The World of Scott Mindeaux

I Helped Kickstart a Cosmonaut!

I’m always got my eye out on different things and this caught my eye today. It so intrigued me that I pledged $25 towards this product! Can’t wait to get mine!

Tom Gerhardt and Dan Provost came up with the Cosmonaut. A new stylus for your iPad/iPad2. Their premise is that a stylus based on the feel and size of a dry erase marker is more synonymous with the iPad than a pencil based stylus. I think I agree!

Their story was on kickstarter.com. Their funding came thru plus more!

To Cable or Fiber…

I have been a loyal Cox Communications customer for several years. Over the last four years, it has been at my place here in Mission Viejo. As you know, the only choice for cable is Cox. Your only other non-cable choices are Dish or DirecTV. Unfortunately, my apartment balcony faces the wrong direction, therefore satellite TV is out.

Recently AT&T announced that AT&T U-Verse was now available in my area. You’ve all seen the commercials on TV. Watch and record a show in one room and then watch in another.

So why do I care? Well over the last year or so I have been having problems with my service. My router locks up, that green light on the router blinking endlessly for hours on end. A DVR that freezes in mid-recording on countless occasions. Holding for long periods of time waiting for tech support to remotely access my box to tell me to just be patient, wait or the 12:00 to come on the display then it should be ok.

Over it. Three times in the last week, my DVR has fracked up three recordings this week! Not fun.

So let’s dispatch the “only choice” in town and try the new guy.

Have an of you switched to U-Verse? Are you happy?

I Believe

No need to write anything, just watch…

Better iPhone Pics with Griffin’s Clarifi

Well despite the beginnings of a sore throat and chills, I was feeling a bit better in time for my 5:00 haircut with Lindsey over at the Crew Salon in the Lab in Costa Mesa. 

Apple had a Black Friday sale going on and there was a new iPhone case that caught my attention. It was on sale today for $7.00 off retail. It’s the new Griffin Clarifi. This sleek case is in black and has a removable bottom for docking. 

One of the biggest gripes I had about myiPhone was the inability to take good food shots for my food blog, FoodieInDisguise. All the photos I would take would be blurry because I was too close to the food. But what makes the Clarifi special is the slide lens that gives your iPhone camera a macro lens. You slide over the lens and you get crisper pictures for close-up shots.

With this lens, my pics are better and show more detail at a closer distance. Below are two examples of before and after shots.

These were taken in low light at a height of about 4 inches from the food. Retail of Griffin’s Clarifi is $34.00 available at all Apple Stores and where Griffin Products are sold.

Chad’s not a Ding-Dong Anymore

Chad’s not a ding-dong anymore and asks if we can hear him now…

Well the FCC approved the buyout of Alltel by Verizon Wireless, making Verizon the largest wireless carrier in the United States.

In the deal, Verizon purchased Alltel for about $28 billion, of that, $22 billion was debt.

I don’t get that part.

Also part of the deal, Alltel customers will continue to enjoy their roaming partnerships for four more years.

Tuesday Roundup

Tuesday was a whirlwind day for sure. It was back to back meetings, more on the budget, inventory stuff, Apple’s announcements and it was also a big TV night for me as well.

To start, Apple released their new iPod Touches, new iPod Nano’s in a rainbow of colors, new colors for the iPod Shuffles and firmware update 2.1 is coming on Friday. iTunes 8.0 was also released.

On TV, I rushed home to watch Fox’s new show, Fringe by JJ Abrams starring a more mature Joshua Jackson and Anna Torv as Agent Olivia Dunham. This show was not awesome or historic, but I am intrigued and will be watching this season for sure. One thing I liked was how they used graphics in the scene to give us location of where they were.

After Fringe, I watched a bit of a new game show called Hole In The Wall. This is based on the Japanese game show of the same name. The premise, fit into the hole of a moving wall without getting pushed into the water. It was interesting. I guess what made it more interesting is that a supposed person involved in the porn industry was one of the contestants last nite.

After Hole In The Wall, was the season finale of Million Dollar Listing. I have come to conclude and finalize in my head that I really don’t like Josh Flagg. Madison finally decided to move on and explore his “gay/bi” side a bit more. Chad and Victoria are moving in together, but it is Chad who is moving in with Victoria in a weird twist.

I actually slept ok last nite. The last two weeks I have been using the aSleep app on my iPhone and I think it works to a degree.