First, I want to explain the difference between a company owned retailer and an authorized retailer.  As the description indicates, a company owned retailer is owned and operated by the company and the employees get their paychecks directly from the wireless provider.  An authorized retailer is a store that may look exactly like a company owned store but is owned and operated by a third party.  Their income is generated by receiving a percentage of the phone and contract sales.  Look for the words “Authorized Retailer” somewhere in the sign or in the store to identify them.  Other stores like Wal-Mart, Radio Shack and others that sell multiple service provider products are called indirect retailers.

When you are looking to get new service or upgrade your existing service, it is important to understand the differences.  I highly suggest sticking to a company owned store if at all possible.  In this way you can ensure that the policies and agreements do not have additional items.  Because authorized retailers and indirect stores have the ability to add their own requirements (such as extra early termination fees), you may find yourself agreeing to more than you need to.  If you are not sure if the store is company owned, ask!

I’m not trying to put down authorized retailers by any means.  Most are honest and will help you just as much as a company owned store. However, you have to realize that their income is generated solely by the amount of sales and contracts they produce.  If you return a phone or change your mind about the service within the return period that income is lost and it is as if you never came to the store.  Some of them will give you false information in order to prevent this.

For example, a common tactic by an authorized retailer is to tell you they will waive the activation fees and say you must wait for 30 days for the credit to appear on your bill.  When the credit does not appear and you go back to the store you are instructed to contact customer service, who will not apply them and direct you back to the retailer.  Because you are beyond the buyer’s remorse period, you are out of luck.  Any credits or fee waivers beyond what the company offers MUST come out of the retailer’s pocket.  If you are offered any kind of fee waivers, make sure those fees are NOT on the contract you sign.  If they are, they will be billed and are valid charges that you agreed to, regardless of any verbal agreements.

While company owned retail store employees do not rely exclusively on sales for income, they do receive a commission on phone and feature sales.  Unfortunately, you have to be prepared to counter not so honest tactics that some employees use to ensure more commission.  One of the more common tactics is to push a high priced phone that you may not need.  These “smart” phones require an additional data feature and are sometimes not fully disclosed by the sales person.  Another tactic I have seen is an employee tells you that you MUST change your plan or upgrade your phone.  If an employee tells you this, turn around, walk out of the door, call customer service and verify the information.  It is extremely rare that a wireless company will force you to change your rate plan if you do not want to, no matter how old that plan is.

If you have questions about what to look for when getting new wireless service, upgrading your phone or anything else related to cell phones, give me a comment.  Please make sure to include your email (never shared with anyone) so I may respond.

While searching the videos I noticed the difference between seasons in the opening credits and thought that it evolved a lot since I watched it. Then I came across a video titled “The Electric Company (2009) Intro.” Apparently they have brought the show back and the new opening credits, at least to me, seem a bit off topic. It starts out with the characteristic “Hey You Guys!” but then moves into some sort of hip hop meets rap type of theme. I have embedded each of the intros here, first the one I remember as a kid and then the “new” one. I’m not sure, but I could swear some of the kids are grabbing themselves in the latest version. What do you think of the new show? I have yet to see anything beyond the opening credits but from what I have seen, I say bring out the re-runs of the original. At least it doesn’t teach kids to grab themselves!

Investintech comes to the rescue by providing a free conversion option that will take your .DOCX and convert them to a .DOC quickly and, best of all, free.  There is no sign up required, you don’t have to give them your email or any other personal information.  Simply upload your .DOCX file, press the “Convert” button and download the converted file.

The conversion happens almost immediately in most cases but can take longer depending on the size of the file and the amount of conversions in the queue.

The game has retained the classic Mario Bros. look and feel while at the same time creating a unique and updated experience. You will find all of your old friends here and the object continues to be saving the princess. She just can’t seem to stay out of trouble can she?

Those familiar with the original versions will be able to jump right into the game with no need to crack open the manual, although there have been some new moves added to take advantage of the Wii’s controller. These include things such as holding down the 1 button while shaking the controller to picks up items. This is also how you activate the “propeller” suit that allows you to shoot high into the air and float gently down, great for those hard to reach stars. These moves are explained on screen with a small graphic indicating how to activate the ability.

Playing by yourself is fun but this version has incorporated the ability for 4 players to play at once. Instead of taking turns, everyone is on the screen at the same time and can interact with each other in real time. You can play cooperatively to assist in getting hard to reach items or be mean to one another and hog all of the coins for yourself, knocking others out of the way or gobbling them up with Yoshi. The multi-player can be a little chaotic but it is fun none the less.

The only criticism I would give is not online play option. In an interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America’s boss, he said “This was a decision made purely by the developers. They believe this experience, in the same room, to be elbowing your friends and family members as you’re playing the game [is ideal]. It was really their decision.” (Official Nintendo Magazine, November 17, 2009).

To sum up, Super Mario Bros. Wii, in my opinion, is a great game that keeps the classic feel of the series and still gives you a lot of new experiences. I expect I will be playing this game a lot. What are your thoughts on the game?

After several months learning to be a Combat Medic I was given a “wish list” of where I wanted to be stationed.  I chose Germany as my first choice and off I went to spend three years in beautiful Deutschland.  This was the middle of 1988 and the Cold War was still in effect.  Then, on November 9, 1989, I was able to be a part of history.  I was chosen as one of numerous medics that would go to Berlin to support the ceremony held when the Berlin Wall came down.  It was a proud and awe inspiring time for me.  I’ll never forget the first time I saw the wall.  Somehow I had imagined that it was this towering, intimidating piece of concrete that could hold back anything.  In reality it was just an old, dirty wall with graffiti covering almost every inch.  I was a little disappointed to be honest.

The emotions surrounding the wall’s fall was so powerful you could feel it in the air.  Persons of all nations came together that day and took down this huge symbol of oppression that had stood since the German Democratic Republic (GDR) built it in 1962 to prevent the citizens from “escaping” to the West.

As heavy machines tore down parts of the wall, individuals were using sledge hammers and others had metal pipes to tear into the concrete.  As sections fell apart, I could tell that the people who lived on the East side of the wall were a little apprehensive about “crossing over,” perhaps wondering if it were all a trick and they would be shot dead for attempting to defect.  That faded quickly though as friends and family that were separated when the wall was built saw each other again for the first time since 1962.

It will be 20 years on the 9th since the Berlin Wall was demolished and I consider myself very privileged to have been able to be a small part of it and witness the exact moment when a nation was made whole.

I found a New York Times site that has some rather interesting and thought provoking before and after pictures of where the wall once stood.  All that remains now are markings in the street that indicate where Germany was once divided.  I urge you all to check it out HERE.

The application is called Mobile Defense and you can download it free from the marketplace. Once you install it you are prompted to go to a web site on your computer to register and activate the service.  The program then remotely connects to your phone and shows you where the phone is using either the network or the GPS and overlays it onto Google Maps.  With one click you can disable the phone, even if someone has put a different SIM card in it.  Once the application is activated, it no longer appears in your applications list to prevent anyone from knowing it is there.

This is perfect for a lost or stolen phone.  A feature I like is the alarm. When you activate this the phone will produce the same sound as a car alarm and keep sounding as long as the phone is on and has battery life to sustain it or someone presses the close button.  Eliminates the need to borrow your friend’s phone to repeatedly call you phone trying to hear the ring.  Perfect for those mornings when you can’t find your phone when you were sure you laid on the bathroom sink while you were praying to the porcelain gods.

Another feature is the ability to send an alert of your choosing with your contact information remotely in case someone stole… I mean found your phone.  So you could send a pop up that said something like “Thanks for “finding” my phone, you can contact me at (email here)” or whatever message you like.

The Motorola CLIQ from T-Mobile has a similar feature called Motoblur.  I’m glad to see Android has one as well.  If nothing else it will be great to be able to remotely backup your phone’s information in case you loose your phone and simply restore the replacement to the exact same settings.

Some of my favorite games are:

Vaults of Atlantis

Dice Derby

Tri-Peaks Solitaire

Dice City Rollers

Shuffle Bump

Those are only a few of my favorites.  Recently they just added Battleship, Monopoly, Yatzee and other well known games.  Classic games we all know and love with cute, funny or cleaver twists and bonus games added.

So, do you Pogo?  If so, leave a comment with your Pogo user name so I can add you as a friend!

Today I was surfing around the university’s web site just to see what I could find and I wound up at Microsoft’s “Ultimate Steal” page.  This is an area where Microsoft offers large discounts on products for students.  I got MS Office Professional 2007 for $59.95 here last year.

Until January 2010 Microsoft is giving the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade to students for $29.99!  If you didn’t know, retail price for non-students is $199.99!  That’s an 85% discount!

I pounced on it today and I am now posting this blog from Windows 7 Pro and loving it!  It’s an electronic download obviously.

So, what do you have to do in order to qualify?

1.  You must have a valid e-mail address at an educational institution ending with the domain suffix .EDU (ie,  myname at schoolname.edu) OR have a valid e-mail address at one of the educational institutions listed HERE.

AND

2. You must be a student at a U.S. educational institution and must be actively enrolled in at least 0.5 course credit and be able to provide proof of enrollment upon request.

So dig around in the couch, look under your dorm room bed, take that pile of beer cans in the corner to the recycling company, hit your parents up for the cash, whatever.  Time is running out!

The Energy Information Administration forecasts that the average household will spend $928 on heating their home this winter.  You could buy a Mac for that!  Well…almost anyway.  Here are some tips I learned throughout my life, mainly from my father and I have used the internet to verify them and add a few more facts.

1.  Turn Down the thermostat:  My dad has some kind of radar that tells him as soon as anyone touches his thermostat.  It’s scary.  He usually keeps his home at 65-68 degrees and it seems he can feel even if it is one degree off.  The rule of thumb is that you save a whopping 3% on your heating bill for every degree you set it back.  If you turn it down 10 degrees when you go to work and again when you go to bed (What are you crying about? You have blankets don’t ya?) you can save another 14%.

2.  Use Fans Wisely:  You know those fans in your kitchen that suck up the smoke from when you tried to make that blackened catfish as a romantic dinner for your wife?  Well, those things can suck out a house full of warm air in an hour!  Make sure to turn it off when you stop choking!  Same goes for that fan in the bathroom too.

3.  Keep The Fireplace Damper Closed:  Heat rises (duh) and having an open damper is a big hole in the roof!  Limit the use of the fireplace as well.  Fires actually suck the heat from the room.

4.  Turn Down The Water Heater:  Keep it at about 115 - 120 Degrees (46.1 - 48.8 Celcius for those across the pond).  It reduces power use and you will not notice a difference when you’re in the shower scrubbing those dead skin cells off, assuming you do that.

5.  Keep Heating Vents Clear:  Sounds like common sense but I have seen several homes where the vents are blocked or covered by rugs or furniture.  The air cannot circulate correctly and it makes the heater work that much harder.

6.  Use Curtains:  Open curtains facing South during the day.  you know how your car gets warm from the greenhouse effect?  Same principle here, you would be surprised how much heat you can get from just sunlight.  The cat sits in the South window for a reason you know.  Closing the curtains at night helps to retain the heat longer.

Other things worth mentioning include:

• Winterize your windows ($6 will buy enough plastic film to cover 3 windows)
• Buy a “low-flow” shower head
• Buy a smart thermostat and set it to change the temperature when you go to work/bed automatically
• Keep your furnace in shape.  A $3 - $16 that is clogged can lower the efficiency or even shut down your unit

And here’s one final tip my dad taught me.  Go into the attic and look for black-stained areas on the edges of the fiberglass. That’s dust, and it shows where air is flowing up out of the living space. Sealing that area first will do more good than simply piling on more insulation.

The difference in the plans are simple.  The Even More plan requires a contract in return for a discounted phone, much like it has been done in the past.  The Even More Plus plan requires no contract, you pay full price for the phone but you are able to split that cost up into 20 installments without interest.  Once you go to an Even More Plus plan, you cannot downgrade to an Even More.  If you wish to change your plan for any reason, you will have to choose from these plans.

So, what should you expect when you want to go to an Even more plan?  There will be little difference than what you are used to with the exception that there are only 3 choices for minutes.  Unlimited, 1000 Minutes, or 500 minutes for a single line.  Unlimited, 1500 Minutes or 700 Minutes for 2 or more lines.  Text messaging is either unlimited or nothing, as well as data.

The Plus plan is a little different.  If you have renewed your contract on or after October 25, 2009 and you want to go to an Even More Plus plan, you will be required to pay the early termination fee ($200) per line to do so.  If you have not renewed your contract after this date you will pay a $35 “migration fee” per line (Maximum $70).  This is because the Plus plan does not have a contract and if you just renewed your contract you will be required to “buy” out of it.  The minute choices are the same but the prices are about $10 less than the Even More.

Also understand that these plans are as new to T-Mobile employees as they are to you, we got 30 minutes of training on them, so don’t be suprized if mistakes happen and your next bill is not correct.  I expect many calls next month because of this and I do not look forward to it.

These plans are awesome and offer a 50% cust in any similar plans AT&T or Verizon have to offer.  However, they are not for everyone.  If they are not something you are sure will benefit you, stick with what you have.  You will not be forced to change your rate plan, at least not until your contract is expired.