Why I Probably Won’t Get the New iPhone 3G [10 Jun 2008|10:50am] Well, yesterday proved to be a roller coaster of a day as far as the much anticipated iPhone 3G announcement went. I have recently became an apple adopter, but it has been something I planned to do for a long time. Growing up, and keeping an eye on the options of personal computers, I never understood the reason to have a Macintosh product in my home. Nothing seemed to be compatible with anything I used at home or school. The endless resources of programs that were available on a standard PC, running a Microsoft operating system, were not available on a Mac. That may be an ignorant statement, however for me personally it was a valid statement. I first became interested in the world of Apple when I used one to record a score for a musical at a studio at BYU. I always understood the advantage of using a Mac for multimedia like music and video. I have always know that to properly use ProTools to record my own music I would need a Mac. I never had the money for that so I had no reason to make the transition. Then I bought an iPod. I was very impressed with the design, and how clean and easy it was. I began to feel like I had sold Apple products short all these years. I mean how can I possibly question a company that brought us devices the Newton!? In all seriousness, Newton aside, I was really considering my next computer purchase to be an Apple computer. I saw wonderful products like the MacMini roll out of the mill. I wanted one before they were even released. I kept watching eBay for PowerBooks in hopes I could get one at a decent price. No such luck. Then one day the MacBook was released with an Intel based processor. I took a second look at the Macintosh line, and found that for what I do with computers I was more capable with a Mac than with a Windows machine. I finally joined the Mac club earlier this year when I purchased a MacBook Pro. I bought an iPhone the day it was released. I have never been happier with a mobile phone, and again I was blown away by the design and and capability. I did wish it was 3G, but it has been a great device for me for almost a year now. The things I felt were hard to swallow about the iPhone was the AT&T prices that had been set for the iPhone plans. I can’t say I didn’t expect this from a greedy phone provider like AT&T but I had a little hope for the plans to be more affordable. I mean $59 dollars for 450 minutes, unlimited data, and only 200 text messages!? If I wanted unlimited text messages I would have to pay an additional $30. Total $90. With my previous carrier, that price would have got me 900 minutes, unlimited text messages. So I investigated further. Fortunately I have friends who prefer cheaper phone plans too. We all decided to join a family plan which will allow the entire family to get unlimited texting for the same $30 that I would have had to pay for just my line. Once it was all setup and completed I payed $58 dollars a month after taxes and fees to use an iPhone. All 4 iPhone users on my family plan got that rate because we spread the text equally between the 4 iPhone users and another person on the plan not using an iPhone. What I ended up with was 1400 shared minutes of which we use 1100, unlimited data and unlimited text messages. I feel that $60 dollars a month is a fair price. I have been happy with that price, I was a bit pissed that I got nailed with activation fee’s which are retarded and won’t be discussed in this article, but probably should be at another time. Skip ahead to yesterday. It had been highly rumored that an iPhone with 3G capability would be announced at this year’s WWDC. Along with it there had been high hopes of more functionality to be included in the new iPhone. I personally had hoped for copy/paste functionality, along with the ability to send video or picture messages. Not that hard to program and definitely no need to upgrade the hardware for it. My hopes were dashed during the keynote speech which turned out to be a really long infomercial on the games and crappy programs that people can now put on the phone. They ran right past the place that I hoped would take the most time. New or modified features on the phone were briefly mentioned. Things like a new scientific calculator, which I won’t use, bulk email deletion, the App Store and Exchange integration which we already knew about. Where is flash integration in Safari, internet tethering, or themes and springboard icon mods? I wasn’t too impressed with the new features, and the only thing I would look forward to was faster mobile browsing. The $199 price tag for an 8GB iPhone 3G looked really nice, but I had this feeling that it was too good to be true. As it turns out it was too good to be true. I visited Apple’s web page, and saw the line that says, “Phone, iPod, and Internet in one fast 3G device. Starting at $199*.” Did you see the asterisk? I sure did. I explored a little further only to find this: The fine print will get you every time. The phone is only $199 for people that sign a new 2 year contract. I had hoped that I could just buy my iPhone 3G outright and not have to extend my contract, which I look forward to being out of a year from now. I had began to weigh the possibility that I might extend my contract when I read this. All iPhone 3G customers are required to have one of the new data plans and qualifying voice plan.  Customers intending to use the iPhone 3G for access to corporate e-mail, business applications, or access to corporate intranet are required to activate with Enterprise Data Plan for iPhone. … Data Pricing will be as follows: Consumer Data Plan (must be added to qualified voice plan): $30 - Unlimited Data (E-mail/Web), includes Visual Voicemail Enterprise Data Plan (must be added to qualified voice plan): $45 – Unlimited Data with personal and corporate e-mail, web, includes Visual Voicemail There are two things wrong with this: 1.  Data is $10 more a month than it was previously. I don’t believe that newer technology should be more expensive as a service just because it is better.  I know a lot of ISP’s and mobile providers like the one i’m complaining about that disagree based on their track record.  I understand cost of providing a service, but when the means of delivering the 3G technology are identical to the 2G technology why are we being charged 50% more for it?  Because it’s better?  Shouldn’t you charge the same amount and let the consumer move in the direction of the better technology?  I know, how un-Capitalistic of me to suggest that. 2.  If I want to use Exchange Active Sync using the same Unlimited 3G internet they want me to pay $45 a month? How is that justified?  I own my own exchange server.  I own my own iPhone.  There is a program on the iPhone called Active Sync that is payed for along with the iPhone.  Everything is payed for on the hardware and software end.  Now all I need is a means to communicate.  That is where the 3G comes in.  If I am already paying $30 a month for unlimited use, why would using 3G to work with my Exchange email cost $15 dollars more a month?  It’s the same internet as 2G, 3G, DLS or Broadband.  There is no magical internet network called Enterprise.  The same amount of data will be transfered using POP3 instead of Exchange.  There is nothing different about how the information is being transmitted and received over the 3G network, but for some reason AT&T feel they have the right to charge me for it.  I call Bullshit. For those reasons I probably won’t be updating to the new iPhone.  I will most likely be leaving AT&T come June 2009 and I will unlock MY iPhone and use it with T-Mobile.  Better prices, for the same shitty service.  I’ll only be down 3G, but It’s not worth it to me to be ass-raped by AT&T. I know that nobody but a few people care about this, but I think some things need to change.  These companies already over charge us for these services.  See GThing’s blog on the True Price of SMS Messages for more of what I mean. AT&T has a chance to keep me as a customer if they would drop the need to screw me out of the extra $15 to have 3G and Exchange.  Oh, they’re not even charging 2G or EDGE users extra to use the Exchange integration of the iPhone, which will be available to me at the same time as the iPhone 3G.  God AT&T pisses me off. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Things That Interest Me [30 May 2008|12:22pm] I enjoy many things on the intertubes. I usually spend my day searching for new articles to read and fancy things to appease my short attention span. For example I was bored yesterday trying to read cnn.com. Everything seemed so stagnant. The world is in chaos, blah, blah, blah, blah. Even the infotainment (yes CNN has it too) was lamer than usual. Wikipedia was useless [citation needed], I beat it last week. I had to take on an article about Cold Fusion all while being sideswiped by the filmography of Darren Aronofsky. It was an epic battle and I took some losses, but ultimately I became the wiki master. Today I wanted to share with you something I occasionally turn to in order to lighten my mood or take my mind off of the fact that our two party political system is ruining our country each day. And now your moment of zen: Oh how it would be to be back in my glory days as a Starship Captain! I’ll have to tell you about those adventures another time. Here is another: Both of the images I have shared with you are created and distributed by Echo Sphere. I may be nerdy for posting Star Trek inspirational posters, but my spirits sure are lifted! Now on to the next adventure the interweb brings me. Perhaps I will complete all of xkcd!? Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

‘The World’ Quotes from 04-20-08 [21 Apr 2008|09:58am] I heard each of these statements yesterday in no particular order. The Media in the world is sinful. The world wants you to be wicked. The rest of the world is without compassion. -Thank you for the idea, Steve. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Why You Shouldn’t Fly Delta Airlines [14 Apr 2008|11:50am] I went to California this weekend, but not without a few troubles. My license was expired, and Delta refused to take my bags. I already had a boarding pass, and if I had not been checking a bag, I wouldn’t have had this problem. Unfortunately for me, I can’t stand travel shampoo and I can’t bring that through security. I ended up missing my flight on Thursday night and had to leave the next morning. Please read my complaint letter to Delta Airlines. Let me know if you think I’m right or wrong. Before you read, I believe personally that it’s wrong that the airline requires government ID to take your bags or check in. I could carry on and check in online and never have to show my ID to a member of the airline. April 14th, 2008 To Whom It May Concern, My name is Kristofer Harrison, a recent Delta Airlines ‘valued’ customer. I am writing you to inform you of the experience of service you offered your ‘valued’ customer on the night of April 10th, 2008. I had travel arrangements to fly from SLC to SMF on Delta flight DL 1189 at 9:25 PM. I arrived at Salt Lake City International Airport at 8:00 PM that night. I had 1 bag to check and had already checked in and obtained a printed boarding pass via your online check-in feature which was great! Very useful and I am grateful for the email notifications. I proceeded to drop off my bag to a woman manning a baggage drop off location. She was extremely friendly, and looked at my boarding pass and Utah State Driver’s License. To my surprise my License had expired on my birthday. She said that she can’t take my bag. I was sort of confused, but she told me to go to the desk and have them help me there. So I proceeded to the full service desk to speak with a representative there, and possibly speak with a supervisor. I expected I would get a different boarding pass with the dreaded ‘SSSS’ on it. I had heard of my friends experience traveling with an expired license in which they had to do additional screening in order to enter the sterile area of the airport. After I had waited my turn in line at the full service desk, I informed your representative, a very kind Indian woman, that I was directed here because my license had expired. She quickly informed me that I will not be flying. I said, “Wait, why not? Is this a new TSA policy that I was not aware of?” She said it has always been this way. She asked me for other ID’s. All I had was a Visa card, a PADI Diving License with photo , and a Costco card with a very bad picture of myself on it. It was very apparent that I am in fact Kristofer Harrison. She said she didn’t know if she could accept these as identification. I understand that, but I still failed to understand why I couldn’t go through additional screening and board my flight. She said that the TSA would not let me through the check point (a lie). I asked for a supervisor to come and explain this further. Your kind representative made a call on the red phone (which amused me when I immediately thought of the Bat-Phone from the old Batman series) to ask for a supervisor. We waited for 5 minutes and a supervisor never came. She then went to another representative to inquire about my situation. She came back after a moment and asked me for my other cards that I had. She took them to the other rep, and came back saying that they will need a second form of government identification, perhaps a Social Security Card, Passport or Birth Certificate. I don’t have a passport seeing as I’m an American citizen and have never felt the need to leave our fine borders. Who honestly carries their social security card or birth certificate with them? I used to carry my social card until a government worker at the DMV told me not to. Ironic. She told me that she can give me a flight in the morning and I’ll have to come back with the other ID. She even told me that if I was flying home they would let me board, and I’m sure, give me a nifty boarding pass with the ‘SSSS’ on it. I said fine, and she moved my flight and printed a new itinerary card for me. Let me inform you right now that I know it was my fault for not realizing that my driver’s license was expired. Had it not been I’m positive this would have been a pleasant experience for all of us. I realize my fault, what I need you, Delta Airlines, to do is realize is your fault in the situation. I am the proud son of a government employee who happens to work at Salt Lake International Airport as a TSA employee. I left the counter with my new itinerary in hand and immediately called my Dad to ask him about TSA policy. He informed me that the TSA requires additional screening for passengers with expired licenses, but they are ALLOWED TO FLY. I was left thinking, why has Delta taken it upon themselves to screen me? I had proven without a doubt that I am Kristofer Harrison, and that I had paid for transportation to Sacramento from Salt Lake City. It was up to the TSA to screen me, my luggage and make sure I was clear to go. It was clear that if I had not checked my bag, which contained more that 3 ounces of hair paste, toothpaste, and cologne that was a gift I’m not willing to part with, that I would have been able to fly. I resigned this battle at 9:00 and was forced to drive home, which is an hour from the airport, attempt to sleep then get up at an indecent hour to be on time for an 8:40 AM flight. I intentionally purchased my ticket for the night before so I wouldn’t have to wake up at 6:00. The following morning I arrived at the airport at 7:40 AM with my expired driver’s license and birth certificate. I checked in at the Delta kiosk where I had my boarding pass printed. No ‘SSSS’. I proceeded to the baggage drop, where another very friendly representative greeted me. He took my bag, boarding pass and ID. Then to my shock, he took my bag! I didn’t have to show him my birth certificate. I waited through the security line and was greeted by an unusually chipper TSA TDC (Travel Document Checker). He looked at my license and told me that since it was expired that I needed additional screening, I then said I had my birth certificate, he looked at it, and checked with another TDC, but informed me that I will still need the additional screening. I told him I was fine with that and then he wrote with a pen the ‘SSSS’ on the boarding pass. I proceeded through the checkpoint and ended up being thoroughly search by a person who knew my father. All together the TSA gave me a better experience than Delta Airlines did. I had been put on a very cramped SkyWest Connection flight where I didn’t have a window seat, and the AC wasn’t powerful enough. Furthermore, on my flight home my ID was never mentioned, but as expected, I was a selectee again. I respectfully request a response that is not some “our policy” response. I need to know why it is a policy in the first place if it really is. Not only did this event inconvenience me, as a result I was forced to arrange other travel arrangements from the airport when I arrived in Sacramento, costing about $50 because of my late arrival. Please respond to this letter as I will be publishing it in a public forum and sending it to you. I will be continuing to write until I get an accurate and appropriate answer. One last thing. A quick Google search for ‘TSA expired license’, pulls up numerous scenarios in which people were able to travel with an expired license after additional screening. There is even a link to the TSA web page which gives you information about the security process. I think it may be good for your Airline execs to look at it, and stop unnecessary policies, which are hurting the reputation of the airline. I have learned 2 things from this experience. 1) Make sure my ID is not expired when I fly. 2) Never fly Delta Airlines until I am certain this doesn’t happen to anyone again. Delta is the only airline I know of that has this policy. You have a very talented flight staff but your ID policy, if there really is one, is ridiculous. Isn’t the right to reasonable means of transportation a protected right in this country? Why was I (Profit $) an exception? Why was your staff, (Overhead -$) misinformed about TSA policies? What are you going to do to rectify the situation, and make sure nobody experiences what I experienced again? Respectfully, Kristofer Harrison On a more political note, I’m happy to have a federal standard in Airport security, but a good portion of the policies in place are ridiculous, especially the expired ID one. Just because it’s expired shouldn’t make it invalid as ID, it should make it invalid as a right to drive, but that is it! It’s becoming more difficult and stressful to be a law abiding citizen. When those planes ran into those towers it did a lot more than scar us and make us mourn. Liberty died a little that day, and has continued to die more and more with each step we take towards ’securing’ our citizens. There is no such thing as safety in this world. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Broken Lungs [08 Apr 2008|10:44am] Woke up to a brand new skyline We licked our wounds and mourn the dead Swallow the story hook and sinker Is that what we meant when we said That we never would forget? Are we fools and cowards all To let them cover up their lies? Cause we all watched the buildings fall Watched the scales fall from our eyes A fire burns beneath Manhattan Still we breathe with broken lungs We act like none of this matters Is that what we meant When we said That we’d sing what must be sung? Are we fools and cowards all To let them cover up their lies? Cause we all watched the buildings fall Watched the scales fall from our eyes We want justice Scream from the roof We want justice We want the truth Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

iPeench [18 Feb 2008|01:44pm] Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Independant Films [08 Jan 2008|02:59pm] Doctors are sadists who like to play God and watch lesser people scream. *** I saw a great film last night, one that I think deserves a lot of recognition.  I would love to go see it again.  Miranda and I were trying to decide what to go see when we decided to go see Juno.  Fox’s latest Searchlight release.  I have to say when I see the Fox Searchlight banner displayed at the beginning of a trailer or film I tend to get really interested.  Some of my most favorite films come from this Distributer / Production Company.  However production company is a loose term in this case, seeing as most of the films they distribute were picked up after the festivals had their way with the films.  Fox Searchlight Pictures in general has a great library of films that have been distributed through their system. Without Searchlight most of us may have never seen, Garden State, Super Troopers, 28 Days Later, Little Miss Sunshine, and yes, Napoleon Dynamite.  Now I know that some of my readers will say that we could have done without some of the films, and I’m not claiming that they are perfect, but I’m usually impressed with the movies that come out of the Fox indie orifice. Juno was no exception, and I’m secretly pulling for Ellen Page for the Best Actress Oscar Award.  The last time I saw a character so well portrayed was Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham in American Beauty. The story was so well put together that the film must have almost directed itself.  Not to say at all that director Jason Reitman had to just show up, his influence and craft are subtle in the film but clear.  I will recommend this film to anyone who enjoys comedy and can find some humor in the more serious moments in life.  A+ Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Now I Text A Lot… But… [28 Dec 2007|04:02pm] So today is the 28th which is not only the 1 month mark till my birthday, but it’s also the day I pay my phone bill each month. I’m fortunate enough to only pay about $55 and have an iPhone with unlimited text messaging since I’m on a family plan with 4 other peeps. So every month on the 28th, I hop on over to attwireless.com and pay my bill. I usually at that point check out how many minutes have been used and how many we have left collectively. This month and last month we used a lot and we’ll probably go over this month. Thank the AT&T god for rollover minutes. Anyway, it’s also fun to see how many texts have been used on the plan too. The following is what I found when looking at someone else’s text totals: I blocked out the names to protect the innocent, and obscene. This second image is our total text usage for the month of December (which isn’t over yet): Don’t let me forget this guy: Holy Crap! Did you see how huge that guy is high that number is? Have you ever met someone who sent over 100,000 text messages in a 31 day period!?!?!? I can proudly say now that I have, and I have touched that person. I bet I can even get an autograph if I wanted one. In all fairness I’m sure this is a glitch, but if it’s not and the bill is delivered with that number on it, I will laugh till milk comes out my nose, then submit the bill to the Guinness boys and see what we qualify as. Maybe a new category. Most SMS messages sent and received in a month. I bet some kid in Japan already has that record, but I bet his pet robot does most of the texting for him. Please in the name of J.I.F. Extra Chunky Peanut Butter… Comment! Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Coca-Cola Tastes Like Rat Piss [20 Dec 2007|11:54am] If it’s by sea, I don’t wanna know. If we all don’t take cover we’re all going to fall back in love again. Bless you, your beautiful life And curse your god when your friends die. *** I have been doing a lot of pondering lately.  I wonder where I stand on a lot of issues.  I feel that I am an intelligent person, and having come to that conclusion I have also felt the need to separate myself from popular beliefs and look into what my own beliefs are.  I find myself further parting myself from the politics of my father and absorbing mountains of information that I haven’t taken the time to investigate personally.  I used to be a person who so badly tried to feel accepted that I found myself agreeing with the people around me.  I realized after a while that I didn’t know my own beliefs from my peers or family’s.  It’s been an interesting transition to pull away from what people assume that I believe, or think I should believe, and find my own space to work in.  It’s also been hard in some areas.  I don’t like to disappoint people and I have always felt like I would by sharing what I really think.  That fear has proven itself to be valid in many discussions with family and friends, and my fiancée.  Political issues aren’t as hard as I make it sound, it’s the religious beliefs that are the hard ones.  I won’t go into detail about what I believe, but I will say that being an analytical Mormon is very hard.  Not because I can’t believe in my faith, but because people have a huge distaste for different idea’s in the Mormon community.  It’s taboo to think separately, and doing so almost means banishment from the social hive.  It’s also wrong to point out that that sort of shun was not at all acceptable by saints who followed Joseph Smith to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois.  Now, while I do have some differing ideas about the dogma of the Mormon faith, I don’t preach them.  You can’t hear words that aren’t said, but if you ask my opinion don’t pray for me if you don’t like my response.  You don’t know me, and you obviously don’t understand what your faith really stands for. Religion is just one of the things I have been pondering.  I sometimes make feeble attempts at theorizing about the measure of time, or the perception of distance.  Stuff that makes my head hurt because if I go deep enough I can almost taste something, but can’t wrap my head around it.  I blame the human part of me for that flaw.  Humans are interesting creatures.  I see so much beauty in what we have accomplished.  Our technology, art, psychology, sexuality, spirituality and love all contribute to make us the most unique species to walk this great earth.  If you fail to see how beautiful it is, you don’t deserve this gift.  If you think God favors you above others because of your faith you are dead wrong.  Believers in God have accomplished many great things, but have and continue to leave scars on the beauty I mentioned, which we all take for granted.  I mean what’s worse, someone flying a few airplanes into buildings in the name of Allah (God the Father  as Mormons worship), a Priest, who serves God, molesting a boy in his congregation, or a Father who disowns his Son for choosing not to serve a Mormon Mission.  I can give you countless scenarios in which these atrocities are committed, but they are all equally as horrible and damning to the beauty of being human.  From any one person’s perspective or faith they will find these things horrible.  Most shove them under the rug and they are never dealt with.  People don’t like to hear about horrible things committed by the person or faith they trust.  They need to believe, and they have to believe that it’s untainted.  However they are always willing to attack another’s way of life or faith.  Why can’t we just let people be people and believe whatever they want?  Does it really effect us that Atheism or Agnosticism are a more and more popular idea?  I believe in God, and probably always will, but I’m happy when my friends can analyze what they know and come to an educated decision.  I’m absolutely positive that whatever you believe as far as the afterlife goes, everyone will be present regardless of what you believe.  So please, stand up to these religious and social injustices.  Stop and smell the roses, we only have a short time on this earth, and then who knows.  Take time to appreciate art and talent, and take the opportunity to learn from someone instead of trying to get them to conform convert. Being human asks this of you… </end> New song on the page now.  —–> Take a listen. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Guess What I Did!? Sigur Rós - Heima [05 Dec 2007|10:58am] I paid for music yesterday. I have wanted to see the Sigur Rós documentary since I heard of it’s creation back in February. Well 10 months later I finally had the opportunity to buy it on the day it was released (December 4th). If you haven’t heard of the band I think you should check them out, but do so with an open mind. All of the lyrics are in Icelandic or Hopelandic which is the language that lead singer, Jónsi Brigisson, created. It is of course not an actual language by definition (no vocabulary, grammar, etc.), it’s really a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument. I have (until recent years) always preferred music where the vocals were more buried in the mix of the music, forcing you to interpret the whole sound. Sigur Rós gives you that opportunity almost effortlessly. I first discovered them in 2000 while looking for information about Radiohead online. Sigur Rós was touring with them for their Kid A tour, and I decided that I wanted to hear a band with such an interesting name. I was hooked immediately by the vast ambient pulses and vibrations being emitted by the studio reference monitors in a small radio station booth. Each album, of which there are 5, precisely captures the direction and development of the band. Personally there is isn’t an album or EP from them that I can’t listen to at any time, however I have found it fairly common that a lot of people have to be in a certain mood to want to listen to it, or to appreciate it. The vast ambiance and Brigisson’s falsetto lyrics often leave the musically ignorant (you know who they are) going, “what is that?” Case in point, I was a sound designer for a musical production in my local community a few years ago. I used Sigur Rós’ album, Ágætis byrjun (An Alright Start), as pre-show music. Most of the cast and even patrons, constantly asked me where they could buy music from the band, but the rest of the cast asked if I could play [sic] Black Eye Peas or something more ‘popular’ according to them. When you hear the music you will be able to see why it would be appropriate for conversation music before a musical. Yesterday I headed out to FYE and bought the latest release from them, a DVD titled Heima. It’s a film presentation on the band’s tour across Iceland. Now I say tour, but it’s probably better to call it a trek. With a population of just over 300,000, Iceland isn’t as urban as the state of Wyoming. The band played several unannounced shows in small towns, cemetery’s, abandoned buildings, and in fields where the government plans to build a dam. The breathtaking cinematography and the music combined is the greatest advertising campaign for the island country and the band. My girlfriend was kind enough to watch the film with me, which left me feeling inadequate as a musician, but inspired to do something equally amazing. This is a much watch and hear film. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Be There! [28 Nov 2007|02:17pm] Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Crazy Busy! [26 Nov 2007|01:29pm] I haven’t really kept up on the blog lately, I’m sorry, I think 3 posts in 1 week is pretty good to be honest. Thanksgiving was good with the fam, and the weekend was great with the exception of the Broncos loss the the Bears on Sunday. I have been working a lot on getting plans ready for the wedding coming up. Trying to arrange a honeymoon trip and a ring all at once can be a little bit hard, but it’s all good. On top of planning for the wedding, I have been trying not to psyche myself out for a show my band is playing on Friday night. I’m stoked to be putting on the production, but there is always a level of nervousness that will come along with it. We have rehearsal tomorrow night, and I am so stoked to play. Here are the Details: A Sweet Bitter Winter Friday November 30th 7:30 @ The Alamo Click here for directions to The Alamo Everyone should come and hear this. You can email or comment if you like, and I promise to have you home at a decent time. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Man I Love Writing… [21 Nov 2007|10:26am] …And web design too.So things are really good. I’m a bit stressed out but it’s completely worth it. Yesterday while at work in between speaking with clients I setup a new blog: krisandmiranda.info It only took an hour, which is pretty good I guess. It’s going to be something really cool, and interesting. Please don’t freak out when you go see it, yes I’m getting married, and yes I’ll be sure to invite you. I’m going to see how successful it will be. My camera’s LCD cracked a few months ago and I have been without a camera since then. I hope to get one soon so I can start adding pics of what we’re doing that aren’t taken on my phone. I am inviting you all to stop by and participate. There will be a link on my blogroll and maybe even on the top bar. Remember trackbacks make a happy blogger! Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

God Bless You Mr. Vonnegut [19 Nov 2007|03:38pm] The highest treason in the USA is to say Americans are not loved, no matter where they are, no matter what they are doing there. So who as been to a foreign country? Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Please Tell Me We Are Closer To A Revolution! [23 Oct 2007|01:10pm] Are We there yet? Have the people left their homes and lit the torches started to see what is happening here? By all legal definitions I can’t defend my desire to have music be available for free. As the laws currently dictate, sharing music with a friend, better known as ‘word of mouth’, is illegal. Even using a song that you like to make a home movie is illegal. The ridiculous thing is the amount of money the labels are claiming to have lost in the digital age. What is even more ridiculous is the amount of money labels claim it takes to produce an album. I’m sorry, have no faith in the current music industry, and watching the RIAA and other similar organizations around the world cry ‘wolf’ is not going to make me sad for them when the real wolf (good music released through independent channels) comes to devour them. We get a step closer to it every day, and we take a giant leap every time a means of distribution is taken from us. The latest victim in the music industries ‘war on piracy’ is OiNK.cd. OiNK was a bit torrent tracker that provided an invaluable service to the community of quality digital music. With the slew of online music vendors ruining our ear drums with their low quality MP3’s we needed a savior in the world to push for quality. OiNK’s music ripping requirements convinced thousands of MP3 users that 128 kbps sucks balls is inferior to FLAC or 320 kbps. More important than quality it allowed users to introduce new music to someone who may have never heard of it otherwise. The potential money market for this form of distribution is limitless, especially if artist produce their own records and distribute them. The unfortunate thing, for the music industry, is that it cuts them out of the picture even more. It does not cost $200,000 dollars to produce a record. In fact once you have produced one you can theoretically produce one for free after that. The equipment to record a competitive record runs you under $15,000. If you can’t record it yourself you shouldn’t be a musician.  I may sound harsh, but the fact is the labels are not a friend to the musicians they are ‘protecting’.  What the labels do on a regular basis is called theft, and for some reason we have let them do it.  Musicians aren’t fairly compensated, and most are paying off the $200,000 bill to the label that produced the album for them.  Labels do NOT promote music properly, and if there is a successful album it is no because of their God like ability to make a band.  Every successful musician with the help of a label or not had one thing in common.  Talent. Talent is a word far too loosely used in regards to our music media.  In contracts all artists are referred to as the ‘Talent’.  Would like to point out the the definition of talent. Talent: </p> endowment: natural abilities or qualities a person who possesses unusual innate ability in some field or activity Talent like Paul McCartney, Dave Grohl, Elton John, Roger Waters, Maynard Keenan, Danny Elfman; musicians who learned, bled, and successfully took a natural ability into an entertainment.  Who was the last top 40 musician to make an impact larger than a trend?  Musicians like the ones above have changed music, and in some cases our culture.  I personally don’t listen to most of the aforementioned artists, but it is easy to see what they have done for our media and even society.  Can you really say that Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Avril Lavigne, and Evanescence have made a lasting effect on our lives?  I mean really?  Aside from clogging the news stands, promoting a generic sound and spreading a plague-like filth to minority America, I don’t know of any impact.  This happens to be what MTV and the top 40 are payed to play.  We need another Beatles or U2 to save us.  I wouldn’t be looking on the radio at first. Sharing music gives us a unique opportunity to find what we like for ourselves.  We don’t need record labels anymore, but this dependency on trends is holding us back.  It allows an organization like the RIAA to extort the poor, and line their pockets by claiming responsibility for the talent.  If you are in the music business you should give it away for free, if your in the wealth business, then pillage the artists that you need to sell your product.  Support the artists that are breaking away from labels, and support the artists that struggle for attention and deserve it, even if they have a label. If you need a suggestion then buy the new Brand New track (Fork and Knife), you can get it for $0.99 on most download services, but I recommend Amazon.com since it is DRM free and a higher bitrate.  It’s only available as a download so enjoy. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

It’s About Time… [12 Sep 2007|09:35am] So I have had nothing of interest to write about for the last month.  But I’ll try and get something out. Concerts: I have spent too much money on concerts in the last month.  $170 to be exact, plus $70 more in the next few weeks.  A slew of my favorite artists have scheduled dates here in Utah, some I have had to sacrifice for the greater good of my pocket book, but other I just couldn’t.  Here are the shows I currently have tickets for: Damien Rice @ McKay Event Center | Orem, UT | 09.18.07 Smashing Pumpkins @ McKay Event Center | Orem, UT | 09.28.07 Thrice / Brand New @ Saltair | Magna, UT | 10.27.07 Shows that I plan to buy tickets for (in order of being able to afford it): Coheed and Cambria @ Saltair | Magna UT | 11.07.07 Kaddisfly @ The Avalon | SLC, UT | 10.03.07 Jimmy Eat World (X-96 Big Ass Show) @ State Fair Park | SLC, UT | 10.06.07 Tori Amos @ The E Center | West Vally City, UT | 11.27.07 Shows that I had to pass up because some sacrifices had to be made: Muse @ McKay Event Center | Orem, UT | 09.12.07 Disney’s High School Musical On Ice @ Energy Solutions Arena | SLC, UT As much as i want to go see all of them, I am a realist and can’t, I’m seriously thinking of perming my hair and trying to sneak in with the cast of High School Musical to get in. My Band: Holy crap peeps, I have never been more excited about a music project in my life.  Even my first day of band class in 5th grade is blown out of the water.  We have 6 member and a really cool sound, unique according to me.  Lame probably to others, but you know what… this time I really don’t care if anyone likes it.  It’s has been great for the people involved.  We will most likely be recording after a few shows in the next few months, I’ll post some stuff then.  Maybe even some live recordings!  Expect a show sometime in October. That is all I have to say for now… oh yeah!  Free iPhone unlock is now available!  Check out Gizmodo for details. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

OH SSH! [15 Aug 2007|09:38am] So I’m going to get pretty nerdy here, and hopefully explain what I have been trying to do without loosing any of my readers. If you get lost I’m sorry, I’m just too geeky. Oh this also has to do with the iPhone, but I promise it’s cool. So two nights ago my roommate Jeff came home and showed me his iPhone with an NES emulator icon on the screen. It was sexy to say the least. However the program wouldn’t run. It just hung his iPhone till it got bored of trying and went back to the home screen. I thought oh that’s cool somebody wrote a program that doesn’t work. Well the next night Jeff came home he was playing Super Mario Bros. on his phone! ZOMG! <--I hate that expresion! Actually I pretty much hate any acronym that people who play World of Warcraft use. Anyway, the night was young, and we had just finished moving my girlfriend and BK into FamousJay's house, so we decided to geek out our iPhones some more. As it turns out to get the NES emulator to work you had to install SSH on the iPhone, and then run a command using the SSH terminal that activates the app. We ran into a problem with my phone though. I installed the security update for the iPhone which was an update for ‘Safari’ they said, but somehow it changed the phone so the original SSH terminal won’t work. We spent a while looking into it. Jeff tried to download the 1.0.1 update onto his computer so we can use it to hopefully get my phone to work, but in the process he screwed up his phone and was forced to upgrade to 1.0.1 so he will have a working phone. FamousJay murdered a Smurf on her bedroom carpet so the remainder of the evening was spent Googleing for a way to get a deep blue Lysol toilet cleaner stain up off the floor. No luck. I think she may post a picture of it, at least I hope she does. It really does look like a smurf had his brain matter fused with the carpet fibers on her floor. Anyway so today I’m looking for a different way to pus SSH on the iPhone 1.0.1 update. I’ll keep you updated. By the way SSH is cool and I like using it a lot better than DOS prompt. Even with my massive failure and Jeff’s ‘man down!’, I was able to put some cool ring tones on my phone and change the damn carrier logo to say iPhone instead of AT&T. I love hacking my $600 experiment. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

So Good Times… [02 Aug 2007|10:21am] I am waiting for something to go wrong I am waiting for familiar resolve I am waiting for another repeat Another diet fed by crippling defeat And i am waiting for that sense of relief I am waiting for you to flee the scene As if you held in your hand the smoking gun And on the floor lay the one you said you loved *** Great song!  Death Cab for Cutie are seriously under appreciated.  Their album Transatlanticism is amazing, 10 times better than Plans. I must be seriously screwed up… Sad song make me feel happy.  I feel so good right now, even though I deleted every phone number in my phone.  That was dumb of me!  But I managed to find a good portion of them in a spread sheet that I was able to use to add back some contacts.  Other than that there isn’t much I would change about my life.  Maybe a new car.  I know I have been saying that for a while.  Aside from a warrant for my arrest I have never been more ready for it.  I have some debt from the move still, but I can take care of that rather quickly.  I’m going to set a goal.  November, I will have a different car.  Nothing fancy just something with 4 good tires and AC.  Maybe a Passat or a Civic.  NOTHING AMERICAN EVER AGAIN!  I’m sorry I just can’t support American auto makers.  Does that make me a rebel?  Am I a menace to the establishment?  No, the auto tariffs in the US are ridiculous.  If the Japanese can make a car for less and get it here for less than we should be competing on their price scale not ours!  I just hate my truck too.  It’s gone through a lot with me, but I’m ready for a damn sedan. Wow another tangent.  Oh well, back to what I was saying… …Wait, what was I saying? I did something yesterday that will greatly benefit my life if it works out.  I can’t tell you yet, but I promise I will when the time is appropriate.  I can tell you, I just can’t publish it, you can ask if you want.  If it all goes well I’ll be able to buy the car sooner, and maybe make it easier to…  OH DAMN I CAN’T PUBLISH THAT TOO! Ehhh, what can I write about that isn’t bad for public viewing?  I feel like the FCC or Tipper Gore is censoring my blog!  I’m trying for an explicit content sticker.  Maybe I should post some Third Eye Blind lyrics and have the RIAA tell me they are too explicit for release?  Maybe I should stick with posting Rap lyrics, nobody seems to notice those. So this entry just seems to be the product of my brain going 1000 mph.  I’ll post something of interest later I promise. Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

Ha HAAA! Yes Heck! [01 Aug 2007|03:32pm] So yeah,… I have been working a lot and trying to keep my personal life in perspective, which is hard when something new is introduced every day. But I’m not complaining, it nice to always have something to think about or focus on. I had the opportunity to write a new song, which totally kicks ass in my opinion. I’m writing lyrics for it, and for the first time I feel like I can actually do that and not suck. I’ll post the guitar recordings soon, but they are constantly changing right now in this phase of the writing process. Some things are changing for me very fast and I’m stoked to write about it, but only when I’m more sure of it. I hate giving news when it’s not so firm yet. Work gave me an office today. Unfortunately it’s only temporary, cause the owner gets back from vacation in 2 weeks. But I’m good at pretending that the stuff on the walls were mine and that the pictures are of my family. One day I will have my own office where I can close the door and putt into one of those automated golf machines without any pants on. I like not having pants on for some reason. If only I drank Scotch I would be a perfect cliché. How funny would it be to see me as a blitzed out CEO playing golf without my pants on in my office. Maybe not that funny. I think I have been watching Comedy Central too much. So mStar hasn’t hooked up my wicked internet yet. They keep coming over, but don’t get it running. I’m about to give up hope. The problem isn’t them it’s my HOA. They keep saying that it will be up on a certain day, but they say it without getting the actual story from Utopia or mStar. HOA’s are gay anyway… It’s true, I saw it online. You can find anyone for anything on the internet. Somebody Google professional booger pickers, and tell me how much one would be. Living in Utah or Colorado all you get are rock hard boogers that hurt when you pull them out because they have trapped your nose hair in their rock hard awesomeness. That’s another thing… Why is it that it takes a week to grow some facial hair, but I can grow a nose hair that wants to go play in the other nostril in one day!? Take that home chew on it. Oh, before I go, check out the new Strata album. The single sucks bad, but the rest isn’t bad at all! Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.

You Know, It’s Funny… [27 Jul 2007|03:51pm] I have this amazing mouthpiece to the world, that really everyone in the word can visit and read, but I have nothing to say.  I don’t have any words of extraordinary value to change the landscape of my readers mind.  I have been wanting to write, but the last few days have been troublesome and hard for me.  I don’t want to share anything I find interesting or funny.  I finished the Harry Potter book.  I loved it, but that’s all I really have to say about it.  I’m sure I’ll be offered another job which is nice, but I don’t have much to share about that too.  I think the people who can read my face will know what’s bothering me, but for now I’ll remain faceless hidden behind my keyboard. I don’t like it here. I’m gonna try and go to church this weekend.  I haven’t been in a long time, and I think that is what I’m missing.  I’m looking forward to maybe making friends outside of the close circle I have around me now.  I wish I had good news to really report, but I don’t.  Nothing really exciting has happened, and far too many things, that normally would make me depressed, are happening.  But I’m not getting depressed, I just don’t want to care.  I don’t want to keep my friendships working, and I just want to leave again.  Utah is so beautiful, but it sucks the spiritual side of my life dry.  I had a friend send me an article that I don’t really wish to discuss, but it had to deal with standards and the practice of standards of the young adults that belong to the LDS church.  It was interesting to have the reaction I did to it.  I found myself making excuses and wanting to justify how I act.  I spoke with my friend on the phone today and he said it was interesting to see who was offended by the article.  Maybe I’ll write about it more after I have had time to analyze my own thoughts and reactions.  All I can say that I need some new things to come a long and a new set of eyes to indulge myself with. I know, I know…. It’s a lame entry on the blog, but hey it’s something to read.  Isn’t it? Originally published at Not Emo Enough. Please leave any comments there.