I've been a member of Apple's overpriced suite of tools dotMac for almost a year now. I knew it was overpriced when I first got my iMac about 18months ago, and turned down the discounted rate after my month free trail. Back then it was 1gig of space shared for web pages, and e-mail.
About a year ago they updated the product. The promise of IMAP e-mail, and the addition of the web gallery which is seamlessly tied to iPhoto was what helped me make the jump. the syncing of my contacts was also a benefit, and having a place to put things to be easily accessible of the web helped as well. They also bumped the storage from 1gig to 10gigs.
Shortly after my purchase, I noticed a few things. Number one, the web gallery couldn't be slower. I liked the interface, I liked the idea of people being able to add to the gallery, but the speed was terrible. I've noticed a similar issue with picassa though, so it's not only mac struggling to keep speedy galleries. Number two, Gmail began offering IMAP email for free. Plus the dotMac email system is ridiculous. It looks like yahoo mail looked in 1998, and it automatically logs you out after 10 minutes, which sucks for people like me who are used to keeping their gmail open all day. I also found dropbox (which I will blog about soon) which is a money alternative to dotMac's iDisk. I can store 2gigs for free of files that are shared to any computer I want them to, and also all changes I make to the files are synched as well, in case I need to go back to an old file. I have the ability to easily share files, and they have a much faster smoother (yet with less features) web gallery option.
With all these shortcomings, it was easy for me to decide to drop dotMac when I needed to renew in August.
Of course, that all changed, as usual with Apple, when they announced that they were dropping dotMac for MobileMe. The logo is awful, it reminds me of Windows ME, and we all now how well that Operating System ran. But the demo showed serious promise, a much nicer looking email, new servers could mean speedier galleries. But the killer for me was the ease of syncing between my iphone (which I'll buy) and my computer. Over the Air syncing of contacts, calendar, and e-mail is a great feature, and well worth the 100 bucks.
Currently My web contact list still lists Dave (our new drummers) phone number as his old phone number that he changed 4 months ago because I haven't synced the contacts from my phone to my computer to the web yet. This would happen automatically with mobileme. Another example is last year while we were playing a lot of shows, my cell calendar often was different than my at home calendar making it difficult to book shows while on the go in case i booked something that didn't sync back to my phone, this is another thing that won't happen with mobileme.
They are transitioning to the new system in mid July, which will give me about a month of free use before I decide if it's worth keeping, or if I should just still drop it. I'm sure I'll post about it once I get to use it.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
wussha drank?
when did this become an acceptable way of asking what you would like to drink while at a drive through. And it's not like I can complain, because it happens at EVERY drivethru (except Chic Fil A). Checkers, Wendys, McDonalds, BK, Hardees, if they have a drivethru and some sort of combo option, I can guarantee you've been asked "wassha drank?"
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
surprisingly enough, they guy who made this is richer than me
why can't I ever think of anything like this?
Monday, May 26, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
John Mayer Writes a Song
Now that Silent Film is back to rocking, and we need to start making music again, I look to John Mayer for inspiration.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Silent Film is Whole Again
Back in January Rob, Brad and I decided it was time to start rocking again and we started advertising for drummers and singers. We fell upon little Dave Kliensmith (not jewish, don't let the name fool you) and he started beating the skins, but we still needed a singer. After dozens of tryouts and a few almosts, we think we finally found our guy. Tim used to sing in Aisle of View and he is going to be rocking out with us. We are going to be practicing the old stuff to catch him up and work on the new stuff we already have written, plus a few ditty's he's written and then put it all together in one big mix of rock and start playing live. I can't wait and neither can you.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Saves the Day in Philly
I've seen Saves the Day live about a dozen times.. Probably more. I've seen them open a hardcore show and get booed for not being hardcore enough. They are always at the top of my list for favorite bands. I've seen em acoustic 3 times. I've seen sets consisting of a majority of new shit (usually after each CD release) and I've seen them do sets of classics, usually their acoustic shows, and the time I saw them after their B-sides release. I've seen em with like 4 drummers, 3 bassists, just Chris, let's just say, I've been through the gamut of possible Saves the Day shows. If I were to have to pinpoint my favorite show it would be tough. I really liked them at Recher with Thursday after Stay What You Are came out. Chris was still only singing and not playing guitar, the setlist was all Through Being Cool and the new CD which I really liked, and overall it was just a good show. I really didn't like them at Recher with the Deerhunter. That would probably be the worst show I saw of them. Mostly In Riverie tracks, nothing really old, and just boring.
Last night all of them have been trumped. I don't think it would be possible for them to have played a better set. The last few times I've seen them, they have been big on taking a few requests during the set, which is great, because most Saves the Day fans, like me, prefer the older stuff. There are a few quality tracks on each of their newest CD's but there are also some really really bad songs (she on In Riverie as well as Monkey, and a few off of Under the Boards could be better as well). Last night they changed it up by playing all requests. Every song was a request... All THIRTY THREE of them. 33. That's 2 hours of rock. I found the setlist on Absolute Punk:
1.) Shoulder To The Wheel
2.) Always 10 Feet Tall
3.) The Last Lie i Told
4.) Jukebox Breakdown
5.) Sell My Old Clothes
6.) You Vandal
7.) Ups and Downs
8.) A Drag in d Flat
9.) Handsome Boy
10.) Tomorrow Too Late
11.) This Is Not An Exit
( brief pause for shots of tequila courtesy of Set Your Goals )
12.) In Reverie
13.) Kaliediscope
14.) As Your Ghost Takes Flight
15.) Wednesday The Third
16.) At Your Funeral
17.) Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots
18.) I'm Sorry I'm Leaving
19.) Hold
( Second Tequila Shot )
20.) The Choke
21.) My Sweet Fracture
22.) Sometimes New Jersey
23.) Where Are You ? (Chris's favorite)
24.) What Went Wrong
25.) Bye Bye Baby
26.) See You
27.) Bones
28.) Stay
29.) Woe
( Third Tequila Shot )
30.) Take Our Cars Now
31.) Deciding
32.) Nightingale
33.) Rocks Tonic Magic Juice
That's 5 off of CSD
6 off TBC
6 off SWYA
3 B-Sides
3 Acoustic CD
5 IR
1 STA
4 UTB
That is out of control. At one point Chris said, we have a 120 song catalog, and we only know 70 of em, so we might not know it. We don't know Banned from the back porch or Jodie (two I would have liked to hear) I also would have liked firefly and through being cool. But I think I'll deal. It almost felt like a going away show, the drinking, they played everything by request... it was weird. People were doing everything to hear their requests. Throwing paper on stage, typing what they wanted on their cellphone and giving it to chris, making hand motions, and just screaming. People were tearing paper off the walls to write their requests on signs and holding em up... it must have been a great experience for Saves the Day as well. I did actually like the requests for newer stuff too... You could tell Chris likes playing the newer stuff even if the audience doesn't like it as much. The only songs I didn't like of the evening were Woe and Stay off of UTB, I don't really care for either of them, and they did them back to back.
I also realize why Rob loves Manny. That dude is a beast on the bass, but not only that, he is so chill when he does it. Everything is effortless, and he's just bobbing up and down, chilling, with a toothpick in his mouth. And damn, him and the new drummer learning 70 songs is also impressive.
Holy shit. I almost didn't go to this show. I feel I'm getting a little old for shows. I'm 25, I'm usually about 10 years senior to a majority of the crowd, and I don't like being cramped up front, and I can't hear as well in the back. Meghann talked me into heading up with promises of beer and cheese steaks(this will be another blog) and I'm really glad she did.
Last night all of them have been trumped. I don't think it would be possible for them to have played a better set. The last few times I've seen them, they have been big on taking a few requests during the set, which is great, because most Saves the Day fans, like me, prefer the older stuff. There are a few quality tracks on each of their newest CD's but there are also some really really bad songs (she on In Riverie as well as Monkey, and a few off of Under the Boards could be better as well). Last night they changed it up by playing all requests. Every song was a request... All THIRTY THREE of them. 33. That's 2 hours of rock. I found the setlist on Absolute Punk:
1.) Shoulder To The Wheel
2.) Always 10 Feet Tall
3.) The Last Lie i Told
4.) Jukebox Breakdown
5.) Sell My Old Clothes
6.) You Vandal
7.) Ups and Downs
8.) A Drag in d Flat
9.) Handsome Boy
10.) Tomorrow Too Late
11.) This Is Not An Exit
( brief pause for shots of tequila courtesy of Set Your Goals )
12.) In Reverie
13.) Kaliediscope
14.) As Your Ghost Takes Flight
15.) Wednesday The Third
16.) At Your Funeral
17.) Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots
18.) I'm Sorry I'm Leaving
19.) Hold
( Second Tequila Shot )
20.) The Choke
21.) My Sweet Fracture
22.) Sometimes New Jersey
23.) Where Are You ? (Chris's favorite)
24.) What Went Wrong
25.) Bye Bye Baby
26.) See You
27.) Bones
28.) Stay
29.) Woe
( Third Tequila Shot )
30.) Take Our Cars Now
31.) Deciding
32.) Nightingale
33.) Rocks Tonic Magic Juice
That's 5 off of CSD
6 off TBC
6 off SWYA
3 B-Sides
3 Acoustic CD
5 IR
1 STA
4 UTB
That is out of control. At one point Chris said, we have a 120 song catalog, and we only know 70 of em, so we might not know it. We don't know Banned from the back porch or Jodie (two I would have liked to hear) I also would have liked firefly and through being cool. But I think I'll deal. It almost felt like a going away show, the drinking, they played everything by request... it was weird. People were doing everything to hear their requests. Throwing paper on stage, typing what they wanted on their cellphone and giving it to chris, making hand motions, and just screaming. People were tearing paper off the walls to write their requests on signs and holding em up... it must have been a great experience for Saves the Day as well. I did actually like the requests for newer stuff too... You could tell Chris likes playing the newer stuff even if the audience doesn't like it as much. The only songs I didn't like of the evening were Woe and Stay off of UTB, I don't really care for either of them, and they did them back to back.
I also realize why Rob loves Manny. That dude is a beast on the bass, but not only that, he is so chill when he does it. Everything is effortless, and he's just bobbing up and down, chilling, with a toothpick in his mouth. And damn, him and the new drummer learning 70 songs is also impressive.
Holy shit. I almost didn't go to this show. I feel I'm getting a little old for shows. I'm 25, I'm usually about 10 years senior to a majority of the crowd, and I don't like being cramped up front, and I can't hear as well in the back. Meghann talked me into heading up with promises of beer and cheese steaks(this will be another blog) and I'm really glad she did.
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