Sirius XM iPhone app to debut June 18

The word on the street is that we could be seeing the long-awaited release of the Sirius XM iPhone application today, Thursday, June 18th.  As of 12:50am EST, it is NOT showing in the App Store. But with fingers crossed, perhaps today will be the first time I can listen to Howard Stern without sitting at my computer!

Quick Details: 1) It will be free to download 2) No monthly charge for those with an online subscription already.

**UPDATED -  Click here for the Official Sirius Page for the App

UPDATE # 2

OK, so I just installed the iPhone app and I do not see Howard Stern  in the channel listings. This is either a huge mistake or I am doing something wrong. Please Sirius XM you didn’t decide to withhold from us after all the nickel and diming you have done.

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Identity

Samurai

Every so often, I encounter a fantasy.
One in which I live a life that is completely different than my own.

It is without electricity, computers and modern technology to dictate time.

Perhaps it is because I have lived this life before, in another lifetime.
Perhaps it is why I have several symbols of this life upon my walls.

For whatever reason I am drawn to it.
When I close my eyes I can feel it in my soul, its simplicity, beauty and honor.

Rolling green hills. Blue mountains surrounded by gray clouds.
Bamboo, rice and water.

As I sit still amongst the mountain air I find peace.
As I breathe it in I find wisdom.

I hear nothing and everything.
I am at one with the earth.

I appreciate all things living,
Yet, I sit with steel against my side.

I find peace.
I find life.
And it is good.

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Life Changes and Health Woes

It’s amazing how your life can change overnight, or so it feels that way.

What Was

It seems like a lifetime ago, July 2008, when I  got a new job and then a couple months later, a new girlfriend. As I crossed over to the New Year, 2009, I had that optimistic feeling that this year would be different, better. How I was wrong.

New Year, New Life

January hit me like Mike Tyson (pre face tattoo and rape charges).  I lost my job and a my girlfriend in a matter of weeks. So I did what any depressed 31 year old might do: drink. I am not proud of it by any stretch but I am strong enough to admit to it.  

Self pity ensued for weeks until I woke up and it was February. I realized that I couldn’t succumb to failure and that it was time I started planning for the future. I began a consistent workout schedule (5 days a week) and started planning some new exciting projects as well as plan to be self-employed again.

Little Tingle

I was doing great with my exercises and accomplishing some great programming feats into the first week of  March when I began to feel a tingle in my left leg during my exercise routine. It would happen for about 5 minutes and go away.  It continued to come back and go away until the end of that week when both feet became numb, tingly and painful. This lasted for days and by the end of the following week it had spread to my hands and forearms.

Doctor Who

Since I have no job, I had no insurance. Like any good web geek, I researched my symptoms online only to come up with everything from Vitamin Deficiency to MS to Lyme Disease as a possible diagnosis.

I have a friend who is a doctor but it turned out that he was out of the country on vacation. So I went to a local clinic that I have gone to a couple times before. All my vitals checked out fine. Since I had no insurance, we decided to  follow the wait and see path. We did, however, run a test for Lyme Disease. That test would come back negative but I would later realize that it is only one test of many and it only catches it a low percentage of the time.

By the end of that week, my doctor had come back from vacation and called me into his office on a Saturday. He has always been great to me and this time was no different. After a thorough check, he concurred my vitals were fine, however, by this time I had more symptoms and my throat was swelling up on me. He thought it was a Vitamin B12 deficiency. The previous Doctor had mentioned it as  a possibility as well. So, he gave me a shot of B12 and it seemed to help.  We thought the throat swelling was my thyroid. We did a test for that and turned out it was normal.

For a few weeks, I kept up a daily regime of B Complex #6 and getting injections of B12 when possible.  I’d have good days and bad days and eventually went on to take 500 to 1,000 mcgs a day of B12. I eventually came to the realization that it was not working. We ran a Complete Blood Count (CBC) and it showed my levels were fine and now my B12 were actually high.

The Tick That Keeps On Giving

My friend, Lisa, who has Lyme Disease had informed me that there were many more tests for Lyme and that most of the tests are pretty inaccurate – lucky me.  I wanted to do them but I was told by both doctors that it was expensive. Come to find out, it wasn’t as expensive as I thought it was and I should have ran the damn tests when I first got tested. I had the money saved!!

After much deliberation, my doctor sent me in for the Western Blot test. By this time, I was experiencing major fatigue, random pains around my body, headaches, back aches, swollen lymph nodes, throat issues, lack of sleep, anxiety,  numbness, tingling (in face and extremities) and poor circulation, to say the least.

My test results took a long time to come back due to clerical error. When they did, it mostly came back negative. However, there were a couple bands on the test that showed a positive. My doctor didn’t fully trust the test was being that accurate, considering I was so symptomatic and he got me started on antibiotics right away.

I began speaking to other Lymphies out there. They all suggested that if I showed a couple positives that I was positive. Most concurred that all my symptoms were just like theirs.

So Here I Am

After 10 days of being on Doxycycline, I have seen some improvement but overall nothing major. From what I understand, its pretty standard for treatments to last 3 weeks to 2 months. And if you are lucky – you might have some success getting rid of the bacteria or remission. There is no cure. The road to Lyme Disease recovery is long for many, short for the lucky. I want to be one of the lucky ones and I am gonna try to be as optimistic as possible. 

I do have to acknowledge the very real possibility that this stage is just the beginning. Only time will tell and too much time can only make it worse.

My hope is that the current diagnosis is current. My fear is that the current diagnosis is correct.  There are many co-infections that take place with Lyme and I need to find out if those are in me, as they can bring about even more devastating illnesses.

To be continued….

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Gratitude

Hi Everyone. It has been a long time and my life has temporarily changed.

It has been almost 2 months since I became ill. I have never really been sick before so this is all so new to me: being bedridden, feeling like your body has turned against itself and having difficulty with the everyday things I took  for granted. I’ll write another post soon detailing my health issues.

Gratitude

I recently started reading a bestselling-book called, The Secret. While I don’t necessarily like how it reads, I really do like the message. It talks about the laws of attraction and how thinking positive attracts positive things to you. One of the exercises in the book is expressing gratitude every day of your life.  

I am eternally grateful  for some wonderful people  at the moment who have been giving me such amazing support.

In Person

Keith – A tremendous man and a really good naturopathic doctor in Wallingford. Keith has helped me a lot over the years and without him in my life now, I don’t know where I would be. For his caring and  selflessness, I am forever in his debt.

Mom -  My mom spent a couple weeks in a row talking to me for hours each day. I didn’t want to make her worry, but while everyone else was busy with work, I knew she was there. She is a wonderful person, from who, I get so many things  from in my life. Any compliments that I have received over the years for my personality, I admit that a good part of that is because of her. And my Dad too. My parents raised my brother and I pretty damn good.

Hill – Someone who cares about me despite everything we have been through. She somehow puts up with my neurotic brain, which annoys her so much, yet,  she doesn’t seem to stop listening and I’ll never stop talking her ear off. Always have much love for her and hope that she can turn some stuff around for  her own good. Too smart and beautiful for anything less.

Lisa – I’ve known her for a couple years now and  for most of that time I had no idea what kind of health battles she has been through in the last 12 years. Thank you for the phone calls recently, shedding some light on a possible diagnosis of my problems. I wish her the best with her current treatment and hope that her old life returns soon. It can and it will. 

Some Tweeps 

Jodi – She seemed to pop out of nowhere. Such a sweet person who has her fair share of health issues. I think that it sometimes takes someone who has “been there” to want to help others in similar situations. Jodi has been an inspiration. She  has given me the strength and courage to deal with these trying times. To quote her, “it can always be worse.” I wish her nothing but the best of health so she can spend more time with her son and dog without the migraines, among other things.

Kelly Ann – Not many people on Twitter seem to take the time to care. Kelly seems to be the real McCoy. I don’t know her from a whole in the wall but she has taken an interest in my health and I have no idea why but I thank her for her concern.

Everyone else

This list could go on for a long time. I have some great people in my life. Too many to list. I know who you are and I hope you know too :)

Paying It Back

When I am back on my feet, I hope I can repay God/Universe for the support its given me through the great people above. Hopefully that didn’t sound too new-agey. I have always felt that I needed to help people and I want to find the best way to do that at some point.

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CT Tweet-up on Fox 61 News

Watch the video here 

I made my television debut last night on the Fox 61 News at 10 here in Connecticut.  Actually, our newly formed CT Tweet-up group was covered for the news during our second meeting. Hosted by Suzi Craig of Fathom, we met at Group88 in Simsbury. Group88 is a mixed-use coworking space for solo professionals who don’t want to be stuck in the home or pay expensive office rates elsewhere.

COME JOIN US! If you twitter constantly and are looking to network with other professionals, come and attend one of our tweet-ups. It’s free and it is a great opportunity to meet some talented people in Connecticut.  For more information, you can follow us on Twitter or check out the Group88 meetup.com page for event schedule.

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I Found My Mom on Twitter!

My heart shrank this morning when I read an email from my mother wherein she expressed the desire to find a social networking site where we could both keep up communications. I previously knew that my mother  is on Facebook and Twitter. I have yet to add her to either account. 

I think my mother and I have a great relationship. I tend to be pretty open with her about many thing and in some ways I woud love to continue that online.  However, I tend to use the Internet to vent many of my thoughts, feelings. It’s less expensive than a shrink. My problem is that I wouldn’t want my mom reading some of those posts. She doesn’t need to be exposed to the “crazier” side of me. I’m her youngest boy and I’d like to keep it that way.

<3 u mom.

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uSirius iPhone App – What really happened

Along with many other iPhone users, I have been following the Sirius XM iphone app developments for awhile now.  We were given hope this year with the announcement of the uSirius Starplayr iPhone appNiceMac, the development company behind the app, also had created StarPlayr (which I use) for windows, windows mobile and macs. 

It was announced last month, in no detail, that the iPhone app was not being approved by Apple. Did Sirius XM sack the program or did Apple just not approve? We don’t know.

StarPlay Desktop Program ending

Another slap of bad news. I found out today that, as of March 10, 2009,  the StarPlayr desktop program is ending and will no longer be available or supported. Outraged by the news, I emailed NiceMac Support to ask them what was going on. I received a pretty quick response from them simply saying:

See Sirius’ terms and conditions.

Sent from my Iphone

Sirius’ Terms and Conditions

Bingo. I went over to Sirius.com to review their terms of service. It may be pretty obvious to some people that NiceMac was breaching their TOS, but with the desktop app running all along, I figured there wasn’t any breach going on. Of course, almost every broadcasting company makes it illegal to rebroadcast their content.

Excerpts from their TOS:

C.4. Personal Use of the Service: We provide the Service only for your personal, non-commercial enjoyment. You may not make commercial use of, reproduce, rebroadcast, or otherwise transmit our programming, or record, charge admission for listening to or distribute play lists of our programming. If you use the Service for commercial purposes, we reserve the right to charge you our commercial rate retroactively to the beginning of your Subscription.

E.1. Technology: You may not, and you agree that you shall not, copy, decompile, disassemble, reverse engineer or manipulate any technology incorporated in, or otherwise modify or tamper with, any equipment used to receive the Service. 

E. 4. SIRIUS Internet Radio: You may not rebroadcast SIRIUS Internet Radio in any way. You may play SIRIUS Internet Radio through speakers or headphones for your personal listening pleasure. You may not make any recordings of, or otherwise duplicate, the content provided by SIRIUS Internet Radio. In addition, you may not re-transmit or otherwise distribute the content provided by SIRIUS Internet Radio in any way, including online streaming such content or making such content available for download. You may not re-skin, re-package, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble SIRIUS Internet Radio, or construct a media player or interface that accesses SIRIUS Internet Radio. 

What happened (my guess)

After reviewing the above excerpts, it is not hard to guess that NiceMac’s StarPlayr desktop and iPhone app were shut down by Sirius XMAround the time of iPhone app submission, the Howard Stern show (easily the biggest show on Satellite radio) began talking about it. They loved the idea and even Howard said he would be the iPhone for the ability to stream the radio on his phone.

Cue the upper management and the lawyers

Obviously upon hearing the news, either on the show or notified by Apple, the big wigs did not like what they were hearing and brought down the axe. Do they have their own application in the works? I hope so. But clearly that wouldn’t even have to be a reason to nix the app.

I am also going to guess that NiceMac wasn’t paying any kind of affiliate fees, if there were any. No company wants to see another company make money off of them, regardless of the what a great product being offered. Sirius XM sends NiceMac a nice little Cease and Desist order. NiceMac can’t really say  much, so they close their doors.

Competing Sirius XM’s own products

Also, let me remind you, Sirius XM already offers portable devices for the car, home or on the go. These overpriced units would be unnecessary for the millions of iPhone users who could just pay a one-time fee for the app. At that point you have one device for your car, home, etc. A big threat to the cornerstone of their retail business. That alone could be a reason not to even offer an iPhone app.

Idiocy in Business

Financially speaking, Sirius XM has been going through some rough time. Sure they just got some capital injected into them but how long does that last? Despite the big $$$ in Satellite radio, my opinion is that they should be treating it as a small business. Build your grassroots following. Make your product available in any way you can. Keep your head and feet on the street! Offer options for companies, like NiceMac, to get your product off the ground. FREE ADVERTISING!

I understand this is a money game. That is all. Regardless of whether someone is selling a great product, that isn’t the reason they are in business.  And that’s a shame.

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20 Albums that changed my life – Part 1

This is one of those viral list activities that get spread around on Facebook or Myspace. In realizing the amount of time this would take, I decided to post it here on my blog as well.

The Rules:

Think of 20 albums that changed your life or helped make you who you are today. These albums may not be your current favorites, but they were a huge part of your life at one time or another and may still hold some relevance to you now. 

These are in NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!
 

Jerry Cantrell – Degradation Trip (2002)

I enjoy Alice in Chains, not necessary the full albums but their big hits are fantastic. When Jerry Cantrell released his second solo CD, Degradation Trip, I realized just how much Jerry was a huge part of that AIC classic sound. The moody guitar riffs and those amazing vocal harmonies are some of the best in rock music. This double disc album was a huge inspiration to me. Jerry locked himself in dark apartment and never left until he finished writing the album. He nearly lost his mind in the process. The result was a masterpiece; a self-portrait of the darkest parts of his soul and yet so beautiful at the same time. He gave me the inspiration to move forward with my own writing by giving me the proof that one man can produce such great music if he puts his mind into it.

Key Tracks: Anger Rising, Angel Eyes, Solitude, Castaway, She Was My Girl, Angel Eyes, Chemical Tribe
 

Metallica – Black Album (1991)

Metallica will forever stand as my biggest inspiration and I am not alone with that thought. Countless bands / musicians around today put Metallica at the tops of their lists.  I can’t really put into a short paragraph just how huge they are in my world. The Black Album, their biggest album to date, was a stripped down, dare I say commercial version of their former status as thrash kings. While the music lost some of its zip of the 80s, the songwriting was perfected. With classics, such as, The Unforgiven and Nothing Else Matters, Hetfield proved you can be a man’s man even when you spill your heart out on paper and channel it through your guitar. Out of the 12 tracks, 6 of them were released as singles. You can’t argue with success like that.

Key Tacks: Enter Sandman, The Unforgiven, Nothing Else Matters, Sad But True
 

Metallica – And Justice For All (1988)

While Master of Puppets is arguably the best Metallica album, And Justice For All really blew me away with its musical stamina. This album laid down the foundation for my later appreciation of progressive metal bands. AJFA was Metallica’s first album after the passing of Cliff Burton, the band wanted to prove to everyone that they could still write music and that they did. Each track pushed their previous song structures to the extreme, which was the reason why the Black Album had such truncated songs. The double bass and open E chug in “One” will always be one of the most recognizable statements in metal.

Key Tracks: Blackened, Harvester of Sorrow, One, Dyers Eve
 

Megadeth – Countdown to Extinction (1992)

“Countdown” was the first Megadeth album I heard. While I favor other Megadeth albums (Rust in Piece) over this one, this was my introduction to the band. It features the classic lineup of Dave Mustaine, Marty Freidman, Dave Ellefson and Nick Menza. I remember my friend Dan King and I trying to pull off the harmonies at the end of the title track in our bedrooms. Dave Mustaine’s guitar style was a big part of my sound in the early days.

Key Tracks:  Symphony of Destruction, Sweating Bullets, Countdown to Extinction, Ashes in Your Mouth
 

Dream Theater – Awake (1994)

After Metallica, Dream Theater has been the second biggest musical inspiration for me. It’s really hard to pinpoint the best DT album because each album is as unique and impressive as the next. To me, Awake just had a great sound to it. It was the third and last album with keyboardist Kevin Moore on it and his last contribution to the band with the song, “Space-Dye Vest”, was the best you could have asked for. Ironically, this album was recorded in the same studio as the Black Album. Maybe I should go record there.

Key Tracks: 6 o’clock, Caught in a Web, The Mirror, Voices, Lifting Shadows Off a Dream, Space-Dye Vest
 

Dream Theater – Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From A Memory (1999)

If it weren’t for this album, DT would have fallen apart. The late 90s were particularly hard for the band with keyboardist, Derek Sheridian, taking over Kevin Moore’s place. 1995’s A Change of Season EP was fantastic but 1997’s Falling Into Infinity was kind of a step back. FII was still better than most albums around at the time, but their virtuosity, for which they were known for, wasn’t as impressive as earlier albums – something was just different. Metropolis Pt. 2 is a concept album, which plays as a follow up to the song “Metropolis Pt. 1” on the album “Images and Words.” Keyword wizard/prodigy, Jordan Rudess, joined the band and brought them to the next level of songwriting and musicianship. 

Key Tracks: Fatal Tragedy, Through Her Eyes, Home, The Dance of Eternity, The Spirit Carries On, Finally Free
 

Pantera – Vulgar Display of Power (1992)

“Walk” is the first metal song that really hit me. I had already been playing guitar for a couple years, and I had heard Metallica and Megadeth already but for some reason when my friend Rob let me borrow the single for that song, I was blown away and played it over and over. It’s just a great, solid album from start to finish. Again, this album just has a great sound to it. You can hear why Dimebag Darrell will always be a legendary guitarist. Additionally, Phil Anselmo penned some great lyrics for that album and his voice is still one of the coolest voices in metal.

Key Tracks: A New Level, Walk, Fucking Hostile, This Love, Hollow
 

Radiohead – OK Computer (1997)

I was skeptical when my friend and old band mate, Rich, introduced me to Radiohead. At that time, I wasn’t really open to the idea of alternative rock but when I heard OK Computer I realized how stupid I was being. To me, OK Computer is easily one of the best albums ever. Not since The Beatles had a band been so unique and creative. My words just wouldn’t give this album justice so I’ll end this here.

Key Tracks: Airbag, Paranoid Android, Exit Music, Karma Police, Lucky
 

Rage Against the Machine – Self-Titled (1992)

Before I was into big heavy guitars, I was really into Rap music. When “Rage” came out, they merged the Rap and Rock worlds together and created a new genre that spawned a bunch of lesser talented spin-offs over the next few years. What made Rage Against the Machine so great was their tight, funky rhythm section, the rebellious lyrics and voice of Zach de la Rocha, topped off by a brilliant new guitar genius, Tom Morello. Morello made the guitar sound like nothing I heard before and still to this day it is hard to find that originality.

Key Tracks: Bombtrack, Killing in the Name, Take the Power Back, Bullet in Your Head, Know Your Enemy
 

Nirvana – Nevermind (1991)

Is there anyone out there who does not realize the impact that this album had? Nevermind killed Heavy Metal and made Seattle the center of the rock world for much of the 90s. Nirvana’s second album not only changed my life but also changed the world of music. Later we realized that Kurt Cobain and Co. didn’t need screaming vocals and distorted guitars to make them special – “Unplugged in New York” is probably my favorite Nirvana release.

Key Tracks: Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come as You Are, Lithium, Drain You

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New Terminator Salvation Trailer!

Yahoo movies posted an exclusive new trailer for Terminator Salvation.  It looks fantastic. Watch it below.

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/need-to-know-terminator-salvation.html

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Where is the Sirius XM iPhone app

Satellite radio / iPhone users will have to keep waiting for a Sirius XM app. NiceMac released a statement on Feb. 26th announcing that Apple is unable approve their app at this time but the rumor is that Sirius XM is looking to publish a free application.

NiceMac LLC, the development company of StarPlayr (Windows, Mac, Windows Mobile, had created and submitted an iPhone app called uSirius that would enable listeners to receive satellite radio on the iPhone. I was really looking forward to his application, since I really enjoy their StarPlayr for Windows.

At the moment, it is unclear why the uSirius app has been declined.  A satellite radio app has been a long time in the waiting by fans and at a time when Sirius XM could use all the help they can get, it is amazing that there is no application getting approval to help woo more users and hold on to current subscribers.

Streaming radio is no stranger to the iPhone. There are plenty current applications which allow you to listen to terrestrial and internet radio stations including the AOL Radio, iheart radio and Pandora. After a record wait for the Sirius XM merger and current financial  problems, satellite radio and their fans continue to be handed disappointments.

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