Among the many apps I have on my iPhone, I’ve been testing out this one called Sleep Cycle which is supposed to be able to do exactly what it says. Determine what your “sleep cycle” is depending on your movements throughout your sleep and inform you of how many hours you slept and at what times you woke up. This is all based upon different levels throughout your sleep state. Which are awake, dreaming, and deep sleep. Then it uses a 30 minute window that ends at your set alarm time so that you are sure to wake up at your “lightest sleep phase”. The accelerometer within your iPhone can determine your movements when you put the phone face down on your bed which I placed on my mattress next to the pillow that I would sleep on. It is interesting hearing the weird noise that comes from the phone to test it out before you actually set the alarm, because it will in fact detect even the slightest slow movement.

I was very skeptical of how it would be able to determine me tossing and turning at night versus me actually awake in the morning, but it seemed to have worked! After a total of 19 nights trying this out, I can remember the next day based on the graph exactly when I actually woke up and when I was still asleep. In particular, one morning I remember waking up at  8, 9, and then 10 AM (I remember checking the alarm clock next to my bed each time) which the Sleep Cycle was actually able to detect. You can see one of the examples of the graphs above which demonstrates each time I woke up (it was obviously a horrible sleep) and how much time I had slept for, including my average of all nights.

I recommended this to a few friends who are trying it out to see exactly how it works and are particularly interested in how much sleep they actually get. We like to compare our sleep cycles via Facebook or email which is an option as well. If you want to try it out I bought it for 99 cents in the app store. Enjoy!

I’ve been finding myself working late at night with absolutely nothing to do, but heads down typing away and finishing a load of projects. To keep myself semi-entertained while my shows are still recording on the DVR (I hate watching shows live and not being able to fast forward commercials) and making sure I’m still in the mood to work, I’ve been using my Xbox like crazy. So I thought I might actually inform you of my two favorite things to do on my Xbox that have been keeping me completely happy lately.

If you already have an Xbox you would know that Netflix is now available to be streamed through your console and onto your TV. Recently, I just discovered Heroes for the first time, so I’ve been catching up on the all of the old episodes until the current season. It doesn’t have much to pick from as far as new movies go, but it does great with favorites or television shows, including the fact that anything playing on Starz will now be available, so that’s always a plus. It is also fun to start up a movie with any friend who has Xbox Live and also has Netflix. You can suggest a number of movies and then agree on one to watch together. My second favorite thing is Connect360 which is basically a program I have installed on my Mac after paying 20 bucks for an activation code. Basically it installs onto your Mac and allows you to play movies, music in iTunes, or pictures you have on your computer, right onto your TV through the Xbox. Which is pretty amazing, because it makes you feel like there is really no need to have cable. Especially if you download.

Anyway, this is basically what has been keeping me busy and happy lately in the at home entertainment department. I hope you find this of use to you if you want something else to do on your Xbox. Getting the most out of your console is always awesome and I just had to share.

I am currently writing this blog post courtesy of the WordPress app for the iPhone. I thought I might give it a try and inform you of the new things that have been done to my blog if you haven’t already noticed.

One obviously is that I can now update via my phone while I’m out and about. This means more updates and I am also able to approve comments directly from the app so I can respond to them quickly as well. The next is not so new, but I never told anyone that if you are able to view my blog on an iPhone you will see a completely different theme than on your laptop. Also, my Twitter feed has been added to my page so you can read more of my random thoughts. (Thankfully I don’t tweet more than five times a day.)

I’m happy that I have actually decided to keep up with my blog for this long and all of its new features. Here is to the future posts you will continue to read on That’s What Sam Said!

A few weeks of classes have went by already and my first couple of tests/quizzes have already been turned in. So far I have received an A on all of them which is great! I have never been this good at keeping up with my homework or staying on schedule, but maybe it was all the procrastination stress I had learned from in the past. The stress seems to be a bit minimized when it comes to keeping up this quarter, but I would still like to find better ways to keep myself organized to stay on track. The main subject I would like to keep up with is my math course, because once you are behind in math it is hard to catch up again.

The thing that I am most surprised about this quarter is that most classes are half online and half taken in a classroom setting. (CK [brother] is not happy about this at all, because he hates online classes.) They are referred to as “hybrid courses” where you basically do homework and tests online which allow the professor to correct a minimal amount of work and more than likely saves the school money. These tests are timed and are based on the material you have just learned in class. Although my math class is completely online which means that I have to learn the material myself with aides such as lectures on CD or reading my book. Most people are impressed with the fact that I can take any class online, but most of them don’t understand how I can take a math class online at all. Believe me, it is no joke. As I had mentioned before, making sure you are keeping up with the material is the hardest part. Teaching yourself proves itself to be more difficult, because there is really no one there to help you understand it. The lectures are a great help, because it is actually someone writing it all out for you on a whiteboard going step by step with each problem, but I find personal interaction is better. At least he Math and Science Center at the school where I take proctored exams at the end of each module, has tutors available for free.

Other than school, I hope to find out soon about what the possibility is of me getting laid off in my department or what my job is going to do about budget cuts. I am one of two who works in my position and the other person only has nine months of service, as I have three years. Apparently this has happened numerous times at work when money gets tight, but they never actually layoff anyone. I can only keep my fingers crossed, not get too far ahead of myself, and hope for the best.

I don’t normally stay at work until about 4:30 PM, so I wasn’t one of the lucky ones that received the latest email regarding budget cuts to go home with, but I did have it to start my day with the next day. I am not sure whose bright idea it is to send their employees off to think about layoffs for the rest of the night at home, but I suppose it is better than being at work with it on the brain. So the email basically states that they will be sending notices out for possible layoffs to 1,100 employees starting this weekend. Then this Saturday in the mail I received a lovely package stuffed with my potential lay off forms asking me how many years I had with the job. So now I have a few weeks to basically find out what my job is going to do. Of course it might be nice to have a vacation that lets me get my school work done, but the lack of a paycheck is not a good thing to look forward to. Sure there is unemployment, but a handful of friends are on it due to being laid off from their jobs as well, who explained that it takes weeks to get a paycheck back and it is only a percentage of what you were getting paid. As most of you know, I am a full time worker as well as go to school full time. I can’t necessarily afford a cut in pay after a specific amount of time or lack of health insurance. For now I will cross my fingers that I am kept at the job and hope they can’t afford to lose me.

To end up on a more positive note… the MacBook Pro did end up getting fixed. I couldn’t believe that the Apple Store could ever fix something in a short amount of time, but having the equipment there and the part to fix it with, helped them out. The guy helping me at the Genius Bar looked at me funny when I looked wide-eyed and stunned that my MBP would be fixed within 30 minutes. “30 minutes? Done at 2… PM??”, I asked him as he assured me that what he had said was in fact, 2 PM. So I walked over to have a delicious cheeseburger that I am currently obsessed with and will blog about eventually. And yes, as I walked in at 2:05 the MacBook was ready for me to take home where I waited a total of five minutes talking to the awesome store manager. I thanked him and his store for the quick service and was on my way to install Snow Leopard on my laptop which I am very happy with.

So school has started and two weeks have successfully flown by without leaving any room for me to breathe. (I am pretty lucky that I have been able to have any sort of time to socialize.) I have been running around most of the time, but getting a lot of things done with a minimal amount of stress. I managed to buy all but one textbook for my classes, but plan to get that done tomorrow. I sat in on a lecture for a math class, but decided the best thing to do with my full time work schedule, as well as a full load of classes, was to take an independent course. Which basically means you teach yourself the material, complete homework online, and take exams in the Student Math Science Center. It takes a lot of self control to actually complete a class this way, because you have to determine when you do your work before the end of the quarter smacks you in the face with due dates. I have learned to pace myself from future experiences so that I am not stressing about it come final exam time. I will also be enlisting some of my nerdy math friends to help me learn the material if I find myself stuck.

In other news, my MacBook Pro has decided it does not like me. Seriously, I can’t think of any other reason why it has failed me multiple times since my purchase (thank you AppleCare warranty). I have taken it in more times than I ever did my last Macbook. This time I went to install Snow Leopard onto the MBP and it decided it didn’t want to take the disc. Trying one more time it sucked the disc in, started the install, and twenty minutes into it, it spit the disc back out. Leaving the disc with an array of lovely markings making it unreadable. I am extremely frustrated, because I was just in about a week and a half ago for a display problem which was never fixed due to the fact that Apple’s Genius Bar does not allow you to fix it unless you can reproduce the problem. Me being an avid computer user who hates being away from it at any length of time due to work and school, I have no reason to make up problems with my MBP. So, I am off to the Genius Bar for another appointment where I know this time I better get a new Snow Leopard disc and my drive will hopefully be fixed as soon as possible or I have no clue what I am going to do. A laptop with the amount of classes I have is crucial and I don’t expect ALK (little brother) to let me borrow my old MacBook forever.

Two updates in two days after a long disappearance you might be asking yourself? Yes, I had some extra time and if I keep on top of my homework like I have been I will hopefully find myself doing more updates than I have been, but I really doubt it. Wish me luck!

I haven’t been able to update again with my crazy life going by faster than I can keep up with, but I have managed to create a few site specific browsers (SSB) with Fluid that includes my blog. Hopefully this will help me with the amount of browsers and tabs I always have open on my laptop. For those of you that haven’t used Fluid, it is a simple way to create the normal everyday sites you go on. I have one for Facebook, Gmail, Google Docs, Google Reader, and now WordPress. I plan to create more when I get to it, but I have to get around to creating an icon for all of them.

Lately I’ve been really stressed about finding a job in the Bay Area. I have my current job and I have been there for three years, but I am not able to stay where I want and work. With the current job freezes due to the economy turning to complete shit I have found myself not able to transfer to a different office. (The closest offices would be San Francisco, Oakland, or San Jose.) So, I have set out with applying to different places. I have a total of twelve applications floating around in the mail right now into the hands of hopefully my next job if I am lucky. It makes me nervous knowing that I will be waiting for a call back, because I know that I need this move. Interviewing is never a problem for me, because I have had a lot of jobs before this one that prepared me for all the questions you could ever think of. I just want to be considered as the candidate for the next step in my life. Many of you might wonder why I am even applying to work, but student loans only go so far and I need to be able to pay bills and rent. I am not one of those lucky people able to only go to school, but I make it work when I need to.

School is starting in a few weeks and I am most comfortable about that right now, because at least that won’t throw as many curve balls. I know what to expect and this is just an event that I have had too much experience with. I do wish for ease with my first quarter at Stanford though when it comes to keeping my academics up and working full time. With determination and a lot of schedule organizing, I will get through it. Wish me luck!

Keeping up with these “Video Game Nerd” posts that I have going on in my blog, I thought I’d update on the latest one I’ve been playing. It wouldn’t typically be a game I would play either, but it seemed to have a lot of people talking when I had first heard of its release, so Prince of Persia was added onto my Gamefly queue.

Prince of Persia is obviously not a shooter type game, so I had no high expectations for this game either, but it ended up being very addicting. It is a action/adventure game set in ancient Persia where you play as the Prince who ends up having a girl named Elika traveling with him. I had never any Prince of Persia games before, so it was odd that this guy never really died. The character Elika would always save him from falling off cliffs with magic, so I immediately thought … Ok this game is going to be easy. Not only does he never die, but he climbs and slides on objects to get to his destination like a spider which is strange but cool. Using his spider-like techniques you have to figure out how to get to destinations, but as you progress in the game they become more difficult to get to. It became addicting for me, because it felt like a puzzle that I absolutely had to complete. After a while of being very redundant I did end up getting bored of the game and decided to send it back. If you are really in need of 360 achievements though, this is a very easy way of getting them. You get an achievement for almost everything you accomplish even if it is running up a wall, so that is a plus.

Overall, I do recommend trying out this game, because it is fun and you can get a lot of achievements for yourself.

The past couple of months I have been buying video games like crazy. A lot of new ones were coming out, but then after a while I tend to get bored of them if they don’t have online play. So, I ended up giving in to a monthly subscription of Gamefly. Those of you that don’t know what Gamefly is, it is basically the same as Netflix, but with video games. You can let it know what type of console you have or what type of games you like and it will suggest some for you too. I thought paying a monthly fee would be way cheaper than going to a video store and I can rent it again or send it back whenever I want. So I added some games to my queue and already tried out my first rented game!

I’m not a big RPG fan, so I wasn’t expecting too much from Fallout 3 when I put it on my list. I had heard so many good reviews from friends and it had been out for a few months. You can pick a female or male character to play the game where you grow up in a vault after a global atomic war in the United States. You start off as a an infant and progress into your pre-teens, to your teens, and so on while completing various tasks as you move along in the game. You do end up venturing outside of the vault where the whole word is taken over my giant mutant creatures. The way you decide to play also changes the outcome of the game. I thought it was ok, but the game moved along so slowly for me, I ended up getting bored of it very fast. As I had said before, RPGs really aren’t my thing. I suppose I could say that it would be a good one for people that actually like those types of games, but me being a big first person shooter fan, this was just not it.

I apologize for the shortness of this review, but I guess it wasn’t as easy writing about a game I didn’t enjoy. Hopefully, the next game will be a lot more interesting!

I am starting to wonder if I actually have too much time on my hands or if I find just enough time to shake the stress away through my Xbox. Not even sure if it is ok to be a girl who can hold her own in an online match against 90 percent of the male video gaming population. In other words, it is very rare when I play a game on Xbox Live that another girl is in. Anyway, I have been playing two games recently. One only for achievements and the music and the other because I apparently like shooting things in games.

So, my most recent purchase was Resident Evil 5 which I had purchased right before the Las Vegas and San Diego trips, but didn’t have any time to actually play it. So about a week ago, I broke it out of the package and played a co-op game with a random person on Live. You’d probably be surprised at how much zombie gore I could stand in one game, because the game is covered in dead things. I have actually never played a Resident Evil game before this, so I had to get used to the new controls and the way everything in the game handled such as reloading a weapon or stomping on a zombie. Throughout the game you play as one of two characters. Both of the characters set out to basically as said before, kill zombies. Overall, I have had a pretty good time playing this game and was really happy with the co-op option, because it is always fun playing with someone else.

The other game I have been embarrassed to admit I was actually playing, is Guitar Hero Aerosmith. My little brother called me one afternoon to tell me Target was selling it for ten bucks and if he wanted me to pick it up. I had no intentions of purchasing it, but ten bucks was a deal, so I told him to bring it home. It sat on the shelf for about three weeks before I actually picked it up and played. The game is basically another addition to Guitar Hero, but full of Aerosmith and other classic rock songs. I am actually a fan of Aerosmith and classic rock, because I grew up listening to my Dad play it all the time and I enjoyed it. Even though it was fun, I played this game merely for the music, and the achievement points, I do not suggest buying it. In my honest opinion, you could rent it and be done with it in about two days.

Well, hope you enjoyed my geek out on video games. I hope to publish some new entries again in the next few days. I have a LOT to catch up on.

I can’t tell you how much I love my new Macbook Pro. I have been waiting on the purchase of one for a while, because I’m not a big fan of just going out and blowing my money on the next best thing. Including the fact that Apple is constantly coming out with something bigger and better. (I’m sure as you’re reading this Apple is probably finding something new to come out with.) After talking to a few Apple Nerds at the store, I had made my new purchase.

I was working off of a previous generation 13″ Macbook which did plenty for me, but I was looking for something faster and had a little more to offer. I looked at it in the store for a bit and wasn’t a big fan of the new trackpad, because I was constantly reaching further for the button that was now invisible. Clicking in the two bottom corners has now become something of a habit for me, so when I went back to my work laptop it completely threw me off. When I actually went home and opened the box to the laptop to set everything up and all of my friends were amazed at what a difference it was to my previous laptop. Believe me, 2″ on a laptop screen is a HUGE difference. Now I don’t have to feel like I am squinting at everything, because it looks so small. The illumination of the keys while I work at night is also very helpful.

The most annoying thing about getting a new laptop though is having to put everything back to the way it was. Particularly my Fluid SSBs such as Facebook, Remember the Milk, Google Reader, Google Calendar, etc. I also managed to completely wipe out my iPod which pissed me off to no end and was completely my fault, but everything will be back up and running eventually. I also purchased an external hard drive so I could save all my videos, pictures, and documents to. Overall, I am very happy I purchased the new Macbook Pro and I’m glad that my work will definitely be coming out smoother because I am happy with my equipment.

Those of you that know me on a personal level know how much of a video game nerd I am. My Xbox 360 and I get along like no other. After many years of watching my brothers play video games I had decided about a year ago to spoil myself with the purchase of an Xbox. Ever since then, I’ve been addicted to using my console as a stress reliever. I’m usually found playing Halo 3 after a long homework, study, or work day. You would think killing other people online in various games of Halo and Call of Duty would probably frustrate someone, but I find it amazingly liberating from stress. So, last week I decided I was a little bored with my video games and purchased two.

Left 4 Dead is this ridiculously addicting zombie killing game for me. You start off with four characters that are fighting off zombies and you can play as either one of them. The only thing is that I recommend not playing by yourself, because then you’re stuck playing with the computer and it usually causes you to die. It is basically a team effort type of game to help each other stay alive until your next mission. My friends and I have managed to complete almost all of the campaigns, but we tend to go back to score achievements.  The only thing I do not like about this game is probably the graphics. They’re not as great for a video game made with today’s technology.

I ended up purchasing Halo Wars within the same week. I am a very big fan of Halo 3 and I hesitated a lot when buying it. I am not a big fan of strategy games and I thought I wouldn’t like it at all, because I like first person shooter games. Although, this game got addicting very quickly. I am sad to admit this, but I finished it in a few days. Of course there are things like achievements and online play to go back to, but I wish the campaigns were a little longer.

Yes,  I am a girl who just rambled on about video games, but I decided I wouldn’t make this blog completely about one subject like I had last time. (Blogging only about places in Los Angeles wasn’t all too fun after a while.) So, I decided to add the “Things I Like” category which is me basically adding what I am into at the moment. It helps me give a personal touch to my blog without having to talk about nothing but school. Anyway, I hope I didn’t bore you with my nerdy, video game loving self. Let me know if you have any suggestions on the new category.

Ok I lied. I promised myself I would write more, but it seems like this past week I found myself with more work than I could manage. On top of the fact that I got sick with the worst fever I’ve ever had. I blame the fever and procrastination on myself, because of the amount of time I spend doing other things when I should be getting more sleep at night and focusing on work. I have so much homework to catch up on it is ridiculous. I am actually staring at the list of Spanish that is due tomorrow before the end of the day. I will more than likely be cramming it all in after the work day is over. After pondering this all for a few days I have decided to set myself up with three important rules I should start following more often – especially with the MCAT coming up sooner than expected.

1.) Pick a work/study area. This will help me get into the studying “mood” and tell myself that I mean business. My favorite studying area is my desk at home which I have to clean off before I start working on anything. Too much clutter annoys me when I am trying to place my laptop, books, or paperwork near me for easy access. I also like some sort of noise depending on what I am doing, so I tend to have a Skype call going with a friend on the other end who is also working. Trust me, it really helps when someone else is in the same working mood.

2.) Set a schedule. To designate a specific amount of time a day to concentrate on my work for every day of the week. I constantly find myself getting preoccupied with things that I shouldn’t be doing when I know I should be working/studying. If I actually go through and look at my Google calendar I have nothing on it and that is probably why I am so bad when it comes to remembering things I need to do until the last minute. The less I procrastinate the better I am when it comes to taking a test or the quality of my work.

3.) Get more sleep. I know you are probably laughing about this one, but sleeping is a necessity. The less I sleep the more lazy I am and the more inclined I am to lay on my bed and ignore all my work. Which results in a few hours of television and absolutely nothing crossed of my to-do list.

These are all my own personal opinions on how I need to organize and manage my time, but I will let you know how everything is going on down the road. This leaves me wondering, what do you do when you need to get yourself in the working/studying mood? Loud music, food, drinks, cleaning your space? If you have any suggestions feel free to leave me some. I’m always looking for improvements in this area.

The last couple of weeks I had been thinking about changing my blog name and where I might be hosting it. For the last two nights I finally got serious about it and decided to pick something that would stick with me. My first decision was to change it to “Living in San Francisco, One Day at a Time”, but a friend pointed out that there is a possibility that I might not be living in California one day and will have to change it again. It made complete sense and I wanted something that could stick with me. I went through numerous names, mixed them up, and was almost too frustrated to even bother. Thankfully, I finally picked a name, “slept on it”, and then purchased a domain on Go Daddy for about ten bucks. Throwing in a little side note here, but moving a blog and getting things situated on a domain is a lot of work (special thanks to Gerard). Especially when you have no clue what you’re going to do with it. I still need to create a picture for my header, so that will be changed soon. Anyway, being a user of the phrase “that’s what she said” constantly, the new name seemed to fit and those that I ran it by thought it was catchy and funny. So I welcome you to the birth of my new domain and new blog titled That’s What Sam Said.

For the past four days it has been raining off and on in the Los Angeles area. (Check the few seconds of video below if you don’t believe me.) Even though nothing has been able to dry itself off, I am finding myself able to stay inside and out of the wet weather. Most people hate the rain, but I actually enjoy the cozy warmth of the house and the soothing sound of rain coming down on my roof. Being able to work in this environment happens to allow me to get a lot of work done. Including a rising stack of homework that has begun to pile itself on me for the last two weeks. I have promised myself to get a lot of it done, but I will see how that works out. I usually get sidetracked if I have a lot of other things on the to-do list.

This time I took the bare minimum of twelve units so that I could actually travel for work while going to school. (They are all online classes. The invention of the internet is awesome.) Every winter and spring quarter propose a bit of a challenge for me, because this happens to be our busy months for work, but I still need to work on my degrees. The journey to medical school does not come easy and neither does continuing to have a life while making everything happen at the same time. The one thing I hope to accomplish this quarter is the same as it always is. Staying organized and keeping on top of things. Organization is something I constantly crave and something I am continuously working on. I have taken organizational skills classes before that I hoped to carry on with me, but I am beginning to believe that my “style” of organization is as chaotic as the weather that L.A. has been having. I still manage to tough it out through all my procrastination and get everything done though, so that must be a good thing.

This being my last month actually living in L.A., I hope that February will find some sympathy for me while I try to squish my personal trips, life, Valentine’s Day, and even more work trips into it. March does leave me to work in San Mateo County though, so I will be looking forward to living in my new place and only having to drive about five miles to work. It will be one of the nicest things that the Bay Area will have given me as a housewarming present. To be rid of L.A. traffic is going to be awesome! Stanford and Burlingame here I come!

I happened to spend from about ten in the morning until about five in the afternoon today in the city of Huntington Beach. I went specifically to help someone with a computer consulting job, but ended up staying for lunch with a friend and then walking down on the beach.

I got hired by a family member and then a few of her friends in the same day. I came just to show my Aunt how to download pictures from her camera and how to save them, as well as showing her how to set-up user accounts, and downloading software for her. A few of her friends happened to be there as well and asked me to come to their houses within the next few weekends to teach them how to do things as well. I am not sure how much I should be charging for consultations, in case this happens to turn into an extra job of mine. I have also taken on the job of being called “Nerd” lately, because I happen to know what to do with a computer.

Afterward, the friend that I brought to keep me company joined me for a lunch at Island’s for a burger and then we drove on over to the beach. The sun was out and it was absolutely gorgeous. I was very happy I planned ahead and brought my bathing suit. I frequented this beach as a child when my family and I used to go almost every Saturday morning from 7 am until 2 pm. It is where I learned how to surf for the first time. We took a walk on the pier to check out some of the action going on and we walked by to see what the fishermen had caught for the day. One of them had a baby Hammerhead shark inside his bucket, which was amazing to see up close.

Even though today ended up being exhausting, I am happy it turned out awesomely.

Today has probably been a a big step for MixMatchMusic, since it launched to the public after a demonstration which can be viewed here, at DEMOfall ’08 this morning.

I first got introduced to the startup company when it was in beta by my friend, who is the Director of Development and Technology, who was explaining to me exactly what he did for MixMatchMusic. I ended up finding this very interesting and thought that this was by far one of the best new ways for artists to collaborate online with their music. You don’t even have to be an artist, but you can mix and match different stems from artists who have already uploaded theirs to create your own music. Through their blog Evolving Music, their Twitter, and beta testing the site myself, I have learned much more about it. I actually uploaded my own stem today and I was proud of myself. I believe that MixMatchMusic even made it easier for me with all the tools they have on the site at your disposal (Sequencer). I am very excited how much press attention they are getting from CNET, Wired, and I am sure, many other articles in the future. I probably couldn’t possibly explain it as well as they can, so I am including their video for you to watch (introduced by Charles Feinn and Alan Khalfin) so that you can check it out yourself. I also encourage you to share this site with any artists you know or any other people who generally enjoy music.

After months of debating the cost of an iPhone and cancellation costs of my other service, I finally went and purchased one which makes me feel connected again to the rest of the world. The last couple of months, I really haven’t been happy with my cellphone service. I actually was carrying around two phones. A standard flip-phone from Verizon and a Sidekick ID from TMobile. I wasn’t too surprised when I started having problems with the Sidekick’s reception. Although, when it came down to my Verizon phone dropping almost every call and then me not even receiving any calls, there was a big problem. When I walked into the Apple Store with my friend, I didn’t really intend to purchase the iPhone, but I had been wanting one for so long I finally caved. I happened to find a nice “Apple nerd” to help me with my purchase, who in turn happened to call me the same thing as we were talking, because I own a Macbook, iPod, and now the iPhone. (Yes, I am a Apple nerd. I blame this on programmer friends. )

I can say one important thing though, I don’t think I have dropped any phone calls with it mainly because of AT&T and I am very happy with my reception so far. I am also finding recent applications I have downloaded very useful. Every application I have downloaded so far has been free which is a plus because then I can try it out and keep it if I like it. I do happen to use Twitter a lot, so I started using the Twittelator application. Which I really love, because instead of texting my updates to Twitter, I can view all of my friends’ recent Tweets as well and I can upload a picture by using TwitPic very easily. I have also recently got addicted to Loopt. I had heard of Loopt a while back, but having another friend to share it with is really nice. You can see where each other is and upload pictures of what you are doing at the moment. I also love Pandora’s free application where I can listen to all of the radio stations I have created, but even better is that I can use it to play through my car’s speakers. I do wish that there was a free application for Remember the Milk, because I would love to use it that way instead of having to use it in the mobile Safari. Other than that, I love my new phone!

I hope everyone accepts that my inner nerd is coming out more and more. That is it for my post, but tomorrow’s post will consist of food again, because I happened to take someone to a restaurant they have never been to. I have so many things to post about for people to read. That is always a good thing.