Tony Cordova

After dealing with AT&T’s mediocre service, expensive plans, and annoying business practices I officially decided to switch carriers and get a new phone.  My smartphone experience included a Samsung Blackjack and a Blackberry Curve, both of which were solid phones but lacked personality. The iPhone was ever present but I didn’t want to have to stick with AT&T, plus what better way to give up personality than to buy an iPhone.  When I was seeking out a phone that would give me a feature rich experience as well as being open ended and customizable the answer was obvious: Android.  A friend of mine has the T-Mobile G1 and loves it show it off, especially to iPhone toting friends.

So, to make a long story short I had my eyes set on the HTC Hero. When I became aware of it the phone was only available in Europe and had not been announced for the US yet, then Sprint announced it would be available on October 11th exclusively with them. The phone was styled differently specifically for Sprint, but I though the new design was actually better than the original. Enough talk, here’s the phone:

In the week that I’ve had it I have discovered the really great things about the phone and the not-so-great things. I will outline them simply here:

Pros:
Incredible amount of functionality
5 MP camera
Healthy amount of apps
Customizability
Great GPS including turn-by-turn
Most apps are free
Touchscreen is responsive in the right ways
Background applications
Standard mini USB cable connection.

It’s hard to say much else because this phone has pretty much everything you can imagine. You name it, it probably has it.

Cons:
Battery isn’t as great as I would hope
Phone can be kind of sluggish, I don’t think the handset can keep up with the operating system
Not a gaming platform

Here is a video and come more pictures:

These pictures were taken with the phone:

Things that have been controlling my life lately:

Work:
I love my job.  Maybe my interest in fixing other people’s computer problems will wear off eventually, but for right now I am loving it.  Part of it must be that I have a great boss and I don’t have to deal with any of the corporate crap that I am somewhat used to.  It is nice to be free from the man.

Unfortunately the last few days have been kind of hectic with problems that are more difficult to fix.  Combine that with me being outrageously unprepared for these problems and you get unhappy clients with an even unhappier technician(me).  Luckily I have a bit of vacation ahead of me so I can cool off and relax.

Church:
Although it doesn’t take up a huge amount of my time, it is something I try to take very seriously.  The group of people I am involved with in making this church happen are some of the best people I have ever met, and I am very thankful for them.  If you live in the Fresno/Clovis area, let us wrap your Christmas gifts for free this Sunday.  You can learn more about the church at http://www.sequoiafresno.org.

Girlfriend:
You know how much I love you.

Russia:
In May 2009 Melanie and I will be going to Russia on a service trip for a month.  I know it is a long ways off but I need to prepare(considering I hardly know any Russian).  Plus I have been putting together the website.  See it at http://www.russianimpact.org.

Music:
Listening to music has been great lately, and I have been listening to a lot of great stuff.  From Classic Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, Beatles, and Daft Punk, to newer interesting stuff like M83, Sigur Ros, The Mountain Goats, The Raconteurs, Hospital Ships, and MGMT, I am never bored.  Check out this AMAZING song from the newest Sigur Ros album:

For more of what I have been listening to, go to my last.fm page.

http://www.last.fm/user/injun42

Video Games:
I bought a Playstation 3 as a birthday present to myself and so far I am loving it.  I already played through Metal Gear Solid 4 and right now I am completely engrossed in Little Big Planet and Wipeout HD.  I had the pleasure of watching both Ratatouille and WALL-E on Blu Ray which was fantastic, I feel like I am finally getting the most out of my HDTV.

Podcasting:
A brand new episode of Fruit Snacks and Fanny Packs is now available.  We went on hiatus for a few months, but we’re back, stronger than never.  Check us out: http://www.fruitsnacksandfannypacks.com.  There is a special prize this week!

I hope everyone at least got through this blogpost, I almost didn’t.

Last.FM is allowing you to listen to the new Sigur Ros album for free two weeks before it is released.  I haven’t had a chance to listen to it all yet so I have nothing to say except they have been really good so far so check it out!

Click here for Sigur Ros

While you’re there check out my profile page: http://www.last.fm/user/injun42

Just upgraded to WordPress 2.5.  So far so good except some of my old widgets don’t work.  I hope I can at least get my last.fm one up.