Best communication methods

[videoguy50]

Hey guys!

Which method are you finding that works with you and your woman?  Starting a relationship is hard enough on its own without the added burden of being far away from each other for long periods of time.

 For the guys that are just starting out...how do you keep the communication interesting so she keeps interested in you?


All the best..

Videoguy

[Capstone]

I sent my wife a magic jack after we became serious - that way she could call me anytime she wanted to and talk for as long as we wanted to for free. Prior to that we used Windows Messenger a lot.

[z_k_g]

We communicate pretty much for free all day long!

I have yahoo messenger in my phone, a blackberry, and she has a Nokia 2600 Classic with Opera Mini installed.  I send her a regular load, SMART network, and she can use Yahoo thru the Opera mini, its unlimited pretty much, no fees for the chatting.  In 8 months I've spent about $100 on communication, including the Nokia which i got on ebay.ph for $60.

Later she plans on getting a Globe Tatoo.  Its a usb stick that allows Internet access to any computer, similar to what we have here with mobile broadband.  SMART has one also and so does Sun depends on where you live in RP, once service is better than others.  Globe Broadband works better in her area.

We will use the Globe Tatoo to cam and talk using yahoo voice to take the place of expensive phone card and cell charges.

Works great!  She had a friend load Opera Mini!

I will also get her the awesome Magic Jack if she ever gets a permanent broadband connection, but she would then have to get an actual telephone with that!

Zulu

[thekfc]

1st Choice: MagicJack - Great investment for anyone, it will save you $$$.
2nd: Yahoo Messenger - Because she want to see me. 
3rd: Text Messages - I loaded just about everything on her smart phone, (Opera Mobile, Yahoo/ Yahoo Messenger, Skype for Mobile, Google, internet radio, YouTube,  Facebook, etc,) but she mainly use it as a music phone - although she have an Apple Ipod Nano. 

[robert angel]

Re:

>> I loaded just about everything on her smart phone, (Opera Mobile, Yahoo/ Yahoo Messenger, Skype for Mobile, Google, internet radio, YouTube,  Facebook, etc,) but she mainly use it as a music phone - although she have an Apple Ipod Nano.<<

Kfc, As usual, you were right. I dumped my Blackberry Storm, I really hated, and the got the Droid X , which just totally smokes the BB. Guess we'll unlock the BB and bring it to use in the Philippines, next trip.

Whereas with the BB, I really didn't have much interest in learning and unlocking it's various potentials, the Droid X just cries out 'play with me--I'm easy!" That said, there are sooo many 'apps' (applications) you can download for free and a lot you can pay for, I think I'll weed out--edit some apps I installed and they have really fast 'app remover' apps to do that with.

I'll still probably still not get the hang of all the Droid X's potential, but I'll still have fun with it. Strange how it ships with basically NO user manual--not even a CDROM. Get online...

Google's open source policy for apps is very cool, but in a way, Google scares me--they want the world and nothing less, it seems.

Watch Nokia to bring a couple amazing smart phones to the USA soon--they've been doing a lot of patient research.

The guy who's in charge of Motorola, Sanjay, I forget his last name, says this one Ghz processor in current Droids will pale within 12 months, when he expects Motorola (and other's phones I'm sure) to run on 2 Ghz processors.

After all, the mini lap top computer's --- the net book's "Atom" dual core processors (about the size of a dime) were orginally  intended for cell phones and last time I checked, were running about 1.7 Ghz....

I figure now's a good time to get in on a phone as you can over clock the current phone processors if you really need to and the platform is upgradable w/o even having to tether it w/ a mini USB cord to the computer. Right now, 16 GB is plenty of storage for me, but once the better brand quality 32 GB mini SDHC chips make their inevitable drop in price, I'll pick one up when they drop below $2 a GB.

There's almost no point in waiting on the merry go round for the 'next big thing'--it will be trumped quickly. I bet if I buy a desk top today, they'll start selling them with the new USB 3.0 connections.....

I paid over $3500 for our first Compaq desktop computer in 1998. It had a 1.6 gigabyte hard drive and a big box, 14 inch monitor! Heck, a couple years ago, we paid $2300 for a  now already antiquated Dell XPS 13 inch laptop--the almost now infamous 1330 model. (Dell as in "hell") The 2 ghz Mac Book was $1600...

Smart phones are advancing like desk top computers were ten years ago--fast... "In the future, everything that's 'state of the art' will only be so for ten minutes" --(Robert Angel)

[thekfc]

The Droid X is a great phone. If it was GSM I would have jump on it.

Ahya has a good phone but she discovered the full potential of it yet. She mainly likes the music & video apps, Multimedia texting (she calls it video texting), &  Google Map. She just discovered a "new" feature (although I told her that her phone can do it) having the phone read her messages to her in stead of her reading it herself.   
 
I put a bunch of games on there for her - Pacman, Final Fantasy, Sims, Tetris, Bejeweled, Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, etc, but she mainly go with the different music apps & her nieces/nephews play the game (she herself plays the same games on the computer). 

As for my "ancient" Nokia E71, I just put some news apps in & WOW. More & more this phone just amazes me.

Yep, pretty soon people will use their phones (instead of their laptop)  when they travel. I am already using QuickOffice (Word/Excel/Powerpoint) on my phone. And more & more companies/stores are now including/have a WAP site. Hmmm, what about Planet-Love.

Right now I am waiting for the 4th quarter so I can test the new "toys".   

[robert angel]

Kfc--that Nokia E71 is a great phone still (some great techs I know swear by them) and Nokia, as mentioned, has some serious designs coming soon that plan on producing phones that combine the best of the rest and do even more in a better way. You've seen how Nokia dominates overseas....

Apple has surprisingly little market share world wide, overall.

I've heard phones in Japan can open car and home locks, that you can load your credit card into them and buy groceries, more electronics, that they can stream movies and TV, etc....

But my favorite old phone--long, long gone, was the old, clam shell design, Motorola Star Tac. I think you could throw that SOB on the floor, play hockey with it, pick it up and call Mom, asking her 'what's for dinner?"


Back to the topic, Yahoo instant messenger was the mainstay of our overseas viewing and communications, but I have to look into the pros and cons of Magic Jack. For that matter, I've got to finally get over it and dump Comcast (except for internet) cable TV (tired of "feeding the pig") and go dish, but Apple and others are coming out w/ all these new 'boxes' that promise (after purchase) tons of channels for free--or less!--haha....

[thekfc]

Kfc--that Nokia E71 is a great phone still (some great techs I know swear by them) and Nokia, as mentioned, has some serious designs coming soon that plan on producing phones that combine the best of the rest and do even more in a better way. You've seen how Nokia dominates overseas....

They sure have, I am eagerly waiting on their new "toys".

that you can load your credit card into them and buy groceries

There is a guy's who work next door to me & his sister does this but she uses it in South Korea. She say that she rarely uses her credit card when she is in Busan.

[throwawaydad]

I don't know who the bigger slacker here is...Robert or thekfc.

When I was your age

*Closes Eyes*

RAM was 100 bucks a MEG.  I remember my company paying $1600 for a 16 MEG stick.  Now I'm running 8 GIG of RAM on my trading platforms.  I remember buying a desktop with a 1 Gig HD, and a 1MEG video card.  People were shocked.

TAD bleeding to death on the cutting edge.

I still have Win 3 install floppies, and 5.25 inch DOS 2.x floppies

When one thinks about it the "quantum leap" in hand-held computing power is nothing short of stunning.  I LOVE music, but even with ALL my favorite music, I still have WAY <4 GIG.

Meanwhile here's a vid you might appreciate:

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8r1CZTLk-Gk?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8r1CZTLk-Gk?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

[throwawaydad]

I apologize guys...I don't know how the embed code gets all screwed up.  Sorry for the thread drift, as well.


TAD

[robert angel]

T.A.D.,

Maybe you messed up because your computer's still running COBOL or maybe it's an old Apple, still using Pascal!

I was amazed that Pascal was still in use that late in early Apple computers and COBOL, which came out in 1959, received a 2002 update. I remember, back in the 1980's having to slog thru those programming models.

There was more computer processing power in the first Nintendo Gameboy toy than there was in the NASA Apollo moon rockets that put men on the moon. (and brought them back home again).

It amazes me that with all the advances in technology, that today they pretty much think that sending more men to the moon (I am NOT saying that--or sending some one to Mars to get some "Mar's rocks' a good idea--it's NOT) is impossible today, as it's prohibitively expensive...

[thekfc]

TAD are you still using Nintendo 64 & Atari 65XE or have you upgraded yet? 

[robert angel]

I think they're actually bringing back a new version of the Nintendo 64--wasn't it called the Comodore or some other corny name? Maybe the new 64 will be a Rear Admiral and run a hot AMD 64 bit chip...

[thekfc]

They are trying to bring back a few of the older stuff.  Amazon even have the Sega  Dreamcast for sale - new. And a lot of the older games are being "re-release".

Nintendo will be upgrading the Wii -  The Wii 2 - they will be adding HD. And both Sony & Microsoft are already working on a new gaming console (PS4 & XBox 760  ) - both rumored to be full HD stereoscopic 3D visuals (as in 3D movies) 

But before that happens they are "redesigning their systems - both Microsoft & Sony are coming out with a motion-sensing game controller:

The Xbox 360 “Slim” Kinect - allow users to interact and play without the need to physically touch a controller. You operate the system using gestures and spoken commands.


And the PS3 Move Motion Controller - works with the PlayStation Eye & similar to the Wii wand:
 
And there is also a White PS3.


Let the gaming wars begin - again.
 

[Ray]

A hundred bucks a Meg for RAM? 5-1/4”  floppies?

Oh come on guys, you’re breaking my heart!

How about $150K/Meg of memory or how about 64K 8” floppies? Remember those?

Now back in the good old days, we had REAL computers, not these gay little desk top or laptop gismos.

When I was in the Navy I worked on computers the size of large refrigerators (and larger).  One had 16K of magnetic core memory. Each 4K memory module was a cube about 8”x8”.

Another was about 3 times as large and was water-cooled. We did a big upgrade to these by adding one Meg of core memory in a unit the size of a refrigerator, for a cost of probably $150,000 or so. We had to put the memory unit in another room and run cables to the mainframe. Boy that sure speeded up the processing!

Now for a man’s computer, I worked on an IBM 604 “Calculator” in high school electronics lab. This thing went into production in 1948, weighed almost a ton, and had over a thousand vacuum tubes. It was programmed on wiring boards and could run a 60-instruction program. The clock ‘speed’ was 50KHz. We spent probably as much time troubleshooting and replacing vacuum tube units as we did in actual processing. The original cost was something like $26K

Ray   

[throwawaydad]

And here's a picture of Ray in happier days...

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/pages-7/New-Irish-gun-law-expected-to-bring-increase-in-drunken-shootings-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html


 

[Jeff S]

I wonder what the "helm" is for.

[michaelb]

Why heck, I was writing IBM mainframe assembler (also known as ALC or Assembly Language Coding) TODAY! Do it and/or COBOL (sometimes both) everyday. What's the big deal? We used to have a fire/EMS dispatch system written all in ALC that stayed up for months at a time with no trouble.....the server based piece of CRAP they replaced it with (at a cost of over 10 million dollars up front and they've sunk another several million into it for 'enhancements' and 'upgrades') often can't make it two days without crashing. My often repeated comment about it is "They never gave me and Brenda ten million dollars, and our system worked!"

Robert, the name of the machine you are trying to think of is "Commodore 64", so named because it had 64K (that's 64 thousand, not million) bytes of memory...it was the big brother to the "Commodore VIC 20" (so named because it had 20K). I think I've still got one of each of them stuffed in a closet somewhere.

BTW, I think the last major upgrade to COBOL was in 2005.

[robert angel]

Thanks, MichaelB--The longer I live, the more I realize I don't really know. That Rand computer about blew my boxers off, man.

My late Uncle worked on the "Manhattan Project" and I wonder how he and ole Oppenheimer ever pulled that thing off, with the primitive (by today's standards, anyway) tools they had to work with. Uncle Jimmy always did kind of have a tan, after watching a few of those initial bomb flashes and mushroom clouds in those deserts out west.

Actually, I have a photographic memory, I just occasionally forget to insert the SDHC card.....

Now regarding Ray and:

>>And here's a picture of Ray in happier days...

http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Everyone%20Else/pages-7/New-Irish-gun-law-expected-to-bring-increase-in-drunken-shootings-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html  <<

I can't vouch for it's veracity either way, but after looking closer at the cans--- isn't Ray a San Miguel brew kinda guy?

 

[Dave H]

I sure hope that guy was shot! No self-respecting Irishman would pass out on a friggin' 6 pack! 

Dave

[robert angel]

Aye, Dave...

You'd be surprised. Some Irish just can't hold their beer (or liquor) well. Legend has it that me me Mum's brother Henry, of pure Irish blood, would begin to get smacko after two beers. Hence my Italian Father dubbed him "Two Beer Henry". They'd go bowling and I heard that after a few, he could hardly keep his ball in the lane.

After a while, Uncle Henry' realized that 'The drink' was having him, instead of vice versa, and he gave it up all together. A big, manly Irishman, a former combat pilot in Vietnam who came back to NYC in 1969 and said "This place is awful--let's all move to Montana" he and my Aunt are still out there--he's a 'man's man' who made the right decisions when he needed to. Except the one where we had a family reunion out there and he had all of us kids spend a good bit of time removing rocks from his ranch's grazing land, that is....

[Dave H]

Aye, Dave...

You'd be surprised. Some Irish just can't hold their beer (or liquor) well.

Hey Rob,

You're right...let me rephrase that, No self-respecting Orangeman would pass out on a friggin' 6 pack! 

Dave of Orange
















orangemanman would pass out on a friggin' 6 pack!

[videoguy50]

Hey guys...

You've had  some fun with this topic.

 I was old school and had to send letters to my wife in Vietnam.  I had a Vietnamese guy I worked with translate her letters to  me and mine to her.   We have a years worth of letters and have fun reading them now 11 yrs later.

 She didn't have a phone line in her parent's home and went to her neighbors house to talk to me long distance.  This is back in 1999 and I had never called overseas before so I was ripped off by ATT for about $50 a call for only about 30 minutes.

When we met, she was too shy to speak any Englishl, she could write, so we wrote notes to each other.  So in the begining the phone conversations were very labored.

Now she is on Skype or Yahoo Messanger to talk to her family.  The women who speak  fluent English have a big advantage.

Anyone have a similiar experience?

VG

[Jeff S]

Yeah - I dated my wife before Al Gore invented the Internet so we used snail mail and the occasional AT&T full price international long distance (the days before cheap L/D too) at about $1 a minute. I used to try to fool her when I called putting my best Japanese man Nihongo (Japanese language) accent. Had her fooled a couple of times but it was tough - she usually picked up my American accent right away. She spoke almost no English when we met and dated. We wrote to each other in English though. I suspect she spent hours with a dictionary composing her letters and translating mine. Interesting and fun times, but a much slower pace than things happen today with email, chat, skype and webcams.

[Gato4Astrid]

When we met, she was too shy to speak any Englishl, she could write, so we wrote notes to each other. 

I am a deaf person, and I rely on writing notes to any 'hearing' person at first  (even in my own country) ....... so it is a good start - better than no communications at all.

You needn't worry too much about it in the beginning.....