Free Desktop and Mobile Phone Wallpaper

And so, as my Blog Catalog rating sinks lower and lower, I have to examine myself and my bloggy and ask what I ever did to Blog Catalog.  I’m not a creative genius and my writing style certainly does not rival Stephen King or C. S. Lewis, but for crying out loud, I try to present fun, witty, informative posts in a relatively intelligent manner.  My posts are not advertisements, but rather collections of information about free stuff that I believe my readers might find interesting or reviews of products that have either impressed or depressed me so that others might make more informed choices.  Maybe Blog Catalog thinks my bloggy is too commercial, assumes I am receiving payment for my mixture of encouraging and disparaging commentary.  Let me assure B.C. that if I were receiving payment for any of my ranting and rambling, I would not give a crapola about Blog Catalog’s opinion but would be rolling around in my windfall. 

Ah, but I digress.  My purpose here today is to lead my readers to a couple of really cool sites for the procurement of FREE Wallpaper and Backgrounds, not of the paper kind of course, but the kind we use to dress up our computer desktops, our mobile phones, our blogs and our web pages.  Check ‘em out:

1. Vladstudio – One of my favorite sites to visit and spend time, Vladstudio

   features the artistic creations of graphic artist, Vlad Gerasimov, and offers a wide selection of FREE wallpaper designs in a variety of specialized sizes, including for mobile phones and multiple monitors.  Currently (February 2010) Vlad is featuring his Valentine creations, awww, and being of a romantic mood lately, I have added several of them to my collection.  As if the free wallpapers aren’t enough, Vladstudio also offers Wallpaper Clocks (which work with Chameleon Clock from Softshape, a nifty but pricey little clock program that replaces the Windows tray clock), Online Jigsaw Puzzles as well as Puzzles for the iPhone (you can get 12 for free), adorable free E-Cards (any wallpaper can be sent as an e-card and some even have animation), Free Adobe Photoshop Tutorials, Themes for Blogs (for registered users), and much more.  If you’ve got a minute or an hour or two, visit Vladstudio.  It will be time well spent. 

2. InterfaceLIFT – InterfaceLIFT boasts 2,060 FREE high-resolution widescreen wallpapers by multiple artists–beautiful photographs and artistic interpretations—in a variety of resolutions, including ones for mobile phones, dual monitors, HDTV and for the iPad.  InterfaceLIFT also offers a collection, 1,445 to be exact, of cute FREE desktop icons for your downloading pleasure.  The ads can get a bit overwhelming on this site, but if you are willing to dodge them, it’s worth the effort.

From Vladstudio

Today I was un-friended

Call me ignorant, but I don’t even know how to un-friend somebody in Facebook.  I have never searched for this option because I have never felt the need.  I’m not sure what would cause me to feel the need, but so far nothing has.  Nonetheless, a more Facebook savvy relative of mine knows how to un-friend and she un-friended me today. (Yes, I know that “friended” isn’t a word.)  Apparently and probably (even likely), I got a little steamed up and overstepped my welcome on her page with a full paragraph retort on a political issue she posted and she felt that I was disrespectful to her personally.  Guess what?  I’ve decided she was right.  I meant what I said, no qualms there, but I certainly could have stated my opinion in a softer fashion without attacking her personally on her own page.  I hope you will forgive me, C.  On the other hand, I hope you will respect and understand that I love my country and that I take America bashing very seriously. 

Waving the white flag over here.  Any takers?

The Samsung Smooth; Not lovin’ it, I’m leavin’ it!

Bravo to Verizon Wireless representative, Ms. N., who recognized an opportunity to provide above and beyond customer service to ensure the loyalty and happiness of a long-term customer, me.  For the first time in all my years with Verizon Wireless, this time when I signed a new contract and upgraded our phones we received two complete duds, one which was replaced by another of the same that worked just fine, the Samsung Intensity, and the Samsung Smooth, which two replacements later we have yet to get a “good” one.  At this point, I’m not certain if a “good” Samsung Smooth even exists.  Last night, Ms. N., a very competent and thoughtful customer service rep, solved this problem (even though the solution was outside of Verizon’s normal policy) and made me a happy camper.  For history on this saga read here.

The Samsung Smooth is the phone I chose for my mother when we upgraded.  Before cementing my decision, I read the mixed reviews (ignoring those that seemed overly picky and petty), looked at the technical specs, and compared the phone to other similar phones.  I agonized over the choice more than I did for my own because it was important to me that my mother had a compact, reliable device with good sound and reception.  Unfortunately, I was doomed from the moment I clicked the button to select the Smooth.  Yesterday, after going through two substandard Smooths, I received a third device that had equally crappy sound–blocked out entire words and made people sound like they were stuttering. Ugh, ugh, and triple ugh!

All afternoon, I agonized over the phone call that I would inevitably have to make to Verizon.  My mother, determined with feet planted in cement, insisted that Verizon owed us a working phone.  Her advice:  We should keep returning phones until we finally got one that worked or until Verizon allowed us to select another model.  I agreed, but being the one who, as the owner of the plan, has to make these phone calls, I knotted my gut a little.  I’m not good at being stern and forcing an issue. I usually back down easily and retreat with my tail between my legs.  I don’t enjoy having to raise my voice or make “trouble” and we were just outside of Verizon’s 30-Day Worry-Free Guarantee period so some convincing would be necessary.

Last night, I called mom.  Mom prayed.  I prayed.  I got on the phone and dialed Verizon CS.  Ms. N. answered.  Immediately, I could tell that I was talking to someone who could solve my problem with little to no hassle, and I was right.  Thanks to Ms. N I will be purchasing another Intensity at a reasonable price (the same additional amount I would have had to pay when I originally did the upgrade) and returning the Samsung Smooth and good riddance. 

To anyone who is experiencing a problem with Verizon Wireless, my advice, (for what it’s worth and besides avoiding the Samsung Smooth at all costs), be persistent but not mean and ugly.  Try to find a solution to your dilemma without bending their rules.  Don’t accept the answer of the first rep you talk to if you believe that you have not received a fair solution.  It’s unfortunate, but as with people in every walk of life, some are genuinely interested and want to help and others are just doing their job and following “the rules”.  Sometimes the person you talk to at first may not have the authority to bend the rules.  Politely ask for someone who does.  It has been my experience that most Verizon Wireless Customer Service Reps genuinely want to satisfy the customer.  Thanks Verizon!  Thanks Ms. N!

Free Windows Live Messenger Emoticons: The French do it best

This week, I’m on vacation, spending time resting and relaxing and whiling the time away with a few silly pursuits.  One of these silly, amusing pursuits is seeking out emoticons for Windows Live Messenger (WLM), my instant messaging client of choice.  Call me childish or overly emotive, but with the exception of the great functionality and features of WLM, the wide variety of available emoticons is my favorite part.  If you are gonna communicate you might as well be creative and have fun at it right?  

Ready or not, here they come.  My choices* of best websites that offer Windows Live Messenger emoticons, display pictures, and backgrounds, from first to last in the order of my preference:

 Drum roll please . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. The French do WLM emoticons best.  Visit this French MSN site http://www.ilovemessenger.fr/toppacks.aspx  to see and download my favorite of favorites.  You’ll notice a bit of a language challenge if you don’t speak French, but if you’ve downloaded much from the Internet, you’ll be able to muddle your way through the process.  I especially like the Emoticones 3D and the Emoticones Love 3D, but there are at least 16 cute packs to choose from: aliens, animals, baby animals, super heroes, etc.   No signup or sign in required.
2. Another foreign language site (Dutch?) with fun Christmas Emoticons, background and display picture:  http://www.emoticons-livemessenger.com/pages/msnnlkerst/ No signup or sign in required.
3. Kiwee – Windows Live Messenger Emoticons.  You can get to Kiwee through my link or directly from WLM by choosing “more”.  Kiwee’s emoticons, winks, display pictures, and backgrounds download directly into WLM ready to use, and they have material to celebrate just about every holiday, event and emotion you can think of.  This site does require registration and sign in for downloads but I have yet to receive any spam as a result of my registration and you can choose your preferences.
4. MSN Ifadeleri:  No signup or sign in required.  Oodles of adorable emoticons.  The only drawback to the emoticons on this site is that, since they are able to be used for multiple applications, you must save each one individually to your computer and then use WLM’s “create emoticon” feature (Tools> Emoticons> Create) rather than download directly into WLM.
5. Blog Catalog MSN Emoticons:  A wide selection of regular, 3D, and animated emoticons in all shapes and sizes.  No signup or sign in required but these also must be saved and created as emoticons individually.  Blog Catalog site provides instructions when you click on the emoticon you wish to have.
6. Windows Live Freebies:  Emoticons, winks, backgrounds and music for WLM.  Some cute, some not so cute (in my opinion). 

There are, of course, many sites on the Internet that offer emoticons.  Just make sure you have firewall and anti-virus programs installed and that you check out the websites and the download content carefully.  I tend to stay away from sites that bring up lots of popup windows and try to get you to install various toolbars and/or change your home page.  Have fun!

*with credit given to my pod mate who helped me locate these sites

The Samsung Intensity, A Review

Looking over my blog stats today, I observed that I am not the only one out there in cyberland researching and soliciting or giving opinions on the Verizon’s Samsung Intensity.  Because my previous post was more a commentary on my disappointment over receiving a possibly defective phone than a review of the Intensity, I have decided to add the rest of my two cents about this phone for the sake of those who may be currently contemplating a wireless phone choice. 

I really like the Samsung Intensity, give it four stars out of five, only holding back on the fifth star because it is not the ultimate and I have yet to find the perfect phone.  Although I had reception and sound problems with my first device (now returned and replaced), I have been infatuated with this phone from the moment I took it out of the box—the looks and the features and now the clarity of sound.  If you want a cute phone with a slide-down qwerty keyboard for texting, a decent 1.3 megapixel camera, the ability to store and listen to music, a wall charger/USB cable that allows for easy uploading and downloading of pictures, good (I would not say excellent) reception and sound quality, and great battery life, I recommend this one.  The Intensity comes in both black/gray and red.  Pictured above is the red one in memory, sniff sniff, of my original red Intensity that was replaced with a black one by Verizon.  Yes, I’m still slightly traumatized by that.  I bought a red case for it today.

Because I have found that usage habits and pickiness level play a big part in one’s satisfaction with a phone, I’ll tell you a bit about me.  I am a 40-something female who never found the need for a wireless phone until about 6 years ago when I inherited my son’s contract (on which I had co-signed) and phone when he entered the Army.  I’m on a Verizon family plan with my parents, and out of the 700 allotted anytime minutes per month, it would be unusual for me to use 200 even though my wireless phone doubles as my home phone.  Although I don’t spend much time on the phone, I expect the reliability, reception and sound to be of the quality I am paying for (and Verizon is certainly not the cheapest of wireless service providers).  I only recently began texting–I’m lousy at it and send less than 15 per week—but I want a qwerty keyboard with usable-sized keys for when I do.  I don’t generally listen to music on my phone, but I like to have the option available.  I’m on the Internet a lot at home and at work, but I don’t use the Internet on my phone as I am too impatient to deal with the tiny print and screen and I do not want to pay for it.  On the pickiness scale, I’m somewhere in the middle or closer to the obsessive side when it comes to sound quality and functionality but I don’t lose my head over every little blur and crackle or every functional quirk.  Last but not least, I like my phone to be attractive, if a phone can be attractive, but I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

FYI, the following are lists of commonly voiced pros and cons that I have seen in recent reviews of the Samsung Intensity along with some of my own thoughts:

PROS

1. Good battery life.  Yup!  So far so good.
2. Qwerty keyboard.  Check.
3. Sleek and attractive.  Yeppers! 
4. Takes nice pictures.  Yes, for a phone, it takes nice pictures.
5. Wall charger doubles as USB connector.
6. Accommodates microSD expansion to 16 MB to store more photos and music. 

 CONS

1. Call and End buttons are too small.  I couldn’t agree more!  They are small, vertical and awkwardly located. 
2. Face buttons and qwerty keys difficult to push.  Um, the keys do require a firm touch but I do not find them to be difficult; i.e., not a flaw but more a matter of preference.  I notice the stiffness more on the qwerty keys than on the face buttons.
3. A bit bulky.  It is definitely not as thin and petite as some phones, but if one wants a phone with a slide-down keyboard and decent-sized qwerty keys, I think a bit of thickness is a part of the bargain.
4. Clunky and big.  See above.
5. Auto Lock can be easily unlocked causing butt and purse dialing.  I can’t speak to the butt dialing because I do not keep my phone in my back pocket but my purse did run up some internet usage charges.  I was not happy about that, but (no pun intended) I am getting around this quirk by changing the shortcuts for the directional keys.
6. Muffled, unclear sound and breaking up during conversations.  Hmmmm.  My first model did all of that.  Now, three days into using my current device, I am no longer experiencing the blur and breaking up.  Is the sound as good as my previous phone, a Motorola Krazr?  No, I must admit that it is not.
7. Dropped calls.  Haven’t had a dropped call since I exchanged my first Intensity (the cherry red one, boo hoo).  Ask me in a week or two, and I hope to give you good feedback.

Happy phone shopping and may you choose the best model for you!!

The Samsung Intensity; Love it or Leave it?

And while we’re at it, should we dump the Samsung Smooth in the ocean too! 

Last month, my family and I renewed our contract with Verizon Wireless and were rewarded for our loyalty with shiny, new, updated telephones as part of Verizon’s New Every Two program.  How excited we were when the FedEx man arrived–out with the old and in with the new and all that stuff.  The packages arrived at mom and dad’s house, but they called me at the moment of arrival and I was across the street in no time to begin the necessary charging and programming.  What fun!  I was even late for work on the occasion.  Oops, did I say that.

From the moment I opened my new cherry red Samsung Intensity, I loved it—the look, the features.  It’s the first phone I have ever owned that has a larger screen and a qwerty keyboard with realistically usable-sized keys.  I had spent hours sorting through all of the phone choices before selecting it.  In the past, I have opted for basic, slim, clamshell types with no fancy features or looks.  A phone, after all, by my way of thinking, is a tool and not a fashion statement.  This time, I went for the goods.  I could barely contain my excitement.

How quickly did my jubilation turn to frustration?  Less than two full days after I began using my new jewel, I was talking to my mother on the phone—she chose the Samsung Smooth—and we could barely carry on a conversation for all the breaking up and crackling.  At first, I wanted to blame it on her phone, certain that it, being the less expensive model, would be the culprit, but as the weeks went by without exaggerating I can say that I have never*, in all my years with Verizon, experienced so many dropped calls in such a short period of time nor have I experienced such poor sound quality and reception in areas that have traditionally offered me excellent reception.  With my last Verizon phone, the reception and sound were so good that I forgot I was talking on a wireless phone and even discontinued my home phone service.

Last Tuesday night, just a few days prior to the expiration of our 30-day satisfaction guarantee period, I decided I’d better take action.  First, I called and then marched myself down to a local Verizon Wireless Retail Store to check out our options.  The retail store would have been happy to exchange my phone but they only had in stock the black, not the red (boo hoo), and even if I were willing to take the black, according to the salesperson, I would be charged the $35 restocking fee due to the difference in the sku. What-ev-er!  Next, I called Verizon’s Customer Service.

Three calls, three customer service reps (two very friendly, one semi-rude) and two Verizon customer service surveys later, I was almost resting in the assurance that I had two brand new phones on the way—one Intensity for me and one to replace mom’s inferior Samsung Smooth.  I say almost, because I was experiencing a small, silent lingering doubt that replacements of the same models would be any better than the originals.  And, now, we wait.

Friday after work, I found that the phones had arrived as promised and eagerly tore the packages open.  Disappointment #1:  My phone was black, not the cheery, cherry red of the original.  Disappointment #2:  The phones were certified “like new” rather than new.  It had been my understanding that with the return being within the first 30 days that the phones would have been replaced with NEW.  Oh well, and another what-ev-er!  I recovered from Disappointments #1 and #2 when I found that my “like new” phone worked just fine, ever so much better than the “new” original.  I can always buy a red cover, right?

Ugh!  Disappointment #3 came this morning when I fired up mom’s Smooth and found the sound/reception to be much less than smooth.  In fact, it was so terrible that I called Verizon and told them we would keep the old one and were returning the replacement.  Two Verizon customer service reps later (both pleasant and helpful, thank you), the replacement Smooth that wasn’t so smooth is on it’s way back to Verizon via FedEx and once received Verizon will send out another and hopefully smoother “like new” Smooth.  I wait with bated breath.

*Unless one counts the period of time I spent on the Verizon pay-as-you-go plan with an antiquated Motorola model many moons ago.  That was horrible!

Merry Wireless Technology Christmas

This Christmas my family celebrated the addition of two new members to our wireless phone share plans—my father and my 12-year-old nephew.  My father, who had steadfastly rejected participation in any plan which required a contract and a monthly payment in favor of a pay-per-use plan, dropped and broke his oversized dinosaur at a local grocery store shortly after hearing my mother and I talk of renewing our Verizon contract and getting shiny new phones.  Left with the choice of having no phone, purchasing a newer obsolete model for his Alltel pay-as-you-go plan, or jumping on the family share bandwagon, he, after some serious deliberation, closed his eyes and took the plunge joining my mother and me.  Of course, he muddied the waters by waiting until the day after mom and I had already signed on the dotted line and chosen our phones, but nonetheless he’s in now and we are never letting him out of our circle. (Never mind that we have a Verizon plan that does not qualify for a “circle”.)  My nephew, like most children today, was born with the instinct to attach himself to a wireless device.  It made no never mind to him how or why it happened, he just wanted it to happen.  This year at Christmas, his parents, my sis and BIL, finally decided that he was of age, got him a new LG Chocolate Touch and added him to their family plan.  Two new plan members, five new phones, and a couple of portable gaming devices later and my family was lucky to have communicated at all except by electronic means on Christmas Day.  

It’s not over . . .

. . . until Comcast say’s it’s over.  This year, on Christmas eve, I received an unanticipated cash gift from an unexpected source.  I’m sure everyone, including myself, wishes that I would cease with resurrecting the Comcast ordeal, but fair is fair and I believe if I publish the bad, I must also publish the good.  In my last post I hinted that the rebate check I received from Comcast was not all that I had hoped it might be but that I would be putting the matter to rest.  Well, I spoke too soon.  Just days after the first check, I received another check that added with the first satisfies the entire amount I believed was owed to me.  So again I say, thank you Comcast for working with me to resolve this situation.

It’s about time, it’s about space . . .

It’s about time to stop slapping Comcast in the face.  My Comcastic affair, which is now resolved, has been given top billing for far too long (mostly due to laziness and lack of blogging inspiration on my part).  Not a full day after I published my last post, I was contacted via telephone by a Comcast representative who promised that my account would be credited and that the check would be in the mail.  The check was in fact placed in the mail, and I received it last week.  I will say that the check was not all that I had anticipated it would be, nonetheless, it was a check and I am putting the matter to rest.  Thank you Comcast! 

Oops, but one other thing . . .

Dear Comcast,

Do you think I could get some credit for all the free Google advertising I have given you on my blog as a result of mentioning your name so many times?  What?  Okay, okay . . . I had to ask.  It was worth a try, right?

Yours Truly,

A finally satisfied ex-customer

Yoo-hoo, Mr. Comcast man, where are you?

Several weeks ago, hmmm…actually it’s been just a few days short of a month, I wrote a blog post entitled Comcastic not so fantastic detailing my recent frustrating experience with Comcast Internet service.  The very next morning – Wow, that was fast! — I received a polite and apologetic comment from a Mark Casem at Comcast. 

Crystal,

I am sorry that we lost you as one of our one of our customers. I will definitely share your experience with our regional contacts so that we can look into problems you have experienced. I know it is all too late now, but I would really appreciate it if you can provide the phone number that was associated with your former account. This information will help us get a better understanding on your experience so that we can prevent the problems from recurring. We certainly don’t want other customers to experience the same.

If there is anything that I can do to come back as a customer, please let me know. Again, I sincerely apologize for the experience.

Regards,

Mark Casem
Comcast Customer Connect
National Customer Operations
We_Can_Help@cable.comcast.com

It’s no secret that Comcast and other large companies pay people good money just to sit and search the Internet and the news to find out the latest on the companies’ public images and to spy on what their employees are blogging about or what they might be doing on FaceBook and MySpace and such, but I never expected anyone, including Comcast, to notice little old me and my bloggy.  I even got a “Can I help?” response regarding my Comcastic ordeal from the Comcast advocate on Twitter, Mr. ComcastSteve.

Call me crazy, but, being a fair person who forgives and forgets easily, I was taken in by the compassion and good will which was extended in my direction.  I truly began to reconsider my own actions and attitudes and began to feel guilty for publishing the Comcast bashing post.  (Read my reply to Mark’s comment after the post.)  I promised to e-mail the phone# associated with my account along with the details so that the problem could be researched, and so I did, within just a few days of the post.  I confess that my e-mail had both generous and selfish intentions, *blush*:

1. Even though I had quit Comcast and become a member of the Qwest family, I wanted to help Comcast resolve the problem with Internet at my address so that future residents of this apartment (I will be moving within a few months) will be able to have Comcast Internet without disturbance.  I was even willing to allow them to enter my apartment again, if necessary.
2. I hoped to regain some of my hard-earned greenbacks.  My account never received all of the credits I was promised leaving me with an ending bill of $18 rather than the $50+ credit that was promised and due to me.

The following morning, I received this concise response from a Vinisha Chugani at Comcast:

Thanks for contacting us!  I am reviewing this now along with Mark.  We will give you a call.

Thanks,

Vinisha

Fast, brief and to the point!  I loved it, a taste of hope and the expectation of satisfaction, but it was short-lived.  A week went by and then another week and another week and now it’s been almost a month.  Vinisha, Mark, Steve, you handed me hope and then dumped rejection in my lap.  Yoo-hoo, Mr. Comcast man, where are you?