Author: Michel McDonald

I live in Bakersfield with my partner of more than 30 years. I enjoy reading, crafts, sci fi, video games, and writing in my personal blog.

My New Virgin Mobile Cell Phone

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cell Phone, Gadgets, TechLeave a comment

Well I finally did it, I bought a new Android based cell phone from Virgin Mobile.  Well, I bought it from Amazon, but it is a Virgin Mobile phone.

We were at the mall today and they have a Best Buy mobile store where you can buy cell phones from all the different mobile companies, and they had the Virgin Mobile phones, but they were more than they are at the Virgin Mobile website.

Like take this phone, the HTC One V that I just bought on Amazon for example.  At the Best Buy store they were selling it for $149.99.  It’s on the Virgin Mobile website on sale for $99.99 and I told the clerk that.  He scanned the barcodes and he said nope, it’s $149.99.  I told him to check the Virgin Mobile website and he said it’s $149.99.  I knew it was a bad investment to buy it from there because I could have saved $50 by buying it online.  When we came home I checked and sure enough I was right, it was on sale for $99.99.

Before I made the commitment to buy it, I wanted to check with Amazon first to make sure I could get a better deal and it was on sale for $93.41.  So not only did I save money by buying it at home, but I saved nearly $60.  That’s good because I still have to buy the phone card to activate it which is another $35.

This isn’t the phone that I wanted, but it was the phone that I could afford to buy and sometimes we have to make sacrifices like this.  The reason I didn’t want this one was because it doesn’t have a front facing camera which means I can never video chat with it, but that’s why I have a webcam on my Netbook and my Desktop computer.  But it would have been nice to have the front facing camera for those times when I don’t have a mirror and I need to check to make sure I don’t have food on my face when I’m eating.  I know, I’m strange, but that does come in handy lol.  I’m sure the front facing camera wouldn’t be great for taking self pictures anyway since it is probably a 1MP camera and the regular camera on it is a 5MP.

Besides the front facing camera issue, I did like this phone in the reviews that I saw.  It doesn’t perform as great as the most expensive phones, but it does perform well, from what I’ve seen.  I will have to find out for myself.

I didn’t opt for the 1-day shipping for $18, instead I got the 2-day shipping for $10 which means I will get it on Monday, December 24th which means I will get it just in time for Christmas lol.  If I had gotten the free 5-day shipping, I’d have to wait until the end of next week.  I guess that would be ok to wait, but I don’t want to wait lol.

So yay, welcome to the year 2012/13 lol.  I have been using an old type of phone for such a long time that I won’t know what to do with myself.  I’ve never had an android phone so I’ve never known the joys of apps like the rest of the world does.

I will be giving my phone away to someone who needs it which means I will be getting a new phone number.  That kinda sucks but I wasn’t married to the one I have now anyway, I still don’t remember what the number is lol.

So until Monday…

Could the Star Trek comm badge become a reality?

On By Michel McDonaldIn Products I Like, Science Fiction, TechLeave a comment

tng comm badges

I saw a picture on Facebook today of the Starship Enterprise from the original series, but it was all made of Christmas lights.  That got me thinking about comm badges.  I consider myself to be a nerd, but I don’t have a Star Trek uniform or a comm badge, so perhaps I should either buy one, or turn in my nerd membership card.

As I was browsing Google, it came to me.  I wonder if they make a Bluetooth enabled comm badge that looks exactly like the Star Trek comm badge that actually works with your phone.  Most phones now have voice recognition right?  So I wonder if they have made a comm badge that when you tap it, you can say “Call Aunt Louise” and it places the call.

comm badge

Guess what… I found it!  It’s not exactly what I had in mind, but it is a step in the right direction.  This is called “CommBadge” and it works with your iPhone and Android phone using BlueTooth technology.  It isn’t in the shape I was hoping, but how can I expect them to legally use that licensed design without incurring lawsuits?

This is a start up company, so they don’t actually sell these yet, but if they can get their funding with Indie GoGo, then they will be able to make and sell these and perhaps every person in the world will have one.  They have 10 days as of this posting and have only raised $18k of $100k, so unless people help them out, we will probably never see this awesome design.

May I convince you?  They have several different models.  One without anything that just has the regular features, then they have others that have a badge holder for work and one that has the retractable badge holder for perhaps those who need to swipe their badge.  It all does the same thing whether you have the badge holder or not and that is almost exactly what you think the Star Trek comm badge would do.

You press the button (the speaker) and you hear that iPhone Siri ding ding sound and you tell it what you want and it responds without you ever having to take your phone out of your pocket.  Android has something similar to Siri, but they don’t show that in the video (below).  You can tap the CommBadge and say “Call Sally” and it will dial her number and you and everyone else around you can hear Sally answer the phone and talk and you can talk back to her.  I assume when the conversation is over you hang up by pressing the button again.

What is more exciting is that you can chat with your phone just like you normally do.  Like my partner likes to talk to his iPhone to text people.  He will say “Text Mike” and then he will say what he wants to tell me and the words spell out on the screen.  I assume it would do the same thing, without you having to look at it.  Of course Siri’s voice recognition software isn’t exact every time so there might be some confusion when I receive the actual text, but I won’t know until this thing ever comes out.

I am also assuming that you can get directions too, but I don’t think Siri will tell you to go here and turn there and get you to your destination just by using the CommBadge.  I have tried it by looking at the phone and there weren’t any turn by turn directions from Siri, I had to actually look at the screen.  But that would be cool if she gave you a heads up while you were driving without looking.

Anyway, here’s the video, perhaps if you like it you might want to help their cause to get this thing started.  I’m sure whatever you donate, you will get that product if and when they launch it.  I think it’s awesome and I would help if I had the money, but it’s Christmas.  How do they expect people to have money this month?  I mean seriously lol.

Tell me what you think.  Would you use this?  If I had an android phone, I certainly would.

A New Phone for (a belated) Christmas

On By Michel McDonaldIn TechLeave a comment

I wrote about how I wanted to buy myself a new cell phone from Virgin Mobile for Christmas, but I can’t seem to settle on which phone I want and I keep changing the phone in that post.  I said I am not getting it for games, but here’s the thing, it doesn’t matter if I play games on it or not, if it can’t play games well, then what hope do I have for it running apps?  So I want a phone that is capable of running apps as well as well as it runs games because I don’t want to be in an app and suddenly the phone freezes up.

The phone I wanted in the beginning was on sale for $49, but after seeing a video review on YouTube for it, I decided that it wasn’t what I wanted.  They always say you get what you pay for, and for $50 you are probably getting a piece of crap.  The phone is normally $100, but still, if they show a game freezing in the review then that’s enough for me to say no.

I have been watching other reviews for other phones and even though they are good phones, none of them compare to the quality you get with the most expensive Android phone that they have.

The HTC EVO V 4G is on sale for $189 and takes 3D pictures and video, which is nice and all, but where else am I going to see those besides the phone?  I can’t print the 3D images and I can’t watch the videos on my 2D TV, so what’s the point?  Plus it only takes 5MP pictures.  The most expensive one takes 8MP pictures and it doesn’t have 3D.  So I would say screw the 3D, I don’t need it.

The HTC One V and the Samsung Galaxy Reverb are both good phones, the HTC One V is on sale for $100 and the Samsung Galaxy Reverb is on sale for $150, but again, not as good as the most expensive one which I now see is no longer as cheap as it was yesterday.  It is the Samsung Galaxy S II 4G.  I can’t afford that for a phone.  So my 2 choices are now down to the HTC One V and the Samsung Galaxy Reverb.

I still can’t afford anything until next month.  I have already set aside $40 and I will have more than $100 coming to me next month for blogging and tweeting which is at least 6 months worth, so it’s not a lot lol.  Whatever amount I have will determine which phone I get.  I want the HTC One V because it seems like a much better phone, even though it’s cheaper than the Samsung Galaxy Reverb.  Of course, neither of them are as good as the Galaxy S II, but if that is all I can afford, then that’s all I can afford.  I will probably most likely have to pay separately for the plan after I buy the phone, so whatever it is I can add $35 to the price.

The toughest part is that by the time I have the money for the phone, they won’t be on sale anymore so I will end up paying more for the phone.  I’ll probably end up checking Amazon and VirginMobileUSA.com every day to see if they have a sale and which one is worth getting.  Who knows, maybe by the time I have the money saved up, they might have new phones that are better than the 2 I’m torn between.

I don’t really need a new cell phone because I hardly ever use the one I have, so this isn’t a necessity, but I would like to have a new one because I feel like I’m stuck in the dark ages with the one I have, even though I’ve only had it for a year and a half lol.  It’s like having a black and white TV when everyone else has color, or having a Nintendo 64 when everyone else has PlayStation.  This is starting to sound like an Alanis Morissette song.  It’s like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife lol.

My phone never has a good signal, so whenever I call anyone with it, I feel like I’m going to get cut off so that’s why I don’t like to use it.  I know it’s not the phones fault, but how do I know it’s not?  It’s a Samsung T401G from Net10.  I have had trouble downloading games for it because of the bad signal.  I have to wait until we go to a doctor’s appointment or to the mall to get a good enough signal just to download games, and forget about checking email because every time I try to do that, Gmail has to send me a new code which comes in a text so I have to leave the browser and read the text and try to remember the code so I can enter it when I go back to the browser.  It’s just a horrible phone lol.  I want a new phone because I feel if I had a better phone I might use it more.  I may not call people, but I will use the apps.

Another reason I want a smart phone is so that I can use Twitter and Facebook when we’re not home and I can’t get to a computer or I don’t want to be rude enough to take out my Chromebook.  It will be so much easier to pull my phone out and do a quick Facebook update or tweet and then put it back in my pocket.  It will also be so much easier and faster to tweet pictures that I have taken with my phone instead of having to upload pics to Picasa to edit before uploading to Facebook and Twitter.  It will take so many long steps out of the equation.  Also I can read email and respond right away, not that I get a lot of emails anymore since Facebook and Twitter came out, but still.

I will have to wait and see what happens in January before I can make a firm decision on whether I will get a new phone and which one it will be.  I hope it’s a good one and is 100 times better than the one I have.

The Sims 2 Castaway for PSP

On By Michel McDonaldIn Games, PSPLeave a comment

sims2castaway-01

I have wanted to play this game for as long as I have had my PSP and I finally bought it today via digital download on the PlayStation Store directly on the PSP.  I love how you can just download games right onto your game system lol.  I mean, I couldn’t do that with my Atari 2600 back when I was a kid, or my Sega Game Gear and Nintendo Game Boy when I was in my early 20’s.  I just think this technology is awesome.  But I digress.

I love The Sims, I don’t know what it is about the series or why I like it so much.  In the  Sims games, you have to do certain things like sleep, eat, use the restroom, socialize, entertain yourself etc.  If you don’t do these things then your Sim will be very unhappy and probably die.  I’ve never let it get to that point so I wouldn’t know for sure that that would happen.

The Sims 2 Castaway, you start out on a boat and you get to add a bunch of characters.  I only added 2 because at the start of a game, I don’t want to have to deal with taking care of a bunch of Sims’ needs.  I can barely handle 1, so I just made 2 so that when the time came to take care of the 2nd guys needs, then I will figure it out.  I have the game forever so I can always either go back in and start over, or I can start a 2nd game.

After I created my Sims, they went sailing and there was a storm and yadda yadda yadda, stranded on a deserted island… castaway lol.  He is alone, so my 2nd sim must be somewhere else.  I haven’t found him yet.

All I seem to do is harvest things and fill my Sims needs.  I have to harvest banana leaves and vines and food and this and that and the other.  I need to harvest in order to eat, but I also have to harvest in order to make things, like clothes, a bed, a hut and whatever sorted things there are to make.  Even though I have to harvest everything, I already know that it doesn’t matter because I’m already addicted to it.  I just looked at the clock and it’s 1:30am.  The last time I checked the clock it was 11:30pm.  So I’ve been staring at my PSP for the last 2 hours like a zombie lol.

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This is my character.  You know, it’s too bad the PSP doesn’t take screenshots, otherwise the image would be so much nicer.  Here he is wearing “Elven Short Shorts” because I didn’t have the ingredients for making anything else.  This outfit took 5 banana leaves and 5 vines.  In order to make something else, I will need more of the same ingredients as well as grass.  Actually, this is the first outfit that I made, the second outfit I made is actually kind of embarrassing.  I wouldn’t want my picture taken with it on and so I am going to respect my Sim by not showing what he is wearing, you know, out of respect for a person that doesn’t exist lol.  He still has pride you know.

EA has only released 3 games for the PSP.  The Sims, The Sims 2: Pets and The Sims 2: Castaway.  I would love it if they would have 1 game with expansions you can buy, or maybe the Sims 3 with or without expansions.  I’d love to play the Sims that you get to play on the Android phones that have vampires in it lol.  Oh well, I will keep dreaming about that Android phone and maybe one day I might get one.  I will keep dreaming.  In the meantime, I have this new game to play and I love it.

DealDash the Fair and Honest Auction Site

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

DealDash_logo

I have heard of DealDash, but haven’t tried it yet because I am sure I would probably get addicted and go crazy with it, to be honest lol.  If you don’t know what DealDash is, it’s an auction site where you buy bids for .60 cents each and an item starts at $0.00 and every time you place a bid, it goes up by 1 penny.  If you lose the auction, you lose all of your bids, but you can get them all back if you buy the item at it’s full retail price.

It’s not too complicated.  Check out the DealDash Facebook page and read more about the DealDash Wikipedia page.  There are many videos on YouTube, here is one DealDash Review that you can check out.  This woman says she won some Amazon gift cards for sometimes 1 bid and they are worth $10.  That is a huge saving to me.  I think I might give it a try to see if I can get a new phone.  Wish me luck!

Does This Renew or Destroy Your Faith In Humanity?

On By Michel McDonaldIn NewsLeave a comment

homeless man gets boots

I was so touched when I read about the story of a police officer in New York City giving this homeless man socks and a $75 pair of Sketchers boots.  According to police officer Lawrence DePrimo, a two-year veteran of the NYPD, “he had blisters about the size of my hands.”  He felt sorry for the guy so he did a good deed and he paid with it out of his own pocket.  Bravo!

See, I was homeless when I was a teenager and when I was in my early 20’s, so any time I see anyone giving so generously to a homeless person who never asked for anything, it gives me hope.  However, this homeless man, now identified as Jeffrey Hillman had allegedly “sold” or “gave away” his new shoes, according to an article that I read.  Whether he did that or not didn’t diminish the good deed that Lawrence DePrimo did.  I still have faith in humanity.

I am just now finding out that Jeffrey Hillman isn’t homeless.  According to CNN…

“Jeffrey Hillman, who served in the military, is eligible for support through the federal Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Support Housing program, Diamond said.

“Thanks to that program, Jeffrey Hillman has a Bronx apartment that has been paid for outright, Diamond said, emphasizing there was no need for the man to “panhandle on the streets to pay rent.” Diamond would not give any details about Jeffrey Hillman’s use of the apartment.”

The thing is, even knowing this “homeless guy” has an apartment, it doesn’t diminish the good deed done by Lawrence DePrimo who had no idea that the man he was helping didn’t need help.  We shouldn’t all lose our faith in humanity just because this homeless guy turned out to be faking being homeless because maybe he gets enough money to pay his rent, but what about his food?  Look at him, he’s skin and bones.  Perhaps he really doesn’t have shoes, I mean, according to the officer, he had blisters about the size of his hands on the bottoms of his feet, so maybe he doesn’t get enough money to get by.

I am not defending him, I’m just saying don’t throw your hands up in the air and say this whole thing was a fraud because the cop was still doing a good deed, and no matter what the outcome is, it was still a good will story and we needed some good news after hurricane Sandy.  Don’t give up on believing in humanity just because the guy who was surprised with a gift wasn’t really homeless.  The cop didn’t know that and he didn’t give him the boots for a publicity stunt, and the homeless man wasn’t expecting to receive any gifts that day.  According to the article on Huffington Post, “He smiled from ear to ear,” DePrimo said. “It was like you gave him a million dollars.”

What I’m really saying is, don’t be so skeptical about everyone because there are still some good people out there in the world doing good deeds.  They say “one apple spoils the barrel” but that doesn’t mean you should give up on everything else from here on out.  I still say that cop deserves a medal for his good deed and I thank him for his service and his gift.

Dr. Jim and Bob’s Funny Health Advice

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of © Blue Shield of California for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Everyone has to visit the doctor from time to time, some more than others depending on what ails them.  I have to go once a month because I have serious health issues, but sometimes I have minor issues that I should discuss with my doctor, but I don’t always because it’s a bit embarrassing.  Even though he is my doctor, it still makes me blush to have to talk about constipation, diarrhea or whatever embarrassing things you have to talk about.  Sometimes you want to go to a website to check things out before speaking to your doctor, and Dr. Jim and Bob are probably the best people to help because they make you giggle.

Check out Dr. Jim and Bob’s Fun & Helpful Health Advice on Facebook and watch all of their videos.  Every day, Dr. Jim and Bob scour the internet looking for people who have problems that they for one reason or another discuss, and they leave a reply with a link to one of their videos.  Perhaps the health issues I have blogged about have stumped them and they just don’t know how to respond.  Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.  Hmmm…

Dr. Jim and Bob are with Blue Shield of California which is a non-profit company.  They offer easy access to chiropractors, acupuncture and other alternative care.  They offer access to great doctors and they have a wide range of health plans that you can actually afford.  Imagine that.

I think I have benefitted from some of the advice that Dr. Jim and Bob have given in their videos.  One of the issues I have is with heartburn and Dr. Jim and Bob discuss how perhaps I get heartburn because I might be eating too much or the wrong foods, or perhaps maybe I just need to go on a diet and lose some weight.  Are you calling me fat Dr. Jim?  LOL just kidding… or am I?  Watch the video, it’s hilarious.

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WizOrb PSP Mini

On By Michel McDonaldIn Games, PSPLeave a comment

wizorb_titlescreen

I have been spending a lot of my time lately either resting in bed, getting a shiatsu massage or a vibrating massage because of the chronic pain that I have been suffering in my back lately.  I say lately, but I have had Degenerative Disc Disease for a few years now, or longer, I only found out a few years ago from an MRI that I had it because of my shoulder pain.  I have actually been suffering chronic pain for a long time, but it comes and goes and this time it seems like it doesn’t want to go because I have been in constant pain for the last couple of weeks.

Because I’ve been spending a lot of time resting my back, I have been wishing I had a more mobile computer than my Chromebook which doesn’t seem to want to be used anymore since it disconnects from my WiFi as soon as I start typing.  I have many devices that I can use besides my desktop and my Chromebook, but they don’t load websites as well.

My cell phone is, as I like to call it a dumb phone, since it’s not a smart phone.  I would love to buy an android phone from Virgin Mobile so I can do all of my internet stuff while laying in bed, but since I don’t have one, I figured I would go onto the MediaGo Sony Store to see what new game I can download for my PSP.  I had $2.09 available in my account, so I figured I’d find something around that price, and I found WizOrb in the Mini section for $1.99.  That should keep me busy since it’s a new game I’ve never played before.

I loaded the game and played the first bit of it and was a little confused because it basically looks like I’m playing pong, but with better graphics lol.  Speaking of the graphics, it reminds me of The Legend of Zelda for my old Game Boy from 1994, except in color.  It’s like Link’s Awakening to Pong.

That’s just my first impression, I haven’t really gotten to know the game yet so I can’t really form an opinion of the game until I get really into it.  I do look forward to playing it though because it does look like a ton of fun, even though it’s a PSP Mini lol.

I will come back and blog about how much fun I am having when I get to play it more.

Update: This game is really hard lol.  I give them props for difficulty, even at normal pace.

Wait 24 hours before hitting the panic button

On By Michel McDonaldIn Daily Blog1 Comment

HPNX1994

Imagine walking to the grocery store with really bad back pain just to buy 1 gallon of milk so you can make dinner.  You get there and you are heading to the check stand and you reach into your back pocket only to discover that it’s empty.  Just before panic sets in, you try the other pocket, then the front pockets and then check your jacket pockets.  Nothing.  You forgot your wallet!  *FACEPALM*

You sort of laugh it off, but you text your loved one at home asking them to grab your wallet and bring it to the store, but when they arrive, they didn’t bring your wallet.  When you get back to the house with groceries already paid for, you go check your desk where you thought it was, but it’s not there.  You look everywhere and panic sets in.

That happened to me last night.  I was in complete panic.  Even though I added the milk to the dinner and turned the stove back on, dinner was the last thing on my mind, in fact, I had lost my appetite.  I ransacked the whole house 20 times.  I checked the bank website and of course nothing had happened, but in my panic I called them to have them block my debit card so it can’t be used and issued me a new card which cost $5.

Even though I knew it wasn’t in there, I checked the car at least 3 or 4 times.  I checked the trash cans, I even looked in the freezer and the refrigerator… just in case.

When I woke up this morning, naturally I had to search the entire house again, and then again every hour.  I knew that someone else had it and that I would never see it again, but I still had hope that I’d still find it in the house somewhere.

I was in the living room less than 24 hours after I lost my wallet standing behind a chair and I moved my foot toward the chair and stepped on something soft.  At first I thought the dog had an accident, so I moved my foot away and looked and saw what looked exactly like my wallet.  At first I was thinking that perhaps it was wishful thinking.  I focused my eyes a bit more and the image of my wallet was still there, so I reached down and picked it up and holy crap, it was my wallet!  I found my wallet!

So, I guess I had reacted way too soon because now I can’t pay for anything until my new debit card comes.  I can write checks, but I really don’t like to do that because if you aren’t careful, they will become like rubber.

It’s awesome that I found my wallet, but I just wish that I had kept an eye on my bank account before calling them to cancel my card to issue me a new one.  If I really did lose my wallet outside, then someone would buy something and if that happened then naturally I would call them and cancel my debit card.  I don’t know, I guess it was a “better safe than sorry” thing.  Now I’m sorry that I was so safe lol.

This wallet is a bit immature for me.  I bought it at the 2012 Bakersfield Gay Pride festival for $5.  I bought it because it reminded me of my vans that I had when I was 15 years old.  It even has velcro lol.  It has a chain on it, but I took it off because of how cheap it is.  When I finally found it, I put the chain back on and clipped it to the belt loop of my pants so that the next time I take off my pants, the wallet won’t fly out of the pocket and this won’t happen again.

The good part of all of this is that I saved $30 because I won’t have to go to the DMV to get a new ID card.  It also saves me from worrying about identity theft because my ID card has my name and address and my insurance card has my social security number on it.  My identity has been stolen before and I would hate to go through that again.

A huge sigh of relief!