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I got a new phone (again). I am in love… this thing is awesome. Found it on Amazon.com for $75 plus a $100 rebate, so I’m being paid $25 for the phone. Service is with T-Mobile, and I’m only paying $60 a month for unlimited data and email, plus 300 minutes and fave five. About $20 cheaper than service on my old phone with Verizon.

I can do so much more with this thing than my old phone… here’s a rundown:

• Google has blackberry apps for checking Gmail, Google Reader, Google Docs, Google Talk, Google Maps, and even has a program to sync your Blackberry calendar with your Google Calendar. Awesome stuff. The Gmail interface on the Blackberry is basically the same as the interface on the Gmail website. My only complaint here is the lack of web link handling in the Gmail client. The built in Blackberry email client works fine with links.
• RIM (the people who make Blackberry) make their own Facebook client, which works rather well. Lets me check friends status updates, upload photos, make wall posts, poke, and send messages. Everything I could want out of Facebook when I’m away from my computer.
• TwitterBerry - nice Twitter client. Lets me update status and check my friends updates.
• Yahoo! Go - The main thing I use this for is Flickr access. I can upload photos to flickr, check out updates from my contacts, and leave comments on photos. Yahoo Go! also gives me quick access to weather, news, Wikipedia, and Myspace.
• Yahoo! oneSearch - Voice-based web searching? Yes please! I haven’t had a good reason to use this yet, but it’s certainly a fun toy.
• IM clients for Google Talk, AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, MSN - Again, I don’t see myself using these much… but I’ll keep them on the phone in case.
• Wi-Fi access! - While in range of a Wireless router, my phone will use that internet connection in leu of the cell signal. Gives me better call quality and internet speeds while I’m at home, or if I go to any number of wireless hotspots such as Starbucks. Because of this, I’m finally able to drop my Vonage phone line.
• Yodlee - not an application, a web page. Aggregates all my financial account information in one place, so I can check bank account balances, credit card balances, etc., all at once. My Chase account doesn’t have mobile access except through texting.
• Brightkite - again, not an app (yet… there’s one in the works apparently) - this is a bit like Twitter. Microblogging, but location based. Currently invite-only beta. I just got my account today. If you’re interested in an invite, leave a comment here and let me know. As of right now I still have 5 invites left.

One of the things I’m loving so far is that I can move away from using SMS messaging all the time. I used to use text messages for Twitter updates and Facebook messaging. Now I have no texting plan. It’s a nice feeling.

The CommonCraft Show | Common Craft - Explanations In Plain English
You absolutely have to check out this site. For those of you who are new to all this Web 2.0 stuff and want to know why the series of tubes are changing all around you, these videos will help ease your transition. The “Twitter” and “Photo Sharing” videos in particular are well worth watching. The videos are also rather entertaining.

I went home to visit Mom and Dad for Mother’s Day last weekend.  Spent Saturday with Dad building a stand for my Guitar Hero and Rock Band controllers.  It turned out pretty well… I’ll get some pics up soon.

Dad treated the family to dinner at Country House in Geneva.  For most, it was the first time they had seen my newly shaven head.  I tried to get some reaction shots with my camera phone.

Links to albums on Flickr below.

First day at work with a shaved head. It was an awesome day. I got lots of different reactions, all good. Here’s a rundown of some of the interesting ones:

• Did you lose a bet?
• I was afraid to say anything in case you had cancer or something.
• Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean!
• I’m just gonna call you from now on… who was that guy from Austin Powers? (Dr. Evil)
• Who’s the new employee?
• So what statement are you trying to make with this?
• What happened?
• Does your mother know yet? (She doesn’t… I’m surprising her this Mother’s Day!)
• Whoa. *Blank stare*

Most everybody told me that they liked it. Got one comment that it made me look older, more mature. I definitely can appreciate that, as I’ve always looked much younger than I am.

When my roommate saw it tonight, he just said, “Why?”. I said, “Why not?”.

Overall, I’m happy with how the day went. I got a major ego boost. I feel much more confident. Lots less anxiety.

The shaving I did last night was with my electric razor. I bought some manual razors and some shaving gel on the way home tonight, and had trouble getting the shave any closer. I’m so used to an electric… Maybe I’ll see if I can find an electric razor made for head shaving. I’d like to get it smooth if I can, so I can run my hand over it. Right now it’s all really short stubble, and you can really only run your hand one way.

I decided to shave my head today!  I think it looks pretty good.  I still need to smooth it out a little more, but here’s some early shots:

As usual, click the small to make big.

Looking to get a nice Digital Camera soon… looking at the Canon Digital Rebel XT. Lots of good reviews, and really nice stats. Definitely nicer than my camera phone!

Something I love about my job… the grounds have a ton of geese wandering around all the time. When I got out of my car this morning there was one about 5 feet from me. Pics below, click the small to make big.