I want an iPhone because it is probably the best phone out there (my opinion) but I refuse to deal with At&t.  All the rumors about the iPhone 4 coming to Verizon made me put off buying a new phone until I was sure that was not going to happen.

The obvious next choice for someone looking for a great smartphone with plenty of apps would be android based.  My problems with Android based phones are as follows:

1. Google made it and thus can track your every move.
2. Android devices have been known to have terrible battery life and nobody will accept responsibility for it.
3. All of the updates and inability to get those new software updates on a phone that is only a few months old.

First of all I use a lot of Google powered products every day (gmail, google docs, chrome) but I don’t trust what they do with the data Google gathers from my usage.  As long as users are aware that what they do online is being hoarded by Google then we can minimize the damage.  But that’s another topic altogether…

I went ahead and bought an Android smartphone because they are packed with all the features I want, I can tether my Android smartphone to my laptop, and they are much more customizable then a lot of the smartphones out there.

Out of the box the HTC Evo is an awesome phone.  Already loaded with great apps by default, like Facebook, Maps, Voice navigation and it comes with an awesome camera.  The major problem with this is that they are all turned on and running right out of the box!  There should be a setup process that lets a user decide which apps and connections (4g, 3g, email sync, GPS, Wi-fi, bluetooth!) to allow when the phone is first turned on.  This would have saved my battery the first day.

I got mine in the evening, messed around with it, then put it on the charger.  The next day I get up and go to work only to watch my battery life drain away with practically ZERO usage on my part.  I work ten hour days minimum so having a phone that lasts all day is a must for me.

I did research different solutions online but a lot of it is crap.  The main thing the Evo needs for decent battery life is to have some of those connections turned off.  I don’t need GPS to be running at all hours, I don’t use bluetooth most of the time, so those were the first connections that got shut off.  I’m not typically around Wi-Fi networks either so I turned that off but I don’t think that made a huge difference.  I also went in to the apps (settings > Accounts and Sync) and disabled most of the social networks from syncing at all hours.  These changes alone have taken the battery life from around 8 hours to maybe 24 hours.  I can live with that for now while I learn what else I can do to save battery life.

I used to go 2-3 days on my Storm without the need for juice but I couldn’t do half the things this HTC Evo does so all in all I am pretty happy with this phone.  Maybe in 2012 Apple will get away from AT&T.  In the meantime the Evo is a good smartphone that I’m still learning how to get the most of.

Got a HTC Evo – AKA How To Get Your Evo’s Battery to Last Longer Than 8 Minutes is a post from: Pedro B

As far as this blog goes I guess I need to figure out what I want to do with it.  It’s been sitting idle for more than a few months and obviously has no direction but I figure that’s ok.  This internet thing isn’t going anywhere and if it does end up serving a purpose at some point, then more power to it.  And if it doesn’t, meh.

Anyway I’ve gone with the twenty-ten theme for it for now because it’s there.  I actually like the simplicity of it and it’s pretty easy to customize.  I’m using it on more than a few of my new niche sites to just because it is really simple and looks much more cleaner than the old Kubrick default theme that WordPress was using before.  I’ll work on the header.

More to come.  I plan on doing a small review on my new HTC Evo smartphone tomorrow morning!

Site Maintenance and Stuff is a post from: Pedro B

Go to The Keyword Academy and sign up for their Keyword Crash Course.  There is nothing they will email you that will not help you in your online marketing endeavors.

As for me I’ve taken many of their techniques and used them to find keywords that have heavy search volume but not much competition.  I’ve used these keywords to drive more focused traffic to my websites through organic search results and it has been easy.  Using the methods Court and Mark describe I have more than enough keywords to chase after.  I actually have a list of keywords that have heavy search volume and little competition that are just waiting for me to have the time to focus on them.

If you are looking for ways to increase your presence in organic search results, sign up for The Keyword Academy.  No affiliate links here, go do it for your benefit and make some money.  It’s there for the taking!

A Great Way To Find Keywords is a post from: Pedro B

According to Facebook’s page on usernames:

Starting on Friday, June 12th, at 11:01pm, you’ll be able to choose a username for your Facebook account to easily direct friends, family, and coworkers to your profile.

If you want your desired Facebook username, better be online 11:01 June 12th!

Facebook To Offer Usernames is a post from: Pedro B

Last week I was looking for an extra vehicle for the family because my sister Shirley moved back to Minnesota with me and my parents and she would need a vehicle to get to and from work.  My search was for a smaller car in the range of around two grand.  Just something for her to get around in.

When ever I look for vehicles I always keep an eye out for a two wheel drive, short bed, regular cab, white Chevy Silverado that was built before 1999.  Too specific?  Yes, that’s why I never find it and I just keep my money and move on.  While doing my search this time I ran across this ad on Craigslist:

Craigslist Ad

Oooooh.  I was looking for a $2000 small car for my sister.  But I found what is basically the truck of my dreams.  I say that to people and they look at me like I’m crazy.  Why would anybody lust over this truck?  If I have to explain it, you wouldn’t understand, but I’ll try.  I need it two be a two wheel drive because you can’t lower a four wheel drive.  I want a short bed because long beds look ugly.  And I want a regular cab because I’ve had extended cab pick-ups before.  And I want it to be white because I love GM’s pearl white color.  And I want it to be pre-1999 because I’m not a fan of the newer model Chevy pick-ups.

I couldn’t help myself.  I called the guy and asked if he’d take four grand for it.  He said to come drive it and we would talk it over.  I drove it and fell in love!  This is the exact truck I’ve been looking for and it is up for sale, in good shape, no rust, no dents, problem-free motor.  And he took my offer of four g’s.

White Silverado

Isn’t she pretty?  I didn’t need to spend four grand but I did need this truck.  I’ve been using it as my daily driver all week and can’t believe how well it drives.  I am completely enamored by this vehicle.  I have big plans for this Silverado over the next couple of years.  I want to have an air ride installed for starters.  I also want to put some nice wheels on it.  I think about a year from now it should look something like this:

Lowered Silverado

Mmmmm.  I can’t wait.  You can see the progression of this truck at BaggedRides.  I will try and keep udpates of all the mods I make to it there.  It’s one of my affiliate BANS sites.

I have two other trucks besides this one.  A few years back I bought a Chevy Silverado that is setup more for Minnesota.  It’s a four wheel drive, extended cab, short bed.  It’s a solid daily driver and is nice because I can have a few passengers with me too.  And it’s got a nice towing package for hauling around a boat to one of our ten thousand lakes.

Gray Silverado

But for the most part it’s rather bland. I can’t lower it. I don’t want it to look different from the outside because I don’t want anybody messing with it or trying to steal it. I even have a stereo system installed in it but I set it up so that you can’t tell from the outside. When the rear seat is down all you see is a rear seat.

Rear Seat

Don’t mind the crumbs on the floor.  I let somebody borrow my truck and they let their kids eat crackers in it!  I damn near went apoplectic.  There’s a Holiday gas station near my house that has free vacuums.  Consider it done.

So I set a system up in this truck just for me to see and hear while I’m driving.  I can’t really play my music loud at home because other people live there and the neighbors get upset.  But I can play it loud in my truck doing 60mph up highway 100.

Sub and Amps

That’s in the Gray Silverado with the seat up.  It’s got two Kicker Solobaric subwoofers, four Alpine speakers in the doors, and a pair of Alpine amplifiers powering the speakers.  It also has a Stinger 1 Farad capacitor so that it doesn’t kill my battery/alternator.  It’s not the first setup I’ve put in a vehicle, or even the loudest, but it is my favorite.  I had the box you see in the picture custom made so that it looks like it’s part of the truck and blends in very nicely.  People and would-be-thieves can’t see it from the outside.

So I started out looking for a daily driver for Shirley to get to and from work with and instead bought yet another truck.  Oh well.  She can use my Chevy S-10 for now.

S-10

Short Bed Silverado, 2 Wheel Drive, Regular Cab – My New Girlfriend is a post from: Pedro B

Google Voice did just that.  I’m sure everyone has heard by now that Grand Central was purchased by Google.  Recently Google decided to transfer/upgrade Grand Central accounts to Google Voice, another one of those Google services that is still in Beta mode and not quite available to the masses.

Let me give you a quick run down.  Google Voice lets you have a telephone number.  They call it a “number for life.”  So you give that number out to people rather than your actual phone numbers.  You can login to your Voice account and change a bunch of settings, such as where phone calls to that number go, whether or not they go to a screening service first, maybe some callers are on a safe list and go straight through.  I have had this set up for a couple of years now and it comes in handy.  All of my whois info for my domain names have that number.  I give it to pretty much everyone.  It all used to be at Grand Central before.  So when someone calls that number, based on my settings, they are either directed to a screening which asks them to say their name or they go straight go my phone.  If they are screened first, I get a call asking if I want to talk to this person, send them straight to voicemail (and I can listen in on the voicemail, and have the option to answer during the voicemail) or ignore the call.

All of these options were available before Google even acquired Grand Central.  Google being Google has taken things a step further.  They have integrated this service with my Google account and now I have my contacts from my email address mixed with my Google Voice account. And I don’t have to login to Grand Central to access my account.  I access it along with my email and other Google services I use, such as Google Reader.  I tell you there are plenty of reasons to fear Google but damn they make it difficult to not use!  Yeah I’m a junky as far as Google is concerned.

Along with the upgrades I just mentioned, there were a few I hadn’t really paid attentiopn to.  Today I got a phone call from somebody trying to sell me something.  I let it go straight to voicemail as usual.  I didn’t even bother listening to the message.  These voicemails get emailed to me and I can listen to them on my blackberry if I want or listen to them on my computer later on. 

So after the call I got an email on my phone from Google Voice, just like I used to with Grand Central.  When I opened the email I was FREAKIN’ AMAZED.  The email message didn’t just have a “play” option to listen to the voicemail, it TRANSLATED the voicemail to TEXT and displayed that text in the message of the email!  Just like that I knew what the message was and deleted the email.  And I was stunned.

So obviously it’s beneficial for Google to translate this message to text for me.  With text in the email Google can now serve ads that are relevant to me while I am reading my email.  If it was just a message that said “play” and didn’t have anything about the actual message the ads would be meaningless to me.  Kind of like the same problem Youtube is having with Video.  So Google has invested probably like a million dollars, or something crazy, to be able to translate my voicemail messages I get from Google Voice into text.  And I love it.

Another feature they have added is the ability to send and receive text messages from my Google Voice phone number.  Insane!  Now there is no reason why I shouldn’t give this number out rather than my real cell phone number.  Am I just another pawn in Googles grand scheme to take over the world and own us all?  I just might be but man it’s hard not to love their services.

Google Voice Is Nothing Short of Incredible is a post from: Pedro B

When I did sit down with the Best Buy rep to discuss my monthly plan I was told that Verizon does not have a plan with less than 400 anytime minutes, which is more than I talk on my cell phone a month.  So my monthly payment turned out to be higher with Verizon wireless than what I was expecting but I went ahead and did it anyway.

I’ve been using the service about three months now and just yesterday a representative with Verizon called my cell phone and told me I was paying them to much money.  I believe a “WTF” is in order here.  Why would they call me to tell me that they want to lower my bill?  I mean that is absolutely awesome customer service but I was shocked!  I can’t think of a time when someone that was billing me monthly for a service called me to LOWER my bill.

So basically the Best Buy rep lied to me and Verizon does have a plan with less than 400 minutes a month and now I am paying less money.  If this is how Verizon wireless does business everytime I deal with them from now on, then they have a customer for life.

Verizon Wireless Wants Me To Pay Them Less? is a post from: Pedro B

Because I have this screen name I get these phishing attacks pretty often and I get to see a lot of the new phishing schemes that scam artists use.  Recently my inbox at this email address has been filling up with lots of what appears to be spam.  Lots of spam at the same time and from different “companies.”  Most email services have a button or text to click when you want to report an email as spam but these messages had that in the body of the email.  When I clicked the link to report as spam, I was taken to a page asking me for my login info.  I checked out the url and sure enough, it was a spoof page.

This is a fairly new tactic for acquiring my personal information that I have not seen or heard of before.  Basically, “Phishers” are disguising phishing attempts with spam mail, which is annoying enough.  So when someone tries to take steps to keep from recieving messages from that sender, they are instead giving their login information to scam artists.

The lesson is to always check a URL before typing in your personal information into a a web page!  Hackers are always looking for new ways to get us to give up our personal information.

New Ways To Get Phished is a post from: Pedro B

Mountain Dew

Some people do the coffee thing.  I don’t like coffee.  Coffee gives me stomach issues, though some people may like to have that problem (to much information Rosie!) 

So I do Mountain Dew.  I love Mountain Dew!  I try not to drink to much because I know it’s not exactly the best thing for my to be drinking.  But it gets me going in the morning and it helps me stay up when I need to get in a few more blog posts.  Which reminds me I need to get in a few more blog posts…

My Love of Mountain Dew Knows No Bounds is a post from: Pedro B

Alex Rodriguez

Lame, lame, lame.  It’s tough for me to understand the steroid thing.  It’s such a negative thing in the eyes of the public but athletes still do it!  I can’t understand that.

So Alex Rodriguez, along with 103 other Major League Baseball players, tested positive for steroids in 2003.  That is also the year he won the MVP award.  This is all over ESPN right now and will be everywhere for a long time.  What’s so lame about this is that Alex Rodriguez is considered one of the best Pro Baseball players of all time and he is in the prime of his athletic career right now.

I know this whole steroid thing in baseball is super played out.  It seems every time we get a baseball player breaking records they are then connected to steroid use shortly after (e.g. Mark Mcguire, Barry Bonds) but that is what made Alex Rodriguez so cool.  He is all around a great baseball player (not just hitter.)  You just kind of like the idea that someone of his ability was doing it the right way.

Of course he still has to answer to this before we can judge him.  But it’s not like he can say the test was wrong.  It was an anonymous test that 103 other players failed.  The test results should not have gone public but the fact is it did and, as far as I am concerned, we can go ahead and get that asterisk next to his records.

Say It Ain’t So Alex is a post from: Pedro B