2X Paper

Surface Pro Review

2013-08-13T05:44:00.002-07:00

Pros:
Battery life is great
Keyboard can be disconnected
Pen allows precision pointing and handwriting
Very fast system
Pro version has full Windows so I can run any software
Good graphics and Windows 8 interface is awesome

Cons:
Not easy to carry around pen

Overall satisfaction over my iPad:
The use of my iPad has dropped by 80%. The other 20% is because of the apps on the iPad not available on the Windows tablet.

Sprint LTE coverage Los Angeles area update Jan 2013

2013-01-06T14:05:00.001-08:00

Sprint LTE coverage has been improving, but still not the best. You can download a new application called Sensorly on iPhone 5 which gives you access to all the networks 3G, 4G, and LTE coverage information.
In the Los Angeles area, LTE coverage is lacking in the Brentwood and Santa Monica area. For example there is no LTE on Federal Ave between Santa Monica and Wilshire area. 3G is even somewhat limited in this area and disconnects all the time. It is horrible. This is interesting considering the population density on these streets.

We hope Sprint improves this as soon as possible as they are missing out on a good chunk of customers in this area.
Hollywood and Downtown have considerably better LTE coverage from Sprint.

Sprint iPhone 5: No internet during or after calls issue

2012-10-17T09:02:00.001-07:00

Confirmed that even with LTE the following two issues are happening on all phones. Worked with friends phones and also my own phone:

1. During a phone call there is no internet: This is confirmed on both Sprint and Verizon networks that there is no internet during calls on 3G or LTE.

2. After a phone call it takes about 5 to 10 seconds before the internet on the phone starts to work again. Sometimes it will take up to 20 or 30 seconds. This makes it hard to do any tasks right after a phone call. It seems the phone has to reconnect to the network.

Sprint Discount Class Action: Discounts Were Given Without Informing that it is a discount for Employer

2012-10-15T15:02:00.003-07:00

If you are a law firm doing a class action lawsuit against Sprint for the following please email us at sprintclassaction@outlook.com

We have information of several customers who were deceived by Sprint when they signed up for their Sprint service. The representative told the customers that they would receive discounts between 5% and 27% off of their bill monthly by just signing up with them. They stated they would always get the discounts.

Now Sprint has sent emails to customers telling them that they need to verify their 'employee discounts' or lose them. Many customers have already received emails about losing the discount. None of these customers understood the discount was connected to any employer they had to work for.

The part that is more disturbing is that Sprint representative has stated that Sprint usually does this after an upgrade so if you aren't able to prove your employment, you are basically stuck in a 2 year contract as the issue only comes up after the contract renewal.

The Sprint representatives lied in this manner by telling the customers that they would get the discount by just signing up and did not inform the customers that they actually needed to be employees or members of the specific organization.

If you are a consumer that was effected, please go ahead and email us at sprintclassaction@outlook.com and we will pass your information to the class action attorneys that contact us.

Thanks

Sprint Los Angeles LTE Has Already Launched

2012-10-12T19:40:00.003-07:00

I just started getting LTE service in Downtown Los Angeles, CA!

This is awesome considering the 3G service for Sprint is slow as a turtle. I had 4G service before so I seriously was getting frustrated.

Initial speed test is okay. I will do more tests around Los Angeles as I get more reception around the city.

Update on 10/19/2012: Just got reception at the following locations:
1. Near Crescent Heights and Santa Monica in West Hollywood
2. 9th and Olympic in Downtown Los Angeles
3. Briefly on the 101 freeway in Highlands area
4. Westwood UCLA: LTE near Westwood and Weyburn

See below screenshot, I did another test today and I was able to get faster then below.

YouTube has been removed from iPad IOS 6: Best Alternative

2012-10-07T11:34:00.001-07:00

Seems like Google is in a hates Apple these days. Apple has (voluntarily or involuntarily) removed the auto-install of the YouTube application. In addition the YouTube application is not there for iPad. The YouTube application is only available for iPhone.

Fortunately, iOS6 has a good developer base.

There are two alternatives:
1. You can download the iPhone version of the YouTube app which is still in the store. The problem here is the app works in the iPhone small screen mode. I wasn't particularly impressed with this.

2. You can download the alternative iPad application called Jasmine which actually allows you to play YouTube music in the background as well. Click here

Jasmine is great because I always wanted to put a piece of music and use my iPad / iPhone for other things, but this was never possible in the regular YouTube application. It is also not possible on the Android. Therefore, with Jasmine you get a better application then the Android version on your beautiful iPad! :)

I will admit, there was one time it crashed. But what program doesn't crash once in a while these days?

We also liked the interface a lot. I was surprised how much better the interface was than the YouTube interface.

iPhone IOS 6: Google traffic and street view best alternatives

2012-09-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

There is a very simple way to get Google traffic and Street View for your iPhone.

There are two third party programs to download from the application store.

Simply go to the App Store and download:

PD Maps: This will allow Google Traffic
Live Street View Free: This will allow you to see street view.

PD Maps:

Hit the little settings on the top left and then hit the lock navigation on the bottom right to lock the navigation.
Make sure Google traffic is on by hitting settings on the top left. And then on the bottom the second icon from the left that looks like a map. Make sure Map: Google is selected.
Click the third icon from the left which looks like a car to refresh traffic view.

Live Street view Free:

Simple copy paste the address you want to see into the bar of the program.
Click the arrows to navigate through street views.

iPhone 5 Maps: Drawbacks & Alternative Apps

2012-09-28T09:16:00.000-07:00

iPhone 5 maps:
Waze: Waze is good for figuring out things like traffic lights, police, etc. The traffic on streets was not as good as I thought. Also, the community seems to be small. Even in Los Angeles I am not getting enough community for good traffic on the street level.

Starbucks stops free syrup and soy for gold card members

2012-09-18T12:41:00.001-07:00

Just got the dreaded email! Starbucks stops free soy and syrup.

Now, I understand free soy stopping as soy is not a cheap product. On the other hand, syrup is just sugar. It doesn't cost Starbucks much for sugar water. I have already sent feedback, and I ask you to do the same, to bring back free syrup at least.

The good news is that now you get a free drink every 12 instead of 15, so that should help the situation.

iPhone 5 vs Galaxy SIII Analysis and Specs

2012-09-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

Analysis:
1. Very disappointing that near field communication isn't there for iPhone5. Both Galaxy S3 and the new Windows 8 phone will have this.
2. Screen is taller. I am somewhat happy it isn't wider. I currently have a Galaxy S3 and even though I like more screen space, it doesn't fit easily width wise in my hand.
3. Happy about the headphone connector on the bottom. Right now its difficult to put my Samsung in the charger and also plug the headphone in because they are on different sides.
4. Weight is less than the Galaxy 3.
5. On/off is at the top, which is good and bad. I have turned off my Galaxy 3 several times because the same place I hold the phone is the same place the on/off button is located. At the same time, I would rather not reach to the top.
6. There is no way to compare the processor speeds here. The Galaxy S3 is really fast, but I have had to restart it a lot. As far as I know Apple iPhone has less restarts.
7. I was unclear if I can use the speech recognition button on the iPhone5 keyboard. Similar to the iPad keyboard with the mic button. Still waiting to get more information on this. Without voice recognition on my Galaxy S3 I wouldn't be able to survive, so this would cause a problem.
8. The Apple iPhone 5 has 1 gig of ram, the S3 has 2 gigs. Most reviewers and Apple have confirmed the iOS Apple operating system is more efficient and therefore it doesn't need the full 2 gigs of ram. I agree as the iPhone 4s is just as fast as my current S3 phone and it has 512K of ram.

I am thinking I will order the iPhone5 and try it for a while. If I am happy with it I will keep it, if not back to the Galaxy S3.

Specs	iPhone 5	Samsung Galaxy S3
Processor	Apple A6	Samsung Exynos 4 Quad (quad-core)
Operating system	iOS 6	Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, TouchWiz UI
Storage	16/32/64GB onboard storage, non-expandable	16/32/64GB onboard storage, expandable via a microSD slot
RAM	1GB	2GB
Camera	8-megapixel BSI camera	8-megapixel BSI camera
Screen	4-inch (1,136 x 640 pixels) IPS	4.8-inch (1,280 x 720 pixels) Super AMOLED
Near field communication	No	Yes
Dimensions	123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6mm	136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm
Weight	112g	133g

Lawyer Jokes Collection

2012-04-26T07:04:00.001-07:00

How do you make a group of lawyers to smile for a photo?
Just say, "Fees."

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Q:What's the difference between a Lawyer and a mosquito?
A:The Lawyer has a briefcase!

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A divorce court judge said to the husband,"Mr Geraghty,I have reviewed this case very carefully and I've decided to give your wife $800 a week."
"That's very fair,your honour," he replied. "And every now and then I'll try to send her a few bucks myself."

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How come sharks will not bite lawyers?

Professional courtesy.

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One day, a priest was walking through a forest, when he came upon a pond. On the pond was a lily-pad, and on the lily-pad was the saddest frog the priest had ever seen!
"Dear frog" the priest asked, "what is the matter? Why re you so sad?"
"Well," said the frog, "I was not always a frog."
"Tell me more" said the priest.
"One day, I was waslking through these woods when I came upon a wicked witch. 'Stand aside witch' I said to her. But alas, she called me a nasty cheeky boy and turned me into a frog."
"But that's terrible! Isn't there anything that can be done to reverse the spell?" asked the priest.
"Well" said the frog, "if a kind person were to take me home for the night, feed me and put me to sleep on their pillow, I am sure I would wake up human again."
"Well, this is your lucky day!" said the priest.
So he took the frog home, fed him and put him to sleep on his pillow. And lo and behold, when he woke up the next morning, there was a 10 year old choir boy in his bead!

"And that Your Honour, is the case for the Defence!"

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How many lawyers dose it take to change a light bulb?

3, 1 to climb the ladder, 1 to shake it, and 1 to sue the ladder company.

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"You seem to have more than the average share of intelligence for a man of your background," sneered the lawyer at a witness on the stand.

"If I wasn't under oath, I'd return the compliment," replied the witness.

A physician, an engineer, and an attorney were discussing who among them belonged to the oldest of the three professions represented.
-----

The physician said, "Remember, on the sixth day God took a rib from Adam and fashioned Eve, making him the first surgeon. Therefore, medicine is the oldest profession."

The engineer replied, "But, before that, God created the heavens and earth from chaos and confusion, and thus he was the first engineer. Therefore, engineering is an older profession than medicine."

Then, the lawyer spoke up. "Yes," he said, "But who do you think created all of the chaos and confusion?"

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"You seem to be in some distress," said the kindly judge to the witness. "Is anything the matter?"
"Well, your Honour," said the witness, "I swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, but every time I try, some lawyer objects."

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What do you call 5000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
A good start!
----------------
To help someone before they commit a crime means you are their
accomplice.
To help someone after they commit a crime means you are their attorney.
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A lawyer died and was standing in front of St. Peter at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter said, "you can't come in here... you have to go to the other place". But the lawyer was really good and pleaded his case to the point where St. Peter said, "OK... here's what I'll do. You will spend the same amount of time in hell as you did on earth, and then you can spend the rest of eternity up here." The lawyer figured this wasn't too bad of a deal, so he said "OK". St. Peter said, "Great... I'll see you in 350 years.". The lawyer said, "But, how is that possible... I'm only 65 years old!". St Peter said, "We go by billing hours".
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A plumber went to the attorneys house to unstop the sink. When he finished he said to the attorney "that will be $400.00." The attorney became irate "What do you mean $400.00, you were only here 20 minutes, that's ridiculous!!" The plumber replied, "I thought the same thing when I was an attorney".
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What do you have when you bury six lawyers up to their necks in sand?
Not enough sand
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Why is it that if you give a child an encyclopedia, lawyer is always the third thing they look up?
Because the first thing a child looks up is dog. The second is snake. And under snake, the encyclopedia says See Lawyer.
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What is the ideal weight of a lawyer?
About three pounds, including the urn.
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Did you hear that the Post Office had to recall its series of stamps depicting famous lawyers? People were confused about which side to spit
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A Lawyer and the Pope died at the same time, both went to heaven. They were met at the Pearly Gate by St. Peter who conducted them to their rooms. The Pope's room was spartan with bare floor, army cot for a bed, and a single bulb for light. They came to the Lawyer's room. It was huge with wall to wall carpeting, king sized water bed, indirect lighting, color TV, stereo, Jacuzzi and fully stocked bar. The Lawyer said, "There must be a mistake. This must be the Pope's room!" St Peter said, "There's no mistake. This is your room. We have lots of Pope's, but you're our very first Lawyer!"

Excessive salt in food products. Lucerne string cheese latest.

2012-04-21T19:18:00.001-07:00

While most consumers look at the fat content of products, they should note that salt content is a big issue. Several food product companies have been masking the issue of taste loss from lower fat items by adding additional salt to these items.

One example is Lucerne 50% less fat string cheese. In this case 1 serving, 1 string cheese stick has 230mg of salt. This is equivalent to 9% of the daily salt requirement. A lot for just 1 cheese stick.

Hopefully, consumers, the FDA, and this article will help pressure the food industry to calm down with using so much salt.

Location:Los Angeles, CA,United States

Does iPad 2 cases fit on the new iPad 3? New iPad

2012-03-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

Will your iPad 2 case fit on the new iPad 3?

The height and width of the new iPad 3 and iPad 2 are identical. The difference is in its weight, thickness and a slightly redesigned tapering shell.

The front display is exactly identical to that of the iPad 2, you can expect screen protectors and cases which just cover the front (e.g. Smart Cover) to be perfectly compatible.

In the same aspect, sleeves and other kinds of cases that give enough room for you to easily slip in the tablet should be compatible with the iPad 3.

Hardcover cases which are designed exactly for the iPad 2, will not work on the iPad 3 mainly due to the different tapering and extra thickness.
Simultaneously, other accessories like speaker docks may also pose a problem whereas things like Bluetooth keyboards, charges and cables should be compatible.

iPad 3 will have two sizes & new features

2012-02-05T12:23:00.000-08:00

All of the rumors on the internet are confirming that there will be a different size to the device on the iPad 3. Many are suggesting there will be two versions, a mini version and a regular version.

This makes sense as many consumers would not want to just have a smaller version. This would mean the iPad 2 would become a collectors item if there is only one smaller size. We don't think Apple would ever make such a decision and lose customer market share for people who like the bigger screen. If there is a smaller version, there would also be a larger version of the same iPad 3.

Other notable rumored features:
-Face recognition SIRI
-Voice recognition SIRI
-Better graphics (QXGA 2048x1536)
-Teardrop design
-Upgraded processor
-Upgraded camera resolution
-4GLTE faster internet
-Extended battery life

Superbowl 46 XLVI start time & gambling info

2012-02-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

Super Bowl 46 kicks off on February 5, 2012 at 6:30pm EST on NBC.

Super bowl gambling betting spread:
New York Giants    +3    +115
New England Patriots    -3    -135

54    (-105)o (-115)u

Warren Buffett: I could end the deficit in 5 minutes interview

2011-10-26T07:20:00.000-07:00

CNBC Video: Warren Buffet on how to end the debt problem. Says if these guys can't get it done then let someone else get it done.

“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.”

Yes, Apple will survive without Steve Jobs

2011-08-25T21:46:00.001-07:00

Many people look to history to predict the future. This is why rumors have been circulating that Apple would not survive without Steve Jobs. Before Steve Jobs returned to Apple, almost all of the Apple CEOs were failures.

What is the difference now, a whole lot. Apple has now taken control of much of the smartphone and tablet market. Customers have already purchased plenty of applications that they don't want to give up. Older folks have now learned new technology that they don't want to relearn.

Frankly, Apple culture has become too big and even with 0 new innovations, it could take years for it to go out of style.

- Posted from my iPad2

Windows Mango phone vs Blackberry vs iPhone vs Android Speed

2011-07-17T11:51:00.001-07:00

Internet Explorer 9 mobile browser speed. Comparison of the new Windows Mobile Mango vs the competition. Fastest with 27 fps.

Skype iPad app release date

2011-07-14T14:03:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago many sites claimed Skype had submitted a native iPad app (currently the app in the store is the iPhone version only) due to be approved in the first week of July, 2011. Unfortunately, I just checked again today with no sign of this app appearing. Could it be that Apple denied the app for inclusion in the store as it directly competes with it's FaceTime app? We have yet to see.

iPad iOS5 shows double resolution with Retina display!

2011-06-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

Just bought a iPad2? Too bad because it is rumored that iPad soon will have double resolution+ with a new Retina display. This means better quality of images.

Many have been testing the bets of iOS5 for iPad and noticed the higher resolution in the Settings. See image below:

GoDaddy Renewal Code 6/2011

2011-06-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

The latest renewal code I tried that works for renewals is CJC795DOM. Last tried on 6/26/2011 successfully.

How to get a Google Music invite and how long does it take?

2011-06-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Google music lets you store your music on the cloud (similar to Apple service).

1. Browse to http://music.google.com/about/

2. Click on get invite

3. Wait almost 3 weeks for your invitation. Almost all users have reported they have had to wait 3 weeks for an invitation. There is no way around this as of now.

iPad users get more spam because of missing feature

2011-06-04T12:10:00.000-07:00

The best SPAM scam has been to do the following:
1. Spammers put together randomly generated email addresses. For example johnsmith@gmail.com may be a legitimate email because the chances someone has that email address will be high.

Spammers are able to put together mass email names and domain combination's that will yield real email addresses.

Examples is they will try john@yourdomain.com, john@yahoo.com, joe@yourdomain.com, etc. They can generate millions of combination's of email addresses.

To figure out if the randomly generated email address is legitimate the spammer puts a image link with a unique URL in a mass email and sends it out.

2. When the user opens the email they will also open the image. At that point he SPAM marketer knows that they have reached a legitimate email because they have unique tracking on that specific URL which maps to the email address.

Most all email services are now blocking these images until the user clicks a button to download the images. (Yahoo, Gmail, hotmail, live.com, etc.)

Unfortunately, the iPad does not have a good way to deal with this. We have gone through the settings and one can only either completely turn off images in email or turn it on. There is no way to only download images for each email.

This problem has been pointed out in several message boards.

We suggest all iPad users to create a feedback on Apple's website so they change this. Enough feedback will force them to make some changes. I have already sent them several emails and have been ignored.

As I have used my iPad, I have noticed more and more SPAM starting to come in as spammers are harvesting my email address by sending me fake emails.

iPad Smartcover Review Small Profile, Portrait / Landscape

2011-03-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

I purchased a Apple genuine smartcover in blue a few days ago. Here is my review:

Pros:
Magnetic connector - Connects the iPad2 from the side to the Smartcover. Very low profile and nice.
Magnetic screen - Don't have to press the on/off button a million times to turn it on and off
Small profile - This is thin and small.

Cons:
Folding part: The folding part is starting to already wear out after a week and it looks very used.
Dirty: It gets dirty fast as when I flip it over to use it, it absorbes the dirt from the back
Stand: The stand has two problems. One is that since its so light my iPad has already fallen 3 times when I came to touch the screen while standing it up landscape. I used to have a better stand for my iPad 1 which never fell over.
The second problem is that there is no way to stand up the iPad in portrait mode. It will fall over right away.
Back: The back of my iPad2 is not protected. I ended up getting a little bag to put it in when I carry it around.

Conclusion:
As soon as someone else makes a smart cover that does the following I am going to get rid of this:
1. Auto on/off cover with magnet
2. Stand landscape/portrait
3. Cover the back.

All we asked for is a good case & cover. “If they had made a case, I think we would have gotten killed,” said Tim Hickman, the founder and chief executive of Hard Candy Cases.

Apple iPhone Joke

2011-03-08T18:27:00.000-08:00

How many Apple iPhone/iPad programmers does it take to change a lightbulb?

None, the lightbulb changing feature is blocked. Changing a lightbulb is a feature that will come in the next version which is only available if you buy a new device. Steve Jobs will charge a fee for this feature and no outside programmers will be able to make a lightbulb changing application as may compete with Apples internal iTunes lightbulb changing application which is an additional fee.