Rantings of a Creole Princess

Square iPad Credit Card Register

If I owned a store, booth, kiosk, etc.  I would SO buy this!  This is seriously the hottest thing EVER!!!!!!!!!!

Square Debuts Its Latest Hardware, Stand, A $299 Card Swiper For iPad Registers

 

Time for a new phone?

How old is your current cellphone?

#WiiU Lego City Undercover Review!

Yall know Nintendo knows I'm a big kid at heart and sends me free stuff to try out right?  Right.  Well...last week the FedEx guy dropped off a new game for me to play and it's been sitting here neglected while I do some real life stuff to keep everyone off my back.  

You know...responsibilities and whatnot.  The joys of being an adult.  UGH!

So...I called in an expert to help me and he got right down to it giving me an opportunity to continue working while he took it on a test drive for me.

When he finished playing, he allowed me to interview him so I could add his findings to a post about the game.

Did you enjoy playing the game?

Expert:  YES!

What's it basically about?

Expert:  It's about a policeman named Chase McCain who is solving a big crime.  He has to catch a lot of criminals and take them to jail.  He's involved in car crashes and he has to help people when they ask him to.

What kinds of things do you get to do?

Expert:  Jump flagpoles, chase people, drive cars among a lot of other things.

What was your favorite part so far?

Expert: Chasing the people because I enjoy chasing people at school.

Are there any parts which you found particularly difficult?

Expert:  Yes.  Jumping the flagpoles is pretty difficult.  

Would you recommend this game?

Expert:  Yes.  I'd recommend it to all my friends!

How do yall think he did?  It was his first interview as an 8 year old but I seriously predict big things in his future as he has quite a way with words!

#WiiU FUN!!!!!!!!!!

Yall know we're in the middle of some serious cold here on the East coast and I feel like pretty much everyone is sick of it.  The sun can be out but it's freezing outside and really...I'll be honest when I say I totally get affected by the lack of outside time in the winter.

The kid is struggling.

When Nintendo contacted me and asked if they could come out and throw a game playing party with some of my friends, I said heckie yeah just to have some fun cuz again...I'm struggling.

So they sent out two awesome guys, Dewan and Devir, with healthy platters from Whole Foods, beer, wine and water (cuz that's all we drink at 13700 other than coffee and tea) and my friends rolled in and BAAAAAAAAAABY!  You'd think we were in a park playing kickball with chicken on the grill the amount of fun we had.  

There were prizes and crazy laughter and MAJOR competition.  I ain't saying no names...but somebody was up in here turned up to SUPER SERIOUS when it came to the Luigi's Haunted Mansion on the Nintendo Land game.

Again...I ain't saying no names.

And somebody ELSE was up in here dancing like they were on line pledging all over again.

Again...I ain't saying no names.

The poor kids barely got a chance to play anything because, as we've shown time and time again, the adults I know...KNOW HOW TO GET DOWN AND HAVE A GOOD.DARN.TIME!

Now...there's this one game that I love and, of course, neither E nor The Robinator would ever play it with me cuz they're wussies.  It's called SiNG Party.  Now...when E and I first tried it out...I saw that the song, "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus was on it and I tortured him by singing the EN-TIRE-SONG super loud with swaying and my rendition of faux ballet dance moves.

He almost died.  You know...cuz he's 14 and cool and I'm 43 and cool-ER.

SIP:  That's your story huh?

N E WAY...

So I didn't know about the party mode of the game.  See...when you're having a party...one person gets to sing karaoke style.  The other people watch the television screen and does what it says to do on the screen. So there's dancing and background singing that I didn't know about.  YES!  YES!  YES!  And it's not like sway dancing...it's serious cardio dancing.  Getting your EN.TIRE groove on!  We were like...OH YEAH!  LET'S GO 'HEAD AND GET THIS WORKOUT IN TOO!

Most of the kids declined to join us because they are evil and un-cool.  LOL!  It's not their fault...we're just of a cooler, funner generation.  LOL!

So, you'll notice that our WiiU is in the family room where I'm usually posted up.  That was intentional cuz I LURVE this gaming system!  When you're child-free, as we are, you don't normally have games, etc. going on in your house but we figure...hey...why should parents get to have all the fun?  LOL!  So yup...we play it and have a BLAST!

I loved all of the information Dewan and Devir gave us about the system.  The biggest hit was when they told us that if a kid or Monnie was playing a game and their parent or Robby walked into the room and watched to watch the news...all they had to do was switch it so the kid could continue playing on the game pad only and not the television.  That has probably saved lives in households all over already.  LOL!

Thanks to all of my friends who came out!  The party was supposed to be from 2pm - 5pm.  Of course the last of the guests didn't leave until 10pm.  LOL!  Why?  Cuz that's how we get down-T.  We had a good dang time.

Thanks to Nintendo, as always, for sending me a free gaming system and games.  Thanks for the catered food and thanks for not weirding out when I was adamant about no sodas and only healthy food options in my home.  

Thanks to my friends and framily who all came out and had a good time.  Yall rocksie!  Yall can come play anytime and, when you get your own, let's hook up online and play.  Well...everybody 'cept TravelDiva.  She be in full combat mode!  LOL!  Talking 'bout zombie apocalypse and whatnot and why we gotta run faster.  My rested heart rate just sped up just THINKING about it!  ROFL!

Do you have a WiiU?  What games do you suggest we pick up?  Do you play with your kids?

Which are YOU?

Lytro Camera

One of my Christmas gifts was the Lytro Light Field Camera.  

It's pretty cool in a novelty kind of way because it takes "living" pictures according to the camera description.  See...you can change the focus of the picture by shifting all of the light in the picture to one spot.  Interesting to say the least.

Check out some of my pictures:  https://pictures.lytro.com/lyt-12115042850094/stories/93990 

Click on one and then click on different parts of the picture.  Then...you can zoom in or out and crop it for the perfect picture.

Cool huh?

From Instagram to Flikr.

http://www.flickr.com/

Aiight...I have all of my pics off Instagram now and am about to upload them to Flickr who continues to have privacy sense.

Instagram Bailout!

I'm bailing on Instagram and I've already made my account private while I take the following steps to do so:

Step 1:  Download all of my pictures via Instaport.

Step 2:  Delete account.

Step 3:  Delete app on my phone.

I'll be damned if my pictures end up as ads without my permission nor my being paid.

Now say what now?

Instagram says it now has the right to sell your photos

In its first big policy shift since Facebook bought the photo-sharing site, Instagram claims the right to sell users' photos without payment or notification. Oh, and there's no way to opt out.

Travel Cellphone

 

 

If you were going out of the country for two weeks and you found out that your cellphone wouldn't work in the other country...would you contact your provider to rent a phone which WOULD work or would you just go without a phone?

Gabby Douglas and Nintendo 3DS!

Black Nintendo Wii - Now $129.99

$129.99

RunKeeper App

The Robinator also uses this app while training for his marathon:  RunKeeper

I downloaded it too to see what it was all about.  When I was setting it up, I noticed that it has different training programs built in to help you train for different runs or walks.  I have a girlfriend who has a goal of doing a 5k in the near future so I sent it to her.  The training program seems pretty reasonable and nothing that will kill you.  LOL!

How many of you runners use RunKeeper?  Do you like it?  

Instant Heart Rate App

The Robinator shared this app with me last night and it's pretty cool!  Check it out!  Instant Heart Rate

If you download it...share your resting rate with us!  Mine was 64.  Robby's was 51.  I need to ramp up my cardio so I can beat him.  LOL!  Yes...it's all about competition at 13700!  

What's a normal resting heart rate?

 

Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display - UGH!

So...I'm well on my way to receiving 43 gifts for my birthday.  LOL!  Yes...I've been keeping track.  One of my adopted baby brothers bought me lunch for my birthday yesterday so I considered gift number 22.

I got the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display and I was all geeked, of course, to get it crack-a-lacking and set up.  UNTIL I realized that I don't have any connector cables that would do this justice.  

When I first tried to do it wirelessly, it said it would take 92 hours.  That's 92 hours without BOTH of my MacBook Pros.

*BLINK*

So then I was like...well, I'll just go buy an Apple Thunderbolt to FireWire Adapter .

Easier said than done as I have yet to find one.  I know I could have ordered it online by now but I was hoping, wishing and praying that I could buy one at the Mac store or Best Buy or Radio Shack and not have to wait.

NOT!

Nobody has any.

And I'm pissed.

So my brand new fancy, smancy laptop is sitting on my desk all Colgate wink shiny doing NOTHING!

Leave it to Apple to make me have to buy some new ish before I can use my new ish properly.

*sigh*

Isn't this cheeky?

 

Droid 4 won't turn on!

You've got to be kidding me!

My phone flat out blinked off and now I can't turn it on.  The battery is built in so you can't "reset" it.  

I type the words 'Droid 4' into Mr. Google and IMMEDIATELY 'Droid 4 won't turn on' is the first search option.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Guess who is NOT amused to have to go to Verizon.

Have you had any problems with your phone recently?

Google Vs. Apple

So...have yall noticed how serious this beef between Google and Apple is?  They are NOT playing.  

SIP:  I bet Google wouldn't accept Apple's friend request.  ROFL!

Google Maps Upgraded For Android Devices -- But Not For Apple's iPhone, iPad

Apple drops YouTube as pre-loaded app in iOS 6 system

 

 

 

Mophie Juice Pack for Android!

Last weekend my cellphone took a swim in a toilet so I had to go get a new one.  My old phone was a Motorola Droid 2 Global and I'm not the type to get a new phone just cuz a new one came out.  I get a new phone when my old phone no longer works.

AND IT NO LONGER WORKED.  

*sigh*

I trotted off to Verizon early Sunday morning and sized up the new phones.  The only one with a keyboard AND on the 4G network was the Motorola Droid 4.  

Hey...I'm old.  I need a keyboard to feel like I'm typing.

MOVING ON!  LOL!

So I decided to get it.

Then I asked if they were going to give me a deal on buying batteries because I owned 4 batteries for my Droid 2 and I always run out of battery power before the end of the workday.

And the bottom dropped out.

Um...Ms. Mingo...the battery is built in.  It doesn't come out.

Crap.  Imma be one of those people always hunting down an outlet.  *sigh*

I'm extremely forgetful so that thought scared me so I decided to get me a juice pack and I'm super happy with it.  GO ME!  Mophie Powerstation

What kind of phone are you using?  Does it run out of juice before bedtime?  How do you keep it charged up?  Do you have a car charger too?  Do you have a charger in your office and at home?  Do you keep a charger in your bag?

YOUR Instagram Pics!

How To Get Your Photos Off Instagram

This is TOTALLY awesome!

I used this one:  InstaBackup

And I'm going to order some of these cuz I think this is sooooooooooooooo awesome:  StickyGram

 

Cell Phone Sleepy Time

Where do you keep your cell when you're sleeping?

Troubleshooting

When's the last time you had to troubleshoot one of your electronic devices  yourself?  Did you get it to work?

Lens Cleaner in Neoprene Case

Know how folks are always giving out free stuff at conferences?  Well...I don't take anything that I'm not going to use because I can't stand all that random stuff cluttering up space.

I still end up getting a lot of really cool stuff however, but my absolute FAVORITE free thing I've ever received (other than thumb drives) is this:  Micro-fiber Lens Cleaning Chamois With Neoprene Case and Clip FREE SHIPPING!

It is soooo handy and I use it to clean off my phone, iPad, laptop screen, camera lens, etc.  Makes me happy! 

Unsubscribe

I have been unsubscribing from emails left and right.  Like...around Christmas I got so overloaded with emails it was frustrating so I just stopped all of them from Haute Couture to ideeli, etc.

I'm just sick of all the non-important email.  I feel like it's clutter.

You ever feel like that?

Problems with Verizon Droid and Texting

Before I call these people and get annoyed...is anyone else having problems with texting on their Droid with Verizon service?

Here's what's going on with me.

1.  I try and text and then it gets really slow, stops and shuts down.

2.  I will be sitting here and get like 6 - 12 texts all at once from like...yesterday or the day before.

3.  It takes it's sweet azz time opening texts.  Like...I forget I was opening the text feature sometimes it takes so long.

The LAST thing I feel like doing is dealing with any type of customer service unless it's someone trying to find this Alexander Wang bag I want on sale.

Seriously.

Question...

Do you believe the quality of the DVD player has anything to do with the quality of the picture the TELEVISION produces?

I wish I wish I wish...

Oh how I wish technology could catch up with my wish list. 

1.  A dryer that folds the clothes and puts them away.

2.  A real "beam me up Scotty."

3.  A car that flies above traffic.

Whatchu got? 

Cell Phone Providers

How long have you been with your current provider?

What company did you switch from?

Why did you switch?

Are you considering switching any time soon?

Jawbone Up Band

Okay...seriously...I think I'm going to need one of these in my life now that I see it will come in red also.  Jawbone Up band.

Here's a good article on it:  http://gizmodo.com/5820983/jawbones-up-bracelet-will-track-your-body-as-it-sleeps-eats-or-sits-around-getting-fat

Classic Kinda Girl

Which iPod are you?

Classic:

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Do you ever try to use the screen of something like it is a touchscreen when it isn't? Or is it just me? LOL!

Are YOU participating?

Power down! National Day of Unplugging begins at sunset

Motorola Spare Battery Charger

On set there are always a bunch of people running around looking for outlets to charge up their iPhones.  Folks be leaving their phones unattended and whatnot trying to get more juice.

Me?  Not a problem.  I have three batteries for my DROID! and I have this nifty thingy that can be attached to my car charger as well as to a regular outlet as well.

 

Motorola OEM P323 Spare Battery Charger Only with MicroUSB and MiniUSB Connectors for Different Battery Families

This way the kid always has juice unless she's locked it along with the keys inside a running vehicle. *BLINK* SIP: She's SUCH an idjit man.

Verizon iPhone

I totally love my Droid with Verizon. I use my cellphone as my business phone and we have the unlimited everything family plan. Basically...I don't think about my phone service. It works the way it is supposed to work. I don't have an iPhone even though I'm a Mac addict because as much as I love Apple...I LOATHE AT&T. I've heard that lots of folks currently share this feeling regarding AT&T and they are ready to jump ship and come to Verizon once the iPhone drops. That worries me. Are YOU going to get the iPhone when it comes to Verizon? Are you with Verizon now? Do you have the iPhone now?

Verizon iPhone

I totally love my Droid with Verizon. I use my cellphone as my business phone and we have the unlimited everything family plan. Basically...I don't think about my phone service. It works the way it is supposed to work. I don't have an iPhone even though I'm a Mac addict because as much as I love Apple...I LOATHE AT&T. I've heard that lots of folks currently share this feeling regarding AT&T and they are ready to jump ship and come to Verizon once the iPhone drops. That worries me. Are YOU going to get the iPhone when it comes to Verizon? Are you with Verizon now? Do you have the iPhone now?

My iPad Apps!

 

Whatchu rocking?

Google Reader

How many of you use Google Reader?  Any of you use Google Reader ONLY and never visit the sites you're reading?  Any of you use Google Reader during the day because you can't access certain sites from work?

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

Do you use your point and shoot camera more than you use your cellphone camera?  Do you feel like your pics are nice enough using your phone?

Camera

What kinda camera are you using?  Are you looking at any new small ones?

Talking Tom video from SIP

This is my new FAVORITE app!  LOL!  LOVE.THIS! 

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150096430557538

Free Talking Tom App

Apps

What are the top 5 apps you use?

Home Phone

What BRAND is your home phone?

HELP! LOST MY PASSPORT AND WALLET!

Have you ever received one of these scam emails?

Hi,

I really don't mean to inconvenience you right now but I made a quick trip to the UK and I lost a bag which contains my passport and credit cards. I know this may sound odd, but it all happened very fast. I've been to the US embassy and they're willing to help me fly without my passport but I just have to pay for my ticket and settle some bills. Right now I'm out of cash plus i can't access my bank without my credit card over here. I have contacted them but they need more verification. I'm just gonna have to plead with you to lend me some funds right now? I'll pay back as soon as I get home. I need to get on the next available flight home.
 
Please reply as soon as you get this message so I can forward the details as to where to send the funds. You can reach me via the hotel's desk phone if you can, the numbers are,  011447024065511 or 011447024064567 You can also email me via my yahoomail, as I can easily access it here  ljcarter48@ymail.com

I await your response...

Thanks

GoNappturale App!

GoNappturale!

What say you? Would YOU purchase this app? SIP: Tell TBS to NOT looking at the word traveling misspelled. Me: It won't help. You know it will drive her batty.

Problems with Verizon Fios

I can't believe this ish but yeah...we've started having problems with our Verizon Fios.  It's been over a year without a single problema but yeah...suddenly it's not working well.

It started about a week ago.  I tried to pull up regular sites and got error messages.

Question...

What kind of camera do you use?

Tell the truth and shame the devil!

At any given time what's the total worth of the electronic equipment you may have with you?  iPad, iPod, iPhone, Blackberry, Android, camera, Flip, bluetooth, etc.

Computer Love

When's the last time you had problems with your computer?  How were they resolved?

No More Unlimited Data?

Rumor has it that the major cell phone carriers are going to do away with unlimited data plans for smart phones soon.

What would YOU do if this happens?  Will you keep your smart phone?  Would you downgrade to a data free phone?

WiFi

What's your favorite spot to hit that has free WiFi?

Nintendo Netflix Movie/Game Night Party!

As we talked about before...Netflix has partnered up with the Nintendo Wii and set it up so that you may do instant movie streaming to you television.  Yall know I'm alllllllllllllllll about that and have been using it faithfully. 

Nintendo contacted me a couple of months ago and asked if I thought my friends would like to learn more about it by way of a Wii/Netflix party and I was like...Um...duh...we LURVE an excuse to get together but my schedule didn't permit making it happen sooner.

So....this weekend we MADE IT HAPPEN CAPTAIN!

FIRST THINGS FIRST!

Yall KNOW Nintendo gives us free stuff because really...who is going to pay to try new stuff out?  LOL!  Yall also know they usually provide us with FABULOUS food and this time was no exception.  We were SPOILT with all the goodies to eat!

So we all got our mingle on and then headed downstairs to experience Wii online!  

Robby took over as MC because he's important.  (I was paid to say that.)

Isn't his sock line HILARIOUS?????  ROFL!

Nintendo provided point cards for all of us to upload new games to our Wii's.  I thought the 2000 point cards could only get you one new game but...SURPRISE, SURPRISE!  Most of the awesome games are only 1000 points!  GO ME!  So we could each get two new Wii games!  Heck...I can get one for my Wii and one for my DSi XL!  GO ME TWICE!!!!!!!!!!!

So we got some Wii action in.  Two of our guests had a Wii but not Wii Fit Plus so we made them battle it out to see who would win one.  At first they started playing Mario but seriously...a Mario battle really isn't that fun for those of us watching so we had them bowl it out!  LOL!  I love to PLAY Mario...not watch and I was getting antsy for the controller cuz they kept missing stars.  SHEESH!

We also had free Netflix membership for 3 months and there was a battle for that as well.  Let me tell yall...these folks are FUN-TAY!  And probably even more so because of the Strawberry Cherry Sangria we were nursing. 

Robby and I recently found a movie on Netflix that kept our attention, "Book of Love", and we were curious as to what they would think of it so we pulled that one up and got comfy to watch. 

Whew!  The commentary was HILARIOUS!  

ONE!

 

 

 

We had the loveliest of times sitting in the AIR CONDITIONED HOUSE eating, drinking, playing games and watching movies.  Nintendo...yall ROCK! 

AS ALWAYS!

Next up on our Netflix instant play queue?  "Moonlight Mile"

Are YOU using your Wii with Netflix yet? 

When you "battle" on Nintendo...what is YOUR game of choice?

Any suggestions as to what games we should all upload to our Wii's?