Jason Unger

The First Official 24 Season 8 Trailer

Posted by junger - 10/29/09 at 07:10:52 am

As shown during Game 1 of the World Series Wednesday night:

Great quotes:

"You're lucky I'm retired."

"You're supposed to call me grandpa"

One More Thought On Personal Branding

Posted by junger - 10/28/09 at 05:10:45 pm

Apparently, my post on personal branding caused quite a storm. Which is definitely a nice reaction, even though it wasn't really my intention.

The funny thing about my description of all of the brands that make me up is that I missed one of the biggest ones.

Last Saturday night, I'm playing in a poker game when Phil Bak, author of the great Boras Blog, asks me why I didn't list "personal finance blogger" among my brands.

Duh. I can't believe I forgot that.

I've been running personal finance blogs for the past 3+ years, and I didn't even remember to list it.

But it proves my point. It's impossible to have one brand that you can apply to every context of your life — unless your brand is simply your name.

When it comes to the brand that is Jason Unger, I rule Google. And that's pretty much all that matters.

Same Blab Time, Same Blab Channel

Posted by junger - 10/23/09 at 07:10:54 am

I have an argument that I am going to make about why net neutrality is a bad idea as it is currently being pushed through Congress.

It's controversial, will definitely stir up some comments, and — in my humble opinion — a win-win situation for both service providers and customers.

But I can't write it right now. It'd be like a major brain dump, into a post, with no coherent path to lead you through.

So I'm not going to write it. Right now.

But I will soon, since I want to be able to discuss it on next week's episode of TechBlab. You know, the podcast where I make fun of Blogger Bob, the guy who writes on the TSA's blog, and end up getting called out by a listener — and the TSA themselves!

While you're waiting, listen to the episode. It's a good one. And let me know what you think.

Click to play

Why Can't We Always Blink New Music?

Posted by junger - 10/22/09 at 07:10:12 am

Why does it take two or three listens to new music before you decide if you like it or not?

You know what I mean. The first time you hear a song on the radio or Pandora or on an album, you're not sure if it's any good. I know I can't be the only person this happens to.

Take, for example, Light, the latest album from Matisyahu. We bought this album in the car on a recent trip to Philly, but on the first listen, I really wasn't sure if I would like it (tangent: it is so addictive buying crap on your phone in the middle of nowhere. Apple has to love this).

One Day, the first single off the album, was the song I knew and enjoyed. The rest of the album, at first listen, sounded like a pretty big departure from his last album.

But I somehow knew that it would take more than one listening to really evaluate it. And even though my initial reaction was a bit of surprise (considering how much I liked his last album, Youth), I listened to it more.

And I ended up really liking it.

But in Malcolm Gladwell's Blink, he argues that "our initial, intuitive response to a person, object, or event — the one that transpires in the first few milliseconds of our exposure to it — is often the one that proves to be correct."

While Blink is probably Gladwell's weakest book, he's basically arguing that we have a gut instinct, and most of the time, it's right. I think we can all agree with that.

But there's something different about music. When it's good, we know right away. When it's not obviously good, you need to listen to it again to figure out how you feel.

Maybe it's because music has a way of growing on you. But I'm not sure 100%.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Vonage's iPhone App is Pointless, Thanks Google/Apple/AT&T

Posted by junger - 10/21/09 at 07:10:21 am

Even before we got our first iPhone (Debbie's 2G), I've been talking about the major impact an app like Vonage could have on the device.

Think about it. For us Vonage users, with a mobile app, we could:

• automatically forward our landline to our cells while on the road
• get access to all of our digital voicemails and transcriptions
• see our latest inbound and outbound calls
• even make calls on our cellphone through our landline number

It'd be an amazing app. But it's not even close to the one we got. Yes, I know you can do most of these things by visiting their website, but it's slow, not mobile-friendly, and does more than an app needs to.

Instead, Vonage puts out a Skype-like mobile calling app, targeted at non-Vonage users who want to be able to make calls over WiFi (and now 3G). So you have to buy minutes to make calls. And can't do anything whatsoever related to your landline account.

It's totally pointless. Why would Vonage ignore their current users by making an app that doesn't do anything useful for them at all?

Well, there may be a legitimate excuse. But it's a total cop-out. And I doubt it's the actual reason they used to justify making this pointless app.

The ideal Vonage app sounds a lot like Google Voice. You know, the app that currently has Apple/AT&T/Google under scrutiny from the FCC. Being able to have "one number to manage them all" is great for users … not so much for telecom providers. Especially if it's not their number.

Considering they've never been an especially cash-steady company, Vonage doesn't have the ability to get caught up in a legal mess. But it's a dumb argument, since all of the app features are currently available — just in an annoying, non-usable fashion.

I don't know who to blame for this, so in a spirit of fairness, not only will Vonage take blame for being wimps, Google, Apple and AT&T also need to be called out for causing this situation.