LG Rumor Touch Review

The LG Rumor Touch from Virgin Mobile is my current phone. I have the Beyond Talk $25 a month plan. The plan has unlimited internet and 300 minutes a month.

Sometimes YouTube videos will get an error when trying to play them.

There are a few free programs you can load from Virgin like google maps and opera mini. You can't load other programs unless you hack it.

The google maps program that works on this phone does not have spoken directions which would be nice when you are driving.

You can use most HTML websites with either the built-in netfront web browser or opera mini.

The phone has good battery life. I think I can use it about a week assuming I am not using the phone a lot.

I really like the phone even if it is not as good as a smart phone; however, now that they have an Android phone available I think I will upgrade in the future so I can do more.

SeekDotNet ASP.NET web host review

I used seekdotnet for a web host for several years but I am not using it right now.

I am giving a review because when looking for a cheap web host you always see a lot of negative reviews so you think that none of them are any good.

I had their cheapest plan. I think I used their service for several years. I was using ASP.NET and MySQL and PHP.

My websites where not large in database size and not getting a lot of traffic but the speed and performance of their web host service was OK.

There was downtime but they would fix it usually within a few hours. I can't remember how many times it went down but I think it was once every few months.

I also had some technical issues from time to time. I always sent a help ticket online and they would respond normally the same day and would fix things pretty fast. Some issues were problems with their system and some were things I did not know how to do.

I liked how they let you use your total disk space amount for the MySQL database if you want. On the SQL Server database they limit the amount of database disk space to an amount that is much less than your total disk space.

There was a billing issue that they never fixed but it was not a big deal. Every time they charged my Visa card which was once every 6 months I got an extra small charge of about $1.25 for currency conversion from my Visa card company. I complained to seekdotnet about it but apparently they can't do anything about the issue. I think the issue has something to do with them being an Australian company. I contacted my credit card company and they said it was for currency conversion.

Overall I thought the service was pretty good and would use it again.

Nokia 6010 prepaid

The Nokia 6010 was my first prepaid cell phone. I really liked this phone a lot. It has good call quality and reception. I have a new cell phone now but I still use this sometimes as a backup.

Samsung t349 Prepaid Review

I bought the Samsung t349 cell phone direct from T-mobile for $49.99.

The camera takes good photos even without a flash. I like the feel of the keyboard and thought it was easier to use than a traditional keypad for typing. There is a MicroSD card slot on the left side that can take up to 4 GB.

makeourbigday is live

www.makeourbigday.co.uk is live today. Makeourbigday is an event and wedding gift registry website. It enables you to ask for money instead of presents and to take online payments with major credit cards or paypal.

Gateway notebook shows wrong model number

My notebook is a Gateway M-6834 Notebook.

I recently had to restore my Windows Vista Home Premium OS from the backup image on drive D because it was malfunctioning and was not usable.

After I restored I noticed that in Control Panel->System and Maintenance->System it says my model is Gateway M-6750. Therefore, they seem to have the wrong image at least on drive D. I can’t be certain if the model number was always wrong before the restore because I don’t remember looking.

My notebook is no longer on warranty. I contacted Gateway to try and find out what was going on but they would not talk to me unless I paid for support so Gateway is no help on this issue.

The notebook seems to work OK after the restore so I am not going to worry about it.

I only had one other problem with the notebook. When the notebook was on warranty it had a bad keyboard that would intermittently print extra characters when pressing some keys and I had to send it back in to the factory to get it fixed. This seems to have been fixed OK.

Google Voice

I am using Gizmo5 with Google Voice so I can make free phone calls from PC to landline. With the first two calls from PC to landline I had perfect reception; however, the other party said my voice was garbled and hard to understand. I was using wi-fi with my notebook and a headset for these calls. I will try again in the future but unless I can get better call quality I don't think it will be very usable for calls to a landline; however, the main purpose for me is to use it as an answering machine.

Geocities discontinued

Geocities is being discontinued by Yahoo.

I hosted a personal home page and a webpage for blackjack explorer on Geocities.

Blackjack Explorer was discontinued and has been replaced by Blackjack Unleashed.

My home page is also hosted by google at Loren Brown's Home Page.

T-Mobile Nokia 1661 Review

I bought the Nokia 1661 cell phone for the T-Mobile prepaid service on sale at Target for $14.99.

The Nokia 1661 has basic features like a calendar, clock, alarm, reminder, calculator, call log, themes, speakerphone, and 3 free games. Two less common features include an FM radio and a flashlight. It comes with a hands free headset and microphone. The headset is required for the FM radio to work because it uses it as an antenna.

It does not have bluetooth, web browser, GPRS, GPS, camera, or mp3.

Overall I like this phone and would recommend it as a basic phone. The keys on the keyboard are a little small but work fine for me since I don’t text much. I found the sound level to be fine. I like the small and thin size of the phone. The screen is bright. The controls are easy to use. The battery life is good, rated at 4.2 hours talk and 20 days standby.

I thought my battery life was kind of short because I was recharging every couple of days but I thought it might be because I was using the phone. However, after I tested I found the battery life of my phone was only about 4 days on standby. It is suppose to get 20 days so 4 days is definitely not normal. Therefore, I took my phone back to Target and exchanged it for a new one.

I tested the new cell phone and get around 12 days on standby. This is still shorter than the 20 days it is suppose to get but I assume it is normal so I will keep this one.

Canceled landline for cell phone

I canceled my landline and have been using just my cell phone for several months. It is more convenient to use a cell phone because it is always with me.

I use a prepaid cell phone plan from t-mobile that cost about 10 cents a minutes.

I just purchased a new cell phone, the Nokia 1661, from Target for $14.99.

I also just signed up for google voice and plan on using it as an answering machine.

Blackjack Unleashed on Download.com

Blackjack Unleashed was accepted on Download.com at Blackjack Unleashed 2008.5.25.

6/10/2008 was the first day I saw any downloads. On 6/10/2008 I had 23 downloads and on 6/11/2008 I had 42 downloads.

MetroFi free citywide wi-fi shutdown

I was using metrofi.com in Sunnyvale; however, now MetroFi is ending service June 20, 2008 in Sunnyvale so I have to find another ISP.

Email management

Like many other people my first ISP was AOL when the Internet was new. I started out with just one email from AOL as my first email but when I canceled my AOL ISP service I lost my email.

I then started using hotmail so I could keep the same email forever since it was not tied to an ISP.

I used Outlook Express so I could backup my hotmail email messages to my desktop computer. Now in 2008 Microsoft is discontinuing Outlook Express. I could upgrade to Windows Mail and get the same functionality but I think I will just use web based email because it is easier to manage. I have a total of 1 GB of email backups which is a bother to manage.

I now have emails with Hotmail, Live, Yahoo, and Gmail. I still have not tried the new AOL mail which is now free and offers unlimited storage. Both Yahoo and AOL now have unlimited email storage.

I changed all my email to Yahoo for anything that I sign up for so I don't have to worry about backing up email anymore.

I am still using web based Hotmail for my personal email but I might change this too so I don’t have to worry about backups.

Blackjack Unleashed freeware PC game live

The new Blackjack Unleashed website was launched today.

Blackjack Unleashed™ is a freeware blackjack game with advanced features for learning and practicing basic strategy and card counting.

Gadgetness.com gadget popularity website launched

The new Gadgetness.com website was launched today.

The Gadgetness™ (beta) is a community-based popularity website for gadgets. Gadgets are submitted by users, and then promoted to the top through a user-based ranking system.

How to fix Metrofi browser won’t load web page infinite loop problem

The Metrofi free wireless service in Sunnyvale, California has a problem (or bug) loading some web pages that use a frameset that causes it to go into an infinite loop so the web page never loads. I have this problem with both Firefox 2 and IE 6.

I found an easy way to fix the problem. Use your browsers options to disable JavaScript and then load the page and it should work. If the web page requires JavaScript you can normally enable JavaScript after the first page is loaded and use the website as normal.

Abodeblog.com housing blog website launched

Along with my partner I launched a new housing news blog www.abodeblog.com on 10-01-2006. To start it will offer primarily key housing news summaries. In the future we will add more new housing products.

Spot2meet.com social website live

Today the new social networking website www.spot2Meet.com was released. The Spot2Meet can be used for friends, dates, sex, and activity partners. Features include 100% free, standard email, hyperlinks, hit counter, and no registration required.

Metrofi free wireless review

I canceled my SBC Yahoo DSL and started using www.metrofi.com free wireless.

I originally signed up with SBC Yahoo DSL for $26.95 on a year contract but then the price went up to $40 a month after the contract ended. I did not want another contract because I was thinking that I might move in the near future and the contract would be a hassle. When I called SBC to cancel they told me that my DSL speed was not offered anymore and that the new monthly fee was now $30; howeever, they never lowered my price or upgraded me to the new faster speed.

I was going to signup for a dialup account at www.netscape.com for $6.95 a month for a 12-month contract. A contract is not a problem with dialup because you can take it with you if you move.

However, I found out that www.metrofi.com has free wireless service available for Sunnyvale, CA so I started using it.

I did not have wireless on my desktop so I ordered a "Hi-Gain USB Wireless-G Adapter w/Antenna", part number "HWU54D", that metrofi.com recommends on their website from www.ecost.com for a total of $67.10.

Ecost.com was really fast with the shipment, they said it would ship on the 14th but I got it at my door on the 13th of January. If you want to get an adaptor there are other vendors recommended on metrofi’s website too.

I was getting 30% signal strength in the back of my apartment so I moved my computer to a window in my bedroom facing the street and got 90% signal strength. Metrofi mounts the antennas on street lights. I can actually see the antenna in line of site of my window so that is why I am getting such good signal.

So far the new metrofi free wireless service is working good and I am getting much faster speed then my old SBC Yahoo DSL.

The 4 main problems I have found with metrofi's service are:
1. It sometimes takes a long time to connect.
2. It loses connection about every few hours.
3. The ads at the top of the browser prevent some websites from loading.
4. It is sometimes slow.

Exchangester Beta 3 live

The new beta 3 version of www.exchangester.com has been released. Exchangester is a classified ads & personal ads website that was founded in 2004 and is based in Sunnyvale, California.

Exchangester has categories for real estate, rentals, and roommates, jobs, dating, sale, services, vehicles and more.

Features include 100% free, standard email, hyperlinks, global & local search, detailed attributes, maps, and more.

The previous beta has been retired for now.