16 Jan

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MY OPINION: Apple or Android?

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A lot of people ask me this question, so I figured I’d write a blog entry about it because I can never answer it in 140 characters or less:

“You used to be so into Android! What made you make the switch from Android to iPhone?”

As you all remember, or if not, I was an avid Android fan (as many of my entries used to scream in the titles). I still am. I love the Android OS and it’s only getting better and better. They’re getting better every other week – well, that’s how it feels at least. (Actually, that is something I don’t enjoy about Android. You can buy the best phone on the market and as soon as you receive it approximately 5 other phones have come out that are WAY better than the one you ordered and you’re limited (in small but annoying ways) again.)

I had an exceptional experience with Android as a mobile OS. A completely different story when it comes to hardware – I did not have good experiences. My main beef with the phones I had were how often (and I mean many times throughout the day) I’d want to throw the damn thing across the room because it wasn’t working properly. My phones were so glitchy it drove me nuts and the battery drained so fast (before I’d finish my work day) despite my efforts to make sure not a whole lot was going on in the background (or trying not to use it at all). All of this frustration is what made me make the switch to BlackBerry. It had nothing to do with the OS. Android is a very pretty operating system, but it just wasn’t doing my patience any good. The reason I made the switch to BlackBerry first before iPhone was the price and the fact that I had an excellent experience with a loaner BlackBerry while I was out-of-town for business earlier in 2011.

My BlackBerry experience was AWESOME… for about 3 weeks. Then RIM fell apart and my BlackBerry experience did, too. As did everyone else’s. Watching my Twitter feed around this time showed me that everyone I knew who were BlackBerry advocates (and I mean these people would tell me I was missing out using Android instead of BlackBerry any chance they could – including my boyfriend) were switching to the iPhone 4. My boyfriend had made the choice between Android and iPhone while we were in Vancouver over the 2011 summer. I started playing with his, then brand new, iPod Touch. I was slowly becoming addicted to the beauty of the iPod OS and seeing the advantages of the iPhone, FaceTime, iMessage and all the other options that were available to me. Then we lost Steve Jobs and the 4S was announced. This was when I eagerly jumped on board (my BlackBerry service was going out every other two seconds – I had no choice but it wasn’t a hard decision to make seeing as I was excited about it). A lot of people made the switch that day and I was super surprised that I was able to get my hands on my white iPhone 4S. I switched to iPhone just to try it out and, wow, I do not regret my decision (at least not yet and I don’t foresee it being regrettable in the near future).

First, here is the list of my Android complaints:

  1. Having to pick your hardware and be happy with it for a few years is almost near impossible. The phones are so glitchy (in my experience) that I just can’t handle it. If I had made the switch to a Nexus, I probably wouldn’t have complained so much – but even those go out of “style” within a year or so.
  2. Having to be careful about what I was downloading – I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to factory restart my Androids because of shitty applications being made by shitty developers. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU DOWNLOAD, FOLKS. Read the reviews first. I learned the hard way.
  3. The fact that they made me so angry I wanted to throw them across the room.
  4. They weren’t fast enough for me and my battery life was awful.
  5. When it’s too cold, too windy or too snowy Rogers loses 3G connectivity OFTEN. Nothing to do with Android.

My “Pro” for Android is the simple fact that it’s all very well-integrated with Google. Google is awesome. Another would be the fact that it’s all open-source for developers, but as I mentioned above – there are some really huge cons to that.

Second, I’ll give you the list of my Apple complaints:

  1. When it’s too cold, too windy or too snowy Rogers loses 3G connectivity OFTEN. Again, this has nothing to do with the phone. So, not Apple’s fault.
  2. Once my phone just powered itself off and wouldn’t turn on. I have not figured out the reason for this but it hasn’t happened since and there’s an easy fix. What was explained to me by a Rogers employee was that sometimes the 4S’s, he had noticed, just overloaded themselves and would shut down in order to force a proper restart. Hold down your Menu Button and your Power Button at the same time until your screen starts again. Your phone is happy again because it’s sorted itself out. I’m sure there will be other tiny things like this that might happen but ONCE in the few months that I have had my iPhone out of what would have been hundreds of times with the BlackBerry or Android? I’ll take that over the other insanity.

Other than that, I literally have zero complaints about the Apple products I/we own. Since my boyfriend and I went iPhone, our apartment has almost become strictly Apple run. We have Apple devices everywhere, it’s enough to make any person sick.

What I Love About My iMac Computer:

I have wanted an Apple computer (laptop or desktop) for years now. I just love them. Other than when we first upgraded our system, we have not run into any problems with our computer. I despise Microsoft and alway have, I can’t stand Windows or any version of it. I have to use it every day and it chugs away slowly and drives me insane. Have I ever had this problem with my iMac? No. Never. When it comes to photography and music editing our options are endless because Apple strives to make things EASY. I like easy. The latest OS (OS X Lion) blows my mind. I’m still learning all the neat tricks.

What I Love About our iPod Touch:

I have to admit, other than when I first started using it, I don’t use this very often anymore. The only reason for that is I am no longer in the habit of having headphones glued to my ears constantly. I don’t use the Touch often. However, because my boyfriend has a lot more storage room on his phone – he no longer uses the Touch. My iPhone does not have a huge amount of storage so I use the Touch for my music. I love that all I have to do is hook it up to the computer and sync – 5 minutes later I’m ready to listen to my updated music library whenever and wherever I want. The battery life on these beauties is tremendous.

What I Love About My iPhone 4S:

Where do I start?! This thing has fully integrated itself into my life full-time! iMessage is wonderful, iCloud blows my mind (still) and the battery life is better than anticipated (the 4S’ battery isn’t well-known for holding its charge for very long). I use my phone for everything. The saying “there’s an app for that” is over used for a reason. There’s an app for everything. A few cases in point: (1) Using the slow-cooker yesterday – putting the recipe together, my brain can’t convert measurements so I downloaded a free app FOR THAT; (2) it’s my alarm clock; (3) I can respond to e-mail, text messages, Facebook messages, tweets, the list goes on and on… my little online life is easily managed (just like most smart phones). It’s sleek, it’s sexy and it’s got a little person inside of it called Siri and she tells me about the weather or anything else I ask her – she even tells me off if I’m rude. Loving the front cameras on all of these devices as well. Another case in point would be when we were at a family gathering for my Uncle before he passed away, my father was out of the country but he was passed around on Skype and was able to say hi and chat with everyone like he was there. My Dad and I have been using Skype a lot recently – if he had an Apple device, we’d be using FaceTime. I have used FaceTime only a handful of times, but from what I’ve experienced, the quality is better than Skype. Similar, but better. I love my stupid phone so much it’s pathetic.

What I Love About My iPad 2:

OH. MAN. Being able to start a document on my iPad and then edit it again and again via my iPhone on the go is pretty damn cool. I love that the iPad 2 has all the same features as my iPhone and they work seamlessly together with the computer. iCloud truly is amazing. I don’t game much on my phone, but I do play games on my iPad. Playing UNO, Scrabble, The Game of Life, Trivial Pursuit and all of those other EA games I purchased for $0.99 during the holiday sale are just a pure blast. EPOCH and Asteroids are also big favourites of mine. I have a wireless keyboard for it so I do a tonne of my writing on there. I really don’t have a need to buy journal notebooks anymore (although I still do, I like to handwrite and I like to keep my hands familiar with the motion of using a pen).

What I Love About Apple TV:

This is new to us and we’re still all ga-ga eyed over the features of the second generation of Apple TV. Last night was the first time we were able to use it and we watched an NHL game via our friend’s iPad projected onto the television – visual and audio. So very cool. Quality is decent, not horrible at all. AirPlay is the other feature I can’t get over on it. How cool is that?

Yeah, we totally drank the Apple Kool-aid and it didn’t kill us, so we’re diggin’ it. Really diggin’ it! You have to be technology fantatics to get into this kind of stuff the way we do. I don’t remember the last time I wasn’t depending on a device to organize my life. Now I only have to update one device and the change is made already on the rest. No more double or triple notifications. I don’t have to delete the same email twice in different locations. It’s wonderful.

Sure, eventually, the iPhone 5 will come out and the other devices we have will slowly become outdated BUT we can at least hang on to them for those “few years” and be satisfied with our choice as the devices themselves are built to handle the updates until they’re obsolete (which takes a long while).

I also get these questions a lot:

“I’m thinking of making the switch to a smart phone, which one should I get?” or
“I’m so done with this *insert device here*, Apple or Android?”

My answer: Do your research. Find out what you want to use your phone for, figure out how often you’ll be using it and why. My suggestion is Apple OR Android. You have to figure out which one you love more yourself. My bet is you know someone, or multiple people, who own either device (or many). Talk to them about their experiences with it, let them show you what they use it for. Make an informed decision, that’s all I ask. I’m not a pro. I can’t tell you one’s better than the other and why. I can tell you what I like and, after trying them all, I choose Apple.

There, now I have a link to point people to the next time someone asks me these questions. Ha!

Filed Under: Geek

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31 Dec

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An Open Letter to 2011

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This year has been incredibly cruel and incredibly rewarding at times throughout. I suppose that’s how life works, though. Anyway, we experienced many losses of loved ones and a few gains in our personal lives to keep us somewhat balanced.

Personally, this year has shed light on many issues I have not dealt with properly in the past and now have the safety and time to do so. 2012 will be about tackling and overcoming those things (including smoking). A small part of me is terrified, but the better parts of me are eager to let go and learn how to enjoy my life to the fullest.

My boyfriend and I moved into our first apartment together on January 1st, 2011. I have never lived with a person I loved so intensely and I was never weary of our decision. We have had a wonderful year together on that front and look forward to many more. We have learned so much about each other and our relationship has only grown stronger because of it. He’s become my constant, my true best friend and we are so lucky to have the opportunity to share our lives together and have met each other so early in life. It’s really cool when you can finally be everything that you are around someone; when you can allow someone into your life and open up completely. Someone told me once that it was always good to keep a secret or two to yourself. “We all have our demons that we don’t want to share.” I can’t say I agree with this at all. I knew that if I could admit my fears, my mistakes and everything else that I think comprises my life’s story as a whole to myself or to someone in particular (without fear of that person judging me), I would be at a place in my life where I could learn how to finally love myself. My boyfriend helped me get there and, in turn, I have found that I have a lot of love to give and a lot to let go. I don’t have any secrets anymore and I feel liberated. I have not done or experienced things in my life that are so horrible that I couldn’t admit them to anyone else. However, I spent years of mastering the art of beating myself up for choices I had made and I allowed myself to conjure up demons that never really existed. I am human and I make mistakes. Learning that I never did anything that I had to forgive myself for was my biggest feat to take on before I could tackle anything else. I managed to do that this year with the help and support of my boyfriend and my family. Fergie, thank you for being The Best.

My family and I have been slowly reconnecting this year, too. There’s members of my family that I haven’t had much to do with since my mother passed away for reasons I don’t think necessary to bring up on a blog. Every family has their troubles. The main things I am grateful for this year are (1) regaining a closeness with two of my brothers and their families that I longed for and finally decided to fight for, (2) building an even closer friendship with my third brother, and (3) learning how to communicate so well with my father and having so much quality time with him. I look forward to lots more. My Dad rocks.

I have made many friends this year and I have also reconnected with some people in my life I had missed so badly. There are a few people who have floated in and out of my life that I know, despite our falling outs and possible future disagreements, will always be there and vice versa. Three of those people are back in my life and our friendships are stronger now than they ever were before. I’m not the kind of person to have “one group” of friends – I suppose I could call myself a bit of a drifter in the past, I had many groups of friends and I made at least one close friend in every phase of life I created. Some of my closest friends know each other and some don’t, however, they are all linked somehow (either through me or something else) and they are all awesome.

I was fortunate enough, this year, to find a job that I really love and an employer that treats me with the respect and attention that any employee deserves. I’ve always been incredibly honest with the people I work with rather than trying to keep my the chaos in my life quiet  (I used to go by the “personal issues are personal issues and don’t need to be divulged to those you work with”). The things that have occurred this past year are not things I could simply push under the rug in my mind. It’s been wonderful knowing that I have had the support of my supervisors and peers when tackling the many things we have had to overcome. I have never worked so hard in my life, I have never enjoyed a job this much in my life and I have never, ever, had the support of those that I work with until now. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe I just did something right this time or it was an inevitability after all of the experiences I have had in my life with prior positions.

To all of you,

Thank you for all of your love and support this year. I think, compared to the past, I have been a lot more receptive.

To those of you who have known me since before 2011,

Thank you for helping me come to terms with certain aspects of my life and encouraging me to overcome them; thank you for being there for me even when I wasn’t at my best and most of all, thank you for pushing me when I didn’t want to be pushed. I wouldn’t be where I am now without having experienced everything that I have and received the advice and support you all shared with me.

Happy New Year to all and may 2012 bring nothing but awesomeness (and not the end of the world).

Stay safe tonight, folks. See you next year!

Filed Under: Journal

30 Dec

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Operation Christmas Move: Completed

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Well, the move is completed. Happy to report that we got our full damage deposit back (save for the $75.00 we expected to lose because things were too hectic to book a carpet cleaning with someone who was far more expensive). With the help of all of our friends who pitched in we were able to complete our hectic move across the walk-way to the next building quite speedily. Haha! It’s great, though. I really love having all of this space. It’s great to have an office/creative room – a permanent spot for the computer on a desk (how I missed this!). Now we’re living amidst our next of boxes and random things lying about the floor as we find places for everything. It’s been nice to finally somewhat relax today, though. This whole holiday season has been so busy. It’s been great, though. I love spending time with our families and friends, especially when UNO or board games are involved (or turkey dinners).

We ran into one issue this morning when we tried to start the brand new dishwasher. Nothing happened. So, without looking more into it, we reported it to the landlords during our meeting today. The maintenance guy was at our apartment within minutes of us walking through the door. He flicked one switch on the breaker panel and magical things happened. The dishwasher started working. (We totally should have checked that out before we reported it. Duh!)

I’ll miss the old apartment for one reason: it was our first apartment together and we created so many fantastic memories in the year that we were there. But, as for space, good riddance! The cat settled in quite quickly. He’s also on a mission to steal Fergie’s chair (not new, but it was brought in for prime comfortable sitting – hence why the cat loves it).

It’s been a nice fifteen minute break. I should get back to it. Happy Holidays everyone, I hope Santa spoiled you all.

Filed Under: Journal

19 Dec

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Expensive Half-Hobbies & Christmas Cookies

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I am on the hunt for an easel. I found the perfect fit for our apartment online but I am still waiting for a response from the owner (an ad I found on Kijiji, of course). It’s portable (so I can tuck it out-of-the-way when I’m not using it), it’s stylish, it’s wooden and will probably match the colours in the new apartment. I quite like it. I hope they accept my offer of $80 instead of $100. I’d pay the full price they’re asking for, but I’m going to see if I can save $20 first.

Why am I on a hunt for an easel? I just recently started dabbing brushes into acrylic paints after having the opportunity to play with some art supplies a friend of ours loaned to me. I’m feeling like I could really get in to it. I’ll never paint anything with fabulous detail like my Uncle Fred used to, but I like making shapes and big black lines. I find it therapeutic and relaxing. We all know how much of a “relaxation” kick I’m on right now. So, partly because I know it relaxes me and partly because I’m curious as to what I might create. After I purchase an easel, I’ll be saving my pennies for canvas, paint and brushes. I’ll need a lot of black paint. I tend to like that colour a lot. ALSO, I have an awesome looking mini-Munny to decorate thanks to Ms. Sonya Bean! She always finds the coolest things for me – she knows how to read my mind. This woman is insanely good with gift purchasing. I wish I had her talent for it! I love you, Sonya. Thanks so much for the Christmas goodness and unknowingly inspiring me to get into a lot of the things I’ve picked up this year. I truly look up to you and fully respect you as a woman and close friend. I am so lucky and proud to have you in my life.

(You’ll notice how my friends and I can’t wait when it comes to gift giving – some might say we’re horrible at it. I think we’re awesome at it. Excitement prevails! Everyone loves opening presents. Always.)

I’ve got myself into some expensive hobbies. I just purchased a tripod for our camera (using the Christmas money my father gave to me – thanks, Dad!) and it is pretty rockin’. Nothing too heavy-duty, but it’s a good beginners tool. Do I know how to use it? Not really. Figuring that out, still. It goes up and down and tilts from side to side, swivels, etc. OOH, and I can get “LOW ANGLE” shots by setting up my camera underneath it. Figured out how to do that yesterday by reading something called INSTRUCTIONS. Who knew?! Anyway, with the tripod, IT IS SO MUCH EASIER TO TAKE PHOTOS OF FOOD. Having your camera perfectly still does complete wonders for the quality of a photo. The things I slowly learn!

I have this “grab and go” kind of approach when it comes to all of these things. Do I do any research or take any classes? No. I also don’t plan to. I find that creativity comes from within and if I desperately want to figure out how to do something – practice makes perfect. Same goes for my writing. I have problems “reading up” on things until I find something I don’t understand and simply can’t figure out on my own. I have an issue with “picking up a book” on photography, writing or painting. I might Google something, but that’s about it. I like quick answers. I don’t like long drawn out boringness. Other people might think this is silly of me, and it probably is, but my impatience gets the better of me sometimes.

Well, this week is, so far, highly unproductive save for the daily things that need to get done and everything that’s happening at home. My friend Brynne and I have been doing our Christmas baking, so those of you who I deem important enough friends and family wise will be receiving a little cookie care package within the next couple of weeks (new photos in my Flickr Photostream to the right, cookie goodness can be found there). I’m enjoying the down time at work but I’m also prepared to have my brain metaphorically stomped and kicked into high gear come the new year. Prepared for things to get busy again!

A friend asked Ferg and I yesterday while driving what we think will happen in 2012. She initially meant to ask if we thought the world was going to end and we had a brief discussion about that, but my  mind wandered for a moment when she asked that question – enough to have burned the thought into the front of my mind: 2012 must be better than 2011. 2011 was really great but also incredibly cruel to us. I’d like 2012 to be pain-free when it comes to our families and loved ones (I know I can’t prevent this, but I can wish for it). I’d like to spend time working on expanding my mind creatively and strengthening my relationships with myself and those around me. I want 2012 to be healthy and even more mentally eye-opening than 2011. I might have to create an entry solely dedicated to my saying goodbye to 2011. I’ll save the rest for that.

Until then! Happy Holidays, folks!

Filed Under: Journal