• 15 Confessions Of 2 Former T-Mobile Reps - Consumerist

and what I learned.

Let me first say that for me Shutdown Day was not about anything more than a planned day off for me, a day where I would have an excuse to really shutdown and take a day off. No laptop, internet, not even a Blackberry.

What it turned into was a lesson. The internet whether good or bad is part of my life. The was a small time where we were on the couch Saturday night that I wanted to grab my laptop and check me rss feeds while watching tv, but for the most part I was ok with not getting online.

I did realize that the internet is here and for me I need it, no so much to play around but just for life. Starting in the morning I wanted to get some tickets to the upcoming TOOL concert and what do I know, I cannot use Ticketmaster.com. I thought to myself they still have a number to call…right? Well they do, but Ticketmaster.com would have been much easier.

Then we had a birthday party to go to and even though I was pretty sure I knew where it was I wanted to get directions, just so I would not get lost and be late, oops, I cannot use Google Maps. What now, they do not have a telephone number for that. I had to call a family member who was also going.

See that is how my day went, not so much me sitting around shaking with lack of connection, but just lack of normal conveniences. I normally clean my snake cages on Saturday morning and while doing that I listen to music, from the Mac Mini via iTunes. No go this day. Heck at this point I could not even buy a new “cd” that my wife asked me for because it’s all iTunes for us. Better grab (download) that now.

Again I did not miss the internet, just the daily convenience that it provides. So I can easily live without it for fun and time wasting, but day to day it’s here and it will need to stay. No more Shutdown Days for me.

• iwantsandy
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• 10 Reasons You Aren’t Rich

If you are reading this post it may very well already be Shutdown Day and if I have not been surfing over on Gizmodo I may have forgotten all about it. Like I mentioned in my earlier post about this I am going to participate. Fully participate, no laptops, computers, gadgets, iPods you name it. No fancy computer or tech related items. They will all be turned off as of midnight. I am going to finish this post, check my RSS feeds in NetNewsWire and then play some WoW till midnight. Then go to bed and have a fun day tomorrow.

The funny part is my family is very digital, photo’s, music, dvd’s its all digital. We use very little old media. Our Mac Mini in the living room serves as our entertainment center to include digital copies of cd’s & dvd’s. So we cannot even watch or listen to those. This will truly be a day of fun, hopefully some outdoor sunshine and playing around. Maybe a nice bike ride or some kicking the ball around with my daughter. I cannot wait.

If you happen to catch this before midnight I encourage you to join in on the fun. If you are seeing this on Shutdown Day, at least try to take the rest of the day and get some shutdown. I love my tech goodies and feel lost without a constant internet connection but am looking forward to the day!

Thanks to Cali Lewis and the latest episode of GeekBrief.tv (#147) for giving some info on the latest social network, it’s called VIRB. Hopefully its going to be a MySpace killer. I hate to use the “killer” term for any new site or gadget, but with my long time hate for MySpace I feel better using that term and hope it comes true.

For me MySpace has been a site I have used because others I know have been on it and its been an easy way to stay in contact them. With VIRB I already feel different, this is a site that I want to use. I have spent some time today customizing and playing around to see what this can do. I still have a lot that I would like to change and make it more my own, but that will come with time.

For a while I had my personal name domain (robertnelson.com) and have never done anything with it except use it for the occasional file host and email account. Up till today I just had a standard html page (all black) with the name listed on it, just more or less a place holder. Well today I switched it to forward to my VIRB page. I am going to use this as sort of a one-stop shop so to speak. A place where you can find out what I am up to in regards to websites and other interests and current going on type stuff, not a blog just a homepage.

VIRB in my opinion, is a social network site that is very similar to MySpace, except for a few changes. The first and most important is that it’s very clean and nice looking. It’s also easy to update your layout and design and make your VIRB Page look even nicer, and I don’t mean adding some crappy background like you can on MySpace.

So if you want to check out what is going on you can check me out on VIRB at:
www.virb.com/areyouageek
My site URL is above, but my display id name is “robertnelson”, the “robertnelson” URL was already taken. Oh well.

It is open invitation, but they are only giving so many away per day, so if you want to sign up and have trouble send me an email or get me on GoogleTalk, I have plenty of invites to give away.

• GrandCentral: The New Way to Use Your Phones

Some of us may already have a Mac Mini, some of us may even already have it hooked up to our living room entertainment center. If you are you may feel the same as me, the Mini may actually be a a better alternative than the AppleTV. My choice…

Now don’t get me wrong I love Apple and consider myself a Fanboy and would love to get my hands on an AppleTV, but I cannot justify buying something that I already have. Well maybe not exactly but my Mini works (in my opinion) better than the AppleTV.

For those that have a Mini in the house here is a great HOWTO on Connecting Your Mac Mini to a TV from TUAW.com Trust me you will be happy with this option.

And for those that may not have a Mac Mini and also do not have the money or simply do not want to buy either a Mac Mini or an AppleTV, from iLounge the Top Ten Reasons You Don’t Need Apple TV (Yet). This top 10 list is great, starting right at the top with #10, something I do when on vacation, travel with an iPod (80gb Video) and also an AV Cable. A simple cheap way to entertain both children and adults when stuck in a hotel room.

So something I tell myself and try to remember that the latest and greatest may not always be the best option. Try not to get caught up in the hype from Apple. Hard for me (and many others) to always remember.

The wonderful geek porn we all love called un-boxing. Well none other than The Boy Genius has the Red AT&T Pearl.

Just your standard un-boxing photo’s but still pretty cool to see.

Post || Photo’s

Just one thing that I do not like (other than the fact it’s not on T-Mobile) is on the front bottom of the phone. It’s the awful looking grey/silver portion where the AT&T logo is. Personally I would think it much better if the bottom was red, instead of bringing that grey/silver down.

• USPS Rate Hike: Introducing The ‘Forever Stamp’ - Consumerist

I have some domains that are getting ready to expire and I simply do not need them. They were for websites that I was working on or for ideas that I had in the past. Either way they are getting ready to expire and I do not want them anymore. I would rather offer them to someone who may want them, better then letting them just expire.

MY2002COOPERS.COM 6/17/2007
MYPROFILESPACE.NET 4/14/2007
PROFILEGIRL.NET 4/12/2007
SMSTEXTER.COM 4/21/2007
WORLDTEXT.NET 4/10/2007

They are all registered at GoDaddy and these are the dates that they expire, so if you want them get them before they are gone or expired.