2005 February

For those of you who own the v710: I have come across several posts on this thread on HowardForums from Verizon subscribers that say they have been able to get out of their contracts without early termination fee by producing an advertisement that was on the Verizon website a few months ago. It has been floating around this thread and you may be able to find something there to get out of your contact if you wish.

Read more on Bluetooth on the Motorola V710…

Seems that one of yesterday's entries sparked a slight controversy…:
Lockergnomie Ben Oddo:

Honestly, do you really think that having a consumer breathalyzer would really curb alcohol related vehicular collisions? Not really. Anyone who has been drinking and is aware of their own sobriety and tolerance to alcohol knows when to stop drinking, and those who are obviously drunk don' t need a breathalyzer. Having such technology installed in restaurants and bars is pointless since its use would be voluntary. Even if it were to be used by someone legally drunk, what is to prevent that same person from driving? Only a person's sense of responsibility and community would stop him or her from driving, and a breathalyzer is not needed for that.
Technology won't solve the problem of drunk driving and it's about time that we stop prostituting technology for our own common sense. The human brain is like any other organ in the body, the less it is used the more it will atrophy.
As far as the Tracey Gold is concerned, all we know is that the behemoth she drove rolled over. Do we know why? Maybe alcohol wasn't a factor in the mishap. It could be that she took a turn too fast for the SUV she drove (which by the way happens to many sober drivers as well). Perhaps had she been driving a conventional car rather than an unstable SUV she wouldn't have rolled over, no one would have been injured and her driving record would be clean.
The point is, her choice of vehicle probably had more to do with the crash and injuries than alcohol. State governments have too long turned a blind eye to the hazards of placing unqualified drivers behind the wheel of large, unstable SUVs. This is just another case of shifting the blame away from deficiencies in licensing drivers for the vehicles they drive. Such a licensing model would not be in the interests of the carmakers, would it?

Lockergnomie Bruce Davey:

Read more on On Drunk Driving…

This weekend, I went up north to a conference (which was chock full of writers). A few people recognized me from Lockergnome, and I was happy to meet their acquaintance. At the night event, one particular Gnomie told me his history with my writing – and it began in the late '90s. He didn't know how I pulled it off on a daily basis back then. To tell you the truth, neither do I. While I still do write, I'm not writing as much these days. I burnt out on writing as much as I did (religiously) and will likely never return to that very stressful schedule / burden. After I explained to him the “why” behind my decisions, he understood a little more. I'm still very much interested in writing for everybody to read, but I'm also giving time to performance passions now. If I didn't change, I'd never grow. And I'm the kind of guy who likes to grow (although I'll likely never make it much past 5'5″). But what about the writing?
My personal voice has evolved, too. The way I wrote in college is different from the way I write today. Consider that I was trained to be an English teacher, not necessarily a writer or an online publisher / editor. I communicated with friends through email on a regular basis because. I didn't really have much else to do, other than homework (which also involved writing, for the most part). These days, I have a little more to do (than write). Some may not realize it, but I used to spend every other weekend “cramming” for Lockergnome. The week would be spent traversing the `Net and trying new things. Yes, it's a lot of fun – but it's also a TON of work. After my personal world did a 180 (in recent years), I found it a bit disconcerting to have my entire life on display for everybody to see, examine, and critique. I'd rather write from the heart, but I can't do it at a personal expense – which is one of the reasons I'm writing about writing. I know I'm right for doing what I did, when I did it.

Read more on Confessions, Part I…

So you've been in that perfect relationship for some time now. You've been dropping hints about the future and he is receiving you loud and clear. It's time to do a little “window shopping.” After all, you don't want to leave one of the most important decisions in your life entirely up to him, do you? He WILL lose sleep over finding that perfect engagement ring, even though he will not admit it. So why not help him out a little, give him some guidance and direction.
There are so many choices when it comes to shopping for engagement rings and you and he will hear a lot of advice from a lot of “helpful” people. His “Uncle Charlie” will know a guy who knows a guy. Your sister will tell you that you have to get your ring where she got hers. Your co-worker will tell you about this really cool website. And on and on, there will be advice around every corner.
Let's go through some of the available options and identify the pros and cons of each. This should help you both figure out what the best option is for you.
Your Local Jewelry Store: Definintely a great place to start. A jewelry store will have a small selection of pre-set engagement rings for you to see in person, and try on. If you run into a helpful sales associate that is willing to spend some time with you and explain all of the nuances of buying diamonds, it will be well worth your time.
PROS Seeing the diamond in person. Nothing beats the feeling of seeing diamonds sparkle on your finger!
Talking to a knowlegable human being and getting answers to questions face to face.
CONS Limited selection. Most local jewelry stores do not have the financial resources to carry a large inventory of diamonds. However, many stores do work with suppliers who are able to send them goods on memorandum (like consignment) if they have a customer who is looking for a particular diamond.
Price. You will pay more at a jeweler, period. Sure you can try and negotiate and feel like you got a better price, but a jeweler will not sell you that diamond for less than a substantial profit. Most jewelers need to make a “keystone” markup on every item, which is double what they paid for that diamond. This markup covers the high overhead costs of running a store including insurance, rent and sales commissions.
Antique Shops: If you are looking for a ring that is truly unique, this is the place for you. You'll need to do some leg work and visit many different stores to see what's available, but it could be worth it in the long run.
PROS Most likely to find a one of a kind ring. If you have the need to be an original, stick to your search and you will find that proverbial “diamond in the rough.”
CONS Unless you get lucky, expect a long search. You may only find a handful, if any rings in the shops you visit.
Most rings will not have any type of certification or appraisal. Unless you know a great deal about diamond grading, it is possible to get taken advatage of very easily.
The Internet The Holy Grail and the Bottomless Pit of information, all wrapped in one. By far, you will find the largest selection of diamonds and engagement rings here, but that can be quite overwhelming. Start with the basics and work your way through this checklist.
1. Shape – Diamonds are cut into 10 most common shapes, but there are countless other “designer” shapes popping up in the industry on a regular basis. Most of the shapes are self explanatory (round, oval, pear, heart), but do you know what a Marquise or a Radiant looks like? Take a look at the most commonly available diamond shapes and decide what you like best.
2. Size – Bigger is better, right? Not necessarily. Unless your fiance has very deep pockets, you will not be getting a 5 carat boulder to weigh you down. Too many men are convinced that it has to be big. Would you like to have a big ugly rock that is dull and lifeless on your hand, just so you could tell everyone it's 3 carats, or would you rather have a beautiful, sparkling beacon of light catching all of your friends attention. You won't have to wave your hand in front of them to notice, they will come to you!
3. The 4 C's – The most common phrase in the diamond business and the most important when shopping for a diamond online. The 4 C's represent a diamond's cut, color, clarity and carat weight. CUT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF A DIAMOND'S FIRE AND BRILLIANCE. So many people buying diamonds focus on color and clarity, that cut is often overlooked. You can spend a fortune buying a flawless clarity and perfect color (white) diamond, yet if it is poorly cut, it will be dull and lifeless.
4. The Mouting Metal – This is basically a matter of personal preference and what looks best on you. Yellow gold is classic and works best for a solitaire engagement ring. Yellow gold is also better for mounting diamonds with a lower color grade (yellowish tint), because the yellow from the diamond blends into the setting. White gold and Platinum give a modern look and work best with three stone rings. Be sure to choose a diamond with a high color grade, otherwise the white moutning will negatively emphasise a yellowish diamond.
5. The Online Engagement Ring Builder – The most fun part of buying a diamond online is being able to build your own ring. Choose a diamond and a setting, then email it to your fiance. Even if he doesn't buy it online, he will know exactly what style to look for when he goes shopping. No surprises, and everyone is happy!
There are hundreds of diamond and jewelry web sites out there, but my advice is to stick with the leaders in the field. The two major players are Blue Nile and Mondera. On their sites, you can browse thousands of diamonds as well as build your own engagement ring and see how different settings look with different shape diamonds. They both have highly knowlegable and very friendly customer service staff that can answer questions about diamonds and settings, and offer a no risk 100% guarantee and return policy.
You can also browse our site for weekly updates to diamond prices and more in depth diamond education. We also maintain a searchable database of diamonds from leading online jewelers so you can compare similar diamonds from multiple sources.
Good luck and CONGRATULATIONS!
For more information, please visit http://www.diamondse.info/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Read more on Do You Hear Wedding Bells?…

Since it's not my list, I'll just share the first five here:

1. The standard driving speed is 5 mph under the speed limit, except during periods of rain or snow, in which case the standard is 10 mph over the speed limit.
2. When merging on the freeway, drivers should activate their turn signal and frantically look over their shoulder while slowing. Under no circumstances should drivers speed up to match current traffic conditions. Bonus points for actually coming to a stop while on an onramp.
3. When approaching a green light, slow in case it turns yellow. Your best case scenario is to slowly continue through the light as it turns red with your brake lights on so traffic behind you is forced to stop.
4. Right of way at four way stops is determined by who makes eye contact first. Should the drivers make eye contact simultaneously, both should then creep forward while waving the other to go. If the right of way can still not be determined, both drivers should get out of their cars and ask the nearest pedestrian.
5. Use of the “horn” (a sound-making device activated by pressing a button on the steering wheel) is not allowed in the city of Seattle under any circumstances.

Some of this would have been good to know a few weeks back. My car is almost as good as new today, courtesy of Mycons Auto Body. The scratches are gone, although a new one recently appeared. If we had anything repaired in LA, it would have (easily) cost twice to three-times as much. I guess it could be worse?

Read more on The 10 Commandments of Driving in Seattle…

We caught up with Tim Bray, co-inventor of XML at Canadian blogging conference Northern Voice. Tim talks about XML, RSS and the future of Atom.

Tim Bray managed the Oxford English Dictionary project at the University of Waterloo in 1987-1989, co-founded Open Text Corporation (NASDAQ: OTEX) in 1998, launched one of the first public web search engines in 1995, co-invented XML 1.0 and co-edited “Namespaces in XML” between 1996 and 1999, founded Antarctica Systems (antarctica.net) in 1999, and served as a Tim Berners-Lee appointee on the W3C Technical Architecture Group in 2002-2004. Currently, he serves as Director of Web Technologies at Sun Microsystems, publishes a popular weblog (www.tbray.org/ongoing), and co-chairs the IETF AtomPub Working Group (www.ietf.org/html.charters/atompub-charter.html).

Read more on Tim Bray on XML from Northern Voice…

Jeremy Wright sold himself on eBay and launching a career as an expert in blogging for hire. We caught up with Jeremy at Northern Voice and asked him about corporate blogging.

Read more on Jeremy Wright on Corporate Blogging…

Tod Maffin talks about podcasting and the CBC.

Who is Tod:

Tod Maffin is “one of Canada’s most influential futurists” according to The Globe and Mail. Tod hosts a national technology column on CBC Radio, a technology series on CBC Television’s Canada Now, and is a producer for several radio programs including the country’s guide to modern culture, Definitely Not the Opera. He has been a host of several national CBC Radio programs including Real Life Chronicles and todradio.com.

Read more on Tod Maffin of CBC at Northern Voice…

Eric Rice talks about audio blogging, podcasting, vlogging and the future of multimedia content.

More on Eric:

Eric Rice is the Founder and Chief Evangelist of Audioblog.com and Executive Producer at Slackstreet Entertainment. I can be hired to blog, or to produce (or consult) on podcasting projects. As well as all that get-up-on-stage-and-speak stuff.

Read more on Eric Rice on Audioblogging…

We caught up with Darren Barefoot, one of the coordinators of Northern Voice and talked to him about the conference.

From his bio:

My name is Darren Barefoot. I’m a writer, technologist and marketer who lives in Vancouver, Canada. While my undergraduate degree was in Creative Writing and Theatre, I always had a deep love of computers. Ever since my parents brought home our first dual disc drive IBM PC, I was smitten. So, mostly, I write about technology.

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Despite not being online for long, I enjoyed myself this weekend at Northern Voice. My only wish is that it could've lasted longer. I didn't have time to meet and greet everybody, and I certainly didn't have enough time to talk at length with those I did meet. We scored about four separate interviews with folks, and they should be uploaded (as well as our live show with Nancy) at some point this week. I'll be visiting Vancouver again. It's the sushi capital of the galaxy. Seriously, that's one great city. I'm happy to be so “close” to it – and I'm not alone. There were a few Seattlites up there, too. One of the highlights of the trip didn't happen at the event, though.
Yesterday, for lunch, a handful of us crept down the street to Nikko Sushi on Robson – including the Leung family (Ted, Julie, and their three very young daughters). I had the pleasure of sitting in between my good friend, Wyatt (Jake & Robin's very young son), and the middle Leung daughter. The menus were placed upon the table, and each of the oldest two Leung girls picked one up. The older sister remarked that she could not find the Sushi. No surprise, as the menu was twice as tall as she was – rendered in an 8pt font. But that's not what caught me by surprise. Her younger sister was also scanning the menu, her eyes darting back and forth at a casual pace. She immediately responded to her sibling's observation: “Me neither, but I can't read.”
Had there been soda in my mouth, it would have streamed out my nose and directly onto Ponzi and Maryam. The kid knew what she wanted (as most children do), but she also understood how reading could help – and she knew that the answers sat somewhere on the menu. She couldn't read, yet she was going through the motion of reading. It's one thing to mimic, but it's another thing entirely to understand what you're mimicking.
This morning, we headed home. Ponzi and I got stopped for a random check at Customs, with the Ludingtonmobile a few cars behind ours. When the border patrol asked Jake where they were going, he responded: “Home, to Seattle.” After passing through the gates, Wyatt piped up and asked if they were still going to see “Chris, Ponzi, and Harry for lunch.” Always listening, always processing, always learning, always contextualizing.
Never underestimate the wisdom of a child.

Read more on The Wisdom of Children…

It's been a great few hours in Vancouver. We breezed into town last night, met some courteous drivers, had some great sushi, and slept in a five-star hotel for half of what it would normally cost in a major American city. I'm listening to Robert wax poetic on RSS at Northern Voice – a tale we've been telling in and out of conferences for several years now. I brought about 200 RSS buttons (shirt pins, that is) with me – they're sitting on the registration table for everybody to grab. A few people in the room, according to the informal RSS poll, still don't know what RSS is. The RSS shirt pins won't help, but they seem to be the only swag at the event. I hope to see random folks wearing them before the day is through. The 200-capacity room is overflowing with geeks – I'm hoping at least 50 will stay for my panel, but their attention will be split in thirds after lunch. C'est la vie, as the French Canadians say. And pirates say ArrrrrrrSS…

Read more on Scoble on RSS…

Wedding photography is an evolving field that requires artistic talent, vision, and highly technical expertise.
In the past wedding photography was almost always limited to stiff posses without much regard for the underlying story, emotion, romance, and behind the scene events of the wedding day.
Although there is still a big segment of the wedding industry that practices traditional photography with its preplanned poses, and recreation of the wedding peak events such as the kiss, the ring exchange, etc., the modern wedding couple demands a more contemporary approach to their wedding day.
Wedding photojournalism has been in vogue for the past decade. The central idea behind it has been the capture of the wedding events without any interference or direction from the wedding photographer. The photographer is there to capture the true essence of the wedding day. As a result of this realistic approach the photographs are a true representation of the wedding day. Hard core wedding journalistic will be totally opposed to posing any wedding related event. If it doesn't not happen during the wedding it won't be recorded. This includes family group photos.
Several photographers offer a hybrid approach to wedding photography, usually a combination of traditional and journalistic wedding photography. In this approach the photographer focuses on documenting the wedding day but the coverage also includes a session with the couple for formal posed or semi-posed photographs and also family group photos.
The latest trend in wedding photography is toward a more fashionable approach. Inspired on high-end fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, GQ, American Photo, etc., and wedding magazines the photographer seeks to make the couple's fantasies real. In the fashion wedding photography approach the goal is to make the wedding couple look their best. Their romantic interplay is glamorized to its maximum expression. The everyday couple becomes like wedding celebrities. Attention to detail is required to achieve the perfect look. This approach requires a great deal of artistic talent behind the camera and also great computer image editing skill to produce a unique photo. Half the photo is made on the camera with the second half achieved though digital image editing and manipulation.
Which style is best, is for you to decide. In our experience a big segment of the wedding couples want to capture the reality, details and romance of the wedding day but at the same time they have fantasies about their wedding and the way they should look.
When making a decision for a wedding photographer look closely to the photographer's portfolio and see how it agrees with your philosophy on how your wedding day should be photographed. Regardless of your philosophy please make sure that you select a master of the craft, you and the next generation deserve masterpiece memories of your wedding day.
Juan Carlos Torres is a very respected and awarded wedding photographer in Oregon. He has a Masters Degree in Remote Sensing with a strong background in digital image processing and photography. His wedding photographs are unique and very artistic and have been featured in national and international magazines. For a sample of his works please visit http://www.juancarlosphoto.com and http://www.willamettephoto.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

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