Hasta La Gadget!

Sliced cucumbers on the eyes are all in a day's work for this spa owner.

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

A funny thing happened to me last weekend on my way to save the galaxy, chainsaw aliens to death, and beat the living snot out of the world’s top martial artists. I painted a stranger’s toenails purple–and helped her shape her eyebrows.

That’s right. Instead of logging countless hours on Xbox Live, I was taken in by the unstoppable force that is Game Cafe’s iPhone game, Sally’s Spa. Not only is this the best iPhone game I’ve played (not saying a lot, since I don’t play many, but still), it’s one of the most addictive handheld games I’ve ever played.

If this is your first time hearing about Sally and her addictive qualities, here’s the deal in a nutshell. In the game, you play a young entrepreneur (Sally) who starts her own spa business.

Although you’ll eventually hire others to help, you take a very hands-on approach to running your business. When patrons enter the shop, an icon over their head hints at their current need. So, if a patron enters with a yellow-chair symbol, it’s up to you to drag that customer to the big yellow masking chair. Once a patron is situated, you’ll usually have to interact with them in some way, whether it’s plucking eyebrows, applying facials, or giving the occasional mani-pedi.

This is all completely addicting thanks to simple mechanics (dragging and tapping), gameplay that keeps you constantly busy, and an upgrade system that gives you long-term goals.

Upgrading your spa equipment directly impacts your customers’ comfort level, which makes them less likely to leave before you’ve served them, thus making them happier (and the happier they are when the check out, the higher your tips). The more money you make, the more you’ll have to spend on upgrades.

Also, the side mini-game game of selling supplementary items like shampoo and skin creams earns you promotions if you sell enough. The promotions grant you access to even more expensive ancillary items that make more money when sold.

If this seems like the most capitalistic game ever, you’re not far off. Although I guess Mercenaries 2 would give it a run for its money.

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This article was written on April 03, 2007 by CyberNet.

Back in August of 2006 I wrote about a guy who had his unlimited Verizon EVDO Wireless Data Service canceled because buried deep into the Terms of Service (TOS) they mentioned some things that were unacceptable. Some of these things included downloading/streaming music and videos…which is what the Internet is all about these days.

At the time Verizon didn’t explicitly state that their unlimited service really was limited, but I was looking at the service once again yesterday for someone and decided to see what the terms look like 7–months later. Now they explicitly come out and say that their unlimited plan can only be used for up to 5GB a month otherwise your usage will be considered unacceptable and your service will be terminated (the bold text points out the important things):

Unlimited Data Plans and Features (such as NationalAccess, BroadbandAccess, Push to Talk, and certain VZEmail services) may ONLY be used with wireless devices for the following purposes: (i) Internet browsing; (ii) email; and (iii) intranet access (including access to corporate intranets, email, and individual productivity applications like customer relationship management, sales force, and field service automation). The Unlimited Data Plans and Features MAY NOT be used for any other purpose. Examples of prohibited uses include, without limitation, the following: (i) continuous uploading, downloading or streaming of audio or video programming or games; (ii) server devices or host computer applications, including, but not limited to, Web camera posts or broadcasts, automatic data feeds, automated machine–to–machine connections or peer–to–peer (P2P) file sharing; or (iii) as a substitute or backup for private lines or dedicated data connections. This means, by way of example only, that checking email, surfing the Internet, downloading legally acquired songs, and/or visiting corporate intranets is permitted, but downloading movies using P2P file sharing services and/or redirecting television signals for viewing on laptops is prohibited. A person engaged in prohibited uses, continuously for one hour, could typically use 100 to 200 MBs, or, if engaged in prohibited uses for 10 hours a day, 7 days a week, could use more than 5 GBs in a month.

For individual use only and not for resale. We reserve the right to protect our network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows. We reserve the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, and to deny or terminate service, without notice, to anyone we believe is using an Unlimited Data Plan or Feature in any manner prohibited above or whose usage adversely impacts our network or service levels. Anyone using more than 5 GB per line in a given month is presumed to be using the service in a manner prohibited above, and we reserve the right to immediately terminate the service of any such person without notice. We also reserve the right to terminate service upon expiration of Customer Agreement term.

So all the service is really good for is viewing websites and sending emails since you cannot download or upload anything. They say that sending emails is okay, but what about if you constantly have large attachments in your email which results in high bandwidth usage? Does that fall under the download/upload restriction that can terminate your account, or is that considered acceptable use since it is an email?

One of the other restrictions that they mention is that you must have another Internet service as well since you cannot use it as a substitute or backup of a dedicated Internet connection. Even if all you do is check emails for work, you must have another Internet connection as your primary source for access.

So why would anyone use the service? Many people use it because their employers pay for it, and I’m sure they never inform their employees about what they can and can’t do with it. For that reason, a lot of people are “inappropriately” using the service which is good news for Verizon because they can terminate your account whenever they want. I look at it as Verizon’s way to cover their own back since they can sell the service to as many people as they possibly can, and then when their network starts to see a pattern of overall heavy usage, they can just terminate the people who use their accounts the most. This will maximize their revenue while keeping the network usage to a minimum.

I definitely understand their reasoning for limiting the service to only 5GB of bandwidth per month, but what boggles my mind is how they can advertise this as unlimited when they explicitly say that any usage over 5GB will cause your account to be terminated?

Copyright © 2009 CyberNet | CyberNet Forum | Learn Firefox

Related Posts:

• Will Verizon’s “Unlimited Text, Pix, and Flix” be Limited too?
• Verizon’s Unlimited Calling Plans Fall Short
• Verizon to Pay $1 Million for "Unlimited" Internet
• Verizon’s Unlimited EVDO Wireless Not So Unlimited
• Is Comcast Blocking Joost Already?

Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

At least since the advent of the first camera phones, people have been wondering whether the cell phone would limit the opportunity for all kinds of other products, particularly portable electronics. Even the more pedestrian features of basic cell phones have been blamed for the declines in (or at least limiting the market for) pagers, Family Radio Service (FRS) radios, and even watches. And beyond portable electronics, cordless phones have also been in a state of decline for years as more consumers cut the cord.

But the iPhone 3GS has renewed the old debate for a number of reasons, including data that shows that iPhone users are disproportionately inclined to use their phone’s advanced features and changes in the hardware and software that improve the digital camera, add video capture, and open the door to in-vehicle turn-by-turn navigation. TomTom, which has returned to its roots by demonstrating navigation software for the third-party hardware of the original iPhone 3G, can now offer that software through Apple’s App Store. So, will the iPhone shutter Canon, run Garmin off the road, or make Flip flop? Thankfully, for the sake of all wishing to avoid reading headlines containing these atrocious puns, not for the foreseeable future, at least in the U.S.

Continue reading Switched On: iPhone 3GS is fine, young, but not a cannibal

Filed under: Cellphones

Switched On: iPhone 3GS is fine, young, but not a cannibal originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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From the creators of “Drawn Together” comes “DJ & The Fro,” a new daily, animated show on MTV. The 404 speaks to the creators, Matt Silverstein and Dave Jeser, about the show and talk about how Michael Jackson’s death almost ruined the shows’ first few episodes.

(Credit: MTV Networks)

The show creators call it a rip-off of “Beavis and Butthead” for the viral video generation. DJ and the Fro are two twenty-somethings, who spend most of their day watching viral videos and commenting on them. Sounds eerily similar to what The 404 guys do all day long. Anyway, the guys tell us about how the show came into being and let us know that a “Drawn Together” straight-to-DVD movie is coming out as well!

“DJ & The Fro” reminds us a bit of “Tosh.0” on Comedy Central, which premiered just a few weeks ago. The 404 guys think we should have jumped on to this bandwagon a long time. This is what we do already for the show every day!

Anyway, hope you all enjoy the abbreviated show along with our Michael Jackson commentary. He will be missed. Spend your weekend listening to your favorite MJ jam and reminisce about the fond memories you had while karaoking to “Billie Jean.”

EPISODE 371

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Video coming soon!

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Originally posted at the 404

Palm had its quarterly results conference call yesterday and although CEO Jon Rubinstein and CFO Doug Jeffries kept a pretty tight lid on the future product talk, they did say that licensing webOS to third parties isn’t “a religious issue for us.” That’s pretty vague, sure, but we can’t help but immediately think back to the golden age of Palm OS, when licensees like Sony put out amazing devices like the Clie PEG-NZ90 that we’ve lovingly mocked up with a webOS screenshot above — we’re sure Palm’s upcoming handsets will be interesting in their own right, but we’d love to see a manufacturer like HTC riff on webOS the way it’s tweaking Android. Of course, Jeffries also said Palm has “no plans at this time to even talk about” licensing, so this is all just a pipe dream for now, but let’s not ruin the moment, okay? Hit the read link for the full call transcript.

[Via GearLog]

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Palm says licensing webOS “not a religious issue” originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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