A Blogger Looks at 40

2010-07-05T03:12:00.000-07:00

WiiFit Rocks

2008-05-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

So, our long awaited WiiFit arrived yesterday. Initial thoughts:

Kudos:
- Fun. The activities are inviting and interesting.
- Competitive. Doing more allows you to 'unlock' more activities. The Wii way.
- Sturdy. I was concerned about standing on a piece of plastic, but it's pretty beefy.
- Secure. My family can't see my BMI as it's password protected. My Mii is a little 'stouter' than I would like - but I guess that's a motivator...

Gripes:
- Why not have a charger built into the stand? This thing takes 4 AA batteries. Sure, I will use rechargeable but it would be so much easier to plug the stand in somewhere when I'm done.
- Don't tell my 8 year old that she is underweight / overweight / weak. This should be a parent settable option.
- No multiplayer option (not that I found, at any rate). 2 kids. I need 2 mats. No questions.

All in all, I am impressed. Even if my Mii is a little chubby. I'll work on that.

Offline Access for Google Docs

2008-05-22T08:09:00.001-07:00

I must have missed all the hubbub about this, but I noticed a button on Google Docs for offline access. As far as I am concerned, this is a feature long overdue and well needed.

Looks like it requires the Google Gears browser plugin, and I will have to see what that is all about.

No option for this on the N810 yet -- I wonder if the API is published...

More N810 speedups -- with mobile firefox

2008-04-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

While I am on the N810 speedup thread -- some very promising news regarding Fennec ( mobile FireFox). Details here. Now I just need more time to try all of these things out...

Tuning the N810

2008-04-13T07:41:00.000-07:00

Brontide has a great article on tuning the N810 here.
This is a wonderful intro. Hoping to be able to add some of my experiences here as well shortly.

Is Wayfinder the ultimate N810 app?

2008-04-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

So, I am really trying to find the ultimate app for my N810 (as I did for the N800).

Let me start by saying that I really do love this device. Linux in my pocket? All the makings of a geek love story. My problem is that Wayfinder is the only thing that I seem to use this for.

Some points:
- Mobile email -- I have the Blackberry for that (Curve).
- Mobile browsing -- also taken care of by the Blackberry. (Plus I can't get DUN to work reliably through the berry -- a different post)
- Mobile blogging/writing/etc -- maybe, we'll see if I can pull that off
- Media player -- The Blackberry is starting to play here as well. And I have an iPod with much more storage.

I am still digging. I want to make this work. Stay tuned (and give me ideas if you have them!)

Coming Soon: My own N810!

2008-02-25T09:27:00.000-08:00

Placed the order over the weekend. Hopefully the Amazon delivery gods will smile upon me.

I just realized that I have not blogged in a few months. Chalk it up to being busy.

byePhone

2007-11-21T06:37:00.001-08:00

I gave it a shot, but made it official last night. I have traded in my iPhone for a Blackberry Curve (with wifi and UMA) from T-Mobile. The primary reasons were really tied to AT&T -- lousy service in my area, insane international rates, and a poor excuse for customer service. A full rant to follow.

Airline Review (part 2): Virgin America First Class

2007-10-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

In a continuation from the previous post, I wanted to comment on Virgin America's First Class cabin. I was lucky enough to be in 'the big seats' on the redeye home from San Francisco last night.

Impressions: Again, wow. Super comforatable seats (it was the best sleep I had ever had on a redeye) and terrific service to match. The dinner served (I had shrimp in a red sauce over rice) was pretty darn good.

As one would expect, the ala carte nature of the main cabin does *not* extend to the front of the plane. All drinks, food, and movies are complimentary. The same ammenities (110 outlets, video on demand) are found here as in coach, but there real difference maker is the seats. Plenty of room to stretch out, work and relax. I would have been asleep immediately had I not wanted to wait for the food service.

Complaints? None, really. Although I am amazed that a company that can spend so much attention to detail and style will put their flight crew (including the pilots) in uniforms that remind me of the work clothes that the janitor of my elementary school wore. Not that I am anything of a fashionista....

Airline Review: Virgin America

2007-10-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Virgin America launched it's cross country routes a few weeks back, and as I had to do the infamous NY to San Fran run this week, I decided to give them a try. As a frequent traveler, I am always weary of new 'low fare' airlines. I have flown on Virgin Atlantic a half dozen times, and although these two companies are officially separate entities, I was comforted by the name.

The first glance of the main cabin (read: economy) gives a real 'wow'. Nice black leather seats and funky lighting. Featured is an in seat entertainment system with movies, DISH Networks, music (of course) and games. The seatback system is also used to order the complimentary soft drinks and ala carte snacks. Make sure your credit card is handy, as they don't accept cash on board.
One of my favorite features is the 110 jack (2 per row of 3 seats in economy). It's a real live 110 jack. No adapters or converters needed. VA was also bright enough to install a RJ45 connection there as well. They don't work yet, but I assume that internet in the air will be a reality in the near future. Also in the console is a USB charger. Personally, these always scare me a little -- I'll plug the iPhone into my MacBook Pro, thank you.

The service was great, and by $7 'cheese snack' was both palatable and welcomed on the long flight.

As for gripes, I have but one. The company that gives you 110 and ethernet jacks does not give you enough room to use them. Once the gentleman in the seat in front of my reclined, my tray table was completely useless for laptop work, and marginal at best for eating.

That being said, the experience was pretty darn good, and I was able to get a few hours of work done with the laptop curiously perched on my lap at an angle.

In summary, 4 out of 5 stars. And Virgin America can earn the other one back by giving me some additional leg (and laptop) room.

Rhapsody says "Go Home"

2007-08-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

Desperate for some background noise in my hotel room in London, I fired up Rhapsody. I was greeted with the following message:

We're sorry. We have detected that you are outside of the United States. This service is currently only available to residents within the United States.

Big sigh. I need to internationalize my music services.

AT&T Says: Welcome to Canada - Pay Up!

2007-08-12T16:05:00.000-07:00

So, the first iPhone bill from AT&T arrived. Aside from the typical startup, usage, and Gore tax fees that I have come to expect, I was thrilled to see a usage charge of $108 for the 8 hours that I recently spent in Montreal. International roaming.
So, another thirty minutes on the phone with AT&T. They were nice enough to extend a 'one time courtesy' and wipe the charges. They also let me know about their international roaming plans. Unfortunately, the rep couldn't tell me what I got for those plans. (The details are online here). So now I know.

As expected, let down by AT&T

2007-07-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

Sort of disappointed. I really like my iPhone, but as feared, the ATT/Cingular service is LOUSY at the house. Looking into some sort of repeater/booster. Anyone have any comments?

OK, now I have an iPhone

2007-07-13T17:41:00.000-07:00

My boss surprised me with an iPhone this week (thanks Michael). First thoughts? Wow.
Need to get it home to check out the service. Thoughts and comments to follow.

The iPhone Gets PANNED

2007-07-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me these comments on his shiny new iPhone. He doesn't seem too happy. His comments have been sanitized for my younger readers.

It’s slow: menu changing, bringing up apps, etc. nothing at all like the commercial.
Not as small as my razor, and I’m completely paranoid about scratching the screen as I jam in my pocket.
It’s slow.
They don’t sell insurance on the iPhone, and I have never not broken a cell phone since I owned one. Worrisome.
It’s slow.
iTunes stinks, as you well know. And iTunes is the major interface for all integration of data and media for the iPhone. It stinks.
Still looking for some songs that say they’ve downloaded, but are not on the playlist. Mostly because iTunes stinks. I’m back to using one of my other 3 iPods now...which also completely confuses iTunes DRM manager. God, it stinks.
Not a big deal, but many things are not changeable – like the REALLY dopey ringtones.
Oh, and it’s slow.

Too bad he didn't comment on the speed. Anyone else have similar experiences?

Hey -- I want an iPhone

2007-06-27T06:44:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. Geek techno-lust takes over and I fixate on the new shiny object.
I want an iPhone. Or do I? My pros and cons:

Pro: It's way cool
Con: Cingular/ATT service is minimal in my area

Pro: I have already made the leap to Mac and iTunes.
Con: I have been fighting single vendor buy in for years

Pro: I find the promise of a unified device very exciting
Con: I am skeptical. My Blackberry plays music and takes pictures -- and neither one well.

Pro: From what I have seen, the service offerings look reasonable.
Con: I have another year on my T-Mo contract.

Pro: Did I mention that it's cool?
Con: It will be my third phone in under a year. I am getting tired of re-buying accessories.

Perhaps I just wait until it's been out for a while. (I often say that as I am on my way to purchase a new gadget).

N800 Navkit Review Done Right

2007-06-09T15:19:00.001-07:00

ThoughtFix has done a proper job at a review of the Navkit (as opposed to MY review).

N800 Navkit Reviewed

2007-06-01T18:14:00.000-07:00

I finally got the Navicore Navigation Kit for the N800. Here's a review after two days of local driving with it. Disclaimer: I have not even glanced at the user docs. I'm just playing, and most likely have not scratched the surface of the product.

First thoughts:

The GPS sensitivity is right there with the other products I have used (Garmin, Holux, VZNavigator). Local streets and back roads were no problem.
The directions are as good as any. It hasn't gotten me lost yet, but I also have not taken it out of town yet.
Data input is fairly easy. Getting an address into the N800 is not as annoying as some I have seen. Again, I haven't gotten lost yet...
The window mount is pretty sturdy. Nokia did a great job on that.
Finding local businesses, schools and coffee shops was trivial. Even the deli around the corner was listed.
Glare was a slight problem. There is a 'bright light' mode which seemed a little better than the default mode, but the screen was still washed out. Closing the moonroof helped.
I have not found a way to input waypoints and addresses in an offline manner (like TeleNav). Being able to preload the airports, hotels, and appointment addresses for my next business trip would be key.

All and all, I am fairly impressed.

Hey -- there is a great unboxing video here. Kudos to Jonathan Greene for that.

Rudeness: The Contest

2007-05-18T13:41:00.000-07:00

I used to hang out at coffee shops for bohemian inspiration. Now I hang out there to laugh at people. And to feed my caffeine habit.

I was at such an establishment today. It's your typical mega-corporate book store with an embedded cafe and pastry shop. A woman walked in, obviously to return something. Almost immediately, a long haired, scruffy guy jumped out of his seat and approached her.

Scruffy: "Did you just park in a handicapped spot?"
Woman: "Yes."
Scruffy: "I don't see any handicap tags on your car. My wife is handicapped."
Woman: "Does she need the spot?"
Scruffy: "No."
Woman: "Then I'll move it in a second."
Scruffy: "It's not like you couldn't use the exercise."

My take on this: Of course the woman should not have parked in the handicap spot. But Parking-Police-Scruffy-with-the-chip could have departed the victor if it were not for his final comment.

Rudeness abounds. But look -- I did find inspiration. At least for this rant. Happy Friday.

How do you deal with a MicroManager?

2007-05-16T04:12:00.000-07:00

The subject of micro-management came up during dinner the other night. A synopsis of the conversation:

Them: Have you ever had a micro manager boss?
Me: Of course.
Them: How did you handle the situation?
Me: I quit.
Them: You love your current position, don't you?
Me: Yes indeed.
Them: What if you got a new boss who was a micro manager?
Me: I'd quit.

I am too old and independent to have someone constantly on my back. I will toe the company line, do what's best for the organization, and put covers sheets on my TPS reports. My goal is always to make money by making my company and team successful. I am a professional. I put in crazy hours and exert undue stress upon myself and my family in the process. I spend too much time sitting in airports, on tarmacs, and in traffic -- all in the name of making myself and others successful. If a people need to know what I am doing from 9:00 to 9:15, they can look at my calendar. If I am forced to report my actions to a power tripping, resource analyzing micro manager, that 9:00 entry will read 'Interviewing'.

Last.fm Review -- Now this is cool

2007-05-04T19:01:00.000-07:00

I often find myself sitting in a hotel room in a strange city far away from the decent speakers and real music choices offered from my home stereo. Tonight is one of those nights -- with one difference. Tonight I decided to try out last.fm.

OK, it's got that Web 2.0 feel of tags and community -- both of which I am too old for. Or at least too cranky for. They call themselves a 'social music revolution'. I suppose that is yet to be seen.

After a painless signup process, I downloaded a small app for my Mac and was ready to go. For kicks, I searched on Aimee Mann -- fully expecting her not to be found. I had figured last.fm as an all indy / digital youth type of music provider. Was I ever wrong. Not only was Ms. Mann there, but so was Fiest, Simon and Garfunkle and the Pixies. This turned real cool real fast.

For those who use Rhapsody (or used to use them before the price increase) the service is similar to the Artist Radio feature -- except that you can tag the songs and mark them with Love and Ban markers. I am assuming Ban forever stops that song from coming back to haunt me (something that Rhapsody should have learned).

Cost? The basic service appears to be free. For $3/month, last.fm promises priority access to the webservers and some other niceties including access to their beta program. I may be tempted to try that out soon.

I'm not sure if this will work with Sonos yet. That would be a major selling point for getting me to subscribe.

Summary: For genre specific music (both old favorits and introductions to new artists) last.fm seems to ROCK (every pun intended). Give it a try. Rumor has it that the service works with the Nokia N800 as well (which would turn good to great!).

Behold the Gadget Nerd

2007-04-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

One of my goals for starting this blog was to share some of my experience, thoughts, gripes and frustrations about the various gadgets in which I invest. Time permitting, that will happen.

As it stands today, this is my personal list of regularly used gadgets:

Blackberry Pearl 8100 ( I love this phone)
Apple MacBook Pro (A *nix OS with real graphics? Of course it's for me!)
Nokia N800 (My latest toy -- currently in a love/hate relationship)
Sonos Music Controller (The most amazing technology I have ever owned)

More as they come in. Links to resources as I have time.

Simple Rules for Air Travel

2007-03-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Air travel is easy. Just follow these simple rules....

Don't put your ID away yet. You will need to show it a minimum of three times. Put it away only when you get to the gate (unless it's an international flight, and then you need it for boarding as well.) Keep it handy.
If you can't lift your luggage over your head CHECK IT. Don't bring it on the plain and look at me with the 'can you help, kind sir' look.
The space under YOUR seat belongs to the person behind you. Don't cram newspapers, blankets, or your purse under there. (If I am sitting behind you, these items will be kicked out into the aisle).
If you were dopey enough to put your luggage several rows behind you when you got on, then you deserve to sit and wait for everyone else to get off the plane before you do. Don't be a salmon. Sit down and wait.
Portable DVD player? Movie on your laptop? USE HEADPHONES!
You have a right to put your seat back as far as possible. I have the right to press my knees deep into your seat to prevent you from doing so.
I am in the aisle row because I chose wisely when selecting my seat. If you chose to guzzle down a venti latte as you boarded and now need to use the lav, I will feign sleep and force you to either hold it in or climb over me. My headphones will prevent me from hearing you ask me to move. My Ambien will prevent me from feeling you prod my side.
People sleep on red-eyes. Turn off the light and let me sleep.
I am not responsible for getting a landing card, snack, or drink for you while you were sleeping/peeing/staring at the clouds.
I spent the same amount of time on the plane as you have. Trying to squeeze in front of me while deplaning will only get you hit by my backpack (followed of course with an insincere apology).

But most of all, enjoy your flight.

Welcome to my Mid Life Crisis

2007-02-13T17:28:00.000-08:00

By and large, I think that everyone should ignore the first post on any blog. They are all either stupidly biographical (I am a Pisces and my favorite cocktail is a Jack and Ginger) or self serving (I rock, you suck -- any questions?).

Should you ignore this post? Of course you should. I have no idea why you are still reading.

Anyway....

Forty is right around the corner for me. Not many regrets in my life to date, but there is still time for that. Why am I blogging this? Who know? Why does anyone do this stuff? For a legacy perhaps? Maybe because I am too old for MySpace? I don't know.

I can't believe you read this whole thing!