for any other self-published content. Virtually the entire article is the work of WP:SPAs, as well. Guy (Help!) 21:05, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

If you came here because someone asked you to, or you read a message on another website, please note that this is not a majority vote, but a discussion among Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia has policies and guidelines regarding the encyclopedia’s content, and consensus is gauged based on the merits of the arguments, not by counting votes.Nonetheless, you are welcome to participate and express your opinions. Remember to assume good faith on the part of others and to sign your posts on this page by adding ~~~~ at the end.Note: Comments by suspected single-purpose accounts may be tagged using: {{subst:spa|username}}

• Delete: Yup. Pretty spammy lookin’ too. –AbsolutDan ^(talk) 22:21, 15 February 2009 (UTC)
• Keep: The 404 is very popular, well known, professional podcast. It’s referenced in other communities (ie. Buzz Out Loud), have good guests and content. I see no reason to have it removed. thomas askwho (talk) 23:25, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

• Note: Above comment is from the article’s primary author (see WP:AfD guidelines, section “How to discuss an AfD”, 3rd bullet point.) –AbsolutDan ^(talk) 23:29, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

• Keep as per WP:IDONTLIKEIT. Guy presents no evidence whatsoever that the podcast hasn’t been covered by independent sources, article has only existed for two days. Ottre 02:35, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
  • WP doesn’t follow a “notable until proven otherwise” philosophy; per WP:V: “The burden of evidence lies with the editor who adds or restores material”. –AbsolutDan ^(talk) 04:17, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
    • Comment: Don’t lecture me. The fact this is a premature nomination (article clearly shows potential) overrides WP:V. Ottre 06:02, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
      • If you feel the WP:V policy should have exceptions for articles which clearly show potential, as you put it, please feel free to gather a consensus to amend it. Stifle (talk) 09:22, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
• Delete. No independent, reliable sources. Stifle (talk) 09:22, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Internet-related deletion discussions. — fr33kman -s- 15:22, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
• Keep I can find references to this from other online communities and websites, it also has some notable guests. Frozenevolution (talk) 18:30, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

  Let’s have them then. Hope they’re reliable. Stifle (talk) 09:39, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

• Delete. Failure to demonstrate notability through use of independent, reliable sources. If it weren’t for the mention of Cnet, it would be a candidate for speedy deletion. —C.Fred (talk) 18:29, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
• Delete. The WP:BURDEN is on anyone who would claim that a self-promotional article has potential. I did a bunch of google digging, and the closest I could come is some “about the presenter” boilerplate from what smells press-release-y. – A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire – past ops) 21:45, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
• Delete Sources not sufficient to meet WP:N given that they’re mainly from a related website and blogs. Nick-D (talk) 07:42, 17 February 2009 (UTC)
• KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.93.50.1 (talk • contribs) 16:20, 17 February 2009 (UTC)— 84.93.50.1 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep – Its an official podcast that has a daily show. I see no reason that it could not have a page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.239.176.170 (talk) 16:25, 17 February 2009 (UTC) — 71.239.176.170 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep. CNET is well known and this is one of their daily podcasts. Under WP:WEB they are notable as they are produced by CNET. Sljaxon (talk) (contributions) – Fighting Vandalism Since 2006 03:21, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

• ‘Delete’ Lacks independent RS Spartaz ^Humbug! 13:09, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

• ‘Keep’ CNET Networks is a highly respected and highly notable reference. The 404 has had many, again, notable people on. This includes Olympic snowboarder Shaun White, Martin Sargent (of TechTV fame), and Veronica Belmont (the host of PSN’s QORE and co-host of Tekzila on Revision3). She was on recently as well. I do have to agree with the fact that the page looks bit erratic, but the cleanliness of it will never be improved if the page is constantly deleted. People keep claiming the 404 is only notable by the association to CNET. This is not true. I pose this question: If the 404 was not notable would these figures have agreed to an interview and appearance on the show? I think not. The 404 is a valid source and should remain a valid page. PacGamer (talk) 17:42, 18 February 2009 (UTC)— PacGamer (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.

  CNET is a corporation that creates a number of works, some of which are article-worthy and some of which are not. Martin Sargent has volunteered to be interviewed on personal blogs of nobody of note, and Veronica Belmont is scarcely more notable. As for Shaun White, I have no idea how generous he is with his time.

  But let’s not chase your red herrings. What verifiable facts that are from a non-CNET reliable source can you offer about this show? If the answer is “nothing”, then indeed Wikipedia should refrain from comment. – A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire – past ops) 22:04, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

• Keep The 404 is a production from CNET who is owned by CBS, it is in no way a “spam” or an un-notable topic. For those who tried to Google for The 404 and got little answers as to what the show is and then say that this entry needs to be deleted, you are a hypocrite to what Wikipedia is about. Without this page, many of you would have no idea what The 404 is, this wiki page is meant to help you learn what it is. Veronica Belmont is not notable in her own rights, nor is Natali Del Conte, they are just the hosts of tech shows too, why are their pages not up for deletion? Does this mean we can put up pages in regards to the three host of The 404 individually and it will not be deleted? The 404 is a professional show broadcasted from the CNET office in New York in an actual studio. This is not something put together with swap meet mics and your mother’s garage. The only thing that should be deleted is the “Jokes” that were put it as they were a little unprofessional and can be omitted User:Mikenopolis 15:02, 18 February 2009 (UTC)— Mikeopolis (talk •contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.

• Ah, so there are no other sources (other than CNET pages) that discuss what this show is? Wikipedia makes a practice of not being the first to cover something; WP:V and WP:N and WP:NOR are all executions of this idea.
  At the risk of bordering on ad hominem attack, the entirety of your edits are to articles about CNET shows or CNET hosts. – A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire – past ops) 23:26, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

• Delete – podcasts are inherently non-notable per WP:V and WP:RS. There are no reliable sources independent of the 404 to demonstrate notability. The show’s existence is not enough – there must be some evidence of outside coverage not involving self-publication, fanzines, or the like. B.Wind (talk) 05:40, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
• Delete per WP:WEB. There has been no independent AND reliable sources provided. Perhaps a redirect to CNET at best. — Mattinbgn\^talk 05:42, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
• Keep If Wikipedia can maintain a page on The View, The 404 should be kept. CNET is a significant source of news and entertainment, and frankly, if ever a show needed explaining, it is The 404 User:Wallet55— 152.11.189.9 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic. User:Wallet55 is not a registered Wikipedia username. 147.70.242.54 (talk) 20:18, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
• KEEP The 404 is from CNET. They are number 8 on itunes list of audio tech podcasts. above DIGGNATION and Buzz Out Loud. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.67.126.50 (talk • contribs) 20:26 19 February 2009 (UTC)— 75.67.126.50 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep: CNET has a network of podcasts that provide information, news, opinions, etc. in a similar manner as Leo_Laporte. The TWiT Network aka Leo’s podcasts each have their own page and so should each of CNET’s podcasts. Both “networks” are equally relevant in their genre with the shows they produce and deserve equal treatment.onetowerone (talk) 20:31, 19 February 2009 (UTC)— onetowerone (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep: As the show matures and enters into its 300th episode, it is inheritently apparent that it has a strong community following. Evidence of this may be its inclusion on engadget and in Itunes. The argument to keep can basically be broken down to this: as the podcast matures, the community supporting it will only become larger and stronger. At this point, there are no independent sources who have reported on the 404, but these things take time. A website will not spend time and money covering something it believes to be fledling and passing. So what I propose is a monitored continuation of the page. With the sheer number of people who help put this together, the page’s features will improve over time, including the looks and sources. To immediatly shut it down will do nothing to help the situation. This article does not need to be a fight between wikipedia and the 404 community, but rather a partenership to help each other.Frebel93 (talk) 22:51, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
• This has been advertised on the latest 404 news post, the 404 twitter feed, and likely elsewhere. Welcome to Wikipedia! If you’d like to save this article, I would recommend that you find reliable sources (publications with some sort of editorial review, like magazines or the online equivalent) independent of CNET that have had some sort of substantial comment on this podcast. Writing your own blog posts, your own iTunes reviews or citing other blog posts is insufficient, as is any sort of assurance of the 404’s popularity or future or whatnot. – A Man In Bl♟ck (conspire – past ops) 23:06, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article’s talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

NetBook – Laptops Have Come a Long Way

I’ve been fond of portable electronics and gadgets all my life,  I think it’s because my father was an electrical and mechanical engineer. The main reason I’ve been a fan of laptops is because an old roommate faked a break-in during the first month of my second year in college. Needless to say, my desktop computer was one of the items that were stolen. From that point on, my main computer is a laptop that never leaves my side (even to this day).

My first laptop was a hefty 8 pound monster, I don’t remember the specs, but it was fast for its time and cost my father $1700. I later (when Dell’s tech support was still good and not outsourced) upgraded to a 6lb. Dell Latitude. In my later years in school I gave up speed for price and portability and got myself a 3.9lb Averatec for a little over $900. Amazingly that little thing was pretty reliable, I used it for 2 years, My girlfriend used it for 1 and I sold it on eBay for $500 after replacing the hard drive.

Over the past 10 years I’ve owned many laptops from one the lightest laptop (1.99 lb Sharp MM20…take that MacBook Air) to one the heaviest laptop around (15lb HP HDX…AMAZING machine). One of the biggest downfalls is their portability and battery life which is drained by spinning hard drives, CPU and the fan.

I recently read a review on the Dell Inspiron Mini 9 NetBook from AnandTech and was very impressed by it. Like all NetBooks, it uses a SSD, but what sets it aside from them is that it has NO FAN! My old Sharp MM20 ran on a  Transmeta 1.2Ghz processor which required no fan, but it had a spinning hard drive and ran hot. Although I’m all about the latest tech, I’ll have to hold out on getting a netbook for a while, I’m just not sure I can work with a 16GB SSD.

During many of my personal vacations where I traveled, I’ve brought along one of my laptops just in case of work emergencies. I’d love to carry something smaller that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

WooHoooooo! WordPress App for iPhone is Available NOW!

Just wanted to say that the WordPress app is now available for the iPhone!

Thanks for the hard work Matt!

:::Posted Via iPhone:::

Apple 3G iPhone – 3rd Day Of Sale

I drove by the apple store of Pasadena California today, the third day after the release of the iPhone 3G and this is what the line outside looks like!!! What is it about Apple’s product that drives people nuts, I mean this weekend is not as hot as the past three or four weekends but it was still somewhat hot! These people are standing out here like they were giving out gold bars!

What is interesting is that many of these people already have the first iPhone…like me (I am typing this out on it right now) I would not go wait in like just for 3G and GPS, I am perfectly happy with the 2.0 software update so far, it really is like having a brand new phone. Problem is that as of writing this, it is 1:42 pm, my phone has been off it’s charger since 9:00am, I have a little over half of the battery left after about 5 hours of use. I have made no calls and played with the iPhone games for about 1 hour, four text message with bluetooth and wifi off. I wonder how the battery for the 3G iPhone will perform since their newer functions are power hungry!