Jonny the Recovering Technophiliac

This year for the holidays, I plan on flying with the family abroad for vacation for the first time in three years.  I really wanted to try another state or country as a destination, but my mom insisted on Colombia.  Usually the idea of a trip would be fun to anyone, a chance to escape the city life for a little bit of respite.  But there is something about my family and packing that usually results in chaos.  Either way, I love my family all the same.  So as a break from all the working and packing, I decided to go with my brother Kevin to a limited showing of Up In the Air. Continue reading →

I know I haven’t updated…but I’ll get there…too much to recap with too little time. But again, I’ll get there.

Welcome to the Babbler. This is where i condense and summarize what has happened in a period of time since my last post with brief and random thoughts usually because i haven’t had the time to blog in between. Some babbling may make sense, some may not…but that’s the premise, all the babble thats fit to blog! So off we go:

1. after listening to an episode of CNET’s Buzz Out Loud podcast, i happened to have caught on to a little tidbit that host Brian Cooley happened to say:

…only old people and luddites use AOL

granted, this isnt verbatim, but it made so much sense. sometimes the technology you use can say a lot about you. i love old-tech nostalgia and how it has evolved, but i don’t make it a facet of my life when there are so many other choices out there i can choose from. So here’s my pick on the tech that makes the maker:

- to paraphrase Mr. Cooley, AOL is for luddites who think the “interwebs” revolve around it’s bloatware software…and given the very few people i knew who still use it, they probably think it’s still “hip”.

- 9 times out of 10, t-mobile sidekicks are for trendy luddites who don’t know what a smartphone is. (i say 9 out of 10 because there’s a small majority of people who actually put good use to the device).

- if you use your ISP’s email providor (i.e. roadrunner), you’re probably using it as a trap for all those websites that require email registration just to access content when you know you’re never going to check that email address again. So you’ll not give a flying ducky how much spam gets in there. Your real address is probably elsewhere.

- if you use MSN Messenger or Windows Live or whatever it’s called, you’re probably from another country. Every family and friend i know abroad uses it.

- if you are an ATT customer with an iPhone, then chances are you’re only on ATT because of the iPhone and nothing else because i haven’t heard anyone who has ever told me “wow, ATT’s service is awesome!”.

- if you use myspace, you’re either an aspiring comedian, musician, or a luddite that fills your profile with green butterflies and cheesy animated gifs.

Oh hai there! Aside from “The Babbler”, another new addition i want to add to this blog, where i like to give a review to a gadget, a piece of software, or anything else that’s tech (and/or non-tech should it ever arise). For it’s maiden voyage, i’m going to give a brief review of an iphone app that has given an extra boost to the traditional NYC subway map.

Hey kids! Remember tokens? The paper bus pass thing? Those huge subway maps that where easy to unfold but a pain in the ass to re-fold? Yeah…nostalgia, i know. But tokens and passes are now replaced by the metrocard while the traditional fold-able subway map still exists. But in our society of smartphones, anything “paper” seems too pose as an inconvenience to most people…we want our information quick and electronic. So when the iphone SDK was first released, it was inevitable that subway map apps would be coded. But this app, Exit Strategy NYC, rubbed me the right way. And yes, i know, i’m a native new yorker and by default i’m supposed to memorize all 468 stations, right? Doesn’t always work that way…especially since we usually never remember which exists where closer to where we had to go.

Exit Strategy NYC (itunes store link)
This app seems to have bridged the gap. I mean one thing is knowing which train to take and where to get off…another is deciding which exit is closer to your final destination. So ES-NYC actually pinpoints which exit you can take from the train you’re in, as well as the location of the conductor for the late-nighter or even passengers with disabilities. Now the whole system isn’t included yet, but for a first release, it’s pretty solid. I wish they had an alert system for closed stations, broken elevators/escalators. But this app gets updated freely when additional station info comes in.

For $1.99, it’s 30 cents cheaper than a standard fare. It’s a good app for tourists an native NY’ers alike