Archive for the 'Pictures' Category

iPhone or Droid?

I wish this was easier but at the same time I don’t.

Battle of the Ages

Battle of the Ages

Google Wave: First Impression

I finally got an invitation to create my Google Wave account; the extremely hyped and highly anticipated communication platform. For those who are still unclear what wave really is, the premise is this: Continue reading ‘Google Wave: First Impression’

AT&T Wi-Fi Part II

The session window for AT&T Wi-Fi

The session window for AT&T Wi-Fi

For those of you who frequent Starbucks, you surely know about the free 2 hours of Wi-Fi access you get as a Rewards member. I was always dubious about the 2-hour limit; the access was provided by an AT&T account you sign up for and thus it didn’t appear as though Starbucks had any sort of control over the network. The account you sign up for doesn’t come with any sort of identifier as being associated with Starbucks Rewards either.

Today I spent a good chunk of time there working on various projects and had the opportunity to test what would happen to my Wi-Fi access after two hours. Apparently nothing. Awesome :smile: .

Bolt vs. Phelps

Olympic Champions and world record holders

Olympic Champions and world record holders

It’s hard to believe that the Olympics Games in Beijing took place nearly a year ago given the many unforgettable performances witnessed by the world. For most people, one athlete’s performances stand out in particular. Michael Phelps undoubtedly took the show with an unprecedented 8 gold medals, 7 world records and 1 Olympic record. In total, Phelps has won more gold medals than any OIympian with 14 and has broken 35 world records the last of which he broke just today at the World Championships.

Phelps is definitely one of the greatest athletes of all time, with more to come. Call me biased, but Phelps’ records are a little overplayed relative to Bolt’s world record performances on the track at 100m, 200m and the 4×100m relay. Here’s why. Continue reading ‘Bolt vs. Phelps’

AT&T Wi-Fi

Starbucks and AT&TA while back I wrote about Starbucks’ Rewards program. Any registered member of the program receives “up to two hours of free AT&T Wi-Fi service, everyday.” I was previously under the impression that this meant you needed to purchase something to get wi-fi access, however it appears (upon closer inspection of the terms and in real-world trials) that no purchase is necessary.

This makes things more convenient for road warriors. I would suspect that this trick works at any AT&T Hotspot. Of course anyone with an iPhone or other qualifying AT&T plan automatically gets hot-spot access and you can even enable automatic login with iPhone OS 3.0:

Anyways, if anyone has confirmed that with Starbucks Rewards, you can use AT&T Wi-Fi at any AT&T hotspot, be sure to share in the comments.

Check out more about Starbucks Rewards at http://starbucks.com/cardrewards.

Kor One

In lieu of the recent debate over the health ramifications of BPA in consumer products, I had the perfect excuse to purchase the Kor One Hydration Vessel. I’m not quite sure where I first saw the Kor, but I instantly loved the unique design, BPA free materials and the fact that Kor donates 1% of their sales to a different water-related cause depending on which Kor you buy. I wanted a new bottle considering the age and condition of my Nalgene.

My initial hesitation to purchase this bottle lied in the one aspect people criticize first: the price. At $30 dollars, the Kor is basically just a pretentiously named, grossly overpriced water bottle. I’ve definitely taken some flack from friends over this. The cost of the Kor makes the (previously expensive but now relatively less so) Nalgene and Sigg bottles which serve the same function a fraction of the price, look like a steal. However, the same can be said about nearly everything we purchase; a cheap Timex watch tells time just as well as an expensive Rolex. The difference lies in the statement the Rolex makes for the wearer. The fact is, we pay a premium for things that provide value to us beyond that item’s intrinsic function (thanks largely to some tricky marketing).

For me, I found the Kor to be superior to other similar water bottles on an intrinsic functional level, as well as a more abstract philosophical level. The design of the Kor is much more appealing than any other water bottle I have seen. I get comments everyday on my Kor. It is also transparent so you can the contents (something the Sigg and Kleen Kanteen doesn’t allow) and has a hinged lid for one handed operation (sorry Nalgene). Kor donates to worthy causes, albeit given the price, Kor should probably donate much more than 1%. Kor also greatly reduces plastic bottle consumption; even though I always recycle my plastic bottles, reducing demand for them couldn’t hurt. I also find that I’m drinking much more water daily which, as an athlete, I definitely wasn’t drinking enough of before.

Ultimately, I am very satisfied with the Kor and it’s undeniably unique design. Even if you still think the Kor is ridiculous, I hope you consider doing something about the bottled water you consume. Packaging and transporting bottled water creates a huge carbon footprint people don’t normally think about. The amount of these recyclable (petroleum-based) bottles that end up in landfills is also staggering. Filtering your own water and carrying it in your own bottle is just one of the many small steps we can take to living more responsibly.

P.S. I got the green one from Koyono. Read more about Kor at http://blog.korwater.com/.




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