I know I have at least a handful of designers and developers that read this blog. I mean there has to be a couple right? I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about AuthenticJobs.com - Whether you’re looking for a freelance project or a full-time gig, Authentic Jobs has listings for developer and designer positions in all of the major metropolitan areas. We’re talking big league jobs with companies like ESPN, MSNBC.com, Garmin, and Sony BMG just to name a few. Sounds unrealistic? Think again, if you have some skills it doesn’t hurt to apply or submit a bid. Check it out.

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Check out the 3 minute video tour:

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I’m still continuing my seemingly lifelong commitment to Sprint, almost 5 years later and I’m still under some sort of contract with them. Just for the record, I joined Sprint when they were all the rage, perhaps when the whole AT&T craze blows over they will come back into style, although I somehow doubt it. Nonetheless, Sprint has lowered the cost of their BlackBerry data plans significantly since the last time I looked into getting one which just gave me one more reason to join the Blackberry crowd.

From a productivity standpoint the BlackBerry 8830 is unmatched. I’ve had a number of Smartphone’s in the past and all of them had their own killer apps, however the BlackBerry platform definitely earns its praise as the best all-around business & email OS. I’m almost kicking myself for not switching sooner, almost.

The BlackBerry is supposed to be all about email and the 8830 doesn’t disappoint. I guess this could be said with all BlackBerry phones but the email management on this thing is simply amazing. My work email is all IMAP which means complete synchronization between platforms, and the ability to easily add other popular email services such as Gmail and Yahoo is great. I’ve also had a chance to play with Google’s GTalk for BlackBerry along with their other applications but I’m saving all of that for another entry.

The only problem with the BlackBerry interface is certain parts look a little unfinished, I’ve noticed that some of the fonts used don’t flow well with the design on a couple screens and the menus for the various settings were initially a little difficult to navigate. Also, I’m not impressed with the contact manager and the way it lists the information, the entries are small and jumbled looking as if I’m using a 90’s era Nokia. At the same time the Address Book integrates with the Maps application which is really cool. Overall, in comparison to Windows Mobile BlackBerry has done an excellent job paying attention to features but Microsoft has a more polished look in some areas.

On top of the BlackBerry OS the 8830 sports a full QWERTY keyboard, high-resolution light sensing screen, speakerphone, GPS, Bluetooth, miniSD, and because it’s the World Edition it has Dual-band GSM/GPRS capabilities for traveling overseas, otherwise because I’m with Sprint it uses the CDMA/High-Speed Ev-DO network (look at that! I have a 3G phone and I didn’t have to wait in line for a week.) The phone also has voice activated dialing powered by VoiceSignal, a decent media player, GPS enabled BlackBerry Maps, and all of the standard organizer features you would expect. The phone does lack a camera and Wi-Fi but I still think it’s a solid deal for the price.

When it comes to the hardware the only real gripe I have is the location of the miniSD slot which is behind the battery cover. The casing of the phone isn’t necessarily cheap but it is thin plastic and I’m afraid that one of these times I’ll end up breaking the cover when I’m trying to get the miniSD card out. The device also has a trackball just below the screen which takes a little getting used to, especially for a person like myself that’s accustomed to the typical jog wheel on the side.

The Bottom Line – Research in Motion’s BlackBerry 8830 World Edition is a solid phone that without a doubt is going to remain popular with small business and corporate users. The selling point with this device is obliviously the international roaming capabilities but the 8830 also boasts solid performance, decent multimedia features, and a ton of great features that you won’t find with other Smartphone’s.

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I hate being so busy at work, it just seems like there’s so much more being packed into a given day and for a while there I was actually to the point where I couldn’t get stuff done because I have to keep up with the flow of things coming in. I constantly think to myself that it all has to come to an end soon and everything will go back to the way it was, but I’m realizing that this is the way it will always be, this is life.

My new Blackberry has instantly become a vital part of my everyday toolkit. I can see why so many business professionals depend on these things. Just the ability to keep on top of email as it comes in, manage my calendar and easily sync it across platforms, and not having to constantly check Outlook and have it running on my sluggish workstation is going to buy me more and more time every day. I’ve barely had a moment to check out all of the neat features it has just because I had to put it to work so quickly.

I think the bottom line to this Dammit Wednesday is no matter what industry you’re working in, the actual workload can only grow. There isn’t such a thing as “going back” and the only measure you can take is to find ways that help you manage what you’re doing.

My next entry will be a review of my new essential management tool – The Blackberry 8830 World Edition.

What’s yours?

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Tonight I’m taking on the much needed task of de-cluttering a couple of my daily sources of information. Half the people I’m following on Twitter, I have no idea who they are or what they do, and many of the RSS feeds I have going I either don’t have the time to read or their not updated enough to bother subscribing to.

The last thing I need is the extra stress of knowing there’s dozens of unread posts to catch up on or having to sift through 500 twitter updates from some startup CEO that I’ve never met just to find content of interest. If something big goes down that I happen to miss because I cut down a few subscriptions, I’m sure I’ll hear about it elsewhere.

So if I still follow or subscribe to you after tonight, feel honored.

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A full week before the launch of the new 3G Apple iPhone - lines of people are starting to form outside of the Apple store in Manhattan, taking fanboyism and consumer insanity to a whole new level.

I can’t help but laugh at these people, check out the exclusive coverage on Engadget.

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I spent the day yesterday in Minneapolis, the original plan was to go for a walk in the parks around the chain of lakes but we ended up walking around downtown trying to find a place to have lunch, then we rode the LRT for a couple hours… I took a bunch of new photos and a couple videos of the bustling metropolis that I hope to have uploaded to my growing Minneapolis Photoset by the end of the day.

Anyway, I just wanted to wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July Weekend.

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I think I’ve visited the theater more times this week then I would normally go in an entire month, out of the movies I had seen over the past few days I decided to write a short review for Hancock because I have a feeling it won’t get the attention it deserves, most of the early reviews I’ve read so far are bad, it’s not necessarily a bad movie but there might be better ones playing. *cough* Wall-E *cough*

I’m going to be honest; I’m a Will Smith fan. It’s so annoying when people whine about stuff in some of his movies because I find them impossible to not enjoy with his acting. Will Smith is a good actor and he’s good in a wide range of characters and while Hancock isn’t going to be my favorite movie of the summer, I thought he did a decent job.

So, the movie is supposed to be about a borderline alcoholic superhero that has fallen out of favor with the public. He saves the life of a public relations professional (Jason Bateman) whom wants to return the favor by repairing Hancock’s bad image. Given the solid acting in Hancock, where does it all go wrong? Well it’s hard to take the story seriously, there are a lot of hilarious bits in the movie and most of it is wildly unrealistic. Then all of a sudden there’s a serious moment and we’re supposed to see something in the character that isn’t there because they don’t care to expound on the plot until essentially the very end. In other words, the overall feel of the movie was confusing and the story was poor quality.

With that in mind I would say that the movie is still definitely worth seeing just because it’s so funny and entertaining. At the same time I doubt Hancock will be very memorable, let alone worth owning when it’s released to DVD.

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Paul Stamatiou recently wrote a review on the Sumo Omni lounge chair which he dubbed The Ultimate Blogger’s Chair. After reading about the giant bean bag on his site and others I decided that I needed to own one.

The Sumo Omni is a mega-sized pillow made of rip-proof nylon that’s filled with high quality foam beads. This ‘pillow’ can be used in a number of ways including the glove shape I’m doing now along with 9 other ways according to the Sumo website. Honestly, so far I’m impressed with the quality - $130 may sound steep for a giant bean bag but the materials are top notch. I’ve read some complaints that the nylon exterior is almost too tough where it isn’t as soft as it should be. While I guess I can understand that now that I’m sitting in the chair I’m actually really digging the strength, it doesn’t feel like any other bean bag I’ve sat in before and it’s still super comfortable.

If you’re in the market for some new seating in your bedroom or office, or perhaps a makeshift guest bed, Sumo has a few different loungers to choose from including an even larger 6ft SumoSac in a wide variety of colors.

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Cisco has become the clear leader in technology training because they are a leading innovator and manufacture of IS equipment. Cisco can give IT professionals the skills needed to perform their jobs because they created the tools that countless businesses and organizations depend on for networking and communications. In fact, Cisco certification courses are so big that many High-Schools around the country now offer students the opportunity to get certified even before they graduate.

Cisco Systems recently launched a brand new website called The Cisco Learning Network. The website offers in-depth information about the certification courses and it helps people find the right track for the technology careers they’re interested in. This new website is a big improvement over the old Cisco Academy website because it has a whole community aspect that allows students to network with each other and become more involved with the company and its developments which could make the process of getting certified that much easier.

I can honestly say that my Cisco training played a big part in getting the job I have today and I utilize the skills I’ve learned from the CCNA course for my everyday functions with the company. If you have any interest in an IT career and for some reason haven’t looked into Cisco training, I highly recommend checking out the new Cisco certification website.

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