Mobigasmic Moved!: Blog

A MobiGasmic Move!

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:53:02 GMT

Mobigasmic has moved! Please update your bookmarks accordingly:

New address - http://mobigasmic.blogspot.com

RSS Address- http://feeds.feedburner.com/Mobigasmic

Come on over to the new and improved home of Mobigasmic!

PDA Nirvana

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 13:54:10 GMT

As annoyed as I am by Ubiquio/MWG's total abandonment and nonexistent customer service the truth of the matter is that I love my Ubiquio 503G. In fact, my husband recently commented that he hasn't seen me this content with a device since I had my Treo 650. And believe me, that's saying a whole lot.
I think back to my Treo 650 days and wonder why they seem so idyllic, and if its ever possible to go back to that frame of mind. The answer, unfortunately, is that ignorance is bliss. I didn't really know any other operating system beside Palm, so everything I read about devices seemed foreign and far-removed from me. I also realize that the canndybar QWERTY form factor is a necessity for me. From November of 2006 to November of 2007 I used a Samsung Blackjack almost exclusively. In fact, if it hadn't been for the limitations of Windows Mobile Standard I probably would have been happy with it for longer.
Its been about 4 months with my Ubiquio 503G now and I must admit- I'm pretty content. I seem to have found the perfect balance of software which works well on it. I've grown accustomed to the quirks, especially the double-press needed to get a period. I've looked at other devices (most recently, the HP 910c) and with the exception of the promise of company support, I can't really see what other pressing features it would bring me. In other words, I just may have found that elusive PDA peace I've been looking for.

Beauty or Brains?

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:54:37 GMT

Would you pick a device based on sleek looks if it didn't pack a wollop? My cousin seems to have done just that. She spent the morning drooling over the features of my Ubiquio, but insists that her Blackberry Curve is so much prettier that she would never switch. I agree that the form factor of the Ubiquio is not for everyone- personally, I have loved this shape since I saw a scientific calculator for the first time. But the idea that she would sacrifice the seemingly simple pleasures of being able to handle Word documents natively, have a vast array of applications just to have a cute gadget in her pocket is unthinkable to me.

Farewell to Facebook

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:43:33 GMT

To understand why I left Facebook, you have to know why I joined i the first place. Those of you who know me, are aware that I had spent the last 20 odd years trying to find my brother- and my Facebook profile was a last ditch effort to make it easy for him to find me and vice versa. Well, it worked and we did find each other thanks to the site. However, as an unexpected side effect, a LOT of people also got in contact with me- mostly people who I went to high school with back in Africa, even an Australian penpal I had in elementary school. At first, it was exciting to pore through everyone's photos, seeing their kids, families and what they had generally been up to in the last 15 years.

Once I had caught up, however, I became more aware of how many emails, requests and notifications I was getting every day. It felt like every moment I was getting something forwarded to my Superwall, superpoked, sent hotness, or being added as a friend by people I didn't know-and frankly, didn't want to know. There were fewer and fewer people with actual things to say.

It just became too much. My days are already so filled between IM'ing and Skype chatting with friends, Twitter-ing, not to mention my real life stuff going on that I barely have time to dedicate to people who want to have a conversation. So yesterday I deleted my photo albums and deactivated my Facebook account. I may go back in the future, who knows, but for now I'm enjoying the sweet silence of a sheep-free day.

My Next Phone?

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:55:31 GMT

While I've been happy with my Ubiquio for the most part, I've been disgusted with the lack of support from TechFaithWireless/MWG. To date I am still waiting on a Rom upgrade to fix the following issues:

-Occasional freezing of the D-Pad

-Jumpy scroll wheel

-ROM and RAM increase

-Name search as default, not numbers

-LED for emails.

The support team has been MIA for over 4 months now, and it seems they've totally abandoned the device. So, it seems that the Rom version 3.06 may never see the light of day. I don't know if I can stay faithful to a device that has reached the end of its potential.

The HP iPaq 910C seems like it may be a worthy successor. In addition to everything that the UBiQUiO has as well as GPS. Hey, maybe I'll take up Geocaching!

The two devices are eerily similar, and rumor is that the HP will be released this year on AT&T. That couldn't be better news for me, since I'm eligible for an upgrade in April!

N800-What Have You Done for Me Lately?

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 08:40:37 GMT

It was only a matter of time before I'd be forced to ask myself the question. I haven't felt such a sense of gadget unfulfilment in a long time, and I don't like the feeling. The N800 was supposed to change everything and open up my mind to a new OS, but instead I am left cold by the lack of wow-factor.
See, the idea was never to have the Archos replace my N800-as I clearly stated, these 2 devices are in totally separate classes-yet, as I see my functional Archos 605 sitting in its dock day in and day out providing all kinds of treats throughout the day it doesn't seem like a fair fight. My N800 doesn't bring the fire to multimedia, yet the browsing isn't as uber-fast as I'd expect from a wifi device. In fact, the browsing experience isn't *that* much better than it is on my Ubiquio using PIE!
So, its with a slightly heavy heart, but very clear head that I realize that the time has come for me to do the right thing and send my N800 to a home where it can be truly appreciated via eBay. Oh, Noki. Goodbye dear friend.

How Using Vista is like Motherhood

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:56:23 GMT

1. I knew Vista was on its way, but I was still surprised the first time I saw it.

2. Preparing for Vista was time-consuming and somewhat expensive.

3. Programs that worked before, no longer worked properly once Vista arrived.

4. In spite of all the reading I had done, I still found myself unprepared for Vista when it got here.

5. Sometimes Vista would 'forget' things I had already taught it.

6. Everyone who saw Vista when it came out thought it was adorable. But no one wanted to have to live with it.

7. Vista kept me up some nights trying to get it all together.

8. Once I had Vista, there was no sending it back.

9. Every now and again Vista makes a big old mess that I have to clean up.

10. Still, I love my Vista and wouldn't trade it in for anything else.

Blackberry Curve Question

Sun, 16 Mar 2008 02:41:44 GMT

As everyone who reads Mobigasmic knows, I do not do Blackberry. I don't know, it's just not my style- they can Curve it, Pearl it- I'm not fooled. However, my cousin is, and she insists on dragging me into her Black(berry) hole with her. First she wanted me to help her track down an IM client. Today she called to lament that she couldn't open Word documents, and apparently the only solution is to buy a 3rd party program which costs a hefty sum.

Anyone out there know if there is a workaround to view and/or edit Word and Excel documents on the Blackberry Curve or am I going to have to drag her kicking and screaming over to Windows Mobile, or at the very least Palm?

Archos 605 vs Nokia N800

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:48:25 GMT

One of the first things I did when I got my Archos was to compare it to my Nokia N800. Even though their focuses are different, I put them in the same usage category as secondary gadgets (i.e. you would have a phone/pda as a primary device). Size-wise, here are some shots of the two side-by-side.

From a size perspective, they are not too far apart. Each of them comes with a nice functional case which is enough to protect the device.

Here are some of the first glance differences between them:

1. The Archos does not have a built-in holder for the stylus. It seems like an odd omission.

2. The Archos' default onscreen keyboard has keys that are easily used without a stylus. This is a welcome change from my Nokia N800 which sports a tiny initial keyboard which can be made larger by pressing the 'enter' key.

3. Where the N800 is designed to stay connected to the Wifi if you let it, the Archos will disconnect after a period of idleness.

After playing with them both side-by-side I've come to the same conclusion that most others have arrived at which is simply that the Archos 605 is an media-centric device, while the Nokia N800 is an internet-leaning device.

To wit, the Archos has been able to play every movie and music format that I've thrown at it. Even the streaming media incorporates seamlessly into the video, photos and music folders. The built-in media players work nicely, even if the navigation is not the most intuitive. And, as a nice extra feature, you can clip a scene from a movie or video and make a picture or wallpaper from it. If you've purchased the optional DVR station (and believe me, you will want to pick it up) you can also record shows from your satellite or cable and watch them on your Archos. I have a TiVo, so this isn't the most used feature for me, but it also works the other way around, letting me watch movies from my Archos on my TV. As advertised, I can also surf the internet from the TV using the remote control:

The Archos also has a really neat way to handle YouTube videos. When you select a movie to play, it opens up in full-screen mode. Although, to be fair, yesterday I discovered the mYTube, which is a YouTube player specfically for the Nokia N800:

So far, my decision is to keep both of these devices. We'll see what happens as time goes on.

mYTube- YouTube for the Nokia Internet Tablet

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 03:06:05 GMT

Perhaps after being taunted (repeatedly!) by iPhone/iPod Touch owners, some innovative developers have created a YouTube application for the Nokia Internet Tablet. The mYTube (Maemo YouTube) is a sleek little gem that gives you a nice finger-friendly interface:

and shows the selected option with neat thumbnails:

It also plays the video clips smoothly- a feat not possible when watching directly from the YouTube page!

Archos WiFi Owners...Did you know?

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:45:32 GMT

I have a more in-depth entry coming soon, but I just discovered something that I thought I'd share. If you own one of the Gen 5 WiFi devices, did you know that you can get most of the Opera Widgets? That feature alone takes a big sting out of the additional $30 you need to pay to get Opera 9.

To get a widget working on your device, switch it to PC Hard Drive mode and connect to your PC. Next, find the widget you want to download and click on it. When prompted for a save location, browse to A605/Widgets and give your widget a name and append the '.zip' tag to the end.

Once you disconnect your device, and click on the Widgets shortcut, you'll see the widgets that you just added!

CommonCraft-Explanations in Plain English

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 21:08:31 GMT

Here's a good one I discovered on Geekbrief- it's called CommonCraft and it explains tech phenomenons in terms that even Granny can understand. Here's their video explaining what Twitter is. Bear with me, embedded YouTube videos play at snail's pace!

iPhone Jail

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:53:33 GMT

So, here's the problem; The iPhone SDK has been released but one of the major limitations is that it will not allow third party apps to run in the background. So, no always-on IM client, or I imagine, refreshing Twitter client either. That really sucks. And I have to say, it just adds to my previous conclusion that the iPhone is really not geared at my demographic- techies with an eye to customize.

A Suprise Gadget!

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 18:48:50 GMT

On Saturday night I spent almost an hour fighting with my Slingbox. Since we moved to Texas and onto AT&T, I've been unable to get the remote viewing feature working on. But I don't even know why I'm fighting about it- the Slingplayer barely works on my Ubiquio anyway. So, I was looking online to see what other things were out there and was intrigued by the Archos TV+. Then I remember a comment that had been left by Mickliq which brought up the Archos 605. I hadn't paid too much attention to it at the time, but on closer inspection, I noticed a feature that was interesting to me. With the optional DVR Station, you can also stream video to the television and record movies from the satellite box. It would also let me surf the internet on my living room TV's screen.

Okay, I can already hear the collective, virtual sighs of irritation as I flit from one device to another, but here's the thing: I need to clearly define what I expect each gadget to do for me. My life as it stands now has me spending a huge chunk of time in my den with Seth and all his playthings. I've got a pretty neat setup with comfy theatre-type recliners, my laptop on one side and my phone on the other. Since I got my N800 I haven't really had a niche for it- its main home has been in the guest room and I use it to read my rss feeds in the middle of the night while I nurse Seth.

But what I'd love to be able to do is to watch the hundreds of shows and movies that are on my PC on my large TV screen downstairs.And it looked like the Archos with the DVR station could make that happen. I was so excited by the idea and when I told Dean about it, a weird thing happened- he got pretty psyched as well. In fact, he got so psyched that on Sunday morning he told me he was going to take us to the store and get it for me as a gift! Dean knows I'm not a flowers, candy and diamonds girl- the way to get me all aflutter is with tech. We dashed to the store and after accidentally picking up the wrong DVR station and having to exchange it we were good to go.

First of all, here's the Archos being displayed on the TV:

Its a thing of beauty, and also means that I have my entire movie collection at my disposal. I can watch YouTube, DailyMotion and other online videos on TV. And while I'm sitting in the den, I can dock my Archos and have it being useful to me, unlike my Nokia N800 which hasn't been able to be more than an 'alarm clock 2.0'.

So, next step is a pretty in-depth comparison of the two. Stay tuned- and if you want a sneak peek you can peek into my Twitter box to the right, or directly on Twitter.

Computer "Desktop"

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 22:56:19 GMT

This cool animation demonstrates where we might be if the 'computer' hadn't been invented!
Reality Desktop - video powered by Metacafe

Ladies and the Law

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:57:37 GMT

Marion Jones reported to Federal prison to begin her 6 month sentence. What has me confused is that all the baseball players accused of the same thing have had NOTHING done to them. Looks like Marion is going to join the ranks of Martha Stewart and L'il Kim as a female treated more harshly than her male counterparts.

Corporate Humor

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 03:20:28 GMT

In celebration of my first completed interview today, here is a little corporate memo. Its a *joke*, people! Enjoy!

Memo From Human Resources: Swearing at Work

Dear Employees:

It has been brought to management's attention that some individuals throughout the company have been using foul language during the course of normal conversation with their co-workers.

Due to complaints received from some employees who may be easily offended, this type of language will no longer be tolerated. We do however, realize the critical importance of being able to accurately express your feelings when communicating with co-workers. Therefore, a list of 18 New and Innovative "TRY SAYING" phrases have been provided so that proper exchange of ideas and information can continue in an effective manner.

1) TRY SAYING: I think you could use more training.

INSTEAD OF: You don't know what the f___ you're doing.

2) TRY SAYING: She's an aggressive go-getter.

INSTEAD OF: She's a ball-busting b__ch.

3) TRY SAYING: Perhaps I can work late.

INSTEAD OF: And when the f___ do you expect me to do this?

4) TRY SAYING: I'm certain that isn't feasible.

INSTEAD OF: No f______ way.

5) TRY SAYING: Really?

INSTEAD OF: You've got to be sh__ing me!

6) TRY SAYING: Perhaps you should check with...

INSTEAD OF: Tell someone who gives a sh__.

7) TRY SAYING: I wasn't involved in the project.

INSTEAD OF: It's not my f______ problem.

8) TRY SAYING: That's interesting.

INSTEAD OF: What the f___?

9) TRY SAYING: I'm not sure this can be implemented.

INSTEAD OF: This sh__ won't work.

10) TRY SAYING: I'll try to schedule that.

INSTEAD OF: Why the f____ didn't you tell me sooner?

11) TRY SAYING: He's not familiar with the issues.

INSTEAD OF: He's got his head up his a__.

12) TRY SAYING: Excuse me, sir?

INSTEAD OF: Eat sh__ and die.

13) TRY SAYING: So you weren't happy with it?

INSTEAD OF: Kiss my a__.

14) TRY SAYING: I'm a bit overloaded at the moment.

INSTEAD OF: F___ it, I'm on salary.

15) TRY SAYING: I don't think you understand.

INSTEAD OF: Shove it up your a__.

16) TRY SAYING: I love a challenge.

INSTEAD OF: This job sucks.

17) TRY SAYING: You want me to take care of that?

INSTEAD OF: Who the h___ died and made you boss?

18 ) TRY SAYING: He's somewhat insensitive.

INSTEAD OF: He's a pr_ck.

Thank You,

Human Resources

NetVibes-the best homepage...EVER!

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:12:59 GMT

Lately, I've been trying to find a homepage solution that could work for me on multiple platforms. Ideally, I wanted one to work on my desktop, the laptop and internet tablet- and hopefully I could use it to share data across all my devices in some kind of fashion. I settled one issue using Mail2Web as a way to share my calendar without having to install Outlook on my laptop, or any other application on my NIT. But I still wasn't happy using generic MSN homescreen. What's a girl to do?

After I had all but given up, I noticed from a Twitter buddy mentioning something about Netvibes. After checking it out, I found out it was just what I needed- but so much more!

Netvibes is a customizable page that acts as a kind of all-encompassing dashboard. You can put information from most of your social networking sites, Update your Twitter status, check your email headers, read your RSS feeds and much more. But here's the killer feature- build your page and not only can you use it on various devices, but there is also a mobile version that I can access easily from my Ubi! So, if you're like me and have accumulated an arsenal of devices, Netvibes can help bring them all together.

What I've been up to

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 16:42:10 GMT

Lately it just seems like the days have been flying by. Our little guy is getting bigger at warp speed, and keeping him entertained and sharpening his mind is a full time job! He has finally settled into some kind of a sleeping pattern (bedtime at 10pm, awake at 8am with a quick feeding at around 4am), which is just great for me.

Next month Seth will be starting daycare and I will (hopefully) be starting a new job. I can't stay at home any longer- seriously. It's been 15 months at home and in that time I have-

-Vacationed in Mexico

-Moved across the country

-Bought a new home

-Furnished and decorated said house

-Turned 30

-Given birth

-Given 24/7 care to Seth for 4 months

So, it hasn't been really idle time per se. But, I realized that I just am not a stay home kind of person- I can only do lunch with the girls so many times a week. Not to mention, my little tech habit is not going away any time soon and even though it hasn't posed any major trauma to my bank account yet, it won't be long now. My tech related purchases over the past year have been:

-Magnavox 42 inch plasma flat panel tv

-Cingular 8525 Pocket PC*

-Ubiquio 503G PPC Phone

-Sanyo Xacti HD700 Camcorder*

-Nokia 770 Internet Tablet*

-Nokia N800 Internet Tablet

-Microsoft Zune Gen1*

-Microsoft Zune Gen2 4GB

-Altec Lansing Zune Dock speakers

-HP Desktop PC with 22 inch monitor

-HP Pavilion Laptop

Wow. When I see it in a list, it does look kind of like a lot. Although, to be fair, there has been a lot of wheeling and dealing and I sold the items marked by an asterisk. Not to mention all the expenses of the baby which have also been substantial.

So, I'll be making the interview rounds and hoping to start working in a month or so.

But there's another contributing factor to why my blog frequency. Previously, I would wake up in the middle of the night to feed Seth I'd grab my Ubiquio and read my rss feeds and, using Egress would pull stories of interest into Mobigasmic. However, my Internet Tablet has changed all that. It now has a permanent home in the guest room, where it is plugged in and propped on the bedside table as a 'clock 2.0'. My late night/early morning routine is to get Seth from his room and take him into the guest room where I nurse him while lying down. I then grab the NIT (nokia internet tablet) from the table and read my feeds using the built in reader, enjoying it on a nice large screen. But the feedreader on the NIT is not conducive to feed sharing in the way that Egress is. Now, my blog entries have to come when I have time during my busy days to make an entry. However, as my regular readers know, Mobigasmic has continued to beat the odds and this May will be FOUR YEARS of this blog!! So, I'm not giving up that easily!

SecondLife on the Nokia N800

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 02:13:08 GMT

More as a proof of concept, than a long-term solution, my Nokia N800 running SecondLife via LogMeIn remote accessing my desktop. Since my Nokia doesn't have a keyboard, I'm not inclined to stay on and do any excessive gaming but its a neat way to read missed messages and view given inventory.

Ads on TiVo

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:59:36 GMT

An interesting thing happened on my TiVo2 yesterday. I was watching a recorded episode of Law&Order and decided to fast forward through a commercial for auto insurance, when I noticed that there was a static text ad overlayed on the commercial as it fast forwarded. It looked something like this:

What on earth? I had heard some rumors about 'forced advertising' by TiVo-could this be it? To be honest, so far, the ads on TiVo haven't been so bad- even these. But this latest step has me concerned about what could be next. I mean, my TiVo1 in the living room is afflicted with none of these symptoms.

One of the other rumors I had heard a while ago was that the TiVo would not allow you to fast forward through certain ads. Is this next?

Needed: Twitter App for N800

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 01:34:06 GMT

Today I decided to give Jaiku a try- after all, I've heard a lot about it and also was under the impression that it could incorporate my Twitter feed into its stream. Well, it just wasn't for me. My Twitters didn't get into it, and I didn't find the following that I wanted.

But it wasn't really Jaiku that I wanted- I just couldn't find a Twitter application for my N800! How could this be? Twitter is much more mainstream than Jaiku is, but I am forced to use the web-based version of Twitter and constantly refresh the screen. Its not impossible- I've just gotten spoiled by all the Mobile Twitter options on my Windows Mobile device.

So, to all the developers out there, how about it? Can we get a Twitter application for the Nokia N800 that looks as good as Mauku- the application for Jaiku?

Nokia N800 Upgrade

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:04:17 GMT

If you've been watching my tweets, then you already know that I got an upgrade to the Nokia N800 and it finally arrived this morning! I've been playing with it extensively and one of the first things I did was to flash to OS2008. Let me just say, I have flashed Windows, Windows Mobile, Palm....and none of them come close to the speed and ease of flashing this Nokia OS! It took about 5 minutes, if even.

I'm still putting it through its paces, but so far I've customized my home screen how I want it:

And was finally able to get Canola2 working. Sadly, it was only after I installed it and got seduced by its sassy interface that I learned that this version does not yet support streaming from my home network. Still, it is pretty gorgeous and iPhone-rific:

Remote Desktop Access

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 15:56:55 GMT

One of the things that I periodically like to use on my UBi, as well as my laptop is LogMeIn.com to have remote access to my desktop PC. Its a free, quick and web-interfaced way to view and control my desktop when I need to get hold of some information or something. I found out that LogMeIn also works with my Nokia N800 and on the larger screen, its a much more pleasant experience than on my UBi. Its a bit on the slow side, so I wouldn't recommend any longterm computing, but it works nicely for a brief session.

Orb Games- A hidden gem

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:02:10 GMT

I'll admit calling the Orb game feature 'hidden' is a bit of a stretch, but I had always assumed that tab referred to games on your PC, and since I don't have any I never bothered to check it out. However, curiosity finally got the better of me as I wondered how 'game streaming' would be possible. Turns out that Orb has hundreds of flash, web-based games available! I've enjoyed playing several if them so far, though obviously they must be played while connected to the internet, and you cannot save or continue the game.

Why Twitter became my SecondLife

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:34:46 GMT

It's been over a year since I've really spent a good amount of quality time on SecondLife and there are a number of reasons why that is. First of all, time has been scarce- especially lately. The time I do have is in spurts and subject to interruptions at any time. In my heyday of SecondLife I would be able to spend a two or three hour chunk of time dancing at a virtual nightclub chatting with residents and enjoying good music. I can only say BRB (be right back) or AFK (away from my keyboard) for so long before it gets old- believe me, nothing kills a good conversation more than a perpetually absent partner. I made some good friends on SecondLife, and even now I pop on periodically to say a quick hello. There was also the unpleasant business that lasted for many months where I couldn't get SecondLife to run on my laptop. That was probably what alienated me the most from SecondLife, because at the end of my pregnancy sitting at my desk in the study was not the most comfortable.

The limitations of SecondLife these days far outweigh the benefits- logging into a separate program (which must be continuously updated, mind you) is a tedious proposition, and not at all conducive to multi-tasking. Teleporting, while initially cool, is annoying after a while. Chatting with friends is fun, but because you are in a 'bubble' sharing links entails opening and closing windows. Its also not the easiest thing to meet people with similar interests...let me re-phrase that- meet people with a nonsexual agenda.

I joined Twitter early last year, and for a long time, was stumped about what I could really do with it. I texted our progress as we drove cross-country last year and it was pretty interesting to look back on once our trip was done, but that was it. Then, I realized that Twitter was best used in conjunction with friends and followers, especially using the 'in reply to' feature to have a conversation thread. Combined with the various ways to access Twitter (web, text, IM, TinyTwitter, Twhirl) from a combination of devices, phones, etc it makes it a perfect solution for me. I have a group of friends who I follow, and I am able to keep updated on brief thoughts or what everyone is up to. I can respond whenever I have a chance, or just catch up on the conversation when I am less busy. And on the right side of this blog, you can keep updated on my latest Twitter entries.

So, for me, Twitter fills the void of SecondLife and then some- it's totally free, multi-platform, simple, and can be as time intensive as I want it to be. And I can catch up on the discussions/updates no matter how long its been since I last logged on!

Something afoot at MWG

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:26:01 GMT

Theres definitely something funny going on at MWG Their devices are no longer receiving forum support and many of them, such as the new Atom life, are experiencing substantial and multiple price drops. Hmmm, I smell another 'I-Mate Gate'.

The Good Ole Days

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 22:31:57 GMT

Funny, I was just thinking recently about the good old days- yeah, the ones from way before I was even born. It seems like such a genteel time, where things were simple and incomplicated:

Where marketing didn't have to be fancy or worried about pesky lawsuits or being politically correct:

I love these ads, as they capture the essence of the times. Feeling nostalgic for a time before your time?

Streaming Media- Take Two!

Wed, 20 Feb 2008 21:20:31 GMT

I'm sad to report that streaming video is not going to be a regular feature of my Nokia 770. Most of my video content is converted from my Tivo desktop, and that file format just seems to stump the Tablet. Its a shame, but thats how it is. I tried Canola- I couldn't even get Canola2 to work, and Canola1 just seemed too resource heavy for the Nokia. I eventually got Media Streamer which works more consistently, although like Canola it often resets my Nokia when I stream video. But I like the fact that all my media (photos, music and video) can be accessed from the same screen.

My video consumption mainly takes place using VideoCenter, which downloads my video podcasts.

Gadget Girl

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:21:10 GMT

I've been promising to show my setup now that I've tidied up a bit in the new house. So, without any further ado, here it goes:

Desktop- HP Pavilion d4990y with HP w2207 22 inch monitor

Laptop- HP Pavilion dv6000

Internet Tablet- Nokia 770

Camcorder- Sanyo Xacti HD 700

MP3 Player- Zune

PDA Phone- UBiQUiO 503G

Camera (used to take the photos) - Minolta Dimage XT

All my gadgets are placed on the Central Docking Station that Dean custom made for me a while ago. It has holes in the back for the AC/USB cords to go through, and little angled holes in the front to hold styli. This was very handy way back when I had a collection of various PDAs.

Our setup in the home office is that his desk, which is identical to mine, faces me. His PC is a Dell, and his phone is my old T-Mobile SDA unlocked to Cingular.

And that's our home office!

Starbucks QuickOrder App for iPhone

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 09:34:08 GMT

What, WinMo users don't drink coffee? Although this looks like a marginally cool concept, I am a bit annoyed that yet again Windows Mobile users (who have been around drinking Starbucks for ages, mind you) have been left out in the cold. Enjoy your caffeinated beverages, iPhone users. Its the *least* you could do.

HP iPaq 614c available Monday

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 10:52:41 GMT

http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/473/f/6512/s/9248fb/story01.htm

No, I wasn't in a zombie trance when I wrote a few days ago that the 614 had been cancelled- its been cancelled only here in the States, which makes it even more cruel!

Streaming Media on my Nokia 770...Got It!

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:33:24 GMT

So far, I've gotten Canola1 working on my Nokia 770 but the video playback is not so great, and I can't get the video to play fullscreen. But...it IS streaming from my PC and audio and photos are looking fantastic. Newly emboldened, I'm going to try Canola2 now. If I still can't get it to install, I guess I'll make do with version 1. I needed to install Orb on my PC to get this working. Here are some shots:

Yahoo OneConnect

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:47:17 GMT

Here's something interesting that Yahoo is working on. Its called OneConnect and will support tons of networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr to name just a few.

This looks like it could be the application once its fully developed and released- in fact there isn't even something comparable to this for the desktop! The world just keeps getting smaller with cool networking applications like this.

Here's more information from the Yahoo site:

EXPECTED Q2 2008

Yahoo! oneConnect™

A whole new way to communicate on your phone.

Mobile communications that will bring your world to life.

It’s time for a revolution—for a new way of communicating that starts with your mobile phone. Yahoo! oneConnect™ will be the first product that brings it all together—your people, your life, the ways you communicate—seamlessly, into the palm of your hand.

Stay in touch with anyone, any way you want.

With Yahoo! oneConnect you’ll be free to use all your favorite communications tools and services to connect with anyone, at anytime. From IM or text, email or social networks; Yahoo! oneConnect intends to integrate all the ways you communicate into a unique, mobile experience. Imagine having all your contact information at your fingertips; email, phone numbers, text, and IM addresses; in one location—your phone.

See your friends in a whole new light.

Keep up with your social life with Yahoo! oneConnect and stay in the moment with your people. It’s designed to let you view new postings on Facebook®, photos on MySpace or a connection on LinkedIn®. See who’s online, available or nearby, based on your friends’ up-to-the-minute actions. Yahoo! oneConnect keeps a pulse on your people, delivering the most current action, right to your phone.

Yahoo! oneConnect product details are not finalized and subject to change. Descriptions and screen images are for informational purposes only. All third party marks are the trademarks of their respective owners. Neither this site nor the Yahoo! oneConnect service are endorsed by or affiliated with the third parties shown.

Get the latest news
on Yahoo! oneConnect

Download the press release

View your favorite networks

Yahoo! oneConnect™ will bring together your communities, social and professional networks. We plan to support:

Keep it Simple....Stupid!

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:22:27 GMT

Well, I've been able to solve one major annoyance on my Nokia 770 Internet Tablet and the solution is so simple I feel...well, stupid. Remember when I mentioned that I was having some trouble changing the regional settings. At the control panel, when I tried to change the regional settings, I would get the error message "Device storage memory full. Delete some data to free memory." And a Google search pointed me to this post which implied that I would need to use xTerm to fix the issue. Well, I tried this until I was blue in the face to no avail.

This morning, with a clearer head, I decided to try and make the change from within the clock application. My logic was that at the minimum, I would be able to get the date within the clock to show in the format I wanted. When I entered the menu of the clock, I found a regional settings option there, and was prepared to encounter the same problem.

Once I changed the settings, the device reset and I was thrilled to notice that the change took place. Now, you can see that my screen shows the date format that I wanted:

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how to change the regional settings on your Nokia 770 without any fancy steps! My next project is to figure out how to stream content from my desktop.

HP cancels 614...914 next?

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:24:19 GMT

HP decided to cancel their 614 device which makes me wonder if they will have a change of heart on the 914 next. I'm sure there are a number of WinMo lovers sweating it out as the Candybar Qwerty field could be getting sparser.

The Internet Tablet cometh

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 21:43:13 GMT

Yesterday my Nokia 770 Internet tablet arrived, and so far I've had mixed feelings about my experiences. The screen is lovely and its a treat to have that kind of real estate available. Connecting to my WiFi was a snap and I was able to start surfing in no time.

But, here's where it took a turn for the complicated. Once I turned it on, I decided that I wanted to change the regional settings so that the date would swap to the Month/Day/Year format which is the standard in the US. Well, turns out that because its the 2007HE edition, it involves using xterm and following these instructions. I don't know Unix scripting (yet) so even though I could get it up and running, I got stuck at the edit step.

I also haven't figured out how to stream media from my home network. I was hoping it would be as simple as it is in Resco Explorer for Windows Mobile....not so. The application of choice is called Canola2, but I can't seem to get it to run on my Nokia. Hmmm.

But, on the plus side, I was able to install a cool screenshot application which will let me immediately upload my screenshots to Flickr. I was also able to use bluetooth to send my OPML list of RSS feeds from my Ubi to my Nokia. (Note, I still haven't been able to get my Nokia to connect to the internet via my UBi, but this isnt a major deal for me since this is going to be a device for at home use only.)

Sony Xperia X1

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 07:15:33 GMT

Sony Ericsson put out this new device, but while everyone is going gaga over its curved form factor, I find myself far more intrigued by the home screen being shown in the press photos. Does anyone know what program could accomplish something like that?

***Sony Ericsson launched the Xperia X1, an arc slider phone designed to address the growing need for a premium, converged mobile experience.
The Xperia X1 combines a 3-inch clear wide VGA display and a full QWERTY keyboard within a quality metal-finish body. With Windows Mobile inside, the Xperia X1 lets users choose from a dynamic range of activities; from enjoying favorite entertainment content to working efficiently on-the-move.
"Our vision for the Xperia X1 is to deliver a seamless blend of mobile Web communication and multimedia entertainment within a distinctive design," said Rikko Sakaguchi, Head of Portfolio and Propositions, Sony Ericsson. "Xperia is our promise to think foremost of user experience and to deliver the premium experience - anytime, anywhere, anything, with anyone."
The arc design gives a distinct and unique feel. Slide the screen upwards to reveal the wide pitch QWERTY keyboard. The Xperia panel interface allows users to access the web, multimedia, and applications from a desktop with just the the tip of a finger. The Xperia X1 lets users interact in different ways, by touch, full QWERTY keyboard, 4-way key and optical joystick navigation. With Windows Mobile, the highest data transfer rate (HSDPA / HSUPA) and Wi-Fi support, consumers can enjoy entertainment and work efficiently on the move.
The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 will be available in selected markets from the second half of 2008.***

Today Screen Animation

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 19:42:06 GMT

MyMobiler has just released a new version of its software which not only allows you to control your device from your desktop, but also allows you to capture video images. To test this, here is my Today screen.

MSN Direct Drops

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:19:33 GMT

MSN's answer to YahooGo was released to day and it definitely seems like a promising attempt. So far its only available for Windows Mobile Standard, which excludes yours truly, but from the footage I've seen it looks pretty fetching. It only shows weather, news and stocks for now which is less than Y!Go but it does include a homescreen plugin which would appear to up the ante somewhat.