Movies


The Evil Dead series...

These are uniquely good movies. I have no way of really telling you that you will or will not like them. I do, but because I see them for what they are. Movies made by a bunch of folks that were looking to do something that they loved.

Do not watch these movies expecting to see Oscar winning effects or dialogue. They are campy, poorly lit, and very B grade... but they are fun. If you like B movies, which I do, and you want to have an enjoyable evening watching a series of these type of movies, then I strongly suggest that you hit your local rental dive, and get these movies:

Evil Dead
Evil Dead II
Army of Darkness

Bruce Campbell and Sam Rami have done well with these movies, and while they are still, unfortunately, relegated to the B status, I rank them up there with any of the George Romero stories.

Watch them... or may the possessed hand of Ashe grab you by the nads in the middle of the dark moonless night!

The Departed -


Overall I liked the movie, however I would have liked it more had I rented it.

This movie is not one that you would want to take the kids to go see, as it has enough brains being flying around to make the entire Kerry campaign team envious, and more "F_cks" than a Japanese whore-house with a clearance sale.

No... The movie is rather graphic, and has a lot of unusual twists and turns. I will not give you any details so as to spoil it for you, but you will either like it a lot, or hate it. There will be no middle ground on this one.

Vonage


I have been with Vonage for about a year and a half, and I could not be happier with the overall service. The quality is tremendous, the staff is wonderful. But there are a few issues I do have with them.

Yes... You can find a fart in Paradise.

1. Local numbers: As I come up on two years with Vonage, I am amazed that they do not have any numbers that will cover my refix. Yes, they are in my area code... 661, but the only numbers they have are for locations well outside my local calling area, and while I am with the unlimited plan, if I were to have people call me on that line, they would be placing a toll call. C'mon guys... it cannot be that hard to get Bakersfield prefixes when you are an ILEC!!!

2. Equipment: I signed up with Vonage at about the same time a friend of mine did. There was a difference, though. I signed up through Vonage's web site and he bought the kit in Circuit City. When my package arrived, I found a Linksys RT31P2 VOiP router in the box. For those of you who have used this using, you know that they are not very forgiving on an existing network. They are also cumbersome and useless as a stand-alone router. With only three ports, it is simply silly to think you could run a network off of it. My friend got a neat little silver box that only has only purpose... plug it into the existing router, plug your phone into it. Yeah... I was pissed.


If you are trying to decide on Vonage as a service, do not let this blog drive you away. I love the Vonage service, and I highly recommend the Softphone feature. I use this on the road all the time. But buy your kit through Circuit City, or any other place that sells the Vonage kits... Not directly through Vonage.

Thanks.

Product Review

BlackBerry 7100i


I like this unit.

It is a sturdy, reliable and functional unit. I have service through NexTel/Sprint, and while I have been in a few places that did not get much reception, they are few and far between for me. This does not mean that it will work the same for everyone, but hey... we cannot all get what we want.

The Good:
* Nice design, feels good in the hand
* Clear and Loud speakerphone
* Easy to fine that "Sweet Spot" when you use the unit against your ear.
* Easy to use buttons.
* Easy to understand menu system, as is the case with all Blackberry devices.
* Cannot get enough of the PTT (Push to Talk) feature... aka Walkie Talkie.
* Provider is not half bad either.

The "OK"
* Built-in GPS support - This is a feature you have to request to have added, and is not standard. It only tracks to 4 sattelites and has no built in maps. This feature works great if you are in areas that have good coverage for cell service, but if you go into the mountains or desert, where service is sparse, to say the least, the GPS feature will not work.
* Typing messages - This unit come default with the SmartType feature turned on, and I usually turn this off and go to the "Multi-Tap" keyboard.


The Bad"
* The Antenna on this unit sucks. I have played around with a couple now, and the antenna sticks, and sometimes has to be forced down.
* Battery life is weak on this unit. I attribute this to the added features of needing to track GPS and the brighter screen. But do not expect much more than three days on the stock battery, and 4 to 5 days if you spend the extra $80 for the extended battery (Requires a new battery door.)

In all this is a nice unit. I have learned that with these devices you really cannot seem to get everything you want in one unit, so you have to look for the most features (that you will actually use) in a single item. For me, this one is it... at least until something else comes along.