Our Economic Crisis

Please take a look at the links below for intriguing and beneficial information.

Courtesy of Mike Adams and www.NaturalNews.com

How the Financial Bailout Really Works (comic)

How to Build Your Financial Safety Net

Ditching my BlackBerry for Windows Mobile? Yep...

Well dear readers, I've decided to resign my commission in the BlackBerry Army. It's been a long journey that spanned Nokias, HTCs, SEs, and Motorolas. But up until now, no matter the carrier, it always ended with a BlackBerry. Well that tradition is coming to end. You may be asking yourself, 'but why now, when the Bold is set to be released in a few months?'. Well I'm just not interested in the Bold, not at all. Yes, RIM has finally created something that is finally worth putting in my pocket, but the fact still remains that it's still gonna be a BlackBerry. Fancy screen, better camera and new OS aside, it's still gonna have that god awful track ball. Worse still is that at the end of the day, all of that newness aside, it's still gonna have the same underlying OS. The same boring, tired OS that hasn't changed since RIM first introduced the damn things.

Sure RIM is gonna beautify it so that it looks pretty on the outside, but on the inside is where it counts and RIM is way behind market leaders Nokia and (believe it or not) Microsoft. S60 and Windows Mobile have thousands of ready to download applications that can instantly change your device to anything you want it to be. Like the idea of a mobile Sling player, S60 and WinMo have you covered. Wanna Geotag your photos, again the competition has you covered. With the exception of CDMA based 'berrys why is it that only now are we seeing 3G enabled BlackBerrys? It's not just that either.

Everywhere you look people have BlackBerrys. Corporate guys, soccer moms, teenagers, your grandmother probably has a BlackBerry. It's not the ubiquity that bothers me (more power to RIM) its that these people have them because other people have them. How many people do you know have 'berrys and dont have data plans attached to them? How many people do you know that have Pearls because they are cute and can text real nice? These people aren't getting them because they are powerhouse email devices that can probably organize their day better than Outlook can. They have them cuz all of their girlfriends have them and oh look the new Pearl now comes in pink!

Why does this piss me off, well it's because just like the Razr before it, getting these things out to the masses means cutting cost and keeping material cost down. Remember how luxurious the Razr was when it first came out then Moto decided everyone needed a Razr, and made a zillion clones of it. They all sucked, even the signature brand fell under the cheap feeling curse. Look at your Curve or your Pearl. Go on look at it. It's a piece of crap. Cheap plastic and rubber. $449 (MSRP, no contract) for that!? I'll pass, for $50 bucks more I'll go buy an AT&T Tilt. Or for $100 less I can get a BlackJack 2 or for $10 dollars more a Nokia E61i.

Now I understand that some people actually do use their 'berrys to it's full potential, data attached and everything. And if you are a monster texter (like me) then a BlackBerry is probably working out real nice for you. But for me, after years (literally) of using one, the time has come to explore other options and go in a different direction. Maybe one day RIM will win me back (I'm sure im not alone in this rant) but in the mean time, there are just too many non BlackBerry devices coming out just begging to be put in my pocket. Touch Pro, SE Experia 1, E71, E66, hell even the iPhone 3G is looking pretty good.

Now, back to my headline. Come back in a few days for my first impressions of HTCs Touch Dual, big brother to the orginal Touch.

Down Time is Slow Time...

So for those of you who do keep up with this site, I'd like to thank you for your continued support during times where I just don't post. I'd also like to give a big thanks to our writers for trying to pick up the slack while I get out of this writers slump.

With that said, we are still looking for writers (believe it or not...). You don't necessarily need to have a passion for gadgets or tech, just a passion about something that you wanna share. Leave a comment or drop us a line, mobilezinemail at gmail dot com.

I also have a couple of things just sitting around on my desk and maybe you all can help me figure out what I should do with them. Up for grabs is a little used (Verizon) Motorola V9m and a (T-mobile) BlackBerry 8820. Should I auction them off, maybe a contest...I dunno, but I'd love to hear your feedback.

Image via Google

Mars-Wrigley marriage leaves the Hershey camp looking to tie their own knot.

When the world's largest chocolate maker joins forces with the world's largest gum maker, you can see how the competition might get a little nervous. Family owned confectionery pros, Mars Incorporated recently agreed to a takeover of the gum gods, William Wrigley Jr. Co., for a combined annual sales figure of $27 Billion! Thats a lot of Snickers bars! This news sparked an immediate interest in Hershey Co. by London based company, Cadbury Schweppes, who attempts to put up strong a fight in whats looking to be an all out candy war! Hershey Co., makers of such delectable delights as Reeses' peanut butter cups and Kit Kats, have said they are open to the possibility of a merger with Cadbury. We will have to wait and see if Hershey bars and Cadbury creme eggs have what it takes to stand up to the apocalyptic candy powerhouse duo of M&Ms and DOUBLEMINT! Dum Dum Dum!

Wii Fit!

I've never had so much fun looking so ridiculous; all while tightening my flabs ... ahem .. I mean abs. This is so much fun! Who would have thought that you could have fun while exercising? I, for one, have been reduced from a gymnast's athletic build to a mom-of-two's plump body. There's stuff in the right places, and stuff in the wrong places. The Wii Fit measures your Body Mass Index, takes your weight, age, and Center of Balance to create a profile. After you receive your results, you can enter a goal of how many BMI points you want to lose or gain. You enter a realistic goal and a realistic time in which to achieve this goal. Wii Fit then proceeds to let you choose between a male or female "trainer". You get a Wii "bank" that collects the amount of minutes you have been training and gives you points towards unlocking other Wii Fit training games. Pretty cool, right?

Included are: Strength training games, Balance games, Yoga positions, and Aerobics games. I just got it yesterday and I've tried a lot of the games and have unlocked a few. I haven't tried any of the Strength exercises yet. The Yoga is really cool. I have never done Yoga before and I found it extremely relaxing, and rewarding as well when I realized I felt a burn in my abs, arms, butt, and thighs, from holding various demonstrated positions. I saluted the sun and lined up my chakras this morning. I also went for a jog in the "park" along with all of the Mii's in my Wii. =) I hula hooped my hips 182 times and caught 4 hula hoops tossed at me while still gyrating my hips. Pretty damn sexy if you ask me. I also hit soccer balls with my head (by shifting weight from one side to the other on the Wii Fit board) while dodging (sometimes) shoes flying off of the kickers' feet and what looked to me like panda bear heads. The best thing about that game is when you get hit by shoes; my kids were cracking up every time I got hit with a shoe. The rest of the games are games I haven't played enough. All in all. I give this game 2 enthusiastic thumbs up. It's entertaining to watch, fun to play, and dammit - it's good for you!

Note: If you don't already have it, good luck getting it. It's sold out everywhere except on ebay, where you will pay a lot of money for it. I will post a video of me and my family members doing it soon.

Welcome Our Newest Member, David!

Things have been humming along here at the .zine and I'm happy to welcome our newest team member David. A native NYCer (unlike some of our other team members, *cough*cough*), David enjoys sleeping, being completely lazy and eating junk food. He also has an unnatural obsession with the History channel and the Food Network. A sharp wit and knack for writing ensures he'll fit right in with our rag tag bunch, if I can get him to write on a constant basis. Let's make him feel right at home shall we...

Sony Ericsson C905, 8.1MP Cam Puts Your Cam Phone To Shame

Sony Ericsson has been having a hard time keeping unannounced handsets out of the limelight as of late and the C905 has been no exception. Officially making it's debut, SE's flagship Cyber-shot model for 2008 boasts some impressive features for a non-smartphone handset. Along with that massive 8.1 mega pixel sensor, you get aGPS, quad band EDGE, tri band HSDPA, WiFi (!), auto screen rotation and TV out. Other features like a xenon flash, 2 gig M2 memory card in box, and a scratch resistant 2.4 inch QVGA screen. SE's really upping the ante here with a feature set that rivals that of today's high end Smartphones (N95 we're looking at you). Get your wallets ready, the rest of '08 is looking to be a phone lovers paradise.

Via SE

Nokia E71 is Finally Official

Well it took them long enough, but Nokia has finally made official what damn near all of us already knew was coming. We've covered this one before, but in case you missed it, GPS, WiFi, HSPA, 3.2 MP cam all in that very nice and thin 10mm shell. To get all that sexy in such a small package, Nokia had to cut a few corners, mainly the display. At 2.36 inches, it falls painfully short of the 2.8 inch screen its prior incarnation possessed (E61i). I guess that's the price you pay for something you'll barely notice in your pocket. Get it sometime in Q3 for a rumored price of ~$500. Nokia also fessed up the E66 which is basically this in a slider form factor.

Via EngadgetMobile

"Southern Style Chicken Sandwich" a hit.....with me anyway.

While I often try to thwart my frequent visits to the many franchises of the fast-food industry with sad attempts at eating healthy, I can never seem to resist their charm. I am constantly pulled in by their tractor beam of tasty new menu items like Burger King's Indy Double Wopper or the Baconator from Wendys. Cmon could you really resist a sandwich with meat, meat and cheese? I think not! Very recently McDonalds added a new menu item of their own with the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich. While at first glance the sandwich seems like a sad and simple concoction, (consisting only of a breaded chicken breast filet and two pickle chips on a butter toasted bun) the first bite will tell a completely different story. As will the second, third, fourth until you've finished and realize, "wow that was a pretty freagin good sandwich". But where in the world did McDonalds come up with such an ingenious recipe? They copied it of course! Southern founded chicken franchise, Chick-Fil-A is the actual brains behind this simply delicious white meat masterpiece, and while many SSCS critics(mostly Chick-Fil-A fans) are denouncing the Micky D's sandwich as a frozen fraud not worthy of the two pickle chips, I say they are just haters who are afraid to admit the big bad fast-food empire actually produced a very tasty product (or should i say "re"produced). To McDonalds I say great job at finally making something I can enjoy eating, even if you obviously five fingered the recipe. Even Chick-Fil-A's corporate PR guy, Mark Baldwin was quoted saying "they did a good job copying our product". Thats gotta count for something....right.

Diet Coke and Mentos Booby Trap, The Video!

As much as I hate Diet Coke, this prank makes me almost, almost want to reconsider. Check out the video and see the prank that is sure to piss off even the most easy going person.

Via
How To Build A Mentos And Diet Coke Booby Trap

Verizon Brings The Thunder, No Really...The BlackBerry Thunder

This news is a bit old, but I thought it'd be nice, seeing as how we got all that iPhone news on the interwebs as of late. Looks like the rumors are holding true and what you see above is indeed the BlackBerry Thunder (9500) headed straight for Verizon and only Verizon. It's a crazy world we live in folks. Spec's again are on the short side, but expect that massive touchscreen, some sort of EVDO radio and an international HSPA radio for Vodafone users across the pond (Vodafone has a 45% stake in VZW). You Sprint users feeling a little jealous?

Via BGR (as usual)

iPhone 3G, Are You Excited?

So Apple either made a zillion fanboys cream their pants today, or underwhelmed a hell of a lot of would-be fanboys. Either way today at WWDC, Apple unveiled the most anticipated product of the year. The 2nd generation iPhone may look the same, but its what's under the hood that counts (isn't it always though) and that's where things really start to stand out. Let's start with the new shall we: Tri band HSPA (the 3G in iPhone 3G) internal GPS, support for the App store and support for MS Exchange services. The rest is the same stuff we've come to love from the iPhone: quad band GSM, GPRS, EDGE, WiFi, Bluetooth (still no A2DP!!) 2MP camera and that glorious 3.5 inch 480 by 320 touchscreen. 8GB in that fashionable black that's all the rage or 16GB in black or a lovely white. Starting July 11th you too can sell your soul to AT&T for 2 years to get your hipster groove on. $199 for the 8gig, $299 for the 16 gig, and for all you unlockers out there...this one is only in-store, no online purchasing. For more pretty pictures and the sales pitch by Apple, hit the link and wonder like me...'that's it?'.

Via Apple

10 Ways To Make A Good Man Happy -

Ladies!  There is no such thing as Prince Charming.  There is no Superman.  There are okay guys, great guys, good guys, not-so-good guys, bad guys, and terrible guys.  You should be able to distinguish the differences in a few dates.  For those of you who are lucky enough to find a great guy or a good guy, hold on tight!  Here's what I learned from my own experiences and by closely observing my family and friends.  

1.   Pick one of the things your man likes to do; and do each one atleast once (if it's not outrageously beyond your comfort zone) you may surprise yourself and like some of them.

examples: video games, action flicks, paintball, strip clubs, rock concerts, fishing, sports

2.  Don't ramble on about your hair, waist size, shoe size, birthmarks, stretchmarks, fingernails, toes, etc. (ladies, that's what your girlfriends are for) ---- Your man does not care. He wouldn't be with you if he found you repulsive.  Confidence = SEXY

3.   Don't nag your man. If you want something done, do it yourself. If you're trying to make a point, nagging is the worst thing you can do. If it's something that ONLY your man can do and he puts it off for some reason, refuse do something that he ONLY needs you to do and he'll get it. But only use this as an example once or twice, because it will backfire if used incorrectly or in abundance.

4.  What you give is what you get. Take that any way you want to. wink wink

5.   Tell your man exactly what you feel. The old cliche, men are not mind readers. It's true. If you're pissed because he hasn't taken you out in a while, don't act all weird and then when he asks you what's wrong you say ..."nothing" with an attitude and expect him to know what's buggin you. Better yet, if you want to go out, take HIM out. Yes, chivalry, for the most part is a thing of the past, and women fought so hard for equality, so now's the chance to flex it.

6.  Know when to leave him alone.

If he comes home from work exhausted or moody, don't ask him what's wrong a million times. Just leave him alone.  Let him sleep, watch TV, play video games ... Or give him some lip service,  a shoulder rub,  or a cold beer. That'll turn his mood right around.

If he's in the middle of saving the planet from aliens, or if he's robbing a "hoe" for her money and blasting away at cops, leave him alone.  Go paint your nails, read a magazine, call your best friend.  Do something, but for goodness sake, do not get in his face while he is playing a game!  (You know he can't hear you anyway - so don't ask him if the dress you're wearing makes you look fat)

7.  Be spontaneous.  This is hard to do if you have kids, but it's not impossible.

 

8.   Don't make yourself available 24/7. Keep them wondering.  They like it.  Even when you're in a long-term relationship, go out with your friends, do your own thing.  

9.   Don't be jealous if he looks at another girl. He's JUST LOOKING. Want to throw him for a loop? Let him catch YOU looking at another girl and say "damn she is HOT".

10.  Never, ever, ever, put your man down; especially in front of other people.  By this, I mean don't emasculate your man.  It hurts.  It's embarrassing.  It's disrespectful.  Some women think that because a man is supposed to be "strong" and "tough" it means they can do and say hurtful things without consequence.  Your man is a human being with feelings just like you.  Be nice.  If you're pissed at him wait until you're not so pissed to approach him.

There are probably 20 more things I can come up with, but these are probably the most important ones that I can think of right now.  Ladies, stay cool.  Gentlemen, stay good.