I submitted an application to The Best Job in the World a couple weeks ago. People kept telling me I should, and at the last minute, I decided to give it a go. Tourism Queensland is doing a marketing contest to get someone to blog and create videos from The Great Barrier Reef for six months.

1) I was interested in the competition
2) I love shooting Geek Brief in front of nature
3) Geek Brief friends in Australia keep asking for a meetup, and if I win, I wouldn’t have to pay for a plane ticket! ;)

Out of 35,000+ applications, I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of 50 shortlist applicants! Here’s the deal:

Starting today (March 2nd) I need your help to vote for me in the competition. In about a month, they will narrow down the applicants to 11 people, who will then go out to Australia for interviewing. If I have the highest number of votes on the website, I’m guaranteed to be in the 11 Final Candidates.

If you’re reading this, chances are you know about my dream for The Big Trip. The economy said no to that for now, but I’m hoping I can have one over-the-top adventure before I have a child. Like I said on the entry video, I already feel like I have the best job in the world, thanks to Mevio. I would LOVE to do GeekBrief.TV in a beautiful, natural environment for 6 months and share the whole experience with a couple hundred thousand friends! I just want to say thanks to all of you who vote, and thanks times 30 to everyone who votes every day for the next month!

A lot of people ask me whether they should buy Apple Care or if they can do without the additional expense. I always suggest getting Apple Care. Here’s why. Unlike most warranties, where you have to mail your computer in for repair and wait, and wait…and wait, Apple Care is extremely convenient (provided you live close to an Apple Store) when something breaks. Make an appointment online, bring your phone, iPod or computer to the Genius Bar to let them have a look. They troubleshoot the device, and more often than not, they’ll provide you with a solution quickly. Sometimes they’ll fix it while you wait, sometimes they need to keep your computer, and other times they just replace your iPhone. You can go to the Genius Bar regardless of if you have Apple Care or not, but a lot of things are covered under the warranty, and they know your time is valuable, so they work to get you taken care of quickly. For example, I sent this tweet out when I arrived early for my Genius Bar appointment:

And I left approximately 30 minutes later with a replacement phone.

Because of my job, I put a lot of strain on the devices I use. I push them to their limits, so my local Apple Store Genius Bar knows me well! I probably take advantage of my Apple Care more than you might, but it’s that one time that something doesn’t work and it’s easy to solve that makes it worth it. If you buy the first production model of any device (think iPhone and iPods), you’re at a higher risk of having something go wrong.

Keep in mind your devices come with a limited warranty for a year (and 90 days of phone support), so you don’t have to make the decision when you buy the device.

I’ve gotten a lot of questions asking how to get alerts emailed or texted to them when we release a new GeekBrief.TV episode. Whether for GBTV or any other RSS feed, here are some options.

Text Alerts

Web-Alerts.com works in the US and Canada. Type in the website address, then your phone number where you want SMS messages sent. The service is free, and you can unsubscribe any time. Of course, standard text message rate apply from your carrier.

Pingie.com gives you the option of creating SMS alerts immediately just using your phone number or you can create an account with your email address to help you manage your subscriptions. The service is free, and you can unsubscribe any time. Of course, standard text message rate apply from your carrier.

Email Alerts

If you don’t have an unlimited SMS plan, you might prefer to get your updates via email, and for this you can use FeedMyInbox.com. Simple and easy - enter your email address and the desired website and you’ll get email updates every 24 hours if the publisher has posted something new. There doesn’t appear to be an option to get each update individually, though. They’re all grouped in one email.