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well, I finally got a call from the local PC repair shop about my laptop. They simply confirmed what I already knew. It’s the motherboard and there’s no cheap fix for it. The motherboard can be replaced for $400 but as all of us know, you can easily get a new laptop for that price.

So, does anyone want my HP Pavilion DV7 for parts? I might as well put it up on ebay to get something out of this piece of crap. It’s only a year and a half old and now it’s just a paper weight. lovely.

Thanks for nothing HP.

hey all!

I’ve got lots of updates for the blog including a review of last night’s Asia concert but my personal laptop died on me. Well, I’m still hoping and praying that it’ll come back to life so we’ll see. There’s tons of important stuff on the hard drive that I don’t want to lose so hopefully I’ll be able to get it back up on running.

Anyway, just thought I’d post this notice for those waiting for new posts here.

stay tuned…

You know, I wasn’t aware of this but apparently Axl Rose and his updated version of Guns N’ Roses are STILL out on the road supporting their 2008 album Chinese Democracy. I guess since most of the tour dates have been outside the U.S., I personally haven’t seen much buzz about them. But now the folks over at Rock ‘N Rev Festival have announced that GNR are headlining their five day festival. This is a big deal since GNR haven’t performed in the U.S. in four years. And so far, this is the only U.S. date on their current tour.

Here’s the official press release:
Los Angeles July 20, 2010 – Making their first U.S. concert appearance in four years – and playing their only U.S. show in 2010 – Guns N’ Roses has been officially recruited with Daughtry to join the inaugural Rock ‘N Rev Festival and cement its assault on the legendary Sturgis Rally’s 70th Anniversary celebration in Sturgis, SD, at the newly constructed Rock N’ Rev Amphitheater at Monkey Rock USA.
Guns N’ Roses will headline the fifth and final night of the festival, as it moves to the Brand New Rock ‘N Rev Amphitheater at Monkey Rock USA in Sturgis, adjacent to its original location. L.A.’s notorious rock ‘n’ roll bad boys – one of Q magazine’s “50 Bands to See Before You Die” – have combined forces with HDlogix and DC3 Global for this rare and very special appearance on home soil to bring the “full-out rock ‘n’ roll spectacle” (Spin) of their 2010 “Chinese Democracy World Tour” to Sturgis and finish off the hijacking of the world’s biggest, baddest biker event, Monday, Aug. 9 through Friday, Aug. 13, 2010.
Guns N’ Roses’ final night performance, immediately following previously announced Aug. 13 headliner Alice in Chains, is the ultimate climax to five full nights of undeniable rock ‘n’ roll bedlam, and now gives the Rock ‘N Rev Festival six of the most explosive, multi-platinum AMERICAN Active Rock Bands of 2010. Daughtry, supporting its second consecutive #1 album, will join 3 Doors Down, Hinder and others on Aug. 12, the 4th night of the Rock N’ Rev Festival.
In order to welcome Guns N’ Roses and Daughtry to the Rock ‘N Rev Festival, new festival owners HDlogix and its producers, DC3 Global, are starting construction immediately on the Rock N’ Rev Amphitheater at Monkey Rock USA, a new custom-built amphitheater on a 25-acre site at Monkey Rock designed to maximize logistical opportunities while enhancing the overall experience for everyone attending – from the bands to the fans.
“We are truly blessed to be able to announce the addition of Guns N’ Roses at this historic moment in the band’s history, along with Daughtry, just as we relocate the Rock ‘N Rev Festival to our own Amphitheater at Monkey Rock USA,” said DC3′s co-founder, Daniel E. Catullo III. “Monkey Rock’s vision to create a nationally recognized brand among the world’s top motorcycle rallies is a perfect fit for us, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome them as our partners.”
Raising the insanity level to previously unimaginable heights, Guns N’ Roses and Daughtry are just the latest high octane multi-platinum rockers to join the growing list of bands at the Rock ‘N Rev Festival. They unite with fellow headliners Stone Temple Pilots, Godsmack, Creed, Alice in Chains and 3 Doors Down to establish the Rock ‘N Rev Festival as “The Home of Rock’s Hardest New Chart Toppers” – a different one topping each night’s lineup.
Tickets for the Rock ‘N Rev Festival are $45 per day, general admission ($150 for a five-day pass), and On Sale Now through Ticketmaster.com and rocknrevfestival.com and at all Ticketmaster locations, or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available in person beginning August 5, 2010 on location at the Festival’s on-site box office. For more information on exclusive VIP packages ($150 for a single day, $300 for all five days or $1,000 5 day platinum packages), including backstage access to a VIP area to special, air-conditioned tents with private bars, motorcycle parking, luxury bathroom facilities and more, go to rocknrevfestival.com.

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so, it seems that I wasted the whole evening last night thanks to Walmart. yup, good ol’ wally world. Apparently you can’t trust their “in-store availability” info on their website. I know, I know, what do I expect from a place like walmart where customer service is virtually nil. But against my better judgement I believed what the site was telling me. And it was telling me that a store way out in the boonies (approximately 40 minutes away from my house) had an item that I’ve been searching for the last couple days. yeah, I know, why am I even purchasing anything of value at wally world anyway. groceries and mundane stuff, yes. more expensive stuff, no. anyway, the website indicated that one store out of a dozen in my area had this one item in stock and it was in a place I’ve never driven to before.

so, after dinner I dragged my wife and kids in the van and searched for the holy grail, somewhere out in the great beyond. first problem was google maps. OK, scratch that. the first problem was of course trusting walmart. enough said. second problem was google maps. it gave me misleading directions to this place. apparently google isn’t that familiar with the boonies either. So, I overshot my destination by ten miles or so and by that time, I was extremely low on gas. so there we were in the middle of nowhere at night searching for a gas station. I was literally riding on fumes by the time I found a station in a small no-name town. I swear I heard dueling banjos ala “Deliverance” playing in the background as I tried to fill up the tank as quickly and as unobtrusively as possible so that I wouldn’t disturb the natives. and just my luck the automatic trigger to stop the pump when full was busted so I spewed gas over the van and my shoes. great!!

anyway, after cussing at myself for getting all of us into this mess, I got back on the road and restarted the search for this godforsaken walmart. after a few turns here and there on dark, lonely roads and with a little help from “The Force”, we eventually stumbled onto the damn place. It was getting pretty late in the evening at this point and I just wanted to grab what I was there for and get the hell home.

And you guessed it!! after all that driving and me smelling of gas, Walmart did not even have the damn thing even though the website says it does. nice!

Thank you for a lovely evening Walmart. never again, my friend. never again.

Motorola made the announcement back in March that they’d be releasing the first Android powered smartphone available for the iDEN network. The initial announcement was for the phone to be released through Sprint/Nextel which disappointed a whole lot of Boost Mobile iDEN users. Well, Boost iDEN folks, you’re in luck!! It appears that Sprint/Nextel won’t have exclusive dibs on the Motorola i1 after all. There’s word that Boost will be releasing its own version of the i1 this summer. No official word yet on a release date for the Boost version but there’s already a page set up for the phone on the Best Buy website which is a pretty good sign that it’s indeed for real. The bad news is that the Boost version of the phone will cost $350 since there’s no contract with the carrier. Plus, you can’t use the pay-as-you-go plan with this phone, only the $50 unlimited plan. But for those wanting a smartphone on the iDEN network, this is the only choice (for now at least).

Motorola i1 features: Android 1.5 OS, Opera Mini 5 browser, 5.0 MP camera, built-in Wi-Fi, bluetooth, 3.1″ HVGA touch screen, microSD memory card, nationwide walkie-talkie, 210 minutes talk time, 100 hours in standby mode.

I’m still curious to hear about web access on this phone. Since iDEN wasn’t built for high speed data throughput, surfing the web might be a bit on the SLOW side. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see once the phone hits the streets.

While in downtown Raleigh on business, I took this snapshot of Raleigh’s new downtown outdoor concert venue. As you can see, it’s no where near finished. They’ve got lots to do before the June 4th opening with the Connells.

Plus they don’t even have an official name yet. Well, for now it’s called the Raleigh Amphitheater. But the city is waiting for the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission to approve the naming of the venue as “Bud Light Amphitheater”. Apparently there’s a state law that prohibits alcoholic beverages as part of the name of a public venue. So, hopefully they can get that worked out soon.

Anyway, here are the upcoming acts scheduled for The Raleigh “Bud Light” Amphitheater:

04 June 2010 – The Connell, I Was Totally Destroying It, The Small Ponds
06 June 2010 – Backstreet Boys
23 July 2010 – Honda Civic Tour – Paramore, Tegan and Sara, New Found Glory
25 July 2010 – Carnival of Madness – Shinedown, Chevelle, Puddle of Mudd
28 July 2010 – Legalize It Tour – Cypress Hill, Collie Buddz
30 July 2010 – Chelsea Handler
09 August 2010 – Goo Goo Dolls, Switchfoot
10 August 2010 – O.A.R., Citizen Cope
13 August 2010 – Umphrey’s McGee, Rebelution
14 August 2010 – Heart
25 August 2010 – Sound Tribe Sector
17 September 2010 – Black Crowes
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It looks like Sprint/Nextel is about to shake things up again in the prepaid wireless market. Last year, Sprint/Nextel caused a huge stir in the industry by introducing a $50 unlimited plan on their Boost Network. And now it’s time for Virgin Mobile to shine. Virgin Mobile is Sprint’s other prepaid/no-contracts brand and for a while there, it looked like the brand was going to flounder in the wake of Boost Mobile’s popularity. But the recent unveiling of Virgin Mobile’s “Beyond Talk” plans changes everything.

The huge buzz is centered around the low price point of the $25 a month plan. The $25 plan includes unlimited messaging, email, data and web. The plan also includes 300 minutes of voice calls per month. This is currently the lowest price in the industry for unlimited data & text. With the high demand of 3G mobile web service, this deal is a game changer. Especially when you take into account that there’s no long term contracts and no extra hidden fees.

For those that want a Blackberry, don’t fret. VM’s got you covered as well. The blackberry plan adds $10 on top of the Beyond Talk plans so at the lowest tier service, you can get by with just $35 a month for voice/data.

I’m personally itching to get in on this deal. I’m currently on Boost Mobile (iDEN) which isn’t built for high speed data. Plus I’m a bit tired of the old-school Motorola phones on Boost. I need to get with the times and get me a newfangled data-driven handset. The new LG Rumor Touch looks perfect for my needs.

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with all the emphasis on CDMA phones on the Boost Mobile network lately, I’m glad to hear something/anything about the iDEN side of things. Especially since I’m an iDEN subscriber myself! According to a recent posting on Boost’s facebook page, Boost/Sprint finally got around to upgrading their text messaging system to help resolve issues users had with texting. You may remember problems of delayed or lost text messages for those on Boost Mobile last year. The issues stemmed from the old iDEN network not being equipped to handle the massive influx of new subscribers wanting to take advantage of the $50 unlimited plan. Oh, and apparently iDEN wasn’t originally designed for things other than voice transmissions. Anyway, the Boost rep on facebook reassures us that we should no longer be seeing any delays/issues with texting.

—
here’s what was posted on FB:

Well folks, a few of you were waiting on some official answers into what we’ve been doing to enhance iDEN network texting. Here it is, hot off the press:

So yes, as of a few weeks ago, almost all iDEN users have been moved onto an expensive new texting platform. You should see improvments at this point!
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VH1 recently announced their lineup of upcoming shows slated for their cable network this summer. It’s good to hear that they’ll be continuing the “Behind the Music” and “Storytellers” series. And THANK YOU VH1 for pulling the plug on “Rock of Love” and the assorted spin offs. Good lord, who has been watching that trash anyway?? It’s safe to say that WE the VIEWERS are all tired of the trashy reality shows on VH1.

I totally understand that it is expensive getting clearance to broadcast music on the network but come on, VH1, can’t you find something other than reality shows for the network???

I mean really? “You’re Cut Off” – a rehab show with nine spoiled party girls???

and this – “Money Hungry” – a mashup of a weight loss contest and their other show “I Love Money”???

Sorry, I don’t see any of this increasing your viewership, VH1. sad, sad, sad.

iDEN cell phone users rejoice! The first Android smartphone on the iDEN network will be out sometime this summer. Motorola recently announced that the i1 will released through Sprint/Nextel and that Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs” host, Mike Rowe will be the spokesperson for the new phone. Besides the sleek touchscreen design and the Android powered apps, the phone meets 810F military specifications for ruggedness, hence the choice of Mr. Dirty Jobs Rowe. So, apparently, the marketing campaign will be geared toward construction workers, builders, and such. And I guess that makes sense since the push-to-talk feature is a favorite among that particular demographic. Other phone features include: 5-megapixel camera, Opera mini 5 browser, WIFI, microSD and a 3.1 inch touchscreen.

So essentially, the i1 is a super tough phone that runs on Android OS 1.5. I’m not sure why Motorola chose the older version of the OS but hopefully users will have the capability to upgrade to 2.1. The big limitation for iDEN users is that the network was never designed for high speed data. So, mobile web connections will be very slow on the iDEN i1. But still, I’m glad to see a sleek smartphone available for the aging network. No longer will iDEN subscribers have to be embarrassed by their old-school Motorola clamshells, heh. (yes, I still use an old Motorola i880 on my Boost mobile account). Now, if only Boost Mobile members can have their own version of the i1. Either that or simply be able to purchase the Nextel phone outright and use it on Boost (..but I can’t imagine the cost of the new phone WITHOUT a contract. OUCH!).
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