youfailed.us – Page 12 – Today is the yesterday that we will regret tomorrow.

I accept!

Not sure if this came after www.stackoverflow.com but it’s horrible!

http://www.justanswer.com/

No mention that you have to pay to get an answer. And, just out of curiosity I decided to go ahead and offer $9 for an answer to my question (it was about my garage door and how it won’t close at around 5pm because the sunlight hits the censor at just the right angle) and the answer was useless (“How about shading the sensor”). Below is the dialog box for my reply. If I press accept then my $9 “deposit” is used up and I accepted the answer. Whack! I can’t wait for stackoverflow for home improvement!

Reply screen from the JustAnswer.com website

The New Monitor is Here!

FACT: My new monitor is larger than the TV Set that we had growing up as a kid. FACT: The scale on Google Maps now reads “One inch equals: one inch”. FACT: Only Cartman can adequately describe what I’m feeling right now.

Great Phone . . . or Greatest Phone

Some background first . . . .

I got my wife the iPhone 3G the day it came out. Waited in a line for a few hours and everything. She had been using a Razr for about 3 years and it was time. And we were already on the AT&T network so it was easy. I would have gotten one for myself but a month before the 3G was announced I got myself a Blackberry Pearl so I wasn’t eligible for the $199 new customer price.

At the time the biggest problem with an iPhone was the $30 mandatory data plan. It’s the only phone on any network that requires you have a data plan. I like the idea that even though I’m locked in for 2 years I can get the $40/month voice plan to lower my bills just in case. And a year ago the iPhone was a 10 and there was nothing even close from what I could see.

Anyway, a few months ago I went to Google I/O and got one of the G2 HTC phones (it’s called a Magic or myTouch or something like that on T-Mobile). It was a dream come true . . . a chance to use “the other cool phone” without paying for it. And the best part is that I got AT&T to give me a data plan for $15 a month!! Please don’t call AT&T and ask for that plan and ruin it for me. No, seriously . . I’m glad that no one will be reading this. And it sucks that I only get “Edge” speeds because apparently 3G isn’t a standard and AT&T and T-Mobile do 3G data in different ways so if I want 3G on AT&T’s network I have to wait until an Android phone comes out for AT&T.

Okay, so that’s the background info out of the way . . . I’ve never had an iPhone personally but being the techie of the house I do get how the iPhone works and use it occasionally and I always know about cool apps for it before my wife does. And I’ve used a Blackberry for over a year. And now I’ve had the Android phone since May. Here are the results:

If you are a non-tech person, the iPhone is a 10.0 and sets the bar incredibly high. If you can afford that phone, ignore all the stuff about how crappy AT&T is and just get that phone.

If you are a tech person it’s a much harder call because although the iPhone is great . . . it’s locked down! So, a phone like the G2 or any other Android phone (once they come out!!) has an incredible appeal since they are so hackable. It’s an 8.2 to the 9.0 of a iPhone (not a perfect 10 because it’s missing concurrent apps and no Google Voice app but those things don’t matter to a casual user). The old blackberry I had would be a 5.0 at best . . . I mean, you can use maps and check gmail with those apps but getting the apps in the first place sucks because you have to get them directly from the vendor (although this is different now from what I understand) AND it’s still a locked down OS that no one want’s to develop for.

The apps and the speed of the iPhone is why it has any chance against an Android phone . . . and both of those problems will fix themselves if someone releases some decent hardware. It needs to be powerful and WITH a headphone jack (even though bluetooth noice canceling headphones have got to be in the pipeline somewhere at Bose, right?).

I’ll do a pro/cons list about my Android phone some other time, maybe.

Sheldon

Tourist Craps

This article that I found with Consumerist inspired me to make my own list that’s small now but will grow as I remember the places that underwhelmed me.

Meteor Crater (someplace in AZ)

I won’t even bother trying to find this on the map because I’m sure it’s a Google Search away . . . and with an areal view on a computer you would get more out of it that paying $15 to see what’s essentially a big hole in the ground. Sure, they try to spice it up by putting a “spaceman” down in the middle of the crater so you have something to spot when you use the binoculars at the top of the crater. But the longer you walk around looking for SOMETHING of value the more you start to feel like someone just stole your wallet . . . . especially if you have a family.

Honolulu (yeah, the city in the island of Oahu)

Okay, there is Pearl Harbor and that’s something you need to see while you are there but I’m not sure that really counts as the city of Honolulu. Anyway, Honolulu is just like any other city on a beach that has lots of tall hotels around. It’s about the same and anywhere in Florida or on the coast of California. Drive around the island and get away from Honolulu and if you can . . . fly to another island! And stay away from the beach there . . . worst sand ever!

Skittles must be made with lard

I made the Skittles flavored vodka.

http://mixthatdrink.com/skittles-vodka-tutorial/

Basically, you separate the Skittles into colors and put them in empty water bottles to dissolve in vodka for a few hours (or overnight). Then you have to filter out the white gelatinous stuff. I did the filtering with coffee filters and the white stuff that was left in the filter had the consistency of lard and it was very “buttery” in that it left a slippery film on the funnels that wouldn’t rinse off with just water.

Anyway, since it was a tinted but basically white and felt a lot like lard (or shortening or vegetable gunk or whatever you want to call it) it made me scared to ever eat Skittles again and made me wonder what other foods have lard. The more I thought about it the more I was convinced I probably don’t want to know. What if there is lard in Red Vines?!

Baked goods have hidden lard in there but who knew it was in candy too!

Sheldon