Please join me in welcoming the newest member of the HelloNeiman! family.  Hello 2007 Mazda RX-8!  Now, who wants to drive her home with me on Sunday from Chicago??

Is salesmanship a word?  No idea.  But the real question is, do YOU have a YouTube video made specifically for you from a car salesmen in Chicago?  I called this guy up this morning to talk about a vehicle I saw at autotrader.com, and this was his respond back.  Gotta admit, this personal touch is the type of thing that sets one salesmen apart from another.  Will I buy this car?  Still not sure, but I like the homemade video.  Its a great try!

Power of the Pre

This is my first remote post using a new app for the Palm Pre.  It writes, it attaches photos, it publishes … who need a computer now!

I know I know, the iPhone and Android phones have had games and apps like this for years.  But come on, its a new platform, a new phone, and it took a while for Palm developers to get to us.  That being said, the new 3D games available on WebOS are definitely a wonderful treat and addition to my app list.  With the new sdk that Palm recently released, the flood gates were opened to more innovative and intense games for the Pre.

Of course, the one that excites me most is the new Oregon Trail by Gameloft, but kids will love games like The Need for Speed, Glyder 2, Scrabble, Tetris and more.  Check out the video above for just a few new games from Gameloft available for the Pre.  They aren’t too expensive, but then again don’t go buying them all before the masses weigh in on what is and isn’t worth it…

Mazda RX-8 with Lambo Doors

I have officially begun car-shopping again.  The fact that I got stuck at the dry-cleaners for 10 minutes on Saturday which made Ben and I late to our brunch with Benjie and Alan at Cecil’s … was just too much.  I love the Neon, but its days are numbered and its time to consider new options.  That being said, do I go with a reasonable and affordable cash-for-clunkers option like a Ford Focus or Toyota Prius?  Or do I have a bit more fun and enjoy a car that I should never really consider getting, but have nothing holding me back from (yet).  Mustang Convertible?  RX-8?  BMW?

this … is my BOOM stick!

Does anyone know anything about chainsaws?  I have to pick one up for our cabin up north and although I am much more “handy” than most of my other Jewish friends, I regret to admit my lack of knowledge on this tool.  Personally, I’d rather use an axe and get in a good Rocky 4 type workout when cutting up extra wood … but according to Aunt Patti, there is much too much wood to be cut for that type of manual labor.  So, I ask again, does anyone know what is good?

I’m thinking for under $100 bucks I should be able to get something to help cut already fallen trees into firewood-sized logs.  My uncle said an 18″ gas saw (the Wild Thing) would be best, but what about electric is bad?  and does it have to be a Stihl or are other brands just as good?

Lastly, anyone selling, or am I headed to Home Depot next weekend?

Although I am not yet ready to expose my 30 day test drive that has begun today (for fear of constant ridicule and defacement of character trust), it will be an interesting month of July.  On paper, I have done the math.  In my head, I have crunched the numbers.  But actual real-time trial and comparative performance?  This is a dangerous game I am playing.  Tiptoeing the lines of high performance needs vs. insanity and bankbook flexibility.  Will my grounded views of years past win outright?  Will they have to prove their worth versus the worthy competition?  Will the public powerhouse favorite out-wit and out-match the champion?

(sigh) Its going to be a long month.

For those of you STILL undecided about which phone to end up with, I have compiled an easy to read chart comparing all the perks of the new iPhone 3GS announced yesterday to the Palm Pre released last Saturday.  The media seems to think this was an easy win for iPhone, though not exactly sure they have their facts right.  I am 99% confident on my facts above, and although I know I tend to be biased, I tried to be honest about the pros and cons of each.  It’s funny, but realistically these phones are more or less identical.  Each has its perks that the other doesn’t, and each appeal to a different type of individual.  Honestly, it really comes down to three things at this point:

1. Carrier and talk-plan preferences (if on own, simply everything plan for $99 at Sprint is winner, but when you add family plans, minute usage, etc. this can be skewed)
2. App Store development/availability (iPhone has quite the head start here)
3. Personal preference.  What are your needs vs. wants

I love the Palm Pre and it has given Sprint 2 more contracted years for me and my family, but I have nothing against the iPhone and if was forced to switch to AT&T would be just as content. Ok, and with that, I’m done blogging on phones for a while.  It’s time to get back to the fun stuff of parties, movies, birthdays, and Internet buzz.  🙂

It was January, it was a cold.  Of course every January is cold in Minnesota, but this specific day wasn’t so bad.  Why?  Because a shining light of warmth was introduced to the world from Las Vegas’ consumer products convention … Palm had finally presented their new product, and the Palm Pre with its webOS was months away from becoming a reality.

Fast forward 6 long grueling months of reading rumors, writing opinion blogs, evaluating reviews and obsessing over every piece of information I can get my hands on… and you come to Saturday, June 6th, 2009.  Its 6:00 am.  I wake up, still slightly roughed up from the birthday extravaganza the night before (post coming soon), and head out the door.  I didn’t think anyone else would wait in line 2 hours early for a cell phone that didn’t have an emblem of a half-eaten pomaceous fruit on it.  I was wrong though, and its good I came when I did, because I was 3rd in line at the downtown Sprint store … and the GM later told us he sadly only had 5 units to sell.  Many unhappy faces grumbled their way home after that announcement, but I waited patiently with a smile for what I had so eagerly anticipated owning.  By 9am it was over.  My legacy Palm Centro placed back in its box to collect dust, my data transferred over … and the power of the world was once again in the Palm of my hands.

Well, its been 3 days of playing, testing, and reviewing, and I have to wholeheartedly say that this phone is the most ingenious product I’ve owned.  I just watched the conference on Apple’s newest iPhone, and the only additions were things that the Pre is already doing.  I hope this phone gets the support it deserves, it is definitely a competitor.  Without boring you much more, below is a quick list of pros and cons for the Palm Pre that will hopefully help those on the fence to decide on purchasing.

Pros 🙂

• Synergy of applications is amazing.  Calendar shows events from Facebook, Google, Exchange Server, Flight App, and more.  It is all color coordinated and easy to customize.  Same goes for Contacts, messaging (with AIM, SMS, and GChat), and any other applications pulling data from servers.  Its pretty cool to have every Facebook friend’s email/phone (if listed) on hand
• The UI is incredibly user friendly, barely ever make a mistake or get confused where to go and what to do.  This is mainly due to the great “”gestures”” concept that Palm introduced
• The hardware keyboard is much better than expected.  Bigger than Centro rubber for easy holding
• App Store is FREE (for now) and started with about 25 applications available.  Including Twitter, flight status, Connect 4, Wikipedia, Craigslist, Flixster, Stocks, and Fantasy Baseball
• Notifications are easy to see or ignore, and make use of phone really nice
• It is small, fits well in the hand, and was instantly easy to use (unlike the Touch Diamond, I actually was able to answer a phone call without crashing my car into a construction buoy on the highway).
• It is fast.  And I mean REAL fast.  Multiple applications open at once, WiFi or 3G connection, and you still don’t feel any lag or delay (something Windows Mobile and PalmOS devices reeeeally lack)
• Wireless charging capabilities?  Are you serious!?  wow
• When you plug into a computer, iTunes will automatically sync (it things the Pre is an iPod!).  The only problem is that it won’t transfer the standard .AAC files, so you have to convert your music to .MP3 or similar (something I did long ago anyways).  Plus it has a standard headphone jack and 8GB of memory available.

Cons 😦

• Alerts for SMS, email, etc. make a quiet “”ding”” and quickly vibrate device.  It doesn’t appear you can change this, so sometimes it goes unnoticed
• Accenture’s exchange server is not yet supported on the Pre, so I can’t connect to work email/calendar, but that should hopefully change soon once our IT support gets their hands on it
• Battery is good, but with constant playing it drains up.  Nothing shocking there, you can’t use something for 9 hours straight and get pissed when it dies on you
• There is a bug with the AIM application, if you stay logged in it drains the battery.  So until that is fixed, you have to log off after use
• App store’s SDK program is not yet released to the public, so it may take a while for new apps to come (although 6 more were added today since launch!).  Also, there are only 3 “”pages”” for apps in the browser, so if you get download-crazy, you may have a trouble feeding your OCD need to organize everything neatly like me

This phone has definitely been fun so far, and I can’t wait to see what applications come out in the near future.  I truly do believe in Palm products, I’ve been a fan since my first Visor Handspring in 2000 and I think this new webOS platform can go really far.  I would be shocked if they didn’t sell out all 600,000 by noon on Saturday, and once personal reviews hit the web, the next few shipments should do the same.  Exciting!

If you were one of the many adults that became intrigued and thus reacquainted with your youth by how the Nintendo Wii revolutionized video games back in 2006 … then Project Natal for the XBOX 360 will literally blow your F*CKING mind!  This may literally be the coolest toy ever invented, props to Microsoft and Steven Spielberg for the innovation!

Project Natal is literally an entire video game, communication and multimedia experience from an entertainment consul that is 100% HANDS FREE.  No controllers needed, automatic voice, facial and gesture recognition, video conferencing, product scanning, video motion-sensors … I don’t know whether to go out and buy this toy or fear its technological similarities to an impeding Cyberdyne Systems global takeover.  You have got to watch the video above and get excited, who ever believed something like this could ever occur in our lifetime when we first plugged in the our 8-bit systems in 1985.  Wow, I love the world we live in.