ART X-15 Ultrafoot
The ART X-15 Ultrafoot is one of the absolute ugliest electronic music items you will ever lay eyes on. It is, unfortunately, the world's most popular MIDI foot controller. Fortunately today it looks a whole lot better, but for years the above photo is what it looked like. It's also fortunate there are new MIDI foot controllers that are much, much better and cheaper than the X-15 ever was.
I have one of these fugly things in my possession right now on loan from the singer in the band I'm in. When he brought it into practice for me to take back and program for my DigiTech GSP 1101, I instantly recognized the X-15 because you can spot that awful fuchsia color a mile away.
True to form it is a workhorse controller and built like a tank. It's designed heavy on purpose so it doesn't move around while on the floor. It also works well but for some reason I can't get the GSP 1101 to recognize the expression pedals. No biggie.
Thank God this thing spends its life on the floor so nobody sees it when playing out.
New England and Florida phone area code geekery
For whatever reason I've always been really good at remembering just about every phone number I've ever had, even though I'm allergic to mathematics (I sincerely suck at that.)
People hold their phone numbers near and dear to them, no question. In fact most people can remember how mad they were when the telecom companies started changing around all the area codes in the 1990s.
Prior to the 1990s, all phone numbers in the US had a middle digit of a 0 or 1. In many instances, most states had only a single area code. This was easy because you could easily identify a state simply by that three-digit code and nothing more. Population expansion and wireless phones changed all that to what we have now.
It is at a point where people really like those old-school area codes that have middle-zeros or middle-ones in them and will purposely seek them out. We seem to remember these better than others. Why I have no idea; we just do.
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The first area code I ever had was Connecticut 203. This was back at a time when that code covered the entire state. Then in 1995 a new overlay was introduced, 860. Everybody hated this and most people still do to this day. Whenever I see it, I think, "You got 86ed." It's just a crappy area code designation.
What's even worse is that 203 was degraded to only cover a tiny part of the southwestern corner, adding further insult because I swear, the state reserved 203 for the super-wealthy only. This made the rest of the state residents feel like crap. And yes it did have that much of an impact.
Two more codes are coming for The Constitution State, 475 (which is already somewhat in effect) and 959.
In Massachusetts it was really easy to figure out where you were calling as it had three area codes for the longest time, that being 508, 617 and 413. Boston area was 617. Everybody else I knew was 508. I never had to call 413 because I didn't know anybody in that part of the state.
In MA there are currently nine area codes. Yikes. The days of remembering what area code goes where are long gone.
Rhode Island, thankfully, still has a single area code, 401.
Maine also has a single area code, 207.
I don't know anything about New Hampshire or Vermont as I never called anybody there.
If I ever lived in CT again (which I don't plan on doing,) I would purposely go for a 203. The way I'd do it is somewhat ridiculous. First I'd sign up with a Vonage account, specifically seek out a 203, register it, transfer the number to a cell phone after that, then cancel Vonage. It's an ass-backwards way of doing it, but it beats fighting with the local Telco who will outright say "NO" if you request it. You can only get your 203 in other parts of the state if you registered it thru another service first and have a phone carrier transfer it (which they are required to do by law.)
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Florida has a whopping total of 17 area codes. Yeah, way too many, right? Unfortunately that's the way it is.
There are certain ones that are better than others. I'll start with mine.
The area code I have is the very old-school 813. This is the second area code ever introduced into The Sunshine State, so I can claim bragging rights on that. :)
Locals here hold 813 very dear to them. In fact they sell baseball caps that say 813 on them, to say yes, "I live in the 813." I might even buy one in the future. The 813 code is also the only area code in FL history that has a middle-one in it.
My father's area code (he also lives in FL) is 352. Doesn't sound like much, however there is some cool-factor to it. 352 spells FLA on a phone keypad.
The other area codes of FL that are worth going for are the following:
321 - This is the easiest area code in America as there isn't any 123 (or any area code that starts with 1 for that matter.) This covers the Orlando and surrounding areas.
386 - Geeky area code representative of the Intel 386 CPU. Covers Daytona Beach and surrounding areas.
305, 407, 904 - These are all old-school codes because of middle-zeros. 305 Miami-Dade is the oldest in the state and at one point covered all of FL, 407 is Orlando, 904 is Jacksonville.
Concerning the 813 I have now, I'm definitely keeping it. Even if I moved over to Pinellas County I'd just transfer the number because all they have currently is that craptastic 727.
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My suggestion for anybody is to purposely seek out a middle-zero or middle-one area code - especially if it counts for what that number used to cover. The old-school nature of them really clicks with people and makes your number more memorable.
smokey and the bandit part 3
A few weeks ago I was walking through Wal-Mart and I saw this "Pursuit Pack" which was all three Smokey and the Bandit movies for $10.50. Heck, I couldn't pass that up so I bought it.
The first movie is the only one worth watching and it's definitely done right.
The second movie is awful. Just. Plain. Awful.
And the third..
You have absolutely no idea how bad this movie is unless you've seen it.
It's so bad that you watch it just to experience how big of a piece of crap it is.
It's such a piece of crap that I had to write about it.
Let's start with the plot.
Short version
Sheriff Buford T. Justice must transport a fake fish 1,800 miles to win a bet of $250,000.
I'm not kidding, this is the plot.
Long version
Sheriff Buford T. Justice has finally decided to retire. At his retirement ceremony, the Enos brothers (from the last two movies) decide just for fun to walk in during the ceremony and publicly embarrass him by saying he never caught The Bandit. Then they challenge him to a time test race, whereas if he wins, he gets $250,000. Justice refuses, then goes to Florida with his son to live out his golden years.
After arriving in Florida, Justice becomes miserable from being so bored, then decides to take up the Enos Brothers' offer and travels to see them. The rules of the time race involve Justice transporting a fake fish displaying the new logo for a line of seafood restaurants the brothers are opening up. Justice must transport this fish on top of the police car he's driving within a specific time to a specific destination (Texas) else he doesn't get the money. Justice agrees, and off he goes.
The Enos Brothers, deciding to play dirty, call up Cledus Snow (Snowman) to go after Justice, steal the fish and keep it away from him so he doesn't win the bet. They also say that if Snow brings the fish to where it's supposed to go, he will win the $250,000 bet. Snow excitedly agrees, because he gets to play the part of The Bandit.
Yes, Snow is The Bandit.
"Crazy kooky hijinks" (that's sarcasm) ensue as Snow and Justice travel to Texas to deliver the fish.
Magically, there are ramps everywhere in this movie. Cars are jumped so much it's ridiculous. There are so many jumped you'd think people vault their cars into the air as an everyday thing. The Bandit's car (above) even jumps right out of the garage from a dead stop. Makes no sense at all.
In addition to cars jumping all over the place, they're also crashing through everything as well.
Now let's talk about The Bandit's car.
His car is a Pontiac Trans Am. Since this movie was released in 1983, it's either an '82 or an '83 model. The more modernized wedge shape of the car doesn't fit the "crazy lawbreaker" image at all. And slapping a confederate flag on the front of it is unbelievably tacky.
The original car was a 1977 black and gold Trans Am. It worked and it looked good. But the 1982-1983 T/A just doesn't work at all.
Here are some of the unanswered questions with this movie:
- If Justice is retired, why is he driving a police car with a full light rack in the beginning of the movie? Did the police department decide to give him a police cruiser as a gift?
- Why do the Enos brothers even care whether or not Justice is retiring?
- How did the Enos brothers know Justice was retiring?
- Why is Justice wearing a gold helmet at his retirement ceremony?
- How do Justice and Snow magically know each other's exact location across almost 2,000 miles, given the fact they lose each other several times throughout the movie?
- At the nudist camp when Snow jumps in a boat, why didn't Justice just take the fish from The Bandit's parked car and LEAVE?
- At the race track, how does the announcer know that the two cars that entered the track were The Bandit and Sheriff Justice?
- How can Justice see "The real Bandit" in his mind at the end of the movie?
This movie resembles Swiss cheese it has so many holes in it and you'll find many more.
Watch it for no other reason that it's just so, so bad.
Garmin nuvi 255W crapola part 2
(part 1) nuvi 255W #2 arrived today from Dell. This time it wasn't from UPS but from FedEx. One corner of the box was a little crunched but the unit is fine and in A-OK condition. Works perfectly.
Before getting into that, here's my experience with the return process.
Dell sent me what's called an "electronic UPS Returns Label" in email. There's only one problem with this. I don't have a printer so I can't print it out.
I called the local UPS Store, which is an authorized terminal where I can ship this thing out, and told them my issue. They said I could simply forward the email to them and they would print it out at the shop. Cool! So that's exactly what I did. I forwarded the electronic label, arrived at the store, they printed it, gave me a receipt and the unit it now on its way back to Dell.
Concerning the first 255W I received, here's the list of things that were wrong with it:
- Crunched packing box
- Creased product box
- Touchscreen required you to press really hard to accept touches
- USB power port in the back was way too tight
- Power switch was very stiff
As for my new one, it has absolutely none of these problems whatsoever and acts exactly like it should. When I pushed the power slider, it was smooth and the moment I touched the screen I knew this one was a keeper.
The 255W acts exactly the same way my 205 did. The only real difference is the text-to-speech with the "Samantha" voice (which sounds good but a bit terse), widescreen and US/Canada maps instead of just lower 48-state US.
I'm happy with the purchase.
Garmin nuvi 255W crapola
My brand spankin' new Garmin nuvi 255W arrived from Dell (yes I ordered it from Dell). The first thing I noticed is that the packing box looked like it had been stepped on.
Not cool.
But I figured the inside Garmin box with the actual nuvi in it would be okay.
I took out the box and it had been creased.
Not cool.
Still figuring my nuvi would be okay, I took it out of its box. Everything seemed okay with it.
I grabbed the power cord, went outside and turned it on so it could get its first signal. That went thru without a hitch.
On attempt to plug in the power cord it was way too tight into the USB port in the back.
Not cool.
But even after all this crap I said, "Okay, let's configure this thing."
That's when I got the most upset. The touchscreen required a really firm, and I mean firm, touch in order for it to even register touches from my finger.
Very, very uncool.
I figured that maybe the screen needed a cleaning. I cleaned it. No help at all. Never have I had to press a touchscreen on a Garmin GPS so hard just to get it to function.
In other words, it's a defective nuvi.
I called Dell and will be getting a replacement unit tomorrow.
And if this one exhibits the same problem, I'm not calling Dell back. I'm going to West Marine for warranty replacement direct from Garmin. They're an authorized Garmin retailer. If the touchscreen b.s. happens again, I want to show somebody what I'm talking about, because if this happens twice in a row from the same vendor (Dell), I'm not taking another unit from them. No way. If one is bad, then the second is bad, chances are they have a whole lot of them that are bad as well. And I don't want to order anything from a bad lot, obviously.
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Here's what's happened with Garmin and warranty replacements:
Personally, I've never had a Garmin GPS break. Ever. But my father's did. He has a StreetPilot 2720. The touchscreen failed completely. Fortunately it has a remote control so you could still use it. It was in warranty at the time, so we headed over to a West Marine, they did the whole RMA thing and got a replacement unit which has worked flawlessly ever since. No problems at all.
Here's what's happened with me and Garmin GPS touchscreens:
The best touchscreen I ever used on a Garmin GPS was with the StreetPilot c340. That screen was awesome and very responsive. It never missed a touch. Ever. But I would never use one again because it is a beast, as in large. Big, clunky and has weak audio speakers. But the screen was awesome.
The c580 which I still currently own was slightly less responsive than the c340 due to the anti-glare coating for better readability in sunlight. However it was still lightning quick on touch response (and still is).
The nuvi 270 I had briefly had a touchscreen that was on par with the c580.
The nuvi 205 was on par to the 270/c580.
The nuvi 255W I just received was the absolute worst, hence the reason I'm getting a replacement that will hopefully not exhibit the same problem.
Even before I ordered the 255W, I knew it was not exactly uncommon for this to happen to nuvi widescreen units. It seems that it only happens with the 4.3-inch screens and never the 3.5-inch. I don't know if it's the sensor, the anti-glare coating, the screen itself? No clue. But it does happen periodically. I have read several forum posts on various parts of the internet from people complaining about this. The advice given to those is always the same, "If it's in warranty, get a replacement." And that always works.
Hopefully it will work for me. If not, I'm going to West Marine.