To buy or Not to Buy: Part 2

Provided by Mint.com

What to Buy!?

I want these three things right now. Which should I get?

1. The Bowers & Wilkins P5 Headphones. HERE.

2. The Smith Broadcast Prescription Eyeglasses. HERE.

3. The Lebron 8 V/2. HERE.

So, what do I choose? Comment below!

Oh The Places I Want to Go!

Places I want to travel this year(or in the very near future):

Sweden

The reason for this: I love cold Scandinavian countries. Ok, actually, I want to visit the Morace and Julie Ann clan.

Next: Belize.

The caption for this photo says, "Imagine awakening with your loved one as the sun rises over the Caribbean." Can do.

While I'm in the area, I might as well hit up El Vecino: Guatemala

But I also really want to see my friends in the Dominican Republic:

And I've never been to Maui:

And to stay a little closer to open, I want to experience the marvelous Lake Powell!

And do The Subway:

And spend a few nights in the Uinta Mountains:

Who wants to join?

STOP!

I worked 13 hours last night. Then I stopped and fixed a friend's alarm system. By that time we we had passed the 11 PM mark. I couldn't go home because of a wood floor fix. So Sam and Chelsea kindly obliged to let me crash on the couch. I was driving up 1300 S, a bit tired, but content, when next thing I knew I had sirens in my rear view mirror. I hadn't been speeding so I was excited; the thrill of finding out what menial law had been violated. Had I ran someone over? Maybe a cat or a raccoon? Had I driven too close to the curb? The middle line? And then panic: Had they finally caught onto my late night prostitution? Oh no! The officer approached. Asked me for the usual: Driver's License, proof of insurance, registration, and a Virginia Slim. I was able to provide 75% of requested items.(Will not disclose which 3) The cop then, seeing the fear in my eyes, informed me that I had been pulled over for not coming to a complete stop.

Oh dear! How could I? Once a law abiding citizen, in mere seconds I had become a hardened criminal, a menace to society, a threat to the population, a danger to the masses. The rape, drug use, theft, domestic violence, drunk driving, indecent exposure, reckless driving can go on. But the failure to fully halt at a 4 way stop on an abandoned street, this must stop. Think of the fatalities, injuries, repercussions, heartache, and loss that most likely occurred from my claimed infraction. Tears welled up in my eyes out of the shame I felt. My pulse sank to a mere 74/23 as depression and guilt overwhelmed my soul.

But wait? I had stopped. I hadn't blitzed that stop sign. There was a car I had pulled up next to. We hung out at that white line together before he went right and I proceeded straight. Hmm... So what if the cop was just upset that my car hadn't been washed in months? Maybe he had just failed for the 20th straight time on the same Angry Birds level. Maybe he was thinking about the recent streak of losses by the Jazz and Utes. Maybe he was imagining what it would have been like to be in Egypt without internet for 5 days? Maybe he had tried to order his Verizon iPhone on his dinner break and realized they were already sold out? So maybe I was the scape goat? The truly innocent citizen, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. Like the innocent gazelle who happened to meander down to the river to quench its thirst only to be at the wrong river bend at the wrong time and find itself feet up, head down the alligator's throat.

So I had a decision to make. Did I get out of the car and challenge the officer to a smack-down, a thumb war, or break dance competition? I quickly determined that this was a bad idea. Leaving your vehicle during a moment like this was always frowned upon and interpreted as a sign of hostility and defiance. So i abated my desire for a game of paper-rock-scissors and waited patiently. The officer returned after some delay to proudly hand me a citation. As he handed me the citation, I noticed him quickly wiping what appeared to be ketchup off his fingers and onto his fine pressed navy slacks. Wait a second? He'd been back there eating Wendy's Sea Salted Fries this whole time? My paper had dark spots from where the sodium content had soiled the starch on the ticket. Next thing I knew, he was throwing up the peace sign and parting ways with a simple, "Ten cuidado Justino, tu salvacion esta en juego." Jaw dropped and stunned, like a deer in headlights, I slide the ticket onto the floor, the shifter into drive, and eased my way back onto the road and into society, Heaven alone knowing the who the real violator in the situation was.

3G, 4G, what G do I need?

I'm a nut for technology. I love the stuff. I love following people who tweet about it. I love subscribing to blogs in my Google reader that discuss it. I spend my days troubleshooting windows based machines. At nights and on weekends I talk Mac. In all of this and being that we are 1 week from the launch of the iPhone 4 on Verizon, I felt it pertinent to write a blog post about something many people seem to be either curious or confused about: 3G vs. 4G.

First, it should be made clear that cell phone manufacturers and carriers have done us no favor in the use of the terms 3G and 4G. The use of 3's and 4's crops up nearly everywhere, so what does it all mean?

Smartphones connect to the internet. However, unlike the majority of people's computers in their homes, which connect to the internet through a DSL or Cable connection, smartphones connect to the internet through cellular towers. Cellular towers were originally used for the transmission of voice but our unprecedented need to always be connected caused a conversion to occur so that data(internet) transfer could occur as well.

For most people, and we will keep this simple, Edge(2G) was probably the first cellular internet standard you may have heard of. This is what the original iPhone used and it was PAINFULLY slow. So let's not worry too much about that.

Next came 3G (which really just means 3rd Generation). This is the technology that ALMOST everyone who has a smartphone is taking advantage of. So, to clarify some confusion, the iPhone 3G(released Summer of 2008), the iPhone 3GS(released summer of 2009) and the iPhone 4(released summer of 2010 on AT&T and February 10th of 2011 on Verizon) ALL use the 3G network. The iPhone 4 is not a 4G phone, it is simply the 4th generation OF THE iPhone.

For about a year now, we have been seeing Sprint's advertisements for "4G". Now Verizon and T-Mobile have followed suit. Expect AT&T to be right behind.

I'm going to try and give a very basic explanation here.

The biggest difference for users between 3G and 4G is going to be speed. But the main point I want to make in this article is this: Do you even know what speeds you are getting? When was the last time you used the Speedtest.net application on your Android or iPhone? The reality of it is, people just like things to work. They want to click on the Facebook App and have it show their news feed. Or they want to open the weather app and see if they need to wear a jacket. MOST users aren't cursing the air because they are getting 1 MBPS compared to 1.3 MBPS. Most users in fact probably have no idea what that means except that the 1.3 is probably faster and better. And that's OK not to know or care! If you do care, here's John Gruber's comparison of the iPhone 4 on AT&T compared to Verizon:

Ok, so back to our discussion. Yes 4G is faster. Yes Facebook will load a bit more quickly. So will you end up wanting/using/needing 4G? Yes. Do you need it right now? Probably not. Think of it as the very first of the HDTV craze. Manufacturers were selling HDTVs before we even had our cable companies broadcasting in HD.

So many Verizon customers are anxious and excited to finally get the iPhone but then they hear, "It doesn't have 4G." What!? No 4G!? Psh, must be a bunch of garbage! "Maybe I should wait!?" Wrong. Most of the cellular companies are still in the early stages of rolling out their 4G network. Verizon doesn't even have 4G in Salt Lake City, let alone Bountiful. (ok, it's at the Airport). Nor do they even have any 4G phones for sale at this time. In fact, here is where they do have 4G coverage:

Will it be here 18 months from now? Yes. Will you be ready for a new iPhone in about 18-24 months? Yes.

So if you are the type that had to have a blu ray player before everyone did, already has a 3D HDTV, and has placed your order for the Nissan Leaf, then you probably won't want to buy the iPhone 4 next Thursday. However, if you are part of the majority, the iPhone 4 is going to be an amazing phone that you will absolutely love! Even if it's not "4G" ;)

To Buy or Not to Buy

Interest rates are low. The housing market is flooded with foreclosures, short sales, and other sales. I'm 24 and working full time (58 hours is full time, right?) so I started thinking about buying a home.

Then I spoke with Spence. He's a very smart, rational human being. We discussed the pros and cons of buying a home.

Here are some of the costs associated with owning a home:

1. Mortgage Payment

2. Home Insurance

3. Property Taxes

4. Water and Sewer

5. Heat/Cooling

6. Internet and TV

7. Furniture and Appliances.

8. Lawn Care

9. Upkeep and Maintenance

10. Other

These are not reasons to NEVER buy a home, but they have definitely caused me to reconsider WHEN I will buy a home.

Leave your opinion in the comments section!