MyBigVoice.com

California is jumping on the hands-free cell phone bandwagon on July 1, 2008.

Who truly believes that whether or not you have on hand up to your ear or not is going to change much? The problem is not driving with one hand on the wheel and one hand on the phone. The problem is talking on the phone, hands or no hands. A study in Australia found that although people were 4 times more likely to get in an injury accident if using a cell phone, it did not find much difference between hand-held vs. hands-free.

But is cell phone talking really a problem? What about talking to the passengers in the car? What’s the difference between talking with someone in the car vs. someone on the other end of the phone? Here is a study by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. What is interesting is that cell phones are only cited 1.5% of the time as the cause. On the other hand being distracted by the passengers in the car is cited 10.9% of the time. According to the Foundation the following are cited more often than cell phones as an accident causing distraction (slide 12).

• Outside object, person, event
• Adjusting radio, cassette, CD
• Other occupant in vehicle
• Moving object in vehicle
• Using other device or object
• Vehicle / climate controls
• Eating / drinking

I suppose the next target by California lawmakers will be the car audio systems and climate controls.

After July 1 I hope that when  my cell phone rings I’m not too distracted while I put down my big gulp, turn down the volume on my radio, and fumble around for my cell phone headset.

This video speaks for itself

Stuff: Amazon Kindle

What is Amazon Kindle?

Amazon Kindle is a revolutionary portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines and blogs to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

Kindle customers, no matter where they are in the U.S., can wirelessly shop the Kindle Store and download new content — all without a PC or a WiFi hot spot. Amazon pays for Kindle’s wireless connectivity so there are no monthly wireless bills and no service commitments for customers. The Kindle Store contains over 90,000 books that can be purchased and delivered wirelessly to Kindle, each in less than a minute. Customers can choose from hundreds of top newspapers, magazines and blogs and have their subscriptions auto-delivered wirelessly. All New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise.

At 10.3 ounces, Kindle is lighter and thinner than a paperback book, carries two hundred books, and includes built-in access to The New Oxford American Dictionary and wireless access to the Earth’s biggest encyclopedia, Wikipedia.org.

I am still waiting for Rockstar games to release Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC. Knowing that it is already available for the consoles is frustrating.

Now you may be wondering how a grown man can play a game like this. The fact is this is not a game for kids. It is an adult game. If you are not familiar with the series all you really need to know is that the games revolve around crime. You play a hoodlum who works his way through various missions to advance his wealth and power as a criminal. It is not about stealing cars, although that is a primary way to obtain transportation.

There are lots of loudmouths that spew anti GTA rhetoric. They say the violence in the game will cause kids to commit violence. I will repeat that kids should not be playing this game. This is an adult game. However, as an adult I have never felt the need to commit crimes after playing the game. One of the arguments against the game is that you can kill people without consequence. Yes, but you can also drive cars around, bumping them into other cars, and basically doing all kinds of damage with your vehicle without any consequences. I have not had the urge to do this is real life. It’s just a game.

The fact that it is a video game is probably the problem. Video games are associated with kids, not adults. There are plenty of movies that glorify violence and crime. But those movies are rated R and since it’s assumed that only adults will see them no one cares. On the other hand a video game that glorifies violence and crime, even when done tongue-in-cheek, gets noticed because it’s assumed that kids will play it. And you know what? They will!

Don’t blame the game. Blame the parents who don’t pay attention to the games their children are playing.

So where is the PC version? Come on already. I can’t wait to commit some crimes.

I’ve said and I’ve heard it. Ink Jet printer manufactures use the razor blade model for selling printers. The object of the shaving product companies it to put a razor in your hands so that they can make money selling you over-priced replacement blades.

Ink Jet printer manufactures have been doing the same thing for years. Sell you and ink jet printer cheap so that they can make lots of profit selling over-priced ink. Look here for another ink jet dirty secret.

I am on my 5th ink jet printer. That doesn’t sound like a lot now that I think about it, but considering that every single one has been a piece of junk and never really worked like one would want them to. Not only do I blame the printer manufactures for tempting me with inexpensive printers, I blame myself for being stupid enough to always get suckered into buying a less than $150 printer.

I’ve had one Canon, 3 HPs, and on Lexmark. Three HPs? Can you believe it? Even though I thought the 1st two HPs were junk, I bought a third. Stupid. Even stupider — the 3rd HP was an all-in-one for $130 from Costco. What was I thinking? An all-in-one HP for $130? I should have known better.

After my disaster with HPs, I finally decided to get a different brand. The Lexmark. Stupid. Another cheap printer. In my stupid opinion the Lexmark X8350 is the worst of them all! This is another all-in-one and half the time it does not properly receive faxes. On top of that quite often when the land-line rings, the printer goes into pyscho mode and sounds a constant alarm until I turn it off. And on top of that it is constantly losing communication with my PC and I have to unplug/replug the USB cable to get it back.

I guess you get what you pay for. Next time I’m spending more and hopefully I’ll get a better quality printer.

American Airlines says it is going to charge $25 to check a 2nd bag. Not a lot considering the cost of the ticket. However, I think the cost to American Airline customers will be large in the form of: Longer and slower skycap lines due to the extra steps of having to pay a fee in addition to the tips; Similarly the check-in counter lines will be longer and slower; Security lines will be longer and slower due to passengers trying to avoid the surcharge by carrying more onto the plane.

I understand that with the high cost of fuel that it is hard for American and other airlines to make a profit. Somehow Southwest Airlines is able to make a profit while keeping their ticket prices well below the other carriers. It used to be that Southwest was the no frills airline. No meals and no assigned seats. Now that the other airlines are starting to cut the meals or charge for them, it seems the only thing the Southwest doesn’t do is give the passenger an assigned seat. BFD.

Useful Stuff: AnnualCreditReport.com

By U.S. federal law the three credit reporting agencies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion must make available your credit report. From the FTC website:

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, has prepared a brochure, Your Access to Free Credit Reports, explaining your rights under the FCRA and how to order a free annual credit report.

You can request a free copy of your credit report every 12 months. (If you live in Georgia, you are eligible for two consumer credit reports per 12 months.) AnnualCreditReport.com is the official clearing house for the three agencies. The following is a brief description from their “About Us” page.

AnnualCreditReport.com is a centralized service for consumers to request free annual credit reports. It was created by the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

Now you can also get a free credit report from FreeCreditReports.com, but you have to sign up for a free trial of their credit monitoring service. The free trial is only 7 days and you will be automatically be charged $15/month if you don’t cancel.

Stuff: Full Tilt Poker

So, I’m looking at this site duuub.com which has poker strategy from the professional poker players who are behind the online poker site Full Tilt Poker and so I decided to check it out.

Now, if you don’t like to play poker then don’t bother. But for anyone who enjoys a good game of poker this site is the place to be. If you are already familiar with online poker then if you haven’t already been there, I suggest you give FTP a try.

If you are not familiar with online poker it’s basically on online version of your favorite poker room or casino. But there are some major differences.

• Low buy ins. Brick and mortar poker rooms have higher table limits because they have to pay the dealer. Online there is no human dealer, so table limit can be very low, like $0.05/$0.10.
• Variety. Walk into any poker room or casino and what games do they have? At FTP you can play Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, Stud, Stud Hi/Lo, HORSE, HOSE, and HA. There are limit and no-limit tables.
• Tournaments. In a brick and mortar poker room tournaments are a special thing. Online there are tournaments of all types running every day, all day.
• Flexibility. Play anytime you are in front of your computer. No need to travel anywhere.
• Practice/Fun. There are play money tables where you can use play chips. Don’t try to hone your skills on these however, since there is nothing at risk, most players do not play the same as they would if there was real money at take.
• Play against a pro. Each of the FTP pros has their own table where you can sit down at see how you fare against a pro such as Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Clonie Gowen, Chris Fergeson, etc.

• No tipping.
• House rake is lower than casinos.

Online poker is not like poker, beer and pizza night with the guys. I know, I have been in such a game with the same group of friends for 20 years. In the home game it is usually dealer choice and lots of careless play. Those games are more about the fun, pizza, beer, and friends then they are about winning money.

Online poker is about real poker for real money. If you are good you can do very well. If you are average you can do okay. There are lots of really bad poker players playing online so, yes, the average poker player can still win. And, if you are not very good, play the $2 buy-in tables and move up when you are ready.

Because of my job I, like many other professionals, are offered many free magazine subscriptions. These magazines all have the same formula — give the reader content that is appropriate to their profession so that he/she will open it up and see the ads for products relating to that profession. For example, a mechanical engineering free magazine will have articles related to — you guessed it — mechanical engineering and ads for products of interest to mechanical engineers and the products they design. So, in reality the advertisers are paying the postage and the profits of the publisher and the reader gets a free magazine that he/she won’t read.

To make sure that the magazines are being delivered to the appropriate audience, the publisher usually makes the reader renew the subscription every 6 to 12 months. In the old days the subscriber would get a renewal form that they would have to fill out and return. The form asks all kinds of questions about the subscribers ability to specify products for use in production of the subscriber’s company’s products. I’m sure this auditing information was used to set the advertising rates.

Filing out those forms was always a pain in the ass. Many times I would not bother because I didn’t read the magazines anyway. I’m sure many other subscribers would do likewise.

A few years ago the publishers got smart and stupid at the same time. Instead of sending out the renewal forms they phoned, asked the necessary questions and then the magazine was renewed. The problem is that there are not that many publishers. One publisher might publish 10, 20, 30… magazines. Suddenly I’m getting phone calls from all their magazines — asking me if I want to subscribe to NASA Tech Briefs, Laser Times, Auto Design Digest, Electronic Engineering Times, Chemistry Monthly, Bridge Design, …

I would tell these telemarketers to stop calling me. I started getting the names of the publishers so that I could report the harassment to whoever cared. My office phone has caller ID so I stopped answering calls from numbers I did not recognize. I stopped all subscriptions in protest. The number of calls has gone down over time, but there is one phone number I see every single day. There is never a message left. I know it is some magazine calling me every day. Give up!

So, to all the publishers doing this, you will never get me on your subscription list again.

To all the advertisers out there, you should be aware of the tactics of the publishers. They do not care that I am an Electronic Engineer, they will subscribe me to any of their magazines, whether it has anything to do with my profession or not.

Then why do I shop there?

I normally don’t, but you know how it is, sometimes it is just easier to patronize a place I hate rather than one I like. Like today, my wife is out of town and I driving home, starving, and I’m craving a delicious frozen pizza and I just happen to be near a Vons (owned by Safeway) where no one will know me. I would not want any of my neighbors to see me buying a frozen pizza. Oh the shame!

To the point. Every time I go into Vons I have to dig through my wallet for that damned extortion prevention card. You know what I mean? Those idiotic cards that “save” the customer big-time cash. It’s not like we are getting any kind of great deal or anything. The problem is that if you don’t have the card you get charged a fee for not letting Vons track your purchases.

Every time I have gone into Vons and made any kind of purchase (at least my perception tells me so) I “save” a bundle when I use my Vons card. I believe that the prices are inflated and the card normalizes them back to market price.

I know other stupidmarkets use these cards, but our neighborhood supermarket, Stater Brothers, does not. It’s just that all my neighbors shop there and I don’t want them to know I eat frozen pizza!