Author Archives: jaypoc

Cheap Bluetooth Recommendation – the Cardo Scala 500!

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If you’re looking for a Blue-tooth headset for your phone, STOP! I have recently tried out a bunch of them and have found the best ones NOT to be the expensive ones.

My first headset was a Cardo Scala 700. The reviews for it were great except that it was a bit uncomfortable. The performance on it was outstanding but I agree, it wasn’t the most ergonomically pleasing. It did have an adjustable earpiece which was not bad once adjusted right, but it took a while to get it right and the in-ear portion pressed against the bones in your ear which was fine unless pressure was applied to it (i.e. hitting the buttons). The size is small and it comes with a great belt pouch for carrying it around. I didn’t have it in the pouch and I lost it.

My second headset was a Motorola H700. Cute headset. Small. Very comfortable. People complained about my voice and I couldn’t hear anyone if there was any background noise. My hearing isn’t the best, and it just didn’t get that loud. I traded it in the next day.

It’s replacement was, believe it or not, the lower model, Motorola H500. It was a bit bigger, but certainly not as sexy as the H700. Performed a lot better though. My biggest complaint is that it sat on your ear and didn’t have a very good grip. It would occasionally wiggle and pivot away from my ear. The audio was louder than the H700 but still nowhere near as loud and clear as the Cardo Scala. Also, like the H700, it did not protrude into your ear at all, so at times I had to press it against my ear to hear in noisier situations.

After a game of DDR at Dave & Busters, I managed to lose this headset. I was a bit disappointed at the time, but one thing I always stood behind was the fact that things happen for a reason. It wasn’t the end of the world. The day before, I had gotten a great offer for a different Cardo Scala model for only $20. Now I had the chance to take advantage of it.

I received my Cardo Scala 500 the other day, and it’s been an absolute pleasure! It’s a bit bigger than the Cardo Scala 700 but much MUCH more comfortable. So far I have not had any trouble hearing anybody on it. I was able to listen to Opie and Anthony at work during my lunch break with background noise and the television on. Nobody has complained about how I sounded, and so far I was told It was clear. The earpiece extends slightly into your ear, but not as much as to be uncomfortable. It’s an absolute pleasure, and it is the cheapest headset of all the ones I tried. The only downside I found so far is that it doesn’t come with the nifty (There’s that word again) belt pouch, but I may just order one for $5 from Cardo direct.

Check Froogle for good prices.

How to get Windows Vista at Target for $0.02

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For only $0.02, You to can buy THIS:

 

Yes, That’s a picture of the box from Windows Vista (Both Home Premium and Ultimate Upgrade). I picked both of those up from Target for $0.01 each. That’s ONE CENT each! I have had experiences where Target had products mismarked so I brought the tag up to the counter and actually got the discounted price, so I brought the Display Box for Vista along with the shelf tags reading $0.01 and asked an associate what the policy was on mismarked items (Wal-Mart gives you off the mismarked price if they actually mis-label a price!). He followed me back and upon seeing the tags advised me that the tags were the price of the “Display Boxes” but the real software was [insert price here…Hint, Above $200].

I chuckled and asked if I could buy the box. “Knock yourself out” he said as he walked away. So I did what any good person would do. I took the displays and the tags up to the register. I figured I’d get a few laughs and maybe kicked out, but no. The girl at the register scanned the shelf tags after failing to find a bar code on the package itself and sold me the displays for $0.02. I laughed, handed her two pennies, and took my bag with the Microsoft Displays.

I don’t think I could have laughed any harder on my way out! They sold me the store displays for pennies… Literally! Now, I do wonder what would have happened if I took a real copy of Windows Vista up, advised the clerk the price was different on the scanner and the shelf. Would she have rung up the $200 Windows Vista for only $0.01? I did get a Slip & Slide from Target once for $1.50 because the shelf label read it (though it scanned at $10 and change, they adjusted it for me). Too bad I’m an honest person or I might have tried it and they would have been down $200 in one shot.

Hmmm Maybe I could head down to Target with $20 and buy a few shopping carts worth of Displays 🙂 Maybe even some with working units build into them. lol

Good things come in 3’s

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Another great weekend is over. I kept myself pretty busy. Pooh on everybody who backed out last minute or couldn’t join in the festivities.

It all started Friday night. Casey and myself headed into New York City in the afternoon and popped in on my old roomate, carmine. He was hosting Jalsah NYC, a musical middle-eastern style open-jam night featuring musicians, singers and dancers. Now, I’m not a musician, nor a singer, and definitely not a dancer, but we popped in to see Carmine and show support for his event. It was actually a lot of fun. Carmine’s involvement in the middle-eastern music and dance community has really opened my eyes to the musical styles which in my past I was very closed to and turned off by. Some of it is really interesting, and entertaining.

After the Jalsah, we headed across the city to Rocky Horror! I posted a few weeks ago that I wanted to go so we finally set a date and got to catch the show. There was a lack of audience particip….ation (grin) at this one, seemingly due to the audience being made up of mostly virgins, but as usual, we had a great time and the NYC cast always makes the show an event to remember.

Last night, on kind of an impulse, I decided to step back about 10 or 15 years. Back in the day I used to frequent various clubs/bars with my friends. I would go to hang out, drink, socialize and people watch and last night was no different. Granted, I was a bit tired, and didn’t plan on staying long, but did wind up staying until about 2AM or so. The DJ was spinning a mix of New Wave, EBM, Synth-pop, Darkwave, Electro-rock, PostPunk and electroclash all night long. They have a fire-pit out back and one guy brought out a few bags of marshmallows! (Mallows! Mallows! Mallows!) 🙂 It was a total blast from my past. I may try to gather up some of the old crew and make this a more frequent event.

Well, I’m back at work now. lol. fun is over. next weekend is going to be a busy one also. Lots going on.

Where are you at?

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After reading an article about what tech toys our former presidents would be playing with today, I figured I’d place a marker on my LiveJournal and note what my current pleasures are for comparison in a few years.

The original article is at http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/19/what-tech-would-the-presidents-rock-in-2007/

OS
Currently running a combination of Windows XP Pro SP2 and Ubuntu Linux (6.06-LTS Server and Workstation)

Computer
Main PC is a P4 3.06Ghz Laptop

Media Player
Pocket PC Device (See below) – Does not subscribe to the iPod theory (No need for a portable music player, though I stockpile MP3s from any and all CDs I can!)

HD Format
Love the concept, but not willing to shell out the big bucks for the slightly better quality picture. In time, the costs will come down and thats when I’ll jump on the bandwagon. Being an early adopter has financial disadvantages which I’m not willing to accept right now.

Carrier
SprintPCS, Love EVDO! and the pricing is now becoming reasonable along with the coverage!

Console
Still stuck in the 80’s. Fav is the classic NES, though I do sport a PS2. I’d probably chose the PS3 over XBox and Wii though the hefty price tag deters me from that purchase. I’m not much of a gamer, so in time, when I can pick one up for under $200 I might make the investment, but for now it would just be a waste of money.

Vehicle
Supercharged 6cyl 2-door sedan…Pontiac Grand Prix GTP. Would consider a new one or waiting for my love, The Firebird, to be re-released.

Handheld
Referring back to the carrier, the UT Starcom 6700 (Released for SprintPCS as a PPC6700) gives me a 600Mhz ARM processor (factory underclocked at 415Mhz) with Bluetooth, Wifi, GPRS, EVDO, a MiniSD slot (with a 2GB chip popped in), IR, touch screen, and even a slide-out keyboard! I can do everything from make calls, listen to music, watch TV (Slingbox rocks!), and surf the Internet right from a small device that sits on my belt.

I’ll set this post as a memory on LJ and review it again in a year or two and see what’s changed.