being jake wood

I now know how all those hackers who hacked into their iPhone felt.  I don’t have the guts to throw my iPhone into the hacker world… but with much research and a little hesitation I hacked into my AppleTV and I have to say that I’m loving it!  Boxee is what AppleTV should have been and will hopefully one day be.  Boxee runs along with my AppleTV menu and allows me to connect to local networks and internet videos like CBS, Comedy Central, and the giant HULU.  And it plays these all in standard and HD (when available, which HULU is now doing by the way).  On top of this I no longer have to sync my movies and tv shows… Boxee now let’s me stream from the network.  So all of my movies can stay on the external hard drive and boxee streams it… IN HD!  It reads formats that Apple will never read.  It finds the title and the cover art and all it’s info (ratings, actors, etc.).  It is also a social network.  It links into my Last.fm account, flicker, picasso and more.  And it does this all without voiding my original warranty!  I’ve only had it for a day or so, but it has been a huge upgrade.  It’s available for your desktop and or AppleTV.  It’s still being tested, but I’m riding the Boxee wave as long as it’s here!  Here is more information about it.  If you would like to be invited in just let me know and I can send you an invitation.

I was sitting down to enjoy a nice grilled hot dog the other day and went to apply the normal condiments when I remembered a new ketchup I purchased.  

There are two things that I’m a sucker for that, if I ever see in the store I have a compulsive urge to purchase.  The first is gum.  I am a gum enthusiast.  Any flavor, at any time.  If I happen to notice a new gum in the check out aisle, you can bet I’ll be throwing it with everything else.  The other somewhat unusual purchase I make is “anything” and “everything” that is spicy.  So if I see a jalapeno flavored cheese or meat, you can bet it’ll be in my cupboard that day.  I’ve even purchased a jalapeno flavored lollipop.  

So the other day I was at the store and happen to notice a habanero ketchup bottle.  This was an instant hit in my mind.  The right amount of tomato with the soul of a habanero.  Why has it taken so long to come up with this?  I threw it in the cart without even thinking.  

So, yesterday I sat down to enjoy a hot dog with some jalapeno mustard and some habanero ketchup.  I squeezed out the mustard (another compulsive buy that has paid off big time!) and then noticed something that never caught my attention before.  The ketchup is housed in a glass bottle.  I begin to shake and pop the bottle, carefully easing this mixture of spice and condiment out to my hot dog bun.  

It’s not coming out.

I shake even harder (actually straining muscles now)… and nothing.  I then have to get a knife (which barely fits through the opening) and slowly scoop out the ketchup.  The whole process takes me 3-5 minutes before I’m enjoying the hot dog.  

My question is simply this.  Have we really decided to move back up the evolutionary ladder and return to glass containers?  Has the “squeeze” bottle not been a giant leap for man kind?  Do we really want to “scoop” and “shake” again?  I’ve noticed this in many restaurants still.  Is this an economic choice?  Does ANYONE prefer the glass container over an easy squeeze bottle?  Oh, sure it sounds cheap to have plastic over glass, but we’re talking about an event that should take 5 seconds out of day.  Is it nostalgia?  Do older folks sit around and talk about the “good old days” and how, “thank god, we still have glass ketchup”?  Maybe if the item was good enough to warrant the extra work.  But it’s ketchup.  Seriously?  

So it gives me great pleasure to begin the petition to hereby cease and assist with all glass condiment containers.  I don’t care if that’s what you grew up with, or you want to maintain your “rebel” look by going against the flow.  We’ve moved past this… WAY past this.  And while I’m at it, can we please toss the plastic toilet seats that my grandma had back in 1985!  When I sit down on a toilet seat it shouldn’t make any noise… or stick to you when you want to leave.

Why would people willingly choose to live in a colder climate?

I’ve had my iPhone for a little over a year now and have gotten pretty familiar with new and old applications that are available. I thought I would throw out my top 5 applications that aren’t the most popular as of now. Some are free and some are worth paying a couple bucks for.

5. Ambiance

This application simply plays background audio files that continually loop. Sounds like rain, beach noise, fans and many, many more. It’s loud enough for you to hit play and take a nap without ever needing any speakers attached. I have found it useful on those nights where it’s just TOO quiet to go to sleep. The new update allows you to mix sounds now… pretty cool.

4. Foto Timer

This is a simple app that lets you take pictures with your iPhone camera set to a timer instead of that weird finger position you have to use to take a self portrait of yourself. Pretty handy.

3. Backgrounds

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​A simple search application that allows you to look for specific iPhone background pics. I didn’t think I would use this app as much as I have, but as a mac owner I have always enjoyed a great looking desktop. I’ll find myself searching through different wallpapers when I’m bored and have nothing to do. It’s slowly becoming one of my favorites. Check it out you might get hooked. The search function is pretty cool… just type in Denver Broncos and BAM!

2. Yelp!

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Say you’re in New York City and wanting a good local place to eat, one that you know your friends would recommend. Yelp! is an app that checks local restaurants based on your current location. It gives reviews from average people. I have found this helpful a couple times while on the road. At Disneyland this summer I opened it up and it recommended a corn dog place that was AWESOME (to say the least). You can read the reviews right there on the phone. You can even check the hours it’s open and call them right there! When you want something original and local I always check Yelp! first. It’s been pretty handy and FREE!

1. Google

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Most people never downloaded this app because you might use it within Safari on the iPhone. But with this last update Google has really outdone themselves. It’s now all voice activated so you open the app and then say anything like… “movie times” and it begins searching for local movie times based on your current location. I’m still getting used to this, but so far I really like it. Check it out and watch the tutorial… you won’t regret it!

Others that didn’t make the cut…
Instapaper, Todo, Stanza, ineedstuff, Fake Calls, Stitcher and YPmobile are all great apps that I love!

Thought this was interesting.  Who do you think is steering this current youth culture?