I've been on a huge winning streak lately, and have had some big tournament cashes online. I decided it was time to withdrawl a little money from my FullTilt Poker account-- the first I've done this since they changed all the laws around on me. I've got to say-- FullTilt has amazing customer support-- the've been helpful, friendly, and incredibly responsive. I'm really impressed at the hoops they jump through to verify identity, and yet they hold your hand through the process. Good stuff.
Now I just need to decide what to buy with the proceeds... expect to see a new "unboxed" feature soon. :)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Online Poker (AKA "Breakin' the law, breakin' the law...")
About a month ago, my wife discovered that we had a few dollars sitting in an online poker site. We thought we had cleaned out all the poker sites when the laws changed, but apparantly we forgot about this one.
It got down as low as $3.50... at which point my wife decided to play a $1.25 sit and go. She won, and I started playing $2 and $5 SNGs over the course of the next week. After a while, I had about $300 in the account, and I went ahead and moved $200 into my own account, and left her with $100 to play with. I started playing $5 and $10 SNGs, to fund buying into larger (usually $24+2) tournaments with larger fields.
I've done pretty well so far, but last night was my biggest online win so far-- I won just over $1400 for coming in 5th out of 1,115 players. This brings my poker balance to about $1900, plus the 100 that I left in Rachel's account. So I've turned $3 into $2000 in about a month.
Yeah... I think I might start playing more poker.
It got down as low as $3.50... at which point my wife decided to play a $1.25 sit and go. She won, and I started playing $2 and $5 SNGs over the course of the next week. After a while, I had about $300 in the account, and I went ahead and moved $200 into my own account, and left her with $100 to play with. I started playing $5 and $10 SNGs, to fund buying into larger (usually $24+2) tournaments with larger fields.
I've done pretty well so far, but last night was my biggest online win so far-- I won just over $1400 for coming in 5th out of 1,115 players. This brings my poker balance to about $1900, plus the 100 that I left in Rachel's account. So I've turned $3 into $2000 in about a month.
Yeah... I think I might start playing more poker.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Video: Anniversary Vacation
Rach and I snuck away for a few days to celebrate our 5th anniversary. (Well, one of them... our official anniversary is June 30th, but we snuck off and eloped in December before the big wedding.)
We were a few miles outside Leavenworth, WA playing in the snow and hiding out in a secluded little cabin. I've embedded the YouTube version below, but you can also download high quality versions from the gallery.
We were a few miles outside Leavenworth, WA playing in the snow and hiding out in a secluded little cabin. I've embedded the YouTube version below, but you can also download high quality versions from the gallery.
Unboxed: Zune 80!
I've been wanting a Zune 80 since they came out... but they've been in short supply. Fortunately, I managed to get my grubby little hands on one right before starting my vacation!
I'm really excited about this device-- it's well designed, the UI is great, and the screen is excellent. There's really no competition for this device-- no other mainstream device combines this size screen with 80 gig of storage. The software is awesome-- you can see what I've been listening to by exploring my zune tag over at the top-right of this page.
In the mean time, there's a bunch of photos in the Zune 80 Unboxing photo gallery.
I'm really excited about this device-- it's well designed, the UI is great, and the screen is excellent. There's really no competition for this device-- no other mainstream device combines this size screen with 80 gig of storage. The software is awesome-- you can see what I've been listening to by exploring my zune tag over at the top-right of this page.
In the mean time, there's a bunch of photos in the Zune 80 Unboxing photo gallery.
MacBook... Unboxed!
Wow... I'm embarassed it's taken me this long to post. During a business trip to New York in November, I picked up a Core 2 Duo MacBook with 2 gig RAM. Beautiful machine-- I love it. I included some pix from the excellent NY Apple Store in the MacBook unboxing photo library.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
To buy or not to buy? The answer lies in utility value.
I've thought a bit about whether or not I am going to buy a Kindle. I think I've made a decision:
The functionality and scenarios provided by the Kindle are really amazing, even if they flubbed the industrial design. However, from a pure utility standpoint, it's worth about $200 to me. Add a reasonable "early adopter tax" of $100, and you arrive at my magic price point: $300.
Until either Amazon drops the price to $300, or they add features that increase the utility value to me to something closer to the current price point, I'm probably not going to buy one. (I say "probably" because I can't rule out an impulse buy in a moment of weakness, as you'll see later in the post.)
To expand on the concept of what I mean by "utility value," I'll use the iPhone as a comparison.
The utility of a portable media player (like a Zune or an iPod) has value to a person. For someone like me who is into digital media, this is worth between $200 and $300, depending on features... so let's say it has a utility value of $250. I would have a tough time personally rationalizing much more for a purchase of such a device.
The utility of a standard mobile phone (phone calls, SMS, etc.) has real value as well... but for me, because I *hate* using phones, this is unusually low-- probably around $50. However, when you add smart phone features like calendars and contacts with sync, email, mobile web browsing, etc. the value I get from such a device increases dramatically. I'm very comfortable paying $250 for a good smart phone because the utility value I get (being able to check email from anywhere, for example) is significant.
When you combine the two devices (a portable media player and a smart phone) you would think that the total utility value for me would be $450-550. However, combining the two creates a total that is greater than the sum of its parts-- you've eliminated a device from my inventory, which is huge. This consolidation alone has some utility value-- I'm quite happy to pay an extra $50 or so to cary one less device around with me if I can do it without compromising the functionality of either. (Of course, the iPhone isn't quite no-compromises-- but for the sake of discussion, let's pretend like it is.)
The elegant industrial design and pure gadgety goodness of the iPhone has some intrinsic value, too... probably another $50.
So where does this put us in our calculation of the utility value of the iPhone?
$250 Portable Media Player
$250 SmartPhone
$ 50 One less gadget to carry
$ 50 Design/Gadgety-goodness
-----
$600
So, in theory, the iPhone has a utility value of $600 to me... so why didn't I buy one when they came out at $599? Why did I only decide to buy one when they price-dropped to $399? It's simple: in theory, theory is just like practice... but in practice it's not. :) (Reminder: this is not a product review-- I'm only talking about my personal usage-- features that are important to ME in MY use. Your mileage will vary, as my needs are somewhat specific.)
The problem is that the iPhone is NOT a no-compromises SmartPhone-- it's missing loads of key functionality. A few notable examples include Exchange support, task management, EVDO, etc. This reduces it's utility value quite a bit-- instead of being $250 worth of SmartPhone, I'll say it's worth closer to $150. (That's being generous... however, it IS a *really* good phone-- I love the voice mail functionality and simple management of calling features like call waiting and conference calling... that helps buttress the value a bit.)
It's also NOT a no-compromise portable media player. It's only 8 gig, so I can't fit much of my library on the device. Also, it lacks hardware buttons, which can be a pain (you have to pull it out of your pocket and look at it to do almost anything.) Finally, it won't play most of my library because most of my music is WMA, and all of my video is in WMV. I love subscription music services (like Zune and Napster) and can't consume that content on an iPhone. I love movie online movie rental services like CinemaNow and MovieLink, but I can't watch them on the iPhone. This *significantly* reduces the utility value of the device for me. (Again, these are MY needs, not yours.) So instead of having $250 worth of portable media player, it's more like $100.
Finally, because it doesn't do Exchange (mentioned above) I lose the "one less device to carry" benefit-- I still have to carry my Motorola Q Windows Mobile SmartPhone around to check work email. There goes another $50 in utility value!
So where does this leave me?
$100 Portable Media Player
$150 SmartPhone
$ 50 Design/Gadgety-goodness
-----
$200
So the iPhone has about $200 in utility value to me. Tack on another $100 for "early adopter tax" and I am perfectly comfortable paying $300 for a device like an iPhone. In the end, I bought one at $400 anyway in a moment of weakness... but that's because I'm lame and irrational. :)
Will I do the same with the Kindle? Only time will tell. However, this really is how I make gadget purchase decisions. Frankly, I think to some degree it's how EVERYONE makes purchase decisions, though in a less than conscious way.
The functionality and scenarios provided by the Kindle are really amazing, even if they flubbed the industrial design. However, from a pure utility standpoint, it's worth about $200 to me. Add a reasonable "early adopter tax" of $100, and you arrive at my magic price point: $300.
Until either Amazon drops the price to $300, or they add features that increase the utility value to me to something closer to the current price point, I'm probably not going to buy one. (I say "probably" because I can't rule out an impulse buy in a moment of weakness, as you'll see later in the post.)
To expand on the concept of what I mean by "utility value," I'll use the iPhone as a comparison.
The utility of a portable media player (like a Zune or an iPod) has value to a person. For someone like me who is into digital media, this is worth between $200 and $300, depending on features... so let's say it has a utility value of $250. I would have a tough time personally rationalizing much more for a purchase of such a device.
The utility of a standard mobile phone (phone calls, SMS, etc.) has real value as well... but for me, because I *hate* using phones, this is unusually low-- probably around $50. However, when you add smart phone features like calendars and contacts with sync, email, mobile web browsing, etc. the value I get from such a device increases dramatically. I'm very comfortable paying $250 for a good smart phone because the utility value I get (being able to check email from anywhere, for example) is significant.
When you combine the two devices (a portable media player and a smart phone) you would think that the total utility value for me would be $450-550. However, combining the two creates a total that is greater than the sum of its parts-- you've eliminated a device from my inventory, which is huge. This consolidation alone has some utility value-- I'm quite happy to pay an extra $50 or so to cary one less device around with me if I can do it without compromising the functionality of either. (Of course, the iPhone isn't quite no-compromises-- but for the sake of discussion, let's pretend like it is.)
The elegant industrial design and pure gadgety goodness of the iPhone has some intrinsic value, too... probably another $50.
So where does this put us in our calculation of the utility value of the iPhone?
$250 Portable Media Player
$250 SmartPhone
$ 50 One less gadget to carry
$ 50 Design/Gadgety-goodness
-----
$600
So, in theory, the iPhone has a utility value of $600 to me... so why didn't I buy one when they came out at $599? Why did I only decide to buy one when they price-dropped to $399? It's simple: in theory, theory is just like practice... but in practice it's not. :) (Reminder: this is not a product review-- I'm only talking about my personal usage-- features that are important to ME in MY use. Your mileage will vary, as my needs are somewhat specific.)
The problem is that the iPhone is NOT a no-compromises SmartPhone-- it's missing loads of key functionality. A few notable examples include Exchange support, task management, EVDO, etc. This reduces it's utility value quite a bit-- instead of being $250 worth of SmartPhone, I'll say it's worth closer to $150. (That's being generous... however, it IS a *really* good phone-- I love the voice mail functionality and simple management of calling features like call waiting and conference calling... that helps buttress the value a bit.)
It's also NOT a no-compromise portable media player. It's only 8 gig, so I can't fit much of my library on the device. Also, it lacks hardware buttons, which can be a pain (you have to pull it out of your pocket and look at it to do almost anything.) Finally, it won't play most of my library because most of my music is WMA, and all of my video is in WMV. I love subscription music services (like Zune and Napster) and can't consume that content on an iPhone. I love movie online movie rental services like CinemaNow and MovieLink, but I can't watch them on the iPhone. This *significantly* reduces the utility value of the device for me. (Again, these are MY needs, not yours.) So instead of having $250 worth of portable media player, it's more like $100.
Finally, because it doesn't do Exchange (mentioned above) I lose the "one less device to carry" benefit-- I still have to carry my Motorola Q Windows Mobile SmartPhone around to check work email. There goes another $50 in utility value!
So where does this leave me?
$100 Portable Media Player
$150 SmartPhone
$ 50 Design/Gadgety-goodness
-----
$200
So the iPhone has about $200 in utility value to me. Tack on another $100 for "early adopter tax" and I am perfectly comfortable paying $300 for a device like an iPhone. In the end, I bought one at $400 anyway in a moment of weakness... but that's because I'm lame and irrational. :)
Will I do the same with the Kindle? Only time will tell. However, this really is how I make gadget purchase decisions. Frankly, I think to some degree it's how EVERYONE makes purchase decisions, though in a less than conscious way.
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Facebook... pretty fun stuff
I spent a bit of time this afternoon playing around with Facebook-- they've really managed to build something impressive. I'm impressed by the amount of functionality that's there, though discoverability to could be improved.
If you're a facebook user, stop by my profile page and say hi.
If you're a facebook user, stop by my profile page and say hi.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled
Fellow Microsoftie Omar Shahine posts about Amazon's Kindle from a unique perspective: as someone who's actually USED one. The verdict? It's a winner.
I've been considering ordering one of the Sony Readers for some time now, but have held off because of the rumors about Amazon's entry into the field. Now that it's here I'm still going to wait-- the price needs to come down a bit before I'm willing to bite.
If I think of this device in perspective I think it has a lot of similarities to both the iPod and the Apple AirPort. This device has finally liberated me from stacks of books, and a pc that I need to sync with just to use the device in the same way that my iPod let me carry around my entire music collection (remember mix tapes) and the AirPort let me use my laptop anywhere in my house or at work without finding an Ethernet cable. The Kindle is a portable bookstore that provides a limitless avenue to purchase and enjoy books with an experience that feels book like.
I've been considering ordering one of the Sony Readers for some time now, but have held off because of the rumors about Amazon's entry into the field. Now that it's here I'm still going to wait-- the price needs to come down a bit before I'm willing to bite.
However, the ubiquitous connectivity and support for newspapers is a huge plus.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Twitter Rollup
I'm in the process of setting up a system that will capture "microblogging" data including Twitter and my Newsgator clippings. In the mean time, here's a dump of recent twitter posts:
jrj: Brother-in-law in town visiting. Probably going to catch a movie while he's here.
11/21/2007, 5:30 PM
jrj: Haircut and shave at weldon barber
11/21/2007, 3:28 PM
jrj: Web site consolidation. Massive project!
11/21/2007, 1:34 PM
jrj: on vacation, sitting at a starbucks, baby!
11/21/2007, 1:22 PM
jrj: buried in back-to-back meetings
3/26/2007, 3:28 PM
jrj: heading to leads meeting
3/26/2007, 1:43 PM
jrj: processing email at the office
3/26/2007, 1:11 PM
jrj: getting ready to head into the office
3/23/2007, 9:24 AM
jrj: having dinner with rach
3/22/2007, 7:15 PM
Office decorations
developer's offices after the team decorated it in the style of his
favorite soft drink.
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