by Matt Soreco on December 22, 2008
I was just reading through my previous posts. I notice I do a lot of nitpicking. So I’m going to devote some time posting about things I like as well.
That brings me to Target. I’m not price conscious as much as I am convenience conscious. I’d rather spend more if my whole shopping experience is positive. I’m not saying Target is more expensive than other stores. I’m just saying price (as long as it’s not outrageous) is not a major consideration. I wouldn’t want to wait on longer lines if it meant saving a few dollars.
I’ve been to a handful of Target stores. The most frequent is the one right by my house in Levittown, NY. It seems they all are the same wherever they are.
So, here is why I like Target:
- They have a wide variety of products.
- Their aisles are always clean and clear.
- There is always staff around to ask for help.
- The staff is helpful when needed. Both in the store and at the pharmacy.
- And no matter how crowded the store gets, the lines at the registers are never long.
So, bravo Target for winning a loyal shopper (an otherwise grumpy shopper to boot).
by Matt Soreco on December 15, 2008
My wife forwarded me and e-mail from Beach-nut, which had some links to coupons. She tried but could not print the coupons from our home computer or her office computer. I tried from my office computer, but they didn’t work here either. I wonder how many other customers are having the same issue. Do they track this? It’s a shame. It’s a very good looking e-mail…
by Matt Soreco on December 12, 2008
When I first wrote about Getting Things Done, I mentioned that I carry a small Cross jotter around to “capture” any ideas/thoughts/notes on the fly.
Just thought I’d share how I “hacked” mine so now I use better, and cheaper, notepad refills. I hope to soon be welcomed into geekhood now that I used the word hack for something.
First here is a snapshot of it closed. It fits into my pocket pretty easily. It has a holder for a small pen on the side.
The pad it came with stinks because the pages easily tear off and it made for writing on both sides difficult. It took me a while to find, but a standard Mead notepad with the spiral on top fits perfectly if you cut about 1/4 inch off both sides of the back. It doesn’t make it too cumbersome.
Voila.
Here it is in action. Yes, I have the handwriting of a 3 year old.
There you have it.
by Matt Soreco on December 11, 2008
I posted this in their suggestion forum as well.
So Google announced today that Chrome is out of beta. And it includes better bookmark management. Um, nope. I don’t think so. Nor do a ton of others commenting on forums about Chrome’s lack of integration of either Google Bookmarks or Google Toolbar.
I use Google Bookmarks to capture and bookmark sites (duh!), which I access from multiple computers throughout the day. It seems Google is dead-set and convinced their users use one computer all day. Otherwise this is a no brainer.
So I, and many others, don’t need to import bookmarks from Firefox, IE and other browers into Chrome. Especially since we use Google Bookmarks on those browsers anyway. We need Chrome to work with Bookmarks!
Sorry Chrome. I’m not using you.
by Matt Soreco on December 9, 2008
I get a kick out of ratings and comments in the Android Market. It’s funny how people’s perceptions differ when ranking apps. For me, I rank it based on how well it does what it says. I don’t rank on the wow factor. Quite frankly, none of the apps have really wowed me. But some come in handy. Now I’m talking about apps in the Android Market, not the ones that come preprogrammed on the G1–they are:
The Weather Channel – Quickly gives me the weather in my location (programmed in home Zip code or with GPS setting) with right now, hourly, 36 hour, and 10 day forecasts. Nice clean display.
Toggle Settings – Lets me quickly see and toggle on and off setting I’m not using (gps, wifi, silent mode, etc). Good for preserving battery charge and for changing ring tone mode for work, movies, etc. Also good for not having to navigate through the phone setting to make these changes.
QSearch – Turns the screen into a touchpad to run google searches without having to type on the keypad. It also changes to landscape when you rotate the phone. I’d rather not have to flip open the keypad to do quick Google searches.
Quickpedia – Basically wikipedia reformatted for the screensize.
BistroMath – Nice tip calculator. Great when splitting a check.
imeem – Streaming music based on favorites. I like it so far, I just need to play with it more and add more favorites.
Pictorial – Nice integration with Picasa, where I have a lot of my pics.
Pro Football Live – Gives updated football scores and stats. This would be more useful if I was away from the games on Sundays.
Yellowbook – Search listings based on GPS location, then one touch to call or plot on map. This comes in handy when looking for services in the area.
I give the following a “meh:”
AK Notepad – A simple notepad.
Voice Recorder – A voice recorder, which can then be saved and/or e-mailed.
These have potential:
Gmote - Lets me access and play media files on my PC through the G1 through my wireless connection at home. Essentially turning the G1 into a remote control for the media on the PC. The UI stinks, but I see potential here.
StreamFurious – Can play streaming media from content providers. It’s great, but the station selection is very limited.
I see these have rave reviews. I’ve installed them, but haven’t kicked the tires yet:
ShopSavvy – Lets you scan a barcode of a product, then gives you comparitive pricing in the area.
Shazam – Identifies music playing, then lets you tag it, buy it, and look up artist.
Stay tuned. For my next post, I’m putting together a wishlist.
by Matt Soreco on December 9, 2008
It’s about time someone at Google put together a simple task manager. However, I’m disappointed. This should integrate seamlessly with GCal, not reside only on Gmail. I’d like to see my day’s events and tasks all in one place (e.g. GCal’s agenda), not scattered across several services. Until this happens, I’ll pass on using this.
by Matt Soreco on December 8, 2008
Last I wrote on the G1, I was a week in. Now I’m over a month in, so some of my first opinions have changed.
As I mentioned in my first post, the G1 was my first venture into any sort of smart phone / pda, so I don’t know how other devices compare.
I still love the device. It’s incredibly easy to use and navigate. I have a strong pet peeve with usability issues, and so far I haven’t been agitated by the G1.
I haven’t reversed my opinion on anything other than the camera. I last said it was ok. Well it’s flat out terrible. I’ve yet to take a non-blurry picture. And the autofocus makes taking a quick shot up to 5-6 seconds to take. I’m no photo-taking expert, but something’s wrong here. Judging by complaints on the web, I’m not alone. I have a digital camera, and I know how to snap a pic. I’m not looking for great pics, just fast and non blurry ones will do.
Also, I’ve found some bugs. I’ve tried to post them here and there. Google and/or T-Mobile should really have a central spot to submit bugs. Anyway here are some:
- The gmail app has a tendency to open up the last conversation (even deleted e-mails) rather than going straight to the inbox. When this happens, sometimes the new e-mail notification does not pop up. It kind of stinks to keep having to open up the gmail app instead of trusting the notification.
- The google calendar app crashes if you try to make changes to a recurring event.
Ok, not many bugs uncovered on my end. Still love it overall. Still hate that you can’t write to google notes, docs, or speadsheets.
by Matt Soreco on December 8, 2008
This is just a mind spew. Being a Bills fan is torture.
It’s funny. A neighbor asked if my 6 month old son has any Bills gear yet. I jokingly told him that I didn’t want to put the poor kid through the torture. In reality, it wasn’t much of a joke. The truth is I hope he roots for dad’s team, but I’ll leave it entirely up to him. Well not quite entirely–he can’t pick the Jets (or Dolphins or Patriots).
Lets look at Dick Jauron’s career head coaching record:
Bears 1999: 6-10
Bears 2000: 5-11
Bears 2001: 13-3
Bears 2002: 4-12
Bears 2003: 7-9
Lions 2005: 1-4
Bills 2006: 7-9
Bills 2007: 7-9
Bills 2008: 6-7
Total: 55-72 (.433)
Jauron coached only one winning season, which he was bounced out of the playoffs the first game. I call it a fluke season.
The Bills this decade:
2000: 8-8
2001: 3-13
2002: 8-8
2003: 6-10
2004: 9-7
2005: 5-11
2006: 7-9
2007: 7-9
2008: 6-7
Total: 59-82 (.418)
Only one winning season this decade, where they sniffed the playoffs, but were beaten by the Stealers’ third teamers in a “win and in” game in 2004.
- The Bills have been “rebuilding” for 8 years.
- Why is it that the Dolphins can go from 1-15 to playoff contention in one year?
- While the Bills wallow in futility?
- NFL salary cap/parity evens the playing field, but clearly separates mismanaged teams from well run teams.
- Coaching is THAT much more important, so…
- Even the Cardinals got it together.
- How much longer for the Bills?
- Why are there teams that are always good?
- And teams that are always bad?
I tell you there will be a revolt if Jauron is kept. There were rumors earlier in the season that he was extended, but it was never confirmed. If he was, I hope there was a clause. Because he isn’t the answer. There never seems to be any gameplan. They are continually out-coached. There is no such thing as clock management.
I hope the next coach is not another retread or another unproven.
End spew.
