New Software is Available for Your Computer

I was greeted with a software update this morning, nothing overly exciting, it was iTunes 5.1.  So whats new in 5.1?  


Well, With iTunes Match, even songs you’ve imported from CDs can be stored in iCloud. And you can play them on any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC — whenever you want and wherever you are, without syncing. iTunes Match is just $24.99 a year.

Here’s how it works: iTunes determines which songs in your collection are available in the iTunes Store. Any music with a match is automatically added to iCloud for you to listen to anytime, on any device. Since there are more than 20 million songs in the iTunes Store, chances are, your music is already in iCloud. And for the few songs that aren’t, iTunes has to upload only what it can’t match. Which is much faster than starting from scratch. Once your music is in iCloud, you can stream and store it to any of your devices. Even better, all the music iTunes matches plays back from iCloud at 256-Kbps AAC DRM-free quality — even if your original copy was of lower quality.

So, if you decide to use this, I'm guessing your going to need more space in your cloud, and look, Apple has a plan for that!  Enjoy!

So...does this open up the door for a cloud based iPhone/iPod/iPad?  Only time will tell, and of course the adoption rate will be a factor on whether this will happen.  But then again, we won't know anything as always until Apple tells us.

Have a day, It's Friday, and no one can take that away from you!

An open letter to CenturyLink

To Whom it may concern;  I have been very patient, when you sold me internet you told me I could get 8 mb down, when I installed your service I got less than 1mb down and was told it was a fiber cut.  When it continued to the next day, I am told I can't have 8 mb, only 6, which I'm fine with, but since the start of this service my modem will just drop connection, all the lights still show its connected, but no devices will connect to then internet.  Modem replaced on last tech call, still having same issue, I think its time to get someone a little higher up the chain to tell me why this is happening and why I haven't gotten my 6 mb down in over a week.  Your killing my productivity, which includes job hunting, and do you know how bad it sucks to be half-way through an online application (45 minutes worth) to have the internet go down and have to start all over!  So please someone find out why I am having all these problems, give me a straight answer, and lets work together to get it right the first time.

I wish I could say that I was able to post this in one try, but no, modem just had to be reset...again (4th time today).

Sincerely
The Geeky Mac Daddy (not the pimp, the Macintosh)

And so it just keeps getting better

So, with most changes, like a move, you go through the routine and find a new grocery store, a new barber/stylist, a new barista, and of course new doctors.  With new insurance comes change as well, we now have an asininely larger deductible, and have a limited choice of dentists.  Upon searching for a dentist all we have to choose from is something called Monarch Dental, which I hear is like fast food dentistry.  I don't like to complain, but why can't I just go to a nice local independent dentist and not have to use a conglomerate?  Just ranting, but thats not really why its just getting better...

Found a new doctor, my wife suggested instead of going to a family medicine that I start going to an Internal Medicine doctor.  Get that all set up and have my first visit, my annual physical (been doing these since I turned 30), same thing, lots of questions, weight loss, exercise, etc.  She refills my scrips, also orders my lab work, which the hospital does, so I have to go there.  Finally make it to the hospital (on Thursday) while fasting and get my blood drawn, fast easy, got it on the first stick, which was awesome!

Fast forward to Tuesday of this week, get a phone call at lunch from my doctor, this can't be good, she didn't have a nurse call..."Jon, you have diabetes, your sugar was 226, bad cholesterol was within range, my good cholesterol was low, and uric acid was normal."  So she says she's going to start me on metformin and that I need to check my sugar every morning.  Starting to look at meters, and see what I need, the geek in me kicks in, bayer makes a USB meter that automatically uploads your results and graphs, this is very cool and intrigues the nerd in me.  So I decided last night to try it out, since I've never done it before.  I almost had a panic attack trying to get the damn lancet to work.  I would tense up and then it wouldn't fire (because I'm too smart to read instructions), finally  Marty said she'd do it for me, and well she couldn't figure it out at first too, and asked for the instructions.  I went into the other room and figured it out and did it myself, and flinched as I was doing it so it didn't stick fully so very small stream of blood, but finally enough to test.  227.  I looked at myself in the mirror, I was sweating, I had worked myself up so much over what turned out to be nice and easy and almost painless.  I am such a baby!

On a side note, anyone seeing battery issues with iOS 5?  Well apparently there is a fix on the way.
Also, I've been playing Battlefield 3 on the 360, and I hate to admit this but I like it better than MW3, also started Skyrim, but think I am going to start over as I really want to be a mage, and I don't like my Dark Elf.  Arkham City is on hold at the moment, that game is huge and so immersive, I could spend hours just flying around the city, and you have to love Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as The Joker.

I think an apology may be in order...

So, as some of you may know from my previous post, I recently relocated to Texas.  This was not an easy decision to make, especially now that there is a granddaughter involved.  I quit a good job at Verizon (I was going to get laid off, but was also going to be compensated for this), started my own business with my wife, business failed, chaos ensued, relocation successful.  So during most of the year we were running our own business, I was suffering from what I would say was semi-sever anxiety, everything was a stressor, my life, my work, my bank accounts, etc...  Add to that the fact that I don't really have a lot of friends, that is to say I have a lot of acquaintances, but not many "friends".  I know this is partially my fault as I was living in Searcy, did not drive a truck, did not hunt nor fish, could not recite the player rosters or stats of any player in high school or college football, so all the while I never felt like I fit in.  For that I apologize, I should have been more open to trying new things.  Secondly, once the business was set to close and the assets set to disappear, I think I started to get really depressed, you know not dark, i'm going to kill something depressed, but just genuinely sad, people I thought were my friends turned their backs, people started talking behind backs like children, and well I just sunk deeper and deeper.  So, since I didn't confront any of you petty assholes, I apologize, I hope you get your karmic just desserts (up your ass).  Sorry, I apologize for that too.  I also want to apologize to my friends who were not made aware of the transition until it was already over, it was hard enough coordinating closing my office, packing my house and leaving all my family, so for that too, I am heartfully sorry (not sure if thats the right word, but you get my meaning.

I've never felt like an overly smart person, but I have managed to work my ass off over the years and prove that I can do anything I set my mind to....until now, I can't seem to get a job to save my life, I've been turned down for everything, even sales jobs at wireless companies, I mean I had the inside track, I knew wireless inside and out, and now I can't even get an interview.  Everything is done online, so you really have no chance to make any kind of impression.  I have some people who just ignore my applications and my emails, so thats really nice, I'd rather get the Dear Jon, we regret to inform you.... form letter than nothing.  So for my interest in working for those of you who lack the decency to respond, I'm sorry I bugged you, no go drink your latte and sit in your Herman Miller chair, and take your middle finger, and spin...

So, that leaves me being a stay at home dad (not all bad, I do have the best daughter in the whole world), a desire to try to broaden my cooking skills, a desire to learn more about digital photography, and a completed application to the University of North Texas, yep, after almost 15 years, I'm going to go back to school and finally get that piece of paper, so maybe then I can get a job selling cell phones to people with no credit.

Since it appears I will have more time on my hands, I will try to update this with more frequency and try not to be an asshole the whole time, and get back to some cool techie posts, as I know most of you love my rants about geekology and technology (technogeek).

So good night, farewell, auf feiderzein, goodbye.

And, life goes on...

So, some of you may know that my wife and I tried to start our own business last year, we had this "visionary" "consultant" (I use both terms as loosely as I can).  He came riding in with big ideas about how we could provide exemplary medical care and a great experience all while making a decent living.  It looked good on paper, the model was great, the idea harkened back to the day when physicians made house calls, and you were more than a number on a chart.  Well, I borrowed out all of my retirement that I had built over the last 8 years and then we got started and things looked ok.  The money started disappearing, payroll was costing a fortune, and for those who don't know it takes 90-180 days to start getting money from the insurance companies.  So our "guide" suggested we get a line of credit, we did, a second mortgage, check, all the while he kept getting paid, but neither my wife nor I drew an actual paycheck, merely an occasional loan payment when the company could afford it.  Finally we'd had enough, no guidance, his accountant seemed just as crooked, we fired them both, cut our staff in an effort to make ends meet and stay within budget.  In the end it wasn't enough, we had to file personal bankruptcy, dissolve the corporation, close the doors, and lose our home.  So now I'm unemployed, broke, and have left both our families back in Arkansas, and moved to Texas where my wife has a new job, however the market does not look good for me.  So if your out there, and a physician, and an Osteopath named Nicholas Bartz, D.O. approaches you with a great scheme on behalf of his company Health Pro Solutions, or he wants to hook you in with Barry R. Pasis, Patrick Mallett, or Jim Chaston, CPA; run, call your local BBB, AG, and get a lawyer!  He is a schmuck on wheels and will screw you out of everything you have and have no liability when you fail.  Also, if you live in Pismo Beach, CA and visit The Doctor is In on Shell Beach, find a new doc, they are in bed with him and ready to screw you blind.

The New 52, or How I learned about Comics Again

Ok, so for those of you out of the loop, DC Comics has for the past 5 months been paving the way to a "reboot", or a new marketing effort to revive print media.  As such they had their typical "Event/Crisis"; This year it was centered around the Flash, Barry Allen for those of you not sure which Flash I am referring to.  So Barry wakes up in an altered reality where Aquaman and Wonder Woman are in a huge fight (which gets very little screen time) and a lot of alternate versions of earths well known heroes.  Superman has been locked away and not give access to our yellow sun, which as we all know is the source of his powers, (spoiler alert, he appears in the start of the series as a gangly, weak and tired version of his normal self).  Continuing spoilers, Bruce Wayne died with his mother in Crime Alley, and Dr. Thomas Wayne has donned the mantle of the Bat.  Thomas and Barry have some great one liners between themselves my personal favorite is a Flash to Bats jab, "Bruce would have gone..." Pack the bags nice guilt trip!  So the past five months we've been trying to figure out whats going to happen, how Professor Zoom AKA Reverse Flash fits in, and then we get to issue 5 and the shit hits the fan, the heroes recruit the Shazam family, gotta love some Captain Marvel!  Turns out this whole alternate universe was created by Barry, he's the villain!  He was so upset over the death of his mother that he jumped on the cosmic treadmill and altered the timeline, and cause all the other ripples, why don't people listen to Dr. Emmet Brown, for a crack point, he knew about the timeline, and you don't mess with the timeline.

So flashpoint 5 led directly into Justice League #1, the first of the new 52, to be honest I had to read it twice to catch all the subtleties, and also because it was so hard to turn off everything I know about the DC universe, I mean 30 years is hard to turn off.  So basically, none of the heroes know each other, at this point there is no league, and well, I am lost, I always thought it was the trinity of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman who were the founding members, but from this issue it looks like its going to be Batman, Green Lantern and Superman.  Best line, Superman to Batman, "I don't handle easy, so what can you do?"  Everyone looks 20-30 years younger, teasers around, like the LexCorp sign "Building the city of tomorrow...today" (Delta City from Robocop anyone?)  I also loved that GL's constructs were a fire truck and a jet fighter. Also love that they have no clue who Darkseid or what a Motherbox is for that matter.

All in all, I am excited, Jim Lee has to be one of my favorite artists, Geoff Johns can really tell a story, Go back and read some of their older stuff, its all good.  Loved Jim's work on Batman: Hush, and well anything Geoff has worked on in the last 18 months has kinda been the building blocks toward the new 52.

Ok, your caught up, hope I didn't spoil it for you, and if I didn't then I hope you might want to read it.

I'll see you in the back issues!

Et Tu U.S. Pizza

O.K. so I'm not really a food snob, but in a way I am... I know that makes no sense, but you get the picture. I generally do not stray far from my "regular" menu items at most restaurants, but I spent Sunday down in the Rock at the Mom's, with the toddler in tow. We decided to order pizza from U.S. Pizza, mind you, I've been eating this pretty much since I was old enough to remember it, but I also remember (and no one else seems to) Pizza Planet, on Geyer Springs, I remember the pizza came on a cardboard disc in a paper bag the end stapled over to keep your pie from sliding out. But thats another story for another time, kinda like Taco Kid... Ok, back to Sunday's pizza disappointment. Ordered the usual, a large supreme, still surprised that you can call a 13" pizza a large anymore, but hey, its what they do. I seem to recall back in the days before every Tom, Dick and Harry stole the recipe from U.S. Pizza and opened their own eateries (Pizza Cafe & Olde World Pizza I'm looking at you cough* cough*). There was this mystical pizza recipe that they had, it was 2 parts homemade goodness and 1 part secret dusting seasoning. Back then I did not have a palate for identifying spices or ingredients, I just knew it was good, I liked it, and I wanted more. Make way for all the fast food, other independant pizza joints, the endless Pizza Parade at a certain buffet. Gone is the TLC that went into each pie, gone is the magic dust that made it so unique, gone is the we're little and independent, but hey, now you can order online, we have microbrews, goat cheese, pizza with no sauce, pizza with no gluten. Give me my gluten, give me my sauce, and dammit give me toppings, for what is a pizza without anything on top of it! So to you U.S. Pizza I say "It's been swell, It's been great, but honestly it's not me, it's you!" Thanks for the memories, but after Sunday, you've truly left a bad taste in my mouth.