Dubious Thoughts
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Technology
April and I got new Pearl Gray RAZR phones yesterday. Our contract with T-Mobile ran out next month so I called them and negotiated free RAZR's in exchange for a new 2 year contract. I didn't really want a 2 year contract, but I wanted new phones more than I wanted my freedom.
I have wanted a camera phone. I have begun the process of taking blurry, poorly-lit pictures at low resolutions of anything interesting (or not) that I see. Here is me holding my new phone:
I think the photos actually don't look that bad.
I've been messing around with the photo and video taking capabilities of the phone, and I really like it. I've also set up Bluetooth between the phones and the Powerbook. What this means is that I can send the pictures I take on the phone to the computer for free. I find this infinitely nifty. I can take pictures of anything I see and save them for later.
I've also figured out how to use iTunes to edit MP3s into ringtones and use Bluetooth to transfer them to the phone. I've already done this with The Killer's "All these things that I've done", Franz Ferdinand's "Jacqueline", and Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here". It's a good feeling to be able to turn any song into a ringtone without having to pay $3 for somebody else to do it for you (and they probably selected the wrong clip of the song, anyway).
I also tried out the Redbox DVD rental machine for the first time yesterday. For those of you that haven't seen one of these:
basically, they are vending machines for DVD rentals. You go up, pick a movie to rent, and swipe your credit card. Out pops the movie. If you return it before 7:00 pm the next day, it only charges you one dollar. Every additional day is another dollar. I think they cap it off eventually and you can just keep the DVD, but I don't know how expensive that gets. Where it gets really, interesting, though, is that you can return your DVDs to any Redbox anywhere in the world. So, you could rent a movie in Dallas and return it in Norman. Or, you could rent a movie at the Albertson's on the east side of Norman and return it at the Albertson's on the west side of Norman (as I did with "The Devil Wears Prada"). I think they would have a real money-maker if they could put these in all the airports in the US. I know tons of people who take laptops that play DVDs with them on trips, and if I was sitting at my gate and saw that I could rent a bunch of new releases for $1, watch them on the flight, and then return them in the other airport... well, I think I might do that. Pictures of what the DVDs look like:
McDonald's actually owns Redbox. The machines started out in McDonald's in select markets, and they've slowly been rolling them out to additional locations. Albertson's has said that by the end of the first quarter of 2007, they will be in all of their stores. I've also heard that some Kroger's have them.
Also: you can go to www.redbox.com and check which movies are in stock at all of their machines. More than that, a lot of times you can select which movie you want to rent and pay on-line, then just drive up, swipe your credit card, and accept the movie. These things are great. I'm bout it bout it.
For codes to get a free movie or two, visit Inside Redbox. You'll be glad you did.
I have wanted a camera phone. I have begun the process of taking blurry, poorly-lit pictures at low resolutions of anything interesting (or not) that I see. Here is me holding my new phone:
I think the photos actually don't look that bad.
I've been messing around with the photo and video taking capabilities of the phone, and I really like it. I've also set up Bluetooth between the phones and the Powerbook. What this means is that I can send the pictures I take on the phone to the computer for free. I find this infinitely nifty. I can take pictures of anything I see and save them for later.
I've also figured out how to use iTunes to edit MP3s into ringtones and use Bluetooth to transfer them to the phone. I've already done this with The Killer's "All these things that I've done", Franz Ferdinand's "Jacqueline", and Vince Guaraldi's "Christmas Time is Here". It's a good feeling to be able to turn any song into a ringtone without having to pay $3 for somebody else to do it for you (and they probably selected the wrong clip of the song, anyway).
I also tried out the Redbox DVD rental machine for the first time yesterday. For those of you that haven't seen one of these:
basically, they are vending machines for DVD rentals. You go up, pick a movie to rent, and swipe your credit card. Out pops the movie. If you return it before 7:00 pm the next day, it only charges you one dollar. Every additional day is another dollar. I think they cap it off eventually and you can just keep the DVD, but I don't know how expensive that gets. Where it gets really, interesting, though, is that you can return your DVDs to any Redbox anywhere in the world. So, you could rent a movie in Dallas and return it in Norman. Or, you could rent a movie at the Albertson's on the east side of Norman and return it at the Albertson's on the west side of Norman (as I did with "The Devil Wears Prada"). I think they would have a real money-maker if they could put these in all the airports in the US. I know tons of people who take laptops that play DVDs with them on trips, and if I was sitting at my gate and saw that I could rent a bunch of new releases for $1, watch them on the flight, and then return them in the other airport... well, I think I might do that. Pictures of what the DVDs look like:
McDonald's actually owns Redbox. The machines started out in McDonald's in select markets, and they've slowly been rolling them out to additional locations. Albertson's has said that by the end of the first quarter of 2007, they will be in all of their stores. I've also heard that some Kroger's have them.
Also: you can go to www.redbox.com and check which movies are in stock at all of their machines. More than that, a lot of times you can select which movie you want to rent and pay on-line, then just drive up, swipe your credit card, and accept the movie. These things are great. I'm bout it bout it.
For codes to get a free movie or two, visit Inside Redbox. You'll be glad you did.
