Abby and Win’s Blog

I wanted the iPhone so much but was very disappointed when it was released. Why?

• I will never sign a 2 year contract. But there is a way to do pre-paid. The regular plan starts at $60 for the phone. Compared to my T-Mobile myFaves plan, it’s not even close.
• I’m content with T-Mobile and their prices. I get consistent service where ever I go and I’ve scouted around other providers and their price plans. I’m very happy with what I get and how much I pay for it.
• No MMS support. This reminds me of my old Sidekick 2. Yes, you can email. Of the people you normally communicate on the cell phone, how many of them do you email and how many do you SMS/MMS?
• 200 SMS included, nothing higher unless you’re an existing customer? Remember, in the US, both incoming and outgoing messages are counted as a message.
• 8GB hard drive will not replace my 60GB iPod. How much can you really store with contacts, emails, pictures, music, movies, saved web pages, etc.? I will outgrow this thing in a week.
• First of its kind. For $600 I’ll pass on being a guinea pig.
• Apple is known to update their hardware at least once every year. Each version better than the previous. I bought the first Macbook Pro (Core Duo processor and 1GB ram) and 3 months later they released the Core 2 Duo and 2GB ram - about 8 months after that they released the Santa Rosa chip and now you can max out the ram to 4GB. Don’t get me wrong, I love my MBP but I would’ve loved the processor and memory upgrade at no extra cost. How about the iPod jumping from 60 to 80GB? There’s rumors of an iPhone Nano by the end of the year.
• No custom ringtone support, yet. Well there’s a way if you have an Intel Mac and aren’t nervous about editing files. Here’s the article.

But from the articles I read and owners I spoke with, they are happy with their iPhone. I’m just a different type of user than they are. Maybe one day I’ll change my mind and pick one up. But for now I picked up the T-Mobile Wing / HTC P4350 instead. So far so good. I’ll do a review soon.

I finally couldn’t stand the heat generated by my Macbook Pro. I downloaded CoreDuoTemp to monitor the temperature. I was getting an average of 147°F when it either idles or low load (web surfing, iTunes playing, FTP, or just coding some apps). But when I play World of Warcraft, I noticed it get as high as 186°F. Even the plug gets hot where I had to let it cool off for a few minutes after I shut down or sleep my laptop. So I found time to bring it in one of the Apple stores nearby to have them check it out. The tech/genius checked it out and in a few minutes just decided to send it in for repairs. I brought it back home to do some backups and after 2 days, Apple sent me a box via DHL to send it in. It’s been 3 working days and their still waiting for a part to come in. I hope to get this done soon.

I read this somewhere, hopefully somebody else will benefit from reading this. Hope this may give some info in getting pregnant….

Many couples decide to have a baby and set to work only with that idea in mind. Some achieve their goal in a satisfactory timeline. Yet other couples try for months and are disappointed when it becomes obvious when her period starts that their efforts did not achieve fruition. Sometimes, repeated failure is caused by many different factors including ignorance in human reproduction. Here are a few great tips to aid you in your baby dreams.

• RELAX!!! The simplest suggestion sometimes seems like the most impossible when your hopes have been raised and dashed for months at a time. Studies have shown that stress can complicate fertility issues for both men and women. To aid in removing or lowering stress levels, consider joining a support group for couple who are having fertility issues. Negative thoughts such as, “I will never have a baby” should be deliberately replaced with more positive ideas. Yoga and breathing techniques are an excellent way to cope with daily stressors.
• Learn your menstrual cycle. Knowing when you are about to ovulate is the key factor in knowing when to have sex. There are many wonderful techniques and products designed to pinpoint ovulation.
• If you or your partner is smoking, drinking, or using illegal substances then you should quit now. Not only is it very unhealthy for an unborn child, these habits have also been show to have a negative effect on fertility in men and women.
• Practice sexual positions that are more likely to help sperm swim up the vagina. The missionary position seems to be most helpful in this situation. Avoid any positions that have you sitting, standing, straddling, or on top of your partner.
• Putting a pillow under your hips during sex or allows the sperm extra time to travel to the cervix. Make sure the pillow does not prop your hips to high, or the sperm may end up sitting behind the cervix.
• If your cervix is tipped or tilted, making love with your partner behind you may allow sperm a better opportunity to reach the cervix.
• Make love in the early morning or afternoon. Sperm levels are often highest in the mornings.
• Enjoy the lovemaking process. Studies show that when women orgasm, it creates an alkaline state in the vagina that sperm prefer over the normal acid conditions. If you have an orgasm at the same time or shortly after your partner ejaculates, it increases the opportunity for sperm to survive the trip to the cervix.
• Your partner should avoid overheating or constricting his testicles. Some studies have shown that sperm counts drop when men wear tight pants or underwear. He should also avoid saunas and hot tubs.
• According to an Environmental Health Services study, the more sex you have, the greater your chances of becoming pregnant. But don’t have so much sex that you begin to dread having it. Sex should be enjoyable for both parties.
• If you have recently discontinued hormonal birth control, it may take at least a month before your body regulates itself. If you have discontinued the Depo Provera shot, it may take up to six months or a year before the body begins to regulate the menstrual cycle.
• Robitussin has an active ingredient known as guaifenesin that has been shown to have thinning effect on cervical mucous. This can be helpful to women who have abnormal ovulation, but not for women whose ovulation is on schedule.
• Cut back on dairy products. A sugar found in milk known as galactose has been proven harmful to function of ovaries. Some women do not have normal amounts of the enzyme needed to break up galactose causing it to build up to dangerous levels in the body. It is recommended that you skip milk, ice cream, yogurt, and cottage cheese. Other foods that offer calcium are green leafy vegetables, beans, enriched flour, and fortified juices. If necessary, calcium supplements may be added.
• Exercise regularly, but do not take it extremes.
• A healthy diet is essential. Make sure your body is getting the proper nutrients that will keep it in top performance. Increase your fiber intake and try to limit animal products and vegetable oils as these foods affect estrogen levels.
• Talk with your doctor or pharmacist about any prescription medications you are taking. It is possible they may affect your ability to conceive.

The great news if you have just begun your journey towards parenthood is that 85% of couples conceive within the first year. Hopefully, these pointers will help you conceive your own bundle of joy. Good luck!

My memory finally arrived yesterday. I had to swap out the slots where the original memory is installed because it didn’t start up properly. After a tense couple of minutes, my MBP booted up properly. I ran XBench before the upgrade and got a score of 79.71. After the upgrade, my score went up 85.22. So after a $50 upgrade, my laptop’s performance score went up 5.51. Not bad, but I think my hard drive is what’s killing my score. I’m not gonna upgrade that since the price will outweigh my benefits. I played World of Warcraft, chatted, ran iTunes, browse the internet - like I normally do - and notice better performance. My FPS while playing also increased by 8.

Before:

After:

I was trying to upload the XBench scores but for some reason the app can’t connect to the site. I’ll try later and update this post with the links.

I’ve had my Macbook Pro (MA464LL/A)for over a year now and was contemplating on getting the new Core 2 Duo model. But my current one doesn’t need to be replaced. I’m just upset at how Apple’s current model has 2GB of ram included while mine is only 1GB of ram plus Core Duo. After reading a couple of articles online, there’s an average of 8% gain (involving apps that I often use) between a Core Duo/2GB ram MBP versus the new Core 2 Duo/2GB ram MBP. Looking at these articles I’ve decided not to spend another $2,500 on a new MBP, for now. I decided on upgrading my ram to 2GB instead. I assumed that my MBP came with 2x 512MB ram for a total of 1GB ram. So I went to my System Profiler and looked for what type of ram to buy. To my surprise, this is what I found…

Only 1 slot is occupied. I thought I had to get 2x 1GB ram chip and sell the 2x 512MB chip. Well, I found the 1GB chip from Newegg and bought it. I can’t wait for it to arrive and see the difference in performance. I’ll post before and after performance specs once I get the chip installed.