I got my Nokia E71x (AT&T locked) in the mail via DHL today (Friday, August 14, 2009).

It came in a big plastic bag-type container, with the phone in its box and the return paperwork separately inside.

Once I took the device out of its packaging, I plugged it in to charge the battery. One thing, though- I do wish that Nokia made their charger prong a little bit larger; this style of charger looks like it could be bent easily. But, I had no problems with the charger. This is just a very minor thought.

Once powered on, the screen is very bright, and colors show up easily. One thing: I do like the glowing border around the center selection button when the phone is on standby. It’s a nice touch when I’m in a dark room.

The keyboard is a standard 4-row QWERTY, with the keys evenly spaced out. When pressed down, they provide a very tactile feel. I like keys that actually feel like they’re being pressed, and have a slightly audible “click”.  The Nokia E71x achieves this just fine.  When typing fast, however, I have found that my accuracy on this keyboard decreases until I slow down and focus on hitting the right keys.

The phone feels very nice in my hand, and its weight is just right. It’s not too heavy, but it feels very sturdy and able to be used in today’s ongoing lifestyle. The metal battery cover is nice; I do appreciate that. It adds to the phone’s comfortable weight.

Battery life was pretty good, probably better than most of the smart phones I’ve used.  Using wifi and 3G extensively used the battery pretty slowly. Fully charged, it lasted about 6 days, though I assume it’s going to go down once I more extensively test the actual phone feature.

EDIT: with moderate phone usage, and wifi/3G, I was able to get about 3-4 days out of a full battery.

Web browsing using the wifi connection in my apartment was smooth and relatively fast. I like the cursor on the screen, and the fact that it fades after a bit, to make the screen easier to read. Viewing videos on YouTube was easy to do, and the videos show up fairly clear on the E71x’s screen. However, I did notice a slight lag between the audio and video that is not present when viewing the video on a regular computer. This was present while using both wifi and 3G, but I suspect this is because I don’t have a MicroSD card for best performance, like it suggests.

I do like the data counter in the upper right-hand corner, displaying how much data has been used. That’s nice because it helps users keep track of their data usage for their plans. On another note, I found it slightly frustrating that after entering a web address in the browser, I couldn’t go to it by simply pressing the “enter” key, like I do on other phones and computers.

Camera quality was above average, in my opinion. I took pictures and videos in a variety of light conditions, and the E71x performed to my (albeit modest) expectations. In the picture below, I found that the lamp didn’t completely block out the other objects in low light. Video capture and playback did not lag that much, as is common with other phones with this feature.

Overall, the Nokia E71x is a solid smart phone, and would be a good choice for someone who is looking for a multi-tasking workhorse. At $99.99 after mail in rebate (and $299.99 out of contract), the price is at the low end of the spectrum of smart phones with the same capability.

There was this wonderful person [you know who you are] who took me for who I was, and not for what others thought. “Others” may not have approved, but it was our love that mattered. And I thought nothing could break us up. We had some incredible times [but too few, in my opinion]. I was wrong. We were never meant to stay together this long; I took what we had for granted, and it screwed up my version of reality.

I’m sorry. For everything. All i can ask for is that when the time comes, you will want to be with me the way I know I have always wanted to be with you.

I love you. Always have, always will.

If everything goes well, I might be moving down to Florida (Winter Park, FL) to go to college (Full Sail University) for an Associates degree [in Show Production & Touring] in mid-July. Now, this is very dependent on if I can get a loan. I’m going to miss a lot of things about Michigan: my wonderful friends, my amazing family, races with my dad, my pets, working in the tech crew in HS, etc…it’s all going to be very difficult, but the opportunities are just so AMAZING down there that it just might be worth it.

…..I’m going to miss everyone a lot, like I said. But I really want to do this for myself.

He’s had about…4-5 girlfriends.  I don’t mean to spill his personal info, but I need to say this.  Just about all his past girlfriends have left him within a short period and gone to another guy within an even shorter period.  I just feel that he’s taken advantage of wayyy too much.  And you know what?  I’m going to tag every one (on Facebook, at least) who’s been his ex and screwed him over.

got root?

1) Type in “[your name] needs” in the Google search.
2) Type in “[your name] looks like” in Google search.
3) Type in “[your name] says” in Google search.
4) Type in “[your name] wants” in Google search.
5) Type in “[your name] does” in Google search.
6) Type in “[your name] hates” in Google search.
7) Type in “[your name] asks” in Google search.
Type in “[your name] likes ” in Google search.
9) Type in “[your name] eats ” in Google search.
10) Type in “[your name] wears ” in Google search.
11) Type in “[your name] was arrested for” in Google Search.
12) Type in “[your name] loves” in Google Search.

This rocks.

1) Sean needs – five cakes.
2) Sean looks like- a leprechaun.
3) Sean says – the “f” word.
4) Sean wants – revenge.  (side note-LOL!)
5) Sean does – nothing.
6) Sean hates – relationships.
7) Sean asks – about waterfalls in June.
Sean likes – cake  (haha….wow).
9) Sean eats- his peas.
10) Sean wears – Prada.
11) Sean was arrested for – digging a hole to Hell.
12) Sean loves – pictures.

For instance, there was one time where I had my eye on this one guy in my high school.  (This was after I came “out”, whatever the definition of that is.)  He seemed to notice me, too.  We were friends on Facebook (“were”, meaning past tense, of course).  One time, he messaged me on there and told me to IM him on AIM.  To make a long story short, he was interested in me, too.  I was completely surprised, but I told him I needed to think about it (and he was fine with that).  The next day, I IM him to let him know that we can try this out, and he says something that just blows me away, even now, when I remember it.  Basically, he wants me to know that he was plastered when he wrote his feelings for me, and he wants to take everything back.  Now, I take a full 3 minutes just staring at my laptop’s screen, wondering if this is all a nightmare and I can wake up if I wanted to.  I pinched myself just to be sure, and unfortunately, I was still awake.  He practically said some version of “I’m sorry” every sentence, but I was still in shock.  How in the name of everything that’s decent can you go around and do something like that?  I couldn’t even bring myself to try to forgive him.  Eventually, I came to my senses and just said I needed some time to think.  He granted me that (like he could’ve prevented it, anyway), and I signed off.

Now, I think that this experience has hindered my ability to trust people.  No doubt about that.  But it’s what I have inside of myself that I need to let go of.  I need to learn to forgive, and not to hold grudges forever.  That just isn’t healthy (both mentally and socially).  Yet, I’m finding it harder and harder to do that as time goes on.

So, I went out for lunch today, and like I normally do, I turned my lights on (even though it was sunny, it’s a habit.  Shaddup).  But……when I came back, I…kinda…forgot to turn them off.  The thing is, I didn’t even notice it until I went go to home today.  I unlocked my door with my key (I have no fancy fob), and it normally unlocks the passenger side door, too.  It didn’t.  Finding that wierd, I just climb in the passenger side and unlock my side.  I stick they key in, depress the clutch, then turn it.  Nothing.  I tried again, thinking it was a starter issue and it would go away.  About the 3rd try is when I looked over…and saw that my headlight switch was ON.  I did a faceplant into my dashboard.  Finally, I got a friend’s grandmother to jump my car.  So, everything’s fine now.

I just thought you’d all like to know…haha.

1. I may look white (lol), but I have wayyy different music tastes than you think.
2. My dream is to go to Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL to achieve my Associates degree in Show Production & Touring.
3. I really, really don’t like talking to people on the phone unless I feel comfortable with the person.  It just gets awkward for me.
4. I know how to line dance.
5. I looooooove good Chinese food at any time of day.
6. After some tough experiences, I have come to distrust everyone I meet, regardless of who they actually are.
7. Going on #6, I never forget who has wronged me.  I can hold grudges for a century, and it’s one of my weaknesses.
8. I can’t believe you.  How the hell do you think you could say what you did and then just blow it apart?!?
9. I can’t dance.  But apparently, my friends think it’s funny to watch me try.
10. Another dream of mine is to take a cross-country road trip with my closest friends.
11. God, 25 is alot…well, I have some crushes that I know have no way in hell of working out, but I still dream…
12. I take off-ramps at 70mph because my car can handle it.
13. I don’t believe in any typical superstitions.  I will walk under a ladder while break a mirror, spill some salt, and walk by a black cat all at the same time.
14. I put a lot of “false hope” into things I know won’t come true.
15. I am pro-choice.  Being such isn’t pro-abortion, either.  That’s stupid.  Nobody’s pro-abortion…sheesh.
16. My favorite night out with my bf/gf would just be at home, with a wonderful (but simple) dinner, some popcorn, a romantic movie, and snuggling.
17. I hatehatehatehatehate writing.  Yet I’m in a CP English course because my guidance counselor didn’t tell me the course was 80% writing.
18. I’m torn between being friends with you, and realizing what you did to one of my friends.
19. We may have conflicting viewpoints, but I’m glad we can look past those and be friends.
20. I love doing Fire & Rescue for car races.  That’d be my #2 career choice.
21. Three words:  I.  HATE.  YOU.  Simple as that.
22. I need more blood in my caffeine stream.
23. I am my family’s 24-hour, on-site tech support, ’cause no one can do what I do better! 
24. I’m not one to watch reality TV at all.  Simply, one guy announcing on netwrk TV that he needs to get laid (i.e.: The Bachelor) isn’t impressive.
25. I’ve become much more cynical and depressed than I realize.

There ya go, folks…that’s all there’s gonna be tonight.  Now, go comment!  [sean591.wordpress.com]

Now, I want to emphasize that I understand that the dogs killed the baby.  But, there are ways that the dogs could have been rehabilitated or trained!  The lives of precious animals needn’t be snuffed short just because of the owner’s carelessness.  On a related note, the article says that the parents were out of the house at the time of the attack and the grandmother was (assumedly) watching the child.  Given the age of the child & grandmother, along with the breed of the dogs (Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell), one should know to not leave the baby in range of the dogs.  In the article, it says that the grandmother was “taken to the hospital to be treated for shock”.  I’m sorry, but anyone in that fragile condition should not be taking care of a baby while in the home with a Staffordshire bull terrier and a Jack Russell.

Certainly, I am a big supporter of animal rights, among other things.  What do you think?  Do you think that the animals could be rehabilitated, or do you think that the police were right in “humanely destroying the dogs”?

(story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7877427.stm)

~~~~~

Ahh, it felt good to get that off my chest.  I just get so worked up over things which could be avoided or handled a different way.  If you’re new to my blog, I’ll fill you in on some of my personal opinions: pro-choice, pro-NRA, pro-LBGT rights (I’m bi) and pro-gay marriage, mostly libertarian (I agree on MOST issues), democrat, etc.  If you’re ever curious about my opinion on anything, feel free to comment on here, AIM me [thetechwhizkid], or email me at [thetechwhizkid@gmail.com].  I’d be happy to discuss things with you.