Back when I was younger, about 20 or so, I did some stock trades here and there. Not day trading, but buying a few companies I liked, mostly tech related, and selling them several months later. Then I got really busy and rarely made any stock trades.

In the past week or so, I have begun dabbing in the market again. Not cause I am any less busy, just because I feel I am missing out. Whenever I login to my trading account, I get depressed looking at stocks and funds that I have no love for. I own companies I feel to be failures and in many cases, those stocks are still up from when I bought them, but still, they feel like failures.

This week, I made it a goal to clean up those stocks and move them to companies I like. When I am done, who knows, I might not look again for another ten years or so. But the recent buying and selling is fun.

There is a bit of that thrill you get when you gamble (win or lose). I don't gamble, but I guess this is how it would feel if I did. Clearly, it would have made sense for me to start the buying process a few months ago, but hey - why not now?

Do I know anything about trading stocks? No, not really. That is exactly why I don't play with what I cannot afford to lose.

Posted at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Category: Business | Comments (0) (0)

The OGIO RustyBrick laptop bags are a huge hit. Everyone loves them and we often get requests to send people more. We are actually almost completely out, so may have to reorder one day (they aren't cheap). But the bags are rock solid, comfortable and last a really long time.

So I was looking into getting travel carry-ons for this years gift. Of course, my first stop was OGIO and I decided the Layover would be a good fit. Only issue, it is really expensive. I decided to order a real sample, with our logo on it. I got that bag today but it came broken.

One of the "two-stage Pullman handle" was cracked and the actual bar that went through the bag, was snapped in half. I am not sure if it was a manufactures error or something that happened in transit. Let me show you pictures:

My first instinct was, can I replace this handle bar without having to have the whole bag reordered? I opened the bag and noticed you can unzip the back to see the bars in the back. I then noticed that one of those metal bars was cracked in half!

Crazy! Seriously, is this a bad quality bag or a fluke? Should I order these or not?

Here are pictures of the bag itself:

The brown plaid, in my opinion, goes well with the RB logo:

The wheels look solid:

Lots of internal space and storage compartments:

So what do you think?

Posted at 1:41 PM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick , Travels | Comments (2) (0)

The past several packages of products I received that included twist ties for the cords made me a bit upset.

If you used the twist ties, it felt like they were made for one time use only. They are pur plastic, flimsy and don't really secure the cables like the old ones.

The picture above shows a quality twist tie. It is made with a piece of thin wire, covered by a strongish piece of paper. The wire typically lasts for dozens of twists over the course of months.

But these days, manufacturers are even cutting back on the quality of those twist ties. You use them once and then you throw them away.

Can't a man get a quality twist tie somewhere?

Posted at 9:28 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting | Comments (0) (0)

I just got my Verizon MiFi, which I ordered on Friday. I let it charge for 2.5 hours and set up the device just now. I made some configuration changes to the router itself and it is up and running.

I wanted to quickly document the download and upload speeds, as they are in my office in Suffern, New York. So I did a speed test on SpeakEasy:

Compare that to the speeds I was getting three years ago and it looks pretty sweet:

Which is also faster than the 3G I get from AT&T on my iPhone. To be fair, I just ran the test again on my iPhone 3G (in my office, which has poor connection) and it shows 1050Kbits/s download and 230 Kbits/s upload.

Posted at 4:26 PM | Permalink | Category: Computers | Comments (3) (0)

I am not sure why these types of things make me laugh, but they do and I am sorry. Remember when I was amazed at the car that parked on top of another car?

Well, how about a single SUV parking on top of two cars and then driving away. Check out this video:

Via @Jason.

Posted at 2:26 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny , Motor Vehicle | Comments (0) (0)

Yes, for the first time in my life, I have added shelves to my office. Yes, I know - you are jealous! But you too can get shelves. I picked them up in Target on the isle that had discounts.

I was able to declutter my desk and that file cabinet top, by placing my schwag on the shelves.

Here is a picture of my new shelves:

If you want to see a pretty bad video tour of my office, see over here.

So, in summary - I have shelves.

Posted at 10:42 AM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (1) (0)

My accountant sends me an envelope that says I need to pay a nice amount to the Commissioner of Finance for the "Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Mobility Tax." I paid it, but I have no clue what it is about. So of course, I "google" it and find tax.state.ny.us/mctmt.

What does that tell me? Not much, it just says this is a new tax that has to be paid by my company.

The metropolitan commuter transportation mobility tax (MCTMT) is a new tax imposed on certain employers and self-employed individuals engaging in business within the metropolitan commuter transportation district (MCTD). This department administers the tax for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. (The MCTD includes the counties of New York (Manhattan), Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Rockland, Nassau, Suffolk, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester.)

I then see two video links, so I get excited. Maybe the video's tell me what this tax is about. I watched both videos on the New York State Tax Department's YouTube Channel and learn nothing more than I already know.

(1) I have to pay it
(2) How to pay it online

So I assume it is some type of commuter tax but why am I paying it now, what does it cover?

So I dig even deeper and find a press release on NY Senate's site that this tax is to cover the $2 billion deficit from the MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). Great, I never use the MTA, nor do 99% of my employees, but I got to pay for it.

Faced with devastating cuts to services and fare increases, Senate bill S5451, sponsored by Senator Martin Malavé Dilan (D-Brooklyn), passed Wednesday, May 6 bringing financial solvency and accountability to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The package closes a more than $2 billion operating deficit incurred by the MTA with a two-year $2.9 billion revenue stream covering operational costs and capital. It also puts in place measures to ensure that the public authority operates under the light of day, and incorporates sound accounting practices.

One more tax to the pile of government services I do not use.

Posted at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Category: Business | Comments (1) (0)

I've had the Verizon Wireless V740 ExpressCard for over two years now. It lets me plug the card into my laptop and have Internet virtually anywhere I go. It is rock solid, in fact, I used it on a drive all the way from my office to Albany and back with no issues at all. I actually do it often enough and use it at all conferences and when I travel or go places where I don't want to tap into the open Wifi.

I didn't want to upgrade the plan, in anticipation of AT&T coming out with a tethering plan, so I can connect my iPhone to my computer and use the Internet from my iPhone to power my laptop. The issue is, AT&T is way too unreliable for that, especially in places such as NYC and at conferences (where there are tons of iPhones) to bank on it. So I decided to get a MiFi router from Verizon today.

MiFi is a tiny little wireless router that is basically like the card I have, but acts as a wireless router. The concept isn't new, it is old - but they are becoming more popular these days. The reason I went with this, over a new plug in air card, is that I can share it with multiple people and devices. If and when my iPhone doesn't work at conference or in meetings in NYC, I can let it access the MiFi wireless, along with my laptop. Plus, I can let my fellow bloggers (up to 5) connect to it, so they also can have internet, when they don't.

I don't have the device yet, but when we get it, I'll report back on how I like it. I will also have Ronnie write about the features of the MiFi router at the RustyBrick Blog for those who are interested in how configurable it is.

Just sad I feel the need to get a Verizon MiFi to make sure my iPhone can connect to the Internet - don't ya think?

Posted at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Category: Computers , iPhone | Comments (0) (0)

I was checking my seats on my flight for the PubCon conference in Vegas in a few weeks and noticed that I was no longer in the first row in economy. Having the first row, on long flights, is nice - to say the least. When I booked early, I was able to grab the first row on the way to and from Vegas.

Now, when I look, I have the same seat number, but on the way to Vegas, it looked like they put in two more rows in front of my row. On the way back, the plane is still the same, so I still have the front row coming back (which is a red eye, so it is nice).

Here is the before and after...

Before:

After:

When I called Continental to ask, they said they didn't add new rows, but they changed the plane on me. They then told me that the front row is reserved for handicap. I decided then not to complain and thanked the person for the information. Thankfully, I am not handicap - so sitting in a normal row is just fine for me. If I remember, I'll try to call a day before the flight to see if those seats have been taken. Just too bad they changed planes on me.

I am told this is fairly common.

Posted at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (3) (0)

A week ago, I complained about my iPhone & AT&T fading away my calls. It turned out that it had nothing to do with the software update released the same day.

AT&T called my brother and told them the issue was fixed this morning at 11am. The issue was with the cell phone tower. Some hardware in the tower that powered the phones in that area, was broken.

They supposedly fixed it today.

The thing is, I thought they fixed it on Monday. The fading issue went away on Monday - at least for me.

Maybe they fixed it yesterday but didn't get confirmation of the fix until today?

In any event, the iPhone software update had nothing to do with the fading calls. It has to do with the cell tower hardware issues.

Posted at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (1) (0)

I was one of those people who owned Apple's Mighty Mouse. Ultimately, it drove me incredibly mad that I replaced it with an Logitech VX, until I upgraded the VX to the MX revolutions mouse, which I currently use today. The mighty mouse stunk, it was far from mighty and it needed a refresh bad from Apple - in fact, they should have given all mighty mouse owners a refund. The scroll wheel constantly got stuck and caused a ton of aggravation. The MX mouse from Logitech is a huge time saver for me - it probably saves me 30 minutes per day (compared to the Mighty Mouse).

Today, Apple announced the replacement (a few years later) named the Magic Mouse. Yea, thank goodness they made the apple.com/mightymouse disappear! The magic mouse looks pretty cool. It has the multi-touch features that I have grown to love, built right into it. Plus it looks incredibly sweet.

However, there is one big feature which I can not give up now. I need "quick keys" to open applications on my computer. I live on my Apple Dashboard and I get there using a programmable key on my Logitech mouse. If the Magic Mouse had that, it would make for a really nice alternative.

I have not tested the mouse, but since the scroll wheel is not a physical ball, I doubt it will get stuck like the mighty mouse did.

If you want to buy me a present, I wouldn't mind getting this (hint, hint) but I doubt I would change my mouse to this one. Although, it would be nice for a conference room mouse.

Posted at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (0) (0)

For the first time in my life, I have used airline miles and credit card points to book a free flight somewhere.

Flights to Israel are not cheap. They are also not too comfortable, cause of the size of the airplane (lots of people) and length of the flight (12 hours). So using miles on these types of flights, often make sense, when you have them.

I had more than enough miles and points to book this flight, for my wife and I (including baby), for free to Israel.

In fact, because of the different types of reward travel offered by Continental, I was able to book Business class. Continental has two reward types, SaverPass Rewards and EasyPass Rewards. SaverPass requires less miles to book. These are then broken out by class type, economy and business. The flights I was looking at had no economy at the SaverPass mile class, but they did have business class. The SaverPass business class miles required was 10,000 miles more than the economy of SaverPass. In my opinion, an extra 10,000 miles to fly business class internationally makes sense.

I was just surprised they let a baby in business class.

I've flown BusinessFirst class with Continental once before, as a free upgrade. It was more comfortable and the food was a bit better, but I really don't need it for most flights. International, I think pays in this case.

Posted at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (1) (0)

I catch myself saying terms that people sometimes do not understand. Not big words, just new words. The latest word is Augmented Reality. Augmented Reality is a fancy way of saying using computer driven technology on top of real world elements. Got that?

Urbanspoon recently updated their iPhone app to include a "scope" feature. You click on the "Scope" and your iPhone's camera turns on (note, this only works with the 3GS). The point is, you are to go outside, open up the app, turn on the scope feature and look at the world in front of you with the camera. Then, Urbanspoon overlays their restaurant data on top of what you see through the camera.

Here are two pictures:

The device knows where I am and using the compass, it knows which direction I am pointing. So Urbanspoon is able to overlay their restaurant data to show me nearby places to eat, how much people like those places (based on their reviews) and how far the place is to my exact location.

People have asked me if we will add this to our iPhone Kosher Restaurant database. It would be cool, but I am not sure how many people would appreciate it.

So if you see someone walking down the street, looking through their iPhone or other mobile device - they are not crazy, they are using Augmented Reality. Walk over to the person and yell, "AR!!!"

Posted at 3:49 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting , iPhone | Comments (0) (0)

I never really used my Google Voice phone number yet but on occasion I get phone number via Google Voice.

Here is an SMS message sent to my phone number, which is not listed anywhere, in my Google Voice inbox:

Not bad, a 3.25% fix mortgage rate?!

Posted at 4:11 PM | Permalink | Category: Computers | Comments (3) (0)

Last Thursday, Apple released an updated OS for the iPhone, with a carrier setting update. I updated immediately cause I am like that - really, that is how I am.

I am sorry I did.

Ever since then, my phone calls fade away for a few seconds and then fade back in. I spoke to a few other people who have updated and they experienced the call "fading" that I have experienced.

I can be speaking to someone, and then I hear nothing. A few seconds later, I hear them talking again, but I missed several words. Often, they have no idea they faded away, so I don't say anything. But I may have missed several words that are important.

Dropped calls are nothing new to the iPhone and AT&T, but call fading is something I have not experienced until 3.1.2.

Update: The issue had nothing to do with the software update but rather an issue with hardware on the cell tower in my local area.

Posted at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (4) (0)

Since December 2008, I have been having this ongoing Verizon phone saga. In short, I signed up with an "authorized" Verizon sales representative who sold me a plan that I was not eligible for. Verizon switched me over, put me on a plan that was the closest thing to what I signed up for and I was being billed twice as much as my previous phone company. I complained month after month about being overcharged and ultimately gave up a few weeks ago, and switched to a new provider to lower my costs.

First, let me say this is not my cell phone - this is my office business lines. I was perfectly happy with my previous provider, but I was told I can save about 8% each month, if I would switch. I switched, and was being billed by Verizon twice as much as my previous provider. I called Verizon after my first bill to cancel, but they put me on a new plan to make up the difference. Ultimately, my bill was still turning out to be about twice as much each month and after months and months of arguing, I switched.

Now my bill is a flat rate, set - and about half of what I was paying Verizon.

I received a bill this week from Verizon for over $200 for a termination charge. I called to explain the situation. I said, this should all be in your account notes, but I explained what the whole situation. Verizon told me, they only keep notes for up to 2 months and then delete them. In short, the rep didn't believe me but gave me a 50% discount on the termination charge.

Clearly, I am not happy. I think I am an honest person. I feel like a stupid Verizon sales rep (not on purpose) switched me to a plan that ended up costing me more. Verizon led me to hang with them just long enough so I can't switch out without paying a termination fee. Now I am stuck paying over a $100 for a service that cost me double, per month, what I was paying, with no added value.

A Verizon rep should be calling me next week to give me the run around again. I'll pay the $100+, simply cause I cannot waste anymore time on this. But I hope you all seriously think twice before switching your landlines to Verizon.

Update: On 10/16/09 a billing specialist called me back. I gave her the short version, she put me on hold for a few seconds after giving me a big sigh. She then came on and said, I have deducted the whole termination fee, please just pay the usage fees. So I mailed out a check for that.

Posted at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (3) (0)

You know what really bugs me related to getting phone calls? It really really really bugs me. It is...

Getting phone calls from people who clearly do not have the time or ability to have a conversation with you. You know what I mean...

Someone calls you, you answer and either there is a ton of noise around them or they are always being pulled away by others or they just cannot focus at the moment.

Why would you call someone, when you clearly cannot speak to that person? This happens both with business and personal phone calls. I often simply want to hang up, because it is a waste of both our time.

Of course, if I call someone and they sound busy, I would say, "is this a good time?" But for someone to call me and then not be able to communicate with me due to distractions - well, that is just annoying.

Overall, I dislike using phones in most cases. Yea, I know, there are some places where it is necessary.

But do not call me when you simply cannot communicate with me properly - it really bugs me. Did I say how much it annoys me? It really really really really bugs me.

Posted at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Category: Rambling | Comments (1) (0)

MobClix was contracted by Gap to run a contest for iPhone App developers, to allow them to build their app and the winner gets to be the official Gap iPhone app. So the contest is now live, please, please, please, go vote for us (IntuApps). Vote for the top middle one, made by IntuApps, which is a company RustyBrick partially owns. Go vote with all your email addresses, as many as you have, please!

Personally, I was not into the idea of building an app for a company with a 'chance' to win. I don't like contests, but I was over ruled (which is rare) and we developed the app. If you want to learn more about the story on why we went ahead to build the app, go read Ronnie's blog post at the RustyBrick blog.

The app really deserves to win. It really gives you the whole Gap store experience. From selecting clothes, to the Gap store music and atmosphere to neat ways on actually buying the clothing. Finally, it even has a cute game to ask you to name the price of the product. Just check out our video demo of the app:

Again, please vote, you will see this screen, vote for the IntuApps app and please tell your friends. Please Vote IntuApps!

Posted at 2:44 PM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (2) (0)

Since my first car, I have this red stuffed animal bull keychain hanging from my rear view mirror. I think technically, it is illegal to have these things hanging, but everyone does it. In any event, here is a picture of it:

The bull is about 13 years old. My brother-in-law gave it to me (or I took it, I don't remember). I was/am a huge Michael Jordan fan and constantly watched him play with the Chicago Bulls. I actually saw him live, thanks again to my brother-in-law, several times in New York against the Knicks and also against the NJ Nets.

So when I saw he had this red bull, the logo of the Chicago Bulls, I wanted it in my car.

Since then, 13 years and I think about five cars later, it has been hanging in my car since.

This morning, he comes to me in Synagogue, to tell me he his kids (my nephews) found the same bull in white and wanted to give it to me. Why? So the red bull doesn't feel lonely. Too funny. Here is a picture of that white bull.

It is white, the lighting was weird in my car that early in the morning.

Didn't Michael Jordan play for the Chicago White Sox? ;-)

Posted at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Category: Motor Vehicle | Comments (1) (0)

As you know, Sukkots is around the corner. I got my Lulav & Esrog and I have built my Sukkah. I bet this is an interesting for non-Jewish people to see Jews practicing (people shaking trees and fruits and living in a temporary house, outside of your real house - real weird, no?). In any event, I finally finished my first Sukkah last night and I wanted to show it off.

On September 13th, I put up the frame with the help of my father and brother. I don't have pictures of that, but here is a picture of the metal polls fitting (snapping) together.

Then this past Sunday, in a light rain, I put up the nylon walls. They basically velcro onto the metal frame. Here are some pictures of the walls going up:

Tuesday night, I put up the roof (known as S'chach), which consists of bamboo. I got the roll out mats of bamboo to make my life easier. I had three mats to put up. I first took wood polls, laid them across the top of the frame and then rolled out the mats on top of the wood polls.

Last night, I put up the lights, as you can see in the picture above as well. I also hung the few decorations we have. But the decorations are very tasteful. They are basically arrangements of fake grapes and a fruit, next to the grapes. Here is a picture of one:

I then wired up the lights to the outdoor timer box and tied down the wires, so they are out of the way.

This is a continuation of my previous Sukkah posts, including o Sukkah shopping, planning the sukkah, finding out it was two inches too long and you can also see my Sukkah in Google Sketchup.

This is my first Sukkah. What do you think?

Posted at 12:15 PM | Permalink | Category: Family , Homey , Religion | Comments (1) (0)

I called my sister last night to ask her a questions about Costco. She didn't answer her home phone, so I decided to send her a text message. I gave her about two hours to reply, but she did not. So I called her at home again and she answered.

When I questioned her as to why she didn't answer her cell. She said that at night, she keeps her cell phone in the kitchen. In the kitchen. I found that to be a bit weird.

I personally keep my cell phone on, all night, charging, near my bed (on my iHome). Even before my iHome, I have always left my cell phone on my dresser near my bed. The only time I turn it off is on Shabbos and Jewish Holidays (simply cause if I get a call, I will freak out the whole time and not be able to do anything about it anyway).

My sister is about ten years older than me. I was thinking, maybe she doesn't put her cell phone near her bed because she is still tied to the landline and the old way of talking on the phone. I believe she did just get into texting, a couple months ago. But I would be surprised if other people her age don't put their cell phone near their dressers.

Take my poll, read all the choices before submitting...

Posted at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting | Comments (10) (0)