I’ll get straight to the point. The iPhone 2.0 sofware is great in many ways, but it has also made me miserable! The interface is stupidly slow and sometimes unresponsive for moments at a time. Everything accessing the preferences, camera, and serveral applications from the App Store freeze a lot, and at times cause the phone itself to reset.

Syncing and backing up takes forever, even when the phone is just over half full with audio/photos/videos. I recently restored my phone again and so far things have been more stable, but some of the menus and applications are slow. I hope this is something that gets fixed in an update very soon.

The App Store is great and all, but more and more just barely seem to work properly. I hope this is the fault of the 3rd party developers and gets fixed up in a timely manner. I love the App Store, but these negative aspects just take all the joy away.

I have been using the Flip Video Ultra for about 2 weeks now and I only have positive things to report. This device has turned into something I take with me everywhere I go, just like my cellphone and keys. I’ve been able to capture rare moments with friends and family, as well as events such as the July 4th fireworks.

There aren’t many cameras that are targeted for the general consumer, but the Flip Video Ultra looks like it’s the one to beat.

Continue reading after the jump for the entire review!

When the iPhone 2.0 firmware was released, I eagerly downloaded and updated my iPhone. The App Store is probably the main reason of why I’ve been excited about it all this time. There are a lot of free applicataions that are quite useful, but there are also a lot of apps (both free and paid) that suck. I don’t blame it for being new and fresh with the things that are being offered, but I have no doubt that in due time improvements in the apps will be made.

Lately, I’ve been playing around with a bunch of different applications such as Shazam, Last.fm, Twitterific, vSNAX Videos, and more. I’ll be posting mini-reviews of the applications that I like, and the improvements that can be made in them.

I haven’t paid for any applications yet since there isn’t much to lure me in at the moment. One thing that I am really looking forward to (that I will purchase) is language learning software. On top of dictionaries and translators, which should be cheap or free, I’d like to see well developed apps that can teach me Russian, Cantonese, Spanish, and other languages. On top of all that…a bunch of cool games would be nice, too!

It’s July 4th and that time of the year is here again. The day America became a free nation. History lessons aside, tonight I’m planning on heading into the city to watch the fireworks in person! I hope all of you out there (in the States) have a great day and have lots of fun.

On the 30th of June, I celebrated my 20th birthday at home and with the family. A bunch of relative came over and they all had a pretty good time (while being very loud, not to mention). I got about 10 different shirts and $200 worth of gift cards for cloth shopping - which is great because I’ve been wanting to refresh my wardrobe.

I know that to many people, their birthday is a very special day. Some go drinking, some go crazy on buying themselves gifts, and some party like animals. I, on the other hand, have never been excited about my birthday. I guess the reason for that is because birthdays aren’t all that to rave about in my family.

I don’t feel any older or any different at all than last year and the year before - other than knowing that I am smarter than I was the previous year. I usually compare myself to the past versions of me in things like technical skills, health, general knowledge, and accomplishments. Every year I strive to make a better me. I consider birthdays to be marks of milestones. I don’t know how others feel about this but I certainly hope that everyone tries to better themselves - just as some attempt to for New Year’s resolutions.

If anyone’s birthday just happen to pass, or is coming up shortly, I wish you a very happy birthday filled with happiness, health and success!

There are lots of advantages of going to college and getting your bachelor’s degree. With the amount of online success stories building up these days, some might think that it’s an easy path and skipping college is okay. Going to college has its advantages and the positive factors beat out the negatives any day.

1. More Money: There’s a reason why I put this first. In this world, it takes a decent salary to live comfortably. Anyone can get a job paying just enough to support yourself in a tiny mousehole apartment. Having a college degree opens more opportunities to higher paying jobs, even if your field has nothing to do with what you’re applying for.For example: If you have a degree in Philosophy and you’ve always had a thing for finance, who do you think will get the job when applying, person A or B? A) Somebody who doesn’t have a degree and loves finance but has nothing to prove his worthiness or, B) somebody with a college degree who has demonstrated that he/she has devoted time and effort to successfully achieve a goal.
2. Increased Knowledge & Skill set: College is a period of communication and interactivity with your professors and classmates. The skills you can learn such as a writing efficiently, speaking and presentation skills are vital for career success of any kind. Whether you choose to attend a 2 or 4 year program, you will learn how the real world works. Professors and students share experiences that will sometimes put an end to things you’ve always wondered about. Professors are there to help - it’s their job! Most professors find it self-fulfilling when they truly help a student understand and achieve something great. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get a quality education. Little things that are learned during the college experience is what helps people get through certain steps in life. Continue for more…

It is known that teaching children certain things at a young age may benefit their future as it would make things easier for them and their parents. I believe that teaching our kids to be environmentally aware is now just as important as learning to say no to drugs. There is a lot of controversy going on about the validity of global warming and climate change. To me, it’s no longer about “playing it safe” and believing in climate change just to have something to rave about every once in a while.

Teaching kids about the impacts of climate change and the pollution caused by our actions would be beneficial to everyone. They can learn about methods of improving lifestyles, reducing waste and energy consumption, and possibly knowing how to take political action to increase government particiaption.

Throughout the last 10 years of the internet, it has grown to be the fastest method of mass communication all over the world. When news breaks, it’s usually only a matter of minutes before it’s the top story on the top online news sites. Today, social networking and a online communities like MySpace, FaceBook and Digg are responsible for enlightening millions of people via word of mouth.

The speed of the internet is evident in our every day lives regardless the age. Spreading rumors in high schools takes just one person - from that point on it’s all “he said, she said” gossip. Speaking of rumors, it’s really no different in the technology world. Apple is one of the biggest targets when it comes to rumors and figuring out the latest and greatest that’s to come from Steve Jobs.

Email, instant messaging, social networking and bookmarking along with niche websites are responsible for the mass enlightenment of the public. Never before have we had the ability to create our own websites and blogs and write about what we wish, whenever and however we want. This very blog is a prime example of self publishing on the web. I give advice, teach, talk about new technologies and the things on my mind. Continue reading after the jump.

Predictions are over and the chatter is on. The long awaited iPhone 3G has been announced and will hit stores on July 11th. The addition of 3G and GPS technology in the iPhone now makes it the most competitive device on the market, especially at its $199 price tag! The usability factor has jumped by a huge margin after seeing all the games and productivity tools demoed during the keynote.

The App Store: Probably the greatest thing that has ever happened to mobile computing. Never has anyone been able to download apps of all sorts on the fly from a unified location. I think it’s cool having the ability to download apps over the air straight to the iPhone if they’re 10MB or less. Developers also get a big a treat from what Apple is providing them - a platform to easily develop software and then distribute with complete control of the pricing. Who knew that iTunes was going to turn into the single most important Apple product?

What we have seen so far: Medical apps, games, productivity tools, music creation, eBay, and even GPS enabled social networking! What more can you ask for from something that’s been in the works for such a short time? Speaking of GPS, I am very excited about using it in conjunction with Google Maps. I plan on traveling a lot and snapping pictures that get geotagged automatically will come in handy.

The TypePad application was pretty impressive even from the limited features we got to see. It has the ability to post entries with images that you can take on the fly, or choose from your library. It would be nice to see tools developed for other blogging engines like WordPress, which is the one I favor.

Mobile Me: Apple stated a long time ago that they would be revamping their online services. They weren’t kidding! Integration of email, calendar, address book and photo galleries on all of my machines is more seamless than ever before. Whenever I add a new contact, modify a calendar event or receive email, everything will stay in sync across the board.

Apple’s Guided Tour is definitely worth the watch to get a good idea of what Mobile Me is about. My .Mac account will be getting an upgrade as soon as Mobile Me is launched. The web applications that have been built feel completely natural and a pleasure to use. I will definitely be renewing my subscription in a couple of months.

Forbes.com recently wrote about the potential of the iPhone as a handheld gaming system. This sparked some thoughts in my mind about what Apple could be planning come June 9th. The release of the SDK and the announcement of the App Store makes the iPhone a tremendous platform for content distribution.

With the amount of market share Apple holds in the mobile world, the iPhone is more than suitable as a portable game console. We have already seen a glimpse of what the iPhone can do when EA demoed Super Monkey Ball and Spore on March 6th. The iPhone may have twice the power of Sony’s PSP, but will its button-less makeup prove to be useful or inept.

iPhone vs PSP and Nintendo DS - Would Apple stand a chance?
Yes, the iPhone is powerful enough to handle top notch handheld graphics, but will it really work as a gaming platform? After all, it is a phone, and we all know what happened when Nokia attempted to join the big boys with the N-Gage. Continue reading for a list issues the iPhone faces.