Apple makes me want to IPuke

In this article posted by the Associated Press, Apple once again justifies my dislike for them by putting ignorant restrictions on IPhone purchases.

Having sold 1.4 million units since launching the device at the end of June, Apple is looking to put a bit of a slowdown on iPhone sales, ahead of the upcoming holiday-buying scrum. Beginning late last week, customers no longer can purchase the iPhone with cash or buy more than two per person.

"Customer response to the iPhone has been off the charts, and limiting iPhone sales to two per customer helps us ensure that there are enough iPhones for people who are shopping for themselves or buying a gift," Apple's Natalie Kerris told the Associated Press. "We're requiring a credit or debit card for payment to discourage unauthorized resellers."


Ok, I can understand that Apple wants to have their product purchased through authorized sellers but not accepting cash for the purchases? This is probably the most "snobby" move that Apple has undertaken in recent memory. This is yet another blunder by the fruit loving company. Besides the fact that you can only use AT&T (terrible customer service and signal) as the carrier (unless you unlock the IPhone) and also the IPhone itself contains dangerous materials (http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/10/apple-now-in-le.html)

Also you cannot even have insurance on your precious IPhone through AT&T. You can only get a "service" plan through Apple for a mere $70 extra that "extends" your warranty for an extra year. God forbid that you drop the thing (Sorry Mark) because then you are out the $400 that you paid for this brick, sorry it's not covered according to the cutsomer friendly Apple. Enjoy the IPhone you Apple lovers and bask in its glory. Watch out for the Bromine and Benzine that the phone contains and also enjoy the poor and expensive AT&T service plans that come with this burden. In fact, they deserve eveything that comes along with it!

NHL London Premiere 2007

It's official, the NHL season has started and I was in London U.K. for it. The event was very cool and I am glad that I had the chance to see it. The picture on the left is "The Big Guy" and me on the right. We were fortunate enough to get a pic with the Stanley Cup. The "handlers" of the cup stepped out of the room for a minute and we took advantage of the opportunity. After hearing all of the stories about England I was kind of apprehensive about this trip. First of all the food over there is different than I was expecting. The traditional "English Breakfast" consists of fried eggs, bacon and beans, a piece of back bacon, a blood sausage (pork I guess) and toast or crumpets. To look at it you wouldn't think "Yummy" being from the States. With this coming from a guy that has a pretty strong constitution that is bad. The second thing that I noticed the moment that I stepped off of the flight was the currency exchange. The British Pound is roughly 2-1 compared to the American Dollar. So in doing the math I realized that everything was going to be twice as expensive as the amount shown. This put a dent in the wallet while at the local pub because that is about all that there is do to when you go into work at 9 a.m. and get out around 11 that night.





Dealing with the Brits wasn't a bad experience at all. The local IT guys that helped us were very helpful and managed to get all of my things on my list done. Surprisingly, the two games (ANA @ LAK and LAK@ ANA) were sold out and were received very well. After the first game the scoring crew for ANA and both of us went to a place called Johnny Monaco's Love Burger. After seeing this place I figured that we would need to check it out. In the picture above is some of the "Love Sauce" that was on our table. Regardless of my initial reluctance to eat anything with the title "Love Sauce" it was pretty good. I am guessing after eating it that it consisted of BBQ sauce, ketchup and vinegar. I recommend it if you find yourself in the O2 arena in London. All in all it was a good trip with the occasional cavity search in the airports and two hour cab rides from here to there.






The picture on the left is the actual O2 (Millennium Dome) in London. Regardless of the weird looking things sticking out of the top of the place it was pretty nice. Everything that lights up changes color (colour for my UK friends) using different technology. The inside of the dome was equally as impressive as the outside.




This is the inside of the O2 center which is more like a shopping mall than an arena. There are bars, clubs and restaurants galore and they even have a Starbucks there as well. Everyone asks me if I saw anything like Buckingham Palace or The Tower of London and I say the same thing to everyone about that, no. It was only four stops from our hotel but after working that many hours and dealing with the late nights and walking no less than 15 miles in five days wearing dress shoes and a suit lugging 50 pound cases behind me, I was tired. The flight is long, the hotels are small, the food is dodgy and it can get expensive but the trip was well worth it. If you have a chance to get to London do it at least once in your life. No worries and cheers.