When it comes down to it, both consoles are decent. The 360 has matured enough to consider it somewhat stable (note: it’s still not 100% in my eyes), no red ring of death (yet), no major surprises there. I’ve had the 360, like I say, for about a week, but so far, I’m impressed with it completely. Here’s just a brief overview of what I’ve seen, what I like, what I don’t like.

I’m not a fanboy of either system, so it’s not really hard for me to be unbiased and unprejudiced. Both have their ups and downs, and both have their unique points to them. This week, I’ll take a bit of time and go over hardware, customization, and controllers:

The ps3 is very, very customizable when it comes to hard drives themselves. One of the first things I did on the ps3 (within a few months) was upgrade the beast to a 320 GB drive. This way, of course, I wouldn’t worry about deleting downloadable content (demos, addons, network purchases, etc). Of course, I’ve eaten up a bit of that drive (it’s now got around 200 GB free), but that’s ok, I’m nowhere near the point of being worried about space.

The 360, unfortunately is NOT very customizable as far as the hard drive. Right now, from what I can see, you’ve got to purchase a hard drive specifically built by Microsoft, and those only come in 60 and 120 GB sizes. So, I can’t, say, purchase a drive from newegg and throw the beast in there. It just won’t work, which is pretty sad .

As far as controllers, I thought that getting used to the 360 controller would be a bit hard. I’ve never owned an X-Box of any kind (I really dislike the idea of giving away more money to monopolistic organizations), so I’m used to the ps2/3 (they’re virtually the same) controllers. I find, however, that the 360 controller was built a bit more for my larger hands, and it just feels more natural. Score one (at least for me) for the 360!

When it comes to “next gen” stuff, you expect more content, beefier stuff, more substance. Thusly, you’d think the dvd drives would be upgraded to some sort of “next gen” dvd player, right? Well, here, again, the PS3 outshines the 360.

Instead of putting in their proprietary HD-DVD player, Microsoft threw in a standard dvd player, which, quite honestly is a bit depressing. Take, for example the Star Ocean game, just put out by Square Enix (the final fantasy developers). This was one of the reasons I picked UP the 360 (aside from the obligatory halo, etc, but we’ll get into unique content in a later post). The game reminds me of an earlier FF, where you had to constantly switch discs for the ps. Guess what? 3 dvd’s worth of content. You lose one, you’re genuinely screwed!

The PS3, however, has done things properly here. You don’t get a dvd drive, but a Blu-Ray drive (and the only Blu-Ray drive you’ll ever need). This means your storage capacity for data (videos, music, etc) on the disc itself, and that means much, much better content from the developers!

Speaking of optical drives, what’s up with the SOUND on that 360 drive? My god, you could hear that thing from my bedroom. I swear to God it’s louder than my PC, and that sucker’s got a good 6 fans in it!!! The ps3? Nice and quiet. I just can’t get over that!

Now, let’s get into the power supply here:

The PS3 has the power supply built into the console itself. 360? Yeah, you’ve got to go back to a 90′s laptop sized power brick that’s just ugly, nasty, and crazy! More stuff to trip on is not a good idea!!!

Graphics are pretty much the same, both are superb on a 42″ plasma running 1081i native (though the 360 has few 720p+ videos available), and the sound, again, running through that plasma is just stunning.

The first week (hardware), the ps3 wins hands down. While the 360 is pretty decently put together, it’s loud, completely uncustomizable as far as the hard drive goes (without throwing Microsoft more $$$), and much , much louder than the PS3. Couple that with the (admittedly earlier) fire hazzards and system failures and you’ve got yourself a very poorly done system, at least hardware wise.

Next time around? Online content and profiles!! Check back later for that one!!!

Tom

Why move? Well, the place, while originally decent (5 years ago) has repeatedly developed problems over the past 5 years, and just gotten worse when it was sold to another company.

This place was built, probably somewhere in the 60′s or 70′s, and the wiring has just not been update since. While that was good back then, it’s just not good now. For example, the entire place has 2 prong outlets (no 3).

While to most people this might not be a problem, hey, it is to me. This is especially bad during the summer, when certain things just go “off” because the circuitry is supposedly “overloaded”. Why? Damned if I know, and damned if I care.

Of course, this problem only aggravates electrical failures in devices (such as PC’s, TV’s, etc) which can not stand to be just “shut off” improperly. It wouldn’t be so bad, if the individuals actually did something about the problem, but every time I’ve said something about it, I get the typical “It’d cost too much to fix” BS. That is NOT the way to keep customers, whatsoever.

That’s just one gripe though, with the company, and (honestly), not even the major one. I could deal with this problem, IF they provided competent management services. Instead? Well, just take a look at what’s been going on the past 3 years since this company took over the property:

When the current management company took over the property, they immediately informed us that they would no longer be picking up cable bills (something that was in the lease). Of course, I immediately called them and informed them that they were obligated to do so, and it took 2 weeks to get them to live up to the existing lease. Not a huge concern, but you can not alter a lease in any way, shape, or form without signed consent by all parties.

When the current management company took over the property, the neighborhood (apt. community) was reasonably quiet, reasonably decent, had a mixed variety of culture in it, and it was a decent place to be. Now? It’s basically become a “hood”. I’m not talking about the surrounding complexes which the management has no control over, but I’m talking about the complexes which the management has FULL control over and refuses to take action over. They’ve turned a decent complex into a “hood” and it’s just gone to shit quickly.

When the current management company took over, they replaced the existing apartment managers with their own (duuh). The first one was ok, at least she tried to work, but she didn’t last 6 months. The next one (current), Maureen Garlich, is absolutely as lazy as all hell and refuses to work whatsoever. A few examples of this:

Shortly after taking over her management position, tenants were informed that there were to be NO CALLS to the management line whatsoever. WTF?!?!?!? Maintainance issues were to be addressed by a separate maintainance number (which she should be maintaining), disturbance calls were to be made to the police (WTF, she won’t even do her job and keep her tenants in place?), lockouts were to be referred to (get this), a LOCKSMITH! Again, WTF? How the HELL is a locksmith supposed to know whether or not someone is legally supposed to be entering my apartment? They’re NOT. Of course, this also violates the lease terms and conditions I originally signed, which state that the tenant is to call the LANDLORD for lockouts, and is entitled to have their door unlocked once per year for free, afterwards it’s $45 (which is still cheaper than a fucking locksmith).

Another classic example of lazy, crap attitudes from this senile old bitty:
A year or two back, I had a problem with my light fixture. The bulb had burned out, and none of the replacement bulbs were working (thus it was a fixture problem). This was a bathroom fixture, and the only one in there, so taking a crap @ night, well, let’s just say it wasn’t really happening too well.

Being night, I waited until the next day (I’m reasonable), and called her to have maintainance come out and fix it. Since she is the manager, it is her responsibility to manage and co-ordinate these things. I let it go when she didn’t call back by two (like she said), and sat around till 530, again, no worries.

Come 6,7 pm, I still hadn’t heard back from her, and so I called again. Since it was after 5, went straight to voicemail, because, well, she had the phone turned off. I left a very unpleasant VM (she had the chance at pleasantry and blew that out of the water by blowing me off). Since it was a Friday, I didn’t get a call back till Monday. Her excuse:

I forgot

Seriously folks, THAT was all I got! It got resolved that day, but come on now, if you can’t handle even the most menial part of your job, then you CAN’T do your job!

Fast forward now 3, 4 months. Same scenario, different fixture (I did mention it was an old apartment, right).

I started calling the line @ 1pm, got sent directly to VM, then got the “this inbox is full” message, for an hour and a half straight. An hour and a HALF! That’s just unheard of. If you are going somewhere, leave the cell phone with someone who isn’t. It’s not like you can just walk the hell away from paying customers!
When I WAS finally able to, I left a voicemail and said she needed to call me back by the end of business the next day, or have someone out there to deal with it by then. Of course, again, more than reasonable, allowing a day and a half to address the problem.

2 weeks later, STILL nothing. So, it came time for rent, and I mailed them an unsigned, un filled out check, stating that if they wanted my money they were going to have to call ME back and apologize for ignoring me for two weeks, and fix the problem, then they’d be paid rent (sans the time they didn’t do their jobs). Their response?

You never left a message

Despite showing them PROOF of leaving a message, they refused to admit that they got a message (I had phone records from that day, everything), and they demanded full rent, which, of course I was forced to pay (I’m not going to give up an apartment just because some crazy, senile bitch doesn’t want to do her job).

I could go on and on about the incompetence of this woman. From refusing to take charge of the properties she supposedly manages, to trying to break leases by doing things such as modifying them willy-nilly to refusal to actually just do her job in a timely fashion. Another perfect example of this, the last one, and I’m done here:

A couple years back, during Christmas time, the laundry room was suddenly “closed”. Without notice, it was abruptly closed, with a sign saying it’d be back open shortly. Umm, ok, great, but they’re responsible for maintaining these facilities and keeping them running, right?

A month later, still nothing. 6 weeks? STILL Nothing. Oh, they’d repainted the place, made it look all sparkly , shiny, and new, but it was STILL barren , you couldn’t wash or dry anything.

2 months (yes folks, 2 months) after closing the laundry room, they finally re-opened it, with machines that worked. Was an explanation offered? No. Was an apology offered? Not at all. It was simply expected that individuals would ignore the fact that this bitch was too lazy to get off her ass and do her job. Now, I can see a week’s delay, honestly, as things aren’t “instant”. However, 2 months is way, way too long to keep people waiting.

The last time I went in to do laundry, there were even MORE problems with the facilities. This time, it wasn’t service affecting, the driers had just been broken so you couldn’t pay for laundry. This had been going on for a month or so, and it’s still going on 3 weeks later (I can survive 3 weeks easily between laundry loads ). Still not a MAJOR concern, but a HUGE, HUGE lack of respect and concern for tennants and clients.

Last summer, on going into the laundry room, I noticed my key didn’t work any more. Why? Because the lock had been broken. So, what was ONCE a secured area was not so secured. It’s still this way, close to a YEAR later. Again, incompetence and ignorance abound here.

So, given all this, is it reasonable for me to have qualms about moving into another place with this company (who uses this senile old woman to manage virtually ALL of their apartments)? I know she’s rather old (I’ve seen her facebook, and she’s going on 69), and I know I can expect the same pathetic performance from her at the new place.

While we all deserve second chances (I’ve had more than my fair share of them, so I’m a HUGE fan of them), I think she’s had her fair share of second chances, and history will just continue to repeat itself if the problem is not effectively resolved! By resolved, I mean the old broad has to go! She’s grossly incompetent for the position.

What would you do in this position? Also, hey, if you KNOW of any 2BR apartments (even 1BR would be good) in the Waterloo, IA (pref close to West/Covenant) for reasonable rates, please, please, let me know. All you need to do is comment to this story to let me know, or get me a way to get in contact with your management company. Just leave out the following companies:

North Star Realtors / (Calvin and Sandy Horn) – Seriously under-qualified people, a team who can not manage their own tenants well enough at all
Metro Investments – Current company that I’m looking at dumping because of the crazy old broad.
If you get a referral bonus of some kind, make sure to let me know your name or how to get that to you, and if I decide to go with your company , I’ll follow the instructions you provide to make sure you get that

Anyways, I’m tired, I’m sick, I’m cranky. Thanks for reading all this, and I’m really, really looking forward to reading some useful responses here, even if it’s just your own advice on what you’d do here.

Peace out, kids!!

Tom

49. “We spent a lot of time talking about Africa, as we should. Africa is a nation that suffers from incredible disease.” —Gothenburg, Sweden, June 14, 2001

48. “You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.” —Townsend, Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001

47. “We both use Colgate toothpaste.” —after a reporter asked what he had in common with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Camp David, Md., Feb. 23, 2001

46. “Tribal sovereignty means that; it’s sovereign. I mean, you’re a — you’ve been given sovereignty, and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity. And therefore the relationship between the federal government and tribes is one between sovereign entities.” —Washington, D.C., Aug. 6, 2004

45. “I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what’s moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003

44. “I’m the commander — see, I don’t need to explain — I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting thing about being president.” —as quoted in Bob Woodward’s Bush at War

43. “I am here to make an announcement that this Thursday, ticket counters and airplanes will fly out of Ronald Reagan Airport.” —Washington, D.C., Oct. 3, 2001

42. “The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself.” —Grand Rapids, Mich., Jan. 29, 2003

41. “I saw a poll that said the right track/wrong track in Iraq was better than here in America. It’s pretty darn strong. I mean, the people see a better future.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2004

40. “Oh, no, we’re not going to have any casualties.” —discussing the Iraq war with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson, as quoted by Robertson

39. “I hear there’s rumors on the Internets that we’re going to have a draft.” —presidential debate, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 8, 2004

38. “Haven’t we already given money to rich people? Why are we going to do it again?” —to economic advisers discussing a second round of tax cuts, as quoted by former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neil, Washington, D.C., Nov. 26, 2002

37. “We need an energy bill that encourages consumption.” —Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002

36. “After standing on the stage, after the debates, I made it very plain, we will not have an all-volunteer army. And yet, this week — we will have an all-volunteer army!” —Daytona Beach, Fla., Oct. 16, 2004

35. “Do you have blacks, too?” —to Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001

34. “This foreign policy stuff is a little frustrating.” —as quoted by the New York Daily News, April 23, 2002

33. “I got to know Ken Lay when he was head of the — what they call the Governor’s Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor’s Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that’s when I first got to know Ken and worked with Ken.” —attempting to distance himself from his biggest political patron, Enron Chairman Ken Lay, whom he nicknamed “Kenny Boy,” Washington, D.C., Jan. 10, 2002

32. “It is white.” —after being asked by a child in Britain what the White House was like, July 19, 2001

31. “I couldn’t imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah.” —at a White House menorah lighting ceremony, Washington, D.C., Dec. 10, 2001

30. “For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It’s just unacceptable. And we’re going to do something about it.” —Philadelphia, Penn., May 14, 2001
29. “I don’t know why you’re talking about Sweden. They’re the neutral one. They don’t have an army.” —during a Dec. 2002 Oval Office meeting with Rep. Tom Lantos, as reported by the New York Times

28. “You forgot Poland.” —to Sen. John Kerry during the first presidential debate, after Kerry failed to mention Poland’s contributions to the Iraq war coalition, Miami, Fla., Sept. 30, 2004

27. “I’m the master of low expectations.” —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

26. “I’m also not very analytical. You know I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about myself, about why I do things.” —aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

25. “I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe — I believe what I believe is right.” —Rome, Italy, July 22, 2001

24. “We need to counter the shockwave of the evildoer by having individual rate cuts accelerated and by thinking about tax rebates.” —Washington, D.C. Oct. 4, 2001

23. “People say, how can I help on this war against terror? How can I fight evil? You can do so by mentoring a child; by going into a shut-in’s house and say I love you.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 19, 2002

22. “I wish you’d have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it…I’m sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn’t yet….I don’t want to sound like I have made no mistakes. I’m confident I have. I just haven’t — you just put me under the spot here, and maybe I’m not as quick on my feet as I should be in coming up with one.” —President George W. Bush, after being asked to name the biggest mistake he had made, Washington, D.C., April 3, 2004

21. “The really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway.” —explaining why high taxes on the rich are a failed strategy, Annandale, Va., Aug. 9, 2004

20. “My plan reduces the national debt, and fast. So fast, in fact, that economists worry that we’re going to run out of debt to retire.” —radio address, Feb. 24, 2001

19. “You know, when I was one time campaigning in Chicago, a reporter said, ‘Would you ever have a deficit?’ I said, ‘I can’t imagine it, but there would be one if we had a war, or a national emergency, or a recession.’ Never did I dream we’d get the trifecta.” —Houston, Texas, June 14, 2002 (There is no evidence Bush ever made any such statement, despite recounting the trifecta line repeatedly in 2002. A search by the Washington Post revealed that the three caveats were brought up before the 2000 campaign — by Al Gore.)

18. “See, free nations are peaceful nations. Free nations don’t attack each other. Free nations don’t develop weapons of mass destruction.” —Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 3, 2003

17. “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.” —State of the Union Address, Jan. 28, 2003, making a claim that administration officials knew at the time to be false

16. “In Iraq, no doubt about it, it’s tough. It’s hard work. It’s incredibly hard.” —repeating the phrases “hard work,” “working hard,” “hard choices,” and other “hard”-based verbiage 22 times in his first debate with Sen. John Kerry

15. “The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.” —Washington, D.C., Sept. 13, 2001

14. “I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” —Washington, D.C., March 13, 2002

13. “But all in all, it’s been a fabulous year for Laura and me.” —summing up his first year in office, three months after the 9/11 attacks, Washington, D.C., Dec. 20, 2001

12. “I try to go for longer runs, but it’s tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It’s sad that I can’t run longer. It’s one of the saddest things about the presidency.” —interview with “Runners World,” Aug. 2002

11. “Can we win? I don’t think you can win it.” —after being asked whether the war on terror was winnable, “Today” show interview, Aug. 30, 2004

10. “I just want you to know that, when we talk about war, we’re really talking about peace.” —Washington, D.C. June 18, 2002

9. “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.” —to a group of Amish he met with privately, July 9, 2004

8. “Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.” —speaking underneath a “Mission Accomplished” banner aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, May 1, 2003

7. “We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories … And we’ll find more weapons as time goes on. But for those who say we haven’t found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they’re wrong, we found them.” —Washington, D.C., May 30, 2003

6. “Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere!” —President George W. Bush, joking about his administration’s failure to find WMDs in Iraq as he narrated a comic slideshow during the Radio & TV Correspondents’ Association dinner, Washington, D.C., March 24, 2004

5. “If this were a dictatorship, it’d be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I’m the dictator.” —Washington, D.C., Dec. 19, 2000

4. “There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” —Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

3. “Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren’t able to practice their love with women all across this country.” —Poplar Bluff, Mo., Sept. 6, 2004

2. “Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” —Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

1. “My answer is bring them on.” —on Iraqi insurgents attacking U.S. forces, Washington, D.C., July 3, 2003

New features? There’s really not much for “new features”. Vista got the features right there, though, admittedly, it was hard(er) on memory usage than XP, which is where most of the criticism came from.

Windows 7 comes packed with IE8 (at least the beta does), which, while I still refuse to use (I don’t use Microsoft browsers for anything, they are completely insecure), has a LOT more security related features.

Windows 7 makes SERIOUS enhancements to UAC (User Authentication Control), which previously just had on/off, but is now much, much more adjustable. No more cancel/allow or be insecure, no more harassment for running files, it’s a good bit more secure.

Windows 7 also incorporates “homegroups” into the OS. This is nothing new to Microsoft, or even Windows, but they’ve made it just that much easier to create a home network, wired, or wireless.

Windows 7 does away (from what I’ve seen) with the “sidebar”, which was just an annoying problem to begin with.

Windows 7 merges the “quicklaunch” and the “taskbar” into one . At first, I thought this would be a complete turnoff, but it actually is quite impressive. Of course, I have to still train myself to use the QL buttons, instead of firing up the start menu, but it does good.

Windows 7 updates the “themes” capability by allowing multiple backgrounds (if you know how to add your own backgrounds to these “themes”, I’d love to hear it). Currently, I’m running one that is a U.S. theme and rotates the background every few minutes. Small stuff, yeah, but it’s just nice to have!

As well, Windows 7 takes the time to ensure that application compatability actually WORKS. I didn’t try this (too much) in Vista, because it all worked out of the box, but I have yet to find something that DOESN’T work, using the application compatability feature.

Resource usage? 64 bit Vista took a minimum (minimum, mind you) of 2-2.5 gig ram, while 7 cuts that down to 1-1.5. That’s still a good bit, but any modern computer can handle that, and that’s ONLY the 64 bit version (which, you’re probably only running if you’ve got a crap ton of ram to begin with).

Who knows whether Windows 7 will be the “official” name for it, or if it’s just a beta name, but my god, this thing is absolutely stunning. Visually, you can’t really top Vista, they did great work there. Feature wise, again, no real major improvements. Performance wise, absolutely great!

Of course, this is only a beta, but I’ve got to say that I’m duly impressed. While I had no problems myself with Vista, I think that anyone running a PC should be easily impressed with 7.

I’m sure there are many, many other features of Windows 7 that will be released, or are being worked on, but I’ve got to say, for a beta, it looks like Microsoft (again) did an incredible, incredible job. Take a look at some of the screenshots and you’ll see what I’m talking about here.

The beta has only been out for a couple weeks, but since it’s been out, I changed both the desktop and laptop, and am just amazingly impressed. Look for a bit more in depth review as I spend more time working with it.

Tom

“You’re wrong,” the young man declared. “For the past five years I’ve been working in the bank where your father has his account.”

“That’s wonderful,” the artist exclaimed. “What’s the bad news?” “The guy was your doctor…”

“Oh,” said the boy, “and how did you and daddy get born?”

“Oh, the stork brought us too.”

“Well how were grandpa and grandma born?” the boy persisted.

“Well darling, the stork brought them too!” said the mother, by now starting to squirm a little.

Several days later, the boy handed in his paper to the teacher who read with confusion the opening sentence: “This report has been very difficult to write due to the fact that there hasn’t been a natural childbirth in my family for three generations.”

The first nurse said, “I worked in an emergency room. We tried our best to help patients, even though occasionally we did lose one. I think I deserve to go to heaven.” St. Peter looks at her file and admits her to heaven.

The second nurse says, “I worked in an operating room. It’s a very high stress environment and we do our best. Sometimes the patients are too sick and we lose them, but overall we try very hard.” St. Peter looks at her file and admits her to heaven.

The third nurse says, “I was a case manager for an HMO.”

St. Peter looks at her file. He pulls out a calculator and starts punching away at it furiously, constantly going back to the nurse’s file. After a few minutes St. Peter looks up, smiles, and says, “Congratulations! You’ve been admitted to heaven … for five days!”