Star of the Order of the Thistle

The Order of the Thistle is a chivalrous order associated with Scotland (gotta love that Wikipedia!) Their namesake and symbol is the thistle, a thorny little plant that happens to also be the national flower of Scotland. It is said that the flower caused some Viking to cry out in pain while he and his fellow raiders were trying to creep up on some Scottish soldiers. His misstep and untimely yelp was enough to foil their surprise attack. Hence we have the perfect metaphor to go with the motto listed above.

I believe we’ll also take the thistle to be our family flower to boot.

Nemo me impune lacessit. You can attack, but you’ll pay for it!

Insignia of Knight of the Thistle

Nu Thang - Thug For Life!

I have been obsessively watching this video over the past 24 hours.

It’s one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

It has it all. The pants. The gel. The shirt. The dance moves.

Amazing!

By the way, this “kid” is now a grown adult with a YouTube channel.

It’s not a big deal. It may have seemed like a large splinter from the photographs, but as you will see in the photos below, I safely removed it without harm to the frame (or my fingers!) It was really superficial. I think a lot of folks may have been left with the impression from the photographs that it was more like a crack. I’ve gotten some questions about it in the ginormous Mac Rumors Portenzo thread and from the Portenzo Facebook Page. As you can see in the photos below, it really was just a small sliver/splinter of wood near the edge.

[View with PicLens]

Sure, it left a small area that didn’t look as routed as the rest of the opening – if you look really closely – but it still is only a case. In the past 24 hours alone I’ve dinged and dented it more than once. I’m positive that I will continue to beat and bang this case up over its lifetime. It’s only a case. Should go get a case for my case? I think not!

Shout out to Kris and Team Portenzo once again for the quality, hand-crafted case.

Portenzo Tag

You can purchase a case on the Portenzo website at http://shop.portenzo.com. Be prepared to wait a month or more right now for your case to be hand-crafted and sent out.

If you’re wondering about the stylus I use in the photos from the main review, it’s from Boxwave and can be purchased on Amazon.

*Note: Previously buyers were able to choose between Levant and Morocco materials for your faux leather covers. Portenzo no longer offers a choice between these two, most likely because of the supply problems they had earlier. See their site for more details.

I did not opt for the magna grip cover. I instead chose the strap, but you can actually have both installed. If you’d like to order, visit the Portenzo website.

The stylus shown in the photos is from Boxwave, and can be purchased here.

[View with PicLens]

12►

Darin and Team Portenzo (shout out to Kris who made my case!) did a great job here.

I’m not going to lie: 5 weeks felt like way too long to wait for a case, but the end result was totally worth it. My case ended up being a grand total of about $77 after shipping, given the options that I chose.

Check out the review video on YouTube:

There were a few small defects with the case, but most of them are not a big deal. Probably the most important would be the splinter leftover where the volume rocker area was routed. See the below photo.

Splinter on the Portenzo case. Not a big deal.

My Top 10 Artists (Week Ending 2011-04-17)

1. The Clash (57)
2. The Budos Band (30)
3. Burning Brides (12)
4. Art Official Intelligence (10)
5. Tool (8)
6. Don Caballero (8)
7. Blueprint (8)
8. Muse (6)
9. Mulatu Astatke (6)
10. Chavez (4)

last.fm profile page: malcommc

I reserved a 32GB Black Wifi iPad 2 on March 15th at Best Buy. They ended up calling me on March 29th to tell me the iPad 2 model I had ordered had come in. So, all-in-all, it was a fairly fast, stress free option from my previous post.

(NOTE: According to some sources, Best Buy is no longer taking reservations. However, I was told that once they fill all of their current reservations, they’ll begin again.)

However, I already had an iPad 2 by then, and I did it without standing in line or obsessively calling or driving from store-to-store. As my previous article mentioned, I used the Target iPad 2 Inventory Tracker from ObamaPacMan.com. I ended up driving about 30 minutes away one afternoon and picked up a 16GB black wifi iPad 2 on March 23 . The Target employee told me that I had 90 days to return it, but even if it was 14 days like Best Buy, I still had time to choose. I ended up buying the 32GB black wifi version, but never opened it. I actually wound up returning it to Best Buy the next day.

As for why I chose to stick with the 16GB wifi model, check this article out. The iPad 2 for me is more of a work tool than anything else. I do consume a bit of media on it, but it’s mostly used for productivity and communication in my daily grind.

If you’re still wondering about the availability of the iPad 2 in the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, Williamsburg or other areas in Hampton Roads, VA, check out my previous article: How to Get an iPad 2 in Hampton Roads, VA. You’ll find links to various iPad stock levels for Best Buy, Walmart, and Target, plus tips on when to check the MacArthur Center Apple Store in Norfolk, VA.

No matter which way you play it, the best strategy for getting an iPad 2 is to wait. I didn’t stand in any lines, though I have nothing against folks that do that. I didn’t drive all over town. I didn’t make a million phone calls. I just had a little patience and did a little research.

Many thanks to the ObamaPacMan.com blog for posting the links to the various inventory trackers. They are not real-time stock levels, but they are pretty good!

What’s your iPad 2 story?

My Top 10 Artists (Week Ending 2011-04-03)

1. The Budos Band (19)
2. Disney (13)
3. Nomo (6)
4. Hive (5)
5. Arcade Fire (3)
6. Radiohead (3)
7. Death Cab for Cutie (3)
8. The Black Keys (3)
9. Vecchio (2)
10. Mike Simpson With Spongebob Patrick And Goofy Goober - (2)

last.fm profile page: malcommc

My Top 10 Artists (Week Ending 2011-03-20)

1. The Budos Band (68)
2. Nomo (15)
3. Hive (10)
4. Hans Zimmer (6)
5. Mombasa (2)
6. Lafayette Afro Rock Band (2)
7. Vecchio (2)
8. King, Peter (2)
9. Skeletons (2)
10. Wali & the Afro Caravan (2)

last.fm profile page: malcommc

How to get an iPad 2 in Hampton Roads, VA

If you would like to hear more about the reasons for the iPad 2 being out-of-stock or having low inventory, there’s more info at the bottom of this article.

Ok, if you live in the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth,  Suffolk, Hampton, Newport News or Williamsburg, VA area, here are some of your options for getting the iPad 2 sooner, rather than later.

As of March 23rd, 2011:

1. Use the various links on this brilliant blog to check Target stores availability. At this time, it seems that Target is the only retailer that you can do this with. Best strategy is to check in the morning before they open at 8, then again at 10 or 10:30. Be prepared to drive to any location within 25 miles to grab yours. I did this on Monday, March 21 and grabbed one. It was not the exact model I wanted, but they have a 90 day return policy, so when the demand lightens up a bit, I plan on swapping out the one I have now for the exact model I want in the future. (Thanks, ObamaPacMan.com!)
2. Go to Best Buy. The actual retail store, not their website. Yes, you have to go in. No, you can’t call. Go to the customer service counter. Yes, you have to stand in line. Yes, it feels like you’re at the DMV. No, not the Geek Squad counter. Once you get to the counter, ask the clerk if they have any iPad 2′s in stock. They will probably roll their eyes, but wait for their answer. Then, ask to reserve one. You will be asked to fill out a form, and drop $100 for a deposit. It’s not really so much of a deposit as a gift card. You can use it toward the payment of your iPad 2 when it comes in or use it for any other thing in Best Buy. When it comes in, they will call you. The best part? If you end up getting an iPad 2 somewhere else, you can go back in, cancel your reservation and turn the card back in for a refund. No blood, no foul!
   (UPDATE: There is now a Best Buy iPad 2 Inventory Tracker.)
3. Go to MacArthur Center’s Apple Store in Norfolk, VA every morning before 9am. The store opens at 9am Monday through Saturday, and at 11am on Sunday (not 100% on the Sunday hours, to take your own chances with that.) An employee told me that they get iPad 2′s every single day, but they never know what they are getting and they usually sell out before 10am. He also told me there’s a line each morning before the store opens.
4. Try a Verizon Wireless store or an AT&T store. They won’t have any WiFi only models in, but I did manage to find two white 64GB models at a Verizon Wireless store last week. I wasn’t able to call, I had to stop in. They were not the model I was after, so I let them go. A couple of hours later, and they were gone.
5. Craigslist or eBay. You can go the other way with this and pay far too much for the product if you just can’t wait. I do not advise that you do this. See option 6 below if you’re at this point of desperation.
6. Wait. Yeah. Just wait. It will clear up in time. The Best Buy reservation is the best way to go to keep you from going crazy. Rather than driving all over town and making tons of phone calls, just fill out the form and pay the deposit and kick back until they call you. In the meantime, if you get lucky with the Target link or the Norfolk Apple Store, you can always cancel. Just don’t give those damned vultures on Craigslist or eBay your hard earned cash.

There are several factors that are compounding this problem of iPad 2 availability.

1. The 18 different models. There are 3 different storage sizes (16GB, 32 GB, and 64GB,) two different colors (black or white) and three versions (the WiFi only model…or AT&T or Verizon Wireless models – both of which offer wifi and 3G capabilities.)
2. Scalpers. I actually witnessed this last week while on a brief business day-trip to Manhattan. There were a large group of very coordinated folks running around with cash in their hands, and they were all working for the same guy. It was brutal. While it is true that some of these are being sold on the street or on Craigslist/eBay, most of them seem to be going overseas, where the product won’t be shipping for quite a while. I imagine they can sell them for double or even triple the price in other countries.
3. Hype. Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd. Nothing makes a product more desirable than not being able to get it easily!

The scarce availability of this or any other overly-hyped product will not last. In a few weeks, or even a month or two, most people probably will not have a problem getting one of these. Although, as of this writing, trying to buy one on the online Apple store still gives a reminder about the scarcity of this product. (Ships: 4-5 weeks)

Tell me about your iPad 2 story in the comments below.

It went like this:

1st Worker: (staring at a monitor) It says here that Japan is situated on the Ring of Fire.
2nd Worker: (also staring at their own monitor) Well, Africa has fault lines too. We could get a tsunami from something there.
3rd Worker: Yeah but we’re not on the Ring of Fire.
1st Worker: The West Coast is.
2nd Worker: But the East Coast isn’t. No fault lines here either. We’re safe.
3rd Worker: Do you think we’ll feel it here? Will it flood?
1st Worker: Did you know that Japan is actually an island?
2nd Worker: It is?
3rd Worker: I didn’t know that either.
1st Worker: I guess I should have paid better attention in Geography.

So, naturally the conversation didn’t end there, but I won’t allow your brain cells to be killed off any further by listening to more of it. I did get a little bit of a kick out of the manager walking in, looking at the 1st Worker’s screen and then looking around like “why aren’t you working?” One of the workers actually tried to say something about the horrible Ring of Fire, and the manager just looked at them like “yeah, I care. Get back to work!”

All I could think of was how sad that little exchange was, and how commonly it probably occurs. I also wondered about this term that I heard repeated over and over while I was standing there: Ring of Fire.

I went home and looked it up, certain of the source, hoping that I was wrong.

But no…here it was:

Ring of Fire in the Pacific Ocean

The graphic above came from an ABC News video. Of course, the Ring of Fire isn’t a new term. This article from Wikipedia (what would my posts be without a good Wikipedia link?) will tell you all about the Pacific Ring of Fire, which is an area where a lot of tectonic activity (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc.) takes place.

But that’s not what is making this term popular of course. Our media outlets here in the United States have grabbed a term yet again that sounds ominous enough already, and are using it for every drop of fear that they can wring out of the viewers. (Note how quickly a professionally designed graphic for “RING OF FIRE” was churned out.) Of course, this keeps them watching, and plays on the notion of “are we in danger here?!”

It’s not that I am picking on ABC in particular. All of the news companies have been reporting on this stuff non-stop, and since the nuclear reactors in Japan may now be unstable, there’s yet another goldmine for a 24/7 scarefest. Fear sells in media as effectively as sex sells everywhere else.

My heart goes out to the Japanese and every other population that is truly affected by this. To my fellow Americans that may be frightened by our news boogeymen, I say: you’re freaking out about the wrong thing.

The rest of that conversation back in the office revolved around things like “India has a bad fault line, so I hear.” and “Where was that other bad tsunami?” I’m glad you’re talking about stuff, folks. Get educated so that you can help others understand what it is like to be a global citizen. Live outside your suburb.