Reviews

Sep 27 2012

I am an idiot, I bought an iPhone 5

Yes one week from getting Apple’s new iPhone 5 and I’m feeling like an idiot, so before you go ahead and call me an Apple Fan Boy or some variation and tell me I wasted my money, I know. I get it. As my co-worker James would say “derp de deep derp”

I also forget how much klout I have sometimes and forget that one comment about one thing can cause a reaction from many people. This tweet of course was about my iPhone 5’s battery life but I have other complaints too. So here they are in raw anger.

We’ll start off the battery life or the lack there of with the iPhone 5. It is pretty pathetic because I can barely get through a day. I’m not a heavy iPhone user, I sit at a desk for most of the day with email, Facebook and twitter open on my computer so I really have no need for my iPhone. However by the time live after 8 hours it is at about half battery life. Uh… don’t know where that went.

I got up, unplugged the phone to go to work, left phone sitting on desk = 50% Battery Life.

Then there is the 7 hours after that where I am moving around. I may check my emails, tweet and Facebook but nothing that should kill the battery any more than normal. So by the time 9-10pm rolls around I’m at 10% – I’M IN THE RED

Iphone5poop

Okay fine, maybe it is the LTE network… and the fact that the iPhone keeps jumping from 3G to LTE… and the fact this is Apple first LTE phone and they don’t have there shit together but still. How can a phone not be able to last a day on moderate use.

Looking back at my iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, which I still have. My 4 lasts a day with normal use still, after being in snow and water for 4 month and my 4S which lasts a good day and a half with the use I described above.

My only other issue right at the current moment is the change in cable port. Not that Apple changed it but more that Apple dropped the ball on getting suppliers more cable adaptors and cables. With crappy battery life I like to have chargers near by, I have one at work, in my jeep, in my office and bedroom, but can’t because I can’t get them yet.

Grumble Grumble. Yes I’m whining about a $600 product that I didn’t even want to by and don’t even think is all that great.

Oh but I have no issue with Apple Maps… they work fine.

Dec 12 2011

My Jeep Wrangle Sahara after one month

It has been just over one month since I rolled off the lot with my brand new 2011 Jeep Wrangle Sahara and it has been a fun ride. For those who don’t know, I bought this new Jeep after coming to realization I wanted something dependable on the highway and something that, if it broke, it would mostly likely be covered by warranty.

I bought my Jeep from Derrick Dodge after scouring different vehicles and dealerships all across Edmonton. I commend my Sales Rep, Trevor, because I know I’m a difficult customer when trying to get the initial sale. I’ll be honest and say I don’t trust sales people. Most of the time I know the exact product I want, I don’t need to be sold on things, but I’m also really cheap. Part of me feels as though I probably went to far with asking for a better deal, but the other part of me knows that they wouldn’t sell it to me if they weren’t getting something from it.

The Jeep is a stick shift and I feel like I’m 16yrs old again. It being standard did probably help the price, which I’m glad. I did learn to drive on a Suzuki Samurai and my first truck was a stick shift 1993 Ford F150, but it has been awhile. I find the one thing I don’t think I learned completely was downshifting, I’m working hard to master that. I’m also a little rusty on the highway and hills. Part of this is most likely because I’m not as familiar with the Jeep yet, soon it should be fine.

The Jeep handles well in the winter conditions and I absolutely love the ground clearance. However I’m not a big fan of the traction-control; I learned to drive in icy conditions, I know how to correct the vehicle if the backend slides sideways. When that happens though, in the Jeep, and I go to correct it by steering the other way, suddenly the vehicle backs off the throttle and tries to correct it itself. Annoying.

I was also concerned that the Jeep might not stay heated very well, since the roof is removable fiberglass, but I was wrong. The Jeep takes 5 minutes to start blowing hot air and I generally have to turn it down. Although I’m not sure how well it heats up the rear of the Jeep, since there is no heat directed back there.

Overall I’m very happy with this Jeep and don’t think I could get anything similar for what I paid. I have yet to have any problems with it and hope I don’t in the foreseeable future.

Oct 26 2011

REVIEW: Sam’s Deli and Bistro

Sam’s Deli and Bistro isn’t horribly different from any other little foodie spot in downtown Victoria, but it made an impression on my. I was looking for a quick bite to eat on the go and they catered to me perfectly.

Sam's Deli & Bistro in Victorua

I walked in not knowing what to expect. I slowly crept up to the counter scouring the giant menus that hung above. As I was looking for something I noticed one of the staff looking at me waiting for me to make my decision. She did not look inpatient, nor did I feel she was rushing me. Once I looked down at her, she asked if had any questions and what would I like. Then it was on.

As soon as I told her I would like the Hot Montreal Smoked Beef sandwich I saw just how fresh these sandwiches were. She asked what type of bread I would like. After replying she reached for a fresh loaf of sour dough. Then of course I made my selection of veggies and even better she asked whether I wanted Mustard or not, which is a no for me. To top it off I watched as she pulled out a slab of moist, steaming hot Montreal Smoked Beef and cut it into thick slices.

The two staff members I encountered while in the shop were both exceptionally friendly and helpful. They both had a conversation with me rather than just getting me what I wanted. They made sure that I was happy and would remember the place. Whether they indented to be this way or not, I appreciated it.

montreal smoked meat sandwich

Now to the sandwich. It was SOOO good. Granted I haven’t had Montreal Smoked Beef in a long time. The sandwich was fresh like I mentioned, bread soft, veg nice and crunchy full of flavour and the beef or so good. Every bite was one I wanted to cherish, but I really do love food. My only concern with this sandwich was it started to fall apart. There seemed to be to much in between the bread and by the time I finish veg was lying in the container.

In all I enjoyed this fresh sandwich and would go back when I am in Victoria and need something quick and on the go.

Jul 22 2011

5 Minutes with Mac OS X Lion

I have spent about 5 minutes with Lion so far. I’m not even on Lion writing this because I left it at the office, but I do quickly want to touch on a couple of the main feature, features which I don’t think I will use all that much.

Launch Pad

This is Apple’s way of making Mac OS X more iOSy, right? The idea is you press a button or the icon and a group of your apps shows up on-screen. This is not going to work for me. I don’t need it, next, boring, useless feature. I really don’t use that many apps when I’m on the computer. Maybe browser, mail, twitter client, marsedit, aperture, itunes, all which fit on my dock. To even go one step further, I have become accustom to using Spotlight to quick launch any app I need. Cmd + Spacebar, enter first 3 letter of app and hit enter (it learns what I want) to open. That process takes me less time than it would with opening Launchpad, finding app and clicking open.

Reverse Scrolling

This is the one feature I don’t really care about. I’m unsure why Apple is trying to reverse our habit of scrolling, maybe because they have some master plan or maybe because Steve Jobs just wanted to change the way we do things. Either way it is not a big burden on me, I simply just scroll up instead of down. I learn the new way, I move on.

Mission Control

Supposedly Mission Control is the combination of Expose, Spaces, All Window Display and a couple other older features together. First off, I have never really used Expose, mainly because I don’t really know what it does and secondly, I use to use Spaces, but found I hated it for some aspects, so I abandon it (I have two massive monitors at work, why do I need spaces). Really the only thing I seem myself using here is the ability to display all the open windows I have, but that is nothing new.

Mac OSX Lion

So those are the three features I briefly used in the 5 minutes I had to try out Lion. There are somethings I still need to check out and report on, like Mail and Full Screen Apps. I have a hunch those two might get used more than the others.

We will see. Have you played with Lion much, what are your thoughts?

Mar 19 2011

Limitless was Limited

Well other than the fact that this movie tells us taking enchantment drugs will get us further in the world, the movie Limitless is an interesting movie let our mind go. So lets break it down.

Limitless Bradley Cooper

The Idea

Our main character has a crappy life, that is until someone presents a shiny little pill that makes it all better. So our character takes pill, gets more and on goes life. Everything is looking up until someone tries chasing him and on goes the movie. I wont give away the end but I think you get it.

The Perspective

My problem with this movie is, it seems like someone had a really good idea for a movie and had most of it down on paper, but not all of it. So to fill those empty spaces they filled it with stupid dialog.

In the movie this character Bradley Cooper plays always talks about only using the “drug” until he can sustain himself, but of course that is exactly what he doesn’t do. This drives me nuts, I know it wouldn’t make a good movie if he did, but come on. You darn well know the “drug” wont last forever so how can you plan the rest of your life thinking it will.

The Conclusion

I like the idea of the movie, because I like to let me imagination go and pretend that things like this are possible. So I don’t take movies very seriously, but this movie feels like it is seriously missing something, especially at the end. I don’t think this is a movie to go see in the theatre, nor buy when it comes out. Maybe rent it. I feel like this movie is like that old Ben Affleck movie Paycheck.

If you do go and see it, leave a comment and let me know what you think.