So long story short, this has not been the best of weeks for me. Yesterday in particular was pretty rough. These are hard times, especially if you’re a creative type, with companies constantly downsizing and opportunities steadily shrinking. And with so many other folks out there such as myself losing their jobs, the talent pool is flooded and competition is at an all-time high.
But back to yesterday. Aside from the fact that it started with some homeless guy’s smelly armpit in my face, and all throughout I had to deal with annoying, rude douchebags at clothing stores while trying piece together my Halloween outfit (I’m sorry uptight queer guy at H&M, I know you’d much rather flirt with your coworkers, but next time instead of brushing me off to some section that doesn’t have what I want and getting all pissy when I come back because I can’t find it, and then looking like a retard when you discover I’m correct because what you think is there is not, and then leading me around like a dog as you slowly realize that you don’t know jack shit, why not save us both some time and owe up to it in the very beginning, okay?). Though the worst had to be… and I guess once again, I should be light on the details due to NDAs and the such, but then again, I highly doubt this particular party is any position to sue my ass…. a party that I did work for a while ago and which owed me quite a chunk of change as a result, finally confessed that I will never see any of that money due to the fact that they just filed for Chapter 11. Well that’s just great.
I also found myself fighting back the urge to throw my precious iPhone against the wall several times throughout the day. Even though I am no longer paid to write about cell phones, here’s my four and a half word review of the damn thing, after about a month’s worth of solid use: don’t believe the hype. Every single time I feel like going to a rooftop and screaming to the world how awesome it is, the little f*cker manages to do something so retarded that I want to scream. For something that’s version 2.0, its often feels barely 0.5. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a neat little thing that does many things very well. First and foremost, call quality is actually quite good, at least in comparison to that of the first gen iPhone; I can’t make out 50% of what is said from someone on one of those. Email… once its set-up properly, which is by no means easy and took me days to figure out… works out just fine, at least for checking it. You can forget about typing anything, unless it’s five words or less; everyone says that one gets used to inputting words on the touch screen after about a week or so. Ummm, no. I would go into the absolutely infuriating auto spelling correction feature that you can’t turn off, the lack of a caps lock, as well as the inability to copy and paste, but all three things have been touched upon to death by the rest of the world, so I’ll move on…
As for web surfing, you’re golden if you’re on WiFi, but on AT&T’s 3G service, lol. This is where the thing just makes me angry; first off, on top of AT&T’s already retarded rates, you have to pay an additional $35 tax for the privilege of having Apple’s hot new toy. $30 of that is supposed to go towards their “high-speed” mobile internet service (with the other five bucks going towards 200 paltry text messages, which itself is bull), which I wouldn’t mind if it actually worked. All day yesterday I was trying to send and receive emails on the go, which is the absolute only reason why I got the damn thing, but couldn’t because the service was completely nonexistent. I went into an AT&T store to find out if the network was down, and the asshole behind the counter, while rolling his eyes, simply took my phone, turned off 3G, and that was it. So the basic solution is to not use it. Just awesome. I then called customer service, since going to any brick and mortar establishment in the city is an exercise in futility (yet I did so hoping that there’s a God above that the troglodyte behind the counter might possibly have a brain), and it turns out that anyone iPhone customers automatically gets sent to Apple, and upon explaining my ordeal, the dude basically confessed “Yes, everyone at AT&T are complete imbeciles.” He then suggested that I go to an Apple Store, and again, had to explain that everyone who works at such places in the city, especially those working the Genius Bar, deserve to get hot acid thrown in their faces (see: what I just said about any retail establishment). And for the record, the reason why I give people at retail so much crap, like I do for fast food workers, is that I’VE BEEN THERE, I KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE! So I therefore know first-hand that there’s absolutely zero excuse to act like a cocksmith, but I digress… Point being, the absolute worst thing about the iPhone is AT&T, but again, everyone knows this. Back to web surfing; uh, why is there still no Flash support again?
And as for the device’s iPod functionality, it does its job I guess. The interface is nowhere as simple and elegant as the traditional scroll wheel’s, though my biggest qualm is, along with the new iTunes 8, the emphasis on albums and album art, which for someone who has OCD like myself, much time wasted on the internet, looking for decent album art. Oh, and I love how the new big feature in iTunes, genius playlists, is one of the main things that fucks up an iPhone. lol. As for the rest of the phone, and another reason why I want to like it, is its integration with various OS X programs, such as the address book and iCal. The Google Maps app has also saved me much time and frustration all already. As for the third party apps…. again, the ball is being dropped. Some are definitely neat, but most bite. Plenty of random crashes and shutting down of the phone. I’ve acquired three different New York subway map apps. and each of them is buggy as well, despite the fact that each of them simply shows a large image. Though many also feature annoying user interfaces that try to be all iPhoney and cute, like unnecessarily using the accelerometer, which is beyond flakey anyhow. The games, for certain, all suck the big one. Don’t even get me started with Tap Tap Revenge. “It’s just like Guitar Hero & Rock Band!” Yeah right. Virtually everyone blames problems to the current firmware, or looks to possible solutions to future updates, which is par for the course in the world of computing, but most of the time, they’re empty excuses and promises. Also not helping is the means to acquire and purchase said apps, as well those stories circulating of how people that create tools that improve on what’s out there are being shut out because the brain-trusts at Apple don’t like too many similar apps out there, especially when one does something that Apple’s own crap does, yet better. Then there’s the issue of battery life, as it totally blows. Yeah, it can last a long time, so long as you don’t do anything. What’s the point of having something if you can’t use it? Other “methods” to help conserve energy, such as shutting of 3G or turning down the brightness of the screen are all simply gay. I also hate how ultra difficult it is to personalize the device; the iPhone has easily the worst ringtones and message alerts you have ever heard, and changing them is a bitch and a half (in the case of the message alerts, you actually can’t). I haven’t touched upon pictures; the camera that comes with it is surprisingly awesome, thanks to its super sharp lens, but once again, tapping on that stupid touch screen to snap a shot can be frustrating at times. As for managing photos… if you want to load pictures on, like a iPod Photo/Video, please bear in mind if an image is 1 meg in size, the iPhone will automatically generate a bunch of dummy files that equals about 5 megs. Yes, that is totally absurd.
The list goes on, but I’ve already rambled on way too much about the stupid thing. Though real quick, another annoying thing is how my $200 new toy, despite being treated like kid gloves, still managed to get nasty scuffs less than a week in. Anyway, according to the Apple rep from yesterday, I have about two days left if I decide to return the damn thing in to get my money, and I’m seriously thinking about it. Given that Gmail client for most other phones has been significantly upgraded, plus there’s that Google Phone (never-mind the G1 for T-Mobile, which looks lame, but there will be others across all the other carriers), I’m seriously thinking of getting rid of mine. Then again, I do love that animu molestation game….
Since I still have some downtime, and bitching sure does feel damn good about now, I’m also so glad that we’re in the home stretch… this God forsaken Presidential campaign is almost done and over with. I’ve pretty much had my fill with the stupid t-shirts, the oh-so unfunny politically tinged viral videos and television sketches (while I don’t believe Funny or Die or SNL has been as “damaging” as all that Vote or Die b.s. from four years ago, they’ve been just as annoying), the lame attempts at grassroots campaigning (which makes one believe that some ardent Obama supporters are secretly pulling for McCain), all that stupid nonsense. For years I’ve been telling people that there’s no reason to bitch about the state of affairs unless one voted, but the first time ever, I am not going to vote this year. Why? Peace of mind. First off, many of those people whom I criticized for not voting during the last election all basically said “Well, what if there’s no choice that you want? Why should I put my vote behind someone who absolutely do not believe in?” And that’s a pretty valid stance… it’s that same exact train of thought that led me to vote for Nader in 2000. But also, in the same way I was also blamed for “ruining the Presidency” back then, I also know that ultimately, when it comes to the Presidential race, my vote does not matter here in New York. Now, if I was in the South or something, I’d have a completely different tone… Or maybe not?
Now here was the part where I went on some long rant about how, no matter what the polls says, because everyone lies on them, anonymous or not, McCain will more than likely win since there’s lots of racist people out there who simply cannot accept the idea of a black guy as President, and how much as I hate the idea of New Yorkers being better than the rest of the country (but, you know), and that a President McCain will most certainly die in two years time, with President Palin surely leading us to our certain doom, yet how that doesn’t mean I like Obama either (far from it), and despite the fact that he gives people hope, I still have no idea what that’s supposed to mean (I realize that last statement makes me sound so overly cynical and jaded that its not even funny, and I could care less), and how I should probably go ahead with that t-shirt design that says “Don’t Blame Me, I Wanted Ron Paul/Hilary Clinton”, as well as how realistically speaking it doesn’t matter who the hell nabs the seat because things are so f’d right now that it’s impossible for any single person to possibly fix all wrongs going on right now (which in that case, it would make sense to at least have Obama, but if he doesn’t perform spectacularly, which if he didn’t I couldn’t really blame the guy, that just means angry white people will go “SEE!” and insuring another eight years of a Republican commander in chief, not that the Democrats “deserve” anything either), as well as how the one thing that’s driven my nuts the most is how scarily ill-informed everyone has been in regard to their Presidential hopeful (in which I have finally begun to learn what the term “Daily Show liberal” truly means, and this coming from a guy who considers himself ultra liberal, as well as a one time fan of the show), plus how I would LOVE to be proven wrong, but probably won’t be… But it was just way too rambly, plus I just covered everything now in one paragraph instead of my original eight! Back to me not voting: instead of the Presidential race, I’ve been a long-standing advocate of people taking a serious stake in local politics come election years, because that’s what actually matters to our day to day lives (yet virtually no one seems to give two shits about), though I also recently found out, for some stupid reason, that I’m still a registered voter in Brooklyn. Meaning I can’t do a damn thing about the local officials here in Washington Heights. Wonderful.
Though the week hasn’t been a complete washout. Been able to spend time and hang with friends that I don’t get to see that much these days, and that’s been awesome. Last night was another session of Dungeons and Dragons, which has been lots of fun, despite the fact that a game has yet to be played; we’ve all been spending time crafting our characters, which is quite the process! Oh, and yesterday was another Microsoft event in the city. Got the chance to finally test drive the new dashboard coming out this mid November. The good news is that it?s far nicer and easier to navigate the current blade system, which is just a jumbled mess or ridiculousness. Also to play around with the new avatar creation system. It’s alright I guess… its like making a Mii, but not as fun. Mostly because there aren’t as many options; you have a number or facial features to chose from, like different shapes of eyes for example, but once they’re applied that’s it, you can move them around the face of adjust their size or anything. But none of that matters, because the one hot thing that everyone will only care about is watching Netflix movies on their systems, which I absolutely can’t wait for. Also, the definite highlight of yesterday afternoon was watching some 9 year old boy (the place was teaming with kids… contest winners I believe they were, given the chance to play all the stuff that’s just come out for the Xbox 360 or coming soon) sing Pat Benatar’s Heartbreaker. And quite well!
Anyhow it’s Friday and Halloween is finally here! I will hopefully have plenty of pics in my next post, of myself as washed-up Harry Potter, whose glory years was clearly his high school days. I should also have another post a bit later today from Dave, all about scary games! Guess now is as good a time to mention that some changes are underway around here. Joining me with the occasional posts will be Hilary Florido, as my aforementioned anime and manga expert, and Dave Mauro, with additional video game coverage, since that guy does first person shooters and various other kinds of games that I flat-out suck at. So yeah, some fun stuff lies ahead!
