Monday, August 18, 2008
Posting on the go...
So when the App Store launched, I was a little disappoined that Google had such a weak app at launch. It did nothing but launch your browser and take you to the web version of whatever tool you wanted. That's not convenience! All I wanted was an easy way to post to Blogger, but nope.Right now, as I am heading to dinner, I remembered a tool that I use on my computer. Basically, it's a pop-up window that takes you right to the posting site. I figured I'd give it a try. It's exactly what I wanted! I can finally post on the go. Maybe that's not exciting to you, but it is to me!
Now, as soon as I figure out how to upload pics to my web space, it'll be perfect. I'm such a need! =P
Posted by DH at 8:06 PM.
0 comments.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Still here...
Ok, yeah, so I kinda fell off the posting wagon for about 10 days. I'll just say it was a little vacation...There's quite a few things I've been wanting to sit down and write about but I feel like I haven't had a restful moment for the past week. I hope things will settle down enough for me to actually write something new. No, this doesn't count.
Here's a quick look at some random things I'll be posting about (unless I find them to be boring by the time I get to them) in no particular order: my strange fascination with the Final Destination movie franchise, eye problems, iPhone 3G Friday and how I tried to convince myself I didn't care, why putting all your hopes on winning a Wii in a raffle is just asking for disappointment, and my lack of short-term memory when getting ready to go out somewhere.
Sound interesting? No, not particularly, but what can you do? Heck, what can I do? My life is so dull lately. *sigh*
Hmm... maybe I'll practice my creativity by making myself sound interesting. I mean, it seems that creativity is all the rage these days, no?
Posted by DH at 4:26 AM.
0 comments.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Unhappy 4th of July
I kind of dislike the 4th of July. No, it's not because I'm unpatriotic or have anything against the good ol' US of A, but rather because of an unintended side effect. When was the last time you looked at Fido or Kitty as the fireworks are going off outside?Fireworks scare the crap out of most animals. They don't know it's a celebration. All they notice are booming noises that I'm sure sound a lot louder to them than they do to us.
I think last year was the first time I saw this firsthand. My family was throwing a 4th of July get-together and I thought I would bring Katsu along with me to expose him to different people and a new environment. Well, afterward, I felt so bad and thought how much better he would have been had I left him at home.
One thing that slipped my mind was that my dear hometown allows firework sales. As a result, there are fireworks going off all day, including some that I don't think you can buy at your corner stand. You know, those ones that don't actually have pretty colors but kind of just explode really loudly.
Anyhow, so I had a dog with me that seemed to want to hide under my chair the whole time. It also seemed that Katsu forgot how to curl his tail. I don't know anything sadder than seeing a shiba inu who's too scared to curl that tail. He kind of just looked like a skinny coyote most of the day. (If you ask me, I think he gets embarrassed if he can't curl his tail. Am I anthropomorphizing a bit? Probably, but if you know Katsu, you'll kind of know what I mean.)
After a while of being at my aunt's house (where the get-together was taking place), he finally seemed to feel a little more comfortable. He even started eating little pieces of hot dog my mom was giving him to try and comfort him a little. Well, he ate a couple before a loud boom scared him under my seat again. He didn't eat or drink anything after that, but just stayed as close as possible to me. I picked him up and he actually buried his head into my arm. I think he wanted to hide in the dark somewhere he felt safe. I guess I was the only thing around.
After a while, I just felt cruel being there with Katsu in such a panicked state. I said my goodbyes and put him in my car. Katsu hid in the leg area of the passenger side. Since I wasn't going to leave him there, I moved him to the back and covered him with a towel. He did not move the whole way home.
Luckily, fireworks are illegal in the City of Los Angeles. Unluckily, however, is that some people don't get the memo. While the noises were fewer, it seems that the booms were louder. The poor dog was still pretty nervous. I shut all the windows (which was not so great as the air conditioner at my place wasn't exactly reliable), made a little cave for him next to me, and turned on the TV a little louder than normal. Katsu went into his cave and curled up. As far as he was concerned, he was not coming out again until July 5th. Hopefully by then, this while noise madness the humans were making would be over. He was ok again the next day.
So 364 days later, the booms start again and Katsu looks like he is once again trying to figure out what's going on. Seeing that uncurled tail a few hours ago just bothers me like nothing else. I went into the bedroom and opened the closet door so that he could hide in one of his favorite spots. I don't think we'll be going anywhere later today. I think we're just going to stay home and watch TV a little louder than normal while he curls up in his makeshift cave next to me. Good thing this day only comes once a year...
Anyhow, I hope you all have a great 4th of July, but just think of all the dogs, cats and everything else out there before you go crazy with those fireworks. Do them a favor and just go watch them at the park or something. Katsu thanks you!
Posted by DH at 3:50 AM.
1 comments.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Why we should read more carefully...
So I came across this posting a few minutes ago on the L.A. Unleashed blog at the LA Times site. It was titled: S.F. zoo denies Siberian tiger was underfed.The first thing I thought was, "Underfed? What does derf mean?"
Yeah, I was an English major.
Posted by DH at 2:31 AM.
0 comments.
Kathy Griffin or Margaret Cho? Uh oh...
Album I've been wanting to buy because it's probably great and it's not even music: Kathy Grifin - For Your Consideration
It seems I was guilty of committing gay sacrilege the other day. I posed the question...
Kathy Griffin or Margaret Cho? Who do you like best?
I thought it was a simple enough question. I mean, people have to like one more than the other, right? If that's the case, it seems that almost no gay is going to answer the question. You might as well ask something personal or private or something because you're more likely to get an answer to that.
As for me, I do like both of them, but I would be lying if I said I liked them both equally. I don't. Actually, I like one a lot more than the other. I think that's where the gay sacrilege comes in. I prefer Kathy Griffin over Margaret Cho by a pretty good margin.
Like Madonna, Margaret Cho is one of those people who seem to be held in reverence by gays. She seems to have an understanding of what gay life can be, both the positive and negative sides to it. As a result, she has built quite the following. Kathy Griffin, on the other hand, does celebrity humor which is another thing we gays seem to love. Her comedy is a little bit lighter than Cho's and tends to focus on current celebrity gossip. She also has developed quite the following. The funny thing, however, is that it seems you can love both, but not one alone.
Before anything, I will restate the fact that I do, in fact, like Margaret Cho quite a bit. She is hilarious. The biggest problem I have with her is that once she moves past jokes about her parents, she moves into an area that I don't really understand personally. I don't mean to say that you need to have gone to a bathhouse to understand jokes about what takes place there, but I just feel I'm missing something. I think she makes me feel that I am not... gay enough. haha... I think she makes me feel that I don't truly have a grasp of gay culture because I've never been a part of this hyper-sexualized environment that seems to be common for some. Yeah, I'm a big prude sometimes, but is that really wrong?
Kathy Griffin is different for me. I understand her comedy because I do keep up with celebrity goings-on. In addition, her standup is full of random comments and she tends to go off on tangents and who knows if she'll ever get back to finish a story she starts. I understand that. I tend to do that all the time so it feels natural. I guess listening to her reminds me of listening to a friend. She just makes sense to me. I never get that feeling with Cho. With her, I feel like I'm sitting in on a conversation I'm not really a part of; I'm listening to a joke I wish someone would let me in on. Besides, I can't be the only person who thinks it would be more fun to hang out with Kathy Griffin than Margaret Cho. Maybe that's why I'd pay to see Griffin live, but probably not Cho (although I'd go in a heartbeat if someone else were buying the tickets and invited me).
Anyhow, so I think I offended people by having an opinion. Oh well, I'm sticking to my guns until I get the opportunity to meet them both, then I guess I'll reevaluate.
Well, at least neither one of them is Alec Mapa. I hate him... Oops, I probably offended yet another section of the gay community... I think I'll end this now.
Posted by DH at 1:58 AM.
0 comments.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Quick update
According to the Panda Express fortune cookie from lunch: Your road to glory will be rocky, but fulfilling.I really hope the cookie is right because things are really rocky right now.
I have a test Saturday morning and I'm behind on my work and studying. Yeah, it's kind of my fault, but I blame other factors as well. I mean, I didn't even have access to the class until last Saturday, so I've only had half the time allotted to get things done. Yeah, that'll be my excuse.
Ok, by this time Saturday I promise a real update. Just let me get that pesky test out of the way.
Posted by DH at 1:18 AM.
0 comments.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Sad day for America
I'm a little disappointed in the state of this country. It seems that we're falling from the top of a bunch of rankings. The latest was especially hurtful. Can you believe that the United States' people are no longer the world's most obese? Nope. Apparently, we Americans could not stuff our faces full of good ol' American pie, french fries and hamburgers fast enough to keep our top spot on the fat rankings. We're now second to Australia. That makes me sad. Then again, I was feeling a little thinner than usual the other day...So go out there and do something for the good ol' US of A. Go out, buy yourself an Extra Value Meal (or two) from McDonald's and eat eat eat. Don't do it for yourself, do it for your country. It's your duty as an American to take the title back from those undeserving Aussies. Let's show them what it really means to be obese... American style!
Now to do my part by eating a donut...
Posted by DH at 5:53 PM.
0 comments.
Today in TV
Song that seemed somewhat appropriate but isn't really: Johnny Nash - I Can See Clearly Now
So apparently, someone over at the Comcast entertainment conglomerate has been wiretapping my prayers because one of them will be coming true pretty soon. Yup, that's right. We'll soon have E! in HD! (No, silly grammar checker, the "i" in "in" should not be capitalized because that first exclamation mark is more like a letter.) It launches in December. I can't wait to finally get my Joel McHale in glorious hi-def... ok, who am I kidding? What I meant to say was that I can finally get my Living Lohan, Denise Richards: It's Complicated and Keeping Up with the Kardashians with less low-bandwidth DirecTV blur and hopefully in HD 16:9 and not just upscaled. (Hell! I'll take upscaled!) Oh man! I can't wait. Let's just hope that DirecTV decides to carry this on their fancy new satellite ASAP. Now, if only they'd decide to carry Lifetime HD and WE tv HD, I'd be pretty happy. Yeah, I like crap programming. Oh yeah, something the other day about all Fox Sports college football games being in HD next season or something. Whatever! (No, I actually do really think this is great because I get my UCLA games in HD.)Lastly, while we're on this whole TV topic, this show Queen Bees would have been great if they had stuck to Mean Girls and had searched for the ultimate Plastic or something, but instead they killed it by trying to make these girls nice. I know someone who won't be tuning in to this snorefest. *sigh* I'm left to ponder what could have been... Boo! You whore!
Posted by DH at 3:29 AM.
0 comments.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Intellectually/Logically Emotional?
Song that makes me cry without exception because I am a big sap: James Ingram and Linda Ronstadt - Somewhere Out ThereAfter fast and furious posting last week, we get the exact opposite this week. I'm sure my three readers started thinking that I had vanished again, but now. I'm still here. It's not that I don't have anything to write about. If anything, the opposite is true. I feel I will end up writing really long posts which will take me much to long. As a result, I keep telling myself I'll write later and then never get to it. Also, I think I've finally somewhat fixed my sleeping schedule again. No more staying up till dawn for me.
Anyhow...
Someone told me the other day that they felt I was "intellectually/logically emotional" versus the "spontaneously emotional" that they felt themselves to be. Basically, while other people just feel whatever it is they end up feeling about something, I was more... logical about it. Things like love and forgiveness were irrelevant if I felt that I was correct in my justification for feeling the way I did. In other words, I would hold a grudge regardless of what the other person might do to set things right. Hmm... I had to think about this. Was I really like that?
I quickly realized that I am, but had a difficult time trying to explain that it wasn't as clear cut as it may seem. I'll be the first to admit that I hold grudges. Yeah, it's not cool and in many cases, it really sucks, but that's what I do. This is not to mean that I will never talk to someone again, but rather that no matter how much time goes by, I will always remember the events that happened or the words that were said. This holds true for everybody.
However, I don't do this to be able to hold it over someone, but rather because I protect myself with it. Whenever I used to meet someone (I say used to because I think I'm a lot more jaded now... haha) and I got along with that person, they would get the full me. I would open up to them and basically trust them to a high degree. As is obvious, in any sort of relationship - friendship or otherwise - something would happen that would make me feel incredible stupid that I had opened up and trusted someone the way that I had. Over time, I learned to put up barriers that helped protect me. Eventually, some of those walls come down for certain people, but not others. When, why and how I end up doing that is not even completely clear to me.
In my conversation about the "logical emotions," I mentioned that unlike what may seem to be the case on the surface, the true me is probably completely the opposite. I may come off a bit cynical about life and the world, but I'm actually pretty idealistic. I may hate people, yet still believe that everyone is inherently good and even kind. I may seem indifferent about relationships and love, but I'm possibly one of the biggest hopeless romantics you may ever encounter and dream of the cliched happily-ever-after. (I remember one time that a boyfriend, who shall remain nameless, said that I'd never really been the romantic type. We hadn't been arguing or anything and it actually stung a little bit. Soon after, I stopped doing all the little things I had been doing since the start. I guess he never noticed any of them.)
I guess that's why I put up those walls. I think I'm afraid that if I don't, I'll truly become the indifferent or... cold, intellectual feeler that I may appear to be. Perhaps my feelings deep inside are nothing more than naiveté, but I always think that one day, I'll truly be able to by myself with someone without concern or fear of what they may do. Or perhaps that's just more of the aforementioned naiveté...
See, this is why I don't post. I'm trying to avoid these kinds of entries which happen when I have a bunch of other things on my mind. =P
Posted by DH at 5:54 PM.
0 comments.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Rereading memories
Song that is currently the soundtrack to my life: New Order - Round and RoundFor whatever reason, I decided to check out the old livejournal. I remember that I used to post on there pretty regularly after I graduated college because it offered privacy settings. Basically, you could make certain posts readable to friends only or whatever other group you wanted to specify. My livejournal ended up being the place where I posted all the really personal stuff that I tried (and still try, to some extent) to keep off this site. Rereading the last few posts, I was instantly taken back to a point that was, well... let's just say difficult. (You might know what time that was if you've been following long enough.)
Anyhow, as I read, all those feelings from back then returned. All the feelings of anticipation and giddiness, along with those of anger and confusion. As always, I attempted to analyze the situation and arrive at some sort of rational conclusion/explanation, but it never worked in this case. It just didn't make sense. The evidence conflicted with the result. I couldn't find a way to approach the situation so that I could gain some insight, some understanding.
Eventually, I ended up blocking it all out. I couldn't make heads or tails of it so I wasn't going to try anymore. And so it was... for a while.
Here's the sad part.
As I read those posts, I realized that after all these years, nothing has changed. Maybe I've gotten a bit older, but definitely not any wiser. I still ask myself those same questions. I still try to make sense of it all, and still can't. I still wonder why I'm affected as much as I am. I notice those feelings I had are all still present, but I guess they've been tempered a bit by age. It's not quite the roller-coaster ride that it was once, but it's still filled with ups and downs.
I still wonder if things will ever finally make sense. I always wish for the day when I'll just know and age has added to my patience. It's only a matter of time, right? I hope so. I'm not getting any younger and the fact that I'm writing about this today means this remains an important unresolved matter in my life.
I can't wait for the day I reread these entries and laugh at how I felt in regard to all of this. Hopefully I'll be able to laugh at how everything ended up in my favor after all.
Only time will tell, I guess.
Posted by DH at 3:59 AM.
0 comments.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
No, I haven't disappeared again.
Song that somehow reminds me of past fun times: Benassi Bros. - Feel AliveOk, so this is not really a post because I'm not actually going to write about anything, but I just wanted to post because it's been a few days and I don't want to get out of habit.
I've been trying to figure out a number of things about school, work, and life that I guess I haven't really been thinking much about posting. Believe me, it's better that I don't. You don't want to read longwinded posts about boring things. I mean, it's bad enough to read my usual short posts about boring things. =P
I'll post something more interesting later. =)
Posted by DH at 3:57 AM.
0 comments.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Bright colors and Alamo-style facades? Woohoo!
Song by artist who might soon (sadly) have her own clothing line at the store mentioned below: Paulina Rubio - Ni una Sola Palabra
Reading around the web as I usually do, I ran across this news article, entitled "Vista Property Co. plans retail projects with a Spanish accent" from The Dallas Morning News.
I was particularly drawn to a section of the article that I will quote for you below.
The company's Sierra Vista shopping center in Oak Cliff is its model. It was revamped in 2006 with bright colors, an Alamo-style facade and a new retail mix including a Carnival market, a Bank of America branch and a Melrose women's clothing shop that appeals more to Hispanic consumers. Vista is adding 28,000 square feet to its 135,000 square feet.
Vista wants to attract more national retailers as well as add local businesses to its sites.
"Sierra Vista shows there's a trend among national retailers to figure out how to service this [Hispanic] customer," Mr. Hurley said. But "to build a ground-up community shopping center, it's necessary to have community members there. We don't have a lot of local Hispanic tenants." (emphasis mine)
You know, this made a lot of sense to me. Nothing gets my attention as a Latino as does a colorful yellow building that looks not unlike a piñata! It makes me want to throw a fiesta AND go shopping. I mean, it's about time someone figured out that Latinos don't want culturally-appropriate advertising or stores that listen and take out needs into account. All we ever really needed was "Alamo-style" facades and Melrose clothing stores. (Do yourself a favor and click on the Melrose link. I'm actually kind of insulted that this guy thinks Latinos have such bad taste in clothing. As an Angelino, I'm insulted the Melrose name is being sullied in this way! Warning: I don't think there's a way to stop the constantly-looping midi file.) On the bright side, there is a Hispanic market where I'm sure we'll be able to buy freshly made tortillas and veladoras with the Virgen de Guadalupe on them. What more would you want? Take that, Albertsons!
You know why they don't "have a lot of local Hispanic tenants?" Because les da vergüenza (they're ashamed) to be seen there. Ask my mom. She'll tell you.
And I thought Plaza Mexico in Lynwood was bad enough (though according to oh-so-reliable yelp, it's not. Whooda thunk!). You'd think people in Texas would have a little more sense.
*sigh*
I think I'll take my Latino hat off now. No, not like literally a sombrero or anything. Ok, you know what I mean.
Posted by DH at 5:20 AM.
0 comments.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
NKOTB - Summertime
New Kids on the Block-Summertime
Have you watched this video? If you haven't, click above and watch it before reading any more of this post. Go. It's ok, I'll wait.
OMG! Isn't it sad? They're so old and, as angelamo said, "It's sad that they're pretending to be richer than they really are." I don't think they ever had that much money.
They're trying to be sexy and they're so not. I mean, guys in their 40s can be sexy so it's not an age thing. Sadly, I think it's just them. I don't remember one of them looking so much like a monkey.
Not only that, but I found the beach party part a little disturbing. I mean, it's like lecherous old men are trying to take advantage of like 18-year-olds. I don't think they could girls like those back then when they were big, let alone now.
I love how at the end they still try to dance. To steal a joke, I think they're going to break platinum if they release a new album, as well as their hips. They're barely do anything. "Backstreet's back..." oh wait.
Oh NKOTB, I'm glad you came back, if only for laughs.
Posted by DH at 4:25 AM.
0 comments.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day off!
Do, do you have a part-time job handy?Do, do you know someone who will hire me?
Honestly, I think I can fit anything into those lines.
Anyhow, I have switched gears and am now looking for a part-time job with flexible hours and where the pay doesn't suck too bad. Do those exist? We'll find out, I guess.
It is now Tuesday, some classes started yesterday and I have yet to finalize my summer course schedule.
That post yesterday was a big pain in the but so I'm going to take a break today. Be back tomorrow! =P
Posted by DH at 8:26 PM.
0 comments.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Apple - Snow Leopard, MobileMe, iPhone 3G... meh?
Song that has no relevance to this post but that I am posting because I like it: Dolly Parton - JoleneSo the Stevenote has come and gone. In its wake we've been left with Snow Leopard, MobileMe and a new iPhone 3G. I have to say I'm a little underwhelmed and sadly, I was most excited for MobileMe than anything else Apple announced. Below are some of my thoughts along with what I can almost hear people saying.
Mac OS X Snow Leopard
Cool! New version of OSX will be coming out next year!
Yeah, but Snow Leopard has no new features to speak of really. Ok, so it has full Microsoft Exchange 2007 support built-in as well as some speed and stability improvements. Oh yeah, and there's going to be some new version of QuickTime (QuickTime X) included. Ok, sounds good, but you're not really expecting me to plop down $129 for that kind of an update, are you? I mean, I'll buy just about anything, but even I have to draw the line somewhere. This better be one of those free updates like 10.1 was.MobileMe
MobileMe is so much better than .Mac and now I'd actually think about spending the $99/year.
Sadly, this was probably the most interesting announcement of the day. Apple finally decided to revamp/kill off .Mac and turn it into something that seems somewhat useful. I'm all about connectivity and making sure that your files are synchronized everywhere so this seems great. (However, did they really have to kill off the iCards that no one ever sent? I guess you should go send as many as you can now, because they won't be around much longer.) Still, where's the killer feature? Am I really going to want to spend $99/year to get push email on an email address that I probably didn't use anyway? What I really want to know is if MobileMe will also let you remote wipe a lost iPhone. I think that would be incredibly useful in case the unthinkable were to happen.On the bright side, MobileMe includes double the storage space (20 gigs) as before. (If only I could ftp stuff onto that space instead of using using pokey WebDAV.) Also, old .mac addresses and website will still continue to work so I won't have to update hundreds of image links for this site.
Hmm... now that I think about it, MobileMe is almost as useless as .Mac was, but only now, it's prettier, has more storage space, and lets you synchronize mail and calendars across different computers. Super!
And finally...
iPhone 3G
OMG! I need to upgrade to the new iPhone! It's so worth it!
Where do I even begin?
The iPhone finally has 3G which is a prayer come true. Yeah, the original iPhone might have provided a great mobile browsing experience, but it was still quite slow. I mean, it was odd. It could load some pretty complex websites rather quickly, but would take ages to load my bank's rather simple online banking page. Any speed boost is hugely welcome, but how much do you want to bet it's not going to seem all that fast in day-to-day life.Another welcome addition was the GPS (A-GPS actually). It'll be nice to finally be able to pinpoint exactly where I am rather than a general 1/2 mile radius of where I might be. And that's about it.
What do you mean? What about the App Store, push email and, hello, the nice new $199 starting price?
*sigh*
Basically, aside from the 3G and the GPS, what are you really getting? I mean, this was the phone that should have been released last year. I think that Apple should have at least provided some other features to encourage people to upgrade. (Yes, I know that 3G will be enough for most, but still.) Maybe they threw in a camera with a higher megapixel count. Wait, no. It's the same 2.0 MP one as before, but at least we can geotag our photos now. Google Earth's going to be way cooler now. =P
How about the App Store and the Exchange-based push synchronization, you ask? Well, that's all going to be included in a free software update for older iPhones as well, so that's not really anything to get too excited about, is it?
Ok, but you can't argue the new price is a great thing about today's announcement...
Well, on the surface, the new price sounds great. I paid $399 for my iPhone less than a year ago and look, I could have bought two today. Not quite.
While the rest of the world was too busy checking out the new phone, lots of people missed another little press release issues by AT&T. (Yeah, the part I'm talking about is hidden toward the end.) Basically, because the iPhone is now "a true smartphone" (read: It's faster now so we don't have to give you a break on price so you don't complain over the speed it used to have), the unlimited data plan has gone up $10 to $30/mo. Also, there has been talk of no more special iPhone plans and you may just have to pick one of the plans AT&T currently offers. Since you have to sign a new two-year contract with purchase, the price for the phone will come out being $439. Not only that, but if we are truly using AT&T's current plan offerings, that means we'll have to pay an additional $5/mo for 200 messages (which on the iPhone, is just text... for now, hopefully). After two years, that's an extra $120. Let's see $199 + 240 + 120 = $559. That's a whole $160 more than the iPhone currently costs for the phone by itself. (Or possibly $40 more expensive if texting ends up being included.)
I don't get your math. Besides, why can't I just buy it an unlock it? I'll save money that way.
Ok, so let me put the money thing another way. (I am not including taxes, btw.)
Current iPhone
- Cheapest AT&T plan with current iPhone data package: $59.99 ($39.99 voice + $20 iPhone data) x 24 (months) = $1439.76 after 2 year contract.
iPhone 3G
- Cheapest AT&T plan with data package: $74.99 ($39.99 voice + $30 PDA Connect data plan + $5 Messaging 200 text/mms plan) x 24 (months) = $1799.76 after 2 year contract
After two years, iPhone 3G with service will end up costing you $360 ($15/mo) more than it does today. Considering the new iPhone is only $200 cheaper than original, you're still paying the extra $160 (or $40, if texting is included) I mentioned above. Get it now? I guess if you're one of those people who like to pay in installments, then I guess you won't really care. Still, it's not a great new lower price after you get out of Steve Jobs's reality distortion field, is it? (I still heart Steve Jobs though and will want to buy anything he sets in front that has an Apple logo.)
Not only that, but it looks like you might have to forget about unlocking for the time being. According to this, this, and also this, you'll have to activate in-store. No more doing it at home through iTunes. Oh yeah. No GoPhone either. I guess AT&T has to make sure to lock you in two years for that subsidy they're now giving, huh? And you thought $199 was good news. =P I wonder what the non-commitment price will be. Oh wait, there won't be one! I wonder how much to buy one sans contract through less than official means, I mean. Anyhow, I hope these are all pre-launch rumors and that the iPhone will continue to be sold the same way as the 2G version, but I wouldn't be surprised if AT&T changed things up.
Whether iPhone 3G is worth it or not is not as important as whether or not Apple has implemented some of those most desired things into the software. For me, I'd kill for the ability to cut and paste, as well as be able to open links in mobile Safari in new windows. I hope that's made the iPhone 2.0 cut, but somehow, I doubt it. Oh well, there's always hope for iPhone 3.0.
But the 16 gig iPhone 3G comes in white now!
Oh yeah, huh? Well I take back everything I said. That reason alone is enough to upgrade! (BTW, the math above still works because the price difference between the different capacity phone remains the same at $100. Original 8GB vs. 16 GB: $399 vs. $499. New 8GB vs. 16 GB: $199 vs. $299.)
--
Now, don't get me wrong. Just because I had some critical things to say about today's Apple product announcements does not mean I intend to get them any less. I'll still probably be the first person you know to buy and install Snow Leopard, I'll be plopping down a Benjamin to get my MobileMe and I'll find a way to get around AT&T to get an iPhone 3G (if forced to do so). *sigh* I just wish it were all perfect for once, you know? =P