June 29, 2010
Can we please lower the price of the iPad? I’m not saying you have to lower it to the prices of a Kindle or Nook, but can we idk, drop the price to about $350 for the base model and $450 for the 16 gig + 3g? This would greatly aid me in my quest to own an iPad.
Yours Truly,
Cleo
xoxo
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April 20, 2010
When I work out at the gym, I like to get a treadmill between 2 TVs. I like one screen to have CNN American Morning on and the other to have Good Morning America? Why? I feel like I’m getting both my national and local news all in one shot. Being that there is no sound, I don’t feel like one is interrupting the other. I can get the headlines I want to go look into further at work. So, the point of this was there was a CNN story this morning was about texting addictions and teens. 3/4 of 12 to 17 year olds have cellphones, up from 45 percent in 2004. That is RIDIC in my opinion. WOW!!
The average teen is sending 50 texts a day. Girls, obviously, texting more than boys. This was like ehh, whatever to me. But it made me think of the good old art of passing notes in class. Why was this the correlation? Because these 12-17 year olds are in school all day and thats what we did in school when it was my day. Sure, you u can be more stealthy sending a quick text in class, and its great, hopefully noiseless. But can you refer back to those texts 10 years later ?? Being the pack rat that I am, I still have some old school notes in a shoe box somewhere. Whenever I’m packing up to move I come across this box (which is sooo hard to part with) and I get nostalgic reading those letters. I laugh at the sheer trivial-ness and blasphemy of it all. You cannot do that with texts. These kids/teens are missing out. SERIOUSLY!!!
Flicking a match on my old yellowing papers will rid me of them quickly. Some of my friends don’t even know I have these letters. One day we’ll have a drunken ladies night, reminiscing over bad high school crushes and horrible ideas.
What phone/server is storing messages for years? What if you lose your phone. Also noted, texts are NEVER truly destroyed. If the cops/feds/super hackers reeaaalllyy wanted they could get incriminating texts. Someone may have saved the convo to email (*ahem Tiger’s hoes*) and they can come back to haunt you, but that’s not the same as these nostalgic letters.
The sad thing about this is that these frequent texters aren’t going to get any better as they get older. Don’t get me wrong, my blackberry is *almost* always in my hand and BBM is a way of life, but I still can socialize. I still know how to say ‘hello can I speak to —–” if I call somewhere vs “hey” from always calling cells. We’ve alll heard my gripes about people who communicate only via text. if you have my #. Use it
Posted in Cleo's Rants, Randomness | Tags: blasphemy, entertainment, news, random, technology | 2 Comments »
December 30, 2009
Life without the internet is torture. Yes, I said it! I can live without cable, and I can live without phone, but the internet? Never! Maybe its because everything on TV can be found online, and probably first too! Or maybe its the whole, “I’m living in a time of instant gratification” idealogy that we’ve grown so accustomed to? Either way, the truth of the matter is that this. I, Cleo Sunshine, have a firm addiction to the internet. It’s usefulness is beyond measure. My sanity is dependent upon my connection to the world wide web. Oh, and make no mistake, not just any internet will do. I have spent the last few days vying for signal on an open network somewhere in my development, its unreliable-ness is just as bad as having NO internet. Imagine. Your biting into that delicious piece of cheesecake, and right before your teeth close around the bite, it magically disappears. How disappointed would you be? Tragic I tell you. Tragic. I think this is only slightly worse than dial-up. At least dial-up was reliable. It just took 30 years to load up one page. You could go make a 5 course dinner and come back to a page loaded only 75% with no images. Unreliable internet is like cooking on an uneven stove in your neighbors house. Half of your chicken is well done, and the other half still rare. Unedible I tell you.
I did finish the book I was reading and grow up two Sim children in this downtime. It also took me 3 days to watch Will Ferrel’s Step Brothers. The excitement and humor died after the 2nd day of buffering. The next time I’m without internet, I’m packing my bags and making a cot on the Panera floor. Or anywhere else they supply free wireless. Yup. Problem Solved.
**Edit**
It took me 6 tries to post this. FML!!!
Posted in Cleo's Rants | Tags: blasphemy, entertainment, random, technology | 1 Comment »
November 12, 2009
Oohh!! I found LeToya’s new video over on Necole Bitchie, and I love it! I said when I did the review of her album that I liked this song, Regret f. Luda (he who can do no wrong) Cris.
I think what I like most is that its the same guy from her She Ain’t Got video. I enjoy when actors carry over through videos, it kind of makes me think I’m watching their lives actually happen, LOL! No, but seriously, same dude!
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October 19, 2009
Newest Scam for college kids: being target for “illegal downloads. ” An apparently bogus collections agency that sent out letters to Bucknell students demanding $500 to settle the students’ alleged illegal downloads. Seriously! That’s crazy. Imagine that 10 people actually paid that $500. That’s an easy 5k for some scammer. TAX FREE!!! And who is really going to contest that email they get about illegally downloading something?
Scam!! It’s a scary word and a scary practice. Scammers are ruthless, they don’t care how they get you, as long as they get you. And as time goes on, those scams just get more elaborate.
Other scams for college Student’s are pretty common: Fake scholarship promises, crazy student loans, diploma mills, and other websites that sell you cheating supplies (which is just stupid!) Why would you spend THOUSANDS of dollars on education, just to spend more money faking it through? This is why the value of a college education is dropping, and most jobs require Masters Degrees now. Value your education people.
For more reads on the 6 scams that target most college students check it out!
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July 2, 2009
OK. I am so sorry for the lack of posts, I blame it on The Sims 3. Ever since I got that game I have been glued to it! It’s so bad, I even travel with it! I have it installed on my laptop and on a desktop at Mr. B’s house. Bad..
So being that I’ve spent so much time getting attached to this game – its been a month already- I can give you my quick review. I wish I knew how to make those cute Youtube Sim videos to give you an idea of my Sims. They are adorable. Well, besides that one funny looking daughter (we’ll just ignore her today! LOL).
Pros:
It’s really true, your Sims really can do so much more than they could before. I can go catch a movie at the theater in town. I can go on date to a restaurant without the loading screens, which is probably the biggest and best upgrade. I also have a little control over what they do at work. I can make my Sim slack off, work hard, chat with co-workers or suck up to their boss. Another cool thing is when your Sims are exercising their free will, they actually do things they need to do. They won’t read when they have to pee.
OH, and you can now place things caddy corner. You could never do that before. For some items in buy mode you have greater flexibility in making them custom, and you can make your furniture match if your that creative.
You can have leftovers! I know, how cool!! And the sims get mad if you waste good food. It has a negative impact on their mood! HA! And you can grow your own food. Gardening is a vital resource for Sims!
Cons:
I don’t like the rotating option sometimes. In the past you could scroll over to another part of the lot by moving your mouse over, now you can’t. You can rotate around a central point, usually a Sim.
This is sort of a pro and a con – you have to individually buy items for all your recipes AND your bookshelves. It’s cool to be able to buy books, but you can no longer just click on a bookshelf and study mechanical, cooking, or cleaning. Depending on the attributes you’ve set for your sim they may come with an introductory book, but not fully stocked. And with shopping. Not only do you have to pick the food, which is cool, but you have to drag and drop it to the fridge. This task is pretty hard on laptop sometimes. I’ve found a stray apple or onion on the floor occasionally.
Also.. I could NOT get my Sims to get married. The propose marriage option never came up, not even after 3 kids! What the hell kinda 2009-family breakdown shit is this?? I got illegitimates all up and through!! Work on it EA!
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February 24, 2009
OH NO! I heard this weekend that Sims 3 wasn’t being released until June. I knew this was a lie, because all the information I had said Febuary. So imagine my shock when I found out it indeed was pushed back. I am fuming angry! I was ready for some new Sim-adventures!!!BLOODY HELL!!
I found this info on another blog, simworldnews, that they are pushing it back for better marketing. BLASPHEMY I tell you! This is wretched (this is my new favorite word). I probably wasn’t going to actually buy the Sims for a few months because of budget reasons, but I wanted to read about it, talk to others who played it, and pretty much oogle it and give them time to work out any kinks. I’m extremely sad. Well… at least I can put the wish out there for a birthday gift now 
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December 5, 2008
During the summer I was browsing the EA website and saw that in 2009 they would be releasing the Sims 3. For some, that’s not big news, but to me-an avid Sim lover since they first came out, this was huge news. All I had to go on was that this one would give the user more control over their individual Sim and the neighborhood. Excited and Thrilled were not enough to cover my feelings. My roommates girlfriend is also an avid Sim’er so I broke the news to her and she was equally as excited. So, since the summer months, it has kind of been off my radar due to it not being released until 2009.
Today, or yesterday, I received an email from EA offering a discount because its the holiday season, and all that good cheery stuff that I don’t subscribe to. In the email they mentioned discounts on all Sims 2 things, so this instantly bought up my curiosity as to when the exact release date was for Sims 3. So I Googled them and came across their website, thesims3.ea.com. I watched the video that the developers put together, and saw the endless possibilities, stemming from more choices in age ranges, more job choices, and more house designs.
The biggest new feature is the interactiveness of the town. Being able to join protest outside city hall, to being able to fish in the pond in the park, and being able to drop in on neighbors are all features that are new to the game. Also, it hopes for easier user online transition. Before you had to go outside the game to upload stuff online or even import things from online at thesims2.com. And there are new “personality traits” that are supposed to have a big affect on your Sim and their interaction with other Sims. AND they can have more than one job at time, you can be a doctor with a part time gig playing for a rock band! How cool is that?? A cool scenario presented was this one, “your Sim can choose to Whoohoo at work, but if they get caught then both Sims run out of the office naked. Now, that could be a lesson you don’t want to learn in the real world!” This is about some of the moral choices shown in the game. But I think one of the biggest changes users will see is that everyone ages while you play. In past Sims games you could build two families at the same time. But if you played with family A more than family B they would be on different ages. Now, your seems are alive as your playing with your family out on this free-world.
If anyone is familiar with Sims of the past you know that your control pretty much is in your house and thats it. Life outside the house, like at work, you have no control over. With the introduction of the Sims 2, we saw more control, like your Sims could now “Woohoo” aka have sex, but this takes it to a new level. And in the Sims 2 your Sim could be pregnant, which was cool. And you had teenagers who could sneak out the house and have their first kiss. I was hooked when I got this game. Although having a laptop kinda made me play less, I still liked it. I have the Sims on my Nintendo GameCube too, but I don’t play that as much. I am eagerly awaiting the release of Sims 3, and while I may purchase it off eBay to try to get a discount, it doesn’t make me love it any less, it just means I’m cheap!!
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November 11, 2008
Over the past few weeks there were articles about Circuit City closing 20% of their electronic stores. This made me sad. Circuit City was always my choice over Best Buy, maybe in part because where I grew up it was closer or because they are just a better store. I actually can’t even say I’ve been inside a best buy, because I always seek out a Circuit City. Either way, they are cool with me. So the news made me sad. I felt bad for the employees that would lose jobs, and the monopolization that would occur in the market if Best Buy is left standing alone, because no one shops at Six Ave Electronics, they aren’t as cool. They don’t even sell DVDs and stuff.
So, imagine my disappointment yesterday when I heard they filed Bankruptcy. Now, my first concern was “Oh snap, what about my extended laptop warranty!!!” What will I do! That kinda puts me out a few bucks!! So I had to Google what really happened, and I read that they didn’t file bankruptcy, but bankruptcy protection, Chapter 11. I felt a sigh of relief. And a little bit of joy because this means they are going to have killer Black Friday sales, and I need a new digital camera. Preferably a Canon, so I will be stalking them for a good price. But do people really feel that Best Buy is a better store? I can’t recall ever having been to a Best Buy and I don’t go to places like Walmart ( I don’t support Walmart at all) to buy my major electronic devices. What is the thrill of Best Buy? Is it the cool commercials? They were never located in close proximity to me, so I never felt the need to seek them out. Especially since Circuit City was doing a good job, and as far as websites go, I prefer CCs… am I just biased? No!! Better is Better.
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September 8, 2008
I always knew i was attached to my devices. My cellphone, computer, ipod or anything else that was small and portable. Needless to say I felt completely disconnected from the world when my laptop was on the fritz for a few weeks a couple of months ago. Sure internet can be accessed via cell phones, work computers or even using my roommates computer. But everything ceases when your own personal computer is gone, or at least for me it did. Goodbye to free music downloads. I can’t tell you how sad it made me not being able to download anything new or update my ipod. Do you know how disheartening it is not to be able to add new songs to a playlist? To see how many play counts a song has received? It’s plain torture on an Itunes lover’s soul. I can’t remember my last music download prior to the kaputzing of my laptop and that depressed me. I couldn’t even download or watch zshare vids. My fascination with the internet and all things wireless was dulled by the realization that the computer that I was using wasn’t mine. Another down side to not using your own computer was not being able to log-in to sites that you need to use because your passwords were saved. Can you say hello to late fees while I spent days searching for the answer to my “secret question(s).” Depressing and costly I might add. Sites need to all get together and make password rules universal, I change my password due to different restrictions-some are only 4 letters, some are a combo of numbers and letters, some want symbols-how can a girl keep up?
I am a member of Gen X and I am not ashamed to say I am hooked. Hooked on instant gratifications and constant access to information. Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, rolled over and checked your email or did something random online, then rolled over and went back to sleep? No? Ok, maybe that’s just me, but that goes to show how attached I am to my electronics. In the absence of my laptop you’d think I’d have accomplished all the worldly things I’d been missing out on. Not so. I have the same number of unfinished books I had when it broke. I am the person who reads 3 books at once. So I’m still into 3 books, just a little bit further along. I did manage to catch up on a whole season of Gossip Girl and episodes of other shows left on my DVR from November. It was simple-replace one electronic with another.
I’m one of those people who believes that our children aren’t learning proper social skills due to technology being everywhere. But am I just as guilty as them? I mean, I’d rather instant message someone than sit on the phone. Am I someone who lacks social skills? do I prefer texting to talking? Or am I just evolving with technology. Everywhere you look people are using technology to reach broader audiences and increase revenue-online classes at major universities. I am guilty for signing up for one of those. Now you can even get a whole degree without ever having met a professor face to face or even stepping foot into a classroom. Is that really imaginable? Is that really a quality education? Are people becoming so dissocial (is that a real word?) that they can’t even be bothered with classmates and teachers? Isn’t socialization an integral part of learning? This is wh y we make sure out children get into the best pre-schools or our teen-agers don’t get caught up with the “other” crowd. So with socialization being so vital to our well being as people why are we OK with its demise? My 8 year old cousin wants a cell phone. He’s 8. Who does he have to talk to that he doesn’t see in school everyday?
This all came back to me over the last week when I lost my Blackberry. I didn’t have any of my contacts, writing ideas were lost along with quotes I wanted to use. How could I have been so easily enticed-using my blackberry instead of my handy notebook. Why do I text more than I talk. I can remember a time when my life literally revolved around my telephone-my house phone. Then it later progressed to my cell phone, I couldn’t wait to devour my free nights and weekends. But now I talk to everyone via instant messages and my minutes no longer near their peak ( besides the fact I’ve upgraded to unlimited). I am guilty. I am addicted to google and IMs. I like having the information super highway at my fingertips but I don’t like feeling like my social skills are lacking. Nor do I want to get there someday. So this is what I’ll do, I vow to take back my social life and make it more personal! I will call people and actually visit with them more often. That’s step one. (I’m a work in progress).
-p.s.
Do NOT mistake this as vow to not EVER use texts or IMs.. but more so a reform effort.
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