Yeah. It’s been QUITE a while since I updated this blog.  I’m trying to balance all of the technology I use to stay connected and I think I’m dangerously close to overload.  Here are the different ways to keep up with me:

Facebook

Twitter

Tumblr

LinkedIn

Google+

And those are just the ones that relate to me, specifically.  I’m not including YoureDoingItRight.com or CreativePossibilities.org.  Those are sites I maintain and contribute to from time to time.  So, as you can see, I’m close to having every move of my life documented online.  LOL!  So, now comes the task of deciding how I use each of the networks.  I’ll take a tip from my friend Dustin who uses his Tumblr for fun, interesting items he wants to share with others and he uses his blog for communicating personal information such as trips or other experiences with his family.  So, I’ll have to go that route.

Hopefully, I make a better effort to contribute to this and keep it updated.  Basically, it just needs to be my journal and I need to do more of that.

So, for those of you out there (all 2 of you), I hope to keep this updated on a more frequent basis.

Thanks.

P.S.  My family is going up way too fast.

Question:  Why have we as a society become so enamored with telling everyone what we are doing and where we are?

Think about that for a bit.

With applications like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and others, we can let people know what we are doing every second of the day.  I’m not knocking the technologies.  I’m a member of and take advantage of them all (except Foursquare…haven’t gotten into that one yet).  I just find it ironic that we enjoy all of these things in an age where we scream at the top of our lungs about privacy and how Big Brother is always watching us or tapping our phone lines or spying on us through our computers.  Don’t get me wrong.  I don’t support any of those activities.  Fact of the matter is, Big Brother can save a lot of that “stimulus” money by cutting their surveillance budget.  Dude, all you gotta do is monitor Twitter feeds and Foursquare locations to find out where and what people are up to.

So, I guess the better question is:  Why do we complain about invasions of privacy when we so freely publish the minutiae of our lives?

If you have a Mac, you need to check out MacHeist.  There have a ton of awesome apps for Macs for only $39!  The total value of the bundle is close to $1000.  Also, and here’s the kicker, 25% of each sell goes to charity.  Can’t get much better than that.  Run over and check’em out:

MacHeist

Well, I tried the DIY DTV antenna.  I failed miserably. Well, maybe not failed, but the antenna failed to pick up any signals.  I think it only works on TVs that have a built in digital tuner.  Either that, or I was just too far away from a signal.  It was still a fun project.  What was funny was the hardest items to find for construction were the metal hangers.  No one has those anymore…unless you know someone who takes their clothes to the cleaners.

Like I said, it was still a fun project, but just didn’t pan out for me.

I think I might have to try this out one weekend.

MAKE: Blog: Maker Workshop – DTV Antenna & Steadycam on MAKE: television.

Interesting week. Been in Boston for the past few days. Will write more when I get a chance.

If you’ve read my blog in the past, you know that I do online offers for free* stuff. The reason I use the *, is because, yes, you have minimal costs involved, but when you get a $900 check for spending $43, that’s free enough for me. I’ve been working on getting a Mac Mini for the last couple of months. Well, as I was about to leave for work last night, I noticed a package by the front door. This is what I found:

Granted, it wasn’t sitting out there like that. It was nicely packaged. I was absolutely giddy. I couldn’t be happier. I’ve always wanted a Mac. And since I only paid $40 for it, that makes it all the better. Actually, it’s not really mine anymore. Amy has been wanting a computer for all of her hobbies. So, here ya go, sweetie.

You may be asking yourself, “How the heck can you actually get a Mac Mini for $40?” Very easily, my friend. I learned everything I know from a guy named Josh Clark. Go to his site and join his forum. You will be able to talk to a lot of people that have been doing this for quite a while. Josh finds the offers that are legit, because, let’s face it, there are a lot of scams out there. He reviews them and tells you which ones he endorses. The mods on the forum are extremely helpful and knowledgeable about the “freebie” industry.

Unfortunately, this particular offer has expired. So, jaunt on over to joshclark.com and read over his “Free Stuff” section.

Right now, I’m working on a few different things:

iPhone
$400 Gift Card
Xbox 360 Elite

These links will take you to a site that will let you pick either a gift or cash. Great stuff!!! You can have a referral based account or a points based account. I’m going to fast. Just jump over to Josh Clark and do a little research.

IMPORTANT: If you decide to do something like this, you need to be organized! If not, you may end up spending way more than you wanted. Also, let me know if you want to try this out. I’ve got a spreadsheet that I got from Josh Clark that will help you keep track of all of the offers you do!

Well, the drama that was my Xbox 360 is now over. I officially returned it last night and got my money back. Let me break it down for ya:

December 24, 2007

My Christmas present to myself through my in-laws was an Xbox 360. They decided to just give money for presents this year, and I was like, “Sweet! I can use this and add a little bit of my money to get a 360. Finally!” So, I had to work on Christmas Eve, so I picked up a Refurbished Xbox 360 at Hastings that night. (I work there so I got about a $40 discount.) I got it home and immediately hooked it up. It worked okay for about an hour and, since I didn’t have any 360 games, I played a movie. It froze up before the opening credits. Okay, here is the toy I’ve been wanting for a long time, and it is defective. I was rather upset to say the least. But, I thought, hey that’s why they have a 60 day warranty for all of the refurbs.

December 26, 2007

Knowing that the store I bought it at would refer me to the warranty company, I call them first. They tell me that I can either take it back to the store I bought it from or I can start the return process and get an RMA. I tell them I’ll call them back. I immediately call my store manager and ask if I can bring it back and exchange it, he says no and that I’ll have to go through the warranty company first. I say, no problem. I get the RMA # and send my system off to be serviced.

January 7, 2008

The warranty company, Encore Tech Support, receives my Xbox 360 and says that it should be processed that week.

January 10, 2008

Since I need Xbox 360 games, I have been doing offers for free games. If you’ve read any of my Free Stuff blogs, you’ll know what I’m talking about. Well, this day marks the day that I completed and was processed for my free* copy of Halo 3.
(*It actually cost me a dollar. Fifty dollar game for a dollar. Maybe not free, but as close as I’ll get to getting a brand new game for free.)

January 11, 2008

I receive my system back from Encore Tech Support. I decide to hook it up. I don’t have a lot of time because I have to be at work in an hour. I’m still waiting for my copy of Halo 3 to come in. I put in a movie and it works. I’m pretty happy.

January 13, 2008

After about a total of 5 hours of movie and game play, my 360 red lights on me…again. This means hardware failure. I’m a bit upset again and email Encore Tech Support, and they tell me to send it in again. I ask as to what assurances I have that it’s going to work when I get it back and they send back a generic response of please send your system here and use this RMA #. Starting to get upset again.

January 16, 2008

While at work at Hastings I mention to the Assistant Manager, that my Xbox is messed up again and asked if I could return it or exchange it. She says no and that I have to send all defective merchandise to the warranty company. I tell her that she just asked me to process a refurbished Xbox 360 exchange for a customer. She told me that since I was an associate, I had to go with the warranty company. This upset me a little because, yeah, I may be an employee with the company, but I am also a customer that dropped $280 on a system that I haven’t been able to enjoy yet. And it looks like I’m about to spend another $10 to have it shipped back to Encore. That will make $20 total for shipping back and forth with Encore. Just in case Encore doesn’t believe me and they can’t reproduce the error, I send in a DVD with video footage of my Xbox red lighting.

January 21, 2008

Encore receives my system in their system. They tell me it should be processed that week.

January 22, 2008

I receive my $1, brand new copy of Halo 3 from amazon.com. I’m pretty happy with this one.

January 25, 2008

I receive my system back from Encore. Same scenario as January 11. I don’t have time to play my new game but, I hook it up and it works. We watch movies on it off and on through out the weekend. Saturday night, I put in my copy of Halo 3. I have been wanting to do this since it came out. I get 3 minutes into the opening cinematic and it freezes up. I get a bit concerned, but no red lights. I go to bed and pout because I can’t play my game.

January 27, 2008

I turn on my 360, and lo and behold, I get the red lights. Not a lot of events in my life have gotten me as mad as I was that night. I send an email to Encore letting them know how upset I was and that they need to take care of this. I didn’t care if they had to go down to Wal-Mart and buy a new one to send me, I wanted results. And the thing that bugged me was that I kept getting the same console back every time. I wrote down the serial number each time before I sent it back and got the same one back from Encore every time. I then turn around and send an email to Hastings customer support. I knew I was taking a gamble when I did this, because I knew it would more than likely make my store manager mad at me. (More on that later.) I proceed to tell them everything and ask for advice on how it can be resolved. At the end of the email, I write this:

P.S. Incidentally, (this will probably nullify my complaint) but I am also an associate at store 9697 where I purchased this console. I feel that this should not disqualify me from receiving customer service for my problem. I am a Front Counter Team Leader at that store and have witnessed and help process refurbished Xbox 360 returns in store when the managers have told me that since I am an employee, I can’t return mine. I feel that this is discrimination. Please inform me of my options.

January 28, 2008

I call Encore. Long story short, they are a complete waste of time and could not offer any support. They send an email with RMA and they have agreed to send a call tag so that I wouldn’t have to pay shipping this time. Thanks…thanks so much.

January 29, 2008

I get an email in the morning from Hastings customer service. This is what it says:

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the inconvenience your purchase has caused you. Please not that we greatly appreciate you contacting the Encore RMA Company to get your system fixed. If you still have your purchase receipt and all the boxes and equipment that came with your console when you purchased it, you may take it back to your local Hastings and we will be glad to exchange it for a working console. The refurbish are 100% guaranteed and if not the store may exchange them for another unit. We apologize for the inconvenience. We value our relationships with our guests. If there is anything further that we can do to assist you, please do not hesitate to contact us.

I’m starting to feel better. Then around noon, I get a call from my store manager. Let’s just say the tone of the conversation was not good. As I said earlier, I knew the email to corporate was going to get some people mad at me, but hey, I spent $280 and got zilch. He proceeds to tell me that I never told him it was messed up. I told him that I called him the day after Christmas and he said that I never told him about the second time. I said, “Hey, I told your assistant manager.” He’s all, “Well, you didn’t tell me.” To which I replied, “Your assistant manager is an extension of you.” This goes back and forth and he keeps telling me, “You didn’t have to contact corporate.” To which I say, “Well, Todd, I didn’t feel like I had any other options.” Truth be known, if I hadn’t contacted corporate, I wouldn’t be getting this call right now offering me a refund. He tells me that the next time I come in I can get a refund.

January 30, 2008

I got to work at Hastings, with my 360 in tow, and decide to wait until later in the night to process the refund. Getting there at shift change would involve new drawers and there wouldn’t be enough cash to do a refund. I ended up calling Todd later that night asking him questions about the store and he asked me if I did my refund yet. I told him no and he said that we had gotten a couple of refurbs in if I wanted to exchange it. I told him that I might. I was very tempted to do this all night, but in the end, I just felt burnt on the refurb systems, so I got a refund.

So, that’s it. To sum up, don’t buy a refurbished Xbox 360. Especially if they were manufactured before July 2007. Horrible experience and now I have a copy of Halo 3 that will never be used. Oh well, at least it only cost me a buck!

I was recently introduced to a very nice little site. I’m sure that all of you are already aware of it, but I wasn’t. It’s called Lifehacker. It has a great collection of articles about all kinds of stuff. If you like technology and computers, I highly recommend visiting this site.

So, this week I have found 2 really nice web apps. Mint and ted. Since I use torrents to watch all of my TV shows, you can imagine how much of a pain it is to have to go out and search for new episodes each week. Thanks to Lifehacker, I was introduced to ted. ted stands for Torrent Episode Downloader. It comes with a list of predefined shows and all you have to do is click on a show, find an episode and it does the rest. It will search the torrent sites and then open the torrent in your torrent client. Also, when the next week rolls around, it will automatically go out and find the new episodes. Huge time saver. If you download TV torrents, this is the way to go.

Mint is an online finance manager. If you use internet banking or have credit cards, this is a really great all-in-one site. It’s like Quicken online, but better. Very easy to use interface and it just came out of beta so future enhancements are on the way. I can see, at a glace, where all of my money is going each month. Looks like I need to be buying stock in Sonic, since it looks like that is Amy’s favorite place to go. She loves the Sonic drinks. It also looks at all of your expenses and finds offers that could save you money. I pay about $60 dollars a month for all of our cell phones. Well, it saw this expense and went out and found a savings of over $400 a year for me if I switched to Vonage. Neat stuff. Check it out.

I was recently introduced to a very nice little site. I’m sure that all of you are already aware of it, but I wasn’t. It’s called Lifehacker. It has a great collection of articles about all kinds of stuff. If you like technology and computers, I highly recommend visiting this site.

So, this week I have found 2 really nice web apps. Mint and ted. Since I use torrents to watch all of my TV shows, you can imagine how much of a pain it is to have to go out and search for new episodes each week. Thanks to Lifehacker, I was introduced to ted. ted stands for Torrent Episode Downloader. It comes with a list of predefined shows and all you have to do is click on a show, find an episode and it does the rest. It will search the torrent sites and then open the torrent in your torrent client. Also, when the next week rolls around, it will automatically go out and find the new episodes. Huge time saver. If you download TV torrents, this is the way to go.

Mint is an online finance manager. If you use internet banking or have credit cards, this is a really great all-in-one site. It’s like Quicken online, but better. Very easy to use interface and it just came out of beta so future enhancements are on the way. I can see, at a glace, where all of my money is going each month. Looks like I need to be buying stock in Sonic, since it looks like that is Amy’s favorite place to go. She loves the Sonic drinks. It also looks at all of your expenses and finds offers that could save you money. I pay about $60 dollars a month for all of our cell phones. Well, it saw this expense and went out and found a savings of over $400 a year for me if I switched to Vonage. Neat stuff. Check it out.