The web is awesome: Shopping for a cell phone

I've been wanting to get a new cell phone for awhile now since mine started having issues. I have not wanted to go stand in line to talk to somebody at the Cingular store. That process is far too time-consuming.

So today I logged onto Cingular's on-line site and clicked on "upgrade phone". That took me to a long list of phones that were available to me at significant discounts. Since I just ordered a new car with Bluetooth, I had it show me only phones that had Bluetooth and then sorted by price.

What I could get from my desk and not in the store was reviews on every phone I was interested in. cnet's site was great. I looked up probably twelve different phones. They had all but one. I ended up purchasing a Samsung D807 for just $50. Check out this link for an example of their excellent reviews.

I was not completely sure of the pricing, so I clicked on the chat link at Cingular's site and was on-line with a real person in just a few seconds. He gave me the info I needed quickly, and I made the order.

Lots of choices, expert reviews, filtering and sorting, all that from the comfort of my desk chair. Slick.

Is SqlJunkies.com Abandoned?

So much for my idea of continuing to write for SqlJunkies.com. All indications are that the site has been abandoned. I sent e-mail to someone at CMP Media, but I have not received a response.

So, I am looking for alternatives. I do want to continue to write for someone.

Wish me luck.

Rob

Writing Frustration

I have been frustrated trying to decide whether I should start a blog or continue writing articles for SqlJunkies.com. The reason I don't like blogs is that there is no barrier to entry. Anyone can write anything and post it on a blog. Is it worth reading? No matter; it gets posted on the vast Internet anyway.

When you want to publish to a magazine, even an on-line magazine, there is an expectation that you have done a good amount of research and testing before publishing.

So, I plan to continue to write for SqlJunkies, but I have now caved and started a blog. We'll see where it goes.

Rob