I just wanted to introduce everyone to a cool program called Gomez Peer that is sort of like the old Seti@Home or Folding@Home programs, but you can actually make a couple bucks a month with Gomez. Basically you install their program and while your computer is idle it will process data for companies that have paid Gomez for the processing power. So far in two months I’ve made $12 bucks. For those of you that leave your computer on all day, I think it’s a no brainer, IMO.
All you need to do : 1. Get a Gomez Peer account, 2. Install their software, 3. Have a Paypal account that they can send you your monthly check.
So next Tuesday is our 2 year anniversary. We are going to San Diego to celebrate. But in addition to just going to San Diego we are going to be attending Comic-Con on Sunday! Should be a fun day of people watching and checking out cool geeky things.
I jailbroke my iPhone last night and it’s working flawlessly so far, made a couple little cosmetic tweaks to the interface but the good programs aren’t online yet. I also found a CTU ringtone for my phone!
Using radio waves and nanotubes there is a possible cure for all types of cancer. Amazing.
So let’s begin our story on Friday the iPhone launch day… I got off work a bit early and while I was driving home I stopped by an AT&T store only to find out that they didn’t have any more iPhones in stock. I went home and ate my lunch and then called Kelly to see if she wanted to try our luck after she got off work. I headed over to our dog grooming shop to help her clean and wait for all the customers to pick up their dogs. We then headed to the Apple Store in Costa Mesa at the South Coast Plaza. I had been checking updates regarding how busy stores were throughout Southern California and this particular store was never mentioned and although I know it’s one of the biggest malls in California I decided we would check it out. To our disappointment there was a line, a very very very very long line. One that I came to find out was well over 4 hours long, so we went home defeated instead. Then on Saturday I dropped Kelly off for work and after getting some breakfast and having my cars oil changed I decided to check out the line for the apple Store again, since it wasn’t supposed to open till 10. I discover what appears to be a long but managable line, probably about 100 people deep, one of the workers predicted about a 2 hour wait, which wasn’t bad but I wasn’t sold on it yet. As I walked back to my car I called Kelly and asked her if she thought I should wait and she said yes. So i went back to the line, now 105 people deep and proceeded to spend 5 hours in line slowly making my way to iPhone heaven. Fortunately I had great linemates both in front and behind me who i talked with all 5 hours as we stood and waited. Let me say that again…. 5 HOURS! A lot longer then I expected. While in line Apple Store reps offered us free coffee and also they shared information and answered any questions they could. After about 1 hour of wait (an moving 5 feet) one of the reps came out told anyone that had a discount on their bill that they might have issues getting an iPhone today and that the wait could be 4-6 hours if that was the case. I had called AT&T earlier in the week to make sure everything would be fine on my account and they said it wouldn’t be a problem, but just to make sure I immediately cancled my discount to make sure I had no issue once I reached the store. The experience was a bit frustrating but I have to give it to the Apple Store in SCP they really did all they could themselves to make the experience somewhat plesant. So now both Kelly and I are proud owners of 3G iPhones. I have to admit I really love this phone so far.
This is it, I’m going to be a hypocrite. After declaring I would never buy an Apple product in my life due to the fact that 99% of their stuff is overpriced “fluff” I’m back away from my words and am preparing to purchase an iPhone. Both Kelly and I are going to get them. We are up for upgrades with AT&T and it fits exactly the use I have for a phone. We checked them out last week and I spent the most time I ever had playing with one. It really is a pretty cool piece of equipment, looking forward to hopefully getting them on Friday if not in a couple weeks. We aren’t in a hurry but would like to get them soon. Unfortunately I won’t get my 18% discount we currently get from AT&T because my companies agreement with them. Oh well.
So, the current computing rig has been having some issues lately with crashing and various other slight problems with it’s current setup. I had been contemplating putting together a new computer for awhile but building a rig from scratch just wasn’t going to cut it, because by the time I had finished buying all the parts it already would of been an aging computer. My demands for computing are pretty straight forward. I don’t need the best of the best. I just need a mid range gaming PC that will play the occasional game if I choose to do so. By I want something that will be great system for desktop speed and for media storage. With my company we have the opportunity to purchase Dell computers through Time Warner Cable at a slightly discounted rate. On top of that we get 0% financing up to $2000 and 26 payroll deductions to pay it off. It’s a great deal that I took advantage of years back when I purchased my Dell Inspiron 8200, which still works like a charm, it just weighs about 35 pounds! I have NEVER bought a desktop computer, I’ve always built them from the ground up, piece by piece, so this is a new experience in my personal life (I’ve bought numerous desktops in a professional role either for my department or in my consultant work). I quickly decided the only Dell desktop that was going to work for me was going to be their current XPS version, the XPS 720.
Here are the specs of it.
Windows Vista Premium
Intel Core2 Q6600 (2.4 Ghz, 1066)
Quad Core with 8 MB cache
2GB Corsair DDR2 SDRAM overclocked to 1066
256 MB Nvidia GeForce 8600 GTS
160 GB WD Raptop, 10K SATA Drive for the OS
750 GB SATA Drive for the rest
Sound Blaster X-FI PCI Sound Card
And then I’m going to add a second DVD Burner to it (already have) and my 320 Gig SATA Drive I already has as well. Should be a nice rig for the next couple years and since it’s an XPS should be easy to upgrade if I feel like making some changes down the road. I did not get a new LCD since I already have a 20 Inch that does 1600×1200 and has been good to me.
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