Mindless Ramblings

I recently had an issue with my PayPal account. Basically someone had transferred money from my account to their account in the form of saying I had purchased some item. PayPal stopped this transaction and locked my account down which was really great service. When I logged in again I changed my password and security questions noticed that my account was in a limited access status so I called up PayPal to ask them what the next steps would be and to check if they were refunding my money. I wasn’t all that worried about it as it was taken from an account that I was actually going to close since I haven’t been using it for over a year now. The person at PayPal said they would take care of it and it would be refunded shortly. While looking at the PayPal site I found they have an added protection measure that can be free or very cheap. With the free version you give them your mobile number and whenever you want to log into the PayPal site you get a text message with a (six) 6 digit code. I went for the cheap measure which involves paying 5 dollars for a security token that they mail to your house. Every time you want to log into PayPal you enter the (six) 6 digit code that is showing on the token. There are no fees after you buy the token code and once you register the token it appears to work flawlessly.

The Explorer badge is given when you have checked in at 25 different locations. You don’t need to have anything special to get this badge just check in at 25 different locations. I received this badge a few days after the Adventurer badge both were easily achieved in the normal day to day life.

The Adventurer badge is given when you have checked in at 10 different locations. You don’t need to have anything special to get this badge just check in at 10 different locations.

I received the Newbie badge for my very first check-in with foursquare. Nothing special about getting this badge. I believe they are unlocked as soon as you make your first check-in regardless of location.

Today I was looking online to see what badges I had on unlocked on foursquare and adding a friend request or two I had received recently. While adding them I found some had badges I didn’t have and figured I would do some research on how to get those badges. I came across a site called WhenWillIBeMayor.com. This site basically pulls up your foursquare history and tells you how many more visits you need to become mayor of a specific place. I find it to be an interesting site and really kind of neat that you can have it track venues and update you on the progress you are making. I also see this as a place that can be used as a tool for helping people become “fake” mayors. Since you can check in from miles away with foursquare the mayor title and everything that comes with it really is just a gimmick. I would love to see foursquare implement a distance limit for checking in. This would really help out with people being able to check into places that are half a planet away. Needless to say it is an interesting site and while it does have some bugs and issues it appears to be a nice addition if you are in the hunt to become mayor of a specific place.

The HTC EVO was released June 4th, 2010 and While I didn’t order a phone online I did manage to pick up one from Best Buy. On day one I did my best at killing the battery and will say that the phone if you have all of the bells and whistles turned on will not last an entire day. You will be looking for an outlet somewhere to charge it up or getting a car charger. That said as a phone with moderate use of the features you can get just about the same use as you can from any other android phone on the market. I love the phone and expect that once you use one you will also. Read the rest of this entry →

In a deal for 1.2 billion HP will be acquiring Palm. I think HP overpaid for this deal but they are going to be getting something good out of this. Palm has their WebOS which runs great on small processors and will likely help the HP Slate come out quicker and with a user tested OS. I don’t know if one can say HP hasn’t been in the smart phone market before as they did have the iPaq, I actually had some versions of this phone. And while they surely aren’t up to part with current smart phones in their day they were good phones. But with the current sales of the palm phones I don’t really know that HP is looking at that as a good step into the mobile phone market.

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Syncing the iPAD after opening

I purchased an Apple iPad the day they were available from Best Buy. The experience wasn’t hectic or even entertaining. I went to the local Best Buy during a lunch break at work and was able to purchase a 16GB model with no hassle. While I was at the store there were a few kids (two) playing on some of the display models and three employees standing around looking for someone to help. That was April 3rd, 2010 and now it is April 25th, 2010. After having it for 22 days (just over 3 weeks) how am I feeling about it, how has it changed my everyday life, and most importantly do I still feel it was a good purchase? All of those questions and more will be answered in this the first of many, hopefully, mindless ramblings. Read the rest of this entry →