Sort. Of.

Lets. Keep. This. Short.

Canon TSi came out, making my XSi inferior. Thanks Canon!

Zune HD came out EARLY, making my 3 month old Zune 120 inferior. Thanks Microsoft!

It would’ve been fine if they released it in November which was still the release date when I got the 120 on 7/7/09.  At least it will soon be mine once my 120 sells to a friend… (and no, in regards to a previous post, satellite radio will not survive!)

Toshiba Satellite S2266 or some other number was slow as mollasses with 2gb ram that would overheat and blue screen of death. Sure, I could’ve gone with 1gb, but tell that to Vista. Thanks Toshiba!

But, hey, it’s okay, it was replaced with a refurb HP for less $$ than the Toshiba was brand new. & it has Blu Ray, and can run WoW at 30 fps.

That’s all folks.

Oh, and stop cranking out the smartphones please, I can’t keep replacing them until you stop requiring new contracts to get the good price!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/30152272#30152272

I pinky swear promise.

Tags = sneak peak.

Social network where tennis fans and players share all there is to love about this amazing sport. Whether you are a fan of the pros or just love to play, Tennisopolis is for you!

Wow, Tennisopolis rocks!

After watching the Australian Open (and falling in love with Ana Ivanovic), my interest in playing tennis was renewed for the “nth” time, and I was dying to play all over again. So with more spare time than ever before, I started investing it into searching for hitting and match partners that would be as dedicated and willing to play as myself. But, instead of joining a local club and paying monthly/yearly dues, I decided to look all over the internet for tennis social sites.

All was well until the 3-5 websites I found, turned out to be utterly barren. However, this time I wasn’t going to give up. Craigslist.com was next, and it was a goldmine of success! (I should’ve looked there first, since you can find a partner for nearly anything there )

I clicked a few posts and found one with a link to an catchy sounding website – Tennisopolis.com. Click. Googly eyes. Heaven.

Tennisopolis.

Tennisopolis.

Tennisopolis.

YES! The social mecca for tennis!

I created a profile page (had a lot more fun doing it than I have in the past with Xanga/Myspace/Facebook), joined a local group, and announced my presence and availability to play. Within 2 weeks I was playing with the nice folks I had found on Tennisopolis. And continue to do so this day.

So, basically, what I’m trying to say is, Tennisopolis.com will not disappoint. You can upload pics and vids, have a blog, post in the forum, and just interact with everyone with the same core love as yourself – tennis.

I believe that unless we are downloading an entire album, we shouldn’t have to pay for ONE (or the promo) song(s) from that album. If we can hear it on the radio, why can’t we hear it whenever we want? If we hear the song on the radio, it’s not like the radio station had to pay for the song, so why should we? Artists send the station their promos, so why can’t we download the promo songs for free? Well, we can, but not legally, unless the artist allows it. The other songs on the full album usually aren’t that good anyway, but should still be available for purchase if the consumer wants to have them.

Promo songs heard on the radio – should be free to download.

All other songs on the album – should have a cost to download.

And if that doesn’t satisfy the artist, maybe they should just make the entire album worth listening to, or just scrap all the other songs, and then we would just pay for, well, the promos.

I mean, if an artist is only sending out their best songs for us to hear on the radio, then why do they even expect us to buy their entire album? What the heck are they promoting? Sure there’s the fans that are so infatuated with the artist’s music, that they don’t really realize how crappy the other songs are, and will buy the entire album anyway, but that’s not the point here.

The point is…..

Maybe we could even pay for what bit rate (quality of the mp3, or any other format) the downloaded song would have…

This whole thing is really getting out of hand. And there’s always going to be someone that gets burned (no pun intended, well actually, yes, pun intended) in the end.

I’m sure the music industry will survive until I’m no longer alive to say otherwise.

In the meantime, I’m happy with “stealing” the hit songs heard on the radio, purchasing the full album if I love the artist and want to support their music, and being able to download super quality mp3s from XM Radio with my Pioneer Inno (for $15 a month.)

And I do believe that we will continue to be rewarded with download credits by purchasing certain products or services, like how soda bottles sometimes have a download code under the cap. But the songs available are usually crappy because nearly every “breakthrough” artist seems to be in it just for the fame and fortune.

Depending on people’s interest, some will and do pay for the radio. I’m not only talking about satellite radio, but all aspects of listening to the radio. People buy speakers, receivers, and car audio is always having new technology introduced. And after buying all of these things so they can hear the radio, they buy them all over again after they wear out or become inferior to listen with or look at.

Yes, consumers can pay for it if they want to. I’m not saying they can afford it, but it’s not my money, and it’s not my problem if they are irresponsible about their purchases.

I pay for XM Satellite Radio for $15.xx a month. If I ever need to cancel, they counter-offer me like 8 months free. What could be better? With the unit I have, the Pioneer Inno, I’m also able to download full songs as I listen to them (up to 1gb XM mp3s, or 500mb XM mp3s/500mb uploaded from pc mp3s), at the push of a button (and I can do this at anytime during the song.) There are around 150 channels, and I expect it will grow over the next years. I’m no longer restricted to hip-hop, pop, rock, country (bleh!), Christian, or oldies. With XM, I have nearly every genre at my fingertips, and I discover new songs and artists daily (and they aren’t crappy “breakthrough” artists, either!) And wait, there’s more: with the Inno, I can even upload 500mb of mp3s I already…“stole!” (I seriously need to get paid for all of this plugging.)

I really hope satellite radio will survive. Sadly, there are a few commercials on some of the channels, but 99% of the 1-4 that play once every few hours just promote show times or the satellite radio service itself. The worst thing of all though is how some things like NFL games can only be heard on Sirius, and not XM, or vice versa. I do think it will survive though, especially if they start creating longer and more random playlists for each channel, or if the merger would just be approved already!

And with units that carry XM and Sirius that now offer live satellite radio wherever you may roam, as in being undocked, satellite radio has a long way to go before it dies out.

As far as I know, HD Radio isn’t really a threat. I haven’t heard it yet, but I think it’s the same radio broadcast with all the commercials, broadcast in better quality. My car receiver sounds great, so why bother purchasing an HD head-unit (the receiver) that for some reason has fewer features than my pricier radio with normal radio? Most consumers wouldn’t be able to tell the difference anyway if they keep the stock speakers in their cars.

We’re still transitioning into the digital age, so long live satellite radio (or as always: unless of course something better comes along!)

I purchased the Canon PowerShot SD1000

(http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/canon-powershot-sd1000-digital/4505-6501_7-32314638.html)

to replace my Fujifilm FinePix E510!

(http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/fujifilm-finepix-e510/4505-6501_7-30981649.html?tag=return)

The SD1000 is a more than capable replacement, even for an ultra-compact! Sure it has less manual controls, but that’s what the new Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi/450D is for!

(http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08012403canoneos450d.asp,

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=16303)

Why does this new Digital Rebel excite me so much? It comes with an image stabilization kit lens, uses SD cards rather than the bulky Compact Flash cards of the past, features the LiveView LCD mode, and oh yeah, it takes amazing breathtaking photos! This camera could not come at a better time.. I nearly picked up the XTi! (it took me long enough to save up for it..)

Thank you Canon!

The XSi is expected to hit the shelves and my wallet on April 14/15th 2008. (Or earlier if some local store just happens to mess up like always )

I hope to accomplish something I’ve yet to accomplish with blogging: experience for the future. Recently, I asked my Mass Communication professor what I should be doing to complement my B.A. in English, “Blogging,” he replied. So, here I am, world. Uniqueness coming shortly, sleep time for now.