This recession has been dubbed as possibly one of the worst in history, maybe even worse than the recession experienced during the Great Depression in economic terms.  Therefore it is becoming more and more common for people that previously had great credit, great jobs, great income and even a great deal of savings to suddenly find themselves on the other end of a barrage of collections calls.

With collectors getting access to not only home and work number but also cell phone numbers, the calls can seem to come at 15 minute intervals all day long.  This ironically makes it very difficult to get any work done, find a job, drum up new business or even think straight.…More

Article syndicated from Home Loan Focus.

For decades now, Apple has achieved notoriety and buzz and lots of synergy through marketing campaigns from first, being cool and second being easier to use than cheaper PC products or more entrenched MP3 player or cell phone brands.  Apple helped make it cool to buy a personal computer in the 80’s, and then they made it cool to not only buy an MP3 player, but actually PAY for an MP3 file.  Apple even through some miracle of evil genius made it cool to have an At&t account (spits on the ground).

They motivated the masses to jump on the Apple band wagon because Apple was cool and PC’s were not cool.  Apple iPods were cool and those more experienced MP3 players from other companies were not.  The iPhone was cool and a Crackberry was anything but.

Then the iPad came. 

An unlikely device with too little functionality and a name that had already been lampooned by MadTV 3 years before the product ever came out for sounding too much like a feminine hygiene product.  The iPad was decidedly uncool and some of that taint seems to rub off on Apple too for not being hip to the fact that its male customers might be just as uncomfortable sporting an iPad as they might be buying hygiene products for their mothers, sisters, girlfriends or wives. 

A couple weeks after iPad launch…

“A survey of more than 1,000 randomly selected customers at the online marketplace Retrevo found that 52 percent of respondents have heard of Apple’s iPad, but are not interested in buying one. Another 18 percent said they had not heard of the product, but also were not interested.” ~ source AppleInsider.com citing Retrevo.com

Similarly, female customers have been left wondering which dip shit male in marketing was insensitive enough to let this name get on the white board in the brainstorming sessions let alone actually approve it for the launch of a major consumer electronics product.

People believe that this product may not hurt Apple, but I disagree.  This product may not knock the wind out of Apple’s stock, but it should cause investors to assume a neutral position before jumping on the short band wagon.

The issue is that Apple has done something decidedly uncool inviting ridicule and lampooning which harms the premium of their formerly cool brand.  They have done this in a year following Steve Jobs miracle purchase of a new body part to save his life and allow him to keep leading the company that only he can apparently run. 

This product represents one of the first decisions of Apple by a Steve Jobs sans all the original body parts, and if this were a horror movie plot, the audience would be wondering by now whether or not Steve had either lost his mojo or been taken over by the owner of the original liver that he picked up for the price of a few thousand itunes downloads.

The new Steve Jobs is aging.  He has been an amazing guy for decades as he plundered through Palo Alto searching for an idea to sell, a box to build, a GUI to reverse engineer.  He reinvented marketing itself in the 80’s and even took a vacation to help retool Disney via Pixar.  For decades and decades he has been hard charging and by all accounts one of the coolest cucumbers in the garden, crisp and on top of things. 

Sure Apple has had its share of turds such as the Apple Newton(the original tablet) and Apple TV and Apple Inc run by someone besides Steve Jobs.

Oh and don’t forget that turkey of a collaboration called the IRockr from Apple and Motorola, a collaboration that Apple may have sabotaged from go in my opinion.

The difference between those turds and the iPad is that they happened under the watch of a healthier more vibrant, fast walking Steve Jobs.  Jobs may not be the same person when his body isn’t up to snuff.  He could be a holistic package that can’t function with half his body weight gone and a borrowed liver.  He has done to many things to help make the world more interesting and arguably better for anyone to wish his demise, but he doesn’t have much experience being held back physically and that may be something that is holding him back mentally as well. 

Apple’s competitive advantage in Steve Jobs edge may be a little too iPadded.

Sometimes the best technology gadgets are not the most expensive, take the RCA Pearl TH1611.  It is a little MP3 player that runs on a single triple aaa battery.  It gets hours and hours of play. Much to the surprise of most people RCA actually came out with the first MP3 player, which I owned way back in the dark ages before iPods.  It was the Lyra and with a really large card it could hold a whopping 48 megabytes of music.

This little Pearl, which is about a tenth the size holds a gigabyte and plays for about a work week of time (about 40 hours give or take based on my experience).  In fact it plays for hours after the battery monitor shows that the thing should be dead.

Firmware update needed to listen to AAC files

Way back when I got it, there was something on the box that said I would need a firmware upgrade.  The device worked for everything I needed it for at the time, mostly Audible books and some music for running.  I never got around to it.

Then a couple weeks back I was trying to listen to an audio book a friend gave me with an AAC file extension.  I think it was DRM free as opposed to the DRM not free type.

So today I’m finally getting around to a firmware upgrade from 3.001.005 to 3.1.5.5-ish.

After all this time it wasn’t very easy to track down the download of the firmware.  That might have stalled me when I bought the thing actually.

I mistakenly followed the RCA support links here and here both trying to get me to download some easy rip software that I don’t really need. Sure its free, but who needs more software clogging up their pc?

Finally after walking through the process to contact RCA support, I came across their last bastion of defense against phone calls, a FAQ that mentioned

TH1611 downloads

Where can I get downloads for my TH1611?

To update the firmware of the TH1611 mp3 player  click here

To update the firmware of the TH1611 mp3 player to enable DRM free AAC playback click here.

To download the latest version of EasyRip Media^TM Software  click here.

As John Lovitz used to say in the 80’s, “That’s the ticket!” 

So I followed that link to the download page where I could actually download the firmware.  It doesn’t really make sense to me why they don’t update their product pages or support update pages with this information and save themselves the trouble of FAQ page updates or even phone calls, but I finally did find it (by luck and because it was early in the day and I was paying more attention, if this had been a middle of the night upgrade, I’d be on hold by now).

Couple tips about upgrade

• I had to re-run the firmware upgrade software 3 times before I actually saw the infamous start button become clickable. 
• This upgrade did threaten and probably will erase all of my device data including music and books, so I’ll need to upload those again.
• I have no idea if this will enable my player to work better with Audible Manager which is one of the buggiest programs I’ve ever seen, but I’m hopeful.  (OK that’s an exaggeration but it is buggy as hell and has been for the last 10-12 years)

Post Upgrade Issues

Note, even after I ran this upgrade, my AAC files still would not play, got the same message. 

So then I went back up and looked at the links again.  I noticed that I had clicked on the link to download the firmware that enabled AAC but not the firmware upgrade.  The file names are very very similar.  So this time I went back and uploaded the firmware. (click here)

This may all be a waste of time trying this again, because when I get to the firmware upgrade section it shows that I’m basically already upgraded. 

Note this time I tried to run the upgrade without formatting the data area.  It wouldn’t let me and in fact automatically checked the format data area and deleted everything without me really being able to stop it.  So be warned, if you hit Start it will zap everything on your player!  (sorry that warning is so far down in this article)

Differences

This time when the upgrade ran, it really deleted EVERYTHING on the player, didn’t leave any folders or anything like it did last time.  (First time it deleted files but left some of the folder structure).

Similarities

It still didn’t allow me to play DRM free AAC on my Pearl

After thoughts & Shortcuts

About halfway through this whole process, I was determined to figure out if it was even possible to turn on the AAC DRM free playback option.  I suspected that it wasn’t, so I also opted for the low tech solution.  I loaded up Sound Taxi (free trial download if you are interested and tired of fooling around too) and simply started converting the stupid DRM free AAC file to MP3 so I could load it on my device!  Note. I bought and use SoundTaxi Professional which supposedly runs faster (I don’t think so) but DOES allow you to convert more than 1 file at a time.

Just caught some great prices on several gadgets at JR.com, including a Kodak Zx1 HD digital video camera for $75. (only available day of this post)

CES attendance has been dipping from its highs of past years.  This year did not recoup the attendance of years past, but it did happen to top last year at least during the first 2 days of the show, which are typically the busiest.

Gary Shapiro, president/CEO of CEA, said total attendance by the end of Day 2 was 112,515, higher than the 98,495 at the end of 2009’s Day 2.
The two-day total already surpasses the 110,000 attendance figure CEA, producer and owner of International CES, was using prior to the show to estimate the expected attendance. Audited attendance for the 2009 show was 113,085

source

Many people booking rooms and trips, noticed a lot of great deals right up until the week before, and no surprise that with the extreme glut of additional hotel space in Las Vegas, some of which is shut down to keep perceived vacancy lower.  That said, just a couple days before the show, rates spiked rapidly as it appeared that a lot of people booked trips and rooms at the last minute.

One of the worst customer experiences I ever had was through Verizon Wireless when I purchased a Palm Treo 700P back in 2008.  Verizon loaded up so much absolute crap software on that OS in order to ‘control’ the phone through Verizon’s proprietary system designed to get you to pay for things most phones and gadgets provide for free, that it rendered my brand new Treo useless. 

The phone could barely make or receive phone calls.  It took months to get email setup and once it was setup, then the phone really got buggy.  Long story short, I had the phone replaced 5 times under warranty in 7 months.  I still have the new one in the box sent the last time.  I’ve never used that last one.  It was such a bad phone, I wouldn’t even sell it on ebay when Verizon Wireless advised me to do just that.

“This phone doesn’t work worth a damn” me

“we know.  We can replace it again, or you could sell it on ebay and get a new phone” Verizon Wireless rep

“I would never sell a lemon to someone like that” me

‘we sold it to you’ unstated by Verizon Wireless

summary of my conversation with their customer service and technical service folks.

So today, when I saw the announcement that Palm was going to offer the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus through Verizon, I had to laugh and cringe at the same time.

I’ve had a Palm Pre on Sprint since about June.  Its a great phone and the service from Sprint has been surprisingly good (note I’m trying to get my Pre replaced under insurance today as I can’t hear people speaking on it unless I wear the earbud or use the speaker phone), but aside from mechanical breaks, the phone and service rock.

I cannot imagine gambling with a Verizon Pre Plus.  Aftre my Verizon Treo experience, I’d never get another smart phone through a carrier that overlays an OS with their own proprietary nonsense.  Sprint has some on the Pre, but it doesn’t interfere with functionality.  I wouldn’t even give Verizon a 6th chance, and I don’t recommend anyone else do the same.

I really like Palm devices, have for years.  Sure, its a royal pain to deal with Palm support if you have to (oh my god, that’s ugly!), but their devices are very good. 

You may note a number of ironies in this article.

So its painful liking Palm devices and Palm in general (I’m no longer a stock holder).  I’m sure making an offering through Verizon will help their business, but you won’t catch me getting suckered by Verizon again. (I still have 2 lines with Verizon but no smart phones on those lines, and I’ll likely switch those to Tmobile or Sprint soon). 

So there you have it, my advice if you are a Verizon customer and you have been waiting for the Pre to come to Verizon, congratulations! Now go switch to Sprint, save some money and get a phone that works. 

Addendum: the only mobile phone carrier that has been worse to me than Verizon Wireless is at&t hence the reason that I don’t use an iPhone.  You may think I’m not to keen on Verizon Wireless after a bad experience, that’s nothing compared to how much I despise at&t who ripped me off for over $1k when they slammed me into a mobile calling plan charging me $2.5 – $3 per minute without telling me or getting my consent. at&t sucks in my opinion, Verizon Wireless is just misguided.

A couple years back I viewed a 3 dimensional gaming mouse, it was round and hovered in the air.  It was amazing, yet completely impractical due to the amount of space it took up.

Today, I received a quick pre-CES note about this new round, gel covered mouse from Jelfin.  In shape, it reminds me of the 3D mouse, but without all the extra apparatus.

At around $35 on Amazon, I suspect this mouse might have a future, but only if it debuts in a wireless model.  If you watch the video above, you will see how the gel covering is removable making the device easy to clean, which would help eliminate dirt and grease problems.  So far, I have seen few if any reviews or images that show the mouse actually in use (in someone’s hand).  While I do think this could be an ergonomic advance, I think the mouse pad would need to be positioned lower below a desktop area, so that you hand could be positioned naturally without having to bend your wrist upward as the user in this video does.

If you look to the Amazon reviews, you will currently see very different opinions from the most comfortable mouse to the most uncomfortable mouse ever used.  I suspect the negative review in part heralds from the type of positioning like above where the arm is horizontal and the rest bends the hand upward over the small ball of a mouse, as opposed to a horizontal arm and hand that rests on a lower ball below it.

From Company Release

About Jelfin

LAS VEGAS, January 4, 2010 – High-tech, “high-touch” and with high marks for innovation, Jelfin, LLC – an emerging name in smartly designed, inventive computer accessories with distinctive design aesthetics – will debut its revolutionary computer mouse at the International CES Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 7-10 (BOOTH 9458, just east of Microsoft’s booth). The cleverly designed, ball-shaped mouse is ensconced in a soft, luxe gel covering that hugs the entire surface area and sets a new standard for comfort. Users cup their fingers naturally around the ball rather than extending them outward for a more natural, ergonomic feel. The Jelfin™ Mouse retails for $34.95. The International CES show will be held in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

“The Jelfin Mouse will appeal to those who possess a sharp eye for style, a demand for the finest materials, a desire for individuality and those who won’t compromise on quality and affordability,” said Nick Pajic, Jelfin president and CEO. “What cashmere has done for the sweater, we think the soft, gel cover has done for the mouse. Customers are going to love the look and feel – and be very pleased with its performance!”

Sleek, Modern Design, Soft Squeezable Comfort

A new survey¹ reports a majority of Americans (74%) would like a more comfortable

computer mouse than the one they currently use, and they’d like one that feels more

natural (80%) in their hand. More important, two-thirds (67%) of mouse users with an opinion say a more comfortable mouse would actually increase their productivity and/or creativity!

Jelfin has kept both eyes on the ball with the introduction of the world’s first ball-shaped, gel-cushioned mouse, the Jelfin Mouse. Jelfin’s intelligent new design fits perfectly the curvature of your hand, providing a more natural and comfortable feel than a traditionally for longer periods of time at the computer and put less tension on wrist and forearm. One part cushiony stress-relief ball, two parts cool computer mouse, Jelfin is undeniably soft and tactilely enticing to the touch. Jelfin boasts five vibrant accent colors from which to choose: cobalt blue, crimson red, cadmium yellow, electric green and hot pink.

Cool Travel Can, Functional Storage

The recently conducted survey says more than a third of us (36%) – and more than half (50.2%) of college-aged students² – would like a storage case to protect and transport our computer mouse when not in use. Jelfin really delivers with its hard-surfaced, sleekly designed travel can for transporting and storing the ball-shaped mouse. With a touch of padding inside for extra protection, the Jelfin travel can is included free with every purchase. Funky yet functional, the can is ideal for laptop users – and compact enough to fit easily in a laptop case – who frequently transport their computer and accessories from place to place.

High Quality, Precise Performance

Previewers give Jelfin accolades for its performance and features, and highest grades for ergonomics and comfort. Jelfin’s soft, squishy cover appeals to adults and teens; its bright

colors and sporty shape make it fun and easy-to-grip for little ones just starting off. Germ-conscious users will delight in Jelfin’s removable cover which can be replaced with a fresh one in vibrant new colors – available for purchase soon. PC or Mac compatible and with 1,000 dpi, the Jelfin mouse allows for precise and smooth scrolling.

“With as much time as we spend on the computer, we all deserve a better – and more comfortable – experience,” added Pajic. “Jelfin is dedicated to bringing the world the most comfortable mouse possible…and infusing it with a touch of tactile fun. Why should your hands settle for anything less?”

To Purchase Jelfin Mouse

The Jelfin Mouse can be purchased at www.jelfin.com or www. Amazon.com. $34.95 includes the Jelfin gel-covered mouse, travel can, and free shipping. Comparable in quality to

high-priced, designer mouse selections, Jelfin’s affordable retail price appeals to students and professionals alike. Watch for major retailers nationwide to stock the Jelfin Mouse and additional Jelfin products soon.

With headquarters in Phoenix and Las Vegas, Jelfin is a dynamic boutique firm committed to bringing us the world’s finest technological innovations in computer accessories. Dedicated to

fresh, forward-thinking and problem-solving products, Jelfin artfully blends distinctive designs with strong functionality for a better computing experience, whether for work or play. Jelfin President and CEO Nick Pajic, an established entrepreneur, previously founded SkyMedia, a media company that pioneered specialty in-flight advertising for the US airline industry. In 2008, Pajic sold his interest in SkyMedia to a major multi-billion dollar private equity firm in New York. For more information, visit www.jelfin.com.

I’ve written about the my own Palm Pre on a different blog several times, but I wanted to provide a note about the most important two issues related to the Palm Pre, Whether to go with Sprint, & Outlook Integration.

ZDNET posited the following linkbait and I’m obliging Is the Palm Pre a failure? | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

I made the switch to Sprint coming out of 2 accounts one on Verizon and one on T-Mobile (I had a data plan for a treo on Verizon that was TERRIBLE.  Phone didn’t work on their system, because Verizon lays their own proprietary software on top of the OS, which prevents the device from actually being able to make a PHONE CALL (stupid verizon).  So I picked up a freebie phone from tmobile for actually making cell phone calls.  When the Pre came out (I had seen it in person at CES and recognized it as a very good phone). I made the switch to Sprint, which I was extremely nervous about. 

I have never heard anything good about Sprint, but my experience with Sprint has been absolutely great so far (last 3 months).  I’m paying $89 for unlimited data and 900 minutes per month, which is about the same rate I was paying on t-mobile for 1500 minutes per month and no data, but I wasn’t using all the minutes anymore. 

The rates on Verizon are astronomically higher than any other carrier I have ever done business with not counting AT&T, who also has high rates, but just rips off customers out right with bogus charges that you have to spend 4 months fighting to have reversed.

Palm’s done a great job marketing the Pre, just shy of pulling an Apple.  But too many people have negative impressions of Sprint still (or recently fled Sprint in the last 2 years and are stuck elsewhere), so some marketing really needs to be done by Sprint to heal its image and cross promote the Pre to woo people back.

The biggest unexpected problem I ran into was the absence of Outlook Integration on the Pre.  Just doesn’t exist.

If you are a corporate business user (as opposed to one of those entrepreneurial social media types), this makes the Pre a non-starter.  Even worse for entire shops where someone in purchasing pre-selects the phones that everyone in the company will be issued.

Both the Pre and Android rely on the worst contact management system in the world (GMAIL).  The sync process through Google’s exceptionally poor contact manager works fine, but Google’s gmail PIM just plain sucks. 

I tried the Android first before I got the Pre.  It took me 14 attempts to get the Android to sync up correctly with Gmail contact information and contact information on my computer.

The Pre got it on the first go, but the Google PIM interface is still garbage.  Gmail itself is great but the PIM sucks.

The Pre does a really cool job of essentially creating a data cube of contact information from multiple sources, it just fails to complete the most important item in the check list, adding Outlook to the mix.

There is an after market ap for this, but it should be integrated with the Pre out of the box.

BTW the PRE has the best out of the box experience of any phone I’ve ever used.

Like a lot of people, I struggle with ideas for Mother’s Day gifts. Sometimes, I think of good gifts, and sometimes I miss the boat. I was toying with the idea of buying my Mom leather chaps. She sometimes goes riding with my Dad on his bike, and I couldn’t think of anything better. I even toyed with getting Dad a matching pair as well as an early father’s day gift. But the idea of giving my parents, essentially ‘assless chaps’ just sounded to bizarre. Fortunately, I was saved with this gem of an idea!

Its basically a key chain picture frame. $9.99 (FREE Shipping) – Coby DP151-BLK 1.5" Digital Picture Frame Keychain – Black I think that’s a great idea for a gift. My Mom can work a flash card and camera just fine, but when it comes to pictures on a phone, she’s a bit of a loss.

This way I can email her pictures of the grand kids and she can keep them with her close.

Now, if that doesn’t sound just right for your Mom, here are a few other ideas.

	$74.99 – Olympus FE20 8.0 Megapixel Digital Camera – Silver
	$19.97 – Trekstor 74012 2GB i.Beat p!nk MP3 and Video Player (Pink)
	$74.99 – Iomega 34209 eGo High-Speed USB Portable 320GB Hard Drive – Ruby Red
	$49.99 – G7 Productivity VersaJette M300 v8 Special Edition Inkjet Printer