Entertainment

AT&T updates LSU's Cell Phone Coverage

Posted on September 1st, 2011 by Bill
cell networks easily get bogged down with large crowds

voice and data connections to improve in Death Valley

In 2011, to bring up the fact that communication has become the new center of commerce would be to state the obvious. It is almost an affront to the sensibilities at this late date to comment on the ever-present necessity to “be in touch.” However, we at Dexcomm came across a news item which drives this point home so well that we would be negligent not to mention it… especially since we really love college football.

 

It seems cell phone connectivity has been a problem at football games–as if we need to be told (ever try to connect to the tailgate via cell phone just before game time?). According to a report last year from C-Net, there are at least 5 billion cell phones currently in use around the world. With 6.5 billion people on planet Earth, that means that approximately 79% of the world population has a cell phone in their pocket. The implications are obvious for college football; when you have thousands of fans congregating around the stadium on game day, chances are a few people are trying to make a call. This has led to connectivity issues that have befuddled the major cell phone providers.

 

AT&T  has decided to take the bull by the horns at LSU’s Tiger Stadium (Death Valley for us natives). Starting this year, the phone service provider has decided to update all of their towers on LSU’s campus to 3G technology in order to accommodate the over-load of calls.

 

The point of this move is obviously to alleviate the pressure on systems located in hotspots. Yet it reminds us all of a point so obvious that we take it for granted: the need for people to stay connected is all-encompassing. In the grand scheme of things, whether or not we meet up with our friends at a football game is rather meaningless. However, if just one call of consequence fails to go through—perhaps that call which alerts a fan to a family emergency—then we have failed to communicate what matters. Whether or not communication has become the new “hot thing,” we can’t allow ourselves to become inured to the consequences of miscommunication. One dropped call can mean a lot.

 

You can actually figure out where your calls are likely to be dropped, regardless of who your cell provider is. This app will tell you where coverage is bad. What is more, you can compare how other providers measure up. Using it could help you get ahead of the game–or at least meet up with your friends before the game. This, of course, doesn’t necessarily account for towers being over-loaded on game day. We at Dexcomm are curious; what have your experiences been with cell coverage in large crowds or sporting events?

 

Also, if you are a Tiger fan, you might want to check out our comments on LSU’s Pro Combat uniforms.

 

 

Dexcomm: The Heart of Your Fan Base

Posted on June 24th, 2011 by Bill

The College World Series is currently being held in Omaha, Nebraska. Down here in Louisiana, we know a thing or two about the tournament; The LSU Tigers baseball squad has made it to the tournament an astonishing fifteen times, and has won six national titles. They are tied with the Texas Longhorns for the second-most national titles, trailing only the University of Southern California (who, coincidentally, won most of their titles under the leadership of a Louisiana native, Rod Dedeaux). Although the Tigers didn’t make it to Omaha this year, the series still got me thinking about the connections that Tiger fans have made in Omaha over the years.
It is no secret that Omaha likes the LSU fan base. Why? Because Tigers fans have proven over the years to be some of the friendliest and most gregarious attendees to the series. In fact, when asked about LSU’s participation in the 2008 series, College World Series events coordinator Dan Morrissey extolled the virtues of the fans, “Oh, my gosh, we were thrilled when we saw LSU made the tournament. Their fans are always friendly, do great tailgating, and always bring something from home.” Now think for a moment about what this has done for Nebraskan’s opinion of people from Louisiana in general. As emissaries for the state of Louisiana, Tigers baseball fans can’t be beat.
You want the same type of positive advocacy in your phone service that Tigers fans provide for their state.

In a very real way, your phone service is a partner in creating the public voice of your business.

Just as the gumbo at a Tigers tailgate generates a sense of friendliness amongst World Series attendees, the personal care, commitment, and compassion that a good phone service provides will help you foster a warm, trusting relationship with your clients—as well as your potential clients.

choose the right answering service

Easy Rentals With Redbox

Posted on January 25th, 2011 by Andrew Triplett

I’m sure many of you have had the chance to catch up on some movies through all this cold weather the entire country has been getting bombarded with lately. There’s nothing like staying in and watching a few flicks while all bundled up and gorging yourself with food.


I had written up a post a couple months ago about the joys and wonders of watching movies through Netflix — either by streaming or by mail. I still stand by my positive breakdown of Netflix’s fine service, but there is an up-and-coming contender quickly gaining steam. This contender would be Redbox.



There has been a recent explosion in this service the past year. Redbox is simply a company that has set up thousands of movie rental kiosks (or vending machines) all around the US. These kiosks are usually set up nearby grocery stores, pharmacies and gas stations. If you’re not very technically inclined, all you have to do is walk up to the kiosk and browse through all their movie releases. If you find one you like, simply add it to the card and check out by swiping your credit card. For those of you more internet-savvy, you can log onto their website and check all the nearby kiosks for your desired movie. From there, you can even rent it via your computer or iPhone and have it reserved for you when you arrive.


The catch? There really isn’t one. You simply pay $1 per night you have the DVD or $1.50 per night for a BluRay. If you watch it and return it the next day, you’ve just watched the movie for dirt cheap! The only drawback is that they are limited in selection and usually takes 30 days from the movie’s release date to be available in the kiosks – pretty much the same drawbacks as Netflix.


So if you’re a casual movie-watcher and do not find a movie subscription service such as Netflix appealing, or if you don’t want to pay an arm and a leg for a new release at BlockBuster, check out the bright red kiosk nearby and see if any movies you want to watch are available!

ESPN3

Posted on December 21st, 2010 by Andrew Triplett


ESPN has long been our leader in sports broadcasting. Being owned by Disney since the mid-90s and in business since the 70s, the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network has delighted us sports fans with thorough coverage of all our favorite pastimes.


You may or my not realize, but ESPN has been in the forefront of implementing technology with their broadcasts for some time now. Whether it’s digitizing all their broadcasts, releasing their HD channels, airing a 3D channel or the use of so much augmented reality on their shows, ESPN always tries to push the envelope.


Next in line for ESPN has been the push for ESPN3 to take off. ESPN3 is an online service that the network uses to stream certain sporting events live. ESPN had also paired up with Microsoft to create an interface to watch ESPN3 via your XBOX360.



Even though some of these events may be blacked out (learned from the LSU-Mcneese game this year), a large selection of games is available for you to choose from. Did you miss your game (and it aired on an ESPN channel)? Chances are that you can replay it at a later time to catch up for your cooler-talk on Monday.


ESPN3 also has a large selection of games from sports that you may not be able to watch on live TV so easily (let’s say European league soccer, cricket, misc college sports, high-profile high school and Pop Warner games, etc). It’s all available for you to browse through if you want to watch that highly-anticipated lacrosse match you’ve been hearing about!


A major concern for holding onto cable television is the ability to watch ESPN and live sporting events. With more and more content becoming available and the help of another service such as Netflix, this could help transition many of you away from the grip of cable companies and onto a much cheaper online alternative.

The Walking Dead

Posted on December 3rd, 2010 by Andrew Triplett

If you know me, you know my odd love for zombies. Any form of flesh-decaying, virus-spreading action — any of the dozens of movies and video games in the past few years especially — has me as giddy as a schoolgirl. One thing has always eluded me though, and that’s the rise of a zombie-themed television series… until now.


There’s been a serious influx of zombie-inspired entertainment as of late. With all the big time movies such as The Crazies, I Am Legend, 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead, it’s hard not to get caught up in the zombie craze! Not to mention all the video games out there like Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, Call of Duty and the big daddy of them all: Resident Evil. If you’ve got the stomach for this genre, you’ve just had to have been exposed to this horror.


So, we’re used to these typical avenues for zombified entertainment. What about television? Fear no more, the good ol’ station, AMC, has brought us a weekly infestation of undead thrills! It airs on Sunday evenings at 9PM CST — just in time to put the kiddies to bed.


The Walking Dead is based off a comic book that was started in 2003. The plot is basically about a small town cop that was put into a coma from a gunfight awakening to a zombie-infested world. He perseveres while searching for his family and struggles to survive as the story further unfolds. There’s plenty of action going on in this series, so you don’t have to worry about too much bore. Even in the character development, there’s plenty of intricacies to keep you thinking about the dynamics of the cast. What else would you expect from the director of The Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile plus the producer of Terminator and Aliens?



Reception of the first two episodes was so great, AMC has already given a 2nd season the green light! Unfortunately, the current season is only 6 episodes long. I suppose it’ll have you and plenty of other fans foaming at the mouth for more zombie action by the time the next season is ready! With only a couple episodes left, you better catch up with the reruns or you can download them on Amazon, iTunes, your PS3 and other avenues.

Streaming Music

Posted on November 13th, 2010 by Andrew Triplett


Getting tired of listening to the same old radio stations with the same old music that they play over and over every day? How about the aging and expensive iTunes collection you’re accruing? There’s plenty of options out there nowadays that enable you to listen to all sorts of music. Some can be on-demand playing just songs that you want to hear. There’s also some that act as online radio stations that play hundreds of different mixes of music to keep things interesting for you. The question is, which service do you want to use?





As with anything online these days, there are tons of options… each carving out it’s own niche. Easily the most popular service in use is Pandora. Pandora allows you to either choose from one of their many different radio stations, or even just mold your own station from scratch. You do so by listing your favorite songs, artists, genres, etc. You can create an entire station based off of one song. It then calculates songs that you may like (using the Music Genome Project) based off your selections and the songs that you “like” or “dislike”. Pandora runs very well with good quality on both the web client and phone apps. There are even many devices in your home theater that is including Pandora built into it such as TVs, Blu ray players and speaker systems. The only real problems with Pandora are that the library can feel small after listening to the same stations for a while, you cannot select particular songs to play, and that you may only listen to 40 hours worth for free. Anything more than that, you’ll have to sign up for their monthly subscription ($36/yr).



Last.fm is another service that many people like to use. This service is actually very similar to Pandora. The music selections are determined based off the user’s preferences just like Pandora, but it’s calculated in a different way. Last.fm uses your preferences and matches you with songs that other people with similar preferences liked. This is a bit different from Pandora’s more technical approach of analyzing rhythms, harmony, etc). The general consensus is that Last.fm provides you with one of the user-friendliest experiences. People also say that Last.fm’s customizability and library is a bit better than Pandora’s. The vast user-generated experience tips the scale in Last.fm’s favor for many people. You can expect to pay the same amount as Pandora for a membership ($3/mo).





Another very popular music service is Slacker Radio. Touted as the most customizable service of the three, Slacker has vast possibilities. You can create hundreds of stations if you want. If not, you can select one of their many pre-configured stations out there. Slacker allows you to sift through their huge library of music to create a truly personal music experience. The ability to cache a station on your phone’s SD card can be a lifesaver for many of you. Think about it, you can save hours and hours of music to your phone to last you on those long rides through the middle of nowhere. Even with a great selection, sometimes the service can be choppy or quality can degrade. If this doesn’t bother you, you can tailor yourself a great experience if you’re a music power-user. With such a selection, you could expect to pay a little more than the other guys ($5/mo or $48/yr).


Like I said, there are plenty of choices to listen to quality music – either on the computer or on the go. Don’t hesitate to try one of these services once you get bored listening to the conventional means of music or if you’re tired of paying so much for satellite. There’s also a few other notable services out there that I didn’t get to mention, but maybe that’ll be for another post!

Voodoo Experience

Posted on November 10th, 2010 by marybeth

http://thevoodooexperience.com/2010exp/This past Halloween weekend, I had the pleasure to attend Voodoo Festival at City Park in New Orleans, Louisiana with my fiancé. I have been to concerts before while living in Michigan, but never experienced a festival devoted to worshiping music. After living in Louisiana for the past five months, I have noticed several cultural differences. Some of these differences people from Louisiana might take for granted, or didn’t know how good they have it.


For one, Michigan simply does not have festivals or concerts outside. The only festivals I’ve attended have been the Cherry Festival and Holiday parades, and these do not compare to the festivals in Louisiana. Michigan state law prohibits open containers of alcohol and the ability to buy alcohol is noticeably stricter compared to Louisiana. I found it easier to buy alcohol in Louisiana then in Michigan because at the festival I didn’t have to show my driver’s license once and I was able to walk around freely with a mixed cocktail in my hand. At first, I thought was very strange to be walking around outside with an alcoholic beverage, but after a while it wasn’t strange anymore.


Another cultural difference, I’ve noticed since moving to Louisiana is the weather. Compared to Michigan, as a child it would get so cold outside trick or treating that my parents made sure my brother’s and my Halloween costumes kept us warm enough in the 30 degree weather. For example, one year it started snowing on Halloween and we wore our snow pants underneath our costume. Halloween is completely different in Louisiana. It was a warm 75-80 degrees outside, and we were able to wear shorts and a t-shirt. It was almost warm enough to sit outside and tan. We didn’t have to worry about wearing a winter jacket or bring a hat and gloves.


NOLA FoodThe most noticeable difference moving from Michigan to Louisiana is the Cajun food. The only access to Cajun food in Michigan is Zataran’s rice meals at the supermarket. The access to Cajun food in Louisiana is plentiful and it was everywhere at Voodoo Fest. At the NOLA food stands they had sausage po-boys, boudin, fried alligator, catfish, jambalaya, seafood gumbo, cracklin’ and food I couldn’t even pronounce. I was brave enough to try a catfish po-boy, and it was delicious. I can’t wait for the chance try more Cajun food.


Ozzy OsbourneAll in all, this past Halloween was a weekend to remember. I was able to see a 62-year old Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness, perform possibly one of his last concerts as an artist. Muse, Weezer, and Cage the Elephant were all very exciting to watch.  We also saw bands that we had never heard before and are now one of our favorites, like Ponderosa, Jonathan Tyler and Northern Lights, and Florence + the Machine. We enjoyed Voodoo Fest so much that we are looking into attending next year’s concert. Anyone who enjoys music should not miss out on one of the best concerts in the world.


Florence + the Machine


Starcraft II: In Depth

Posted on November 9th, 2010 by Andrew Triplett

So Starcraft II has been released since the end of July. I’ve been able to thoroughly “test” this game to give you a detailed view into the game. Now mind you, this took me many hours of hard work for all this testing!


Starcraft is a game that revolutionized the way strategy games were played and developed. You are basically tasked with building up your base and annihilating your foes. You can play online 1v1 – 4v4 and free-for-all. You may also play the custom made maps by the gamers themselves (which can be quite fun). If you want to create some custom games, you can boot up the editor and dream up something big.


Starcraft II’s predecessor caught on like a wild fire and put the real-time strategy (RTS) genre on the map. It even became one of the national sports for South Korea! With dedicated channels and professionals, this game became serious business.


Playing the single player campaign can often be a drag for many games. In most games I usually skip the single player and go straight to multiplayer. In this instance, however, I knew better and tried it out. The setup is like most typical real-time strategy (RTS) games with most of the action in campaign missions. You could even detect some World of Warcraft that Blizzard put in there with the upgradable troops and skill trees. A robust story line gives the player plenty to think about. You’re even given some choices in missions that may affect your experience. Each mission will put you to the test on all aspects of the game one by one in a pretty elegant composition. Even at 25+ missions, this is only 1/3 of the story line that Blizzard intends on putting out (in later releases). You’ll definitely have more to look forward to if you enjoy the campaign.



Multiplayer is where all the magic happens. Do not worry if you’re new to this type of game, because you are auto-matched up to people in your similar skill range. After 5 games, you’ll be placed among gamers with a similar skill level as you and you just continue to play and try to get better. The ladder system is pretty accurate and shows you exactly where you stand among your peers. If the regular games get boring, you can go ahead and start playing custom games. Custom games can be created through the map editor and can really be just about anything. Games like soccer or tower defense were popular back in the day. Now you’ll find tons of different games with different objectives to keep you entertained.


Blizzard’s done a fine job with this game. In my opinion, it lives up to the hype and is worthy of the Starcraft sequel crown. I’ve been hooked on this game for the past couple months and am still finding new ways to play this game and get better. With all the variety of games out there in Starcraft II, it’s hard to get bored. Whether you wanting to become great and learn a little micromanaging in the meanwhile, or if you want to hop in on some random custom games, this game will keep you coming back for more.



New iPods: So Fresh, So Clean

Posted on November 5th, 2010 by Andrew Triplett


Apple has announced their new iPod lineup recently. So what does this mean for you? I’m not sure, but it gives you more toys to spend all your hard-earned dollars with! Just in time for the holiday season, we’re subjected to the cool new gadgetry Apple tends to hook us with. It’s been a busy year for Apple, with their new iPhone, the new iPad, this caps off 2010. So lets get into the hardware I speak of:


The biggest surprise of the new lineup was the revealing of the new iPod Nano. Touted as the best-selling iPod of the lot, it’s easy to see why they focused on that gadget the most on this year’s releases. It’s brought more of a resemblance of the iPhone/iPod Touch than sticking with the past versions of the Nano. At roughly the size of a pack of matches, they’ve put in touch screen capabilities. You can simply clip it on, rotate the screen to your liking, turn on the pedometer for your run and either jam to your favorite iTunes music or FM radio. Although this thing is tiny, it’s priced between $150 and $180 depending on the hard drive space (8gb and 16gb).


Next in the lineup is the newest iPod Touch. The newest iteration of the Touch line is basically all the updates the new iPhone 4 brought. You can expect the new iPod Touch to have features such as the Retina Display (having a resolution sharper than the eye can see), upgraded processor, front and back cameras (FaceTime chat!) and HD video recording capabilities. This is perfect for you guys that want an iPhone without the voice and data plans! The 8gb model is $230, the 32gb for $300 and the 64gb will run you $400.


Last on the list is the newest iPod Shuffle. It abandons the last generation’s design and goes back to the familiar design of the clippable, coin-sized 2nd generation device. It also brings back the circular buttons so you don’t have to fiddle with the controls on the headphones. It brings back the VoiceOver functionality, having it tell you the song you’re listening to, the playlist, battery life left, etc. As the cheapest of the bunch, you can get a 2gb model for only $50.


So there you have it. Your entire musical needs have been met; along with some others I’m sure. It’s understandable for you guys to want one… it’s what Apple does to you. We’re brainwashed – we have to buy all their cool gadgets! If not for you, these can prove as wonderful gifts (I hope you’re reading this, honey) for Christmas or birthdays. I’m sure that they’ve priced these just right so that people with any budget can afford one.

Streaming Netflix

Posted on November 2nd, 2010 by Andrew Triplett



OK, so everyone knows what Netflix is, right? In case you don’t know, Netflix is a movie rental service that sends your DVDs (or Blu-ray if you have a player) through the mail. They are also a major part of the reason why Blockbuster just filed for bankruptcy. Starting at about $9 a month, what more can you ask for? No late fees, no need to drop any movies off, as many movies as you can fit in during a month for one low price.

Well, recently there’s been a new way to watch all sorts of movies and television series. Netflix has been beefing up its online streaming capabilities the past few months and have been integrated into numerous household devices for more exposure to consumers. Long gone are the days where you must have had to sit at a computer to watch a blurry show constantly buffering.

That’s right, Netflix streaming is included with your monthly fee and provides you a pretty large selection of not-so-new releases. Sure, they’re not the movies that were released the past week (or in many cases, the past month), but you’ve got instant access to various classic movies, some movies released a couple months ago that you might have not forgotten about, entire seasons of television shows and more.

You simply fire up your Netflix-enabled devices such as your PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, Mac, IPhone, TVs, etc and choose your movie waiting for you in the queue. After about a minute of calibration, you’re set for a surprisingly good quality and hiccup-free streaming movie.

If you can handle watching older movies or waiting the usual 30-day wait period that Netflix has in place for new releases, then Netflix’s 1-2 combo of mailed (newer) DVDs paired with the older releases and television shows streaming to your home theaters is a match made in heaven.

Now why drive down to the local movie shop that’s on the verge of shutting down (isn’t that so 90s anyways?) when you can sit down and watch it instantly without having to step foot outside?

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