For the squinters:
“A year or so ago, you were at some party or something, and were getting a ride home with someone else. I guess it might have been longer cause you didn’t have a cell phone. The time were supposed to be back came and went and you didn’t show up. Mama & Daddy started to get a little worried. I was taking a shower and starting worrying too. What if you didn’t come back? It was you I was worried about, but it was my life that flashed before my eyes. We were sitting in front of the TV playing Aladdin, and I was trying to keep you from chucking the controller at the wall. We were scripting intense dramas with legos and playmobile people. Mickey and his hang of beanie baby misfits were playing soccer and dancing the night away to the Space Jam soundtrack. We were being sent to our rooms for getting in trouble each sitting in our own doorway, plotting against the “enemy”! Even as I write this it is hard to keep the tears that poured out in the shower that night for splattering all over this card. Don’t ever think for a second that I am not so grateful to have such a great sister. I love you Elizabeth.
-Matthew”

Written by  Lance Ulanoff

The arrival of the Verizon Apple iPhone 4 has been cause for some celebration among Verizon customers and even some who are already using the phone on AT&T. In fact, virtually every smartphone customer is likely wondering if they should adopt one of the leading smartphones on the U.S.’s most reliable mobile network. These 12 facts may help you decide.

1) The Verizon iPhone is No Thicker or Heavier than the AT&T Model

Apple told me and my examination proves that these phones are like twins (more identical than fraternal). Both iPhones are 9.3 millimeters thick—still among the thinnest smartphones on the market.

2) The Antenna Design is Different for a Reason

It’s no accident that the AT&T iPhone 4 and Verizon iPhone 4 antenna bands (around the phones) do not look exactly the same. The differences are hard to notice unless you hold the two phones side-by-side—as I did. The Verizon iPhone uses a CDMA network antenna. In fact, it uses two CDMA antennas (a necessary redundancy for the CDMA network). As a result, there are identical antenna band bar breaks on either side of the phone. By the way, Apple told me that, unlike GSM, the CDMA network actually works to give you a few more seconds of connectivity before the call breaks off completely. In other words, even on the worst connections, you may still be able to recover the call. I never had a bad enough connection to see this in action.>

3) Death Grip is Hard to Find

No matter how hard I gripped the Verizon iPhone—or in what configuration, I could not recreate the old AT&T iPhone 4 Death Grip—that is unless the connectivity was already weak. So on the very rare occasions that I dropped down to two bars (which means I was in 2G land), I could cover all the antenna gaps and get the bars to drop down even further. Still I never cut off the signal.

4) It has a Personal Hot Spot

There aren’t a lot of differences between the AT&T iPhone and the Verizon model, but this is a biggie. You can turn the phone into a Wi-Fi hub for up to five devices. In my tests, the connection was strong and held on for at least 25 feet (One of my tests involved leaving the iPhone on a Windowsill and connecting through my Blackberry Torch from a room upstairs and on the other side of my home). Data throughput performance on the iPhone itself does diminish a bit when it’s sharing.

5) Data Will Cost You

As much as I love the personal hot spot—and I really do love it—it will cost an additional $20 a month with, for now, unlimited data for an additional $30 a month. That’s pretty pricey when you consider you’ll also be paying a monthly service plan fee. However, if you consider what you’d pay for a separate EVDO modem and the monthly data costs, you might actually come out ahead.

6) You Can’t Do Voice and Data at the Same Time

This is probably the single biggest limitation of the Verizon iPhone and could turn into its most popular complaint. You can make a call and you can get your data connection, but do not try and do it at the same time. For most people, this will not be a problem (how often are you calling and browsing the Web at the same time?). In fact, if you receive a call while using the Personal Hotspot on a 3G connection, the Verizon phone will prioritize the call. Interestingly, on a 2G connection, the call will go straight to voicemail.

7) AT&T and Verizon offer Virtually the Same Voice Plans

If you’re trying to decide between a Verizon iPhone 4 and the AT&T model, don’t base the decision on the calling plans. Both have $69.99 unlimited calling rates and, at the lower end, offer 450 minutes a month for $39.99.

8) No SIM card

Another physical difference between the AT&T phone and the Verizon iPhone is that the latter lacks a SIM card slot. CDMA phones don’t use SIM cards, instead relying on a cloud-based set of serial numbers to authenticate network phones. So you won’t be transferring this Verizon iPhone to another CDMA network unless that network—perhaps Sprint—decides to start authenticating Verizon’s CDMA iPhones. (PCMag’s mobile expert Sascha Segan told me the customer support headaches that would attend this decision make this possibility highly unlikely) Since we expect most people to be very happy with Verizon, this doesn’t seem like a big deal. Sprint customers, of course, may disagree.

9) General Availability Comes on Feb 10th

By now you’ve probably heard that Verizon sold out of the pre-order inventory of Verizon iPhones. Apple did tell me that the phone would only be available in “limited quantities” to existing Verizon customers. It’s unclear what supplies will be like on the 10th. Also unknown is when, exactly, Verizon will start shipping those phones.

10) Verizon and AT&T 3G Are Both Fast

There’s no question that AT&T’s 3G network, once America’s fastest mobile network, is faster than Verizon’s 3G, but, as I can attest, it’s only faster when you can get it. Verizon is fast, too, and I doubt most people will notice the difference even when both networks are operating for you at peak speeds. I certainly didn’t. What it comes down to is coverage. I had better coverage overall with the Verizon iPhone, which means that even if there were moments when my mobile data network wasn’t as fast as the best I could get from AT&T, I knew that at least I could get connected from virtually any location. This was never the case with the AT&T iPhone.

11) Your Old Bumper Won’t Work

If you bought a bumper for your AT&T iPhone, you may want to throw it out or leave it on the AT&T model when you pass it along to your nephew. Apple moved the volume buttons a few millimeters and the hold button a bit more. The new Universal Bumper will work on your new Verizon iPhone and the old AT&T model, as well.

12) Don’t Wait for iPhone 5

While there’s no guarantee Apple will introduce this now much-talked about vapor-phone, it’s a safe bet it’ll arrive this summer. That said, when it does arrive, it will be in short supply. There is also no guarantee that the iPhone 5 will launch on multiple carriers—most smartphones do not. What if Apple starts with AT&T again? Won’t you feel silly for waiting?

Bonus:Naturally, the common people don’t want war…

Written by Mike Hofman

Every entrepreneur spends some time haggling, whether it is with customers, suppliers, investors, or would-be employees. Most business owners are street smart, and seem to naturally perform well in negotiations. You probably have a trick or two—some magic phrases to say, perhaps—that can help you gain the upperhand. But, often, the moment you get into trouble in a negotiation is when something careless just slips out. If you are new to negotiation, or feel it is an area where you can improve, check out these tips on precisely whatnot to say.

1. The word “between.” It often feels reasonable—and therefore like progress—to throw out a range. With a customer, that may mean saying “I can do this for between $10,000 and $15,000.” With a potential hire, you could be tempted to say, “You can start between April 1 and April 15.” But that word between tends to be tantamount to a concession, and any shrewd negotiator with whom you deal will swiftly zero-in on the cheaper price or the later deadline. In other words, you will find that by saying the word between you will automatically have conceded ground without extracting anything in return.

2. “I think we’re close.” We’ve all experienced deal fatigue: The moment when you want so badly to complete a deal that you signal to the other side that you are ready to settle on the details and move forward. The problem with arriving at this crossroads, and announcing you’re there, is that you have just indicated that you value simply reaching an agreement over getting what you actually want. And a skilled negotiator on the other side may well use this moment as an opportunity to stall, and thus to negotiate further concessions. Unless you actually face extreme time pressure, you shouldn’t be the party to point out that the clock is loudly ticking in the background. Create a situation in which your counterpart is as eager to finalize the negotiation (or, better yet: more eager!) than you are.

3. “Why don’t you throw out a number?” There are differing schools of thought on this, and many people believe you should never be the first person in a negotiation to quote a price. Let the other side start the bidding, the thinking goes, and they will be forced to show their hands, which will provide you with an advantage. But some research has indicated that the result of a negotiation is often closer to what the first mover proposed than to the number the other party had in mind; the first number uttered in a negotiation (so long as it is not ridiculous) has the effect of “anchoring the conversation.” And one’s role in the negotiation can matter, too. In the bookNegotiation, Adam D. Galinsky of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management andRoderick I. Swaab of INSEAD in France write: “In our studies, we found that the final outcome of a negotiation is affected by whether the buyer or the seller makes the first offer. Specifically, when a seller makes the first offer, the final settlement price tends to be higher than when the buyer makes the first offer.”

4. “I’m the final decision maker.” At the beginning of many negotiations, someone will typically ask, “Who are the key stakeholders on your side, and is everyone needed to make the decision in the room?” For most entrepreneurs, the answer, of course, is yes. Who besides you is ever needed to make a decision? Isn’t one of the joys of being an entrepreneur that you get to call the shots? Yet in negotiations, particularly with larger organizations, this can be a trap. You almost always want to establish at the beginning of a negotiation that there is some higher authority with whom you must speak prior to saying yes. In a business owner’s case, that mysterious overlord could be a key investor, a partner, or the members of your advisory board. The point is, while you will almost certainly be making the decision yourself, you do not want the opposing negotiators to know that you are the final decision maker, just in case you get cornered as the conversation develops. Particularly in a high-stakes deal, you will almost certainly benefit from taking an extra 24 hours to think through the terms. For once, be (falsely) humble: pretend like you aren’t the person who makes all of the decisions.

5. “Fuck you.” The savviest negotiators take nothing personally; they are impervious to criticism and impossible to fluster. And because they seem unmoved by the whole situation and unimpressed with the stakes involved, they have a way of unnerving less-experienced counterparts. This can be an effective weapon when used against entrepreneurs, because entrepreneurs tend to take every aspect of their businesses very personally. Entrepreneurs often style themselves as frank, no-nonsense individuals, and they can at times have thin skin. But whenever you negotiate, remember that it pays to stay calm, to never show that a absurdly low counter-offer or an annoying stalling tactic has upset you. Use your equanimity to unnerve the person who is negotiating with you. And if he or she becomes angry or peeved, don’t take the bait to strike back. Just take heart: You’ve grabbed the emotional advantage in the situation. Now go close that deal.

Did we miss a great negotiating tip? If so, let us know; post your feedback in the comments section below.

Bonus: The average face of women across the world.