Moderator's background?

[phonewhiz123]

Ever wonder how the moderators of this site got into their Dare?  Well wonder no more!

[Corsairkid]

I joined the forum on July 16, 2008. I was member #1005. When I first joined, I didn't really know anything about the Dare. I had an LG EnV and I was not due for a new phone upgrade for several months.

I began posting, helped out the site owner a bit, and he made me a Moderator..then Global Moderator. Some of you forum veterans may remember when I was still a Global Moderator. After a couple months, I was promoted to Admin to help him out with running the quickly growing Dare forum.

I finally got a Dare in November, and I have been happy with it ever since.

(Locked thread so only mods can post per request of thread creator)

[FA1SGL]

I am a retired Army First Sergeant gaining interest in things technical when I branch transferred to the Field Artillery.

My first computer was a 1.5 million dollar tactical computer that was as buggy as the Dare.  Working with that system got me over to playing with a TI-99.  The longer I stayed in the Field Artillery prior to my retirement got me interested in things as they became more and more advanced while becoming smaller and smaller.

I worked with Sprint for six years in their payphone division out of Tallahassee, Fl and saw how they were at the backend of the tecnology curve.  Sprint was spending huge sums trying to expand their payphone business while a little branch of Sprint was getting off the ground.  That was Sprint PCS, later to become Sprint 360 and now Sprint/Nextel.

Cellphones and drug dealers of course killed the payphone industry.  I initially resisted the move to having a cellphone figuring I would never have need of a phone that you actually carried with you.

It was not until I met my wife that I decided I needed that capability to be constantly in contact.  I bought a cheap cheap Kyocera.  That led me to getting a Motorola RAZR which was my first "feature" phone.  It was a good phone that outlived his life cycle and was overtaken by technology and changes in peoples taste.  I was willing to stay with it until a software change crippled my ability to get content for it from sources other than Verizon.  In order to keep me as a customer, they gave my wife and I new KRZR K1m's.  That was a "nice" phone but we both wanted something more.

She and I went to the local store and were waiting our turn for a sales rep when we saw the newly released Dare.  That was in July of last year.

Searching for more information than was available in the manual and guide that came with the phone I googled and found LG-Dare.  That was on 23 Jul 08 as member 1301.  I did not intend to anything other than grab such information as I could and be for the most part a lurker.

I found that being a lurker and simply taking information often gets you in areas were a "little bit of knowledge" is a dangerous thing.  So I started posting.  I don't watch television and am at the computer most evenings as I am a news junkie.  It was easy to keep the forum open in a window while surfing the news sites. 

One thing lead to another and it was serendipity that had me going from member to an Admin.  The Dare for me, at this time and place, satisfies my need for a reliable phone (I have yet to suffer any of the many quirks) and a phone that can multi-task. 

Forgive the wordiness....

[Sancho]

I've always loved electronics as a kid. I once convinced myself I wanted to be a robotics or electronics engineer. I took my dads drill apart when I was young, but could not put it back together.

I got the Dare in Septemeber of 2008, but registered for the site the week before. I started out as a member of the site, but my posting led Corsairkid to offer me a position as a Junior Moderator (Along with Chops) of a few particular boards in general discussion. After success as a Junior Mod, I was promoted to full Moderator status. When FA1SGL (who was global mod when I met him) moved up to an Admin position, I moved in as a Global Moderator. Since then i've watched the board grow beyond leaps and bounds.

After some discussion about whether the Dare had Mobile TV, somebody had suggested we open up the Dare to find the chip. I had no insurance on my phone and was trying to purchase a destroyed phone to open. After some deep breaths, I cracked open my phone. There was no guide to follow except the EnV tutorial on Howard Forums, so I created one. After suceessfully putting my phone back together and breathing a sigh of relief, I thought, "Why not do the same thing with the Voyager?" And so I did. It was a much more complicated disassembly, but I was ready for it after working with the Dare.

I currently have a bachelors degree in Biochemistry from California State University San Marcos and I work as a Research Associate for Verenium Corporation San Diego in Biofuels Research and Development. I hope to attend the University of Arizona in the fall to attain a doctor of philosophy degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology.

[vpnavy]

BIO:  Once upon a time, many many many years ago, I decided to serve my country after school.  I figured since I could swim – I’d give the Navy a shot.  I started off with a Transport Squadron (VR) and moved to a Patrol Squadron (VP).  Unfortunately, my eyesight started to go south (depth perception – scary when you start to panic only to find out you had plenty of room).  Before I could really do any damage, I moved over to an Air Wing Staff (AWS) and served out the remainder of my six year commitment.  I might add that I did see some “sea duty.”  Well, actually we had a Destroyer and Submarine show up one day and we got a tour.  Hey, just because I only spent a total of about 2 hours aboard – we considered ourselves salt-water sailors.  I left the Navy and was hired at a Federal Government Agency.  I retired after 30+ years as a Senior Information Technology Manager. 

CELL PHONES:  I love “messing” with new technology and the Cell Phone is just one of many extensions.  I have been a Verizon customer for a thousand years.  My very first Cell Phone was a big monster about the size of a small briefcase that you would plug into your cigarette lighter! 

My wife isn’t into phones so when her two-year renewal comes up (we have different renewal dates) – I’d get a new phone and move my phone to her.  So, I was getting a new phone every year.  I was satisfied with my last phone but when the Dare came out with a 3.2 camera – I jumped for it.

LG-DARE.COM:  I had a question about the phone so I searched the net and found LG.Dare.com – I registered August 03, 2008 as member 1852, posted a question, got a response and I was hooked.

It has been a fun ride so far.

[Chops]

I've always been interested in technology since my younger years, and I probably always will be. At the time of this post, I'll be 20 in just under 4 weeks. I spent a few years of my life involved in the "hacking" scene of various game consoles (mostly the original Xbox and the PSP). However, since college, my attention has been turned toward my degree in Criminal Justice. I have been a volunteer firefighter for about 2 years now and I'm currently in the latter half of my sophomore year of college. I plan to obtain my Associate's Degree and attend the Police Academy within the next 1.5 years. I'm still not sure exactly where I want to be (I'm contemplating NJ State Police at this moment), but I'm sure I want to be a police officer. I may also pursue a Bachelor's Degree at a later date.

There's not much to tell about my activity here. I planned on buying a new phone and looked into the Dare. Being my typical self, I wanted to see if there were any hacks or any good forums I could find discussing the Dare before my purchase. A quick Google search turned up this forum. I registered and read up on all that I could and finally purchased the phone. I like helping people, so I began trying my best to answer questions and provide support to everyone I could. Eventually, I was promoted to the Junior Moderator position (As was Sancho about the same time) and eventually we both received further promotions to the positions we are in now.

[Sisk]

I just discovered this thread..Thought I'd do myself

...Hmm...a little about me huh? Don't I get a biographer or something?

Anyways..I'm from Canada, east coast to be specific (Nova Scotia). Got my first cell phone at the age of 14 I believe? It was one of those classic Nokia brick phones that everyone and their dog had back in the day. Standard screen (no color) just a green hued backlight and very basic features. I'm not even sure the thing could text!
I had that phone for a number of years until I saved up enough money to buy my own phone. I decided to keep in theme with the Nokia brick phones, so I got the latest design in brick phones, which included a color screen (I remember at that time it was the big "new" thing and I felt so special having it). I liked that phone, but it was very basic with no features really. Once nice thing was it had a FM tuner in it, which I don't understand why a lot of new newer phones don't have?
Next up in my cell phone adventures was a Sanyo Katana (white). This was a "slim" flip phone back in the day. I remember getting it and being amazed at how "thin" it was (of course now a days it would be considered thick). It was one of the worst phones I've ever had. During the time I had this phone is when I really discovered texting. I never did it much before since I didn't have the plan for it, and the whole texting concept was just catching on (frankly I wad dead set against it in the beginning). Anyway, this phone was HORRIBLE for texting. The keys were sticky and awkward to use. I had a tough time trying to text, so I normally didn't.
Next in line came my Motorola ROKR z6m. I was so excited to get this this phone because it was a slider (the latest and coolest thing when I got it) and also it was an MP3 phone with a memory card slot. I really liked this phone in the beginning for all the "fancy" and "modern" features it had. As time went on though the software problems that plague Moto phones became apparent. I went though 2 of the same model of phones trying to fix a software problem with the moto's where texts will randomly not send unless you take the battery out..and when you put the battery back in the phone would send all the ones that didn't send and also send randomly selected ones from your outbox.
I dealt with this phone for as long as I could. By this point I was big into texting, so this software issue was just not going to work. A buddy of mine had just gotten a new blackberry and was selling his LG Vantage. I decided to buy it and try it out. I got the ESN change and was amazed to have a touch screen phone, which as we all know now a days is that "new and hot" thing to have on a cell. Anyway, I spend only a few weeks with this phone before realising the touch screen on it was garbage. No matter how much I calibrated it the touch was just non resposive and made texting next to impossible. I forgave LG since it was one of their first iterations of touch screens
Next along came my Dare! Due to a technicality with my Bell contract I was able to weasel out of my contract and switch to a different provider (thank god! Bell is the WORST service I have ever received). I wanted to go with Rogers and get a GSM phone, but their plans were pretty expensive so I decided on Telus. Now the biggest decision of all came..blackberry, or regular phone?
I went with the Dare (obviously) partly because it was only $50, and also because it was pretty cool looking. Also I didn't want to pay for the data to have a blackberry.
Sooo that's my story. I couldn't be happy to have the Dare now. It's by far my best phone I have ever owned and I've had it for a month or 2 now.